Microsoft, one of the biggest proponents of AI and a significant builder of data centres, are wandering around like Tim Robinson in the hot dog costume asking how components got so expensive.
We live in a world where seven years in a console cycle you're usually seeing refreshed consoles with cheaper components at rock bottom prices and yet now you're seeing the same console that was around seven years ago at a 60% price increase. That's insane.
So, what will happen next? Will old console memory cards for GameCube go for hundreds? Will my Atari be worth thousands? This is so crazy. I mean totally on point for 2026, but still crazy.
Right. In the old days, consoles would gradually drop price, many reaching $99.
Then, in what I guess we could call the hard drive era of consoles, you'd see some price drops, but more of an effort to maintain certain prices while offering more storage (sometimes paired with a new, slimmer form factor) for that same price.
Now we're just seeing increases! Leads to a big what-if scenario regarding cloud gaming and the position Microsoft or even Google Stadia would have been in if they'd been able to shift to a cloud model that put less of the hardware expense directly in the laps of gamers.
Said it before, but worth saying again: Microsoft are being handed an opportunity on a silver platter to give the Series consoles a badly-needed shot in the arm with the current consumer environment.
I mean, Phil Spencer's contention was that losing the Xbone/PS4 generation doomed them to being an eternal also-ran because gamers built their digital libraries elsewhere, right? Well, the biggest game in a decade is going launch pretty shortly. A console exclusive and *digital-only*.
Microsoft have shown they were perfectly willing to burn billions pursuing AI, a technology that no real demand actually existed for (evidenced by their recent moves to axe subsidised Github Copilot pricing). Why not burn some of that instead by selling every console you can churn out for, oh, let's say $100 less than the PS5?
If the theory is that the digital game library is the key to a lifelong customer, then you gotta get them on your platform to build it. You'll not only help your struggling Xbox division but also possibly lock in some future Windows users too. Lord know I'm not jumping ship to Linux when I've got an Xbox Play Anywhere library going back ten years now. (007 First Light was the most recent addition to that. What a great game, btw!)
Or, I guess, you could just jack up prices, turn people away, and keep building data centers full of depreciating GPUS, for a product everyone loathes 🤷♂️
It does seem like Microsoft could have made the Series S, if it was selling at a cheap price, an enticing relatively low-budget option for transitioning to new-gen consoles at the time of GTA VI's launch. But nothing is cheap at this point!
I remember Microsoft telling Digital Foundry back when the Series consoles were revealed, that one of the main reasons the Series S existed at all was because they didn't think component prices were going to decrease over time like they had in the past. Boy were they (unfortunately) right...
Jacking up console hardware prices in response to the component pricing crisis is the logical short term move, I suppose. But gee, if I was Satya Nadella looking for growth opportunities in a static console market, now would be the time to use Microsoft's money to try and chip away at Sony's lead. A big game launching and consumers everywhere hurting from across-the-board price increases; the iron hasn't been this hot since the current console generation kicked off, and it probably won't be again for years.
Destiny was a disappointment. I was expecting space opera — and the whole thing was written as one — and instead got MMO grind.
Good riddance to that whole 2010s wave of looter/MMO games that tried to masquerade as cinematic RPGs. It was devastating to the genres of games I used to play, and sucked up all the AAA development attention for an unacceptably long time.
Sorry, but I got REALLY sick of replaying a handful of games all because the only time someone tried making a AAA jetpack game, they made it a looter/MMO flop (ahem Anthem).
Interesting take. I have never been into grinds for stats and played Destiny 2 almost entirely as a solo PvE game where I'd dip in to do whatever was new (expansions, seasonal missions, etc) but not bother do repeat anything to grind out better gear or whatnot. I stopped playing just before the launch of the Final Shape.
I always liked the look and vibe of Destiny's world. And would have been delighted to try Marathon or other new Bungie games, were they PvE. But Marathon obviously wasn't for me.
