What I’ve found quite a lot is people want the least hassle possible to get the experience they want - they’d have to create the console in this way to make it easy enough for the majority to do it, which would likely cost Sony more for example, and which I’d say most people still wouldn’t be comfortable doing!
I think they should make it easier to customise it if you wanted - but Sony aren’t known for their openness to people modding on their system!
Do they bother to go down this route when the PC market is still not what you might call a ‘mass market’, and that part of what PC builders enjoy is the building and customising part! Plus the cost to get something equivalent to a PS5 would be like double!
I also know that consoles are fully optimised to provide the best possible performance / graphics with the least power - as in, the ps5 is years old but will still outmatch most modern PCs that aren’t super high end! Would making them customisable make this less possible?
I’ve also took apart and cleaned a PS2, Xbox, Wii, all older consoles and they were difficult enough, not sure how a modern console would differ and how much more complicated the parts would be!
This is all coming from someone who doesn’t have much knowledge about these areas so just some thoughts!
As a console lifer, this is new territory for me to. More or less wrote a thought-starter here, and I'm glad its encouraging some discussion. They are already dipping their toes here with the PS5 add-on disc drive and optional data slot. The only reason I pose this is that the lifecycle for consoles is ballooning. Just look at the Switch. I wouldn't be surprised if its another 4 years before the rumoured PS6 appears.
Apparently the latest gen is supposed to be easier to disassemble to clean, but from what I'm hearing from this thread, assembling a PC is easier!
I'd settle for easier to clean! Want I wanted to find out is if these ones are easier than prior ones? I'd never have dreamed of opening my Gamecube, PS2, or Wii. But then, they never crashed.
That said I was surprised to find that for a $699 machine, wires in the base PS5 are secured with tape.
I'm a fan of modular EVERYTHING -- but my gut feeling says that a modular console is just a small PC in disguise. There aren't very many things that could be (essentially) hot swappable in a console: CPU, GPU, RAM, storage. That's the basis of a build-it-yourself PC.
What it might also mean is that while Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can make money off of the entire set of components currently, a hot swappable console in the future might mean that those monies will need to be shared with a whole bunch of other aftermarket providers. If they are already losing money over sales on hardware, a hot swappable console will likely mean even more money lost to other makers.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see some of these consoles be hot swappable -- but CPUs are becoming more and more capable, to the point that a discrete GPU might not be required (and potentially reserved for AI use only). If we get to that point, the price and size of a PC might match or even surpass that of consoles at some point in the future.
I actually wanted to get comment for this piece to determine whether it was commercially viable, and whether with the current build of consoles it was even possible. But those I emailed ghosted me, and a busy work week meant I didn't have time to chase! Had to have this piece done two days ahead of publishing due to a work event this week.
Australia: we earn a lot here comparatively, which means companies can charge more so they do. For instance: Our minimum wage is close to $24 AUD an hour.
I don't think consoles are nearly there yet. A gaming PC that will reliably deliver 4K-level gaming for 4-5 years will cost at least twice what the Pro does. Most games, like me, stick to 1080p graphics and sweat the hardware as long as possible. Even so, last year I upgraded to a mid-tier 3060 graphics card that cost me roughly $300.
Basically, $700 is still a decent price for the GPU upgrade. The fact is that most previous consoles were actually under-powered compared to gaming PCs at the time, but the development tools and skilled developers could make that hardware sing. PC hardware is notoriously bloated and under-exploited by developers, which is why consoles last longer while delivering better-looking games each year. Once consoles started sharing the same lane with PCs (since the 360), that advantage began to disappear , and this new price hike is just evidence to me that the advantage of closed console ecosystems is gone.
As for opening hardware, I only open PC boxes. I've tried to open a few laptops in the past and it's usually a disaster. I'm impressed you could open and reassemble your PS5 without any serious issues. I don't have the patience!
What I’ve found quite a lot is people want the least hassle possible to get the experience they want - they’d have to create the console in this way to make it easy enough for the majority to do it, which would likely cost Sony more for example, and which I’d say most people still wouldn’t be comfortable doing!
I think they should make it easier to customise it if you wanted - but Sony aren’t known for their openness to people modding on their system!
Do they bother to go down this route when the PC market is still not what you might call a ‘mass market’, and that part of what PC builders enjoy is the building and customising part! Plus the cost to get something equivalent to a PS5 would be like double!
I also know that consoles are fully optimised to provide the best possible performance / graphics with the least power - as in, the ps5 is years old but will still outmatch most modern PCs that aren’t super high end! Would making them customisable make this less possible?
