Microsoft or Sony Dropping Out of the Hardware Business, Predicts Gaikai

[karloss01]

I wouldn't even call this news, its just some company wishing the death of their competitors.

 

[ph0b0s123]

Maybe they are right and it will be Microsoft. With their more entertainment focus for their next console, to make it finally the 'center of the living room', Microsoft's next device may not be able to be called a console. It will still be able to play games, but that will be only one of it's talents rather than being it's main talent. You have got to ask your self as consoles focus on more than just playing games, will they still meet the definition of a console, i.e a device constructed for mainly playing games.....

 

[SonOfVoorhees]

Costs a lot to make a console. Always thought Sony and MS should build a console together and half the cost. MS makes the software and Sony the hardware and us gamers get all the best games. (Dont include Nintendo as there games have never interested me.)

It might happen? I remember people said there was no way there would be a Metal Gear, GTA or Final Fantasy game on a non sony console. Same was said about Sonic being on anything other than a Sega console.

 

[Xanthious]

Well this fella is obviously right. I mean, hell, it's likely that Microsoft and Sony just have too much damn money now and need to start cutting off some of their cash flows before they have to start throwing money in the garbage out of a lack of places to store it. Yeah that has to be the case.

 

[ACman]

??????

First off, the Wii U apparently just brings Nintendo up to current gen and makes it semi-mobile; so how does that compete with full power consoles in any way?

Second graphical fidelity has reached a point where increases in computing power do not correlate to improvements in graphical output: The development cycle is already stretched to the max by high definition. About the only improvements that are possible for X-Box and Playstation are more memory and a better BUS for both and a Blu-Ray player for X-Box.

Both companies should forget about hardware improvements and think about the cloud to wit: improve their current system's internet browsing abilities and their online distribution.

 

[Scrustle]

Haha! Yeah right, keep telling yourself that Mr Reeves. It won't make it happen.

 

[Vivi22]

So Nintendo is definitely releasing a console which means they aren't dropping hardware. Cloud gaming isn't close to viable yet for the mass market so we won't see either Sony or Microsoft committing to go that route instead of making a console. Microsoft gained a lot of ground and consumer goodwill (somehow) during this past generation so I doubt they'll bow out yet. And Sony was pretty much on par with Microsoft despite releasing a year later and are notorious for making bad business decisions, so even if it was in their best interest to get out now they wouldn't. And to top it off, The Wii-U probably isn't going to be the runaway sales success the Wii was.

Yeah, I don't see anybody getting off the console train this generation.

 

[Mortuorum]

I, too, am getting a bit sick of hearing of the "cloud revolution".

It's really too early. And I'm one of those people who believe that Singularity will be here in my lifetime. Really, the XBOX 720 and PlayStation 4 will release just fine. If anything, I figure cloud gaming won't become the norm until 2030 or so. Right now, we are in an internet gaming revolution, but that revolution is Digital Distribution. Growing rapidly enough that is threatens traditional media.

Just so. I find it extremely unlikely that either Microsoft or Sony is going to skip this console cycle. Now, it's entirely possible that this next generation will be the last time MS and Sony go head-to-head, but I'll wait another half-decade to see how things are shaping up before betting the farm on it.

 

[Chicago Ted]

EDIT:

Sorry, mixed up tabs. Posted in wrong thread.

 

[Saltyk]

I'll believe it when I see it. That's all I really have to say.

 

[Stormz]

The moment cload gaming becomes the norm. I will quit console gaming. Cloud gaming is even WORSE the online always DRM. Which is saying a lot in my case. I refuse to support any kind of DRM of this kind and I never will.

 

[xPixelatedx]

So first we start gradually started moving to a digital download only business model (something many companies like Sony would like to adopt entierly) then we get rid of real controllers (then controllers all together with the kinect) and now some people want consoles to disappear all together...

So at what point is gaming going to turn into us just sitting in a room /going outside and using our imaginations? Because I've been doing that ever since I was 3, and guess what, it's free! What a testament to how utterly lazy things have become.

 

[Pebkio]

Yeah, the more likely (to quit on gaming hardware) is Sony. But... yknow what? The least likely of all is that cloud-gaming built into a TV is going to replace consoles this year. Bwa. Ha. Ha.

I mean, no one will buy an upgrade for a TV just to play games on it. That'll just leave two kinds of TVs: Regular-ones and gaming-ones-that-cost-twice-as-much. I really don't see how this'll lower end-user costs...

