Game consoles will be extinct after next-gen, says Jaffe

[Thierry Henry]

The God of War and Twisted Metal creator sees the next round of hardware as the very last

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2 ... says-jaffe


He does have a point, doesn't he? I mean with the rise of smart TV's and more powerful mobile devices, and faster internet speeds, there probably will come a time where a lot of gaming is done as streaming media such as with Onlive. The death of physical media and the consoles aren't probably too far off.

The various ways as a percentage to how we access our games might be very different ten years from now. In other words, what percentage will be via physical media, download apps and streaming/cloud gaming will change over the coming years.

[Pulsar_t]

Gaming is a technology-driven industry, so change is inevitable. 8th generation of consoles will likely be the final era in a +3 decade long history of dedicated gaming machines.

[Curlypaul]

I think its inevitable, sadly.

[isiolia]

I think consoles will continue for as long as the model is financially viable.

This is going to turn into another form of the "PC gaming is dead" claim. Just like PCs are able to be a lot more capable than consoles, consoles can be a lot more capable than cell phones, tablets, and features built into your TV.
A shift to a completely streamed experience would take a substantial upgrade to infrastructure. Streaming video definitely shows the market potential is there, but games have more to consider, and require more on the provider's end.

Maybe they'll become more niche again, but I think as long as there's software being put out that justifies a dedicated console, they'll still be produced.

[Forlorn Drifter]

I think that consoles will stay for another decade or so, but after this next gen everything will become digital, and we will lose our physical disks. I see the Steam model becoming the norm.

I'm sad to see my physical media dying.

[ryanofcali]

I for one don't like the idea of all in one machines, if the whole thing goes down you have nothing if you bought in to the lie and sold off other components.

[AppleQueso]

Jaffe spends the majority of the article basically saying "I don't really know what I'm talking about here, but eh here's what I think anyway."

You see these claims being made a lot these days, huh?

The idea that Smart TVs will replace consoles is the silliest one to me. I guarantee nobody's going to be happy if they have to buy two entire fucking TVs just to play Sony or Nintendo games.

[ZeroAX]

Aren't consoles basically already media boxes? What I don't understand is why they don't copy the iphone/ipad business plan already.

[isiolia]

I for one don't like the idea of all in one machines, if the whole thing goes down you have nothing if you bought in to the lie and sold off other components.

What are you selling off though? Blu-ray/DVD player? Apple TV? They don't replace that much.

I find most of it to just be redundant. Literally every single device hooked up in my living room can stream Netflix (a PC, 360, PS3, Wii, and stand-alone Blu-ray player). All but the Wii can play video files from USB or DLNA sources (at least). If/when I buy a new TV, that'll probably do the same.
Maybe if you're relying on a console for DVD or Blu-ray playback, but that'd be about it.

A lot of the multi-purpose machine stuff is simply par for the course. It's like saying hey, your Sega CD can play music CDs too! When the functionality wasn't there, people were hacking it in (XBMC origins for example).

The idea that Smart TVs will replace consoles is the silliest one to me. I guarantee nobody's going to be happy if they have to buy two entire fucking TVs just to play Sony or Nintendo games.

I think most of his logic is focused on streaming. You won't buy two different TVs, you'll download the PSN app for whatever TV you do have, which will allow you to stream the content your PSN account has access to. Kind of like saying you have a Netflix or Hulu client now.

[AppleQueso]

The idea that Smart TVs will replace consoles is the silliest one to me. I guarantee nobody's going to be happy if they have to buy two entire fucking TVs just to play Sony or Nintendo games.

I think most of his logic is focused on streaming. You won't buy two different TVs, you'll download the PSN app for whatever TV you do have, which will allow you to stream the content your PSN account has access to. Kind of like saying you have a Netflix or Hulu client now.

I'm talking about general CONSOLES R DOOMED posts, not necessarily what Jaffe is saying, but yeah.

I think something like a game console is a lot different than something like a Hulu/Netflix client.