Xbox Hardware Director Asks Why Fans Even Want to Know Console Specs Right Now

[GTPNewsWire]

This is the discussion thread for a recent post on GTPlanet:

Xbox Hardware Director Asks Why Fans Even Want to Know Console Specs Right Now

This article was published by Michael Leary (@Terronium-12) on January 11th, 2020 in the Gaming category.

 

[Shofast]

Looks like another gen loss for microsoft

 

[DesertPenguin]

"Out of touch": See XBOX Hardware Director.

Also, "Rather than movie plot spoilers, knowing a console’s specs is more like knowing who the movie’s actors, production team, writers and director are. You may have a highly rated director and AAA Hollywood stars, but still end up watching Suicide Squad."

Hey, I liked Suicide Squad...

 

[Famine]

Will it change what you buy since it will be same day of launch?

He has a point here. Most people who will buy either console will already know which they will buy - especially with both consoles now touting at least the entire previous generation's back catalogue - and it won't affect those who will buy both or neither.

 

[DesertPenguin]

Yea, it doesn't matter much in that respect, but it does for overall competitive industry. People go back and forth over which is better, only for that to fuel the companies to actually make them better. That's always good.

 

[witham]

Yea, it doesn't matter much in that respect, but it does for overall competitive industry. People go back and forth over which is better, only for that to fuel the companies to actually make them better. That's always good.

This!

Also I feel like his analogy is miles off, console specs aren't like movie spoilers, they are a physical factor not part of a story telling experience.

To me not knowing console specs would be like buying a car without knowing the specs. While for some the specification isn't important, for others it is. Honestly I would never buy a console without knowing.

Bit of an odd tweet really?! Especially for a guy who works in hardware!

 

[LowBall]

For a guy whose self-ascribed nickname is '8K', he's a bit of a dim bulb when to comes to knowing customer expectations.

 

[Famine]

For a guy whose self-ascribed nickname is '8K', he's a bit of a dim bulb when to comes to knowing customer expectations.

He's not talking about abilities, but hardware specifications.

If you know that the console can do 8K/120fps, does it matter - to fans - what the exact nature of the CPU, GPU and RAM are? Does it matter exactly what Zen2-based AMD CPU the XB1SX and PS5 have? Does it matter exactly what AMD RDNA GPU they have?


We know what the brands say the consoles can do. Is what they use to do it relevant - beyond theoretical maximums used for forum arguments about which console could potentially be "better"?

It's an interesting point. Do fans truly care about, and base purchasing decisions on, if a console has a 10TFLOP or a 12TFLOP GPU?

 

[Silver Arrows]

It's an interesting point. Do fans truly care about, and base purchasing decisions on, if a console has a 10TFLOP or a 12TFLOP GPU?

No, and for the vast majority of people, I doubt they'd be even be able to point out what the benefits of such a thing are. As you said, this sort of exact specification really only serves to solidify fan war slap fights, and if you told people buying these consoles out in the wild about this, they'd probably wonder what it means for them.

I see a lot of people in this thread are just going 'lol Microsoft' which...considering what this forum is, is no surprise and speaks to a level of irony considering what you posted, but at the same time, what he's saying, and what specifically you're iterating on, makes a lot of sense. Ultimately, for most people, what matters is specifically what comes out of that hardware, in terms of bullet point material, and price. Games too. Really, such sort of nit picking over what the exact nature of the parts are, and where they're from, really only applies to PC, where the variance is important.

 

[LowBall]

He's not talking about abilities, but hardware specifications

Right, but customers want all the info they can get to make an informed decision, and hardware specs are a big part of that.

 

[Kevstah2004]

Of course the

care, it’s not like this thing is being water cooled

 

[Northstar]

Right, but customers want all the info they can get to make an informed decision, and hardware specs are a big part of that.

Most customers don't give two wags of a dogs tail about a console's specs.

 

[Silver Arrows]

Most customers don't give two wags of a dogs tail about a console's specs.

Or if they do...they want to see what the actual end game of said specs are. What does it mean for the consumer?

Name dropping that a GPU is AMD or whatever means nothing to 99% of people that are buying, or looking at, a console.

