All Hail The PC: Console Gaming Is Dead

[Andy Chalk]

All Hail The PC: Console Gaming Is Dead

The bell is tolling for console gaming, according to Wii [http://www.wildtangent.com/] will be the last successful consoles to come onto the market.

Speaking at the Casual Connect [http://seattle.casualconnect.org/] conference in Seattle, St. John predicted the extinction of game consoles by 2020, saying console makers will no longer be able to handle the massive investments required to create and market successful systems. Further, he said, a desire for gaming beyond the confines of the living room will fuel a rise in more portable options.

"We are looking at the last generation of consoles right now," St. John told his audience. "I am going to predict to you that the PS3, the Wii and the Xbox are the last generation of consoles that you either see or that anybody regards as successful in the market."

He added that Nintendo's [http://www.nintendo.com] success with the Wii was due exclusively to its innovative controllers, but then compared that to coin-op arcade machines of many years back, which attempted to fight the onslaught of powerful home systems by adding new controllers and other devices. The console business is "starting to behave like that dead arcade business," he said.

St. John predicted the future is in PC gaming, specifically laptop systems that are becoming more powerful than consoles, offering a completely portable gaming experience on par with the best consoles. His comments echo statements made in a recent interview with Edge-Online, in which he said, "Consider how laptops have changed the market. You have PCs now that can compete graphically with consoles, if not with with 360 and PS3 then with Wii. So kids can play anywhere, or they plug in a gamepad and plug into a TV for that 'immersive' experience. People in our generation might cling to the idea of the console running BioShock [http://www.2kgames.com/bioshock/], but laptop gaming is going to dominate the market for this next generation."

Source: SeattlePI.com [http://www.edge-online.com/news/st-john-consoles-way-out]


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[deathyepl]

Wow, WildTangent... I didn't even realize they were still a going concern. Learn somethin' new every day.

 

[Joeshie]

I love PC gaming much more than consoles, but even I know that this is a bunch of horseshit. Consoles are stronger than ever and are showing no signs of receding.

 

[karpiel]

It would be great to see the PC back on top, but not at the expense of proper games. If stuff like wild tangent could run the consoles out of the market, that would be lovely, but if those sorts of the things were the only thing to play, it probably would not be worth it.

 

[A_Red_Sky_Morning]

Has anyone ever thought that movements like this come in waves? First, the PC was the best gaming platform, then Consoles came along. Then the PC was re-fined and took back the top, then Consoles got better. This entire idea is a yo-yo trick, a different side will take the top in a different age. Their is as much a competition between Console and PC as there is between the Three Consoles. And it is just as pointless; honestly, go with what YOU like and f*** anyone that disagrees.

 

[the jellyman]

I believe that the correct term of response to something like this is , in short form, no. In long from it is roughly: no, no no no no no, don't you realise that this appears every few years anyway (no) etc etc etc.

EDIT: didn't they do a'All hail the consoles, PC gaming is dead' a few moths ago?

 

[Skrapt]

This is actually pretty interesting, and I'd be inclined to agree about all except the timeline. I don't think we'll see the extinction of consoles for a few generations yet, but I do think console sales will gradually begin to diminish, why? Because console prices continue going up, while equally potent computer hardware is dropping in price. When we reach the point that a laptop that costs the same amount of money as a console, with similar or more power, I think that's when console gaming will really hit a downturn, because consumers are usually smarter then everyone gives them credit for and if you can get more power and more usage out of a laptop that costs the same I think that's the road consumers will take.

I haven't mentioned desktops because although consumers are smarter then most people give them credit for, they aren't that much smarter, as I believe even when a desktop for the same price as a console can beat it in gaming capabilities there will not suddenly be a huge downturn because desktops are difficult to market to the console crowd.

 

[Wolfdale]

This is one of the few things I absolutely despise about gaming culture: Doom-sayers. They remind me of the idiots we saw around the turn of the new millennium, who many regarded with mixed looks of contempt, pity, and annoyance, wondering what kind of sick smack-addicted existence they had as they swung their Bibles around, screaming something about the number of the beast.

The main difference between those idiots and these idiots is that gaming doom-sayers have doom prophecies that vary more than the bloody weather from day to day! One minute the PS3 is evidently going to die, next its the 360, the day after it's casual gaming, a week later it's the professional gaming, then its games are arts crowd dying out, then it's the Wii coming on top of the other two systems, then PC gaming is dead, then home gaming is dead, then just consoles are dead, then handhelds are dying, blahblahblahblahblahBLAH!
Jesus Christ, people! If all these things are dying and no one but the crazy bastards going on about it have seen it yet, then I guess I must have a hidden case of cancer - in my ass!

 

[Darkauthor81]

Eh just another DOOM! prediction. What about the casual gamer that doesn't want to fight with "Is this game compatible with my OS? Is my graphics card up to par? Wait, it needs what .dll file to run??" Not to mention a gaming computer can run up to and over 2000 dollars while a console, while expensive, is less than half that.

The death of the console would only come if the world shifted more and more to the hard core gamers willing to become tech experts and shell out obscene amounts of money for their gaming.

It just isn't going to happen. What world is this guy living in?

 

[Archaeology Hat]

I think he is both very right and incredibly wrong at the same time. I don't reckon consoles have that much more potential for growth in their current form (bar the maybe the Wii). .
Also, like skrapt says consoles are getting more expensive whereas PCs/laptops are becoming more affordable. I can see in the not too distant future, assuming the economic troubles don't escalate futher, an affordable laptop computer that is also that generation's console. I don't think consoles are going to die. I think PCs and Consoles are going to converge further and further (exibit A, PS3) and get cheaper and cheaper. In time the PC market and the Console market, probably won't be that dissimilar, with huge cross-overs in hardware.

