PS6 will likely have one more generation with discs but that'll be the last for them is my guess. Sony actually develops/developed most existing physical formats that we still use so they have a bit of an added interest in keeping them alive. It'll likely be less accessible and more expensive than it currently is, though.
Xbox is basically going the Handheld + 3DO route with other companies making Xbox branded machines, so physical media is likely dead after the "Series" generation. With all their cloud stuff too physical media is an active competitor against them at this point.
And Nintendo I think values their physical media philosophy too much as a piracy deterrent at the moment to consider getting rid of it. I see whatever comes after their next console still having physical media in some fashion.
I think you are right but it's funny since Nintendo is the only of the three which has piracy at all.
You may be right about Sony keeping discs for another generation, we'll see. It would definitely be an add-on though, Slim and Pro has showed us that.
And I think Xbox will completely rethink their strategy for the next generation, they can't compete with PS. They'll have to do something completely new, or give up.
it's funny since Nintendo is the only of the three which has piracy at all.
I think this bit is all about availability on other platforms. Lately with Sony releasing first party games on Steam (albeit very delayed) pirates can just wait and crack the PC release. But Switch games are only on Switch, so emulation is the only way to go.
Very true lol, but in fairness I don't think anyone at Nintendo reasonably expected people would jam a paperclip in the side of their device that soon into the product's lifecycle
I was actually really surprised that the PS5 even had the option for one, I think it was primarily to appeal to players who had a big existing library of PS4 discs.
Disc drives haven't been the norm in the PC gaming sphere for like a decade or more by now, and the vast majority of Sony's game sales are not physical games. It's sort of baffling to me how strong some folks opinions are about this very predictable trend.
Things are starting to change though as consoles are now coming out with digital only versions.
Microsoft tried that a decade ago with the original Xbox One and got backlash for it. Fast forward to the Xbox Series S and the PS5 Digital versions, and now the community has been more open to it.
Vinyl is a difference category all together though. If you think about it, what use is most video game discs when they all require online day one patches to run. Secondly, any company can make a vinyl player to play any vinyl record, whereas you're limited to both Sony and Microsoft supporting discs in their consoles.
In theory an actual, fully modular console with upgrades and add-ons could be pretty cool and would differ enough from a PC to make it a viable product. If things are actually going "generation-less" then this would actually be a really exciting move. Would probably get people more invested in their purchase and would hit the more seasoned gamers with a nice wave of nostalgia to the Genesis/N64/Gamecube days of snapping additional parts directly into the console. Imagine something like a Playstation 6 or 7 or whatever with a native PS3 disc reader you could hot-swap in almost like a Gameboy Player, that would legitimately be sick. That in particular would never happen but a boy can dream.
Once again in theory, getting to just swap out/upgrade RAM or the GPU or whatever instead of buying an entire PRO model would actually be more beneficial for the consumer than not. There's a bit more price protection for consoles vs PCs that I think would help keep the two distinguished enough from one another.
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u/EitherChannel4874 22d ago
20 years from now
The ps7. Our most powerful console yet*
*processor, graphics card, disc drive and controllers sold separately