Former Xbox Europe exec foresees the extinction of consoles

I can see this happening.

Why? Developers would like a single platform to develop for, and the power required for gaming is going to find itself present in many other devices.

Eventually, I imagine there will be a single box you need to go with your tv. It will play the latest form of video, record/play TV, have enough power to play videogames, and perhaps might even replace the PC.

It might take longer than 10-15 years, but eventually something will come along which consolidates all of our wonderful high-tech devices into a single unit. Right now a PC can be built that does basically that-- eventually it will be cheap and effective.

As for dedicated gaming consoles... we can expect some kind of holodeck... =)

I completely disagree. Look at how successful consoles have become, and they have pushed PCs to being mainly used to play 'casual' games over the internet.

No, consoles will stay strong, we will probably just abandon the cartridge/disc paradigm for the games; games will be all digital distribution. Consoles will remain, games you can hold in your hands will disappear.

Bullshit. This isn't going to happen. Maybe PCs and consoles will merge but there will always be at least 2 systems. One would be a monopoly wouldn't it?

Tell that to John Doh, Mr Duncan...

Tell that to John Doh...

To John Doh...

Doh...

...

PC gaming has always been the future ;)

consoles are merely moving to a state where they will be part of the TV, as in the way your computer is to your monitor, No DVD Blu Ray, no Sattelite or cable box, just a console but it will be called a home entertainment suite instead, And computers will still be the same.

Also YoYo games is nothing they are blind to the reason why console failed in the first place, they churn out crap and even more crap their busines will expand than collapse in on itself, I don't see why they are so blind.

...

DO'H!

I meant "Doe"

To propally read my above comment, replace all "Doh"'s with "Doe"'s

Thank you come again.

Yeah, I'm calling bullshit too.

You guys are better than this. The better thing to do would've been IGNORE this guy and brush him off. Sure, one might call it karma if it does eventually end up like this, but let's be honest, console gaming is barely reaching it's 30-40th anniversary of being active.

There may be a few years where we see a halt, but it won't last forever. I see digital downloading being a progression but it's not going to wipe out gaming consoles. The need for the ease of being able to just have the device pre-made and pre-designed will be around forever, just like everything concerning pre-made stuff is still around.

Especially the PC and THAT is NOT a dedicated gaming console. THAT is a CUSTOMIZABLE gaming console.

People are lazy... And as long as a majority is lazy, the companies in the gaming industry will not hesitate to make it so they have a pre-designed experience set to what they want.

I duct-taped my PS3, 360, and Wii all to my PC to form a single mega media machine. I shall now commence fanboyism for my new device, the likes of which this world has never seen.

consoles will never die,that person needs to get there head out of there wazoo

Wasn't it someone related to the Xbox department who also said that Blu-ray would be obsolete in about 12-18ish months and digital downloads would take over en-mass?

Pfffffft.

Maybe M$ should hire people that are intelligent and actually understand what the majority of people want: Right now it's consoles, and physical media.

But, along with that, I can see the exact opposite here. You pay for the console, and you can have it become your satellite/cable box, multi-media center/gaming center etc.

In a nutshell: I think we should expect to see more systems like the PS3 (not fanboy in nature at all) that can stream/hold media, play games, go on the internet, accept tv feeds (PlayTV does this no?) become a DVR, Play/Download high definition movies, become your computer, etc.

I agree that it more than likely will not happen. Microsoft can't make a good piece of hardware but that doesn't mean Sony and Nintendo should not make consoles.

The game industry is built upon the mass graveyard of dozen(s) of game consoles. Just saying there will be some sort of dedicated gaming platform.

2 Problems with this, though they pertain more to the American environment (which is the most robust console market)

1. Relatively few Americans have broadband, compared to say, Japan.

2. The broadband Americans have is relatively shitty

Five to 10 years? Never, especially as full-scale games require more and more space, and the big 3 become more and more concerned with smothering DRM to fight the pirates

I think we can take this as confirmation that it's the end of the road for Xbox. I mean why bother creating any further models, if they are heading for extinction????

