Microsoft & Nintendo defending their hardware.

[Myk JL 1,730]

According to GameSpot articles that happened within seven days.

Xbox One Likely Won't Be Microsoft's Last Console, Exec Says

Nintendo Won't "Abandon" Wii U Fanbase, President Says

3DS Is "Here to Stay," Nintendo Exec Says

I'm probably making a big deal out of nothing. But it makes me wonder how bad is Microsoft & Nintendo doing if they have to answer these types of questions. I still expect myself to buy an Xbox One a month before The 4th Gen Xbox. And I'm still interested in the mystery that is The Nintendo NX.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

People buy their consoles to game mostly, and game in a certain way... with a standard controller.

 

Microsoft tried to do way to much with XBOX... all that is secondary to gaming, and are nice afterthoughts, but no one wants to pay for them, because they didn't ask for it in the first place.

 

Nintendo's gimmicks make me scratch my head... Their handheld market is so strong because its the closest their fans can get to normal gaming with classic buttons. You think they'd have learned by now after Power Pad, Zapper, Superscope 6, Power Glove, R.O.B., Wii Mote, Wii U game pad.... the list goes on.

 

Sony def doesn't need to be the only console on the market, it will just cause a PS3 era type blunder with no competition to make them change. In a fantasy world Nintendo would make Gamecube 2 and actually put hardware that was next gen in it.

[Sledgstone 8,672]

I think the end of the consoles will eventually happen once internet speeds pick up much more to compensate for input lag issues.

 

Old topic about it:

http://www.ancientclan.com/topic/12922-is-playstation-going-to-compete-with-steam/

 

Playstation as a service or store front, same with Xbox, could happen before we know it, but consoles as a whole will probably still exist because there is still large chunks of the world that don't have even basic broadband. Hand held systems like the Gameboy will probably stick around for the foreseeable future, but with how smart phones are progressing, the newer gameboys will have competition from just about every mobile company out there. With 3D, dual screens and fancy thumbsticks, the gameboy has things you'll never see put on a galaxy or iphone tho.

[Strider Hiryu 2,704]

Consoles won't die out but they will evolve with the times. VR is the next big thing Sony and Microsoft are adopting and they'll start pushing it once the tech gets cost affordable for the masses (expect the new console line to be fully or mostly VR compatible if the VR for this generation takes off) . The only other way to game is PC (mobile games aren't games imo, they're just money sinks and distractions that can be fun when you're bored but don't want to turn on the PS4/XBone/PC). What it comes down to is people aren't willing to blow the kind of money it takes to be a PC gamer and that will never change. Yes I know making an affordable gaming computer is not that expensive anymore, especially if you're willing to settle for mid to low tier parts and are willing to deal with not so great graphics and minor processing lag. However the need to upgrade components every 2-3 years to stay current with new PC games and tech is just not something most gamers are willing to do. With a console you spend an initial price and the console is good for 5+ years (yea the time between new console releases is getting shorter now so PC gaming might become the norm now) and the games evolve constantly on consoles as developers learn the hardware and what it's capable of.

 

Honestly handhelds will always exist due to them, as I stated in another topic, being aimed at children. Handhelds will never go anywhere even with evolving mobile tech. I don't know many parents who are going to give their 6 year old child a phone just so they can play games (I know I never would and I'm all about kids having access to technology). That same parent would be more then willing to hand over a DS because they're not that expensive and since they're a Nintendo product they're durable as all hell. Handhelds are the new babysitter, much like TV was for our generation so they'll never disappear.

 

They only real thing I see happening in the near future is Nintendo finally stepping out of the console market, a market they built from the ground up, due to their inability to evolve with the times. Don't get me wrong I like their willingness to take risks and bring new innovation into the market (as much as I hate it the Wii-mote was fucking genius and is the only motion tech that actually works as intended) but the last few years have not been kind to them and I see them cutting their losses (something I'd hate to see, I mean Nintendo pretty much created the industry with Atari and the few others that dared to dream). Outside of Nintendo I don't see Microsoft or Sony pulling out of consoles anytime soon, unless both fuck up with the next generation of consoles.

[DeathscytheX 9,732]

Yeah consoles will never go away. People just don't care to learn how relatively easy it is to upgrade computer components. It's even a pain in the ass to me. Spending $300 on a circuit board with fans when you can spend $400 on a whole console is a no brainer for the causal gamer. You buy the console and you're ensured that all the games will work for the next 5-8 years.

Plus the publishers make AAA games for consoles and then port them to PC if they are lucky. Less piracy risks will always make console gaming king. To this day you can't play Red Dead Redemption on PC, and that's a shame. The master race is missing out on one of the best open world sandbox games ever made.