"Video game" system or "Home entertainment" system

[Twilight_guy]

In the old days, when pacman roamed the Earth, there were video game systems. They were called video game systems because they exclusively played video games. Now a days, systems(except the wii) can play just about anything that you throw in it. This has lead to the use of systems for other things like watching movies, listening to music, etc. Internet connectivity has also altered the use of systems. Increasingly "video game" systems are becoming "home entertainment" systems which are used for a variety of things, not just playing video games.

Where do you see the future of systems? As a device that plays any media and just happens to also play video games, or as something that is still used primarily for video games.

 

[RabidPotatoe]

I reckon a console should stay specialised, so as to offer the most value for what it does best - play games. The PC still beats them as a jack of all trades, or so it seems to me.

But they will probably just keep trying to jam more shit into them for the sheer hell of it.

 

[Kikosemmek]

You can do both today with a computer.

 

[Lightknight]

Specialization is great and all, but these additional features don't generally affect game play. They only affect cost and the size of the machine. But why shouldn't a system that uses blu-ray discs for games not be able to play blu-ray movies? It simply makes sense to add these things.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

If you already have a DVD or Blu-Ray drive, as Lightknight points out, the added ability to play movies (and CDs, since both formats are back-compatible for that) should be trivial to add in terms of hardware. It used to be a bigger issue for manufacturers to license the decryption software to read movie discs than to include the mechanics. And once you've got that, since you already have surround-sound support and a memory device, why not add the other components of a media system?

It's not like the old Nintendo Entertainment System days...

-- Steve

 

[Erana]

"Video game" is an outdated term itself, if you ask me.

 

[Neosage]

Can ps3s play DvDs?

 

[laikenf]

I reckon a console should stay specialised, so as to offer the most value for what it does best - play games. The PC still beats them as a jack of all trades, or so it seems to me.

But they will probably just keep trying to jam more shit into them for the sheer hell of it.

No RabidPotatoe, this is not a PC vs Consoles thread. I know, I know, it's tempting; but you can, you can...

Edit: but I do agree with you, in that they will keep on trying to stuff up those consoles with "features" and then try to sell them as everything but gaming devices (although everyone else but them knows it's video games we're talking about).

 

[Aardvark]

I say Consoles. I play Games on them. Sometimes I watch Movies or TV Shows on them.

This generation of consoles is awesome. I'm hoping Gen 8 consoles will have some kind of temporal interface or a cerebral spike or something that allows you to become the game.

 

[Anton P. Nym]

Eggo, just say "no" to platform wars. You know you can do it if you try.

-- Steve