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[Boombox On]

"Tablets" being better than "consoles" with no context at all obvious isn't going to happen, but will there be a tablet that can outperform a PS4 in enough time? Of course. Will it be within the generation? At the rate tablets have improved, I'm don't completely doubt it.

But ultimately, at a certain point, I think most consumers will definitely reach a "good enough" point in terms of graphics. Not everyone cares about the highest-quality graphics in the same way that not everyone cares about FLAC files for music. That's why so many people game on consoles instead of PCs in the first place. The magic point for most people, marketing aside, is the best quality at the most convenience (with a HUGE emphasis on the latter) and at the certain point when tablets win that ratio over consoles - which have abandoned their "plug and play" feel a long time ago - the gaming industry will shift.

I think Sony and Microsoft realize this, and that is why they are starting to leverage their Playstation and Xbox brands for all of their media businesses (Microsoft's music service is called "Xbox Music." Playstation's TV service is "Playstation Vue") and in due time, they will just embrace the "multiplatformness" that all media has headed towards and bring the games to whatever platform you are already on by way of streaming or other methods - maybe even their own custom-made multiplatform engines like Unity, Unreal, Cryengine, etc - instead of creating proprietary hardware, which by themselves have not brought in huge profits for the last 4 generations of consoles.

I think that is what jeff was trying to argue; he just threw a whole bunch of technical jargon in it which clouded his point.

 

[Momentary]

Sony and Microsoft will still have gaming platforms, but in the form of digital distribution. There's no reason from them to lock their selves in a closed environment when newer
phones, tablets, laptops, and PCs are all capable of both casual and core gaming. They wouldn't even have to worry about porting if Windows 10 takes off on devices and would just have to worry about scalability of their games for direct play on devices or streaming solutions.

It would also make more sense financially to just move away from hardware developments. Selling physical platforms at or below cost to just try and develop an exclusive userbase for software seems kind of ass backwards. MS and Sony should just worry about software development for a digital distro storefront and do away with tactile merchandise on their end entirely (aside from peripherals). By the time this console generation ends, the market is going to be at a state where it would be kind of idiotic to bring another closed platform to the table.

The type of competition you're going to see in the future are MS, Valve, Sony, and EA trying to obtain exclusivity of games to their digital service along with trying to one up each other with what their service has to offer.

 

[Hiko]

Technology has been moving, for a long time now, to a point where convergence is entirely possible in the video game space. But I feel that anyone who believes that PC will be that point of convergence is deluding themselves.

With the different combinations of hardware and the ever-persistent driver and configuration hell on the PC side it is probably the least accessible platform there is for gaming.

Honestly, I think mobile devices have a better shot at being the platform for convergence. With APU's becoming more powerful with lower power requirements it isn't hard to see something like Chromecast or AppleTV being a wireless bridge from phone to TV. Add native controller support and your phone is that device.

It'll take a while. But I think mobile as a point of convergence makes the most sense. Play on the TV, then pick it up to take with you. Also handles your communication and social requirements.

I agree. The traditional PC is a dead end and will be replaced by better devices. It's already happening. The PC presence at retail is shrinking year by year. Consumers are favoring smartphones and tablets. Even in the workspace I'm seeing more and more people work on their ipads than a traditional computer. The idea that PC will make a resurgence is lunacy that I only ever see peddled on GAF (not surprisingly). It's a dinosaur.

 

[Momentary]

I agree. The traditional PC is a dead end and will be replaced by better devices. It's already happening. The PC presence at retail is shrinking year by year. Consumers are favoring smartphones and tablets. Even in the workspace I'm seeing more and more people work on their ipads than a traditional computer. The idea that PC will make a resurgence is lunacy that I only ever see peddled on GAF (not surprisingly). It's a dinosaur.

It's not a device thing. What you're going to see is the ability to play on whatever device you want. Be it on a portable device or stationary device in your game room/entertainment center. It's about not creating a closed environment. If you're on the go, then you pad or cell phone. If you're at home then on your laptop or PC for more fidelity or VR. Also, the PC comment you made is partly true in that you're seeing less "spreadsheet" machines, but enthusiast is booming and you're always going to need workstations for more demanding work environments.

