I really don't feel all that certain as to whether Google will succeed or not. Google has more than its fair share of failed products. That said, with the potential of it, and the money Google is willing to throw at it, I don't think Stadia will do so poorly that it'll get canceled or anything. I see no value in it, as I don't want to pay for something I won't own. I think I'm not even close to alone in that, so I think there will always be a market for ownable consoles with physical, ownable games. Until there's a true Netflix of games, offering unlimited access to all of its library for no additional fee beyond the subscription fee, I don't think game streaming will take off the way Netflix has. The first company to offer that will win. If it isn't Stadia, not even all of Googles money could prevent Stadia from being a significant minority on marketshare compared to whoever has the guts to make a true gaming Netflix. Even with a gaming Netflix though, I suspect we'll still have ownable games and consoles, because as I said, there are just enough of us that there will be a market for it for the foreseeable future.

It isn't and pricing will be a hurdle.  But we could use Vudu as a better example.  It really doesn't matter.  We will have a ps5, but I am not sure about a ps6.  We most certainly will not have a ps7.  

1) Internet speeds continue to improve, stuff like 5G has a lot of promise.  It won't be long before GB speeds are flat out normal.  

2) We already have storage space issues, which will only get worse with ps5 games via native 4k textures.  RDR2 was two bluray disks, FFVII Episode I will be two disks as well.  And per Sony's own ps5 announcements, standard drives aren't fast enough for that size of games, hence why they are exploring other storage solutions.  

3) Sony (and MS) lose money selling hardware, it isn't in their best interest to keep hardware around, not when the market is ready for the transition. Why would Sony want to keep hardware that they lose money on when they can replace it with a subscription that will generate millions upon millions a year???  

4) Eco and green are huge among the younger generation.  Think of all the eco friendly aspects of not selling 100 million pieces of hardware and hundreds of millions of games in plastic cases.  

5) The younger generation is also very experience driven, more so than being into ownership.  The younger generation will drive markets, and ownership isn't their driving point.  They are ok with streaming.    

Again, I am not saying this will happen in a year, or two.  Probably not even 10.  But it is inevitable.  Technology moves forward and so do the people.  I remember when a bunch of older people at work made fun of me because I never bothered to get a landline for my phone needs.....  how'd that work out for them?

I agree that by 2030 there will either be no PS6 or it will be a flop. 

How quickly do you think internet speeds will reach a point where 90% of consumers have what it takes to stream 4K? 

PS1 games came on multiple disks. They still sold amazingly well. There may be a new disk format in the future that allows for larger files on a single disk. 

I really don't think the market is quite ready for streaming. A company putting out its own hardware makes 1st party games extremely profitable. That's why both Sony and Nintendo have been pushing hard to put out as many high selling 1st party games as they can. Those games are 70% profit or higher. 

Eco and green are not huge among the younger generation. Apathy is.

The younger generation is very experience driven? What makes you think that? I have no clue what the kids in middle and high school are like these days. Do you have a study on them or something causing you to believe that they are all about experiences, instead of ownership? 

I agree that eventually hardware will die off though, and the only thing left will be a small niche PC hardware market, with streaming, microtransactions, horrible level design, ugly art, etc. I expect the same thing to happen to games that has happened to music in the last 30 years. The quality will drop off a cliff. But by the time that happens it will be 2030 and I'll be 46. Just like how you can mine the past for decades worth of great music, people will be able to mine the past for decades of great games. 

Really uninspiring for me. Although I ended up not buying any of them, I was much more hyped for PS3, PS4, PSV, DSi, Wii, NS, Ouya and SteamBox.

The experience driven versus ownership is a result of consumer marketing trends the company I work has investigated. So I can't post the data, obviously, but that is the trend we are seeing.

What does your company do to make money? 

Natural products. I work as a chemist but design products to fit market trends, so I work closely with consumer marketing.

As for internet, I pay $60 a month and can already stream 4k, with no caps. But perhaps that is outlier and isn't typical.

C Explosion you keep using the verbiage "we" to present your thoughts. You should try "me" instead. I'm fine with the concept of streaming games, depending on price and how well it works.

I'm pretty skeptical of research coming out of consumer marketing divisions. Focus groups and the like, almost always get things dead wrong. A lot of CEOs in the world would love for renting to take over from owning. There's just more profit that way. So I imagine a lot of marketing research is just attempting to reach whatever conclusion the CEO wishes were true. 

But anyway if you can't legally provide the data, then the claim is unsupported, and the discussion on that point ends.