The next generation of video game consoles will have to evolve into a new model, a cloud-based gaming platform to be particular, as the future of gaming is exactly going to be digital. While that is foreseeable, are Sony and Microsoft ready to meet the challenges that come with this inevitable fate?
Based on one of Sony's senior executive statement, the PlayStation maker could be ready as he said that the company's next consoles could be cloud-based instead of another physical console. Microsoft has not shown any hint of whether it is taking it's upcoming console to this route, except for the news last year that the company is testing games using the Internet.
According to Neowin, the games that the company is testing are full-fledged games some of which even have Xbox One titles. Moreover, the games being tested offer the same Xbox user experience and the dashboard interface looks similar to Xbox. Win Beta speculated that it could be a part of Microsoft's DeLorean project. If this research project goes to production, then cloud-supplementing gaming could be on its way to Xbox.
Meanwhile, Value Walk enumerates the critical factors that will help the rival companies transition from manufacturing hardware consoles to cloud supplemented gaming. One is the outstanding support for VR gaming, which according to the same source will necessitate internal components that are at par with today's computer capabilities.
Fast Internet speed, not to mention consistent, should also be available for cloud-based gaming to become feasible. This is one factor that actually prevents physical consoles from dating or becoming obsolete in the present time.
The 4K resolution is also something that Microsoft and Sony should focus on especially that it is becoming a mainstream technology. Both companies fall short in this category, that even Sony's current PS console is far superior than that of Microsoft's, Sony cannot support it as it is beyond their capability now. There are the other competitors, too, as the gaming market becomes more diversified with this gaming set-up.
Given all these challenges, Microsoft and Sony will have to deliver their next gen consoles with truly groundbreaking performance that meet consumer demands and not merely offered because of the inevitable need for a technology that has not fully developed yet. Not to mention that are well beyond the existing capabilities of the two existing consoles.
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