 

[matrix_gt1]

His point of referring it to like movie spoilers confused me at first.

though I think he might be meaning it like this:

we all wanna know how good games will look on the new Xbox n PlayStation. Know the specs before seeing the games is kinda like a spoiler. U already know what to expect.

 

[RolexGTP]

Because we have a right to know and want to know if it's worth sinking our money in. What kind of question is that

 

[Northstar]

Because we have a right to know and want to know if it's worth sinking our money in. What kind of question is that

And you will get to know closer to launch (probably sometime between June 9-11). It's called marketing, you don't dump all your info at once because than websites like this will only talk about you for 5 minutes once. However if you drip feed info sites like this talk about you multiple times over a broad period of time.

Granted, I have a feeling the people criticizing Microsoft on this probably have no interest in an Xbox no matter the specs and are just looking for ammo. In which case I wonder why they don't just stick to the obvious one, that being the lack of good exclusives outside of Halo, GoW and Forza.

 

[Robin]

Its ridiculous for him to use the comparison to movie spoilers because knowing whats going to happen in a movie (which ruins it) is not the same as wanting to know the performance or features of something (comparable to wanting to simply know if the movie is good, who's in it, etc). They are totally different things.

Like with any purchase of a physical item people will want to know specs to make an informed decision on what to buy. Maybe they want to know far in advance because they want to start saving up to buy it, or maybe they have a chance to buy something else right now that they would otherwise pass on if the Xbox took their fancy.

It's seems like quite a defensive tweet, which can't be good for PR.

 

[tunaphis]

"Just mind your own business,Don't ask questions and buy what your given".Works for Apple and VW.
Interest in your product leads to sales fella.
The most flippant comment award contender of 2020 and it's January!

 

[whereSTheFUhd]

He's not talking about abilities, but hardware specifications.

If you know that the console can do 8K/120fps, does it matter - to fans - what the exact nature of the CPU, GPU and RAM are? Does it matter exactly what Zen2-based AMD CPU the XB1SX and PS5 have? Does it matter exactly what AMD RDNA GPU they have?


We know what the brands say the consoles can do. Is what they use to do it relevant - beyond theoretical maximums used for forum arguments about which console could potentially be "better"?

It's an interesting point. Do fans truly care about, and base purchasing decisions on, if a console has a 10TFLOP or a 12TFLOP GPU?

If you genuinely think that a console manufacturer marketing its console as 8K/120fps capable is more informative (if even informative at all) than knowing the actual hardware within the console, you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about.

The actual hardware specifications gives a much better outline and expectation of the consoles abilities and potential longevity, than any marketing nonsense that is utterly meaningless.

So yeah, there's certainly a legitimate reason to wanting to know the hardware specs - and definitely more legitimate than any meaningless marketing jargon.

The analogy to movie spoilers is also an absolute joke. In no way does knowing the hardware specs beforehand ruin or tarnish the use or user experience of the console. On the other hand, it generally makes no sense to go into a purchasing decision without knowing the relevant capabilities of the hardware (or any product) beforehand - and, again, no, any absurd marketing spiel about 8K/120fps does not equate to the products capabilities in any meaningful way or with any relevance to reality, at all.

 

[Famine]

If you genuinely think that a console manufacturer marketing its console as 8K/120fps capable is more informative (if even informative at all) than knowing the actual hardware within the console, you have absolutely no clue what you are talking about.

And most fans and consumers don't - which is a slightly less diplomatic way of phrasing Prien's point.

 

[RaceFuchs]

Honestly, whats more news worthy is the fact that Microsoft recently confirmed their first "next gen" games will indeed be cross gen titles. This will most likely also affect the next Forza title. If Forza 8 comes out this year, it will be available on both Xbox Series X and the Xbox One.

First Series X exclusive games will arrive 1 or 2 years after launch.

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/...box-series-x-exclusives-for-a-couple-of-years

 

[sesselpupser]

Hardware specs have never meant anything in the console industry, and at this point I can't imagine they've ever been less relevant. The jump from PSX to PS2 was huge, the jump from PS3 to PS4 was in a lot of ways (on paper) a step backwards - from the cutting edge Cell to a barely modified AMD mobile architecture.

The hardware in the Switch is pathetic on paper but does anyone think that has harmed it? The Dreamcast and Xbox were both more powerful than the PS2, but neither of them are even in the top five best-selling consoles!

