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Ybarra: Consoles Will Never Die; Those Losing Are Pushing the Narrative that Fits Them

There is plenty of data that prove this isn’t even remotely close to being true. Look at PS5 sales compared to PS4 for instance. Only one failing here is Xbox. PC has also been breaking CCU records.
You’re ill informed and out of your depth.
Please put new batteries in your sarcasm detector and maybe get it calibrated.
 
And what PS5 sales should show? They are behind PS4 globally.

And overall if you look at that chart - over the last 17 years hardware spending did not grow. And that chart is not adjusted to inflation either.
GG4HBCcaMAE37eJ
You have no idea whatsoever what your talking about.
PS5 is ahead of PS4.
 

Generic

Member
I think/hope this too.

Steam is great and having Steam in the next Xbox is precisely what is needed for PC gaming to take a big chunk of the living room space.

But there absolutely needs to be multiple stores directly on the dashboard user interface - Epic, Ubisoft, EA, MS, Playstation, GOG - or we’ll just have another closed garden taking over after the death of Xbox. Until everything is on Steam day 1 nothing has been solved, and I doubt that will ever happen. A console-like device with easy access to ALL stores and ALL subscription libraries is what needs to happen.
100% this. I used to like console exclusives but now the economy sucks and I'm not rich.
 

Fess

Member
100% this. I used to like console exclusives but now the economy sucks and I'm not rich.
I still think exclusivity makes sense as Ybarra says. But I’m selfish and buying a new device for a system seller exclusives just ain’t happening at this point. There needs to be something else thrown in there as well, don’t know what that would be, we’ll see what Nintendo show next.
 

Edder1

Member
Consoles are here until cloud gaming takes over, which is probably still long time away. You just not gonna have casuals switch to PC, plus there's also whole lot of people that prefer simpler console experience. I say this as an avid PC gamer.

There's just not that much excitement in Playstation right now because of lack of must have first party games, but that can change soon. I think people will also realise how potent consoles still are are when Switch 2 releases with its must have exclusives.
 

DrDryRub

Banned
Kids don't want consoles, they want touch devices or the teens are into pc. Consoles are being purchased by the graybeards. Traditional consoles have maybe 1 gen left and then everyone pivots to open boxes or more mobile devices. Nvidia has proven the cloud is the future. GeForce now is truly the best step and works flawlessly.

Ybarra always tries to come off like a gaming know it all but the man was useless at Xbox and blizzard. I normally ignore what he says.
 


Does this count for anything?

Edit


This is more recent

Not to mention Nintendo Switch exists

By any metric, console sales are higher than they have ever been

Microsoft is well known for trying to kill markets they failed to monopolize out of pure spite, but they failed with mobile phones and spinning round movie discs and it's doubtful they'll find a way to kill game consoles either
 

Fess

Member
They're pushing hard

Hmmm yeah Nvidia has been trying to push Geforce Now this year, listing it beside regular platforms in trailers. But Black Myth was the wrong game, I just tried it on my old founders subscription and it was unplayable, ran the benchmark and got sub 30 fps with cinema settings in 1080p without RT. Recommended settings was playable but looked like ass and still micro stutters. Don’t know how it runs on the higher tier subscription but it kinda defeat the purpose of a cheaper no-hardware-needed solution.
 

Three

Member
I still think exclusivity makes sense as Ybarra says. But I’m selfish and buying a new device for a system seller exclusives just ain’t happening at this point. There needs to be something else thrown in there as well, don’t know what that would be, we’ll see what Nintendo show next.
Yet bizarrely Nintendo throw nothing in the mix in terms of hardware. other than exclusive games they do very little else.
 
Ship of Theseus type problem. If the console business model changes step by step every year until it is no longer the same in any way to what it was originally, then is it is still the same console business model? Sony has hit games and a large user base that spends money, but they also have spiralling costs and glacially long dev cycles.

There has never been a time in this industry where costs and devs times haven't been increasing. So I disagree this has anything to do with your Ship of Theseus analogy.
 

Wildebeest

Member
There has never been a time in this industry where costs and devs times haven't been increasing. So I disagree this has anything to do with your Ship of Theseus analogy.
I reject your rejection. First, it is based on normalcy bias, where threats are ignored because if you disbelieve them things just seem normal and rational. Secondly, there is a continuum fallacy where because it seems like there is no precise way to point to where budgets and dev times seem too much, it is invalid to say there is any such thing as too much.
 

simpatico

Member
How many big executives bet on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray? The living room is dying. It’s existence was a technical necessity that is no longer needed.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
This is a straight jab at Microsoft.

Ofcourse consoles will never die. Switch is a dedicated gaming machine on its way to be the best selling system of all time. PS4 was a huge hit and PS5, even with the pandemic, problems with manufacturing, distribution and its persistent high price is selling well. Not everyone wants to deal with PC overhead, and not everyone wants to play their games on every possible device.

