Poll: Will we ever need a new generation of consoles at all? [NOT a "NOW" question]

[Mr Jack]

Point taken on the 1 source for parts thing. That could be a problem. The fix would i guess put us back to how it is now.

As for the part exchange. Only the actual electrical parts change (leaving USB type ports aside for a minute) as opposed to something that moves etc. When the architecture changes, that usually only changes one part - such as the motherboard- unless i'm mistaken. You can still use the same RAM and GPU unless I grossly misunderstand electronics.
I think i could mentally iron out a lot of the problems in my head, though getting corporate people to do the same in reality might be a different story.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the insides are what makes up the console, but they're essentially the same as a family buying an HP pavillion PC, and then buying a new one every few years because it doesn't have the guts to run something they want. It kind of comes down to the console market catering to the hardware, and the PC market catering to the software.

You are correct, usually graphics and RAM can be used again when you upgrade. But:
- Graphics cards tend to be the first thing you would want to replace though, as the rate of improvement in that area is high.
- In ten years we have gone from DDR, to DDR2, to dual or triple channel DDR3. These standards have no compatibility between them.
- We are currently making the switch from SATA III to SATA III as an interface for consumer storage; not long ago it was IDE.
- PCE 3.0 is slated to appear within a year.

You could attempt to create an upgradeable console, but I think the downsides would outweigh the benefits.

Like you said, the people buying consoles are generally not interested in mucking around with the innards, and would rather just buy a new one when it comes out. I think it is probably the most elegant solution for consoles.

 

[imagremlin]

Do we need a new generation of consoles?
TLDR: Computers are cheap, consoles are getting more expensive, increasingly they can do the same stuff.
Do we need a new console generation, or are they so like PCs now that it would be largely pointless?

I don't think your argument holds water.

From the consumer perspective, PCs will always be troublesome to use. There's plenty of people out there not willing to deal with drivers, upgrades and virii any more than they have to. Consoles on the other hand are appliances, plug and play. That's a huge draw for a significant portion of the market.

From the developer/publisher perspective, Consoles are a much more controlled environment. DRM is much more effective on consoles as it most often require physical modifications, which is a barrier for a lot of users.

For these two reasons the consoles have the biggest marketshare and will continue to have it for any forseeable future.

 

[Bad Jim]

I csn see a big flaw in the "PCs are cheaper" argument. Consoles are currently uncompetitive because the current generation is too old. A new generation of consoles would be much better than PCs at the same price point and would have PC gamers buying $1000 PCs again.

Consoles can do this because
- They are usually loss leaders. They are sold at a loss and the money is made back through game sales.
- They are built specifically to run games. The PC architecture is not an elegant way to build a games machine. Most of the RAM in a PC is not directly addressable by the GPU, for instance.
- Games are designed around the consoles they run on. They use the machine to the full without overtaxing them. The PC version can only be a rough guess at what will work.

I would say the future is probably cloud gaming ie Onlive. The average gamer won't have to buy a console or new graphics card, the devs won't suffer piracy and you don't have to upgrade every few years.

Further, cloud gaming can achieve much better graphics. A cloud gaming server can pool resources. It only needs enough graphics hardware for the people actually online, only needs enough RAM for each resource the players are using and only needs enough hard drive space for a single copy of each game. And you can RAID stripe those hard drives together for super fast loading.

Cloud gaming also allows more depth in games. Shallow, linear games occur because current consoles have respectable rendering power but tiny RAM. Cloud gaming can make incredibly efficient use of RAM/storage far beyond the efficiency gains in terms of rendering power. The result is that massive worlds will once again be possible.

However, a lot of people don't have enough internet bandwidth to use Onlive, and most people don't have the bandwidth for 1080p or better resolution. So I think there will be another console generation. But by 2020 I reckon everyone's internet will be plenty fast enough, so there won't be a console generation after that.

 

[Westaway]

Yes, because they still simpler, I mean, we still just plug it in in the fucking wall. Plus, no need for upgrading. They might just be gaming PCs for idiots, but whatever.

 

[Sexy Devil]

Until we have photo-realistic graphics with flawless AI, and large open worlds on par with the size of what Skyrim is looking to be if the game needs it, then we will always need a new console generation.

Oh actually read the OP now. I bought Resistance 3 on Tuesday, and it took an hour and a half to start playing because the install wasn't playing nice with my console. At that point I remembered when you could just pick up a game and play. So my answer is yes, but they have to remember why people actually liked consoles in the first place. PCs are always going to be capable of doing what they're trying to do, and will do it better.

 

[spartan231490]

I think you're overlooking the fact that many gamers don't like pc gaming. You are also overlooking the fact that gaming consoles, while they are getting more expensive, are still cheaper than a good gaming computer. A good gaming computer is not "inexpensive." Even if you build it yourself, a top-end gaming computer will cost over a grand. I doubt that the next generation of consoles will be much over $500

There are several problems with this arguement, which is trotted out over and over again, is that;
A. A top end gaming PC is vastly more powerful than a console, a machine of comparable power is obtainable for around $600-$700
B. You don't include the Price of the TV in a Console, so don't include the price of a monitor in the PC. (If you really wanted to you could hook your PC up to your TV.)
c. At the beginning when the consoles costed the most, they were sold at a loss.
D. Aforementioned PC machine with comparable capbilites to the consoles is still a superior option becasue of it's versatility.
E. Games are cheaper on PC, not just $10-15 cheaper either, you can get them for ridiculously low prices via the digital distribution services.


Weighed against this is the PC true downsides, consoles are undeniably more user freindly. However even this is changing. The digital distribution services auto isntall and patch your games. (And the consoles are beginnign to require epic patches.)


Still there will always be peopel who don't want even to attempt even the minor hurdles that PC gaming presents, and the new streaming gaming services will offer even less hassle than cosnosles (Provided you have a good internet connection.)

A) you didn't disprove any of my points. You don't use a comparable machine for PC gaming because the requirements are different. you don't buy a TV for your console, you usually do buy a monitor for your PC. irrelevant to current discussion, we are discussing the future, not the past. It may be more versatile, that doesn't make it the superior option, it just means that it's more versatile; As I said, some people prefer consoles, and some people already have a computer and just don't want to game on it, and the comfort factor is huge; leaning over a computer is uncomfortable, reclining in your couch with your feet up and a Mnt. Dew is heaven. Games are just $10-15 cheaper, digital distribution is not equivalent for a whole other set of issues, including the fact that some people like having physical copies of their games, not to mention the hassle that digital copies become if you have a hardware crash or a virus.

it all comes down to preference, and comfort, two factors which will keep consoles around for a good long time yet. Gaming is a luxury item anyway, you don't buy a Ferrari because it's cheaper.