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Hi all!
I have recently been thinking about wasteful the PC Gaming arms race is. We end up buying expensive hardware just to realise that they are outdated in a few years time. As compared to consoles where optimisation is heavily carried out to gain amazing results(considering how weak the hardware is compared to the latest in PC), developers on the PC seem to take a brute force approach. I often read that there is so much untapped potential in PC hardware that is thrown away to the waste dump as soon as the next shiny iteration comes out. Not only does it feel like a waste of money, but also environmental resources and our collective attention.
Now I understand that by questioning this one is basically challenging the very business model of giants like Intel, Nvidia,AMD,etc. But clearly taking a cue from the console industry one can come up with better business models that are less wasteful and better value for money. For example, graphics card companies can slow down their release cycles, release only a few variants of their latest chip ( About 3-5), and instead divert their resources into heavy optimisation of drivers and software. When they are ready to release their new graphics card, they can offer trade in for older ones or some other incentives. They can maybe make money by taking a cut from their software partners or some other way.
What do you think?
I have recently been thinking about wasteful the PC Gaming arms race is. We end up buying expensive hardware just to realise that they are outdated in a few years time. As compared to consoles where optimisation is heavily carried out to gain amazing results(considering how weak the hardware is compared to the latest in PC), developers on the PC seem to take a brute force approach. I often read that there is so much untapped potential in PC hardware that is thrown away to the waste dump as soon as the next shiny iteration comes out. Not only does it feel like a waste of money, but also environmental resources and our collective attention.
Now I understand that by questioning this one is basically challenging the very business model of giants like Intel, Nvidia,AMD,etc. But clearly taking a cue from the console industry one can come up with better business models that are less wasteful and better value for money. For example, graphics card companies can slow down their release cycles, release only a few variants of their latest chip ( About 3-5), and instead divert their resources into heavy optimisation of drivers and software. When they are ready to release their new graphics card, they can offer trade in for older ones or some other incentives. They can maybe make money by taking a cut from their software partners or some other way.
What do you think?