It's also not something peddled by GAF, but fueled by stocks going up, player base numbers going up, higher than ever sales both in hardware and software. If you're so close minded to blind yourself by the numerous facts that have already been laid on table in multiple topics and/or you are too lazy to actually do research before spouting nonsense, then there is no reasoning with you.

 

[FyreWulff]

Tablets can never replace consoles or PC because that entire industry is built around touch controls. There are simply games you cannot do on tablet, iOS or Android with the input you have. No, paired controllers don't count because nobody is going to carry those around with them with their phone, and Apple has ensured that iOS controllers are expensive enough to discourage developers from ever requiring them.


Conversely, there are games you can't do on console or PC because they don't have a full multitouch interface. Not many games even use the fact that the PS4 can detect two fingers on it's touch pad, they prefer to just use single finger swipe gestures.

It's like thinking cars will replace trucks, or something.

 

[Momentary]

Tablets can never replace consoles or PC because that entire industry is built around touch controls. There are simply games you cannot do on tablet, iOS or Android with the input you have. No, paired controllers don't count because nobody is going to carry those around with them with their phone, and Apple has ensured that iOS controllers are expensive enough to discourage developers from ever requiring them.


Conversely, there are games you can't do on console or PC because they don't have a full multitouch interface. Not many games even use the fact that the PS4 can detect two fingers on it's touch pad, they prefer to just use single finger swipe gestures.

It's like thinking cars will replace trucks, or something.

Companies are forward thinking. Controls aren't going to be an issue for games that people want to put on multiple platforms. There are plenty of iOS and Android games already ported to PC that seem to play very well without having to worry about touch controls.

 

[Hiko]

It's not a device thing. What you're going to see is the ability to play on whatever device you want. Be it on a portable device or stationary device in your game room/entertainment center. It's about not creating a closed environment. If you're on the go, then you pad or cell phone. If you're at home then on your laptop or PC for more fidelity or VR. Also, the PC comment you made is partly true in that you're seeing less "spreadsheet" machines, but enthusiast is booming and you're always going to need workstations for more demanding work environments.

It's also not something peddled by GAF, but fueled by stocks going up, player base numbers going up, higher than ever sales both in hardware and software. If you're so close minded to blind yourself by the numerous facts that have already been laid on table in multiple topics and/or you are too lazy to actually do research before spouting nonsense, then there is no reasoning with you.

15 years ago the average joe went to walmart and walked out with an emachines. Now a lot of those guys are walking out with ipads. Is that nonsense? If computers eventually end up being used only in demanding work environments, whereas before they used to be a staple of nearly every home, how does that not represent a shrinking market? What does "enthusiast is booming" mean? You need to be more clear.

Consumers don't care about "open" versus "closed". They don't even know what those words mean. Android is "open" and is very popular. Yet iOS is completely closed like a console, but the iphone and ipad are the most popular devices on the planet. What conclusion am I supposed to draw from this? People just buy whatever works for them, not based on ideological reasons regarding "open" vs "closed".

 

[Florida_Man_5000]

Jeff, sometimes I think your about five to ten years in the future using Neogaf to send us messages back in time about technology. 2016 seems a little to (way too) early for these predictions, but they mostly seem plausible.

 

[Boombox On]

15 years ago the average joe went to walmart and walked out with an emachines. Now a lot of those guys are walking out with ipads. Is that nonsense? If computers eventually end up being used only in demanding work environments, whereas before they used to be a staple of nearly every home, how does that not represent a shrinking market? What does "enthusiast is booming" mean? You need to be more clear.

Consumers don't care about "open" versus "closed". They don't even know what those words mean. Android is "open" and is very popular. Yet iOS is completely closed like a console, but the iphone and ipad are the most popular devices on the planet. What conclusion am I supposed to draw from this? People just buy whatever works for them, not based on ideological reasons regarding "open" vs "closed".

1) PC sales have stabilized and are on the way back up. Tablet sales have stabilized and are on the way down. This is not to say that people don't want tablets or won't buy them; it means that there is enough room for both.
2) The PC Gaming hardware market has become huge, mainly because of those enthusiasts who build high-end gaming rigs.

Realistically, PC vs. Tablet/phone is not really a competition here. They're both for similar purposes with just different roads. The point is that It's not just mobile where you'll see this change happening.

