Next Generation of Consoles The Last?

A recent tweet by Geoff Keighley linking a photo of a presentation made at SXSW by Michael Pachter, shows a slide detailing points as to why this next generation of consoles, which essentially soft launched with the Wii U, is going to “possibly” be the last.

[classic200]

Everything was going good until you think touch screen gaming without buttons would kill gaming lool. Trust me if apple tried to come into the industry they would bring a dedicated controller for the apple tv.

regardless of inferior technology in side the wiiu, Nintendo is already showing how much touch screen gaming is inferior to dedicated buttons fusing with touch screen for extra options.

[JsonHenry]

I think consoles will come to an end at some point in the near future as a certain level of graphic fidelity is so cheap it is built into your Television sets or Internet 2.0 is fast enough to stream content with minimal latency.

The next big battle will be services like STEAM vs Origin vs Battle.net vs UbiUplay sort of thing.

[HammadTheBeast]

Nah, people said same thing about this Gen.

[BitbyDeath]

"so cheap it is built into your Television"

That'd only kill off PC's as every TV would have a different spec meaning consoles would still be req'd for gaming.

[iPad]

I think when consoles become like PCs in terms of upgrading the RAM, CPU, GPU, motherboard all by yourself that's when it'll be the last generation of consoles.

Companies won't need to bring out new consoles ever 5-6 years since we can upgrade them ourselves.

[Dj7FairyTail]

LOL dude Wii U Gamepad is a Standard Controller with just a Screen in the middle.

Even though Wii U allows you to use multiple controllers and have 5 players.
Wii U Gamepad
Pro Controller
Wiimote 4
Classic Controller/Pro
Nunchuk
Wii Wheel
Balance Board
Wii Zapper
Microphone

Multiple accessories supported while
PS4 can't even you Dual Shock 3.

Can't even play or transfer over PS3 save datas.
Unlike Wii U you can bring over all of you Wii, Wiiware and VC datas. Go in Wii Mode which functions like the ENTIRE Wii System. Two System in one.

[browland1]

I don't think that Apple is going to be the console killer, but I think it will force publishers and developers to be more competitive once the mobile/tablet market starts eating their lunch. Console gaming, with all it's DLC and microtransactions, is going to become cost prohibitive one day. Added to which, having to compete by selling $60 games next to the $2 ones get on your iPad. However, the hardcore gamers will prefer their controllers and keyboards, so I see PC gaming as being more of a formidable competitor in the long term.

As for the Wii U's "poor performance", I'm not surprised. Their launch roster wasn't very strong, and we've become wiser in the 5 years since the motion control gimmick was introduced. I feel it will be profitable in the long run, but only after a solid library of games has been cemented.

[PopRocks359]

Nah, the market would not crash so suddenly. You would need a string of failures to lead up to that kind of ultimatum. It happened with the first industry crash prior to the NES' release and it also happened when Sega went third party.

[CouldHaveYelledUiiW]

Like I said...

"OMgs!

Everyz console iz teh DOOMEDED!

They are dying one by one- even before they are released!

I think it is the Ghost of Dreamcast! =-O"

Dreamcast has come back for revenge...

(In other words... No this is not the END of Consoles)

[arbitor365]

apple is not going to kill consoles. their IOS market is completely separate. no one is suddenly going

"hey! I no longer care aboug uncharted and halo. instead, im going to sell my PS3/xbox and get an iphone and play nothing but IOS games like angry birds"

that isnt not happening. apple will never take a chunk out of the hardcore market

[ehuipe]

I'm agreeing with arbitor here in saying that mobile gaming won't take out the broad enthusiast market. While I'm sure many people who would casually be into games are sliding into mobile, I feel that amongst people who really love games, mobiles aren't delivering an equally fulfilling experience.

That said, the question here is as to whether or not the audience for consoles will be able to support multiple systems. To be honest, I don't think they will. Even though everybody- including me- didn't enjoy last year's E3 presentations for their focus on media and such, it's a move that they have to do in order to keep surviving. By advertising the systems as a multi-purpose box, they'll hopefully broaden their appeal enough to keep going.

In any case, I'm really happy with PC gaming and feel that I'm not missing out on anything on the console side, except the games that devs and publishers are specifically with holding to the console platforms.

[ziggurcat]

it won't be the last.

