@blackx114: I think that's the lowest they could go, even with a trade-in deal at Gamestop. The Surface Pro is considered a "premium" tablet and the base model for that starts at $800. If Scorpio is going to have 6 TFLOPs of computing power and 320 GB/s of GPU bandwidth, then it will probably be a 384-bit interface version of the RX 480 plus a semi-custom Zen CPU. If they go higher-end on the GPU side with AMD's Vega line, then you would be looking at a product close to the $1,000 mark since Vega will be using HBM2.
I agree with your sentiment though. I have no idea how MS plans to market a "premium" console product that would be competing in price at a mid-tier gaming PC.
I think $799 would be a realistic price when you factor in the cost of upgraded CPU/GPU and memory. Six TFLOPs sounds like a lot of power, but it's really just an OC'd RX 480 - and those run about $300 at retail. So I would imagine they could toss in a semi-custom Zen architecture CPU along with a Ploaris-based RX 480 GPU, a nice mobo with high-end inputs and outputs, and a decent cooling system for about $800 and still make a profit.
@amaneuvering: I think it's going to be the renaissance of gaming. Devs just need to solve the locomotion challenge first, and then we'll start seeing games like Skyrim come out for VR regularly.
@bigdegs: I think that's what Sony is banking on with the Neo and PSVR. A user can essentially get a full VR package for under $1000 going that route. It's still expensive, but a lot less so if you don't already own a VR-ready PC.
Scorpio's success in the realm of VR hinges on widespread adoption of VR development among AAA studios. Right now there's only one company and one title of AAA caliber coming to VR in the coming months - Fallout 4 from Bethesda. And to top that off, it's currently a Vive-only launch title. It might come to the Rift and other HMDs later, but MS might have jumped the gun on creating a console that's optimized for VR when so few developers are making full-fledged VR games.
I would only buy the NX if Nintendo built it to compete with smartphones. The removable controls would give it a gaming edge against iPhone and Android handsets. The Tegra X2 (assuming it's using it) would give it processing power equivalent to top-tier smartphones. Phablet-like dimensions would make it portable enough to fit in a person's pocket. And Nintendo's OS would need to come equipped with major 3rd party mobile apps: Netflix, Facebook, Snapshat, Twitter, etc. Compatibility with both CDMA and GSM networks would be a good idea as well.
All of this assumes Nintendo has designed the NX to function as a smartphone, which is probably not the case, although it would be the smartest thing they could do. We already know the NX will not be competing with the PS4 and X1 in graphical fidelity, so why not go after the largest electronic entertainment market (mobile) on the planet instead?
Not sure why people thought there would be a ton of difference in graphical quality between the console and PC versions of this game. Hello Games is a studio with 15 employees; they don't have a ton of people dedicated to art work and dynamic textures.
The Vita was a pretty sad story. It actually had the potential to sell remarkably well in the US had any studios bothered to port decent action/rpg titles to it - being the genre flavor of the time. Borderlands 2 was about the only title that did it though. I was hoping we could have seen these titles make it the Vita as well:
Sony never demonstrated a AAA title like the games above on the Vita, so it's understandable why no 3rd party studio bothered with the attempt as well. Lack of games, combined with it's high starting price point is what made it go the way of the Wii U. I think the only chance (albeit a slim one) that we have of seeing any older AAA titles making to the Vita in the coming months is if Sony updates the Vita to support Vulkan Drivers. Vulkan will make AAA development on mobile (ARM architecture) platforms much easier.
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