Microsoft Is Trying To Ramp Up Xbox Series X/S Production, Phil Spencer Says

@Pyrosa: I was confused about the optical cord support as well. Then when I got my Series X, I just plugged the end of the optical into my TV, ( that usually would have plugged into the Series X ) and it was the same.

@sebb: the Rona is to blame

@sebb: I'd say it's rather the fault of the companies who chose to both work with the same graphics chip manufacturer. Nvidia making the chip for the Switch probably wouldn't have been a big deal. But AMD providing it for both of the top consoles on the market? I don't even know how they managed to not have everything about the chips' designs get out when it's the same company working on different chips for 2 competitors at the same time.

But either way, even if AMD could provide as many chips as they want, Sony and MS would still be unable to keep up production. Ramping up productio takes time and while they could surely make the investments to be able to produce dozens of millions of units per year right now, they probably won't as that would cost them a lot of money and they'd have no use for those factories once the market is somehwat satiated. Having partnering factories that can switch their production to all kinds of different products in a relatively short amount of time would be a big advantage though.

@Tidus1012: And the PS5 has what exactly for games? A glorified DLC sold at 2 times what its worth and a remaster? Neither system has exactly a lot going for it from a games stand point currently. But hey you do you with the same tired troll attempts

@kgsg-19-2: Looking at how nothing's changed yet, neither about the demand for the new consoles, nor about the companies' ability to produce anywhere near enough, my guess is that it might be a few more months at the very least until you can easily buy one on any online store at any time. It might take until the middle of the year at least.

I just saw an article today talking about some prognosis, according to which Sony is supposed to produce around 18 million units of the PS5 over the course of this year. If those 18 million units are sold worldwide that's not nearly enough if you look at the demand for it. Full on BC and the $400 price tag of the digital edition turn it into an unbeatable offer for any gamer. And with everyone stil being locked inside in most parts of the world games and consoles have never been more popular and more in demand.

So yeah, gotta keep waiting. Or pay those scalpers a fortune and through that keep growing that industry. And boy are there a lot of scalpers around now. Initially I thought that it was mostly private sellers but nope, absolutely everyone is looking to cash in and there's plenty of online shops that are currently selling the PS5 at exhorbitant prices. And you can be sure that lots of morons are buying them, no matter the cost. So the future of product releases is looking very grim now that money has completely lost its value for so many people. Only the biggest morons who are willing to pay double to scalpers will be able to get a product in the future. And the only solution for that I see is a lottery based system where everyone gets a chance to buy a product based on randomness, not on who is using bots or not.

@Spartan_418: yeah this gen been quite a hard task logistically as well with the whole epidemic. Got my Switch few weeks after launch walk in just fine.

@mareo147: I have the PS5 and 90% of my gaming has been ps4 titles, so you arent missing out much

@soulcrusher777: Well, things have changed. In the past you had to be able to afford or be willing to pay the high prices for a brand new console at launch. The PS3 cost $600 at launch and the PS2 almost $500 if you convert it. And almost 500 bucks in the year 2000 was a shit ton of money for some gaming console compared to today. While now the PS5 had launched about 20 years later and still only costs 500 bucks, or even only 400 if you're willing to ditch the disc drive.

So in past times money was always a limiting factor. Another big factor was the usual lack of games after any console launch, but that's also been eliminated because the new consoles have full BC. So there's really no reason for anyone to wait anymore and prices don't drop anymore either. If you were thinking about buying a new console eventually, then you might as well do it now. And that's why demand is higher than ever before. Even though Sony has actually provided more units than they did during past launches. So the issue is not that Sony has produced less than they did before, as some people like to make it seem. It's that they grossly miscalculated the demand for its new product. Same as MS of course. But could they have known for sure how in demand their new consoles would be?