Slightly Mad Studios, the developers better known for the Project CARS games make some bold statements on Twitter. The CEO of the company, Ian Bell has put out a tweet that states the studio is working on a console that can do 60 FPS VR and 4K. The console is tentatively named the Mad Box and it’s in early development.
Mad Box – Not Quite The Bird Box, But Close
The console world has seen a lot of competition. The race started out with big names like Nintendo, SEGA, Sony, Atari, and other companies and as time went on, the test of time showed which companies were able to hold their own in the market. With SEGA and Atari exiting the console market and instead of making games for consoles, it seems that Slightly Mad studios have some high ambitions for disrupting the console space with their Mad Box console.
What is the Mad Box? It's the most powerful console ever built… It's literally 'Mad'… You want 4k, you want VR at 60FPS? You want a full engine for free to develop your games on it? You have it.
— Ian Bell CEO SMS, Executive Director Codemasters. (@bell_sms) January 2, 2019
A Console Set To Take On Sony and Microsoft, But What About Nintendo?
When discussing the console with Variety, Ian Bell goes on to stated: “it will be a console as is the Xbox or PlayStation.” When asked about the availability of the console, he stated that the console will be in markets by 3 years and it will have specifications of a powerful PC that is 2 years ahead of the current standard.
“It will support most major VR headsets and those upcoming and the specs will be equivalent to a ‘very fast PC 2 years from now’,” Bell wrote in an email. “We’re in early talks with manufacturers of components so we can’t say much more right now other than we have the designs specced out in detail.”
The developer is currently in talks with hardware suppliers, so we can hope to hear more as deals are made.
Bell also stated that all these fascinating details about the console, but they will have a hard time competing for a proper price. If the console is too expensive, then it might not be able to reach the success of their established competitors. If the market has a competitive price, then the company has a chance.
If the console really is as powerful as Bell states, one must ponder about the price of the console. Considering Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have an equal grasp on the current console gaming market, Slightly Mad will have a lot of competition to catch up on.
Only time will tell as we learn more about the console in the time to come on whether the console will have its own legs to stand on, or what are the other factors that can make it a success against its competitors.
What are your thoughts on the prospective console? Let us know in the comments section below.