Next-gen gaming is the latest craze. Game developers are putting out more detailed work than ever before, while companies are vying for fans to get their consoles before the competition. However, one thing that hasn't managed to keep up with the ever-growing detail and the technological advancements of the hardware is storage.
Recently, it was confirmed that modern Call of Duty titles have grown so large the full experience can no longer be stored on a standard PlayStation 4. That statement calls into question the glaring issue with the size of games versus available storage. Out of the last-gen consoles the standard Xbox One in particular suffered from this issue, as much of its memory was bogged down by updates. However, the solution to this issue could be to include expanded storage with new consoles at launch.
Gaming companies have already tried curbing the storage issues by releasing external hard drives made exclusively for the system in question. While this is one plan, it typically cost a large sum of money that's difficult for the average buyer to purchase, especially when considering the prices of next-gen games themselves.
A bundle that includes a hard drive would be a great way for consumers to get the most memory at a more affordable price. By bundling in more memory with a console, game companies can charge what they see fit to make a profit while buyers can still choose what they want and how much they want to spend. This means that, should a person not want the memory already in the console, then they can buy a separate external hard drive. However, this could create further issues that will demand a solution.
Console developers have done a good job at informing potiential buyers of all of their products, including accessories. The price for external hard drives is high. Some may go as low as $60, while the Xbox Series X|S external hard drive can run for over $200. The best course of action would be to release a smaller storage device to include it with the bundle. This not only ensures that, if a buyer wants another, they can still get it, but it also keeps the price point affordable.
Consoles still release with memory that doesn't match the size of games being released. Some titles are inching closer to almost 500GB with each new update. This means that, if the console makers can't release units with increased memory, it's only fair to include that memory with the console separately.
Video games aren't what they used to be, and as the times change and technology advances, it is up to the hardware developers to create consoles that can store the games people want to play. While next-gen consoles are taking steps in the right direction, more needs to be done. Both Sony and Microsoft released upgraded hardware halfway through the console generation, so a repeat of this strategy could be a great time to implement more storage options.
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