Earlier this year, it was revealed that Putin had ordered Russian tech manufacturers to work on ‘homegrown’ gaming consoles. The goal is for the country to compete against PlayStation and Xbox in the home console stakes, but it seems that things aren’t going as planned.
In a recent update posted by Habr.com, it was stated that the ‘Skolkovo Foundation’, tasked with developing the core foundation of the consoles, is having some technical issues.
‘Something Truly Breakthrough’
In a quote picked up by Habr.com (and circulated by Tom’s Hardware), it was said:
I hope that my colleagues will approach this task with full responsibility and come up with something truly breakthrough. After all, it is obvious to everyone: Elbrus processors are not yet at the stage of development that would ensure equal competition with PS5 and Xbox, which means that the solution must be non-standard.
This was a quote taken from Anton Gorelkin, the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Information Policy. His reference to ‘Elbrus’ is a nod to a Russian-developed processor unit. The transparency of the statement confirms that the tech the country has created isn’t yet on par with the hardware created by Xbox and PlayStation.
The Elbrus processor has been pieced together by the Moscow Center of SPARC Technologies, but it’s not a patch on the hardware being created by the likes of Intel and AMD.
Gorelkin repeated the desire to create something sovereign, per Putin’s wishes:
This platform should primarily serve the goals of promoting and popularizing domestic video game products, expanding their audience beyond PCs and mobile gaming.
The most recent reports suggest that the Russians are working on two consoles, one a ‘not very powerful’ device and the other a cloud-based streaming-focused unit with a $45 price tag. In a first-look image published just days ago, it was revealed that the $45 unit features an Xbox-styled controller with a small remote and a USB dongle.
In an article by RBC.ru, the goal of the hyper-cheap gaming solution was detailed:
The MTS console will operate on the principle of cloud gaming on its own MTS Fog Play system — a platform for so-called foggy gaming. The system was originally designed to allow owners of “weak” computers to play games with high system requirements.
Do you think Russia has a hope of competing with the Xbox and PlayStation platforms? Let us know on the Insider Gaming forum.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Tango Gameworks has been ‘reborn’
They’ll be fine PS and XB should worry about their current console generation being ass
The media seem to say otherwise. All of this crap I see on my Google feed about the end of consoles and competing games on other platforms, it would be hypocrisy to not support whatever they’re wanting to put out talking about being as many places and possible, maximizing audience and making more profit. I would expect it and right now, I’ll take just about anybody or anything over Xbox. I sure enjoyed my original Xbox and the 360 had some good stuff though PlayStation did it better on the PS3, but I’ve pretty well had it with how Xbox treats people. It’s that simple.
If people keep spitting out the crap they’re saying about console neutrality, then they’ve done it to themselves. I’ve got a sizable backlog to play at this point, I’m tired of defending gamers that don’t want to pay attention and fall for anything. Nintendos about the only company that wants to keep console gaming alive. Xbox deserves what’s coming, PlayStation aren’t even sure of themselves porting their games to PC which is baffling but begs the question l, why should we believe in you when you don’t even believe in yourself. Nintendo is the ONLY one right now either stubborn enough and not seeing their demise and Switch 2 will flop just being a minor upgrade nobody ever wanted flooded with ports of remaster Switch games that are remasters of Wii U, the community may then wake up to what they’ve tolerated, how it’s effected the industry, and that gamers have grown tired of it and have abandoned modern gaming in far more favor of retro gaming. We’re trying to tell you but, I guess just like raising your kids, some are just rock bottom learners. You’ve done what you can, let them hang themselves.
But, yeah, for a Russian console to hit the market and not get support by: Capcom, Kojima Productions, Namco, Square, etc., sounds like racism and segregation and a lopsided market after what we’ve just seen and been through. Loyalties die out in favor of greed, the love of gaming died a long time ago. They want to preach it, well, now we’ll see if you put your money where your mouth is
@ Yub – Yup. This is the only console generation I’ve really not liked. It’s by far my least favorite. Even where Sony has loyalty and support, at least it still existed and Xbox still made software that was competing. It was a rivalry, now it’s all off the shelf parts and it’s all the same. Who cares…..