The PS4 Could Be The Last Playstation You Buy

Gaming is changing in huge ways which we could not imagine were possible only seven years ago. The words "4K" "Cloud Gaming" "Asymmetrical gaming" run through our heads like buzzwords, spawning massive amounts of excitement in the press, and the consumer base. The title of this post might come to a shock to you, as you might think that I am talking about the end of the Playstation brand. Not at all, I am merely talking about its transcendence into a service rather than a physical box. I am talking about the reason Sony didn't show the PS4 at the reveal conference, because the ideology of "Playstation" is changing from a physical box, to a service that will span decades to come.

[Lucreto]

"I am talking about the reason Sony didn’t show the PS4 at the reveal conference, because the ideology of “Playstation” is changing from a physical box, to a service that will span decades to come."

or more valid reasons it they still don't have the final design finished yet or more than likely they are waiting for E3 to show it off.

[GamersRulz]

They did that with PS2. but hey we had a PS3 and are waiting for PS4.

[ATi_Elite]

Now when I said "PS4/X720 is the Last Gen for Consoles" and that No more boxes would be made and Sony/MS would be Content Providers/Publishers and you play games on whatever device you had through PSN/XboxLive, The whole world went Nuts and i got like 100 disagrees!

Good thing to see someone else is using their brain and thinking forward.

So yeh this is THE LAST CONSOLE GEN coming up and I use the word console vaguely cause these boxes are certified x86-64 Kernal PC's

I guess when More Manufactures start sticking PC's inside of TV's and cable boxes are Internet Ready then everyone who disagreed with me will see the Light of Day!

[dcbronco]

@ATI

You won't find too much forward thinking on this site. Just box living.

But will will always need new boxes of some kind. For control and the systems that drive them. You can't always have a 43 inch TV everywhere you go.

[raWfodog]

I guess if people keep crying that each console will be the 'last' console eventually they'll be right. That's like saying that I'm gonna die 'one day'.

[MikeMyers]

The hardware itself will become less and less focus as content is bought more and more online and services like Gaikai can be applied to various platforms.

[Mounce]

This dude is clearly grasping at fucking straws and over-analyzing Sony simply not revealing a fucking plastic box. Really?

"We want to keep a few secrets up our sleeves, a box is a box" - Says Sony.

- This Article-guy - ITS A FUCKIN' CONSPIRACY MAAAAN!!! *TIN FOIL HAT*

[Nyromith]

No thanks, I prefer my console at home.

[SugarSoSweet]

agreed at least then people can engage in trade of their PHYSICAL machines and software you can't do that with cloud gaming because THEY own all the software and hardware. It's just another way of getting money out the hands of the people and into the hands of big companies

[GribbleGrunger]

Damn and blast! There goes my article.

I agree fully with the article and concur on every point. I too believe that Sony are moving focus from the hardware and are now moving into distribution and services. As this article rightly points out, any tech upgrades could simply be done server side, negating the reason to upgrade the hardware. Good article.

For people who just can't accept this future and constantly go on about broadband capabilities, think beyond yourselves. These are huge corporations and if they want something to happen they will make it happen, regardless of whether you want it or not. They do not need 100% perfect internet to everyone for this to work; they just need 70% of their potential audience to have a decent connection. Don't just write it off out of hand, give it some thought.

I wrote another article before the 20th called: 'PS3 not the biggest announcement at Playstation meeting' and this was to be my follow up article ... but unfortunately it's already been written.

[MasterCornholio]

Imagine if every smart TV has access to Gaikai.

O.O

The infrastructure isnt there yet but when everyone has a super high speed internet connection this could become a possibility. Sony didnt just buy Gaikai for the PS4, they bought Gaikai for the future of cloud gaming once the infrastructure is in place.

[Awesome-Xanto]

I hate to break it to you but these huge corporations have zero control over that fact that the internet infrastructure is no where near capable of handling streaming services for even a majority of Sony fans. The internet is not getting better, it's getting worse with caps becoming the new norm. You can't stream games with a cap, because streaming games can burn more than 1 GB an hour.

Sony will surly use the technology for users who can use it as an added bonus to PSN+ but if you think they can do a full streaming device any times soon then you would be wrong. Doing so would surly be financial suicide.

Streaming technology is NOT better than physical/downloaded content. It takes away your rights as a consumer, it's image quality will always be worse than locally stored content, and input controls will always be worse than locally stored content do everything having to be sent back and forth over a connection.

Lets not forgot that there are many who will never use a streaming service and give up there right to own a game. It's the same reason the Sony can't block used games, it would significantly impact there sales.

Do you honestly want items you bought & paid money for tied to a company that will have full control over when you lose them and depended upon a cloud that is unreliable... meaning when it goes down you lose all access to all your games. Period.

That might be okay for you, but it's not for me...

[MikeMyers]

Valve has enough support to show that being a digital platform can exists and be very profitable. We will see on the PS4 all games being available in digital form and a progression of the digital content taking over. Even now some games can only be bought through the Playstation store.

The PSP Go was a poorly executed system trying to go this route. With Gaikai Sony can leverage gamers more than ever to go digital.