On the software side there are changes needed, perhaps a downscale in ambitions. Do games really have to cost 200 million and 6 years or more to make to be succesful?
How many big executives bet on HD-DVD and Blu-Ray? The living room is dying. It’s existence was a technical necessity that is no longer needed.

Movies and series are different and to me made a lot of sense to offer digitally. Games are interactive entertainment, its a different beast. Either a console or a PC; there is a device consumers want to use for it and for good reason.
 

Fess

Member
Their slogans come across as passive aggressive.

Trying to force the narrative you don't need consoles, but not just for Xbox for everyone else.
That’s Nvidia’s ad for Geforce Now. No hating, bad Black Myth experience aside it’s by far the best streaming service now. And I think they deserve some cred for handling multiple launchers and stores from the same fairly slick menu. I want that for local PC gaming.
 

Fess

Member
Yet bizarrely Nintendo throw nothing in the mix in terms of hardware. other than exclusive games they do very little else.
They often have new ideas. Maybe not for Gamecube and SNES. I have high hopes that they’ll do more than boost the power for their next hardware. Handheld/hybrid space is crowded now, they need something new.
 

RoboFu

One of the green rats
Marching orders have gone out


Winning the living room really is an old concept now. Both Ms and Sony tried to make the ONE device that everyone needs but then Netflix and Amazon made the future an app on every device instead. The more devices you have your service on the more money you make. So now even Sony is going PC because mobile and pc are sprinting towards each other and will become one. On that day all these games they already have on pc will be available everywhere.
 

simpatico

Member
This is a straight jab at Microsoft.

Ofcourse consoles will never die. Switch is a dedicated gaming machine on its way to be the best selling system of all time. PS4 was a huge hit and PS5, even with the pandemic, problems with manufacturing, distribution and its persistent high price is selling well. Not everyone wants to deal with PC overhead, and not everyone wants to play their games on every possible device.

On the software side there are changes needed, perhaps a downscale in ambitions. Do games really have to cost 200 million and 6 years or more to make to be succesful?


Movies and series are different and to me made a lot of sense to offer digitally. Games are interactive entertainment, it’s a different beast. Either a console or a PC; there is a device consumers want to use for it and for good reason
I just don’t see a reason for a set top streaming box when the smart TV it’s hooked up to can have the same app.
 
The only people I see pushing this dumbass narrative about consoles dying are diehard salty Xbox fans, and diehard PCMR zealots who want consoles dead so that they can play everything on their PCs. It's a stupid narrative that's not based in any sort of reality. The only console dying on the market is Xbox and people need to come to terms with that instead of trying to push MS' failures on Sony.
 
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HogIsland

Member
Consoles are becoming PCs, PCs are becoming consoles. In all likelihood SteamOS, or similar will make a dedicated console unnecessary, but we'll still have "console gaming".

It makes too much sense to just have one version of a game that works with keyboard or gamepad.
 
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Xbox likely puts out one more (digital) console and then MS switches completely to cloud tech. Nintendo is already doing something beyond traditional consoles. That leaves Sony standing alone in the traditional console space. Who knows what they will do at that point.
 

Fess

Member
Xbox likely puts out one more (digital) console and then MS switches completely to cloud tech. Nintendo is already doing something beyond traditional consoles. That leaves Sony standing alone in the traditional console space. Who knows what they will do at that point.
Ackschuallllly…
Sony did cloud streaming before Microsoft, and isn’t Xbox cloud still is beta?
Sony will be fine. Next step is likely a Playstation launcher and after that they have full control of their exclusives no matter what device you use. And they have a streaming device and handheld, VR on console and PC, soon a Pro keeping things stable til next gen. They’re ready for anything.

Microsoft is behind, they talk a lot but they still have no streaming device, no handheld, no Pro, no VR, no next gen coming soon, no true exclusives, already tried a launcher and people didn’t use it, still struggle with cloud tech, is rumoured to allow Steam access which means losing all 3rd party sale cuts on games and dlc on their store. It’s not looking good…
 
Marching orders have gone out


I do think Tom is kind of right here but you don’t just abandon it. Sony won it and now I suspect they are going to find ways to expand from here with portables, cloud, etc.
Consoles are becoming PCs, PCs are becoming consoles. In all likelihood SteamOS, or similar will make a dedicated console unnecessary, but we'll still have "console gaming".

It makes too much sense to just have one version of a game that works with keyboard or gamepad.
it’s not about what’s necessary it’s what people want. They just want to plug in a box and play. Steamos is great but I find it hard to believe if they release something people will flock to it over the brand they know in PlayStation.
 

