Is gaming console will ever be back in the tech race ?

[dyonoctis]

I know this was a fact for a while, but this link : http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-witcher-3-wild-hunt-performance-analysis
Just remind me that "next-gen" console are already struggling with games. Pc is looking toward 2k, 4k, while console are barely managing 1080p/900P.And if we weren't stuck on the 28 nm for 3 years now, today's gpu will have been even more powerful.
But it's not like sony and ms took the cheap road, 300-400 is what most ppl are considering to an aceptable price. When the ps3 comes out at 600 with the cell cpu (wich ended up doing more harm than good) it was deemed too expensive.
Console makers used to make a lot of engineering works (kinda like SGI and their workstation) to get a head start ,or at least be in line performance wise. Now it looks like they just gave up, and as time go by, it won't get any prettier.
So what will happen next ? Japan is huge in the video game bussines, but they really don't have the same mindset. Konami already stated that mobile games matter most than AAA title.Nintendo is looking deeply into it. Is the race for better graphic will be slow down ? will console gaming vanish just like sgi worksation did ? Can we possibly going into an era of gameplay/story telling focus ?

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Consoles will be around for a long time to come. Its how Microsoft makes a big bulk of its profits after all.

I think console players already know that consoles are Inferior to even a mid range pc so theres no need to constantly shout '#PCMASTERRACE' at them because it honestly achieves nothing.

Consoles still have their uses. I cant imagine people playing against each other on tablets while at a party when they could all be sitting in front of a 50" screen at watching the action and having fun together.

Theres a big focus on mobile gaming because its an emerging market given how tablets are so popular.


They wont make any money out of me though as i dont play games on my tablet at all

 

[xvi]

Of course consoles will stick around. We have to play Mario Party on SOMETHING!

In seriousness, I don't think consoles will be pushing amazing graphics any time soon. They do have to compete with PCs and I think they can only do that with price and convenience. Recently, they've had to compete with Steam machines too, which I think throws a bit of a wrench in things for the console market. I think they'll always be a viable option though.

 

[Xzibit]

Consoles aren't going anywhere

"If the consoles are not involved there is no Witcher 3 as it is," answers Marcin Iwinski, definitively. "We can lay it out that simply. We just cannot afford it, because consoles allow us to go higher in terms of the possible or achievable sales; have a higher budget for the game, and invest it all into developing this huge, gigantic world.
"Developing only for the PC: yes, probably we could get more [in terms of graphics] as there would be nothing else - they would be so focused, like if we would develop only on Xbox One or PlayStation 4. But then we cannot afford such a game."

You got to like the honesty in that.

PC Gamers hate Console Gamers

PC Gamers need Console Gamers to fund what they want in a game

Console Gamers laugh at PC Gamers because they are an after thought to developers

 

[FordGT90Concept]

...the last time it was in the tech race was back in the early 80s was with Atari and NES. Workstations have always been bleeding edge. Even for all the engineering that went into the PlayStation 3, it still couldn't hold a light to a Xeon or Opteron system. Granted, consoles usually cost less than their personal brethren but that's a function of how they are sold (profits from software instead of hardware) as well as their limited/nonexistent options and the economics of scale.

Consoles aren't going anywhere

You got to like the honesty in that.

PC Gamers hate Console Gamers

PC Gamers need Console Gamers to fund what they want in a game

Console Gamers laugh at PC Gamers because they are an after thought to developers

You give console plebs way too much credit. Virtually all of their hardware is sourced from non-console markets. Even PlayStation 3's CELL processor was derived from IBM architecture intended to drive mainframes. Consoles are a lowest common denominator thing--not where boundaries are pushed. They're an exercise in conservationism because their hardware resources are extremely lacking.

