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Will Consoles Merge Back Into PCs?

Posted by Soulskill on from the it's-a-definite-possibility dept.

GamePolitics is running an interview with Randy Stude, president of the PC Gaming Alliance, discussing the future of gaming on the PC and the console. Stude has some interesting thoughts regarding the long-term viability of stand-alone consoles: "The guts of every console should tell you that the capability is there for the PC to act as the central point for all the consoles. If you bought a PC and as part of that equation you said, Okay, when you're on the phone with Dell, 'Hey, Dell, on this PC, this new notebook I'm buying, can you make sure it has the PlayStation 4 option built into it?' Well, why not? Why shouldn't that be the case? [Sony is] certainly not making any money on the hardware. I mean, can't they create a stable enough environment to specify that if Dell's going to sell that notebook and say that it's PlayStation 4 [compatible] that it must have certain ingredients and it must meet certain criteria? Absolutely they could [do] that. Are they going to do it? I don't know. I predict that they will. I predict that all of the console makers over time will recognize that it's too expensive to develop the proprietary solution and recognize the value of collapsing back on the PC as a ubiquitous platform."

7 of 356 comments (clear)

  1. No.... by jawtheshark · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Never gonna happen.... I simply can't see that ever happening. It would at least partially mean that companies like Sony or Nintendo need to build components and allow interoperability with what is essentially an open platform. It means releasing control, they won't do that.

    Besides, consoles are mostly played at the TV and installed in a fixed way like a DVD Player. It is simply convenient. Connecting a laptop to your TV? Cumbersome!

    I personally think that PC gaming is on the way out except for a few niches. My brother bought GTA4, and we simply can't get to run it on his 2 year old PC. He now faces the choice: pay about 1500€ for a new rig in order to play GTA4 at acceptable rates. Or spend +/-450€ on a PS3 and buy the game again....

    I recommended him to get the PS3.... Throw in a USB mouse and a USB keyboard and he can play like he is used to.

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    Ahhh...the great dumpster continuum. Many a free computer will be found there. -- sowth (748135)
    1. Re:No.... by plasmacutter · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I have one thing to add to this.

      MMO's are preferably played on PC's.

      The multitude of abilities are more easily accessed via keyboard and mouse, and there is a guarantee of enough space for patches/expansions/what have you.

      For every other genre though, i agree a console is better.

      --
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    2. Re:No.... by zehaeva · · Score: 5, Interesting

      RTS games are joy to play on consoles then? FPS games? I'll grant you some RPG's and Platformers and a few FPS's designed from the outset to work well on consoles but every other genre than MMO's? ~zehaeva

    3. Re:No.... by MrHanky · · Score: 4, Informative

      Keyboard + mouse is a lot more accurate in an FPS than a game pad. It's as if a top athlete were to participate in the Paralympics: not fair.

  2. Consoles as the secure PC platform by ludomancer · · Score: 5, Insightful

    PC's are too "open" for the comfort of many industries. By moving focus to more restrictive consoles, companies regain their control. Once they have control, the ability to push ads you can't block, monitor what you're doing for marketing, and limit what you are allowed to do or not do with media, consoles will eventually come full-circle so that users will eventually be using them for the same things PC users have been, only in safe, friendly, controlled environment.

    Suckers.

  3. This goes back and forth by jollyreaper · · Score: 4, Insightful

    This is going to be like the whole debate with thin client and fat client, centralized vs. decentralized computing, etc. It's always going to go back and forth.

    Back in the PSX and PS2 era, it became stupid to try to keep up with PC gaming. A really good video card would cost as much as a proper console and the console would remain playable far longer whereas the computer would become outdated far more quickly. Game on consoles, work on computers, no-brainer.

    With this generation, the consoles are getting too damn expensive. By the time you factor in accessories, you easily spend as much on them as PC's now. It's actually getting back to the point where if you already need a PC, it's just cheaper to spend extra to turn it into a gaming machine rather than gettin a work PC and a gaming rig.

    Xbox 360 - was around $299
    Extra controller - $50
    Charging kit for a controller - $30
    wireless adapter - $75
    if you decide the 20gb drive is too small, you want the 120 - $200
    memory card to serve as a backup to the hard drive - $50
    headphones so you don't wake up the read of the house at night - $75

    $779. And if you decided to upgrade the TV from the ol' CRT to a proper HDTV to look nice with the console, $1000 and up.

    --
    Kwisatz Haderach
    Sell the spice to CHOAM
    This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
  4. There will always be both. by EWAdams · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The PC is optimized for one person to use at a distance of maybe 0.5 m. It sits on a desk. It is a lousy multi-player device.

    The console is optimized for multiple people to use at a distance of 2 m. It sits in the living room. It is an excellent multi-player device, and, even if equipped with a keyboard and mouse, a highly inconvenient personal computer.

    This is in addition to the cost reasons already cited.

    --
    I piss off bigots.