PS4 and Xbox One May not be the Last Generation of Consoles

When it comes to console wars, we have seen some excellent consoles during the last three decades and quite honestly, they have given us incredible experiences. When the PS4 and Xbox One arrived in November 2013, we finally got true to life with HD gaming. Even though the PS3 and Xbox 360 were designed for 1080p gaming, we mostly received 720p. It is no secret that the PS4 has done phenomenally well with 40 million consoles sold., whereas Xbox One was unable to compete with it; we only know that Microsoft may have just sold approximately half compared the units to PS4 sales, if not more.
That being said, some gamers feared that this may be the last console generation, considering the pace at which PC hardware has been accelerating and smartphones are penetrating in the gaming world. Mobile gaming is slowly, but surely becoming a force to reckon with and it seems obvious that consoles wouldn’t want to lose the battle against their smaller cousins. Handheld consoles, apart from the Nintendo DS, have not been successful enough to gain market share. The PlayStation Vita has a very niche audience and didn’t take off as big as the PSP did.
With that in mind, how would console giants Sony and Microsoft react? It is certain that gamers don’t want to see the end of console world. Given present times, consoles not only face each other, but also PCs. Since PC gaming has become a major force already, both, Microsoft and Sony, are looking to take it head on by upgrading their current-gen consoles to match the best PC hardware; they have confirmed that upgraded consoles are on the way in the form of PS4 NEO and Xbox Project Scorpio. Microsoft Xbox boss, Phil Spencer, claims that latter is their most powerful console ever and is capable of delivering six Teraflops of computing power; now, that’s a lot of muscle under the hood. At E3 2016, Mr. Spencer stated that we are moving beyond generations, which means there is a lot more to look forward to.
Considering the expected 2017 release of the NEO and Scorpio, we are getting two console upgrades after around three years; there is still life in the console gaming industry. There is definitely huge potential with 4K televisions, 4K Blu-ray discs, and more powerful GPUs; in other words, developers will have a lot of room to play with. It would be unintelligent to believe that Sony would want PS4 to be the last hurrah. There would be a true successor, we believe, but perhaps a lot later than our expectations. We think the upgraded consoles will be given at least five years or more to stay in the market. Then there are the obvious console revisions that are purely cosmetic. There have been rumors of a slim PS4, but Microsoft has already confirmed the arrival of the 40% smaller Xbox One S, which is set to arrive in the fall this year. It will have HDR capability, 4K video playback, and even comes without a power brick.

Sony hasn’t confirmed any of the online-surfacing specs of NEO and we don’t have any confirmation regarding the rumored specs of PS4 slim. Either way, the PS4 has performed incredibly well with 40 million consoles sold officially and there are no signs of stopping now. We have some fine games coming in the near future showcased at E3 2016, signifying that PS4 users can still enjoy the best titles on their current console.
We do think the consoles will evolve as games will become more and more demanding. The idea of owning a console and having it last for some years will still be there, but gamers will be offered a choice to upgrade as we see it now. At the end of the day, the cost of upgrading to a 4K television and a better console will be there. It’s no different in some ways than upgrading a PC as well. You want a better experience then you should pay up as well; it’s as simple as that.

At the same time, with 4K Blu-rays going mainstream, these will be the new physical media for the future. We may not see a pure digital platform yet with consoles. Perhaps there could be one a few generations later, but for now physical media is safe from extinction. Those naysayers who believe that consoles are dinosaurs should see what Microsoft and Sony have planned for the future.
The upcoming years look bright for consoles and both, Microsoft and Sony, have made it clear that we are not in the final generation of consoles. Next year appears to be quite exciting as we see Scorpio, Nintendo NX, and the NEO arrive and we see the start of a new mid-generational console war. Question is, will PC hardware manage to keep outracing consoles now? At the end of the day, competition breeds innovation and gamers get some excellent toys to play with. The success of the PS4 is one quick example of the fact that consoles are not a dying breed. To be honest, the future seems so cool, we wish we could take a sneak peak. All good things come to those who wait, and to be frank, we are happily enjoying the PS4 and Xbox One era right now. Let the games begin!