PS3 Due In March 2006 (and more on the cell-powered TVs)

^ True. But I think the next generation of gaming (in general) will bring a change of a different kind than mere visual splendor over the former hardware.

Moreso than ever, I guess the \'war\' will be \'fought\'  on developers\' side than on consumer end (the gamers  ).

That\'s why I think that the PC will gain back alot of base when it comes to games. As gamedevelopment gets more complex, the majority of dev studio\'s will want to avoid increasing development time and financial complexity.

It\'s imho also a sign on the wall that Nintendo has been trying to innovate again and again through means of new hardware, not really the software.

If that\'s the way it\'s moving then that\'s where it\'s going to go.  Your scenario will not happen this up coming generation so for the time being this arguement is as irrelevant as our preferences.

PC\'s would have to drastically lower in price to become more accessible before people would overlook console\'s as a viable alternative.

Mobility also comes into question, you don\'t see people carrying their PC\'s from room to room.  Also, online gaming might become more and more popular but it will never be the same as having your friends sitting in the same room with you.

For now, there will be a seperation of console and PC.  I\'m not sure where things are headed but I don\'t think a 20 billion dollar industry is just going to up and go away anytime soon.

[GmanJoe]

Will the nextBox be FLAT and SMALLER? The only thing holding me back from getting the Xbox now is that you can\'t stack a PS2 or GC on top of it\'s clunky design. Believe it or not, I betch more people would buy an Xbox if it was more streamlined.

I wonder if the PS3 will be be smaller. I wish the PS2 would miniturize yet keep the same size CD, like the PSOne did for the PSX.

Originally posted by Ginko
If that\'s the way it\'s moving then that\'s where it\'s going to go.  Your scenario will not happen this up coming generation so for the time being this arguement is as irrelevant as our preferences.

PC\'s would have to drastically lower in price to become more accessible before people would overlook console\'s as a viable alternative.

Almost every household has a PC.Also PCs arent seen as gaming platforms becuase certain popular games are exlcusive for consoles.If these games are starting to define PC gaming then its bound to change.Console\'s arent overlooked but might be in teh future.

When its going to happen I dont know.The thing is...it shouldnt happen at all.It will be the starting point of that change.

Mobility also comes into question, you don\'t see people carrying their PC\'s from room to room.  Also, online gaming might become more and more popular but it will never be the same as having your friends sitting in the same room with you.

well...online gaming has evolved on PCs for years.It only started with console\'s.And again people prefer their PCs.Also long distance gaming seems to be replacing in a very great degree the two or more player game with your friends at home.And as I said, if developers see more profitability in PC gaming you ll be forced to change that habit.

For now, there will be a seperation of console and PC.  I\'m not sure where things are headed but I don\'t think a 20 billion dollar industry is just going to up and go away anytime soon. [/B]

The 20 billion dollar industry invlove developers that can or already develop for PCs.It will be a shift not a decline.

Console\'s arent overlooked but might be in teh future.

Great, I\'m glad we settled on that.  

When and if the PC ever makes it into the living room is when you\'d see that shift you\'re talking about.  I just don\'t see that happening anytime soon.  Until then...

^ still... think about this ;

* \'everybody\' has a decent to good PC. The only \'expensive\' upgrading of once in a while has been reduced to almost merely the videocard. Yes, Joe Average WILL be able to play HL2 quite nicely on his P 2,4 with a cheap Radeon 9600.

- HL2 at 60 fp/s with full dx9.0 fx on any of the consoles !?

* IF we can speak of hardware transition in PC gaming we at least see it\'s \'roadmap\' clearly ;
AGP to PCI-Express, 64 bit computing, Longhorn, Pixel Shader 2 & 3. Quite clear cut I\'d say.

- As always, the NEXT consoles are an accumelation of cloudy multimedia promises ranging from a Revolution to distributed Cell computing to a Box/pc hybrid !? Yes, I can see clearly where Nintendo, Sony and MS want to go \'tomorrow\'  :rolleyes: They\'re gonna charge us high end prices though....