 

[alexandros]

The death of the games console should be celebrated, not lamented. In most cases when a product dies off the product that replaces it is better. I'm sure that whichever device succeeds the games consoles will end up being even better for the consumer.

 

[Saty]

I disagree, if anything the PS4 is going in the opposite direction to what the PS3 was. The PS3 did at times remind me of the PC experience, where you pop in a disk and wait up to half an hour for an installation to take place. In the PS4 you pop in a disk and are ready to play in a minute or so. You also have a single store for purchases, and don't have to be on the machine to install it, so a few clicks on your mobile when on the bus and you find it installed when you get home. That is about as far from the PC experience as you can get (multiple stores, installation and update methods, interactive installations where you have to run through a wizard).

I think most people see having to install a game to the HDD as a further step in diminishing the 'plug and play' essence consoles had. The PS3 didn't require you to install each and every game, the PS4 does. So the speed of the installation isn't really a factor (nor does it work well for vast open world games) and there are probably issues that stem from having the installation as a requirement.

The PS4 improvements and new features also bring new issues. There's the much talked about PSN speeds that make digital downloading and preloading a pain. Cloud save sync issues that prevent playing. The Primary\secondary console thing where some people were still having trouble accessing their games offline. The necessity of 'Rebuild the PS4 databases'.That you couldn't stop and prioritize downloads. Odd bugs and the like. That's without getting to the conversation about what most GAF-ers think of going digital on the new consoles with their preference for physical copies, steep prices and so on.

Buying, playing and updating games through Steam is pretty straightforward as you can get. It's weird you say the consoles are 'far from the pc experience' when they more or less aiming to replicate and catch up to Steam in what they offer for players going digital.

 

[jhmtehgamr20xx]

I agree. The traditional PC is a dead end and will be replaced by better devices. It's already happening. The PC presence at retail is shrinking year by year. Consumers are favoring smartphones and tablets. Even in the workspace I'm seeing more and more people work on their ipads than a traditional computer. The idea that PC will make a resurgence is lunacy that I only ever see peddled on GAF (not surprisingly). It's a dinosaur.

Tablets will never power 3D rendering farms. They will never be used as supercomputers or quantum computers.

People who think PCs are obsolete tend to themselves show obsolete thinking in believing the consumer market is the only one that does or doesn't give a shit. PCs are here to stay even if you're not using them for Facebook or Netflix.

The death of the games console should be celebrated, not lamented. In most cases when a product dies off the product that replaces it is better. I'm sure that whichever device succeeds the games consoles will end up being even better for the consumer.

Uh huh...

Which consumer? Gamers aren't a monolithic block; some people really enjoy the retro collecting culture. A future without game consoles and where everything is the equivalent of what Apple does will kill off any chances for establishing a new retro scene to thrive.

You may not think that as important but it is for some; that's why some games still go for over $1000 on eBay.

 

[bj00rn_]

I agree. The traditional PC is a dead end and will be replaced by better devices. It's already happening. The PC presence at retail is shrinking year by year. Consumers are favoring smartphones and tablets. Even in the workspace I'm seeing more and more people work on their ipads than a traditional computer. The idea that PC will make a resurgence is lunacy that I only ever see peddled on GAF (not surprisingly). It's a dinosaur.

In context to gaming this is factually wrong. PC gaming and enthusiast builds has been on a considerable rise for the last few years despite f.ex. tablet sales (which has already peaked). I thought this was common knowledge by now..

 

[Cybit]

The problem with streaming is that the US broadband market is going the way of the cable TV market (because, well, same companies for both). Long as the cable companies remain in power; you won't see ubiquitous fast & cheap broadband in the US. Until that happens, streaming can't be relied on to be THE way to do things.

 

[The Artisan]

He spoke about this being the last generation.

well, if current gen consoles' tractions' anything to by, he's fucking wrong.

 

[JordanN]

1) Pachter said that phones and tablets will catch up with consoles, and as soon as that happens consoles are unnecessary.

Power wont kill a console.

The ecosystems for smartphones & tablets are incompatible with consoles.

It took many years for consoles to condition people to buy full priced ($60) games. Hence why AAA continues to thrive here.

