I don't know about that. The thing about consoles is that it's primarily about about the big AAA blockbuster games that take advantage of the hardware. Also the fact that it takes a minimum of 2-3 years to get the best out of the hardwarde, I can't see hardware cycles being just 2-3 years. They will still be 7 year hardware cycles, 5 at the most. Devs need time to get to grips with the hardware, and to iterate on the software they release.
Also the Console market is very differnt to the mobile market, in terms of both games and hardware. I don't care for playing mobile games on my big screen TV. Similalry I don't care for playing AAA games on my mobile phone. Ergo - I will always prefer to play AAA games on my big screen TV.
Therefore I will always also buy the the cosnole that will provide me with that AAA gaming experience in front of my TV. Bottom line, consoles aint going anywhare... not if Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo... Valve, and NVidia have anything to say aboit it.
every new generation of inexperienced CEO or bosses in electronics or net industry (usually with no direct relation with gaming) prejudge an end to console gaming ...No, console gaming was always like it is now, with the same dev cycles and power gaps with PCs ...they didnt go anywhere , to the contrary they increased their audience and age average...usually western big bosses are talking without considering the lead industries of this section (gaming) which are Asian /Japanese
"The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are likely to be the last dedicated games consoles as we know them, according to the boss of Twitch TV."
Ha ha ha! Let me tell you something now, and I'm no sage. There WILL be one more 'traditional' generation at least. Just last week Nintendo revealed the NX. Sony have sold over 21 million PS4s, PlayStation is their core business and you can bet there will be a PS5. And i'm pretty sure Microsoft are in the console business for the long run.
Sure tablets and smartphones have taken marketshare by sheer virtue that nearly everybody in the West owns one but was has become clear with this PS4/XBO generation is that mobile and home console gaming are two separate entities. Mobile gaming success is not damaging the home console business - and that's not a bad thing!
The industry is pushing hard to selling services instead, getting money every month/year instead of traditional business models where you buy a console and a game. Now you've got your PS+ subscriptions, your PSNow subscriptions, you've got the season passes and additional DLC, the microtransactions etc.
I wouldn't be surprised if they want that to replace consoles. Buy a $400 console at launch? Or buy a subscription for $100 a year instead, so greedy publishers can see double the amount of cash from customers in the same period of time.
They'll still give you your "AAA experience" except now you'll be paying a subscription for it. No console, you'll be paying for the service you log into, like PS+ or Netflix, and it will be streamed to your TV.
It's going to be horrible, but that's where the industry is heading.
Everything you mentioned is optional...No one forces you to get any of those.
And gamers were rather vocal about no hardware copies of games this gen, and Sony was rather supportive with them. What you're talking about will maybe happen, but several decades into the future.
Companies like Comcast and Verizon are saying the same thing right now. The end result might just be a hybrid industry of combined entertainment boxes. The reality is markets for AAA games and triple play entertainment packages are shrinking. That's just one possibility.
Mobile can connote use of tablets or microconsoles (ie Nvidia Shield) that hook up to TV and play games either locally or cloud.
Also the line between mobile and console/pc games is blurring. With the likes of Crysis coming to Android, "mobile" will become just another platform alongside PC.
Well that's nice Mr Twitch boss. How about we call an end to lacklustre digital security in companies so that we do not need to go and change passwords to compensate for your failings?!
The 40 million sold (between the 3 systems) for this gen alone says otherwise, also Nintendo confirming one is in development for the far future says otherwise.
It's about Sony/MS not wanting to waste more time/resources on consoles (which are sold usually at a loss or at cost). Instead they can just allow streaming to take over so they can sell their services to anyone with internet.
No more designing console, no more manufacturing, all effort spent on services and software, potential audience increased from just console owners to hundreds of times more people.
UH... I think Nintendo crushed his perditions LAST WEEK. Don't these people even pay attention to the news?
LOL, Millions of people buying console and some guy, not even wearing his full suite, this this is the last of it. There are so many people waiting in line to get a break into the console market its not even funny.
This guy really needs to continue to focus on keeping his streaming site working properly, and forget about discussing the future of gaming where he obviously has no background, and is COMPLETELY clueless.
What is Nintendo NX though? Nobody knows anything about it yet. And how do you think that Nintendo partnering with a mobile company makes console gaming stronger?
"What is Nintendo NX though?" Good point. I think Nintendo said It will be there next console. Cell phone games have NOTHING to do with console games. You should be able to tell the difference. If you can't I am sorry I replied because we shouldn't be having a conversation about anything relating to gaming.
I'm cool with that. Seems things are deteriorating anyway. Cant play old games in your new systems, DLC price gauging, cant speak your piece without a thousand people trying to kill you. Time to close shop. We can all play WoW.
Oh really? Playstation Now is on PS4. That allows me to play my old games. Besides, I have my PS3 right next to my PS4. Allows me to play my PS1 games and purchase PS2 games from the store. DLC price gouging? PC has that too. If consoles were to disappear tomorrow, you're barking up the wrong tree to think everyone would suddenly buy a gaming PC. PC gaming is great and all, but it simply won't interest the average gamer who only has a few hours per week to play games. Consoles are arguably more popular now than they've ever been, so I don't see them going anywhere for at least another decade or so.
