The state of consoles post-Moore's Law

[Grey Acumen]

vlad321 said:

Guessing you have been missing all the HD next gen Nintendo system talk out there with HD graphics and all. I doubt Nintendo won't do it, seems to be the only way for them to improve on the wii atm. That said, I'll keep this short:

1) assuming wii does go HD, and it's a pretty good assumption, the pattern of consoles becoming more like PCs will only continue.

2) Same as point 1). They are already lamenting the fact they didn't have a storage solution on the Wii and implementing one right now. Also with HD graphics next gen I don't see why it won't have installs and updates and all that still.

3)That only applies to games with platformer elements and that's it. For everything else it doesn't matter how precise you are and whether you are walking or running, well maybe sneaking games too, but it's funny that the beast seaking game is still on the PC, Thief 2.

4) Yes, Nintendo will be always making games but if everyone else starts making games for other platforms and no one other than Nintendo is making games for their system then it doesn't really matter. Nintendo alone would not be able to pull the entire console industry assuming everything else was dead or on another platform. While I agree that the Wii gets major points for innovation, the motion controls are used effecttively and uniquely only for the Wii games and other such party-like games, which many consider casual. I agree that you can't have party games on your computer, unless you do a lot of work on the set up first, so I guess that will always be a console only feature.

 

Okay, first off, a console being able to display in 1080 is not what makes it PC-like. That's just a display issue and it's utterly ridiculous to try to equate those together. On top of that, using an unconfirmed rumor to support your point is even more ridiculous. The only way Nintendo would include 1080p support in their next console is if enough 1080p capable TVs were actually in people's homes, in which case this is like including A/V jacks instead of RCA jacks, they're just following the standard that's already out there.

Second of all, the "storage solution" consists of making it easier to use SD cards. They haven't even come out and been clear of what the "solution" is going to involve. Even then, there's  adifference between "hey you want to play this game? poof the game is on your console now go play it" and "let instal wizard help guide you through the process of installing the game, do you want the big instal or the little instal, where should it be installed, etc"

Third of all, my issues to the controls apply to ANY game that has MOVEMENT that is not directly related to AIMING, and as to your issues with Thief, it plays better with a PS2 controller, I don't care if it was only released on the PC. The platform a  game is released on provides no proof of the benefit that platform's controls provide the game.

Finally, as long as Nintendo makes games for their console, 3rd parties will also develop games for that console as well, even if its just ports of PC games. On top of that, Nintendo has already set the Wii up to be able to do things that the PC won't ever do, which will also attract more developers.

 

You're acting like Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are trains on some kind of track headed inevitably to their ultimate doom, but they AREN'T. If consoles stray too far into PC territory, those consoles will fail and leave behind the ones that were smart enough to stick to those things that seperate a console from a PC. In this particular case, Wii has chosen NOT to push the graphics department, NOT to incorporate a huge hard drive and come out with games that require a huge installation, NOT to focus on playing non-gaming media, and instead incorporate an innovative control setup that you will NEVER get on the PC, and most importantly NOT cost $300 - $600 right out of the starting gate.

To put simply, there is already a company that knows the difference between a PC and a console, and they have made a raving success of it. Consoles will NOT die out.