On smartphones, people have only been trained to want cheap $1 games. The games on mobile aren't trying to ape the games on consoles. Everybody wants to copy Puzzles and Dragons, Flappy Bird, Clash of Clans etc.

 

[ArkhamFantasy]

The death of the games console should be celebrated, not lamented. In most cases when a product dies off the product that replaces it is better. I'm sure that whichever device succeeds the games consoles will end up being even better for the consumer.

Mobile games killed handhelds, yay?

 

[jeff_rigby]

Sony and Microsoft will still have gaming platforms, but in the form of digital distribution. There's no reason from them to lock their selves in a closed environment when newer
phones, tablets, laptops, and PCs are all capable of both casual and core gaming. They wouldn't even have to worry about porting if Windows 10 takes off on devices and would just have to worry about scalability of their games for direct play on devices or streaming solutions.

It would also make more sense financially to just move away from hardware developments. Selling physical platforms at or below cost to just try and develop an exclusive userbase for software seems kind of ass backwards. MS and Sony should just worry about software development for a digital distro storefront and do away with tactile merchandise on their end entirely (aside from peripherals). By the time this console generation ends, the market is going to be at a state where it would be kind of idiotic to bring another closed platform to the table.

The type of competition you're going to see in the future are MS, Valve, Sony, and EA trying to obtain exclusivity of games to their digital service along with trying to one up each other with what their service has to offer.

Remember Gabe Newell of Valve going on stage at a 2010 E3 Sony event and reversing his opinion on the PS3 stating that Sony is more open than "others".

Newell's presence at E3 2010 was to announce a newly-formed partnership between Sony and Valve, citing the open nature of the Playstation 3 console. A result of said partnership, the biggest news to come out of the announcement was not only that the greatly-anticipated Portal 2 would be arriving for the PS3 at the same time as the PC and Xbox 360 versions, but that it would be supported by a version of Steam for the Playstation 3 platform.

Tie the above with from 2012 Steam Machines designed to be clients for game streaming from PCs with Games running under Steam Under Windows and those clients running under Linux. Plus the official OS of Steam machines being Linux and I think we have another issue for PC Gamers.

It appears that Sony will support game streaming from PS Now and PS4 to any platform. If there is a PS3.5 coming at the end of 2015 then it will be designed to also stream to any platform. On the other hand it appears that Windows 10 will support game streaming but only between Windows 10 platforms. This is an artificial restriction as Vidipath platforms include WebRTC (low latency video streaming and the standards to connect platforms together for Video chat which is video streaming and can support games as well as media), a browser and the Software stack necessary for game streaming

The above is my guess and may only be a short term restriction. Comments? I'm not up on what Valves current plans are RE: Steam and Sony.....

 

[Opiate]

I think the optimistic view of the position consoles are in is that they are experiencing PC like turbulence during the transition to digital distribution, and will come out stronger and better eventually.

I think the pessimistic view is that they are more comparable to handhelds, and will be gradually pushed out of the market.

I think a middle ground expectation would be that consoles carve out a persistent but diminished place in the marketplace, with a dedicated base of (let's say) 150M users who stick around even as the rest of the market moves on.

I'm not sure which of those is more reasonable; I'm not trying to predict the future here. I'm just showing that you can make comparisons in all directions.

 

[Mabufu]

If consoles end up dying, it will be a huge loss for a lot of people.

We need consoles to play amazing games and not to fap against IQ and fps.

EDIT
And by amazing, I mean console exclusives that stands out.

 

[StevieP]

If consoles end up dying, it will be a huge loss for a lot of people.

We need consoles to play amazing games and not to fap against IQ and fps.

Good news everybody! Many devices can play amazing games

 

[HolyBaikal]

This... isn't a popular opinion.. I guess.

I agree with a lot of what the topic maker said. I think that consoles are going to become less popular. Or at least I think that they're going to become more and more like the PC and have open operating systems like Android and Windows.

I don't think the idea of a console will go away. Though I do think it may be less popular. I think that closed operating systems will become less popular. Windows 10 is free, now. So I hope more consoles use it. And I hope someone makes an Android console that's really successful.

I have an ultrabook with me everywhere. And I use my PCs from my TVs. It's really easy and fun. I actually find PC gaming easier now than console gaming.
I guess how popular consoles will stay, depends on what the word console means.

