Sony: "new hardware is needed," Microsoft: "Project XCloud"

[Flojomojo]

Sony:

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/328182/Sony_CEO_claims_nextgen_hardware_is_necessary_.php

 

Microsoft:

https://kotaku.com/microsoft-announces-xbox-game-streaming-service-1829595928

 

I think this will be the generation I step off the console/PC upgrade train for good. I always say I'll do that, but I've got to really mean it sooner or later. iOS and to a lesser extent ChromeOS can keep me entertained plenty well, and I can keep a utility PC around for heavy lifting. I don't seem to have time for playing with traditional consoles.

[Tanooki]

Those 2 stories kind of just back up how much more desperate and irrelevant both of them are becoming. They're failing to realize the mobile market is kicking the hell out of the dedicated console space while third parties are catching wise far sooner and just mass porting their good games to the PC(Steam, sometimes GoG too) where the hardware is more capable of doing a better job and with wider distribution chances. Sony there talking new hardware, MS talking about streaming cloud garbage to whatever. They're trying to find an out to get attention and more sales instead of riding the way the changes are going. Nintendo got smart making a hybrid setup because they could easily take advantage of the mobility space as the system runs that code well and it's something you can carry around or not with the dock. Sony kind of had a slight flavor with crossplay on Vita but it never took off, and MS shoves their games on Windows anyway sort of making their hardware seem kind of pointless to the informed.

 

I'm where you are, I pretty much called it quits on consoles. I've got Switch since it can go around and gets some very nice stuff for it, and then there's my PC using an 8GB Nvidia 980M (equal to 970 desktop) video chip in my laptop that can keep up with PS4 stuff nicely and top PS3. Traditional consoles I think need to change as Nintendo did, or they'll fall into that realm of unreliable relevance due to time or better options.

[Jess Ragan]

So, uh, what the hell was the point of the Xbox One X and Playstation 4 Pro?

[Osgeld]

I have not had time for traditional consoles since the end of the ps2 era

 

with a wife and a kid I am not going to dominate the living room making a bunch of racket to start reading system requirements, installing software and downloading updates .... I had been doing that for years with a pc already, which I can use without disrupting everyone else and have a superior experience even on my almost 6 year old shitbox that cost less than a ps4 when I built it in 2013 for ~400 bucks (not including keyboard mouse or monitor)

Edited October 10, 2018 by Osgeld

[Austin]

I'm not sure about Sony, but Microsoft has openly stated they are putting their eggs in many different baskets and are catering to many different market segments (straight from Phil Spencer's mouth in E3 interviews). This includes providing stream-only services, as well as games packaged on traditional physical media. Don't expect the traditional console "experience" to go away anytime soon.

Edited October 10, 2018 by Austin

[HoshiChiri]

I have not had time for traditional consoles since the end of the ps2 era

 

with a wife and a kid I am not going to dominate the living room making a bunch of racket to start reading system requirements, installing software and downloading updates .... I had been doing that for years with a pc already, which I can use without disrupting everyone else and have a superior experience even on my almost 6 year old shitbox that cost less than a ps4 when I built it in 2013 for ~400 bucks (not including keyboard mouse or monitor)

 

This is largely my mindset, except I have kept up with modern consoles. Despite the annoyances of patch downloads, system updates, managing an all-too-small hard drive, it is still true that if I put a ps4 disc in a ps4 system (or Xbox One or what-not), it will play. When that changes- I'm out, becuase it will basically be a PC at that point.

[MrMaddog]

I don't even care about "gaming consoles" since I just use my Xbox as a Home Theater PC anyway and I play the same type of games on my main PC anyway.

 

Yeah it would be nice to stream on 5G networks for smartphones but what good would that do if carriers won't even offer unlimited plans anymore?

[youxia]

"Streaming and mobile games killing off the consoles" angle has been done to death during the previous generation's lifespan and when speculating on the possible failures of PS4 & friends. But of course it did not happen, and won't anytime soon. Mobile games, popular as they are, will never replace a 52" TV+ controller+powerful hardware experience, it's a completely diffferent fix, and streaming AAA games is still long way off (if ever) to be a main dish for variety of reasons. Similar story with everybody just moving off to PCs.

 

Personally and despite the fact I don't own any modern stuff atm I quite like the current model, because it makes life a little bit more colorful. Console wars, different formats, exclusives and all that jazz are fun, plus add a competitive angle. I can't imagine anything more tedious (and bad for consumers) than a Unified Gaming Device.

[Video]

Mobile games won't ever be a real replacement to any real console. And at least in the US, where I live, streaming will never be a thing. Period. (It doesn't matter how fast or stable your internet is, if your latency sucks)

 

Xbox is already out, stupid cds are just keys to download a game, so I can't use it, and I imagine ps5 will follow suit, so I doubt that I'll be getting that, which leaves handheld, and switch, and maybe Nintendo's next gen console, which basically means after ps4 I guess I'll be exclusive nintendo.

[Rick Dangerous]

Yep. This is FOR SURE my last round of modern consoles. Not buying a cloud streaming service, etc. The only reason i'd ever get another console down the road at some point is if VR gets really good, buy i'm worried like 3D TV it may be a flash in the pan as it may be too much for most consumers. I enjoy the current gen of consoles, but there enough things that bug me about modern gaming, and so many good old games to play from 1980-2015 that I see no real need to buy anything else ever again. And I don't have a gaming PC or play games on my phone either. It's all good! There are plenty of new consumers out there to support whatever dreck Sony and MS come up with.

