I don't think home consoles will survive the next generation

[Kingjackl]

I think comparing the consoles with PC is a fool's errand. Regardless of the objective differences between them, they cater to different markets and different needs. Exclusives aren't the sole things keeping consoles afloat; sure, a good killer app can sometimes make or break an individual system, but it's not like everybody buys multiplatform games on PC, even if they are better.

As someone who has both a PS4 and a decent gaming PC, I will alternate depending on the type of game; I prefer a third-person game on console for example, even if it has a PC version. And I'm a minority, a lot of people will buy one or the other depending on what they want. And you know, look how well the current console generation is doing. The PS4's doing well, Xbox isn't far behind and the Switch is off to a great start. As long as they're making money, I don't see the bottom falling out for a while.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

A good (not the best) gaming PC rig will run you $1,500-$2,500.

You don't need to spend that amount of money if you want a machine better than a current gen console. Not to mention you have to spend 60 bucks a year to play online and the games are more expensive. So if you bought a PS4 at launch and had PS+ since launch, you've spent 600-650 bucks on the console and online alone.

OT: I don't think consoles will die out, at least not this soon. I'd be more worried about the lack of competition, Sony is simply dominating the market right now and Microsoft is moving all of their games to PC. Nintendo doesn't really need to compete with anyone.

That guy is so full of shit. The system builds he does don?t include a case, keyboard, mouse, power supply, or whatever else suits his disingenuous and self-serving methodology. Anyone can build a
4400 PC if they have hundreds of dollars of equipment already on hand or given to them for free, which is a big part of his shtick. One of his videos had a system that realistically cost $1200 being touted as $400 because he had a spare 1080 GPU hanging around.

Except that it does include a case, power supply and a m&k.

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

 

[Sexual Harassment Panda]

No idea.

I know a few people who are probably a stones-throw away from swapping console for PC. I've seen their eye-brows raise in conversation when I dispelled the notion that PC's still required constant upgrades. I also know significantly more people who I simply couldn't imagine going PC, and definitely not with a desktop rig like mine.

There's no way I'd ever give up my PC entirely, but I could see myself being more console orientated if the hardware got less crappy. I've played bits and pieces of FPS games on console, and despite not loving the controller, it does appear to me that the games play-out better there. Something about the longer time-to-kill and the fact that (relatively speaking) I can believe that nobody is cheating makes it a nice experience.

 

[sanquin]

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

Consoles don't include a monitor either. And you forget that you can plug a PC into a TV just as easily as a console. And a PC doesn't come with a subscription to play online. And you can get tons of games for WAY cheaper than on a console, especially if you wait for stuff like steam sales.

Getting a good PC for 375 dollars is...a bit out there but might be possible. However if you have 500~600 dollars you can definitely buy/put together a PC that outperforms consoles by quite a bit. And yes, that includes a kb+m, and all the hardware needed to play, excluding the monitor. (which you don't need if you have a TV as I said before.) For 1200~1500 dollars you can buy/put together a PC in the top 10% of all users.

Heck the hardware in my PC including my kb+m and monitor are probably worth around 800~900 dollars total and it is already ranked around the top 10%.

I wish these stupid myths about how expensive a gaming pc is would just die already...

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

Did your console come with a TV? Anyway, I'm not in favor of these builds. If you're gonna build a PC, don't cheap out. It pays off in the long run.

Excuse me? I'm an American, I already own a TV, which I use to watch TV on and play video games on. If I'm gonna buy a gaming PC I'm not gonna use my TV so I'm gonna need a new monitor

 

[sanquin]

Excuse me? I'm an American, I already own a TV, which I use to watch TV on and play video games on. If I'm gonna buy a gaming PC I'm not gonna use my TV so I'm gonna need a new monitor

Why won't you use your TV for your PC? As you said, you already play games on your TV. Why would it matter whether it's a PC or console that you hooked up to it? Heck, most games on PC support controllers as well, so you don't even need to use KB+M if you don't like that.

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

Consoles don't include a monitor either. And you forget that you can plug a PC into a TV just as easily as a console. And a PC doesn't come with a subscription to play online. And you can get tons of games for WAY cheaper than on a console, especially if you wait for stuff like steam sales.

Getting a good PC for 375 dollars is...a bit out there but might be possible. However if you have 500~600 dollars you can definitely buy/put together a PC that outperforms consoles by quite a bit. And yes, that includes a kb+m, and all the hardware needed to play, excluding the monitor. (which you don't need if you have a TV as I said before.) For 1200~1500 dollars you can buy/put together a PC in the top 10% of all users.