 

[njean777]

The problem with streaming is that the US broadband market is going the way of the cable TV market (because, well, same companies for both). Long as the cable companies remain in power; you won't see ubiquitous fast & cheap broadband in the US. Until that happens, streaming can't be relied on to be THE way to do things.

Why does everybody ignore this? This is far more of a problem. Streaming will never be viable as long as this is going on and I don't see this ending anytime soon.

 

[ShooterMcGavin]

As long as the experience that I feel when playing console games doesn't change, I'm all for the advancement of technology (and whatever hardware goes along with it).

If, on the other hand, this advancement ends up going like the mobile gaming transition, thennnn I'll have a problem; because in that case, the experience has changed significantly.

 

[emag]

Tablets will never power 3D rendering farms. They will never be used as supercomputers or quantum computers.

Sure, traditional tablets are not used in HPC applications, but traditional PCs are not used in those environments either. It doesn't make sense to include independent NAND storage, speakers, touchscreens, etc., coupled to each processor when all interaction is performed remotely from the system. Linking together traditional desktop computers is almost as ridiculous.

That said, there are plenty of HPC supercomputers that use ARM chips and architectures closer to traditional tablets than to traditional PCs.

 

[HolyBaikal]

Console will always exist. It's just the form factor that will change.

But I think you're right. We're moving in a era of ecosystem. And I think that in the end, we will see Nintendo/Microsoft/Sony selling their own PCs, yet having their stuff accessible on others PC.

That makes sense. I would love to play Nintendo games on my PC without emulators.
I always have my ultrabook with me. But it's sad that I can't play Nintendo games other than like the Pokemon Card Game online without emulators. I can't play some Gamecube games on Dolphin, some games do surprisingly well. But it would be much nicer, and they would play much nicer if they were ports.

Right now I have to take my 3DS and my ultrabook with me everywhere. But if I only had to take my ultrabook, that would be wonderful and amazing.

 

[Jaeger]

Every console gen someone makes a thread about this.

 

[jeff_rigby]

To determine if a next generation PC could support being a game console we need to look at what's coming and some leaks are now available:

Next generation dGPU = ARTIC is a new 2016 14nm Finfet dGPU with HBM Artic Islands GPU family (Cold reference)

Next Generation CPU = Zen is built with packages of 8 X-86 CPUs each that speculation has KGD (known good die) assembled on an Interposer or MCM with the top configuration having 4 CPU packages = 32 CPUs. VISC will be used to provide higher single thread IPC using multiple CPUs. AMD's K12 (ARM) version of Zen references K12 the second highest mountain peak so I expect Zen is more powerful.

Next generation APU/SoC = Summit Ridge Family

AMD Zen To Be Featured Inside Summit Ridge Family of 14nm APU/SoC Processors – Rumored To Feature FM3 Socket Support and DDR4 Memory Compatiblity

Greenland (cold reference largest Artic Island) stream processor is the GPU in the largest? of the Summit Ridge Family and it uses up to 16 GB of HBM on interposer. The Summit Ridge APU/SoC with Greenland will have 16 Zen CPUs (2 packages). HBM means Interposer and 2.5D assembly and again Zen packages KGD on interposers is likely and possibly Greenland is also assembled of multiple KGD.

Noise: Articles are speculating 95-125 watt TDP and since DRAM will be on interposer inside the package and DRAM is temp sensitive, I think this is likely. The PS4 has a TDP of 120 watts so this chipset could sit under a TV in the living room.

Price: ? A semi-custom version without the PCIe or DDR4 controllers might be cheaper.

Features: If we look at Kaveri, as far as we know, it has the same Xtensa DSP and IVP as in the PS4. It will have trusted boot and embedded DRM.

OS: XB1 is using a simpler version of Windows 10 and the PS4 is custom with two OS. By 2016+ AMD should have HSAIL and more and a custom OS won't be needed, a version of Linux should be available for Sony or a consumer version of Linux on a Home Media Hub open system Game Console.

Vulcan/SPIR and VISC will be standards. VISC (AMD, ARM, Samsung, Global Foundries) supports multiple CPUs allowing two or more to support a very high ICP single thread. Both Intel (Morph) and AMD (VISC) next generation APU/SoCs will have 8-32 slower-smaller CPUs for efficiency and yield and need Morph and Visc to efficiently increase single thread performance.