The difference between this generation and next is going to be so small that, on paper, no one is going to want to pay all that money for such a small upgrade. That's probably why no one is talking hardware specs beyond the ray tracing and SSDs.

 

[buraspo]

That's a good point . I thought I was stupid not to care about specs and hated talks about fps and resolution etc I hope I will love my ps5 and wish Xbox fans will be happy with their console too and pray for crossplatform online play availability.

 

[Sick Cylinder]

I'm not a technical enough person to understand the specs, but I still have an interest in reading about the consoles in depth - I rely on friends and knowledgeable people from GTPlanet.

As a father I have previously bought a range of consoles for my family and if the jump in performance doesn't seem worthwhile I have skipped a generation on that console (or consoles).

There are also some people who are considering switching to PC gaming if the jump in console performance isn't significant enough - I am sure they will interested in the specs.

The capabilities sound more like if and or's rather than boths - I base this on marketing for previous generations where the hype suggested much greater capability than was actually delivered.

I just read @neema_t post with interest - he has much greater knowledge than me - I think fast loading from the SSD's will be of most interest to me. Obviously I could fit one to my PS4 Pro and this might be an alternative to going for a PS5.

 

[Jtheripper]

If you know that the console can do 8K/120fps, does it matter - to fans - what the exact nature of the CPU, GPU and RAM are? Does it matter exactly what Zen2-based AMD CPU the XB1SX and PS5 have? Does it matter exactly what AMD RDNA GPU they have?


We know what the brands say the consoles can do. Is what they use to do it relevant -

Because it be completely silly and clueless for a consumer to base his evaluation and perception of their console on their own pr gibberish which is so often ridiculous, same for Sony sometimes like the ps3 pr talk was, saying it could do multi media tasking like a super computer.
Especially Ms so often change and say anything that's an easy fit for them.
And lie like when for years they never admitted the x360 lack of reliability and failure rate.
Like Lewis Hamilton endorsing Gtsport, like Kaz saying the ps5 can show more what Gts has etc etc.
I for one never will and prefer have concrete info and trust my own judgement, and i am a console or videogame customer. A fan would maybe..

 

[Corsa]

People don’t care, the specific specs are just a conversation piece in this lull of gaming news.

 

[ctdc67]

Hard to believe he said this.... My answer would be the specs tell us what kind of engine the Xbox2 has. The engine performance reflects what the car can do.

 

[phillgt2002]

Hard to believe he said this.... My answer would be the specs tell us what kind of engine the Xbox2 has. The engine performance reflects what the car can do.

What if it’s a small engine with a light chassis? If you look at consoles like the GameCube, it was pretty much a Lotus Elise.

 

[Jtheripper]

Also you don't want a too big difference between console brands because devs push so much for looks and don't put the investment often to make sure their games run smootly on all consoles.

And of course knowing specs doesn't tell all to a non insider hardware specialist like me or most consumers and i need to wait and see the end results but since that depends on devs and publisher's will to invest in optimization, i also want to know as much as i can what's under the hood. But just basic specs can be misleading of course, if one machine does for example better hardware ray tracing or 3d sound processing or physics. And the ease of using these processing capabilities for devs. So give me the whole info.
And depending on if a brand's starting gen console is much lower spec, then I'll be more likely to wait for a higher spec machine like a ps5 pro.
And it's normal to be anxious of new hardware capabilities and possibilities, as a videogame/computer game enthousiast.
And for that i prefer have all the meaningfull info i can.
And i couldn't give a .... if it could do 8k, which is ridiculous unless you game on a movie theater screen.
Give me 1080p or 1440p up scaled rezed with great smooth clean graphics, solid view distance with no easily discernable pop-ups, good evolution on physics, interactivity, dynamism, a.i., animations, sound, seemless environments.

Doing 8k or crazy res would be a complete waste of new gen processing power, and unneeded. Who would be satisfied to just hear that pr and say 'ahh ok good...' That is ridiculous.
And i don't encourage pr that seems to imply clueless customers, same for grinding multiplayer games full of paying addons and microtransactions.

 

[tunaphis]

Hardware spec's matter to me when my $550 pro leaves my $2500 pc in the dust.

@Sick Cylinder.
About retail ssd load times.