Are Consoles Dead?

The traditional games business is worth around $25 billion a year, so the obvious answer to the question of whether or not consoles are dead, is a resounding 'what the hell are you talking about?'

Not only, but consoles are freakin' awesome. They are built to play games. Certainly, they are ugly brutes, hideous noisy boxes, but by all that is holy, they make life good. This is why talk of their 'death' is so upsetting.

Nevertheless, talk we must.

It's true that consoles move through existence with every sign of vitality, but there are suggestions of an inner sickness, a sense of impending dilapidation. Sorrow awaits.

IGN

Personally after soo many years of declining pc game quality and constant talk of pc being dead I am happy to see this news. The usefullness of a limited function device has gone the way of the dodo and the industry knows it. The consoles are soo far behind pc in performance that there is no way they can build the next gen without the cost being soo high that people would be insane to not buy a pc that provides soo many more functions than simply gaming or watching netflix. Sony and Microsoft have lost 10 BILLION since 2000!!!!! I dont think the consoles are yet fully in the grave but when, and if, the next gen comes out it may not be what people expected.

If we remain on the path we are currently on, PC will certainly die and the consoles will live.

The reason being, the consoles are a little harder manipulate because you cannot really access the file system. The consoles serve a useful purpose for TPTB, it helps prevent tampering. In the PC world, the ability to do things has the sky as the limit, but the consoles are very restrictive. I have found that if I wanted to "modify" a game or something it was relatively easy to do on a PC with the know how, but the consoles do prevent this for the most part.

As long as the people do not mind being restricted with their computer abilities then the consoles will survive. The PCs offer a whole other world to do things, and in a lot of cases, certain manufacturers do not like the idea, which is why the consoles are pushed more heavily than the PCs. Personally, I prefer PCs, but each have their pros and cons.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


i think that consoles will come down in price but you'll have more pay-to-play so that if you fancy a weekend of some game then you'll pay x for the ability to join your mates for a weekend of mayhem and so long as they dont make it too silly they'll probably make a profit as theres currently no money to make for second hand games so perhaps a price reduction but a cunning cost to keep repeat custom may be the way

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


Well, though you can adapt a PC to feel like a console... there is no substitute for holding that nice cool controller in your fingers after a hard day of work.

My fear is that old, true console gaming id dead... The SNES is the best console made IMO. And yet here we are, trying to make games--that 95% of the time end up sucking anyway. Consoles try too hard to be PC games, with improved graphics and what not, multiplayer gaming... it sickens me. Let the PC be a PC--with thousands of players at once and good graphics. On the same note, let me have my consoles where I can have good 'ol couch co-op.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


Dunno if consoles are dead, but with the increasing greed of game companies who want nothing but money, and have no passion for creating good games, and by this have been making games for consoles then shoddily porting them to the PC, it seems more to me that the PC is dying a slow death via derpification by games being made for consoles first. And consoles are by and large for derps who want limited options, linear play, and no thinking involved.

Not to mention that horse # DRM schemes like steam ruin PC games for those who do not take kindly to the kind of crap they force on game buyers, like inability to resell, possibly required internet connection at all times, forcing a steam log in, etc, which is not what PC games, especially single play games, need.

Skyrim comes to mind as a super example of a butchered game due to first being made for the console derp crowd, then given a hack-job port, THEN being forced to use a third party program (steam).

No freaking wonder piracy is prevalent in the game community... its because of the developers/publishers. I couldnt even think of buying a game blind anymore these days; I would have to try it out first. 9/10ths of the time the game wont live up to hype anyway, and if it does, 9/10ths of the time itll be a game thats pretty much been done before, but with updated graphics.

The PC game market really took a turn for the worse in about 2005, IMO, and its just gotten worse little by little ever since. And as long as people still buy games from these companies, theyll continue to churn out the same crap.

Truly GOOD games are getting rarer and rarer.

Sorry for the rant

I still have not upgraded from my Nintendo 64. Was thinking about buying a system this year. I like strategy games so PC gaming is suitable for me..but I do like some of the sports games that I have played on my nephews' 360.

Peace

Originally posted by FreeSpeaker


The consoles are soo far behind pc in performance that there is no way they can build the next gen without the cost being soo high that people would be insane to not buy a pc that provides soo many more functions than simply gaming or watching netflix. Sony and Microsoft have lost 10 BILLION since 2000!!!!! I dont think the consoles are yet fully in the grave but when, and if, the next gen comes out it may not be what people expected.

I own and play on a Playstation 3. To be honest I think it's amazing, with full HD graphics. The days of squinting while playing on your television are over. Personally to upkeep your computer with the latest and greatest video card just so you can play a newer game is very expensive, not to mention the processor that you might have to replace to play it as well. There are plus and negative sides to both PC or console gaming.

Originally posted by PhysicsAdept
reply to post by FreeSpeaker

 

Well, though you can adapt a PC to feel like a console... there is no substitute for holding that nice cool controller in your fingers after a hard day of work.

You can use both the PS3 and Xbox controllers on pc.
But really I know its not the same unless you have your pc connected to your tv.

pc gaming is dead.

Originally posted by jvm222
pc gaming is dead.

By "pc" we are covering things like Iphones and Ipads etc. In the article it talks of the free-to-play pc stuff being the real monster. 500 million playing AngryBirds and 25 million playing COD. Sure these ftp games are free but people always spend a few bucks buying some dlc so its easy to imagine how much money they are making.

reply to post by FreeSpeaker


I think PCs will evolve into consoles and consoles into PCs. Eventually, I don't think there will be a distinction. I imagine that within the next couple of console generations (PS4/XBOXwhatever), consoles will fill in many of the gaps that PCs fill like web surfing and basic document management. Already you can see that with the PS3 (before they took away Linux) and even the Macs are pretty much already consoles. Look at the iPad! It's pretty much a little bit of everything.

I think PC users will eventually be regulated into small groups who need the flexibility for work or who simply like to work on them.

Personally after soo many years of declining pc game quality

Maybe you should just stop looking at the mainstream market. Forget Bethesda, EA, Activision and the other companies who only puke out sequel after sequel.
There is big, a very big, independent scene that still releases amazing games, bring out new ideas, are innovative and those games are even really cheap. Steam is a good source to get your hands on some of the best Independent games and i have more fun with them than with Crap of Duty or all the other boring mainstream stuff.

Also:


The PC has been declared dead for over 20 years. It was declared dead when the Playstation 1 arrived, when Dreamcast arrived, when the PS2 arrived and when Microsoft jumped into the console business. It was even declared dead on arrival because there was no chance in hell that it could compete with the Amiga or the video game consoles, somehow it still managed to survived, destroyed the Amiga and survived several console generations, always the forerunner for innovations (modding scene, online gameplay, new genres, technological innovations and improvements)
It's still there and while some Games may not be released for the PC (like Red Dead Redemption, NHL 12, Brütal Legend to name a few) it still gets more than enough games.
Also some games aren't made for consoles. First Person Shooters, Third Person Shooters, Strategy games will never really work on a console. The whole Pro-Gaming scene relies on the PC, the whole MMO-scenes relies on the PC and the most popular online games are basically PC only (World of Warcraft, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2...)

And consoles also don't go anywhere. They are way, way too popular. With every Generation more and more consoles are sold. I don't see a reason why it should suddenly stop

The only thing that will die out are Handheld systems. I would even be surprised if there are 1 or 2 new Game Boy Generations after the failure called 3DS. Smartphones are way more popular