[Awesome-Xanto]

Sony probably will be successful with digital games and be profitable. However that is not what Gaikai is about. Gaikai is streaming.

Most people, like those who use Valve can download a 6 - 10 GB game because they know how much bandwidth there using. I love Valve.

Streaming does not store anything on the harddrive, and instead streams the game to you like Netflix does with movie. So instead of that one time 6 GB download for that new game you just bought, instead you going to stream it it everyday probably using more than 6 GB every time. So when you actually finished the game instead of 6GB, you've now burned over 100+ GB. It's not very efficient in terms of bandwidth compared to just downloading the game.

That is the problem with Gaikai, people don't understand the difference between streaming and downloading...

[MikeMyers]

That is true but I was speaking hypothetically about how physical discs will be less and less of a focus moving forward. So whether you stream or download your games they will be through your online connection, not buying them at the retail outlets like Gamestop.

[Mikelarry]

I don't mind if the ps4 is the last console so far as the content and functionality improves as time goes by

[GribbleGrunger]

Yes. It always amazes me how many people can't seem to engage with an idea without thinking subjectively, as if in some way their own personal tastes are going to effect the momentum of a huge business. I remember a time when people never wanted CDs because vinyl was the real deal, and then I remember when people didn't want digital music because they wanted to own it on CDs. I remember a time when people complained at paying £58 for BBC TV because ALL TV should be free; the same people that now subscribe to Sky or Netflix as WELL as paying the licence fee for the BBC channels.

All change is uncomfortable

[Clarence]

I don't think so there will always be some kind of physical product. It might get smaller in size, but you will still have a physical product. 8 track, Records, beta max, VHS,laser disc, CDs, DVDs, bluray, all these have had some type of machine to play them on.

I'm taking courses on product design.

They didn't show the PS4 because the design can turn consumers off your product. Sony wants to make sure the design is as good as the services that they are offering.

One of the main reason I haven't bought the vita is because of the way it's design. It feels horrible when I hold it.

@susanto
Consoles offer certain exclusive games that PCs don't have. Have these people don't know anything about specs. Not every kid on the block will have a top of the line PC or is willing to put the time into building one. It's more convent to buy a console that delivers high end gaming right out the box.

You can go in certain neighborhoods right now and ask them what their gaming on, I bet you they won't say a PC. It's ether Playstation, Xbox, or Nintendo.

[susanto1228]

I can see myself turning PC 100% in the next generation
PC gamers are now turning their PC's into HTPC's connected
to 55" televisions with amazing graphics
with my I7 3770 and GTX 670 I am now enjoying graphics and
gameplay that the PS4 and new Xbox only wish they had.

[JAM_brz]

If you have the money to buy a powerfull PC, yes, its better.
But I prefer to have a console, that was built only to play games, so a "lower" hardware doesn't mean a bad machine in that case. And I got the exclusives games, that in a PC I can't have. And the console it's so much cheaper than a PC, and I don't need to upgrade my console every two years...

So you can keep your PC, and I will keep my console..

[saint_seya]

I play in both, and yet i prefer ps3 games, i guess if it wasnt for league of legends and counters strike source/ bf3, i wouldnt play much my pc. Does it means that ps3 is better? no, does it means that u cant enjoy your pc more? no. What it means is that u can have the most powerfull gaming device in the world, but if the games u want to play #in my case ps3 exclusives# are not there, then is worthless for u. Graphical power doesnt mean nothing if u dont have the games u want.

[Shinekami]

No.

[Aaroncls7]

That sort of article title doesn't feel complete without something like: "by fox news."

[JAM_brz]

I think the PS4 (and so will the 720) will make a big sucess... so Sony will make the PS5. I think gamers want the consoles at home, and not a TV that play games, for instance.

[Roper316]

I completely agree, if your PS system breaks you will lose TV along with it. I was never big on the TV/VHS or TV/DVD combos either for ths same reason, if 1 breaks & you lose both. That is just stupid to me and as a company that is pushing to be the focus of your entertainment in the living room I can't see them wanting you to lose all your access to your games, tv, BR/DVD player, your streaming media from your PC etc etc all because 1 of them broke.

[Azurite]

If Cloud Gaming was the -only- alternative around I'd stop playing games completely.

If only Sony did it I guess they forcefully made me get my games somewhere else.

[o-Sunny-o]

Don't worry I know she's(PS4) shy to show her face but Holiday 2013 were getting it on like Donkey Kong!

[jp_footy2]

There are sunny times ahead.

[CaptainYesterday]

The last Playstation I buy until PS5 ;)

[profgerbik]

Meh I doubt that, Sony will want a piece of hardware that people can come to and does anyone even know enough about Gaikai yet to say that it won't be restricted to Playstation certified devices only? I don't and it very well could end up that way.

You never know but I don't think they will ever stop unless times truly get that bad, they are bad now but haven't gotten that bad to give up on hardware just yet.

Seeing as the PS Vita will be around for a long time also points to them still having a focus on hardware. No doubt there will be PS Vita revisions or even an entirely new Vita in the future as well.

That being said I don't see them stopping with the original device that started it all either the Playstation. I just hope the industry becomes a more even playing field and with what Sony has done, they have definitely secured a spot regardless of what happens.