Microsoft, one of the biggest proponents of AI and a significant builder of data centres, are wandering around like Tim Robinson in the hot dog costume asking how components got so expensive.
We live in a world where seven years in a console cycle you're usually seeing refreshed consoles with cheaper components at rock bottom prices and yet now you're seeing the same console that was around seven years ago at a 60% price increase. That's insane.
So, what will happen next? Will old console memory cards for GameCube go for hundreds? Will my Atari be worth thousands? This is so crazy. I mean totally on point for 2026, but still crazy.
Right. In the old days, consoles would gradually drop price, many reaching $99.
Then, in what I guess we could call the hard drive era of consoles, you'd see some price drops, but more of an effort to maintain certain prices while offering more storage (sometimes paired with a new, slimmer form factor) for that same price.
Now we're just seeing increases! Leads to a big what-if scenario regarding cloud gaming and the position Microsoft or even Google Stadia would have been in if they'd been able to shift to a cloud model that put less of the hardware expense directly in the laps of gamers.
Said it before, but worth saying again: Microsoft are being handed an opportunity on a silver platter to give the Series consoles a badly-needed shot in the arm with the current consumer environment.
I mean, Phil Spencer's contention was that losing the Xbone/PS4 generation doomed them to being an eternal also-ran because gamers built their digital libraries elsewhere, right? Well, the biggest game in a decade is going launch pretty shortly. A console exclusive and *digital-only*.
Microsoft have shown they were perfectly willing to burn billions pursuing AI, a technology that no real demand actually existed for (evidenced by their recent moves to axe subsidised Github Copilot pricing). Why not burn some of that instead by selling every console you can churn out for, oh, let's say $100 less than the PS5?
If the theory is that the digital game library is the key to a lifelong customer, then you gotta get them on your platform to build it. You'll not only help your struggling Xbox division but also possibly lock in some future Windows users too. Lord know I'm not jumping ship to Linux when I've got an Xbox Play Anywhere library going back ten years now. (007 First Light was the most recent addition to that. What a great game, btw!)
Or, I guess, you could just jack up prices, turn people away, and keep building data centers full of depreciating GPUS, for a product everyone loathes 🤷♂️
It does seem like Microsoft could have made the Series S, if it was selling at a cheap price, an enticing relatively low-budget option for transitioning to new-gen consoles at the time of GTA VI's launch. But nothing is cheap at this point!
I remember Microsoft telling Digital Foundry back when the Series consoles were revealed, that one of the main reasons the Series S existed at all was because they didn't think component prices were going to decrease over time like they had in the past. Boy were they (unfortunately) right...
Jacking up console hardware prices in response to the component pricing crisis is the logical short term move, I suppose. But gee, if I was Satya Nadella looking for growth opportunities in a static console market, now would be the time to use Microsoft's money to try and chip away at Sony's lead. A big game launching and consumers everywhere hurting from across-the-board price increases; the iron hasn't been this hot since the current console generation kicked off, and it probably won't be again for years.
Series S is on Amazon for $380 atm. Not bad!
Destiny was a disappointment. I was expecting space opera — and the whole thing was written as one — and instead got MMO grind.
Good riddance to that whole 2010s wave of looter/MMO games that tried to masquerade as cinematic RPGs. It was devastating to the genres of games I used to play, and sucked up all the AAA development attention for an unacceptably long time.
Sorry, but I got REALLY sick of replaying a handful of games all because the only time someone tried making a AAA jetpack game, they made it a looter/MMO flop (ahem Anthem).
Interesting take. I have never been into grinds for stats and played Destiny 2 almost entirely as a solo PvE game where I'd dip in to do whatever was new (expansions, seasonal missions, etc) but not bother do repeat anything to grind out better gear or whatnot. I stopped playing just before the launch of the Final Shape.
I always liked the look and vibe of Destiny's world. And would have been delighted to try Marathon or other new Bungie games, were they PvE. But Marathon obviously wasn't for me.
This is the era of retro.