You know, thinking about it, it's not completely impossible that the Wii U ends up more powerful than Microsoft's next console. Very unlikely, yes, but not quite impossible.
What got me thinking about it were the repeated rumours of the CPU/GPU of the next XBox being a SoC (System on a Chip). I'm not taking too much heed to the current round of rumours, but it's interesting to consider.
First off, we have to think about why MS got in the console race in the first place. It wasn't because they love videogames, or even that they particularly wanted to be in the videogames business, it was because they wanted to get into the living room. The Xbox was their best chance of being able to get a Microsoft box into people's living rooms, and hence they were willing to sink billions into the project.
With the XBox360, they have, to a large part, achieved that goal. The XBox platform is now strong enough that they can use it to develop the project's original purpose, and reposition the next model as a multimedia/entertainment hub for the living room. The idea of using a SoC fits into this. SoCs, due to thermal limitations, are ill-suited to chasing very high performance when compared to discrete CPU/GPUs. They are however cheaper, they have lower power consumption and they can fit in smaller casings. This fits a strategy where Microsoft release two very different models of the new XBox:
- A small, low cost unit with no optical drive, no hard drive, some flash memory and a Kinect bundled in (but no traditional controller). This would be marketed as a Kinect-controlled entertainment hub, with the ability to stream movies, TV shows and music, and play downloadable Kinect games.
- A larger more expensive model with optical drive, hard drive, traditional controller and Kinect, and B/C with the XBox360. This would be the "gamer" model, more like people are expecting.
Sometime before or around the launch of the new console, MS would introduce a new media streaming brand/service, pushed heavily across Windows 8, Windows Phone 8 and the new XBox. The first model would be their attempt at replicating the success of the Wii, and using that as a lever to push their new content service. The second model would be there so that they can hang onto the core gamer fan base they've built over the years. Importantly, though, they'd both be based on the same internals. The use of a single SoC across both lines, produced at very high volumes, would allow them to bring the price of the first model down as much as possible to try to hit the mass market, perhaps as low as a loss-leading $250. The second model would have perhaps a higher amount of RAM, but the same CPU/GPU combo nonetheless.
On this strategy, attempting to put out a low-cost SoC based device with a Kinect bundled in, Microsoft could actually end up with a console which isn't as powerful as the Wii U, even if they do launch a year later than it.
Of course, I don't actually expect this to pan out, but it is an interesting scenario. It's particularly interesting when you consider what Microsoft's broader intentions are. They're not fighting Nintendo over the future of motion gaming, and they're not fighting Sony over the future of console horsepower. They're fighting Apple over the future of the living room, and the XBox is pretty much just a pawn in that game.
I've only been a member here for a day or so. Hell I almost got banned for posting scanned images in a thread. Didn't read the regulations properly.