 

[Skrapt]

Eh just another DOOM! prediction. What about the casual gamer that doesn't want to fight with "Is this game compatible with my OS? Is my graphics card up to par? Wait, it needs what .dll file to run??" Not to mention a gaming computer can run up to and over 2000 dollars while a console, while expensive, is less than half that.

The death of the console would only come if the world shifted more and more to the hard core gamers willing to become tech experts and shell out obscene amounts of money for their gaming.

It just isn't going to happen. What world is this guy living in?

The problem comes when PC Gaming is cheaper then console gaming, which is certainly the way it's heading and your figure of $2000 is way off, you can easily make a system powerful enough for Crysis for around $1200 US dollars. And when you factor in the cost of a browsing PC on top of a console the costs start to add up to more then a gaming PC, the only reason I agree slightly is because the next generation of consoles will cost even more then the current one and they will continue rising in cost each generation while PC hardware costs generally stay static or drop.

 

[Archaeology Hat]

you can easily make a system powerful enough for Crysis for around $1200 US dollars

Which considering the life of a gaming PC is either as long or longer than a console unit, and that once you have the hardware you can upgrade small bits at a time which will increase the lifespan further.

A friend of mine has spent somewhere in the region of £600 this year on Xbox-360s, they keep breaking on him. He says if the one he has got breaks he will not be replacing it.

 

[Dalisclock]

I am and always have been a PC gamer, but I don't believe that consoles are going away in the forseeable future. Nor do I want them too.

 

[GeeDave]

I found this bit quite interesting:

You have PCs now that can compete graphically with consoles

... now? Don't you mean like, since forever? Unless of course he's using the P as "Portable" instead of "Personal"

 

[ElArabDeMagnifico]

OH, this is a nice change of pace....

instead of console or PC taking over...

IT'S THE LAPTOPS!

-but he forgets about the handhelds, which are the ultimate in portable gaming.

I guess the DS will be king of the gaming universe.

 

[tendo82]

Let's not forget that Wild Tangent has a vested interested in the PC becoming the dominant platform in gaming, as his network's success depends on it.

Honestly I think the notion that every house needs a console is really starting to gain traction and barring a really compelling PC solution in the next five years, this trend will continue.

 

[jergarmar]

This post is pretty confusing to me. Now honestly, I have been and always will be a PC gamer, but predicting the future like this with little to no reasoning behind it seems foolhardy.

Now that we have gaming systems that are expected to get content from the internet, isn't it logical that the lines between "console" and "computer" will blur more and more? Even now most people buy computers the same way they buy consoles... as a one-time purchase that never gets upgraded but which eventually gets replaced after a couple of years. Maybe someday we'll have consoles that can surf the internet and store content on hard drives... oh wait, we already have those!

Moreover, what will we HAVE for computers in 15-20 years? Will we still buy a home/laptop main computer or will we buy a small box that connects into a neighborhood server or your ISP? Will on-demand television be duplicated in on-demand internet and on-demand games and such?

The point is, anyone who claims that future computers and consoles will have any resemblance to their present-day brethren is assuming a great deal. Good luck arguing which one will "win out" in the end.

 

[huntedannoyed]

Wow, I got to tell you, I don't see the console going away any time soon. The home console is becoming more of an entertainment center. The PC can not replace that.

 

[TheEggplant]

None of this matters.
Life as we know it will end October 2012.
Bet on it.

 

[SinisterDeath]

Consoles nor PC's are on there 'death bed', you simply can't 'predict' this kind of 'economic cycle' You need to know demand, and you can't really 'know' what the demand will be in 10 years. You would need to know of everything every company has planned in the next 10-20 years to actually get a solid picture, and even then actually predicting it is about as successful as a weatherman actually saying the summer weekend is going to be sunny. (which is about a 20% chance that it actually will be, and if he said it was rainy it has a higher chance of being sunny, than it being rainy, particularilly if your in an urban environment...)

Anyways, the future isn't console gaming, or pc gaming, But in Nano-Technology.
I have Five words for you.
Wireless
Nano
Contact
LCD
Lenses

The moment someone is able to make, a contact lense, with nano-technology, that acts like an LCD monitor, that operates like a Contact Lense, Is the day PC/Console Gaming dies, and the revolution begins.
It would be the closet we'll ever have to virtual reality, and the very idea that we could encorporate such technology with some kind of wireles/computer/hub, that runs all the tasks, as well as uses a type of 'overlay', that can be used outside of gaming, but also for media like 'TV', or 'Movies'. Is just pure geeky awesome heaven.

Listen, if your a guy, and you have a wife, a girlfriend, or a very talkative mother (or if your very big nerd), that always 'talk' about there day with you.
All you need to do is now imagine an 'overlay' overyour vision of that football game your missing, or family guy.
Tell me that is not pure awesome awaiting?

Of course such technology is at least 30 years away, assuming nano-technology doesn't get hampered as bad as 'stem cell research' has been...
But we should be seeing news papers/magazines, that are re-useable, bio-plastic, that automatically 'updates' the news/magazine. (They had a show that featured some proto-types, completely in black and white, but 5-10 years, the LCDs we have now will be 'giant' in comparison... You can pratically 'paint' the crap on your wall if they get the tech down pat. )