Consoles, Not PCs Doomed?

Another take on the platform wars predicts that consoles will go the way of the dinosaur, a somewhat surprising statement given that it was spoken by Sandy Duncan, the former Vice President of Microsoft’s European “Home and Entertainment” division.

Duncan, whose opinion I whole-heartedly agree with, cites convergence as the major threat to the ongoing viability of dedicated gaming equipments, such as consoles. Nothing illustrates technological convergence quite as clearly as mobile phone technology. In the last decade, bulky, expensive phones have metamorphisized into sleek, stylish personal accessories that not only act as phones, but also as dayplanners, emailers, cameras, camcorders, gaming devices, alarm clocks and instant messengers (SMS). The do-everything gadget world in expanding quickly, as more and more functionality is being crammed into less and less space. If similar convergence occurs that includes gaming, then why spend $500 on a console that only allows you to play games and chat ineffectively with friends (who also play games), when you can have something that is multi-function for the same price?

Some believe that adaptation to this trend of amalgamation is one of the strongest things in favour of the PC, which has long been the hub of the wired world for many households. As our poll last month showed, our readers also feel that PC gaming is going strong thanks to the ever evolving nature and non-traditional avenues that it’s exploring. Consoles, however, are becoming an increasingly risky venture for development and manufacture, given the high costs of getting them onto the market, and the sometimes slow rate (or no rate) at which they are embraced by the everyday gamer. Duncan feels that:

“The business model is very risky and the costs associated with creating new hardware are incredibly high. There is a definite convergence of other devices such as set top boxes. There’s hardly any technology difference between some hard disc video recorders and an Xbox 360 for example. In fact, in 5 to 10 years I don’t think you’ll have any box at all under your TV; most of this stuff will be ‘virtualized’ as Web services by your content provider.”

If you’re interested in where things might be going, b5media’s Jayvee Fernandez had a look at the concept site for the Nokia Morph recently. Two thumbs up from me! The thing looks mighty spiffy.

Via | GameSpot

Image from HDGameNews.com