Poll: Gaming blues: what's the point in buying the new consoles anymore?

[Gummy_x_x]

There are some amazing games I would like to play, but with new consoles coming out every year, why bother getting the latest one when it'll be outdated within eleven months or so? Gaming consoles just don't seem to hold the same longevity they used to. And with gaming consoles being so expensive, how am I supposed to afford or convince my parents to buy me all these new consoles? (Let alone have a place to put them all!) It makes it harder for them to target child audiences because who's parents wanna spend that much money and what kid has a job to pay for all that?

I'm just venting here, kinda just getting it off my chest. It really bothers me. I want to go into the gaming industry, too, but it's frustrating the way things are going. I don't want to design games for consoles that'll be outdated within a year, especially since if I couldn't convince myself to buy a new console for this game, why should anyone else?! Well, anyway, feel free to leave your gaming laments here.

And let's pray to the gaming gods that Nintendo or Sony sees this thread and gets it through their heads that their consumers don't like new consoles coming out every year! (Instead, why not work on creating a console ahead of its time? Something that can't be churned out in a year in the same cookie cutter way, and instead will be all the much better for it?)

EDIT: Okay, I get it! New consoles aren't being released every year! It felt like that to me, I was feeling overwhelmed by the new consoles. I'm sorry I said anything. Just to me, it seems like new consoles are coming out faster than I can get them. Just when one console comes down to a more reasonable price, there's a new one. That's what it felt like to me. Sorry I said anything. For God's sake, where is the delete button to delete my own thread?

 

[FillerDmon]

I can only pick the Meh option, because some wires seem to have been crossed here. As an example.

Nintendo Wii: 2006 (basically 2007).
Nintendo WiiU: 2012 (but again, basically 2013).

I do not think 6 years is 1 year.

 

[Gummy_x_x]

I can only pick the Meh option, because some wires seem to have been crossed here. As an example.

Nintendo Wii: 2006 (basically 2007).
Nintendo WiiU: 2012 (but again, basically 2013).

I do not think 6 years is 1 year.

True, I guess I'm kinda mistaken about Nintendo. But to me it still feels like new gaming consoles from various companies are being churned out every year.

 

[zen5887]

I kinda get what you're saying, but your points are pretty far off the mark. I'm not sure where you're getting the "every year" thing from, or if it's just hyperbole.

The PS3 came out in Australia in 2007 and the PS4 came out late 2013. That's a 6 year difference, plus the PS3 probably has a year or two of life left. Also, the price of consoles are getting cheaper, I remember the PS2 getting released for around $700.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

And let's pray to the gaming gods that Nintendo or Sony sees this thread and gets it through their heads that their consumers don't like new consoles coming out every year!

Op, I can safely say that I have no idea what you're talking about.

Xbox 360
November 22, 2005

Xbox One
November 22, 2013

^That's an 8 year gap between releases.

PS3
November 17, 2006

PS4
November 15, 2013

^7 year gap between these two consoles.

Wii
November 19,2006

Wii U
November 18, 2012

^And a 6 year gap between these.

I can't even bring myself to answer your poll when it asks "Should video game companies stop releasing new gaming consoles every year?" when, well, they DON'T release consoles every year.

I'm confused. What are you trying to say here?

 

[Foolery]

Can't say I really see the appeal of the PS4 or Xbone. They're basically glorified PCs at this point, with a few exclusives yet to be released. The only one that really does it's own thing is the Wii U.

 

[FillerDmon]

I can only pick the Meh option, because some wires seem to have been crossed here. As an example.

Nintendo Wii: 2006 (basically 2007).
Nintendo WiiU: 2012 (but again, basically 2013).

I do not think 6 years is 1 year.

I think he meant the specs will be outdated in a year. As in the ps4 has nice specs now, but in a year they will be out dated. Or at least thats what i understood.

OT: Get a job, buy what you want with your money. It's called growing up. Stop leeching off mommy daddy and step daddy.

That last part is pretty harsh, bro... though I agree, at least on the (find a source of income and choose to spend your money how you want, part).

I'm never actually bothered by console specs: Even if they released consoles yearly, pcs are still going to be better with research and development occuring constantly on ways to continue improving, and you pretty much just have to accept that. I'm more for the experience of consoles, and I'm fine with getting a new game in a series I like once every 6 years, with a revolving library of good games to keep me busy in my spare time.