* Mobility ? Yes, I carry my Xbox and PS2 \'round the house all the time.....
Seriously, with the PCI-Express bus and MXM standard notebook graphics are gonna take a huge leap. But notebooks will not compete with your GBA2 and PSP though ; the next line of cellphones will.

* just one example ; Splinter Cell 3 is being built up from scratch for .... drumroll.... the PC ! Not, the Xbox console.

Originally posted by Knotter8
^ still... think about this ;

* \'everybody\' has a decent to good PC. The only \'expensive\' upgrading of once in a while has been reduced to almost merely the videocard. Yes, Joe Average WILL be able to play HL2 quite nicely on his P 2,4 with a cheap Radeon 9600.

- HL2 at 60 fp/s with full dx9.0 fx on any of the consoles !?


* IF we can speak of hardware transition in PC gaming we at least see it\'s \'roadmap\' clearly ;
AGP to PCI-Express, 64 bit computing, Longhorn, Pixel Shader 2 & 3. Quite clear cut I\'d say.

- As always, the NEXT consoles are an accumelation of cloudy multimedia promises ranging from a Revolution to distributed Cell computing to a Box/pc hybrid !? Yes, I can see clearly where Nintendo, Sony and MS want to go \'tomorrow\'  :rolleyes: They\'re gonna charge us high end prices though....

* Mobility ? Yes, I carry my Xbox and PS2 \'round the house all the time.....
Seriously, with the PCI-Express bus and MXM standard notebook graphics are gonna take a huge leap. But notebooks will not compete with your GBA2 and PSP though ; the next line of cellphones will.

* just one example ; Splinter Cell 3 is being built up from scratch for .... drumroll.... the PC ! Not, the Xbox console. [/B]

I started making a big post and then realized that I have no foresight into the industry.  That and I don\'t know enough about what technological developments have been made and where they plan on heading.

For the not so distant future it looks like were going to still be playing on consoles.  

However, after reading this XNA and Cell development are making alot of sense.

Yes, of course ; consoles are still here 2 stay. It\'s just that I\'m trying to outline that their role is changing, albeit slightly. And this change, starts imo at developers\' side.

Indeed, console game development business model is not gonna get any less risky in the next generation of all that is gaming. That\'s why they try to create standards like XNA, which can serve as a \'safeguard\' and a buffer. I can imagine development start up problems with nextgen consoles ; remember the \'crash\' in PS2 development...the.. the .. JAGGIES issue !?. I can assure you devs don\'t want to have such a situation all over. The Billion $ question remains ; How effective will stuff like XNA be ? From a dev point of view, i think the pc development will be much more easy going and less risky thus more accessible for small talented dev teams and creativity.

.......Japanese console devs haven\'t had ingeniuty on their side for quite some time, have they ?
And lets hope EA, with their publishing money, won\'t rule whole of console gaming next gen :eek:  * shudder *

Disregarding Nintendo(there\'s nothing to discuss yet), it would be interesting to see someone put together a thread comparing the console makers outlines for their future products.

We have Sony\'s Cell technology Vs. Microsoft\'s XNA strategy.

Anyone know enough to make at the very least some speculation as what the implentation of each strategy could mean for gaming?  

EA\'s the devil!

Originally posted by Ginko
Great, I\'m glad we settled on that.  

When and if the PC ever makes it into the living room is when you\'d see that shift you\'re talking about.  I just don\'t see that happening anytime soon.  Until then...

I am not talking about absolute PC gaming  overtaking console gaming.It will weaken the console gaming industry.
How would the consumer feel if almost every title released on his console is released on PC and after a couble of years even be tremendously better?How would he feel if developers dont push the console\'s power to the limits?
consoles will stay but there share in the industry wont be as powerful.
A few aspects like being able to play on a couch in a living room just arent enough because its the certain exclusive games which you enjoy playing in your living room on a big TV that make console gaming strong

Right, and until we see the likes of Nintendo, Naughty Dog, Capcom, SCEA, Namco, Sega, and Konami developing on the PC we don\'t have to worry about it.

Console makers have the exclusives, that\'s why they are able to sell their hardware.  The likelyhood of Sony, Nintendo, and MS all going software and developing for a standard platform just doesn\'t seem likely.

[Bobs_Hardware]

It\'s Ginko!