[+Atari_Warlord]

I've done PS1-4 in the modern era, but not sure I need a 5 unless it allows me to play all the games I own on the various Playstations.

[JBerel]

I'm with all of ya. Wii U was the last console I'll buy, and that was just because of backward compatibility so I could put one in another room. After loading up the homebrew, it or the regular Wii was a nice addition to the TV setup especially when they don't have streaming capability.

 

Modern gaming has become little more than a money grab for subscription/pay as you go services, or an exercise in wasting time on a mobile device. I never got an X-anything or PS3 onward because it was pretty clear they were leaning on past successes, and churning the same stuff out constantly. EA has been enough to turn me off the modern scene for good. Somebody wake me when they have functional holodecks. I'll move into one and nobody will ever see me again. Until then, I'll stick to 80's arcade games.

[Dr Manhattan]

I'm getting a vision. PS5 at E3 2019. A new Nintendo handheld. A tiny version of the Switch. Two year console cycles for Xbox and Sony hardware.

 

Both PlayStation and Xbox will eventually evolve into Netflix style game streaming services. Once they overcome some serious technological hurdles. As for now. I'm very pleased with both my PS4 Pro and my Xbox One X. I'm really enjoying the new Spider-Man game on PS4, and I can't wait to play Red Dead Redemption II on my Xbox One X.

 

I understand that the demands of life, work, kids, family, etc drive a lot of older gamers out of the modern console market. The cost can also be prohibitively high. At this point in my life I feel pretty lucky to still be hanging in their and having a great time as well.

[carlsson]

Good thing there is a separate thread for only the good things about modern gaming, because in this thread there are not many signs thereof.

[digdugnate]

i think this is the last console generation for my wife and i both as well- while i am enjoying immensely the latest whiz-bang Forza game when they come out, i just don't have any desire to keep up or move to a cloud-based service.

 

my wife games primarily on her PC (which I make sure to keep upgraded, since my desktop is just an emulation box), she has her tablet/phone, and a 3DS. I'm pushing for a Switch in the next couple of months but otherwise I'm content to play my 2600/TI and the NES/SNES Minis.

 

as much as i'd like to game for super long periods of time still, i just have too many commitments between taking care of the house/wife/kids and my job that keeps me buying games, lol. I was able to play unusually long the last few months between a knee surgery and some vacation, but typically that's the exception.

 

not really a sob story, per se, just the facts for me- my older consoles/etc scratch that 'play for 20-30 minutes' itch and i'm good to go.

[racerx]

I see a lot of people at the "in between" age. After always owning all the current consoles, I kind of aged out of it and skipped a generation.

 

Now that I have a house full of teens and tweens, I've got a Switch, a PS4, and an XBone. I dip my toes into the indie stuff on the Switch but otherwise don't touch 'em. The younger market will always drive sales even as adults age out of it, I think.

[Flojomojo]

I think you're right -- but the real tragedy is that older people have more money, which young people have so much free time. Argh.

[PlaysWithWolves]

I think the only way I'd buy a new Xbox is if my younger brothers did as well. I prefer PC gaming, and the only reason I play at all on my 1st gen Xbone is because of them.

[godslabrat]

I had already made this decision last gen, and was not going to get an XB1 or PS4. Now that the One plays UHDs and a huge number of legacy Xbox games, I've tweaked that mindset slightly... I think I might pick one up for those two specific purposes. And if I do, I could grab an exclusive or two that seems to be a fair deal.... however, I definitely see that being the end of the line.

[Flojomojo]

That's how it always goes for me ... hmm, this one has a lot of neat games I want to play, that one has backwards compatibility, and i get all these fun freebies for being a subscriber ... just when I think I'm out

 

[Lost Dragon]

PS Pro was supposedly Sony giving VR developers the extra horsepower they wanted

So, uh, what the hell was the point of the Xbox One X and Playstation 4 Pro?

PS Pro was to give PS VR game developers extra horsepower apparently and i would assume Xbox 1 X was MS getting sick of Sony using the most powerful console marketing angle and people making a mountain out of the molehill that was some XB1 games running at 90 compared to 1080P on PS4?

 

This generation of consoles has been another meaningless arms race between Sony and MS

[digdugnate]

PS Pro was supposedly Sony giving VR developers the extra horsepower they wanted

PS Pro was to give PS VR game developers extra horsepower apparently and i would assume Xbox 1 X was MS getting sick of Sony using the most powerful console marketing angle and people making a mountain out of the molehill that was some XB1 games running at 90 compared to 1080P on PS4?

 

This generation of consoles has been another meaningless arms race between Sony and MS

yes... but... which one has BLAST PROCESSING? hehehehe

[JBerel]

What did you buy PS4???? XBox 1!

[cimerians]

These may be my last consoles, although I really like what Microsoft is doing lately with Windows 10, Xbox One and accessibility. I've had some hand problems so I can't really game anymore like I used to, I've bounced back a bit but only with the flexibility of PC. Plus I've discovered a whole lot of other things that are worth my time. I'm not a big fan of streaming games but I embrace digital distribution 100%.

There's so much more flexibility on PC, I pretty much rigged so everything runs through my PC on any TV, media streaming, steam link, GOG, manuals, scans, emulators, netflix......everything. If I decide not to use my PC, I've got a couple Fire Sticks for shows etc.

I don't mind exclusive Console releases anymore either, there's so many games out there that I'll never get to, it doesn't really bother me if I 'miss' something that's not available on PC or whatever system I game on.

[Shawn]

Any new console before 2020 will not get any of my money.