Not going to happen for the same reason we still have DVD players. Most people aren't going to bother with digital distribution and not everyone has good internet connections (ie. UK).

From a personal viewpoint, nothing beats having stacks of games on your shelf, sharing games with friends or reading the manual of a newly bought game on the bus on the way home.

Instead of going into a long winded opinion why I don't see it happening I'm just going to say, I don't see it happening. Not with consoles anyway.

Guess I'm just going to sit here and not give a fuck until 5-10 years from now.

Not going to happen in the near-future. Each with their own successes this generation, Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony will each create a new console for the 2011/2012-2015/2016 lifespan. That almost takes us out of Duncan's timeline prediction right there.

Digital distribution is very limited. The claim that we will be downloading all of our games is many years from being substantiated. We need faster data networks, especially in the last leg to the consumer. We also need smarter background downloading. Digital distribution is possible if the download is handled on a per level basis in the background, but not as a single download. Could you imagine dling a 10GB game now? What about a 50GB game in the next generation? It's possible but so cumbersome that no one will want to do it.

Set-top boxes and online gaming are getting more sophisticated but seriously lack any features that would pull consumers away from consoles. Might an all-in-one box take the place of a console? Sure, but its not likely given the competitive powers right now and their ability to control the gaming market.

It's possible, but I doubt any of us will be alive to see it happen if it did. More likely is the combination of a PC and a game console, which I could see MS doing next generation, especially as PCs continue to fall in price and grow in standardization.

3DO. The Console was to have multiple manufactures making the same hardware so that the consumer could buy a brand of their choice. Although not entirely the same, what is being stated by this person will not happen for many, many years. Not only is storage space a problem but bandwidth is an issue as well. Consoles will remain a fixture with their type of storage medium for well into the future and well past the time of my life.

I can't see this happening. Digital distribution, maybe, once broadband speeds and storage capacity have increased enough to make it viable for larger games. But those games will be digitally distributed to consoles.

Checking the full article, he makes a couple of odd points. First of all, he reckons that handhelds will die out as well. What am I supposed to do, take my set-top box with me on the train?

There's also the bit where he suggests that, in this same 5-10 year window, YoYo Games may be competing with EA. There are only two ways that this could happen - 1) Activision renames itself YoYo Games or 2) people realise that every new sports game is the same as the last and EA implodes.

I'm a Nintendo fan-boy and i study politics. God help you :-)

Hmmm THis is a wish by this executive. Its not reasonalbe because ONE the argument is for a single box. Two the single box would be set top. Now putting one and two togather and you will get Nintendo, Sony, and Micorsoft giving up there machines to another company to have a monopoly? Oh wait its to multiple companies making the box? Ic and how many will that be? Three? Add cox and comcast, and time warner, and att, and brighthousenetworks, and all other cable companies and now you have MORE than three boxes to develope for! Lets not forget the satelite companies! And the other DSL companies. PLEASE these three companies are not going to give up a threeopoly for a single set top box or many set top boxes and just give up money! And the developers are not going to develope for many companies with all there versions of a set top box any time soon. Next gen is coming with a BANG!

This exec is obviously spouting some ignorance, consoles won't extinct anytime soon in my opinion, video games are just as big as movies these days and companies like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo will never come to an agreement and they'll always have competition...it's been going on for over 20 years and i don't see it dying out anytime soon.

Shameless self-promotion cat is obvious.





Damn... that doesn't quite work.

Thats the most retarded prediction I've ever read.

Hey nostradamus, theres already an all in 1 box, its called the PC and most gamers have rejected it because its more expensive and complicated to get set up for next gen gaming then consoles are. When PC (or a pc-like media hub) becomes as powerful as consoles, and is cheaper and easier to get going, and is equipped with massive storage space (100+ terabytes) then we'll talk about this digital thing. As it stands, there is absolutely nothing wrong with old fasion discs and competing game companys. In short, i'd rather have more consoles and less bullshit predictions. Dam the digital distribution and bring on the Dreamcast 2!!!! whos with me