 

[Elfgore]

I'm kinda confused here, you're sending us mixed messages. It's been about five or six years between the current generations. If you're talking about them being out-dated, then they already are as soon as their released. So, which is it?

Sony and Nintendo will not see this... ever. Some low-level employee might see this , but he's not going to go running to the CEOs screaming "Someone on an internet forum doesn't like our business practices!"

 

[duwenbasden]

>why bother getting the latest one when it'll be outdated within eleven months or so?

Obsoleted by what? Consoles last at least 5 years and never change, so devs knows what to expect hardware-wise.

Have you seen the mobile space? Hardware is so far ahead of the software and changes so frequently that it is literally pointless to upgrade within 3 years. Are you saying you won't be bothering to get a smartphone because the Snapdragon 800 came out 6 months after your SD600?

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Every year? You mean every seven years? Those are two very different numbers.

And no, the console generations don't need to be any longer. At least the last one didn't need to be. The 360 and PS3 are old-ass tech. Only having 512MB of combined system and video memory was holding games back. Despite what a lot of Nintendo fans might want to tell you, there's no advantage to programming for a slower system. You can put the same game on a faster system more cheaply because of the reduced need to optimize, and running the game at higher FPS doesn't cost more money.

Hell, the entire indie scene basically exists because the games are so far below what the systems are capable of that they no longer require great technical expertise to produce and are cheap and fast to distribute.

Seven years is a really, really long time for consumer electronics. Imagine if we were still using the same phones as we were seven years ago.

 

[Gummy_x_x]

I can only pick the Meh option, because some wires seem to have been crossed here. As an example.

Nintendo Wii: 2006 (basically 2007).
Nintendo WiiU: 2012 (but again, basically 2013).

I do not think 6 years is 1 year.

I think he meant the specs will be outdated in a year. As in the ps4 has nice specs now, but in a year they will be out dated. Or at least thats what i understood.

OT: Get a job, buy what you want with your money. It's called growing up. Stop leeching off mommy daddy and step daddy.

Thank you for that. I'm old enough now to get a job, but I don't see how it's my fault that I'm 17 and a couple years ago I COULDN'T get a job! So those things really were out of reach to me. Anyway, I guess I'm wrong about the whole every year thing, it just felt like that to me. Can't keep up. I don't exactly have 100 - 200 dollars to spend every time a new console comes out, actually they generally cost more than that. Also, your comment is offensive to children with divorced parents. What is that supposed to mean? Stop leeching off of "mommy daddy and step daddy"? And you assume automatically I am a child with divorced parents because of something I posted on the internet? My parents are actually not separated, but your comment is offensive to those whom's parents are.

 

[Gummy_x_x]

Every year? You mean every seven years? Those are two very different numbers.

And no, the console generations don't need to be any longer. At least the last one didn't need to be. The 360 and PS3 are old-ass tech. Only having 512MB of combined system and video memory was holding games back. Despite what a lot of Nintendo fans might want to tell you, there's no advantage to programming for a slower system. You can put the same game on a faster system more cheaply because of the reduced need to optimize, and running the game at higher FPS doesn't cost more money.

Hell, the entire indie scene basically exists because the games are so far below what the systems are capable of that they no longer require great technical expertise to produce and are cheap and fast to distribute.

Seven years is a really, really long time for consumer electronics. Imagine if we were still using the same phones as we were seven years ago.

Old? Those are old?! PS2 is old, not 360. Actually, I am using the same phone from seven years ago. I got my current phone, let's see... when I was in sixth grade, and I am entering my senior year of high school now and still using it. Managed not to be an idiot and break it like the most of my peers.

 

[Gummy_x_x]

I'm kinda confused here, you're sending us mixed messages. It's been about five or six years between the current generations. If you're talking about them being out-dated, then they already are as soon as their released. So, which is it?

Sony and Nintendo will not see this... ever. Some low-level employee might see this , but he's not going to go running to the CEOs screaming "Someone on an internet forum doesn't like our business practices!"

