Your thoughts on 7 year cycles for consoles?

I think 6 is about right I always had console gens around 5 years growing up with Nintendo.

You forgot the mid-gen upgrade

Make it 12.

All you can expect from next-gen is new, shitty business models and jacked game-prices.

6 years is just right with no mid-gen upgrades.

This is actually going to be a 10-11 year cycle, just like the previous PlayStations, not 7. 10-11 is great.

I think mid gen upgrades are the norm these days. I can see a ps5 refresh within 3-4 years again.

Too long

You know, I didn't mind last-gen took a decade of their original lifespan cause the games were really enjoyable and to be frank, 10 years of console lifespan is alright with me. This gen has been very great to me and alot more better then last-gen in my opinion.

Voted: It's perfect.

It doesn't matter anymore. Streaming is going to kill console gaming. :o

Perhaps, but not anytime soon :)

And when that day comes, I'll be gaming only on PC forever ;)

By cycle I mean when the product launches.

I'd be fine with 10 year cycles so long as the games were fun. This gen has been great so I'm in no rush.

The generation thing is just a farce now.

PS4 games will run on PS5 with minimal tweaking of the settings. Same for X1 and X2.

It's up to your benevolent console overlords to decide whether they want to milk it or embrace the face that consoles are just low-spec PCs and let us play games from previous gens as it should be.

Really they should just put a settings menu in there and the their users decide how they want to play the game. It's like they think their user base is stupid or something.

Too long. 5-6 years is what it should be.

Too long without any form of modularity. But if there were a way to expand system capabilities without having to replace the entire unit, it would matter far less.

The hardware was shit when it launched. It only becomes more shit as time passes. 7 years is way too long.

I was fine with about 5 years for some time however with diminishing returns becoming more and more apparent as tech progresses along with game development getting to be a more lengthy and resource heavy process 7 years is looking more beneficial.

Honestly the next gen consoles should of released this fall it feels way over due at this point.

6 years is fine. If you can't get decent content out in that amount of time you f'ed up.

Too long... 5-6 years max. I hate mid gen upgrades. I got a Pro only because my ps4 broke. Not really worth upgrading to.

its perfect

This... the whole console generation/cycle thing is kinda irrelevant going forward. The new consoles will be BC (thank you MS!), and you'd assume we'll get upgrades again after 2-3 years. PS5 & Xbox Scarlett are basically more powerful PS4s & XB1s.

The old cycle is dead.

Seems that 7 years between new consoles is the new normal. I remember when 5 years was a thing. However consoles are expensive to design create and market. Plus video game development is more expensive. If a game bombs it could doom a studio.

So 7 years between generations is what we have. for better or worse

Would you rather have a new console every 5 years? Or a refresh / HD update every 3?

Your pick.

I like 5 years with no mid-gen upgrade.

Or a 'mid-gen upgrade' every 3 years.

I'm not really a fan of releasing new consoles every so often.

I feel like for every new console launch it sets back quality game releases a couple years because devs have to catch up and readjust to a new platform, and thus why a new console release tends to experience a game drought for the first 2 to 3 years.

I care about having a good game library more than having a new console with no games. I just don't want to have that hassle and play the waiting game every time a new console comes out.

I am much more happy with a console that's been in the market long enough that it has had a chance to establish a sick library of games.

It's nice, because it limits my need to upgrade my PC (as well as consoles,) but it is nice seeing the generational enhancements.

As I’m growing into middle age......yeah it’s kind of depressing. I’m going to be like pushing 60 by the end of two gens from now.

It's fine. How the fuckety doo da can 2013 be six years ago? It's horrifying how quick time moves. I'm alright with 7 years. The PS5 / Scarlett CPU + SSD alone should provide a nice leap forwards.

7 years is good gives the developers more time to grind . Plus these mid upgrades makes it easier to wait for an upgrade.

Six or seven is fine. Can there really be that big of a change in so much time? Yes I know RTX came out and 4K is more widely accepted, but not much has really changed. Death Stranding looks nice, Horizon Zero Dawn still looks amazing.

Pretty much this.

They can only shaft you as much as the tech allows them to.

@SolidGame_basic: in the past I’d have said too long.

now, I’m poorer, and simultaneously here’s just so many great games, and games look so great, that I’m saying too short.

I’m STILL impressed by Xbox 360 games, and am literally just today finally officially joining this gen, although I still have some more backlog, I’ll just be playing it on my Xbox one eventually.

7-8. Games are taking too long to make now. I expect the next consoles to really get any worthwhile games 1-2 years after launch.

This gen didn’t really get good until 2015.