A Return of "Oh So Many" Consoles Race?

[Mr.Mattress]

As we all know, the 7th Generation of Video Game Consoles is coming to an end, and the 8th is just beginning, thanks to the WiiU. Rumors are floating about the Nextbox/Durango and the PS4/Orbis, and they have been for some time. However, it's not just Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo competing this time around like it had been since 2001. We all know of the Android Ouya [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ouya], a small, cheap, open console meant for mostly Android Games and the Occasional Real Game [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_III]. But they're not the only ones! Rumor's been floating since late 2012 of a "SteamBox [http://www.afterdawn.com/news/article.cfm/2012/12/09/valve_will_release_pc_console_next_year]", created by Valve as sort of a new entrent for the Hardcore audience. While it could be anything, most people are claiming it's an entirely new console. And of course, Rumors have been floating for years about Apple entering the race [http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2012/07/26/new-patent-application-brings-apple-one-step-closer-to-a-gaming-console/].

So not only will we have Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, but we'll also have Android, (Possibly) Valve and (Possibly) Apple entering the Console Race and competing with the main three. There hasn't been this many serious competitors entering the console race since the 5th Generation, that had Sony, Nintendo, Sega, Atari, Amigo, 3DO, Panisonic and Neo Geo all running consoles at the same time. Sure, only Sony, Nintendo and Sega had any real chance of winning the "Console War", but we haven't seen this many Real chance of winning consoles being released in ages.

So, what do you think? Is the Video Game Market heading back to the "Everyone's Console Has a Chance To Win" Race that we haven't seen since the late 90's? Will the Ouya have a chance to actually win? Will the SteamBox and AppleBox have any chance of winning if they are released?

 

[The Knightly Gamer]

I dont think Ouya will win. I think too many people are going to go into it thinking they will be able to play AAA games when thats not what is was built for. Apple doesnt need a console when they can just use the iphone as a "gaming system". Steam is a toss up for me they could but they dont "need" to.

 

[ResonanceSD]

Steam Box: Underpowered PC which will encourage developers to completely ditch the high end

Ouya: An amusing experiment

WiiU: Legitimately interesting, a console without power pretentions.

Ps4/Nextbox: Basically vaporware at the moment.

PC: Still the most powerful and most versatile option.

 

[Lionsfan]

I don't think the newcomers will survive, but I also said the same thing about the Xbox, so what the hell do I know? I guess we could see a little bit of a race, but I just can't see any of the new guys making strong headway on the Big Three

 

[recruit00]

I welcome the idea of a Steambox but I would have to see how it would work.

Wii U will most likely show that power isn't necessarily important if developers can make use of what they have.

PS4 will probably crash and burn if it can't play PS3 and PS2 games. If it is overpriced as the PS3 was, it will be a huge failure for most of its lifespan. Also, they need to actually support developers. Developing games for PS3 blows for developers. Downloads better not take five hours along with installs. If the game is installed, why is the system still spinning a ton? How is it that inefficient? Guh, hate Sony...

The NeXbox will be interesting. I'm guessing it will be more powerful than the Wii U obviously, the Kinect will be a bit better but still blow most of the time. My guess is that it will have a more multimedia focus which will prove to be an issue for games.

The Ouya is already dead. It will not make it at all. Too weak and no games. Pointless.

PC. Still gonna be the best power.

Steam Box could work. It would be interesting to see them do an OnLive thing with Steam and some other PC games, maybe group up with GoG for that. Now that they have Big Picture working, moving into the living room is definitely in their minds.

An apple console. Lawlz. More overpriced than a PS3, no real sit-down kind of games, bad software support.

I don't see any other consoles that would join in. I highly doubt Google would bother with a Cloud type thingy. They don't seem interested in the gaming industry too much.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

As long as the only games I want are on DS, and I patently refuse to own a microsoft console, it makes my choice pretty easy. Also not having a job, or money, and soon to be homeless makes the choice pointless.

 

[Friendly Lich]

I just don't see a big enough improvement or innovation to justify buying a next gen console. Every single game I've seen so far could have been made on the previous console. Its just a different looking box made by X company this time with a controller with differently placed buttons. I really don't think people should buy them because I feel like the are being swindled; to each his own though. The only reason to buy these consoles is to "keep up with the Jones's" and that is not a really good reason in my opinion. Save your hard earned money until they make something new, improved, and worth buying not because "the cup holders are in a new place".

 

[skywolfblue]

I dont think Ouya will win. I think too many people are going to go into it thinking they will be able to play AAA games when thats not what is was built for. Apple doesnt need a console when they can just use the iphone as a "gaming system". Steam is a toss up for me they could but they dont "need" to.

/agree

The Ouya is basically "iPhone games, for the TV".

I really doubt Apple is going to try AAA gaming again. They'll likely expand the abilities of iPhone. The iPhone can already connect to TVs, both wired and via Airplay.

So both of those are an entirely different market then AAA games. I think Apple will probably stomp all over the Ouya if they ever decide to really push iPhone gaming on the TV. But in the meantime props to the little guy.

Steambox is essentially a PC with fixed hardware. So if you develop for PC you scale the assets so that it'll run on steambox and then you'll essentially be killing two birds with one stone (developing for two platforms using the same code). This probably isn't good news for the high-end PC folks.

Nintendo and xBox will probably still survive, even if they fail completely. Microsoft is too big a titan to let a puny thing like 1 underscored console generation knock them out of the game. And Nintendo has proven their ability to survive in the past, even with underpowered consoles compared to their peers they've managed to thrive (Wii).

If the PS4 fails, will Sony survive? That is the question I'm wondering. They're not in a very good financial situation right now. I hope that it does succeed, I don't want any one company to gain a monopoly over consoles.

