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[BluRayHiDef]

Since game-console manufacturers are presented with the challenge of balancing the features of their consoles with budgets, why don't they bypass this challenge by creating modular consoles whose core components can be upgraded with more powerful alternatives? For example, such consoles could be sold in base configurations which are as powerful as they can be for affordable prices; however, consumers who have the desire and money for more power would be able to buy alternative CPUs, GPUs, and RAM sticks, etc, that can be easily popped into slots from which the default components can be easily removed. This approach would enable game-console manufacturers to maximize their market share via the affordability of base configurations while retaining performance crowns.

Is the problem with this approach some sort of suboptimal interconnectivity between the modular components since they wouldn't be soldered to the main board? Is the problem R&D costs since the manufacturers would have to design multiple versions of each core component?

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

It’s easier to just sell a new console. The 32x wasn’t heavily adopted. The N64 expansion pack wasn’t completely taken advenatage of because not everyone had it.

I don’t think in the past add-ons to hardware were ever that successful.

 

[SScorpio]

That's what a PC is. The benefit of consoles is you plug them in and they just work. They also have set resources to target.

Modular consoles have never sold well. Look at the Sega Mega Drive, Mega CD, 32x.

 

[Exede]

Why make it upgradeable when people buy full consoles anyways like Xone XoneS XoneX or 3DS new 3DS 3DS lite etc etc. more profit is probably the answer

 

[Arkam]

This is what the original vision for the Xbox was to have deliver the OS and reference HW and then let different manufacturers make various HW configurations with better (or worse I suppose) specs. Pretty much the same idea that the 3DO tried to put forward.

Not modular per se, but at least lets consumer decide which HW features you cared about (and willing to pay for).

 

[BluRayHiDef]

That's what a PC is. The benefit of consoles is you plug them in and they just work. They also have set resources to target.

Modular consoles have never sold well. Look at the Sega Mega Drive, Mega CD, 32x.

What if the alternative counterparts were released three years after the base configurations' release to serve as mid-gen refreshes that are collectively less expensive than a whole new console?

 

[intbal]

The Pioneer Laseractive was a modular console.

 

[Zoro7]

Because it would become harder to optimise games. There would be a number of different console combinations.

 

[Elektro Demon]

Isn't what you're describing basically a pc? Why not just buy one?
Console modularity beats the purpose of a console, imo.

 

[jshackles]

Oh boy a new BluRayHiDef thread

 

[Bogey]

What you're describing sounds a lot like a PC to me, to be honest.

I guess you could try making connecting parts a bit easier (not that it's terribly hard for PCs, but I guess a lot of people are a bit scared of doing it themselves).
And have some sort of locked OS - I always thought Steam Big Picture Mode was a bit of a stab at that, but I've never used it personally.

In the end, I guess there's just not enough demand from the consumer side (why go through this hassle yourself and then be limited to a gaming-only system?), and it would certainly be harder to support from a manufacturing point of view as well. So probably not a great combination.

 

[MisterBrimstone]

Simplicity, console is simple and the "pro" versions we got threatened that. I don't think they should've happened at all and the jump from PS4 to PS5 would've been greater.

You only need to have good creative people making games, the console was not necessary.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

 

[Quezacolt]

Because it's a dumb idea. The main benefit of a console having a standard spec is that devs can push that hardware to it's absolute maximum. If consoles were like pc's, then devs couldnt do this anymore.

 

[Sejan]

Console upgrades take away the one advantage that consoles have over PCs—(near)uniformity in hardware. Modular design has all kinds of disadvantages such as a bigger form factor and worse cooling. The worst issue is that it means that developers no longer have a set standard to build their game around. What gpu module do you have? What RAM? How about the CPU. Do you have a high performance drive or a slower economical one? A modular design forces developers to program to the least common denominator.

 

[martino]

X86, modular, costing more because of this nature....
Someone is not aware what he want here is a pc

 

[Optimistic Gamer]

Advantages of console over pc:
- games that work out of the box as they come out finished
- better value due to standardized design and mass production
- no problems with hardware
- no need to upgrade mid-generation
- a few games per generation that are tailor-made for the platform and bring peak performance for that machine
- no cheaters due to closed system
- tons of great games exclusive to the system

You should keep at least what you're left with.

 

[JonnyMP3]

Fracturing of the player base doesn't help with making games. If some games will only work with the adaptation, then those that have the base machine without the extensions will miss out. This is also one of the reasons Sega failed with all their addons as well, as not many people that owned Megadrive/Genesis's adopted the CD or 32X, which was just a derivative or extention of the current tech when people were just ready for the next gen. In the end, why waste money for something that may not take off and only make things more complicated to create for.

 

[SScorpio]

What if the alternative counterparts were released three years after the base configurations' release to serve as mid-gen refreshes that are collectively less expensive than a whole new console?

