The Words Don't Serve the Paper: Are Consoles Running Out of Steam?

With Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's latest criticism, perhaps it's time to reevaluate the console market as it is today.

[Pope_Kaz_Hirai_II]

Look if you can afford a high end Pc setup then the benefits are clear and obvious , i play games at 2560x1600 and i know not everyone can so the ps4 is a very good alternative as it will get ALOT of games i cant get on pc and the graphics will be very good especially for 400. So no consoles are not running out of steam cause so many dont know or cant utilize a pc and they need the ease of a console.

[itBourne]

To be fair, you can build a decent comp for fairly cheap, when/if comps get to the point where the mass market can buy them for cheap(not build) and all the set up becomes more stream lined, consoles may fall out of existence. The biggest things would be if the big 3 started making games for pc. If Sony/Nintendo made all their games for PC too, I probably would not own a console. Right now tho, you have to spend more money, people have to worry about things like drivers, upgrades, viruses, a console is by far the cheaper and safer way to go for games. Really for 400, that is a fucking steal. I bet most dont even realize their phone they have actually cost more then that.

[dcj0524]

Meant to agree with ya. Solid points. Knack, iNfamous Second Son, Killzone Shadow Fall and Driveclub all are games I will own sometime in the near future. If those wern't on a PS4 and were only on PC then I would upgrade my POS 2005 PC.

[decrypt]

"Look if you can afford a high end Pc setup then the benefits are clear and obvious"

While high end Sli'd rigs will cost you, most people dont need to go to those extremes to have a experience that beats consoles.

To beat consoles a 500-600usd investment will be more than enough.

Specially if you consider all the hidden costs with Console gaming a 500-600usd PC is a bargain in comparison.

Console gaming just has too many hidden costs:

Pay to go online, Expensive games, No BC, expensive accessories, high failure rates etc.

[SuperBlur]

high failure rate? do you have a crystal ball to see in the future ? there's no way to know the failing rate of either x1 and ps4 right now, only time will tell.

PS+ make me feel like im paying for a second netflix at 5$ a month , i get free games and many discounts , free trials and etc.

Steam can afford to remain free , they don't have the same amount of traffics the 360/ps3 gets on a daily basis. To be honest , if steam came out with a Steam+ service at the same price as PS+ (totally optional), i would jump on the deal and never look back.

[decrypt]

@nomercy

What do you expect from GPUS CPUS running in closed boxes with how bad airflow gets in that environment, anyone sensible can tell you there is no way the electronics in those boxes are going to last as long as they would last in a large tower case with nice airflow.

Lol you are misinformed about Steam. Steam as of now has 6 million+ concurrent users. That easily competes with XBL or PSN. What are you on about? Hell it probably out does both those services. When the PS4 launch or XB1 launch Steam will actually be far ahead of any of those since Steam will not restart from 0. Those consoles will need to make a base from nothing. While Steam only carries on growing with no reset.

Yea you consolers just like to pay for things that should be free lol. Keep at it and pretty much turning your console on will be charged lol. Why do you think consolers dont get simple options such as Mods? why is it you are stuck with DLCS, its because of your lame attitude of wanting to get hosed where the sun doesnt shine willingly by the corporations. Sorry Steam should remain a free service.

[stuna1]

That title actually fits him better than the next gen consoles, because from what I gather the Resident Evil Franchise is running out of steam!

[mii-gamer]

1. Mikami hasn't worked on a resident evil game since 4 and that game was sublime. Since leaving, the franchise has fallen. Can you see the correlation?

2. Mikami doesn't say anything particularly bad. Just stating that both consoles are almost identical - which in some way is certainly true.

3. The article is only using Mikami as a point of reference to support his argument.

4. the evil within is shaping up well and looking to be a return to form for the survival horror genre

So i don't understand why you need to insult the developer. Can you please enlighten me?

[yeahokchief]

thank you for putting that moron in his place for insulting mikami. crapcom's poor executive decisions are to blame for the degradation of the series. mikami is the guy who created the genre.

[MysticStrummer]

For me the fall of the franchise started with RE3. I liked it ok but it wasn't quite as good as RE2. I played RE4 for free and never finished it, played the RE5 demo and couldn't stand it, and that was pretty much the end of my interest in RE. In my book, RE4 is one of the most overrated games of all time.

As for the article's premise that exclusives hurt the consumer, it's ridiculous. Of course they help sell the console they're on, and of course that's the point of having them. It's a business for cryin out loud. If a consumer wants to play exclusives on every console and can afford it, that's their decision to make. If they can't afford it, that's their problem. No one forces consumers to buy any console much less more than one, no one forces these companies to spend huge amounts of money making a game, and no one forces them to put their game on more than one platform. They make those choices, and if it's bad for their business then they need to rethink their business strategy. Why do we need two similar consoles? How about this... why do we need so many similar games? It's the same thing, and the market answers both questions.

@ Mikami defenders above - Maybe stuna wasn't aware that Mikami is no longer involved with the franchise...? That doesn't make him a "moron", or indicate that he "needs" to insult Mikami. He just thinks, and rightfully so in my opinion, that the RE series is dead and he saw that Mikami was RE's creator so he put the two together.

[Revolver_X_]

Mikami is garbage. RE 1.5 and RE 3.5. Mikami almost ruined RE twice. While RE6 wasnt too good, RE5>RE4.

[Goro]

Nice pun!

[BABY-JEDI]

RE is dead. The MS & Sony (genuine) exclusives will widen the differences between the consoles. Mikami is a genius & I'm sure his new survival horror will be excellent.
Ps stuna1 is not a moron so be nice
; )

[EXVirtual]

I don't know why everyone's on a doom and gloom trip going into this console gen. Consoles aren't going anywhere.
Exclusives don't hurt the consumer. If you want to play an exclusive, get the platform it's on. That's what sets apart the consoles.

[Hicken]

It's for hits. And the hits are for revenue. It's really that simple.

Exactly as you said, consoles aren't going anywhere. But some people are smart- or just greedy- enough to realize they can capitalize off any smattering of negativity. So they take what they're given and run with it. Like that rich dude with the tech video the other day: total BS- if only because of his overall message- but it got him exactly what he wanted, which was lots of hits to his video.