Consoles Will Be Dead in 5-10 Years

[CSN NewsBot]

The ex-VP of Xbox Europe feels as though the game console as we know it will be going the way of the Dodo in less than a decade's time.

here is a definite convergence of other devices, such as set top boxes. There's hardly any technology difference between some hard disc video recorders and an Xbox 360, for example.



In fact in 5 to 10 years I don't think you'll have any box at all under your TV, most of this stuff will be virtualized as web services by your content provider.

CVG clears up that last statement about the lack of a physical box.

We think he means you'll stream data from a server or PC straight to your telly, so technically they'll still be a box involved somewhere - it just won't be a console as we know it.

Given the rate at which things are progressing with consoles, they're coming closer and closer to being PC's. All or some of them already have Internet browsing abilities, swappable hardware (hard drives, peripherals, and aesthetic pieces), the ability to play multiple media formats in a media center environment, software updates, support for keyboards and mice, among other things.



What are your thoughts on this? Will the game consoles, as you know it, be completely gone within a decade? In some ways, the "console" has already started to fade.

[Ryosuke T]

hahahahhaha.



^

yep. hahahahhaha.

[Remani]

if you think about it, aren't all console developers basically working their way to make consoles as similar to PCs as possible..except that the main difference is the feel of where you play it, what types of games you play, and how you play them (controllers and all that good shiznit)? PCs are slowly progressing their ways onto TVs anyways..people use them together for a bunch of crap. i think consoles outside of the classic ones will be dead soon enough.

[sathanas]

I predict Tamagotchis are the future.

[kalabalana]

I wouldn't say 5-10. I had actually thought something similar to this for a while though, a main house system with some generalized standards.

[sathanas]

Reading those articles they make it seem like because the Wii was successful Sony and Microsoft are going to settle on Bingo through a web-browser built into a TV for next "cycle"?



The Xbox and PS brands will die a horrible death if they try to go casual like the Wii, so they may as well go down fighting with an initial loss on the hardware than everyone just laughing at them.

[Diamond Dust]

I think consoles will be like those stripped down pc's just for using the internet, a console will be a stripped down pc only good for gaming, but it will be really really good at it. Consoles are really helping to bridge our computers and our tv's into one. Now you get a nice 20-30 inch hd tv and you can use it as a tv and a computer monitor, or you can stream media from your pc to your game console.

[meowmeow]

Consoles won't disappear in 5 - 10 years, controllers for consoles will, eventually a mouse+keyboard method will replace em. Too bad the Phantom console didn't make it, would've been a definite problem solver, but too bad the peeps over at Phantom Entertainment/Infinium Labs had to fuck things up.

[rizzuh]

I think there's a distinct advantage that consoles have. "Xbox 360" is a product in a way that "Windows Vista PC" is not. There are very few types Xbox 360's (Core, Premium — Halo and Elite are the same as Premium to vast majority gamer). These consoles can fall in price whereas PCs are being made better and faster rather than retaining one performance target and benefiting from the economics of scale. The fixed hardware makes an it easier for developers to gauge how a game will play in the real-world.



To have a game published on Xbox 360, you have to pass all the requirements and pay a licensing fee. The requirements ensure interoperability between all games, the hardware, and host OS as well as a consistent experience for gamers (i.e. achievements). The fee prevents many terrible games from even being developed for consoles.



No one's even using their 360 as a DVR at the moment, how can we possibly expect in two hardware cycles that the Xbox 1024 won't even exist and will be a web service?

meowmeow wrote..

Consoles won't disappear in 5 - 10 years, controllers for consoles will, eventually a mouse+keyboard method will replace em.

So you're playing the Xbox 900 with some cute girls and it's their turn so you pass them the... mouse and keyboard?

[Sintra]

Wait... weren't consoles the future?

[Tono_Tako]

Hey zips check steam, prey is at $5 ! just this weekend

[displayroxs]

If only the future of consoles would allow a Keyboard and Mouse option instead of a damn controller.



That would be sickkkk

[WooFerPPK]

maybe the future of gaming is on a mac D:

[Kotae]

You know, giving consoles a keyboard + mouse would almost make them more like a goofy computer you can't upgrade.



controller please.

[displayroxs]

Yes, that's one of the primary reason to have a console. So most people don't have to worry about upgrading it until the next 5-6 years when the next generation console comes out. It's a standard platform that plays all games that are made for it perfectly fine.



Call me old school... but I'd prefer my +150 Key Keyboard & 5 Button mouse over any type of controller any day.



Back on topic though... I don't think the 'console' will fade for some time. True, consoles have, over time, gained the characteristics of PCs - yet all those features are just 'add-on features' that help promote the real product: a reasonably priced gaming system. I am a hardcore PC fan for life. However, it's understandable that most people don't want to end up paying $1600 for a new PC gaming rig, when they can pay $400 for a system that can play games, browse the web, play CD/DVDs, etc.



Also, with the success of the Wii - it's only logical for Sony and Microsoft to follow in Nintendo's footsteps and create something completely original and innovative. A 'Wii-Mote' for the PC would need to take some serious standardization, and wouldn't happen over quite some time.



All in all, <3 Counter-Strike.

(something I hope we can all at LEAST agree in)