Four Reasons Why Consoles Should Cease To Exist

With digital distribution now the norm and the cost of financing hardware increasingly impractical, Jacques Voller argues that traditional consoles are no longer necessary for gamers as a whole – nor a sensible investment for the manufacturers themselves.

[IAMERROR]

One reason why they shouldn't: Demand

[Army_of_Darkness]

All the pc gamers I know or meet don't have a life...

[zebramocha]

Yes they do,their lives revolve around pc gaming just like mine revolve around console gaming.

[TheLyonKing]

manufacturing cost is subsided as demand for product makes up for cost.

Hardware limitation? you mean you have found a machine that has no limitations?

Consoles are a great way to kick back and relieve stress.

[DanJenkoFMV]

I appreciate the points made but I still like the simplicity of buying a game disc, putting it into a console and starting playing.

Maybe I'm ignorant but when I've tried to play games on PC I always find there's something wrong that I have to fix. I just find it too much hassle.

[DragonKnight]

Yep. Driver conflicts, server malfunctions, some option that you didn't click on.

[KrisButtar]

just what i was thinking, last game i bought for pc i couldnt play because it required my pc to be online, yet i done have internet even offered where i live. there are a few games i bought i couldnt play for that reason.

at least with a console i buy the game, throw it in and it plays.

[aquamala]

you again :) wouldn't you say only a very minority of gamers like you (<%0.1%?) don't have internet??

like I said before you can use Steam in offline mode, yes you need to be online once to set it to offline mode, you don't need to be online ever again after that. how did you even download a game from Steam in the first place?

[aliengmr]

"like I said before you can use Steam in offline mode, yes you need to be online once to set it to offline mode, you don't need to be online ever again after that."

This isn't correct. If you lose connection while its running Steam automatically goes into offline mode. On start up, it asks if you want to go offline or try again. Having to go online to go offline was fixed a while ago.

[caseh]

PCs are the more superior experience in most cases but like you said, the games sometimes need to be tweaked to get that experience:

'Adjust AA...hmmm, nah msybe if I lower the resolution slightly. Bit better, maybe if i adjust shadow/texture/dynamic lighting' etc

Not everyone can be bothered with that, consoles you just whack the disc in and play.

[Yodagamer]

You really can't use that whack the disc in anymore, Both sony and microsoft have games that you have to install data just like a pc, heck you can't even play halo 4 on the entry level xbox 360, get patches like pc. They've become pc's with out the great graphics.

[caseh]

@Yodagamer

You're missing the point completely, I accept some games have installs or patches but patches are optional, i played though sleeping dogs without bothering with the 1gb patch as I couldn't be bothered with it.

The difference is once thats done, you can play. You can't tweak anti aliasing, you cant change the resolution or lighting, shadows...ie it can't be tweaked for performance improvements. Every single person who plays the game gets the same experience from the game on consoles straight from the box.

[DragonKnight]

Digital Distribution isn't the norm. Where did you pull that from? Have you heard of bandwidth? Have you heard of the lack of the online infrastructure globally to make DD the norm? Everytime there is someone saying DD is the norm, it's almost always an ignorant PC fanboy(girl) saying it because they don't like console gaming. It's not true though.

[KrisButtar]

i agree internet is not offered in my area, i only have wifi when i drive 20mins to a tim hortons for coffee

[DragonKnight]

Gotta love Canada's internet infrastructure eh? Bell and Rogers have a near complete stranglehold on the ISP front, and Canadian law does practically nothing to allow real competition to stand up against them. Look how long it took to force Rogers to stop throttling everyone under the guise of needing to to maintain high speeds at peak hours?

[creeping judas]

Ok so I don't feel so bad, I went from a 35gbs service to a max of 12gbs, but quite often 8gbs service, when we moved. The difference was immense. But it sure does beat having to drive to Timmies for wifi connection!! Have you tried the rocket sticks?

[KrisButtar]

At above,
ya bell and Rogers are dicks they won't even bring the Internet outside the city in my area the closest provider here is eastlink and there service stops about 10mins away, they need to put in new lines or towers to extend to my area.

I own a roger rocket stick it doesnt work. To be honest when I'm home I don't even get cell service with my iPhone, also I don't mind going to timmys as it's great coffee and I in here a lot. Sometimes I bring my vita to.

My area is being told by eastlink that we will have Internet within the next 5 yrs, which is better than what bell and Rogers have said.

[aliengmr]

DD is pretty much the norm, on PC. Nobody says that because they hate consoles, its just a perception.

There was a point where I assumed it was the norm, but I don't have a console. It may be ignorance on our part, but you have to understand, for many PC gamers gaming completely digital. With the stores carrying fewer and fewer boxed PC titles we really didn't have a choice.

At any rate, you are right, its generally not the norm currently. Doesn't mean it will always be that way.

[Hazmat13]

how about no.

[SnakeCQC]

this article is one reason why the author parents should have used birth control harsh i know but these articles are really annoying

[Tzuno]

PC fanboy.

[MrDead]

I could have written an article of this quality which is the very reason why I don't, I would suck at it. I hate myself for reading this

[EddieNX]

Nintendo would like a word with the author of this article.

[joeorc]

"However, the question I’ve been asking myself in recent days is whether Microsoft and Sony should even be trying to outdo each other in this department in the first place? Indeed, should they just consider releasing console software as a PC download in future?"

well he will be quite Happy to know than The same could be stated about the Tower PC i guess, should PC software be made as a Game Console download on their Game Console Network's? LMAO

EXAMPLE:

Intel to wind down desktop circuit board business
The chipmaker says it will leave the traditional desktop PC circuit board business. As a result, the venerable tower PC will likely begin to fade.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1...

what make the game console software downloaded to Ultra Book's, or laptop's only? LOL

How about the PC is not the game's console Market! the Game Console is a Consumer Electronic, it's made for you know a top set box for your Living room.