 

[Moon_frogger]

Yawn. They cycle of stupidity continues. I guess this overzealous prophisizing has already come true since current gen consoles are just PCs....consoles are already dead, right? I mean, the conveniences of consoles are really just an illusion I guess. I suppose I'll be accused of being a 'console warrior' or some such, even though the only gaming devices I own are iPhone and my gaming PC. Oh well.


Also people who think steaming games consoles will take over the market as early as 2017 are either trolls or don't understand the limitations of Internet speeds in most of North America. Disc based isn't going anywhere until This problem is addressed.

 

[saunderez]

If the next generation of PC could support being a games console doesn't it also stand to reason the next generation of PC could power the next generation of consoles? Kinda exactly like it is now?

At the end of the day consoles will stop being produced when they stop selling. And that isn't going to be this generation or even next generation. Maybe it will happen eventually but purpose built hardware will have its place in the near future at least.

 

[Wind's Howling]

Consoles will never die because of the simple fact that the average gamer does not want to indulge his or her time into thinking about which PC Hardware upgrade is the best, and whether not he/she needs to upgrade it again after two years.

Simplicity. We, as humanity, love that. The less we have to do on our own, the happier we feel.

 

[DOWN]

A mid range gaming PC, mouse, keyboard, and a controller for it, not only costs significantly more than consoles, it's also a much bigger pain. I refuse to be one of you folks asking if I can play or need to spend a couple hundred upgrading every time an important game is coming,

 

[Odah]

Why can't we all be friends.

 

[jeff_rigby]

Yawn. They cycle of stupidity continues. I guess this overzealous prophisizing has already come true since current gen consoles are just PCs....consoles are already dead, right? I mean, the conveniences of consoles are really just an illusion I guess. I suppose I'll be accused of being a 'console warrior' or some such, even though the only gaming devices I own are iPhone and my gaming PC. Oh well.

The current Game consoles (XB1 & PS4) are semi custom, AMD does not make a APU with 14 or 20 CUs. Kaveri is 6 CUs (Including CPUs) and a 2015 version of Kaveri will be 8 CUs. AMD APUs have such few CUs for a reason that will be corrected after 2016.

Also people who think steaming games consoles will take over the market as early as 2017 are either trolls or don't understand the limitations of Internet speeds in most of North America. Disc based isn't going anywhere until This problem is addressed.

At the end of this year there will be 10+ Game Consoles certified/released according to Vidipath/DLNA/DTLA. Many of them are ARM game consoles as XB1, PS4, PS3 and WiiU are only 4 of the 10.

There is an on-going move to all IPTV by 2017 and that requires multicast and EVERY cable service provider increasing their internet bandwidth and speed. While we tend to think in immediate terms, large businesses think in decades and it's hard to understand that the move to all IPTV started years ago with upgrades to hardware and the move to DOCSIS 3.0 then 3.1 late this year.

PCs as Media hubs connected to the living room TV or Game Consoles with Hard disks that are also media hubs..... The only valid arguements are Consumer education and simplier game oriented UIs. Anything in the living room has to be designed to be idiot proof and that includes PCs which with Windows 10, Voice Recognition and Gesture recognition can be designed to be easy to use...why have Microsoft and Sony been investing in Browser Based Voice and Gesture recognition?

Please note that the Artic Islands Greenland is a GPU stream processor not wavefront processor. Please read about Xtensa Stream processors for an Idea of what this means for GPUs.

 

[More_Badass]

The current Game consoles (XB1 & PS4) are semi custom, AMD does not make a APU with 14 or 20 CUs. Kaveri is 6 CUs (Including CPUs) and a 2015 version of Kaveri will be 8 CUs. AMD APUs have such few CUs for a reason that will be corrected after 2016.

At the end of this year there will be 10+ Game Consoles certified/released according to Vidipath/DLNA/DTLA. Many of them are ARM game consoles as XB1, PS4, PS3 and WiiU are only 4 of the 10.