Heck the hardware in my PC including my kb+m and monitor are probably worth around 800~900 dollars total and it is already ranked around the top 10%.

I agree, $600 seems like a fair low-ball amount, I was mainly balking at the 375 figure
I could do all that, but instead of paying $600 I can spend $310 on a PS4 and a year of PS gold or whatever (actually I already have a year from my PS3) and spend twenty bucks on a game every few months because I don't play that many different games, and it will probably be a couple of years before I would have spent the same amount of money on a PC

All I'm trying to say is consoles ain't going anywhere anytime soon because they are perfect for people like me who want to game but don't want to drop a huge chunk of their paycheck all at once (especially when there are so many other cool things I can buy for $600, like a Glock)

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Excuse me? I'm an American, I already own a TV, which I use to watch TV on and play video games on. If I'm gonna buy a gaming PC I'm not gonna use my TV so I'm gonna need a new monitor

Why won't you use your TV for your PC? As you said, you already play games on your TV. Why would it matter whether it's a PC or console that you hooked up to it? Heck, most games on PC support controllers as well, so you don't even need to use KB+M if you don't like that.

Cuz keyboard and mouse is the perfect setup for FPSs, and is probably the biggest reason I would switch to PC gaming

It just doesn't make sense to me to buy a PC for couch and TV gaming when a console can do practically the same thing for much cheaper

 

[Mcgeezaks]

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

Like previously mentioned, does a PS4 include a monitor? Yes, it includes every piece of hardware. You can use W10 for free, you'll have a couple of cosmetic restrictions but that's about it.

This build is almost 3 years old.

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

Did your console come with a TV? Anyway, I'm not in favor of these builds. If you're gonna build a PC, don't cheap out. It pays off in the long run.

Me neither (Hell, I've spent almost $5,500 on my PC the past 6 years) but it's proof that you can build a slightly better PC for almost the same price as a console.

Excuse me? I'm an American, I already own a TV, which I use to watch TV on and play video games on. If I'm gonna buy a gaming PC I'm not gonna use my TV so I'm gonna need a new monitor

Why won't you use your TV for your PC? As you said, you already play games on your TV. Why would it matter whether it's a PC or console that you hooked up to it? Heck, most games on PC support controllers as well, so you don't even need to use KB+M if you don't like that.

Cuz keyboard and mouse is the perfect setup for FPSs, and is probably the biggest reason I would switch to PC gaming

It just doesn't make sense to me to buy a PC for couch and TV gaming when a console can do practically the same thing for much cheaper

So the only difference between PC and consoles is the setup?

 

[sanquin]

I agree, $600 seems like a fair low-ball amount, I was mainly balking at the 375 figure
I could do all that, but instead of paying $600 I can spend $310 on a PS4 and a year of PS gold or whatever (actually I already have a year from my PS3) and spend twenty bucks on a game every few months because I don't play that many different games, and it will probably be a couple of years before I would have spent the same amount of money on a PC

All I'm trying to say is consoles ain't going anywhere anytime soon because they are perfect for people like me who want to game but don't want to drop a huge chunk of their paycheck all at once (especially when there are so many other cool things I can buy for $600, like a Glock)

As long as you don't claim that consoles are better in any way than PC's, then that's fine. Not every gamer needs the best of the best to play their games. If consoles work for you, good for you.

I also doubt consoles are going to go away any time soon, for the same reasons that you like playing on console rather than PC. Some (or probably a lot of) people just like the feel of playing a console more, and as you, are apprehensive about paying a large sum right now so you don't have to spend as much later on.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

Spoiler

Spoiler

 

[DrownedAmmet]

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

Like previously mentioned, does a PS4 include a monitor? Yes, it includes every piece of hardware. You can use W10 for free, you'll have a couple of cosmetic restrictions but that's about it.

This build is almost 3 years old.

Does it include monitor? Does it include every piece of hardware? Does it include a windows license?

I find this very hard to believe. But still, $375 is more than $250 dollars for a PS4.

Did your console come with a TV? Anyway, I'm not in favor of these builds. If you're gonna build a PC, don't cheap out. It pays off in the long run.

Me neither (Hell, I've spent almost $5,500 on my PC the past 6 years) but it's proof that you can build a slightly better PC for almost the same price as a console.

Excuse me? I'm an American, I already own a TV, which I use to watch TV on and play video games on. If I'm gonna buy a gaming PC I'm not gonna use my TV so I'm gonna need a new monitor

Why won't you use your TV for your PC? As you said, you already play games on your TV. Why would it matter whether it's a PC or console that you hooked up to it? Heck, most games on PC support controllers as well, so you don't even need to use KB+M if you don't like that.

