I admit, I have been rocking my psp lately and the thought of a portable system as powerful as a wii U,360,or PS3 intrigues me! I just hope they are affordable and perhaps come with enough applications to make them more akin to portable pcs. I'd love to be able to work on my art while on the go for example!
So, What Will The Generation After Next Look Like?
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 On 04/26/2013 at 01:14 PM by gigantor21 See More From This User » |
While going through the comments on my last blog, the director of the site (Nick Demola) brought up an interesting idea:
"It's been my long held belief that Nintendo is striving towards merging their home and portable console markets, which will change their place in the industry forever. Wii U is the first step in that direction and I wouldn't be surprised if the next iteration of Wii U and 3DS come together into one console that can be docked at home or played on the go."
It's an intriguing notion--one that Nintendo itself seems primed to go towards, what with the announced merger of their console and handheld divisions. Sony itself has also been pushing the Vita as a sort of miniature console, what with the console's Cross-Buy, Cross-Save and Remote Play features, and has direct skin in the mobile market with their own Android phones and tablets. Microsoft, too, is now casting the Xbox brand as one that exists across multiple different types of hardware, and has built Windows 8 around the increasing ubiquity of mobile.
I think that the future round of consoles--the PS5/1080/WiiU2 era--will built around Nick's model, for several reasons.
The capabilities of mobile devices have been rising at a meteoric rate in recent years. Ten years ago, cell phone cameras were a new, novel concept, and Blackberry had just put out their first color screen smartphone. Now we're seeing games that look like Real Racing 3 on the latest devices. Just imagine what the hardware will be capable of 6 or 7 years from now.
What's more, dedicated gaming handhelds mititgate issues that plauge mobile gaming right now. The 3DS and Vita, which offer a standard set of traditional pad-and-stick controls on top of touchscreens, facilitate a broader range of gameplay experiences than phones or home consoles do seperately. They also have slots for physical game cards, which would help mitigate the issue of storage and provide developers a means for bigger scope and scale. Alongside technological advances, devices that can be played on the go AND replace traditional consoles entirely should be well within reach in the future.
But the main reason I think that the hardware makers will go this route is...what advantages will having a separate home box and handheld provide at that point?
The main reason that mobile gaming has gotten so big, more than just increasing specs and the like, is that it provides one unified platform for gaming, web surfing, and communication. The convenience of it is the main draw. As such devices become more and more powerful, the notion of buying a separate box just to game will become harder and harder to justify. It's not a huge issue right now; while I don't expect to see all three next-gen consoles sell at least 70 million units again, I'm sure they'll still sell well enough.
But in 2020, when all the talk is about what hardware makers will bring to the table next? That's a whole 'nother ballgame.
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