3 Dedicated consoles 1 quasi-PC isn't really "overload" IMO.

 

[Cabisco]

Oh god I hated that whole Console war thing (with the occasional elitist pc gamer skirmish) and I'm happy now it's all seemed to die down.

I assume the next xbox thing will do fine for me, it will have most of the best games (you know, the triple A multiplatforms ones as the neither exclusives appeal much to me anymore) and importantly most of my friends will have it and I have the most fun on consoles when I'm playing online with my mates. I ain't spending a few hundred pounds to play by all alone.

 

[Shadowstar38]

With them already working with pcs, what purpose does valve have for making their own console? The other three current makers could work just as well.

xbox/Ps3, Im not investing into either one until I've actually seen what they can do.

And the Ouya...why? I dont even play games on my phone. Why do I need another console?

Fuck Apple. Fuck em. Thats all.

 

[a.stewart]

Steam Box: Underpowered PC which will encourage developers to completely ditch the high end

From about 1985-2008 people have been trying to make more and more realistic looking games. In recent years, graphics has become very realistic and all games do not need to be this realistic (although I'm sure groups like EA will continue doing this to show off technology, and that's fine, other groups who do it too). After all, they're just games, not simulations or movies or tech demos. The goal of a game is to entertain and you don't need everything to look like real life to do that. Just look at how well the indie market is doing these days. I'm also sure Valve won't just have one Steam-box, they will hopefully release new ones very often that are more powerful, so that they constantly stay in touch with new technology.

I think the Steam-box will be a very good thing, and I hope that it does something significant towards blowing all normal consoles out of the water. I think consoles are generally a bad thing, but when the console IS a PC, and all the games on it are instantly compatible with PC, then I think it is a very good thing. Although I think Ouya is definitely alright as well, because it's actually a very similar idea; it expands on the already large Android platform, instead of creating something entirely new and exclusive.

I'm very much for combining everything into PC because PC is obviously the best, and other consoles end up having exclusive games when I don't want to pay for an over-priced piece of old technology, or for all my PC games to be shitty ports.

 

[sXeth]

NextBox/PS4 - Probably survive, both companies would have to have several successive console failures to really make a dent.

Ouya - Android's already losing hard to Apple, so.

WiiU - Nintendos basically a software company that runs on proprietary hardware (How many third party wii games are even successful?). That said, they do have a huge IP vault, loyal fanbase, and are one of the better game designers out there, which will get people to keep buying them. Its kind of like if the Beatles put all their music out on some weird player, that player would still sell.

Apple - The iPads prettymuch already there and solidly in control on the mobile market.

Valves effort at making a "standardized" PC are almost a joke. Not that Steam hasn't performed well, but they're only in BETA on a Linux Steam, nevermind making their own OS if it comes to that. Then they have to get Devs to regularly develop for Linux or their Valve OS. (Or they license windows, which MS will make prohibitively expensive likely, as they'd be directly against MS's console)

 

[AaronDemoncia]

If Valve starts a gaming system the first will probably surprise everyone, the second will be amazing too and the third will NEVER BLOODY HAPPEN. sarcasm aside i fail to see the reason to downgrade to a console since i bothered making a pc and digital distribution made the variation pointless.

 

[Vault101]

I dont think Ouya will win. I think too many people are going to go into it thinking they will be able to play AAA games when thats not what is was built for.

too many people are idiots it seems...

Steam Box: Underpowered PC which will encourage developers to completely ditch the high end
.

what do you mean by that exactly? (also a valve console is just an idea at this stage isnt it?)

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I think it'll make the market far too saturated, but that's just me.

 

[xPixelatedx]

So, what do you think? Is the Video Game Market heading back to the "Everyone's Console Has a Chance To Win" Race that we haven't seen since the late 90's?

I certainly hope so, because more exclusives means better games. There was a reason why games of 90s were so amazing. It wasn't just a pissing contest between developers (like now) but a contest between the companies the developers work for. That's why Sonic and Mario were at their best back then. People need to be able to give reasons why you should buy their console over their competitor's, and they will reach as far as possible to get that sale out of you.

Aside from Nintendo, I will say the exclusives this gen have been pretty small and almost forgettable (save for a lot of gems on XBLA). Hell, Even Nintendo's select this gen is arguably one of their weakest. I at least want to see both Microsoft and Sony try harder next time, and I want to see what new blood is capable of doing. Lets turn this into a bloodbath again so everyone brings out the big guns!

 

[NoeL]

I don't think the newcomers will survive, but I also said the same thing about the Xbox, so what the hell do I know? I guess we could see a little bit of a race, but I just can't see any of the new guys making strong headway on the Big Three

I actually thought the exact opposite when the Xbox was announced. I knew that Microsoft, being the financial powerhouse they are, would have no problems buying up dev houses and garnering a ton of third-party support (which they did), that their hardware would be similar to PCs and allow for easy software development (which it was), and that being the most powerful console at the time wouldn't hurt their sales (which it didn't).

If the next Playstation is a flop Sony might pull out of the console race, but I'm pretty sure they're still making good money in the other sectors of the entertainment industry (I could be wrong).

Microsoft will easily survive the next round, as will Nintendo I'd wager.

A Steambox would be interesting, but also kind of redundant. The Xbox is nothing more than a scaled back PC, so why would Valve bother doing the exact same thing? I guess if they focus on digital distribution they might get a foot in the door, but I'd be surprised if Microsoft don't go that direction themselves.

The Ouya... why did people want that thing, exactly?

Apple would be foolish to enter the console market IMO. Their target market is hip and trendy people whose gaming exposure is limited to playing Angry Birds while drinking coffee and posting garbage on Instagram. None of them are going to want to sit on the couch with family/friends for extended periods of time playing games.