 

[CapitalistPig]

Neither does Microsoft. Right now the ONLY GUYS making money is NINTENDO.

The costs are getting so high Sony and Microsoft just cant compete much longer. Gaming will suffer a huge wipe of the slate, allowing a new era of creativity to exist.

I had to cover this in an article with sources up the ass. Consoles are on their last legs, and big business is what killed it.

First of all no way in hell you are gonna tell me Microsoft is losing money on Xbox 360. Mircosoft has made a profit on the actual unit for the past 11 quarters. The info that they lose "$125 per unit" is out of date. You really think it costs them more then $20 to have a packaged 120 Gig hard drive on a Gamestop shelf? That's probably high balling manufacturing and shipping costs as it is. Not to mention every single service such as Huluplus and Netflix that is used on Xbox live has to give them a cut. that's essentially a free lunch. And since they take network subscriptions they get more money from fees and contracts. The only thing that is potentially ruinous is that the dumbass board invests in every form of media that pokes its head out of society's ass. Leading to large amounts of debt accumulated from third party contracts. So the problem isn't the bottom layer which is essentially fat that the top can skim off for whimsical use. Its the head hanchos who think they need phone apps and twitter associations (that one doesn't actually exist......yet.)

The idea that "Big Business" killed console gaming is some hippy concoction that doesn't actually exist. When exactly did console gaming not come from "Big business" or are you going to site something like Atari that came out 3 decades ago. Besides even though Nintendo makes money on their Wii, well whoopee that's the least valuable product in console gaming. Don't be fooled innovation costs money (the design aspect) hardware is dirt cheap (logistics.) The only reason they lose money is because of royalty checks that they pay out to the hardware developers.

 

[CapitalistPig]

So first we start gradually started moving to a digital download only business model (something many companies like Sony would like to adopt entierly) then we get rid of real controllers (then controllers all together with the kinect) and now some people want consoles to disappear all together...

So at what point is gaming going to turn into us just sitting in a room /going outside and using our imaginations? Because I've been doing that ever since I was 3, and guess what, it's free! What a testament to how utterly lazy things have become.

LOL "this just in the controller is now your eyes." Lets see them make a gameplay trailer of someone sitting on a couch having waking REM seizures.

 

[CapitalistPig]

They lose money on SALES, but it took them taxing developers to make up the difference. Why do you think games cost 60$ now? Its the tax they levy on their developers. This is what I mean by big business. The taxes levied are so huge the small companies just cannot compete anymore. They cant afford to get their foot in the door. This is why PC, casual, and Nintendo games are so emphasized now. Its cheaper, and lower risk. The internet is easier to sell their game on, opposed to a retail setting where a big IP gets most of the attention.

Retail has a bias. Do you really think a new Ip would get the same treatment as a big IP? No, they are going to shove it to the back and put Modern Warfare out in front. Why? Because its most likely to sell, and its what people want. This is what I mean by "big business" because it creates an impenetrable wall so big the only flow to console gaming is going OUT and not IN.

Not to mention used game sales grew in response to higher costs. The consumer will not take a price hike laying down. This is a dangerous situation, one that leads to a future of DRM heavy console games.

That is all part of being a smart consumer. Not a gamer with a cause. If I want name brand clothes I go to TJ Max not the mall where its 50% off. But here's the truth most consumers aren't smart. They go to gamestop buy a brand new console with the box set $99 edition of Modern warfare. Same reason American Eagle is still around. Retail is a grab bag. But your right if I want indie games I go online. Another dirty secret? indie gamers like you and me aren't the ones that Mircosoft and Sony care about. Because being smart consumers they lost us before they had us. The forever cynics that won't give them a penny. Let me ask you this, what would Microsoft have to do differently to entice you to buy one of their consoles. While you answer that realize they will never do any of those things for you because they don't care about you. Its entertainment they provide we inhale thats about it. and if you think that's gonna get snuffed out because of a few rocky roads I would look critcally at the number of chickens in this basket. There's too much money at stake for them to just throw up their hands and say "aw shucks we gave it a go."

Nintendo can do indie but they suck at triple A games. And vice versa, Microsoft and Sony do triple A and to hell with indie. Niche consumerism if you will.

 

[CapitalistPig]

snip

fair enough I respect that opinion. Lets hope it all happens for the best of the consumer. cheers to that

EDIT: quoted the wrong quote sorry.