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PSP Blogger takes an interesting look at the future of handhelds and consoles. Will the high prices and growing complexity of consoles force the average gamer to turn to handhelds? Or will gamers stick to their beloved consoles, no matter how expensive or complex?
PSP Blogger believes that in the future, gamers will purchase a PSP or DS, rather then choosing between many different (and expensive) versions of the Xbox 360 and PS3. Handheld purchases are just so much easier.
As we all know, the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS are currently ruling the charts. The big question however is why.
Most gamers will jump up at this point and shout Its the price and portability factor you noob! We do agree that portability does play a big role but we have to disagree on the price part. In most countries the PSP is actually more expensive than the Xbox 360. Yeah we know the Xbox 360 is pretty unstable (we just had too) but still the console provides much more than the PSP besides the portability.
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Most recently commented on by on Apr 28, 2008
Most recently commented on by on Apr 28, 2008
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Great question though. I for one got a DS and a DS alone for this reason..and the reason I'm looking at both a Wii and a PS3 is because..the Wii is fairly cheap. I'm also wary of the Xbox 360/PS3 because they're so inconsistent. Too many models and versions and options and things included/excluded..the 360 is known for all kinds of problems..etc. I wish they'd just pick one or two models, stick with those, and make sure they work. The DS has done this and its part of the reason I made sure to pick one up.
There's still things the current consoles can do the handhelds can't. And it will always been that way.
They'll just offer AV output and the ability to connect more controllers. It'll, effectively, be like a console combined with a handheld.
Yep, eventually they'll hit a point that the graphics just can't get much better (on a level detectable to humans anyhow). The interface devices (likely some sort of Neural interface of some sort, with direct to brain video streaming, or something) will be about as good as you could want.
If you've seen it, think the .hack game stuff.
Most likely once a graphically awesome portable game console comes out at a reasonable price, home consoles will become the niche market (like high end PCs for those that just want every last bit of processing power they can afford).
At that point, the 'new' consoles that come out, will likely be like PDAs, a PDA is a PDA, each year the new model gets tweaked and streamlined a bit, the look is improved, some power increase, and that is about it.
Its going to be a long time before handhelds even come close to consoles and even then, i don't see it ever being the standard. Games nowadays need to have a big HD to play most and games and etc. Handhelds are still out of its league.
Handhelds are just convenient. Nothing more.
Besides why need consoles when in the future, when virtual reality will happen, and you yourself will be in the game like physically.
I think the fact I said "there will be a point" made it pretty obvious I was looking far into the future.
@Finalblade. Did you not read what I said? TVs (which is what I assume you meant by "HD") won't be necessary, the visuals would be directly streamed to your brain's visual cortex....Just requires a compact headset type thing, probably (eventually they'll make those input devices very small, like that neural interface in development now, is already small and easily wearable, and it works)....
Also, who thumbed me down, and why?
HD=hard drive, not High Def.
And NO, games DON'T need a big HDD to play games. 360 games don't do it. PC games do it, but they've always done it (or rather, they started doing it a long time ago). The space required has grown along with HDD sizes. Back when HDDs were around 50GB or so, games were usually only a couple GB or less. Now that HDDs are usually starting at about 160GB (that is laptops, and usually laptops are horrible for gaming), game installs are several GB and up. Now, the PS3 has installs, but it does't NEED them (either the user has an option, or devs COULD do away with it). They are there to improve load times and framerates in some cases. A lot of games could do away with the installs if the coding was more efficient...It is there as a feature that can help out devs, not as a necessity. And installs can be delete when you no longer play the game, and reinstalled if you want to play it again....
In any case, you made a moot point.
Finalblade, are you thumbing down my posts, hmmm?
No didn't think so. Again Console > Handhelds, its only for convenience not a substitution.
Maybe in 5-10 years, the handhelds can match the console power (of course that means they will be hella expensive). But if that means I can have a properly running Midnight Club with me wherever I go, I say it's worth it.
Me and tallteen are talking about some distant future, not the PSP and DS.
LERN 2 REED.
In 10 years, I wouldn't be surprised if there is portables as powerful as the PS3 (or at least comparable) >_> The PSP itself, is capable of 333MHz speed, and is somewhere around the PS 1.5 level of capability....So if they release a PSP2 (probably not for a few years at least), it would likely have about half the PS3's power, which isn't something to sneeze at, for a portable console >_> It would likely also use Blu-ray UMDs, or mini blu-ray disks. /speculation (just my guess at what will be)....
Some qualities might not be as good as certain consoles, but the benefits of portable over home console by then, will likely exceed the negatives.
And as far as consoles and handhelds becoming so powerful, that it is difficult to tell which one looks better, well, that probably wouldn't happen for 20 years AT LEAST. More likely 50 years. Eventually game consoles will be able to mimic realistic graphics, and once handhelds become good at that, there would be less benefit to having a home console....
Remember, the visual output/input in 20 to 50 years would likely be some 'direct to visual cortex' device...And control will likely also be done via the brain. That leaves your hands free, and decreases the need to be around a device with better tactile input (in other words, game controller would no longer be hand based, which is one of the reasons people prefer consoles, for the better game controllers)....
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