True, true. I know this, just wishful thinking. XD

 

[KarmaTheAlligator]

Answering the topic title, the point is, as always, to play the games you want on them. Don't like any of the games? Don't get the console.

To answer the poll, they don't release a new console every year, so that's useless. Anyway, they do need to keep up with the tech, even if it becomes obsolete very fast, because there's a demand for it, and they can do a lot more with better specs. Why is that even in question?

 

[Casual Shinji]

(Instead, why not work on creating a console ahead of its time? Something that can't be churned out in a year in the same cookie cutter way, and instead will be all the much better for it?)

Well, that's the thing with technology, it's in a constant state of advancement. And the faster it advances the faster what was initially "ahead of its time" becomes "obsolete". When HD console gaming finally made its way to our homes there was already talk of monitors with a higher resolution than 1080p.

PCs need the latest video cards to run state-of-the-art graphics too.

You can't just say 'They should just make something really, really advanced so the public won't feel the need to buy anything new for the next 20 years', because the fact you're releasing this tech out into the public means there's gonna be people out there using that knowledge to make an even more advanced product.

A tech company/division that stops advancing even for a few years is digging its own grave. Why do you think Sony is in the hot water it's in?

 

[BloodSquirrel]

Old? Those are old?! PS2 is old, not 360. Actually, I am using the same phone from seven years ago. I got my current phone, let's see... when I was in sixth grade, and I am entering my senior year of high school now and still using it. Managed not to be an idiot and break it like the most of my peers.

The 360 is old. Hell, it doesn't even have a Blu-ray drive. When you can release a new console with an order of magnitude more processing power, the old console is old.

Whether or not you're using the same phone as you were seven years ago really isn't relevant. The rest of the world is benefiting from new, better stuff and we're not going to wait for you. Hell, there are places around the world that still don't use electricity. That doesn't make the first television sets any less old.

 

[hermes]

I came here to answer that I don't see the appeal of buying a new console at this point. They might be old technology, but since there are very few games that are exclusive to new consoles that I would consider "must play" and there is no answer for the compatibility of games bought during the previous generation, I don't think I am ready to make the jump.

Then I noticed that your point rests on game consoles being released too often, to which I say: WTF? Consoles are not released too often; if anything, this generation was long enough, and crammed with great games enough, that it makes the new generation uncalled for. Worst when we consider many of the games released on PS4/XB1 could easily run in the previous generation...

 

[DrOswald]

Every year? You mean every seven years? Those are two very different numbers.

And no, the console generations don't need to be any longer. At least the last one didn't need to be. The 360 and PS3 are old-ass tech. Only having 512MB of combined system and video memory was holding games back. Despite what a lot of Nintendo fans might want to tell you, there's no advantage to programming for a slower system. You can put the same game on a faster system more cheaply because of the reduced need to optimize, and running the game at higher FPS doesn't cost more money.

Hell, the entire indie scene basically exists because the games are so far below what the systems are capable of that they no longer require great technical expertise to produce and are cheap and fast to distribute.

Seven years is a really, really long time for consumer electronics. Imagine if we were still using the same phones as we were seven years ago.

Old? Those are old?! PS2 is old, not 360. Actually, I am using the same phone from seven years ago. I got my current phone, let's see... when I was in sixth grade, and I am entering my senior year of high school now and still using it. Managed not to be an idiot and break it like the most of my peers.

The 360 is outdated by an order of magnitude, at least, in every category. The ps3 and 360 were so weak and outdated that games coming out in 2011 were being choked by the hardware. They may not be old in years but they are old in tech. They are outdated. They are old.

Also, one console every 6-8 years is hardly that often. And it certainly isn't once every year. I can't even figure out how you came to the every year conclusion.

 

[MysticSlayer]

There are some amazing games I would like to play, but with new consoles coming out every year

Did I miss something? The Xbox 360 released in 2005, eight years before the release of the Xbox One. The PS3 released in 2006, seven years before the PS4. The Wii released in 2006, six years before the WiiU. In other words, the shortest amount of time that a seventh generation console lasted was six years, far more than the assumption that you base your entire argument on.

And no, we're not headed in that direction either. Many of the largest games in the industry have about a 2-3 year development time. It would be suicide for console developers to try to release consoles faster than the games can be made for them.