Generic

Member
Not to mention Nintendo Switch exists

By any metric, console sales are higher than they have ever been

Microsoft is well known for trying to kill markets they failed to monopolize out of pure spite, but they failed with mobile phones and spinning round movie discs and it's doubtful they'll find a way to kill game consoles either
How did Microsoft try to kill the mobile market?
 

HogIsland

Member
it’s not about what’s necessary it’s what people want. They just want to plug in a box and play. Steamos is great but I find it hard to believe if they release something people will flock to it over the brand they know in PlayStation.
Playstation not representing great this cycle and jacking up the yearly price on multiplayer when it should be free. The promise of SteamOS and future hardware is that it would be completely plug and play. This isn't far off.
 

rm082e

Member
Playstation not representing great this cycle and jacking up the yearly price on multiplayer when it should be free. The promise of SteamOS and future hardware is that it would be completely plug and play. This isn't far off.

The PC is already that right now. You can buy whatever hardware you want, not get charged for a pay-to-play service, use whatever peripheral(s) you want to control your games, and the OS is almost free with Windows keys being so cheap. Just having a different OS to install on PC hardware isn't going to cause the market share for consoles to go down.

What you can't do with the PC is pay $400 for a box + controller that runs the newest games. That' why consoles have the market share they have.
 

Zathalus

Member
PlayStation and Nintendo certainly aren’t dying but the console market size is not really growing or is actively shrinking depending on how you look at it. Sony is hoping to make inroads with China and India in order to fuel console growth.
 
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HogIsland

Member
The PC is already that right now. You can buy whatever hardware you want, not get charged for a pay-to-play service, use whatever peripheral(s) you want to control your games, and the OS is almost free with Windows keys being so cheap. Just having a different OS to install on PC hardware isn't going to cause the market share for consoles to go down.

What you can't do with the PC is pay $400 for a box + controller that runs the newest games. That' why consoles have the market share they have.
there is no way even close to make Windows work like a playstation right now. i hope MS' improves windows for TV gaming, but they have a long way to go. the distance between pressing power and having a gamepad-controlled, full screen UI (of which Steam has by far the best) is unacceptably far.

steam deck has made breakthroughs turning regular PC hardware into a console experience. pair that software with a self-contained, console form factor hardware package and you've got a really attractive alternative to playstation. so attractive, i'd argue sony should make one themselves.

similar to the period right before steam deck, there are a lot of boutique brands (minisforum, beelink, etc) making products like this, but they're low volume and overpriced. we need a big vendor like valve, or sony or samsung to make one that can be produced affordably in the tens of millions.
 
PlayStation and Nintendo certainly aren’t dying but the console market size is not really growing or is actively shrinking depending on how you look at it. Sony is hoping to make inroads with China and India in order to fuel console growth.

The fact that Microsoft aren’t bothering with these markets tell you how important the future of Xbox is to them.
 
there is no way even close to make Windows work like a playstation right now. i hope MS' improves windows for TV gaming, but they have a long way to go. the distance between pressing power and having a gamepad-controlled, full screen UI (of which Steam has by far the best) is unacceptably far.

steam deck has made breakthroughs turning regular PC hardware into a console experience. pair that software with a self-contained, console form factor hardware package and you've got a really attractive alternative to playstation. so attractive, i'd argue sony should make one themselves.

similar to the period right before steam deck, there are a lot of boutique brands (minisforum, beelink, etc) making products like this, but they're low volume and overpriced. we need a big vendor like valve, or sony or samsung to make one that can be produced affordably in the tens of millions.
PCs are lacking in the following points: (i) no way to switch on device by just pushing a button on the controller, (ii) device does not have a low power mode in which it updates games/downloads in the background, (iii) Suspending games does not work in all cases and when put to sleep, the game often glitches when the PC wakes up. This is reflected in the sales as well. I do not believe the combined sales of Steam Deck + Ally + Legion Go exceed 12-13 million (Sub-vita and WiiU numbers).
The portal is a great idea, just give it a low latency local mode like the WiiU pad and is more than sufficient for most people.
 
PCs are lacking in the following points: (i) no way to switch on device by just pushing a button on the controller, (ii) device does not have a low power mode in which it updates games/downloads in the background, (iii) Suspending games does not work in all cases and when put to sleep, the game often glitches when the PC wakes up. This is reflected in the sales as well. I do not believe the combined sales of Steam Deck + Ally + Legion Go exceed 12-13 million (Sub-vita and WiiU numbers).
The portal is a great idea, just give it a low latency local mode like the WiiU pad and is more than sufficient for most people.

With NVMe, DirectStorage, instant saves… booting up a game and just starting to play is quicker than it’s ever been and I imagine it’ll only get faster.

Quick resume is not a good enough reason to game on a console instead of a PC.
 
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