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The Future of Gaming: Return of the Expansion Pak?

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With E3 2013 right around the corner, the stage is set for a serious showdown between the PlayStation and Xbox. While Sony has already revealed the PlayStation 4′s’ basic features and Microsoft is set to announce more on the next Xbox tomorrow, a lot of specs and system capabilities remain unknown for players heading into the next generation of console gaming.

One looming issue for Sony and Microsoft, however, isn’t each other: it’s that PC gaming, which was seemingly on life support just a decade ago, has made a resurgent comeback. Many PC gamers already own rigs which outclass the rumored specs for the PS4 and the next Xbox, which led some analysts to predict this next console generation will truly expose the flaws of consoles versus PCs.

To solve this, the makers of these two futuristic consoles might consider looking to past gaming tech in order to get a leg up on their competition.

N64 Expansion Pak 300x288 The Future of Gaming: Return of the Expansion Pak?Nintendo saw outdated technology as a potential problem when it created the Nintendo 64, so it included a port which allowed them to later boost their console’s power. While the Expansion Pak increased the N64′s RAM from 4MB to 8MB, it was only required for two first-party games - The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and Donkey Kong 64. It did improve resolution, increase frame rate, and allow for expanded multiplayer for several other games on the platform, but latency issues cropped up when the N64 attempted to access the device and caused the 8MB of RAM to feel like less of an upgrade than it really was. This, combined with poor sales and a lack of third-party support, ultimately doomed the Expansion Pak as another failed add-on for the Nintendo 64.

Could Sony or Microsoft take this idea and develop it into something that could help its next console stay relevant for longer? Instead of simply adding RAM to the machine like the N64′s Expansion Pak did, Sony or Microsoft could potentially add other upgradeable components to the systems through plug-and-play ports. For instance, the hypothetical Crysis 4 could play on your stock PlayStation 4, but in order to play it at settings rivaling a top-end gaming PC’s performance you’d have to purchase a proprietary graphics card. It would be easily swapped out by anyone with no working knowledge of a PC’s components, much like the Xbox 360′s hard drive is today.

inside 5224931 300x289 The Future of Gaming: Return of the Expansion Pak?

The inside of a PC can be complex, but imagine the rewards of exploring a PCs interior without the requirement of knowledge.

By having several easily-accessible ports with plug-and-play upgrades, developers could allow for owners of the base unit to enjoy the experience but still allow for better performance or certain technologically-demanding features to be accessible. It would, in essence, serve as a gaming PC with the accessibility and approachability of a console.

But can that failed venture by Nintendo give future consoles the weapon they need in the ongoing struggle to keep up with PC gaming tech? Industry analyst Michael Pachter doesn’t believe so.

“I don’t expect an expansion port, since that would mean that different consoles have different capabilities, and would make development hard,” he says. “The console model works in general because everyone programs to the lowest common denominator, and if all consoles are the same, the denominator is the same. Changing that formula would corrupt the business model.”

Altering the plug-and-play accessibility would, as Pachter points out, corrupt the business model, but would it give developers extra leeway to develop games that perform at a higher level than games that would typically run on a several-year-old console? If Sony and Microsoft introduced more enhanced graphics cards, RAM, or processors that can be easily plugged into a stock console well after launch, developers could revel in the freedom to make console games be more representative of the original vision, as well as more on-par with its PC counterparts.

More importantly, it could give developers and publishers one more thing to get gamers upset at them about. Imagine the outrage if a game is released with features requiring the proprietary hardware upgrades, only for it to be revealed that the system would have been fully able to handle said features if the team spent more time optimizing. The outrage would likely rival what happened when files for post-launch DLC were found on-disc for several Capcom games, and could be a risk that a publisher is unwilling to take.

expansionPort2 610x265 The Future of Gaming: Return of the Expansion Pak?

Just like this… kind of. Not really.

The expansion port idea is a long-shot, but with gaming PCs rapidly improving specs it could be one option to help the console cycle stay relevant for even longer. While it is something that could suffer backlash from fans who view it as another reason to charge money for peripherals, in the long run it could provide more PC-like features those fans have been clamoring for.

It’s not a feature expected to be revealed when we finally know everything about the PlayStation 4 and next Xbox, but rather an interesting idea that could help change the minds of those who view PCs as so vastly superior. The question is whether console developers are worried enough about their PC gaming competition to take the risk it would entail.

The post The Future of Gaming: Return of the Expansion Pak? appeared first on Video Game Writers.


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