Veteran developer Chris Roberts predicts next-gen consoles will lose their price and power advantage over PCs.
Chris Roberts, the mind behind the Wing Commander series of space sims, as well as the upcoming Star Citizen, predicts that Sony and Microsoft’s new consoles will no longer enjoy the price and power advantage they have had over PCs in the past. Roberts cited the rapidly falling costs of PC components and the openness of the PC platform as he responded to claims that the impending next-gen consoles would curb the enthusiasm people currently have for Kickstarter projects like Star Citizen.
“I don’t think the console manufacturers are going to have the same advantage, before they were willing to lose millions of dollars on the hardware and making it up on the backend and Sony can’t afford to do that and I don’t think Microsoft is going to support it that much either.”
Roberts also talked about the PC’s recent shift to the living room, spearheaded by initiatives such as Valve’s Big Picture Mode. He says that people can now build a high-end PC for a reasonable price, that is more powerful than even the most optimistic hopes for Sony and Microsoft’s new machines.
Despite his fiery criticisms, Roberts hasn’t completely ruled out the possibility of bringing Star Citizen to consoles. He said he would consider it if they became much more open platforms, particularly in regards to the the update-cycle bureaucratic red tape that PSN and Xbox Live are known for.
These comments seem to mirror those of Valve boss Gabe Newell, who earlier this week trivialized Sony and Microsoft as rivals to its upcoming Steam Box. He claimed instead that Apple will be the linux-based platform’s biggest threat.
Source: Now Gamer
Image: IMDB
