Sunday, December 9, 2012

Are Gaming Consoles becoming Obsolete?

With people playing games on their smart phones and iPads, do you think that consoles like the Wii and Playstation 3 will be obsolete in the next decade? I don't know how to predict that but for me it would make sense since your iPad and your cell phone are compact and mobile. Even talk of the new Xbox integrating screens into their controllers sounds like they're worried they'll become irrelevant if they don't include an on-the-go option with their consoles. Either that or I've read that these platforms will become more like entertainment systems that include surfing the web and watching movies, which already happens now with Netflix on the Xbox. I don't know about PS3 since I don't have one. I'm sure those who are more in tune to the evolving technology and gaming market have a better idea of where things are going so I'm curious to hear what you have to say about this topic.

8 comments:

  1. The one pro I see for gaming consoles staying is that many people can connect to one and play in social settings. If you think about it smartphones, individual screen controllers, etc. are becoming more personal and not necessarily viable for a "party" situation.

    I think there will still be that need for people to hang out with each other and play games. It's interesting that the Wii came out with the Wii U, an individual controller, when the original system was marketed for a group setting.

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  2. There was a post earlier about someone who was at a party and everyone took out their phones and started playing games. I noticed this with my friends too. Whenever she gets bored or doesn't feel like participating, she'll take out her iPhone and play Temple Run or something. I think we'll soon get to that point where we can deal with being in the same room with each other, look at our individual screens and still feel connected. It happens already in computer cafés and during those late night Starcraft parties that went down in the study room across the hall from my dorm in my freshman year.

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  3. I agree. I don't think consoles will be going away any time soon, but are definitely constantly adapting.

    There is a big push in the tech industry now to have effortless transitions from a standard device to your mobile / on-the-go device (skydrive, dropbox, etc. all help with these concepts). The same applies to the gaming industry. For example, Microsoft has created a system where you can hook your Xbox Live Account up to and play games on your Windows Phone, Xbox Console, PC (Running Windows 8), or tablet (Microsoft Surface). I think this idea of being able to play anywhere will continue to be developed and iterated on in the short future of games.

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  4. I think there's an interesting parallel here with the book/printed text/newspaper industry. And look, I found another infographic for it! . I think there is still a defined market for print books (myself included), and I would venture to guess that the same goes for console gaming. The use of the word "obsolete" intrigues me because it seems to connote (at least to me) a sense of necessity, not just of want.

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  5. Post #5 (sorry I forgot to number my last four posts)
    It's interesting that you mention how consoles in the future will be more like entertainment systems where you can search the web and watch movies. In My TV History class, we were just talking about media convergence and how new forms of media today are combining multiple media platforms. For instance, we talked about how some TV's can be used with Netflix and Youtube. You can play games on phones and surf the internet on phones. You can also read books on tablets. It's interesting that game consoles can also be used as dvd players and sources for internet connections. I think that in order for consoles to progress into the future, they will all need to converge with other media forms in order to keep people's interest. I think people today have their mind on so many different types of media at once that technology needs to follow suit in order to keep up with the future advances of media.

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  6. I highly doubt that the Wii and PS3 will become obsolete because they are different forms of gaming. The Wii consoles based most of its games in interactive movement, which is different that hand-held devices that you can play games on. For the PS3, they have a much more powerful game engine than the ipad on smart phones will ever have.
    I don't know what the future of gaming looks like, but these gaming platforms have been around since the very beginning and I feel like they would even be more prevalent in people's living rooms. Just like the television would unlikely be obsolete, so will the gaming consoles.

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  7. #16 Honestly it's hard to say what the future will bring us. I definitely think consoles will be around for a long time though. They simple allow for a much more inclusive, gaming experience for multiple players. Eventually I do think handheld devices will find a way to gain a more inclusive reputation, but they will have a hard time competing with the home when there are such beautiful, crisp, LCD televisions that gamers have gotten used to. Plus there is something special about sharing a gaming experience with someone in person, right there, right then. Nothing like playing with someone up close and personal.

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  8. Actually the smart phones and other latest cells are designed not only for gaming purpose and they don't have the dedicated controllers and gaming engine through which you can roughly use it as
    gaming console. But the gaming consoles which are specially designed for gaming purpose are dedicated game engine and controllers. Through gaming console we can play socially by setting. In latest gaming devices you can enjoy also more features like watch movies, GPS locator etc.

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