[Gamer-40]

Classic consoles?
Yes, i think the last.

[Mecca4]

Back to the drawing board, here comes the wii us and them, from Nintendo lol

[Garethvk]

This is a great topic. There are arguments to be made on both sides. The most common is that the rise of mobile tech via tablet and smartphone will allow games that on on the consoles to be on portable units.

On the other hands, as tech increases so will the ability to even more stuff with games and I think there can be a point made that no matter how powerful a portable device is, the PC and consoles will be able to pack in more hardware and thus enable a new level of creativity and power that the size limits of a mobile device do not.

[clintagious650]

Aslong as ppl keep buying consoles and buying games, consoles will keep being made. The thing that scares me that could change gaming and may kill it if ms continues to be successful with kinect because then every competitor will want to jump on that bandwagon and if touch screens & no controller is not NEEDED in future games I feel that is when the gaming industry will die out because I can see alot of genres of games that wont work without a controller & what does that LEAD too? ALOT of employees without jobs and ALOT of studios closing down. Im not against ms but their FOCUS & ACTIONS speaks clearly about how SERIOUS they are about kinect & trying to PUSH people to BELIEVE that, "You are the controller" is the best way to play games. I know i'll get alot of disagrees but look at all the success ms has had with kinect. We all know ms is going to continue to push kinect 2.0 & u cant say ppl wont buy it because thats what we all said about kinect when they 1st introduced kinect & look at it now. Its a success

[clintagious650]

Sorry for the wall of text. I hope ms proves me wrong but thats just my honest opinion about ms is APPROACH.

[Jek_Porkins]

Last in the traditional sense probably, looks like Sony and Microsoft's next consoles will offer streaming capabilities, so they really don't need much more hardware to put out better graphics and games.

[BitbyDeath]

That'll work wonders, just ask Maxis how well Simcity was received.
Internet only anything = instant death.
PSP-Go also tried this and failed.

[snowman2149]

Apple? They don't even market their own devices as gaming handhelds, why would they get into the console business, exactly? I highly doubt it especially when gamers(both casual and hardcore) aren't even too fond of a touch screen as the main controller for playing games. Instead it will be more of online services like Steam or Sony's Gaikai that will be competing for market share, which is good either way because it highly encourages competition. We will never see a monopoly in the video game industry, gamers are too varied and unpredictable to follow a single service.

[7uff1]

I really doubt the consoles' generations will stop before the 10th, there's so much to yet be improved. Oh wait, I don't have to argue, Pachter said it.

[younglj01]

Only way I can see console stopping if Sony try the PS combo again. PSTv w/ GaiKai sometime in the future is the only way console will end...

Edit: I might be wrong about this ideal but stable cloud gaming that can support AAA titles and ship in truly HD for everyone. 32' inch LCD Tv + GaiKai + Sony 1st past studios = ?

I hate I lost my PS combo I thought I was the man being the only kid in my neighborhood that had that model of the PS.Always wonder if Sony would try the ideal again once better tech was available too them..

[SonyAddict]

Pachter is full of shit!,and I am sick and tired of hearing his utter bullshit...he needs to wipe his chin because if I look in the crystal ball I see shit dripping all over him.

[DivineAssault]

yep.. Last one before its all streamable & digital

[generalthadeape]

Without a doubt, that's where we're eventually heading.

The only part we don't know for sure is the "when".

What's holding them back for now is that not everyone has access to high-speed Internet 24/7 and they don't want to limit sales.

I prefer to have physical copies of all my games, so that I can sell / trade them after I am finished playing them.

I also like to get rid of them as soon as possible so that I can maximize what I can get out of them once I do decide to get rid of my games.

In fact, I rarely own more than one game at a time because of this.

When it comes to movies and music it's a little different for me. I usually don't mind an occasional rental or to stream these kinds of media and simply don't want to be "bogged down" with something that only lasts an hour or two.

Any way you look at it, it seems that consumers everywhere are slowly getting used to the idea of only streamable & digital downloadable content. In fact, it's happening right now one game /movie / song at a time.

Whether we like it or not, this is heading our way.

[AWBrawler]

That can't/won't happen because there will always be people who stay in the middle of nowhere with limited or no internet, so they won't be able to stream. As a business, the big 3 would be fools to not cater to those people.

[Amigaengine]

Western Developers are doing what they can to assure a console video game collapse.