In 2005, I wanted an Xbox 360. Everyone wanted one. But, like so much of new tech, there were massive supply shortages and at $400, the initial price tag was just too high to simply "dive in". Plus, I still had some great games like God of War II and Shadow of the Colossus that I'd yet to finish on my reliable, old Playstation 2. The more I played them, the more I realized I wasn't a Microsoft guy. I was a Sony fanboy. Yes, Microsoft had some great exclusives like Left 4 Dead, Gears of War, and Mass Effect, but I was content to wait until Sony released their console. (Sorry, guys, give me Quake II or Unreal Tournament over Halo, any day.)
This was also when the HD Format Wars were shaking out, and while Microsoft had fastened its "next-gen" console with a standard DVD player and an expensive add-on, Sony was going all out by fitting its shiny new living room invader with the barely-emerging Blu-Ray player, which promised higher storage capacities that fostered better video quality. Yes, it was more expensive than the competition, but the Playstation 3 offered a more "complete" console with HDMI ports, an integrated wireless adapter, a native wireless controller, and damn it looked sleek as hell.
Unfortunately, by then, Microsoft had been entrenching itself into homes for almost a full year, and Sony would have a rough go of catching up when the 80GB version of its console was retailing for $600. And even if you concede that Sony lost the fight for the last console generation, the allegiances pledged and forsaken during this time would define it for years to come.
Buying a console is a hallmark of a new gaming cycle. Think of it like Christmas, if Christmas came once every seven years or so. A console wasn't just a toy or some piece of equipment for your entertainment center like a new DVD player that could be swapped out for $50 year-on-year. A console was an investment. Whatever you connected to your television in those early days would likely remain connected for the next decade. The weight of that decision can overwhelm the casual gamer who is coming from outside the hype, and could start wars of rage among those who have already been indoctrinated into the ultra-competitive gamer culture.
I eventually caved a year or so later and got an Xbox 360 anyway, and while I got exponentially more frequent and consistent use out of my Playstation 3, playing the Mass Effect series on my 360 was worth the price of the console alone.
With my loyalties firmly behind Sony, I was all too eager for them to give me an excuse to upgrade to the Playstation 4. That excuse came in the form on Uncharted 4, and it did not disappoint. With a lower retail price and beefier specs than the Xbox One, it seemed obvious which console to buy, especially after Microsoft blundered its way through the initial unveiling of their new baby.
Once again, I felt assured that the console I bought back in February would be decorating my entertainment center for the next ten years or so. As a gamer, I was content.
That should have been enough to assuage my anger, but I've heard similar promises before. Anyone who's played MLB: The Show on a Playstation 2 when they could be playing a much smoother, better looking version on Playstation 3 can tell you that the promise of ubiquity among games is not as reassuring as it may at first appear.
What were these guys thinking? It's not like the Xbox One and Playstation 4 have grown long in the tooth! They still average $300-$350 a pop! That's a far cry from the $100 Xbox 360's or Playstation 3's you can get these days! Why would they even bother introducing new hardware when this console generation is just starting to hit its stride?
Well, to be honest, there's a few reasons.
Firstly, there's the adoption of 4K. Whereas Ultra-High Definition seemed like an expensive luxury a few years ago, 4K TVs are finally reaching the price point that makes them attractive to those that couldn't previously afford them. With companies like Netflix and Amazon pledging to produce content in 4K resolution, the real boom for the format will happen when broadcast television makes the switch (which is a huge can of worms for a whole other article). Say what you want about the lack of 4K content (which is keeping me from splurging on a new screen of my own), but those looking for the crispest video experience are expected to be flocking to 4K in 2016.
Unfortunately, one thing you won't be able to do in 4K is play video games. As powerful as the latest crop of hardware is, it's barely powerful enough to push 1080p at 60 frames per second. Try quadrupling that resolution, and you'll be lucky to see anything resembling a playable experience.
The upcoming Xbox One S may be able to play 4K video, but if Microsoft has its way, it looks like Scorpio is groomed for 4K gaming.
So while Microsoft didn't announce their own VR hardware, Sony went ahead and put a price tag on theirs, and while Sony promises that existing PS4's will in fact be able to use the upcoming Playstation VR headsets, it's unknown if the system has the "oomf!" needed to render two instances of 1080p video at a constant 60-90 frames per second.
That's all well and good, but I was still brimming with frustration. I'm not what most people would consider a "hardcore" gamer. Sure, I enjoy video games. A lot of video games. And yeah, I like to pimp out my PC to make it the best it can possibly be. I love beautiful games, and I love them at smooth framerates. Did Uncharted 4 start to stutter a little bit towards the end when things got hot and heavy? Sure, but the game itself was never unplayable. In fact, aside from one instance in which the game froze toward the end of what had been a rage-inducing firefight, not only did the game look incredible, but I never noticed a perceptible dip in performance until the very end.
It's not a question of whether or not I'd like a console that could play Uncharted 4 with no hiccups whatsoever. It's the question of whether or not I'm willing to pay for a new console, effectively replacing my less-than-a-year-old one, for that privilege.
I also have to ask myself how quickly I'll be dipping in to the world of VR, and whether the current crop of promised experiences is worth the investment in a headset that in and of itself costs as much (if not more) than any console required to use it.
For me, the answer is no. Not only can I not afford this upgrade, but there's simply no motivation for me to upgrade right now. However, coming to that realization helped me understand that I was looking at this all wrong.
As a PC gamer, I'm used to new hardware coming out on a more-or-less annual basis. When it does, I have to weigh the pros and cons (mostly financial ones) to see if the investment in new hardware is really worth the performance boost. Most times, the answer is no.
But I'm also a console gamer, and the console gamer in me is used to investing in one machine over seven or so years before needing to drop another $400-$500 on a new one.
See, the language of these industries is different. PC language says, "If you can afford it, we have it," whereas console language used to be a one-stop-shop for a system that "just works." New PC hardware meant that elitists could upgrade to the latest and greatest, but new console hardware meant that the industry expected you to upgrade to whatever they were selling if you even wanted to be relevant in the next year.
Then I took a look at my phone. There's a notification from AT&T that I am eligible for an upgrade. But I'm staring at my iPhone 6s thinking to myself, "Apple hasn't even come out with a new flagship phone for me to upgrade to! And even if they did, there's no reason for me to upgrade this phone! It works fine!"
That's the way we will start thinking about consoles: Sure, there's something better out there right now for those who can afford the upgrade, but mine's working just fine for now.
But for someone like me, who can't afford to upgrade their console or their phone every two years, the promise is that I'm still part of this console generation. I'm not being left behind.
Now, obviously at some point they will phase out the Playstation 4. More and more games will become exclusive to the consoles with the hardware capable of presenting them as their creators intended, and then gamers will have to choose whether or not to upgrade.
Hopefully that day is a good five or six years from now. By then, something newer than Scorpio or Neo will be on the market, and VR will be cheaper than $400.
By then, the idea of having a choice will be more liberating and less intimidating, and we as a gaming culture will be looking at upgrade cylces as a freedom of choice rather than a requirement.
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