What do consoles offer? The same as any other platform: more potential customers translates to more potential sales which leads to more potential profit. It's foolish for developers to limit themselves to only one platform (unless there's technical problems like Star Citizen being too big for current gen consoles), doesn't matter what category, because the cost to port is always going to be less than developing a new intellectual property. This is why CD Projekt Red ported Witcher 2 to Xbox 360. It expanded the potential user base by millions which raised more money they could use to fund other projects like Witcher 3. This is the same reason why a lot of PC titles make it to console (e.g. Witcher 2) and a lot of console titles make it to PC (e.g. Valkyria Chronicles). Developers need money and expanding the user base is a relatively safe way to acquire it.

 

[dyonoctis]

But Company like nintendo really did suffer from being too weak/using old hardware . It kinda started when they didn't want to use cd instead of cartdrige, dev find it was too much of a chore to make games for them. Next they became the"child toys"company but the gamecube was pretty good hardware wise, they still got splintercell, rainbow six, call of duty, tomb raider,hitman, resident evil etc...
Now they are getting no love from third party developers, who are openly saying : the cpu is shit we don't want to do anything with it...nintendo license/exclusive are the only things kepping them going, and they already planning to replace the wii u.

(I really love nintendo. But i can't help to notice that they are releasing a lot of mario games, and licenses like Metroid, F-zero, Starfox are awfully quiet. I'm still amaze to see that metroid prime somehow manage to look pretty in 2015, and i just can't imagine what retro studio could do with today's hardware...)

Now it's obvious that the brand xbox/playstation won't dissapear, but current gaming console are pc with a console brand. Low level api used to be a huge advantage ,but Vulkan, direct x ,mantle are knocking on the door.
I may be a mad man, but i just realise that they could sell graphic upgrade (just like they used to sold expansion pack, heck, just what nintendo is doing with the new 3ds) to keep up more easily, since these new api could allow more flexibility on the hardware, and cpu don't scale up as much as they used to...i think that would be less expansive than having to release a whole new system, i have a hard time seeing ps4/xbone doing another 6 years marathon....

 

[FordGT90Concept]

Then look at the Wii. Hardware deficient (except motion sensing) and sales steam roll over Microsoft and Sony. The Wii filled a void in the market for a fun-for-everyone console that was affordable and easy to use that Microsoft and Sony didn't touch. Wii U isn't doing nearly as well because the Wii satisfied the market demand. Nintendo is on the verge of screwing up again because they assume they need to be more like Sony and Microsoft when simply put, they won't have another Wii until they have another radical idea that fills a void.

In all seriousness though, I think Steam Machines poses a much greater threat than Sony and Microsoft realize. The only thing that stops the everyman from making their own console is the lack of standards. Steam Machines will start changing that.

If you look at the PS4 and XB1, the design philiosophies say much about both. PS4 is betting on the survival of BluRay while XB1 is betting on the internet. Seeing how the Windows market pretty accurately predicts trends in consoles (except fringe ideas like Wii motion sensing), I think XB1's model is the future, not PS4. Optical mediums are rapidly fading in popularity. Future consoles will look more like mass produced HTPCs (like XB1) than gaming consoles of yore because there's a far brighter future for HTPCs than game consoles. Steam Machines (and other online distributed gaming platforms) can easily superimpose itself into that model.

Now, consider all of that on top of the fact that consoles are almost always sold at a loss (except the Wii, because it is special). When they can't control the game market because it is so internet-centric, they also can't afford to subsidize the hardware. I think this fact is what will ultimately end the gaming console. Note the sharp decrease in growth with the 7th generation, despite lasting much longer than previous generations and having access to more customers than ever due to modernization of eastern Europe and Asia:

I would not be surprised, at all if the 8th generation doesn't come close to the 7th generation. Welcome to "peak console."

Note the one that ultimately won in the last two generations did so because they did something exceptional. PlayStation 2: cheaper DVD player than consumer DVD players; DVDs are still a hit and likely outselling BluRays by a massive ratio. Wii: the Wiimote's infrared pointing and accelerometers. The original PlayStation sold itself in addition to having a long shelf life and little competition.

 

[OneMoar]

somebody throw the brakes on this fail-train before it derails