The CPU, GPU, RAM, and different cooler requirements are the majority of the cost. I guess there could be a model without storage where you use the one from your old console. But later revisions have been coming with larger size drives. But then your old system wouldn't work. So just buy the new one and still the old for a few bucks.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Fragmentation.

 

[DeaDPo0L84]

That's what a PC is. A major buying point for a console is to be able to go to a store, buy a box, go home, plug it in and play a game. The second they start selling upgradeable components it's going to get really messy. Also anytime they preview a game they'll have to explain which parts are being used to get those particular results and it just becomes confusing.

 

[BluRayHiDef]

X86, modular, costing more because of this nature....
Someone is not aware what he want here is a pc

I have a PC. The purpose of a modular console would be to provide console gamers an upgrade path that isn't as difficult as upgrading a PC and that isn't as expensive.

 

[Birdo]

Modular is more of an enthusiast thing (PC). Most people just want one box that already does it all.

 

[UnNamed]

It's a good idea on paper, a nightmare in reality. Too much complexity in hardware architectures ( this means higher costs), too much bottlenecks, too much wastes of resources, too much troubles in compatibility between models.

 

[16bitwarzvet]

Modular is more of an enthusiast thing (PC). Most people just want one box that already does it all.

I was about to post something similar....the tower of power baby!!!

 

[Rentahamster]

Modular consoles kinda defeats the idea of a singular unified architecture.

 

[amigastar]

I think PS5 will be modular in that sense that you can change the SSD into a bigger one as time goes by. I wouldn't expect more modularity.

 

[HitCtrlAltDel]

I always wished that they allowed for backward compatibility through this method. Like when the PS3 came out, it would have been nice if the PS2 chips were on an add in board that you could upgrade with. Would have brought the price way down, and still kept the feature for those that wanted it. Same for the PS4, I wish they had an add in board with essentially a PS3 on it for last gen games.

Storage for the PlayStation brand as an upgrade has always been good, where Xbox you’ve always had to buy their hard drive and with One you couldn’t even upgrade the drive.

Other than these, consoles need standard hardware, and it should be kept that way. The mid-gen Pro refresh is the only upgrade we should see going forward, if at all.

 

[mortal]

The entire point of a console is closed, optimized and relatively affordable gaming machine.
You might as well invest in a gaming PC if that's what you really want.

 

[jshackles]

Modular is more of an enthusiast thing (PC). Most people just want one box that already does it all.

That pic needs Sonic 2 plugged into Sonic and Knuckles, plugged into Game Genie, plugged in to...

 

[Birdo]

That pic needs Sonic 2 plugged into Sonic and Knuckles, plugged into Game Genie, plugged in to...

 

[jshackles]

Is that Sonic and Knuckles plugged into Sonic and Knuckles?

How deep can this rabbit hole go?

 

[Agent X]

I always wished that they allowed for backward compatibility through this method. Like when the PS3 came out, it would have been nice if the PS2 chips were on an add in board that you could upgrade with. Would have brought the price way down, and still kept the feature for those that wanted it. Same for the PS4, I wish they had an add in board with essentially a PS3 on it for last gen games.

Yes, I think that would have been a good idea. This is vaguely like what happened in the early 1980s, when several of the major video game consoles (ColecoVision, Intellivision, and Atari 5200) all had modules to play Atari 2600 games.

The mid-gen Pro refresh is the only upgrade we should see going forward, if at all.

I think this is the point that BluRayHiDef was trying to make. Instead of purchasing an entirely new console, you could slide in a card with few upgraded components (GPU, extra RAM) and instantly have your "mid-gen refresh". In theory, it would be like a much more elegant version of the Genesis 32X. The 32X didn't work out so well because it was a kludge that was physically cumbersome, and still has several restrictions because the Genesis wasn't originally designed with that type of expansion in mind (unlike the Sega CD peripheral, which was planned for in the system design).

 

[lock2k]

We had them in the 90's, neat concept, but not practical. So we moved on.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Modular is more of an enthusiast thing (PC). Most people just want one box that already does it all.

He could have fit sonic and knuckles underneath sonic 2. OT; plugging sonic 1,2 or 3 in to Sonic and Knuckles was the coolest shit i've ever seen on a console.


Would the Switch be classed as modular?

 

[Bankai]

Because of the fantastic success of the 32X

 

[Bernkastel]

Microsoft is actually planning to make their future Surface PC's like Surface Studio 3 modular. They already prototyped this idea with Surface Hub 2.

Microsoft’s Surface chief hints at a modular Surface PC and USB-C webcam

Surface Studio will “probably” go modular.

www.theverge.com

Not a far fetched idea for Xbox in future.

 

[Happosai]

Modular is more of an enthusiast thing (PC). Most people just want one box that already does it all.

Wow...Sega gone and done what Ninten...won't