It's not a need, it's a want

Remember, with great power comes great responsibility.

Frankly you lost me at botw arguably, being the greatest game of all time. Maybe, in your dreams.But that's frankly an asinine question to ask. We're sitting here with soon to be 3 console upgrades the S, Pro, and soon Scorpio. Yet the question is do console's need more power. Of course they do in today's gaming landscape. I have the fantastic Pro. A very fine console. Glad Sony up the ante and made it. Same goes for Microsoft with the S. A fine improvement over the base model, with Scorpio soon to follow. More power matters. I'm so glad Microsoft is releasing Scorpio. Gives ms a chance of hope. Gives me great games to look at and play. Plus it forwards us into the next gen. Btw Nintendo dropped the ball to me. With their underpowered lackluster hybrid console. As far as I'm concerned it looks like 2 steps back. A generation back i should say. More than any step forward. Pro/Scorpio all the way. Nintendo's fallen by the wayside imo. Shame on them. I expected much more..

I'd say it depends on the game. A racing simulation game like Forza Motorsport or GT needs better physics and graphics to enhance the immersion and thus needs more power on the road to achive photorealism.
Same goes for other sport games like NBA2K, FIFA, NHL, etc.

Also an RPG like Witcher 3 managed an awesome gameplay experience with examplary quest design and pretty graphics. But for the next game I expect quest/gameplay refinement and an even more immersive world with prettier graphics/physics. A game like this also will need more power.

More processing power is important for things like physics and AI aswell, not only graphics. To achieve the improvement, devs need to tap more computing resources.

There are also games that rely heavily on their art-style like Zelda, Mario Kart, Splatoon, Persona 5, Ori, etc. They may need less power to drive their games. But they also rely on strongly improved computing resources compared to previous console generations to achieve their game design goals.

So I'd say more power always will be important to evolve gaming, but it also depends on how devs use resources and what kind of games they want to build.
You definitely can improve gameplay mechanics with less power and I think this is a good thing to see games like Zelda having huge success. This keeps devs and gamers in check to not only want prettier graphics but also reminds them on the necessity to evolve physics, AI and gameplay alongside graphics.

Need? No.

Would it be nice? Sure, if the price is right.

While a good game is a good game, more powers are ALWAYS welcome. But you decide how much you utilize it. A simple 2D game will still work on it ( obviously ) so this line of questioning is mundane as fudge.

yes for technology to move forwards it doesn't matter if it's PS or Xbox the powerful hardware is the better it is for all of us

No I'd rather we languish with dated hardware and force developers to compromise on their vision/products more and more as time goes on.

Do I need the /s?

Games trump sales, features and power! Although I will say power is semi necessary to keep up with the evolution of the industry. Meaning as the industry moves forward the technology involved should also be at least in step with that forward motion and that in fact means increases in power! If that wasn't the case a game like Halo or Uncharted would be and could be played on the Commodore 64 with no compromising, but since we all know that's virtually impossible. It stands to reason that better technology and more power is needed to accomplish that goal.

But I think having too much power can present issues as well! As an example; Me buying a Ford GT 500 would be synonymous with being stupid! Simply because I live in the U.S in a city that has a maximum speed limit of 65 mph, 70 if I'm on the Interstate. Can you not see the redundancy in an action like that? And although people in my city have cars like that, driving them is more like a statement if anything! For show, because in reality they will rarely if ever experience the true potential of the capability of the vehicle

As a sidebar features are always welcomed, but in most instances they are not necessarily needed.

There isn't a gamer out there that would rather play the 360 or PS3 version of MGSV instead of the PS4 or X1. Would I rather play a version of Zelda or Persona 5 that had slightly better graphics. Answer: OF COURSE! Would I be satisfied playing a PS3 version of Horizon Zero Dawn after playing it on PS4. Answer: OF COURSE NOT!

It really depends on the game. If Zelda were remade with Horizon-like graphics then it would lose damn near all its charm. Same with most Nintendo games. If Horizon were remade using the Zelda engine then it loses much of its appeal as well. One size does not fit all when it comes to games and that is true for power and graphics as well.

I'd say they need to keep things in balance. Hardware can be constantly pushed, but software development takes time with what is given at that moment. I don't need pristine looking games. Im more into substance and wanting the game play to run smoothly.

Yes otherwise we would all be on gameboys.

Why is there such a downplay on power now that Scorpio is right around the corner? That's all this generation has been about but now that it's MS's turn in the lead position (as far as specs) people wish to downplay it now. More power = more possibilities. That should be great for all gamers.

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This is click bait of course they need more power, technology is always evolving even when you think you have the top of the line entertainment the moment you buy it, it's out dated.

Wuchang is great. Nine Sols didn’t have a physical copy so I never played it but I’ve heard good things so I will check it out. I stopped playing sports games many years ago when before the card dlc’s or whatever they’re called.

Last comment… ):

Great month for others, but not me. Hate soccer and soulslikes. Maybe Nine Sols is good.

🫡 it was fun while it lasted, N4G.

FC26!