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The console wars have been lost

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Re: The console wars have been lost

#11

Post by mrpopo »

nylonstrung wrote: post #3

Consoles just don't make sense in any modern context. It's profoundly wasteful to have an edge device sitting in your living room, unused for 99% of the time that can only do an incredibly small subset of what a gaming computer can Every PS5 in existence is destined to become e-waste Not to mention how bad the developer and porting experience is compared to PC/Steam Machine

> Every PS5 in existence is destined to become e-waste

Just like every Android device or computer in your household? Are you trying to make a point for cloud computing?

Re: The console wars have been lost

#12

Post by otabdeveloper4 »

nylonstrung wrote: post #3

Consoles just don't make sense in any modern context. It's profoundly wasteful to have an edge device sitting in your living room, unused for 99% of the time that can only do an incredibly small subset of what a gaming computer can Every PS5 in existence is destined to become e-waste Not to mention how bad the developer and porting experience is compared to PC/Steam Machine

"Game consoles" are a niche lifestyle item for gen-X and millennials with money to waste. (Like vinyl records.)

Nobody under 20 knows what a "console" is even for, they play games on their iPhone almost exclusively.

Re: The console wars have been lost

#13

Post by jdw64 »

frenzcan wrote: post #6
jdw64 wrote: post #4

I also think Steam was a game that had no choice but to win. AAA development costs have gotten so huge that even platform-exclusive developers find it burdensome, so they end up releasing on PC as well. And when that happens, Valve's value only grows. A console generation lasts about 8 years, but with Steam, once you buy a game, you can probably keep playing it until Gabe Newell dies. On top of that, CDs don't last a…

>you can probably keep playing it until Gabe Newell dies I remember Valve talking about the concern that if anything happens to Valve they have some contingency that basically releases your whole library to you without Steam DRM/etc.

cool!

Re: The console wars have been lost

#14

Post by jhack »

“If I can't give people physical games as gifts anymore, why should I bother buying the new console?”

“Man, Valve really does win by doing absolutely nothing while the rest of the industry shoots itself in the head.”

Good luck buying physical games on PC?

Re: The console wars have been lost

#15

Post by yulaow »

nylonstrung wrote: post #3

Consoles just don't make sense in any modern context. It's profoundly wasteful to have an edge device sitting in your living room, unused for 99% of the time that can only do an incredibly small subset of what a gaming computer can Every PS5 in existence is destined to become e-waste Not to mention how bad the developer and porting experience is compared to PC/Steam Machine

The thing I like about console compared to pc (which I use the most for gaming) is the total absence of cheaters except maybe a super minority.

To make an example try to play a multiplayer famous fps (like battlefield6 or cod) on console and then on pc, it's not even the same experience. On pc it is basically full of aimbotters, wallhackers, nodamagers, etc every single damn game, on console you get the actual safe experience. Sadly this is one of the reasons why I play mostly only pve games on pc

Re: The console wars have been lost

#16

Post by compiler-devel »

jdw64 wrote: post #4

I also think Steam was a game that had no choice but to win. AAA development costs have gotten so huge that even platform-exclusive developers find it burdensome, so they end up releasing on PC as well. And when that happens, Valve's value only grows. A console generation lasts about 8 years, but with Steam, once you buy a game, you can probably keep playing it until Gabe Newell dies. On top of that, CDs don't last a…

I've never had a problem with any CDs, even my old Quake CD from about 30 years ago. Probably there's an issue with your drive or the disc wasn't stored well.

Re: The console wars have been lost

#17

Post by alex43578 »

jhack wrote: post #14

“If I can't give people physical games as gifts anymore, why should I bother buying the new console?” “Man, Valve really does win by doing absolutely nothing while the rest of the industry shoots itself in the head.” Good luck buying physical games on PC?

The argument is that physical media was the one benefit consoles had. If you’re just buying a locked down, non-upgradable, low performance PC disguised as a console (without access to the superior Steam storefront), why not just get a PC?

Re: The console wars have been lost

#18

Post by bigcityslider »

brazzy wrote: post #7
s_dev wrote: post #2

Consoles mostly died with the PlayStation 3. Consoles (At least Sony and Microsoft's offering) have become repackaged PCs for a while now this will be especially apparent with the Steamboxes going up on the same shelves as Playstations in the future. I will concede it's hard to reason or discuss about these things without getting lost in a Ship of Theseus definition of what 'console' and 'PC' is and where the lines a…

I really don't think having a custom CPU and hardware architecture different from PCs is the defining property of a gaming console. Nobody cares about that except developers and hardware nerds. A console is a computer purpose-built and streamlined for playing games. No more, no less.

A game console is also locked down from the user, usually because the company is selling hardware at a loss, wants to maintain control, and wants to prevent cheating in online games. May also have exclusive games tied to the hardware.

Re: The console wars have been lost

#19

Post by brazzy »

nylonstrung wrote: post #3

Consoles just don't make sense in any modern context. It's profoundly wasteful to have an edge device sitting in your living room, unused for 99% of the time that can only do an incredibly small subset of what a gaming computer can Every PS5 in existence is destined to become e-waste Not to mention how bad the developer and porting experience is compared to PC/Steam Machine

It makes sense as long as building hardware optimized for games is either significantly cheaper, or yields a better customer experience, than the available alternatives.

To most people, a separate gaming appliance is seen as convenience, not waste.

Re: The console wars have been lost

#20

Post by applfanboysbgon »

otabdeveloper4 wrote: post #12
nylonstrung wrote: post #3

Consoles just don't make sense in any modern context. It's profoundly wasteful to have an edge device sitting in your living room, unused for 99% of the time that can only do an incredibly small subset of what a gaming computer can Every PS5 in existence is destined to become e-waste Not to mention how bad the developer and porting experience is compared to PC/Steam Machine

"Game consoles" are a niche lifestyle item for gen-X and millennials with money to waste. (Like vinyl records.) Nobody under 20 knows what a "console" is even for, they play games on their iPhone almost exclusively.

This is hilariously incorrect and out-of-touch. Obviously phones are #1 by a huge margin, but the console market is as large as it's ever been as gaming as a whole became genuinely mainstream, and kids absolutely still play on them. Switch at 155 million sales, PS5 at 93 million, and under-20s have plenty of experience with hand-me-downs.
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