There is an on-going move to all IPTV by 2017 and that requires multicast and EVERY cable service provider increasing their internet bandwidth and speed. While we tend to think in immediate terms, large businesses think in decades and it's hard to understand that the move to all IPTV started years ago with upgrades to hardware and the move to DOCSIS 3.0 then 3.1 late this year.

PCs as Media hubs connected to the living room TV or Game Consoles with Hard disks that are also media hubs..... The only valid arguements are Consumer education and simplier game oriented UIs. Anything in the living room has to be designed to be idiot proof and that includes PCs which with Windows 10, Voice Recognition and Gesture recognition can be designed to be easy to use...why have Microsoft and Sony been investing in Browser Based Voice and Gesture recognition?

Please note that the Artic Islands Greenland is a GPU stream processor not wavefront processor. Please read about Xtensa Stream processors for an Idea of what this means for GPUs.

Do you think the average person cares about any of that? Consoles are great because they're simple and people don't have to worry about specs and all the other aspects that goes into building a PC

I love PC gaming, but a console is just as wonderful. Put the disc in and play. That's why consoles aren't going away

This console-PC war mentality is ridiculous

 

[Resilient]

Do you think the average person cares about any of that? Consoles are great because they're simple and people don't have to worry about specs and all the other aspects that goes into building a PC

I love PC gaming, but a console is just as wonderful. Put the disc in and play. That's why consoles aren't going away

This console-PC war mentality is ridiculous

OP, basically this. You are over-complicating something which is really quite simple. The target audience doesn't care for any of the things you mentioned. Hence, consoles will continue to stick around.

 

[THEaaron]

If there is something to relate to this discussion it is "not the best technology wins".

And that won't ever be the case in this industry.

If consoles are ought to die, they won't die because of them being slow, even compared to a midrange pc.

If people would actually care about technology, framerates and stuff they wouldn't play BF4 on those things.

 

[John Bender]

OP, basically this. You are over-complicating something which is really quite simple. The target audience doesn't care for any of the things you mentioned. Hence, consoles will continue to stick around.

Exactly as I see it.
People want a small "box" under their TV.
Push the Power button and start the whole thing.
That's it = Consoles

 

[Cheech]

Consoles will never die because of the simple fact that the average gamer does not want to indulge his or her time into thinking about which PC Hardware upgrade is the best, and whether not he/she needs to upgrade it again after two years.

Simplicity. We, as humanity, love that. The less we have to do on our own, the happier we feel.

The problem with your assertion is you have to ask yourself who the "average" gamer is today.

Traditional console gaming is turning niche, and Apple is standing over the whole industry with a sledgehammer. I think we are all kind of waiting around for the other shoe to drop.

Rumor is that the next AppleTV is coming this year, complete with App Store; yes, assuming the rumors are true, it will be part game console. Go back and watch the original iPhone presentation; Jobs stood up there and heralded the merging of phone, iPod, and "Internet communication device". This would be a game console, cable box, DVR, "internet communication device", and god knows what else.

The real question I have is just how much of a game console this thing is going to be. If Apple gives it enough power to make it capable of running straight ports of Xbox and PS4 games? It's gonna be a fun fall.

 

[herod]

As usual, blinkered Jeff misses the point. Hardware doesn't define what a console is, hardware is designed around what service a hardware vendor wants to provide, and is the physical focal point of that marketing. It doesn't really matter at these kinds of scale whether these things are achievable with off the shelf parts or not.

 

[More_Badass]

The problem with your assertion is you have to ask yourself who the "average" gamer is today.

Traditional console gaming is turning niche, and Apple is standing over the whole industry with a sledgehammer. I think we are all kind of waiting around for the other shoe to drop.

Rumor is that the next AppleTV is coming this year, complete with App Store; yes, assuming the rumors are true, it will be part game console. Go back and watch the original iPhone presentation; Jobs stood up there and heralded the merging of phone, iPod, and "Internet communication device". This would be a game console, cable box, DVR, "internet communication device", and god knows what else.

The real question I have is just how much of a game console this thing is going to be. If Apple gives it enough power to make it capable of running straight ports of Xbox and PS4 games? It's gonna be a fun fall.

Console gaming is turning niche? And Apple is going to end it?