Thus, the Smart TV, or the DVD upscaled player's or Roku box'es, or Google and Apple TV box'es of the market is not replacing Game consoles as a go to all in one box, the same is for the Game console. they all have their place in the Market.

[LightofDarkness]

Intel ramping down desktop motherboard production is not a sign of PC gaming fading away. It's a sign that OEM Desktop PCs (family PCs et al) are fading away.

The kind of people who build gaming PCs very rarely buy Intel boards for their needs, as Intel don't really compete across the spectrum as companies like Asus, Gigabyte and ASRock do. Intel's mobo sales relied heavily on the likes of Dell and other OEMs, not the gaming market.

More to that, they will still (obviously) be providing the reference designs to manufacturers for their CPUs.

[joeorc]

"Intel ramping down desktop motherboard production is not a sign of PC gaming fading away."

excuse me! while i see what you are saying, and i am by no means saying the tower PC will go away completely, this is by no means something to make light of. this is not a very good thing at all.

Remember many Gaming PC's are not even custom, mainly mass consumer's buy over the counter PC's for their gaming , and that's why you have min spec PC's as the main target for game's, this make's for further reduction of said consumer's.

we are talking about the main chip production manufacturer design for pretty much every PC CPU in desktop machines made by 3rd party companies. If they stop advanceing the investment into desktop production class CPU class designs than that's pretty much all she wrote.

"More to that, they will still (obviously) be providing the reference designs to manufacturers for their CPUs."

No where does it say they will keep investing into Desktop PC production investment CPU designs. if Intel stops than that mainly leaves very little in desktop class tower CPU development designs, because pretty much AMD is left. and Mobile has out surpassed DESK TOP's now. with just AMD by themselves. the Market is going toward Ultra book's and Laptops mainly.

This is not something to make light of. OEM still has to get their designs from somewhere, if Intel is not investing into tower PC chip designs this is on a mother board level than that is not a good sign for the rest of the industry of tower PC type of chips with mother boards. it will by no means go completely away, but this also means the 3rd party development for these type of games software for gaming type of rig's will further decline. with Mobile PC's being the main platform instead.

"The kind of people who build gaming PCs very rarely buy Intel boards for their needs, as Intel don't really compete across the spectrum as companies like Asus, Gigabyte and ASRock do."

where do you think they get their cpu designs from?

If Intel no longer is going with designs from that market that pretty much means the PC desktop has a big reduction in companies making those a priority, thus the Gamer Rig market may not even be enough to keep 3rd party developer's making Game's except for ultra books and Laptop's and Mobile devices as the main platform. with the tower PC being a niche Market like the Game console. no matter how you want to spin this this is not a good thing.

[LightofDarkness]

http://www.anandtech.com/sh...

Read that. The article clearly states they will provide reference chipsets to third party manufacturers after they stop producing their own.

I'm not spinning anything, I'm giving you facts. However, you seem to be basking in the doom and gloom of it all.

[aliengmr]

@joeorc

I commend you for actually having a dialog and stating your case. I mean that.

But you are wrong. Intel mobos are a non-issue in gaming. And, well... I can't really top LightofDarkness's reply, so I won't try.

[Amplitude]

EDIT: joeorc posted another comment making my original comment useless... i think. Idk i didnt read it xD

Anyway disregard me <3

[aquamala]

you link only says Intel is leaving the motherboard business, who buys a motherboard from Intel anyway? it has nothing to do with CPUs.

by the way Intel's first chipset is the 810, released in 1999. before that PCs always had third party chipsets/motherboards.

[CommonSenseGamer]

I think the upcoming gen may be the last gen of gaming being the primary focus. All purpose devices will become the norm in 4-5 years.

[Hicken]

No.

[stage88]

I don't want carpal tunnel syndrome and i don't want to be stuck at a desk with a controller

[aquamala]

I agree, consoles should be more like dvd players, you buy one standard player from different manufacturers but they play the same movies (games).

we are already going in that direction with console makers using standard PC components, and cloud gaming. but I think we are still one generation, maybe 2 away from that.

[Rhythmattic]

PC only gamers ... Thats all they got.

[Rhythmattic]

Ive returned, only to find out ive struck a few bad chords ay?

I have a decent gaming PC, a PS3 and a 360...

The headline should read:-
"One reason all gaming PC elitist should cease to exist because they dont like choice"

Opps, but they do right.?
Motherboard, GPU amongst other things, but with all that choice they cant enjoy console exclusives...

Suck the custard.....

[crazysammy]

I can't finish reading an article that starts with blatantly false information. "With digital distribution now the norm" is the first thing you read, and is so incorrect its laughable. If they make better points in the article I will never know, because they started with a flat out lie and how can you trust anything else they say.

[aliengmr]

For gaming in general DD isn't the norm, true, but on PC it is.

Thing is, consoles have never really had to go the route of DD. Since they have the biggest market, they set the "norm". Perception is reality.

I grant that its an overstatement but its not outright false either.

As to the rest of the article, it just highlights the weaknesses of the current gen consoles as a reason to not have them. Which is kind of ridiculous on the whole.

[5eriously]

Four reasons why this a stupid article and not even worth pressing on the link to go to the obvious baiting troll site and as such support their desperate attempt to get hits.
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[black911]

Consoles will always be around.