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Should Next-Gen Game Consoles Be Upgradeable?

Posted by Soulskill on from the downloadable-hardware-unlockers dept.

MojoKid writes "Historically, console add-ons that boosted the performance of the primary unit haven't done well. Any attempt to upgrade a system's core performance risks bifurcating the user base and increases work developers must do to ensure that a game runs smoothly on both original and upgraded systems. The other reason is that a number of games rely on very specific hardware characteristics to ensure proper operation. In a PC, swapping a CPU with 256K of L2 for a chip with 512K of L2 is a non-issue assuming proper platform support. Existing software will automatically take advantage of the additional cache. The Xbox 360, on the other hand, allows programmers to lock specific cache blocks and use them for storing data from particular threads. In that case, expanding the amount of L2 cache risks breaking previous games because it changes the range of available cache addresses. The other side of the upgrade argument is that the Xbox 360 has been upgraded more effectively than any previous console; current high-end versions ship with more than 10x the storage of the original, as well as support for HDMI and integrated WiFi. It would also forestall the decline in comparative image quality between console and PC platforms."

12 of 348 comments (clear)

  1. Doubt Sony will by Master+Moose · · Score: 5, Funny

    It is too much of a change from the current gen being downgradable.

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    . . .gone when the morning comes
    1. Re:Doubt Sony will by an+unsound+mind · · Score: 5, Funny

      Oh give it up. So Sony disabled your hardware's capabilities. So what? At least they didn't totally disable the hardware, which they could. You should be grateful for that. You'd have a right to complain if Sony goons came to your house and cut your hands off, at least if you aren't a pirate. If you're a pirate or complain online about Sony, it's totally justified to cut your hands off, because you are hurting Sony and costing billions of Americans their jobs.

    2. Re:Doubt Sony will by Darkness404 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Yep, the only console that I know of that removes features in firmware updates. It doesn't matter that the hardware was standard, Sony believes its their hardware to do with as they wish, regardless of what you want.

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      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    3. Re:Doubt Sony will by antifoidulus · · Score: 5, Funny

      You are forgetting the other benefit of such a power brick, if a puma were to attack, you could use the power supply as sort of a makeshift mace, but instead of spikes piercing the puma, the intense heat melts its face off. Home security at its finest!

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      Monstar L
  2. No, because that's not the point by samriel · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The entire point of game consoles is that developers at least have a chance at a homogenous platform where they can make sure the game mostly runs the same everywhere. If you allow upgrading CPU, GPU, etc. then it's just PC gaming with a weird OS and components that will most likely cost more just because they can.

    1. Re:No, because that's not the point by foradoxium · · Score: 5, Interesting

      +1 I was going to make a similar reply. The whole point is so developers can make their game run on 4 year old hardware, optimized of course. This is why so many console games don't look as nice as their PC counterparts..but they do play on 4 year old hardware.

      the other nice benefit of consoles is multiplayer, everyone is on equal hardware. Where as in the PC world, someone playing on 4 year old hardware might not be able to perform as well as someone with the latest and greatest system (think fps)...that is one benefit of consoles.

    2. Re:No, because that's not the point by Tr3vin · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think if we had more articles about jeans, shampoo and mattresses you would see that people get worked up about everything.

  3. Good lord no. by RyuuzakiTetsuya · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Unless you mandate that older hardware works just as well as newer hardware, no.

    People will rush to point out things like Kinect, or PSMove, or WiiMotion Plus... Those are accessories. Often cheap too, relatively speaking. The CPU is still the same, the RAM is still the same, game compatibility is still the same(more or less; there are bizarre examples across the board). Having upgradable mass storage or expandable accessories doesn't break the underlying assumptions.

    I think that consoles should be "good enough." Big deal, Battlefield 3 looks amazing on PC. Surprise, it also looks amazing on Xbox and PS3. Increased levels of detail do improve immersion a LOT. But when there's a huge trade off between bleeding edge graphics and stability and compatibility, I'll lean towards stability and compatibility.

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    Non impediti ratione cogitationus.
  4. Re:First Post by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    No

    Correct.

    The reason platforms become popular are for one of two reasons.

    1. A known base system so developers know what to build for. The Kinect is an outlier as it was advertised as the "next-gen" of the XBox and it was interesting enough for people to get to play with. It wasn't a memory increase (N64), but it was a Rumble Pack which came packaged with a product that requires it.

    Apple did well with the requirement of having 1 mouse button as the standard. It forced developers to make simpler interfaces, which made Macs easier to use.

    2. Cheap replaceable and interchangeable parts. The PC falls into this category, but companies with systems like Consoles or consumer gadgets do not want people poking around them. To top it off, all major console manufacturers have acted against altering the systems systematically.

  5. Re:First Post by Gideon+Wells · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You basically said what I was going to say.

    Essentially, allowing them to be "upgradeable" removes the last barrier that effectively makes them computers with odd user interface devices. So I must say to anyone who wants upgrade-able consoles, it is okay. You don't have to be in the closet. PC gaming isn't so evil you need to hide it under a hipster like charade. We understand.

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    by Anonymous Coward: I, for one, welcome the shift from car analogies to pizza analogies. um.. overlords?
  6. Absolutely Not. by Jarik+C-Bol · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Absolutely Not, and here is why:
    With non upgradable consoles, you never go to buy a new game, and wonder 'wait, will this run on my machine?' That is the appeal of consoles over PC gaming, for the most part, 'it just works' you put the disc in, and play the game, and it is the same for everyone. No wondering if your graphics card will be able to make it look like the videos you saw online, no wondering if it will lag during action sequences, no wondering if you're going to need to drop another 50$ on more ram to play.

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    I've decided to Diversify my Holdings. I've divided my cash between my left and right pockets, instead of all in one.
  7. Re:First Post by Adriax · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It wouldn't be that nice. Only approved upgrade kits would work, every 6 months a new $100 kit would come out, and developers would be forced into an SDK that automatically keeps any game's minimum requirements lock-step with the console upgrade schedule. The upgrades would be nothing more than unlock codes for clockspeed and features already built into the machine.

    Apple would sue them for ripping off their business model.

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    I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!