Game consoles are now smartphones, and that's okay : games

[+] jordanlund@lemmy.world 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)

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[–] schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business 8 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

don’t care about fidelity

As someone who hasn't used a console for gaming since uh, the original xbox, is this doesn't care about fidelity, or is it if you don't pick the performance mode you get 15fps?

[–] Banichan@dormi.zone 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

PC master race doesn't seem to be masters of knowledge

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 1 points 6 months ago

That's The Black Library's job

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 11 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

game consoles won't be "smartphones" until there's way better backwards/forwards game compatibility.

[+] all-knight-party@fedia.io 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

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[–] ampersandrew@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago

Yeah, consoles have way better backward compatibility than phones.

[–] acosmichippo@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (2 children)

better practical compatibility for sure. Of course not literally the entire back catalog of old legacy smartphone apps are still supported but probably like 99.999% of apps people still use are supported on 99.999% of phones people use. 32-bit app devs have had 10 years to update to 64 bit, and most managed it within the first couple. Also the kind of major compatibility jump as with 32bit>64bit should be fairly infrequent, not like every console hardware generation.

compare that to game consoles where the last gen could be cut off from new games at any given time, and next gen is a crapshoot whether the manufacturer will support backwards compatibility.

[–] missingno@fedia.io 1 points 6 months ago

compare that to game consoles where the last gen could be cut off from new games at any given time, and next gen is a crapshoot whether the manufacturer will support backwards compatibility.

But that isn't the case anymore, and I expect it never will be again. This generation's transition period has been so heavily reliant on backwards compatibility. Hell, plenty of titles still just launch on PS4 since PS5 can run it anyway.

The only exception has been the Switch, and that's because it was necessary just this once to break away for a new architecture. I can almost guarantee Switch 2 will be an evolution of Switch 1.

At this point the big three are locked into their current architecture. They need backwards compatibility, if a new console ever tries to break from that it will flop as a result.

[–] corbin@infosec.pub 1 points 6 months ago

Modern consoles are pretty great about backwards compatibility. There's room to improve for sure, but an Xbox Series X/S can play all Xbox One/Series games, plus hundreds of 360 and original Xbox games. PS5 is a bit worse with only PS4 backwards compat. The Switch is in the roughest shape, because PowerPC emulator or hardware compatibility wasn't practical with the design or hardware of the original Switch.

[–] Katana314@lemmy.world 9 points 6 months ago (1 children)

The article author honestly made a very valid point, but wrapped it up with a terrible headline.

I even feel like the PS4 and Xbox One currently serve the use case of being “the cheap consoles”. There are a number of games they cannot run or would run poorly - but for their price point they’re much more of an option for the non-wealthy, primarily in other countries. It’s like it’s all one console generation with no signs of ending, and a varying range of specs.

[–] punseye@lemmy.world 2 points 6 months ago

This. For many people old second hand iPhones have become good budget options, even in the US.

[–] aciDC14@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago (2 children)

Why not just make them mini-PC’s at this point?

[–] KomfortablesKissen@discuss.tchncs.de 11 points 6 months ago (1 children)

They already are. Just shut off from unauthorized (read:your) grubby hands.

[–] aciDC14@lemmy.world 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Man, how lame.

[–] KomfortablesKissen@discuss.tchncs.de 8 points 6 months ago

It is. I really like the direction of the steam deck. A PC that's very open, but still is able to hide most complexity from users that don't care for that.

[–] corbin@infosec.pub 2 points 6 months ago

They still have the benefit of being a fixed hardware platform with guaranteed compatibility for the games built for them.

[–] B0NK3RS@lemmy.world 4 points 6 months ago

I'm not sure how I feel about mid-gen upgrades.

I'm all for something like the PS2/PS3 slim or Xbox 360/One S but a PS4/5 pro and One X just don't interest me.

I also kind of despise the whole smartphone upgrade path that is the norm nowadays so I really hope consoles don't continue the same way.

[–] missingno@fedia.io 2 points 6 months ago

I figure we're coming to the end of discrete generations sooner or later. We're 4 years into the PS5's lifespan and plenty of games still launch on PS4 because they don't need PS5 hardware, and PS5 will run them anyway.

It doesn't make sense to upgrade to a PS5 Pro if you've already got a base PS5, just as it doesn't make sense to buy a new smartphone every year. But I can see the idea being that whenever you feel due for an upgrade, you buy whatever the current model is.

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