Not too long ago, we heard Xbox chief Phil Spencer talk about incremental upgrades for the Xbox One, and how consoles could soon adopt a frequent refresh cycle similar to PC components or mobile devices. These rumours have been further strengthened by growing reports that Sony is developing a PlayStation 4K: a console to surpass Metal Gear- err, I mean the PlayStation 4. Will Microsoft go down the same route? Phil Spencer doesn’t think so.
Talking about the possibility of an Xbox “One and a Half”, Phil Spencer had this to say:
“I’m not a big fan of Xbox One and a half. If we’re going to move forward, I want to move forward in big numbers,” Spencer said. “I don’t know anything about any of the rumors that are out there, but I can understand other teams’ motivations to do that. For us, our box is doing well. It performs, it’s reliable, the servers are doing well. If we’re going to go forward with anything, like I said, I want it to be a really substantial change for people – an upgrade.”
It is interesting to see Microsoft once again take the divergent route against trends, as Sony appears to be surging ahead with the rumoured PlayStation 4K. Microsoft, it seems, will only do a direct successor to the Xbox One, and nothing less. I personally think Spencer’s position makes more sense. What about you? Do you favour the Xbox strategy of waiting out a whole generation, or the PlayStation one of having faster incremental upgrades? Let us know in the comments below.