Look, I love mobile gaming. I play mobile as much as I play PC and console. But the whole "Apple and mobile is the future of gaming" is BS

The audience that plays games on Apple devices, the large majority thinks a few bucks is too expensive for a game. You think that audience will be buying $20, $30, $60 console game ports?

 

[THEaaron]

Traditional console gaming is turning niche, and Apple is standing over the whole industry with a sledgehammer. I think we are all kind of waiting around for the other shoe to drop.

Not this again. Where is it turning niche? Why can't people differentiate markets? The whole industry is growing with every year and with that other sub markets appear.

Just because numbers say that people are playing on their smartphones or tablets here and there, doesn't mean they won't touch their stationary consoles again.

PC and console gaming coexists for so long now and both systems show their strength in this generation. Look how much money people throw into Star Citizen or the total amount of over 30mio purchases of GTA V.

Apple will generate users where they aren't fetched by the actual market, but they won't destroy it or change it completely.

 

[Yagharek]

Power wont kill a console.

The ecosystems for smartphones & tablets are incompatible with consoles..

The same was once true of arcades in the mid 1990s when people always considered arcade quality visuals as vastly superior and hence desirable. Consoles caught up, overtook them and arcades languished.

I wouldn't be surprised if consoles are experiencing a similar market pressure albeit for different reasons.

 

[DC1]

The same was once true of arcades in the mid 1990s when people always considered arcade quality visuals as vastly superior and hence desirable. Consoles caught up, overtook them and arcades languished.

I wouldn't be surprised if consoles are experiencing a similar market pressure albeit for different reasons.

This will be true when the DS4..(err DS7) integrates seamlessly to a tablet or smart phone. Until then, I'm living this console life.

 

[Drackhorn]

The convenience of a non-configurable machine (1-stop solution), simplified OS/GUI and plug and play games (install from the disk or download, with no driver updates, incompatibility, etc.) will continue to make the home console market viable.

Yep.

Having problems with some games installing from Steam reminded me thankfully.

 

[nacolucas]

It's been a very long time since the need for consoles died; but the demand is as strong it's ever been.
Their audience is strong, and not because they don't know any better, but rather because they just don't want to.

 

[mclem]

Also people who think steaming games consoles will take over the market as early as 2017 are either trolls or don't understand the limitations of Internet speeds in most of North America. Disc based isn't going anywhere until This problem is addressed.

You should probably check the vents.

 

[……forgetit]

This really makes me think of the average consumer and how they look at PCs. Powerful PCs are bought by specialists who need them for a specific purpose, most others are content with their macbook airs and their game console for when they do that. Consoles are ment for people who don't care about getting the best version, but instead want convenience, and walking into GameStop, picking your box of choice and deciding what games go with it is still more convenient then looking for parts, finding someone to build it or build it yourself, our go three the plethora of prebuilt options. Then when you get it figure out how to display to the TV, figure out the controller options, figure out how to navigate steam and so on and so forth.

 

[CaviarMeths]

The problem with your assertion is you have to ask yourself who the "average" gamer is today.

Traditional console gaming is turning niche, and Apple is standing over the whole industry with a sledgehammer. I think we are all kind of waiting around for the other shoe to drop.

Rumor is that the next AppleTV is coming this year, complete with App Store; yes, assuming the rumors are true, it will be part game console. Go back and watch the original iPhone presentation; Jobs stood up there and heralded the merging of phone, iPod, and "Internet communication device". This would be a game console, cable box, DVR, "internet communication device", and god knows what else.

The real question I have is just how much of a game console this thing is going to be. If Apple gives it enough power to make it capable of running straight ports of Xbox and PS4 games? It's gonna be a fun fall.

I don't think so.

Playing games is something that human beings have been doing for hundreds of thousands of years. Animals play too, and you can bet that plants would if they could. The difference is that the nature of games have changed in modern times. Video games are a very new thing in human history and it's just starting to gain mainstream popularity as we enter a digital age.

Video games are growing to be more inclusive. Console gaming exists and will continue to exist alongside the growing markets of PC gaming and mobile gaming. None of these are going anywhere because the audience isn't changing its habits, it's just getting bigger.

 

[Fantasmo]

They're probably always going to be around but centered more around services than hardware. At some point it won't be economical to throw excessive power at it. Also the big players seem to be the only ones making powerful chips anymore.