Why did the console bit wars end? During the 32 bit era, PS1 and Saturn were 32 bit systems, and Nintendo was boasting about having a 64 bit system. The last time console makers boasted about bits in their system was the sixth generation, with the Dreamcast, GameCube, and PS2 being 128 bits.

Question

Why didn’t the bit war continue into the seventh generation? Why didn’t the amount of bits double to 256 bits like they did in past generations? Any insight into this would be appreciated.

In: 609

Answer 1

It became less about 32 and 64 bit, and more about which system had the exclusives you wanted. Or how they handled 3D games, whether they had online capabilities.

It’s like how cell phone plans used to be measured in minutes, then minutes were unlimited and they made money from texts, and now texts are unlimited and they charge for data. The target metric changes as new capabilities are introduced.