I am going to make a bold prediction that this mid-generation console upgrade idea is going to be a giant failure of an experiment.
Sony tried to push a Playstation 4 Pro on consumers with a higher price point to play the same group of games we already had. What was the selling point? Oh the games will look slightly better. When has this ever mattered to console gamers? When I ask you? Often the best selling console is the least powerful one. The N64 was outsold by the Playstation despite it having more power. The PS2 sold the best despite the Xbox being more powerful, arguably the Gamecube was stronger too. The Wii was easily the weakest console and blitzed passed the Xbox 360 and PS3 in sales, it wasn't even close.
But, who cares about graphics? PC gamers. PC gamers willing to put in the time to tweak and adjust their systems for maximum performance. Console gamers saw something like the PS4 Pro as a thing they didn't need and that was the extent of it.
The Xbox 1 X has just come out, and I'm predicting it will have the same problem, or worse. Who is this system for? People who have 4K TV's who want to get the most out of that maybe? It's not for the gamer looking to get the best visuals out of their games though, it can't be, because those people would have bought a PC already. This thing is $500 too...historically this is too high of a price point to expect gamers to shell out for. Especially, when you can get an Xbox One right now that plays everything the X can play for nearly $300 less than that.
So why did Sony and Microsoft attempt this mid-generational upgrade idea? Well, if you listen to their executives in interviews they did it because....Apple does it with their phones....Yep! That's why they did it...they were hoping gamers would upgrade their consoles like people upgrade their phones. Here's the problem with this idea...well there's a few problems with this. The first one is, Apple makes money on Phone sales, a good margin too. Sony and Microsoft barely break even when they sell a console. The console sales game has always been about selling accessories and games. So, what benefit do they get if you buy their shiny new console and your PS4 and Xbox Controllers still work on them? And your games still work on them? You're not rebuying the games either.
The only way these things will make money is if they expand the market then. Will they do that? Not at $500 I'll tell you that much. So then, why do this really?
I have two theories.
1. Either they are completely stupid and made a gamble they shouldn't have.
2. They are seeking to change gaming into a service based industry entirely.
Ok, so they looked at the smart phone model right? Well, ok, they aren't making money on the hardware upgrading you so how else are they going to keep you? Transition you into someone who's dependent on your services, that's how. They already started doing that with Xbox Live and PS+, but that's not enough. It's not enough to just lock your players into certain online pools and that's it. No, you need something more than that.
So, I see Microsoft and Sony very soon, start to go into an all digital service. This has already begun actually. Both Microsoft and Sony offer a "Netflix" like service for their older games. It's only a matter of time they will put newer games on there, maybe even "channels" to subscribe to additionally such as the EA Access pass, which already exists. It's only a matter of time that these companies find a way to make this the main way they have games distributed.
Then, once they have a loyal devoted following, they'll implement yearly or bi-yearly console upgrades for you to buy. And they might subsidize it through their service fees, just like how cell phone companies do it.
I dunno, this is one man's theory.
Or they are just stupid...
*they might be stupid*
