Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft’s Xbox division, has hinted that he wants Xbox One to get post-release hardware upgrades just like PC, an innovation that could disrupt the entire console market…if it catches on.

Speaking to a group of reporters during the recent Xbox Spring Showcase, Spencer described a new business model for consoles that would allow the industry to continuously innovate with hardware rather than having to wait for the next generation of consoles.

“We see on other platforms whether it be mobile or PC that you get a continuous innovation that you rarely see on console,” Spencer said (via Polygon). “Consoles lock the hardware and the software platforms together at the beginning of the generation. Then you ride the generation out for seven or so years, while other ecosystems are getting better, faster, stronger. And then you wait for the next big step function.”

“When you look at the console space, I believe we will see more hardware innovation in the console space than we’ve ever seen. You’ll actually see us come out with new hardware capability during a generation allowing the same games to run backward and forward compatible because we have a Universal Windows Application running on top of the Universal Windows Platform that allows us to focus more and more on hardware innovation without invalidating the games that run on that platform.”

What’s old is new again

Photo by gds

While the technology for Xbox One may be new, the idea of upgrading a console with hardware add-ons has been around for nearly the entire history of the industry, and unfortunately, most of those add-ons did not exactly pan out.

Two of the best known examples, for better or worse, are Sega CD and 32x, both peripherals released in the early 1990s for the Sega Genesis (also called Sega Mega Drive). Sega CD added CD-ROM support to the Genesis along with an improved CPU and other features, and the 32x supported special 32-bit game cartridges. At the time, both devices received a mixed response from the media and gamers due to their high cost and limited game libraries.

A somewhat more successful example of a console hardware upgrade was the Expansion Pack for Nintendo 64, which doubled the available RAM for the system. The Expansion Pack was required to play certain games on the N64, most notably The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask and Perfect Dark.

Whatever future hardware upgrades Xbox might have up its sleeve will likely be closer to the N64 Expansion Pack than to Sega CD or 32x, but whether or not fans or developers will find those upgrades worthwhile remains to be seen.

Photo by wuestenigel