chuckd21

Yeah! Anger at unsubstantiated rumor on suspect website projected one year from now and how it'll screw over early adopters!

chess

Other examples of consoles adding to their core specs after launch?

Matthew Chmiel

Let's theoretically state the console comes out November 1st. Production on retail hardware wouldn't start until August. Hell, based upon Microsoft's contracts with the manufacturing plants, they could even start in September. While I don't think MS will go to 12GB (is there even room for a third 4GB stick?), it's a nice pipe dream and brings up the question if Microsoft and Sony gave themselves buffer room to quickly change any hardware based upon what the other announced.

Technology will:

1. Always get better, faster, stronger.
2. Always become cheaper.
3. Always become smaller.

We have personally seen that numerous times with both the 360 and PS3 just this current-generation alone. Outside of consoles, I waited until just a week ago to buy my wife a new laptop just to make sure it had the Haswell chip in it. I maxed it out and hopefully the computer will last her the next 5-6 years like her Sony Vaio did.

Do I regret paying $349 for a Wii U? Yes, because it sits in the entertainment center collecting dust. If Nintendo is smart, they'll drop the price this holiday. Will I regret not buying it then? Probably, but I'm already pushing it in the Chmiel household by having both a XO and PS4 on pre-order.

Will I regret paying $499 for a Xbox One? Maybe. I know I'll be playing the shit out of Call of Duty: Ghosts on it, but I'll be pissed if MS upgrades the hardware on it down the line. I honestly don't know what they would add other than say 802.11ac or whatever, but it's still a possibility.

fujishig

What effect did doubling the 360's RAM have on the games? I assume developers still had to code for the lowest denominator, but did it actually make a difference? I didn't even know about that. The only reason I got a new 360 was HDMI and the looming thread of RROD.

A lot of times the consoles will decrease the features to cut down costs. PS3 lost some inputs (for media), backwards compatibility, and Wii lost backwards compatibility as well.

K&AJones

Go back and check the 360 wiki page and see the history especially when MS started manufacturing and the cluster#### that followed when it was released. There were 1000's who put in for a pre-order that didn't get one and they had issues for several months afterwards.

You can be assured that demand this time around is probably anywhere from 5-10 times what it was for the 360. just look at the sale figures of the 360 the first year and compare to recently. Selling 100,000 units a month is one thing but having nearly 2+ Million at release is another.

Noonan

This is what I was getting at. Adding features like HDMI is one thing; upgrading the processing power shortly after launch has never happened. Still all just a rumor but it's not a good one for MS to have floating around. There's no way they could change the specs for launch at this point.

Matthew Chmiel

To be fair, Microsoft and Sony are using traditional PC architecture this generation and not IBM's PowerPC architecture. Hardware can easily be changed on the fly prior to manufacturing than before when there was little-to-no flexibility.

AMD's desktop based processors can handle up to 16GB of RAM. Based upon this, Microsoft or Sony increasing the RAM last minute is doable.

Dan

I think the extra RAM was solely for the dashboard stuff they were implementing and developing as well as faster loading of games. Sure, the older models can handle the current dashboard, but my Elite is kind of choppy with that.

Interesting point. The 360 added things to later models that just weren't as important in 2005 (HDMI, Wifi) but became highly demanded. They took away some legacy outputs in later models, and got rid of a USB port or two, but never took away any true functionality.

discostu1337

I don't know where this talk of upgrading the hardware AFTER launch came from. The (rumored) RAM and GPU would be upgraded now, prior to launch. This wouldn't "screw over" anybody.

Matthew Chmiel

Yes, the rumored RAM and GPU upgrades would happen prior to manufacturing. However, some hardware additions and upgrades that the 360 saw include:

• HDMI output.
• Wireless networking built-in.
• Larger hard drives.
• Smaller motherboards (making the console physically smaller and even quieter).

I get that HDMI and WiFi weren't as mainstream in 2005, but Sony had both of them in the PS3 at launch in 2006.

However, the final specs of either console still haven't been announced or confirmed. I'm still waiting for confirmation if the XO or PS4 will have 802.11n at 5GHz.

chess

This is exactly why nobody in their right mind would ever do this on a console.

The closest thing I can think of to an exception is the expansion pack on the N64, but even the games designed to take advantage of the expansion pack were still programmed for the lowest common denominator.

Noonan

Is there time at this point for either MS or Sony to change the final specs with a fall release date? I would assume they both have to be already in manufacturing mode to meet the street dates.

Matthew Chmiel

Changing of subjects, but still relative to this thread:

http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/9/4508...son-green-xbox

K&AJones

I dunno...putting all that under one umbrella...all devices and music & TV? Sure sounds like the Xbox is heading into becoming XMedia Box One.

chess

I'm picturing lots of meetings using words like "synergy" and "paradigm".

K&AJones

Well the other day it was Gamestop stop accepting pre-orders for the PS4 Standard and today it's...

Xbox One Pre-Orders Sold Out at Best Buy

http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/07/...e5a29f32000016

Music

I haven't been able to pre-order one at Best Buy for awhile...

Music

My... aren't you a clever bitch

Deftones

What is "awhile?" As of 2 weeks ago you could preorder one.

Dan

No shit.

Music

I know I looked around 2-3 weeks ago.

Raul3

Most people I've read online think that the changes in Microsoft look good. The rearrangements of the company. Not all people think that who they putting in charge are the right persons.

Let's wait for a confirmation first, and then we all can play that we are analysts and know what we are talking about.

K&AJones

Going back to the not accepting pre-orders anymore from some outlets involving both systems. I wonder if word gets out that Best Buy and Gamestop are not longer taking them but still available at laces like Walmart and Target that we might see here in a few weeks they too will cease to taking pre-orders? Does it cause an alarm if we suddenly see with four months to go the possibility that pre-orders on both systems are no longer being accepted?

chess

No. Both companies have estimates of how many they can make between now and their target release date, and they'd be smart to limit pre-order allocations to retailers just short of their estimate.

Raul3

Not sure if this has been answered before. Would you be able voice chat between systems? Xbox 360 and Xbox One. Text messages would be fine I guess.