In the past few days, there’s been a rekindling of the good old “Do we really need consoles to become any more powerful?” debate among Japanese gamers. The topic resurfaced on X following discussion around new generational hardware shifts – particularly the Nintendo Switch 2. The console has seen immense popularity in Japan as an option that’s more affordable (especially the domestic version) than its high-spec competitor PS5, but still has “just enough power.”
While it’s just one side of the argument, some Japanese players expressed that with what current gen consoles are already capable of, there may be no need for more powerful (and by result, more expensive) consoles to keep appearing, especially as many games don’t appear to “max out” the potential of today’s hardware.
Additionally, some suggested that as increasingly powerful consoles emerge, this raises development costs too, as higher specs encourage higher-fidelity graphics, more details assets, bigger maps and longer development cycles, all of which raises costs and ultimately, the prices of games.
On the other hand, Amata Games’ CEO Hiromichi Takahashi (who formerly worked as a producer and game director at Sony and Tecmo) pitched in with a developer’s perspective on the topic.
Writing on X, Takahashi explains, “From the perspective of someone who makes games, the higher a console’s performance, the better. Even for games whose graphics may appear not to fully utilize that performance. That’s because higher specs reduce the cost of optimizing resources during development and let us cut down on production steps. In short, even if we build things a bit roughly, the game will still run properly.”
This appears to address arguments about developers underusing what high-spec hardware is capable of, as well as the theory that more powerful consoles equal higher development costs. Takahashi stresses that having some leeway hardware-wise is what reduces costs related to optimization.
Another developer added, “This. Regardless of gameplay, the higher the specs, the cheaper the cost of optimization becomes. Game development involves far more tricks, tweaks, and layers of fine-tuned optimization to achieve stability than players can imagine.”
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