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HappySqurriel on 30 March 2008
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MikeB said:
HappySqurriel said:

I think there is an element of truth to this that some people probably do not like to admit ...

Up until the release of the Nintendo DS and Wii the primary motivating factor for people to "upgrade" from one console generation to the next console generation has been the processing power of the new systems; we see a lot of this continue today with people like MikeB talking about how the Cell processor is 20 times as powerful as a 4 year old G4 processor when performing the fast fourier transform without any consideration of what that means or why that would be important.

This focus on technology can not survive for much longer being that within 5 years for the same (inflation adjusted) price of a PSP or XBox 360 you will be able to buy a laptop that is able to provide 3D graphics at a similar quality to what a cutting-edge console will be able to provide.

The PS3 specs are impressive, which is important because this allows for a longer lifespan combined with high definition graphics. Consumers are now buying HDTVs en masse, so this specs upgrade makes perfectly sense for the long run and makes a big difference in user experience.

IMO the console focuss should be on comfort and seamless user experience. I have been a long time PC gamer, but for me it's time for change in this regard. The PC gaming and multimedia experience has many shortcomings and the benefits with regard to gaming and multimedia with the PS3 generation and HDTVs have become far fewer.


The point wasn't whether the PS3's specs are impressive or not, it was that the focus on technical specifications is a dead end for the market. People may argue that a $500 laptop can not run Crysis, but that is really not important; these systems can run games like Half Life 2, and the difference between Crysis and Half Life 2 to the typical consumer is fairly small (and will be even smaller for similar games in 5 years).

I don't disagree that the seemless user experience will be very important to the survival of game consoles; in general the fact that they're dedicated machines is what will make them survive, anything that takes away from their dedicated focus is probably a move in the wrong direction.