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[Neonivek]

of course, then another niche will emerge.

is the natural cycle:

You just created a vicious cycle where we are always getting the short end of the stick. Why arn't you more selfaware?

Look you love the capitalist market but please understand that capitalism needs regulation to succeed because it by its very nature is flawed in a fundemental way.

it has been this way for a long time now, dunno why people thinks their hobby is 'special' and then get all uppity about it.

That is how all markets work.

[LoSboccacc]

I am self aware and can see trough all this, of course.

But I have no faith in humanity as a whole and with my buying power I can only do so much.

Keep in mind that half people of the world is more stupid than average.

[Neonivek]

I am self aware and can see trough all this, of course.

But I have no faith in humanity as a whole and with my buying power I can only do so much.

Keep in mind that half people of the world is more stupid than average.

and thus why the world is truely doomed.

[Shadowlord]

Keep in mind that half people of the world is more stupid than average.

This is a tautology. Why treat it as some kind of hidden truth?

[Putnam]

Keep in mind that half people of the world is more stupid than average.

Median, yeah.

[Squeegy]

It's amazing how little we own our games nowadays. Too bad digital consumer property rights is basically the lowest thing on any legislature's priority list right now.

[alexandertnt]

And thus a situation where the market fails to self-regulate and thus outside intervention needs to step in.

Completely agree. The right to resale gets eroded more and more (soon, America may lose the right to resell anything not made in America...)

[SalmonGod]

There is literally no reason to buy a console anymore. At this rate, all they are are limited PC's

As long as Consoles do not go heavy into hardware upgrades they will still have a place. The fact that a console is still good several years after buying it and works perfectly with the latest of games is a huge advantage over a PC that could even become outdated six months later instead.

This is a horribly outdated argument.  It hasn't been this way for at last 5 years.  PC hardware is waaaaay ahead of software.  You can buy a mid-range PC these days for cheaper than a console at launch, and game on it comfortably for at least 3 years.  It'll probably be two years before you're no longer able to max out the graphics on new games.

[LoSboccacc]

It has been this way for five years because many games are developed with portability in mind with current gen console in mind as lower target

As soon as the next gen console is here, expect the low system requirement to rise dramatically as optimizations are a real cost in game development.

[Neonivek]

There is literally no reason to buy a console anymore. At this rate, all they are are limited PC's

As long as Consoles do not go heavy into hardware upgrades they will still have a place. The fact that a console is still good several years after buying it and works perfectly with the latest of games is a huge advantage over a PC that could even become outdated six months later instead.

This is a horribly outdated argument.  It hasn't been this way for at last 5 years.  PC hardware is waaaaay ahead of software.  You can buy a mid-range PC these days for cheaper than a console at launch, and game on it comfortably for at least 3 years.  It'll probably be two years before you're no longer able to max out the graphics on new games.

In this case I'd call you out on being incorrect. I have quite a few games right now that do not function off the rig and I had to update my PC in the last year just to play a game "as good as a console"

[SalmonGod]

There have been specs leaked on the next gen consoles.  Have you seen them?  I don't think we'll need to worry about that.

My rig is closing in on 3 years old now, and was upper mid-range when I got it.  I play everything at 2560x1600 resolution, and Planetside 2 is the only game I've yet encountered that I had to turn settings rather low on.

[Vattic]

Microsoft, you're shooting yourselves in the foot! You're making a product that's essentially useless in the future! I mean, a NES is still worth something now, even if it's dated. Everyone can still enjoy a Gamegear. PS1. Sega Genesis. Maybe these products aren't worth money to their company, but the nostalgia factor? I can look at an N64 and proudly proclaim that I still own one of those. And there's nothing stopping me from buying Super Smash Brothers and playing it right now.

You're removing that nostalgia factor. You're making something that has no replayability. It's... depressing. It's almost disgraceful. And, to me, as a customer, I won't buy into that. I want my children to be able to play these games. They might look at me funny, and laugh at how silly the graphics look, but this is what I played when I was their age. I don't mind physically owning things. Books. Movies. Tables. Houses. I can place a nostalgia factor on all of those, and it makes these things worth it to me...

So, don't remove that. You're just pushing people away. And while it might not be many of them - or even many of you (Oh you, who say you'll never buy this product or from that company) - it IS me.

Just think about it before you buy something.

Don't worry you'll be able to buy all the same games again in our retro digital store. No joke.

[Frumple]

It has been this way for five years because many games are developed with portability in mind with current gen console in mind as lower target

As soon as the next gen console is here, expect the low system requirement to rise dramatically as optimizations are a real cost in game development.

I... pretty significantly doubt that. Minimum reqs will only go up as the general low end systems improve and become ubiquitous, not as the upper limit stuff increases notably. Otherwise you're cutting out a pretty major chunk of your potential market, since people tend to hang on to computers longer than they do consoles, or often aren't running dedicated gaming rigs. Relatively low minimum specs means a solid market increase.

In any case, one major advantage I've had with PCs is, well, forward compatibility. Five years down the line, I might not still be able to run stuff at max graphics, but there's a really good chance it'll still be runnable at medium or low settings. For a console, forward compatibility basically doesn't exist. I can't stick a PS3 disc into a PS2 and have it work. I can stick quite a few PC games made in 2006 into computers made in 2000 and have them work. Perhaps not perfectly or at max quality, but it'll still do a pretty drat good job of functioning. And I can reasonably expect a top-tier computer now to still be able to play whatever comes out two or three console cycles from now.

Still, it's not impossible that we see an upward shift when crossplatform development doesn't have as heavy a console yoke around its neck. Be interesting to see.

[Neonivek]

There have been specs leaked on the next gen consoles.  Have you seen them?  I don't think we'll need to worry about that.

My rig is closing in on 3 years old now, and was upper mid-range when I got it.  I play everything at 2560x1600 resolution, and Planetside 2 is the only game I've yet encountered that I had to turn settings rather low on.

and games you can go on High settings on?

PS3 and 360 and Wiiu are all on maximum settings.

[alexandertnt]

PS3 and 360 and Wiiu are all on maximum settings.

Quite a number of console ports have extra graphical options that are unavailable on the console. A port of a game on each platform will generally have a significantly tweeked graphics engine/settings to accomodate the different hardware, making it more complex than being at "maximun settings".

That being said, an older rig can handle most of the games on high (my ~4 year old rig has had not much issue with most modern games on high). Newer games are often still made with the console (and the same hardware that has existed for the last few years) in mind so there has not been too much change in this area for a while.

When the new consoles are released, this might change (although probably not all that much looking at the specs of the 720).

As soon as the next gen console is here, expect the low system requirement to rise dramatically as optimizations are a real cost in game development.

I... pretty significantly doubt that. Minimum reqs will only go up as the general low end systems improve and become ubiquitous, not as the upper limit stuff increases notably. Otherwise you're cutting out a pretty major chunk of your potential market, since people tend to hang on to computers longer than they do consoles, or often aren't running dedicated gaming rigs. Relatively low minimum specs means a solid market increase.

The "general low end" are the PS4 and the 720. So is the high end. The low end and the upper limit stuff is the same. Often, computer ports are an afterthought and probably would not cut all that much out of the market out.