/waves frantically

Originally posted by Ginko
Right, and until we see the likes of Nintendo, Naughty Dog, Capcom, SCEA, Namco, Sega, and Konami developing on the PC we don\'t have to worry about it.

Console makers have the exclusives, that\'s why they are able to sell their hardware.  The likelyhood of Sony, Nintendo, and MS all going software and developing for a standard platform just doesn\'t seem likely.

Konami is already showing some interest on PCs.The MGS and SH seiries appear on PCs.Also I ve heard some time ago that Namco was planning to start developing lots of games for PC.
We dont see the difference becuase they havent started supporting a console using PC tools and PC architecture....yet atleats.
I am refering to an IF (if they do support such a console more than others) which would result to what I said.Nintendo, Sony, Naughty Dog etc alone cant save the console gaming industry if they are the only ones left to do the job.Console gaming industry is divided to 3 competitors.People usually buy one console or 2.They dont get all exclusives.Each console will have a few number of non-pc released exclusives.

/tear...you had me at the first wave
Good to see you back!

Just for the sake of debate I\'ll put up an agrument to your IF statements.

Sony\'s a big company and has a pretty firm grip on the videogame market.  They own several high profile developers not to mention the technology behind their system.  If they keep on building a system that sells then it makes sense that the third party developers will stick around.  As long as there\'s a healthy market there will be competition, multiple consoles.

Look at the market right now.  How many exclusives does it take to make a difference?  Xbox and PS2 share many of the same titles, it\'s the small number of exclusive must-have titles that sets them apart.  Xbox owes its\' success to one title!

Xbox has a number of PC ports(watered down even) with only a handful of console exclusives and the system is gaining popularity.  Doom III and Half-Life 2 will no doubt be inferior to their big beautiful PC cousins but that doesn\'t keep Xbox owners from getting excited to play it on their consoles.    

How did FFXI sell on PS2?  It was released on PC first, yet I think it\'s managed to do quite well on PS2.  Considering "everyone has a PC" this is good news.    

This is all in the consumers\' hands.  If more people start buying PC\'s to play their games, then that\'s where the developers will go.  For that to happen I think you\'d have to see PC technology become more accessible to the casual gamer.

IF Sony, MS, and Nintendo keep making their own systems that consumers want then the console market isn\'t going anywhere.  If anything it will just start to nuzzle up next to the PC to start sharing more titles...which I believe would make for cheaper development and possibly cheaper software.

The technology behind the system (like the PS2 or Cell) is what keeps this industry alive.Its not a PC in a box.Its not limited to specific tools.You are describing me the present and why things work in the present.I am telling you whats going to happen if developers shift from Sony\'s or Nintendo\'s strategy in the industry to MS\'s.
XBOX is not at all succesful.Its still here because MS has enough funds to cover the losses.As for Nintendo its a very damn fine example of innovative, creative developers, which is economically weaker and its console has more creative titles, and unique than XBOX.
XBOX would have been a dead console if it wasnt for MS.Its not Hald Life2 or DOOM3 or other PC ports that keep the console alive.
If that was the case for PS2 and Sony it would have ment decrease of popularity or even "death".Sony\'s console owns the biggest share of the console industry and they have their own technology, and different strategy.With other words they kept the console market distinct from the PC gaming market.MS did nothing.Actually if the XBOX was the no1 console things would have been worse.
I dont know the sales figures of FFXI on PS2 or PC to comment on that.
If MS manages to succeed with a huge difference in the next generation with a console featuring PC architecture and PC programming tools (PC hardware with limited features in a box in other words) which means consumers will prefer the succesfull console with that hardware, development will shift to that hardware.Ports from console to PC will be more and the console market will mix with the PC market.If that happens the console market will weaken since previously the approach taken from developers was different for consoles than the one from PC.In the long run all you ll get are lower quality on consoles.Its not just in the hands of the consumers\'.
Businesses dont have control in the short run on the consumers\' preferences.They have though in the long run.
sometimes the consumer changes direction according to how the market changes slowly.He is forced to change preferences slowly but he doesnt understand it.
You say if thats where its going to go thats where its going to go.Well...it shouldnt,