Cuz keyboard and mouse is the perfect setup for FPSs, and is probably the biggest reason I would switch to PC gaming

It just doesn't make sense to me to buy a PC for couch and TV gaming when a console can do practically the same thing for much cheaper

So the only difference between PC and consoles is the setup?

I'll have to actually watch the video, (at work now can't watch it yet) last time I built my own gaming PC was back in 2008 for around $500 using leftover parts from friends and family (and I had to spend an extra couple hundred when the thing overheated and burnt out after six months)

And yeah, I don't see what the difference is other than setup and what type of games are on consoles vs PC. I do also miss RTS games but they don't make those anymore

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

But they're so damn convenient!

 

[Specter Von Baren]

As long as consoles are more convenient I don't see them going anywhere yet.

And yes, I know PC gaming can be convenient in its own way and can be cost effective if you know what you're doing, but guess who doesn't know about that or wants to bother with all that shit? The average consumer... and me.

PC gaming, whether true or not, certainly still has the image of being way more complicated than console gaming. So in that area consoles don't have too much to fear. What's really going to kill off the home console, I think, is a combination of the decline of interest in big AAA games (which might happen or might not) and the simple, instant gratification of mobile gaming. Those phone games are gonna be the real killer.

I agree with some of this, but I think the phone games are just another way to play. They have replaced most of the mobile gaming market due to smart phone convenience, but if we compare them strictly to what we get on PC or console, most of these phone games are little more than shovelware. Some are designed well to work on a mobile platform as simple time wasters but then we have to consider the form factor. No one would want to resort to playing on a 4" screen and tinny sounding .5" speaker when they have a TV or at least a monitor, often hooked up to stereo equipment.

There is still room for each of these platforms for gaming, and it's peculiar how prophecies always seem to be made about one or the other "ending", usually about half way through a typical hardware cycle. For me it really isn't much different than saying a grill or microwave is going to die out because of the stove.

 

[sXeth]

Consoles will survive until something causes PC maker/sellers and Game Developers to agree on a universal baseline that every PC model makes and every game released will run at least at an average level on without significant errors. That they stick to for some margin of 5-10 years.

Steam was probably in the best position to push this 7 or 8 years ago before their monopoly started fracturing, but their attempt besides being late, was just a brand licensing deal in the end.

The last time I straight up bought a "gaming PC" (technically it was a gift, which was why it was a prebuild anyways), it was a case of going into Best Buy, buying the one labelled for gaming. Then after getting it home and set up, it wouldn't play a game that came about a month ago because the graphics card lacked memory. Then couldn't get the graphics card with enough memory because the motherboard didn't have PCI-E (IIRC) slots which were a rarity at the time.

There's multiple points of fault here, but its an illustration of why you can't sell the PC ideal to the wider market who just want a product that they take home, install the game, and it works on.

 

[BrawlMan]

Another day, another thread where somebody's talking about the end of the console or PC era. I remember when gaming magazines wouldn't stop talking about the latter in the early to late 2000s. Consoles have a good long while to go. I think the only way the console market will end, if there is lack of interest in the AAA Market or it becomes oversaturated.

 

[Specter Von Baren]

The irony of this entire topic is of course that console sales for multi-platform games still heavily outnumber PC sales, even if you go by console-for-console comparisons. For those of us that fall into the core gamer demographic, consoles might not seem like the best choice. For pretty much everyone else it is, especially in these days when a tablet can do pretty much anything you needed a home-PC for just a few years ago.

Those multiplatform sales don't help the console makers though. All of those sales have percentages given to the developers of the games who are third party. If a game can be gotten on any system then it means people have less reason to buy one system over another and multiplatform games have increased by a huge amount.

It's a view that appears every some time here for the last years and proven wrong. I like to compare it to cars, the fact you can buy super cars for obscene prices or build your own better car with pre bought parts for less doesn't make the world suddently stop buying regular cars which might perform worse and looks worse but still does the job of getting from A to B in good time and reliability.

Even a broken clock is right twice a day.

I have a slight correction for you. MICROSOFT and SONY's consoles won't survive another generation. They are just dumbed down pc boxes. Nintendo's consoles will survive on the japanese portable market.

I'm half joking, but seriously watching Microsoft fling itself towards irrelevancy with underpowered pc wannabes is so weird.

Oh I'm aware of that. I just can't give Nintendo too many props in my opening statement or else everyone that comes in here is just going to turn this into a Nintendo VS Sony/Microsoft debate which isn't what I want.

 

[RaikuFA]

Considering it's extremely hard to perform upkeep/maintenence on a PC it's not worth it IMO.