I’ve also took apart and cleaned a PS2, Xbox, Wii, all older consoles and they were difficult enough, not sure how a modern console would differ and how much more complicated the parts would be!
This is all coming from someone who doesn’t have much knowledge about these areas so just some thoughts!
As a console lifer, this is new territory for me to. More or less wrote a thought-starter here, and I'm glad its encouraging some discussion. They are already dipping their toes here with the PS5 add-on disc drive and optional data slot. The only reason I pose this is that the lifecycle for consoles is ballooning. Just look at the Switch. I wouldn't be surprised if its another 4 years before the rumoured PS6 appears.
Apparently the latest gen is supposed to be easier to disassemble to clean, but from what I'm hearing from this thread, assembling a PC is easier!
It would be great if consoles were easily customizable. That would settle at least 1 dispute between PC and Consoles once and for all 😅
It would!
I'd settle for easier to clean! Want I wanted to find out is if these ones are easier than prior ones? I'd never have dreamed of opening my Gamecube, PS2, or Wii. But then, they never crashed.
That said I was surprised to find that for a $699 machine, wires in the base PS5 are secured with tape.
I mean, a good tape can secure anything, right?
Just felt… cheap. But I bet its common in electronics, I just haven’t seen it before.
I'm a fan of modular EVERYTHING -- but my gut feeling says that a modular console is just a small PC in disguise. There aren't very many things that could be (essentially) hot swappable in a console: CPU, GPU, RAM, storage. That's the basis of a build-it-yourself PC.
What it might also mean is that while Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can make money off of the entire set of components currently, a hot swappable console in the future might mean that those monies will need to be shared with a whole bunch of other aftermarket providers. If they are already losing money over sales on hardware, a hot swappable console will likely mean even more money lost to other makers.
Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see some of these consoles be hot swappable -- but CPUs are becoming more and more capable, to the point that a discrete GPU might not be required (and potentially reserved for AI use only). If we get to that point, the price and size of a PC might match or even surpass that of consoles at some point in the future.
Thanks mate!
I actually wanted to get comment for this piece to determine whether it was commercially viable, and whether with the current build of consoles it was even possible. But those I emailed ghosted me, and a busy work week meant I didn't have time to chase! Had to have this piece done two days ahead of publishing due to a work event this week.
Well done, sir!
Your idea to update consoles incrementally a la PCs is pretty interesting, albeit a world I'm not sure I want to live in.
Then again, four years into the current console-gen, I still haven't upgraded from a PS4, soooo maybe I'm not that target audience, haha.
Yeah...I upgrade almost every time. Will I get a PS5 Pro? Maybe? If I do, I'll be sure to review it.
The high costs of consoles in South America and Australia are a really fascinating topic...
South America: unsure.
Australia: we earn a lot here comparatively, which means companies can charge more so they do. For instance: Our minimum wage is close to $24 AUD an hour.
> Two screws left. What had I done wrong?
Nothing, you're just the MacGyver of gaming hardware!
Hahaha I wish!!
I don't think consoles are nearly there yet. A gaming PC that will reliably deliver 4K-level gaming for 4-5 years will cost at least twice what the Pro does. Most games, like me, stick to 1080p graphics and sweat the hardware as long as possible. Even so, last year I upgraded to a mid-tier 3060 graphics card that cost me roughly $300.
Yeah it's interesting. Decent read on what you are saying here: https://press-start.com.au/news/playstation/2024/09/15/a-pc-with-ps5-pro-level-graphics-would-cost-a-fair-bit-more-according-to-digital-foundry/
Prior consoles I've owned have been very set and forget. This is the first time I've felt the need to open one, and it seemed easy enough to do so.
That's a good read - similar to the comments I saw this morning on Linus Tech Tips: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FglPnj1eu2o
Basically, $700 is still a decent price for the GPU upgrade. The fact is that most previous consoles were actually under-powered compared to gaming PCs at the time, but the development tools and skilled developers could make that hardware sing. PC hardware is notoriously bloated and under-exploited by developers, which is why consoles last longer while delivering better-looking games each year. Once consoles started sharing the same lane with PCs (since the 360), that advantage began to disappear , and this new price hike is just evidence to me that the advantage of closed console ecosystems is gone.
As for opening hardware, I only open PC boxes. I've tried to open a few laptops in the past and it's usually a disaster. I'm impressed you could open and reassemble your PS5 without any serious issues. I don't have the patience!
Thanks! I was chuffed with myself too. But not keen to open it again any time soon.
That’s some interesting insight about the lifecycle of consoles too. 2nd week in a row, I’m learning from you comments.