I've heard this kind of sensationalist nonsense before, but simple business principles paint a different picture. The ps4 is breaking sales records and Xb1 is doing well also. This means that there is a HIGH DEMAND for dedicated gaming consoles "as we know them". Anyone can tell you that it would be foolish to abandon something so potentially profitable. If anything, it will be more incremental, since we have seen what kind of backlash can ensue when companies try to just foist "the future" onto their customers(Xb1 launch).
There are very few console gamers compared to PC gamers on Twitch. Most popular games on Twitch are CS GO, Dota 2, LoL, Hearthstone and occasionally StarCraft 2. All of them PC only games... and yeah i'm totally going to ignore that there is a console Counter-Strike version.
He's wrong. The incremental upgrade scheme he's calling for would only fragment the user base and eliminate one of the advantages of consoles. In reality when this has happened in the past, most developers steer clear of the updated hardware features so they can reach the widest user base possible.
Incremental hardware upgrades is very similar to what Sega did, and it pretty much drove them into the ground. They were in trouble even before the Saturn launched.
If things are going to go that way, the idea of streaming is much more practical since it takes the hardware almost completely out of the equation. But then that gets into the games as a service model, along with all the downfalls of having one's entire gaming library accessible at the whim of the service provider.
Otherwise, I think the current model will stick around for at least one more generation unless some major breakthrough happens to allow for more reliable and fast internet, and ISP's adopt it for a reasonable price...or provided by the gov't to everyone.
There will always be a market for consoles in some form within our life times. Someone will provide for it. If the market is big enough, then it will get developer support.
A guy from Twitch should know better than to think that games as a service is a practical future in the short term(next 10-15 years or so).
Yes, Sega's a good example. I also remember Atari making incremental upgrades to the hardware that almost no game developers took advantage of.
So his idea isn't new, it just isn't practical.
I think it will take many years before streaming goes mainstream. First the technology needs to prove itself. We need faster broadband everywhere, not just in pockets like it is now. It will be a market that grows over time.
Lol, they have been calling the end of game consoles for ten years now, i do agree that the way we play on consoles is changing though. soon they will be completely digital, the only psychical thing will be the box and components, and maybe there will only be one console on the market also, all speculation of course like this article
Mbps is megabits. I download 5MBps so my connection is 50Mbps. That's not even exactly right but it'll do for illustrating the difference.
Also latency will be more important than downstream.. See input lag.
OT: Don't agree the consoles are still selling more than ever before, so to conclude that means the hardware units will go away you'd have to ignore reality
They'd still exist. The argument would just turn towards who has the better service.
More than likely, the argument would be between the people who will still buy the next console, and the ones who choose to go towards games as a service.
Given all the big things happening lately with Sony on the streaming games front, and MS obviously wanting to go in that route with their reveal and their own cloud tech, it's hard to predict which one may choose to not release a new console.
The fact that this generation is being held up by indie developers and remasters of last generation games for the most part, certainly helps to confirm that consoles are on their way out unfortunately. The atmosphere and the feel between this generation and last generation is huge.
I have a feeling that if the PS4 outsells or even reach the PS2's sales of 100+m units, Sony would probably willing to invest for another PS for the next gen. After all, it is their primary source of profit and momentum since most of their other products were dragging them down. Its really hard to ditch PS brand, especially for Sony.
I agree, particularly if it keeps selling the same or better throughout the whole gen. Pretty much shows that there is still a huge market for consoles. When you throw in that MS is likely to sell AT LEAST half as many as Sony, like more than half so don't hate me Xbox fans...MS will be fine...there is nothing to show that consoles are going away anytime soon.
What I see more likely to happen is there being another option on the market. That option will likely be the games as a service model, where games can be provided through streaming, and this model will depend on inexpensive set top devices or hardware integrated into other devices(likely TV's).
The existence of Games as a Service does not mean that the traditional console could not exist in tandem. They appeal to different markets, yet they can both provide the same games. Given things like PSNow, and possibly Nintendo NX, and likely MS Azure, it's highly likely that each company will have both options available.
People said the same thing about last gen. And yet, each gen keeps breaking previous sales records. They say these things because they think it makes them look like visionaries...knowing that no one will likely call them on how wrong they were later.
Consoles "as we know them" is the key word here. Consoles seem to change so much so fast that it's almost like we're already living in a post-console era right now. I"m sure it'll be just as different come the PS5 and Xbox 2.
I don't know about that. The thing about consoles is that it's primarily about about the big AAA blockbuster games that take advantage of the hardware. Also the fact that it takes a minimum of 2-3 years to get the best out of the hardwarde, I can't see hardware cycles being just 2-3 years. They will still be 7 year hardware cycles, 5 at the most. Devs need time to get to grips with the hardware, and to iterate on the software they release.
Also the Console market is very differnt to the mobile market, in terms of both games and hardware. I don't care for playing mobile games on my big screen TV. Similalry I don't care for playing AAA games on my mobile phone. Ergo - I will always prefer to play AAA games on my big screen TV.
Therefore I will always also buy the the cosnole that will provide me with that AAA gaming experience in front of my TV. Bottom line, consoles aint going anywhare... not if Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo... Valve, and NVidia have anything to say aboit it.
The 40 million sold (between the 3 systems) for this gen alone says otherwise, also Nintendo confirming one is in development for the far future says otherwise.
Are home consoles doomed again?
does the twitch boss even follow how well the ps4 and x1 are selling??? it doesn't appear so.