It is funny to see so many people fighting this. The future of home computers is going to be yearly updated PlayStation's, Xbox's, Steam Machine's, and possibly Nintendo NX's if they do it right.

This is great for everyone. It is exactly like the smartphone business. The real platform is the OS and the Network. The hardware just continues to grow alongside those two much more important aspects.

Everything about this is great for the consumers. This will allow generations to last for a decade. People will be able to purchase a better kit at their own pace, and they will always be sure that their software and services will be supported on every new itteration, and on their home, and mobile platforms.

This model moving to the console business could signal the rebirth of handheld gaming. If Nintendo can make the NX a phone/hanheld hybrid and itterate on it every year, then that is a god send for gamers that want a real gaming experience on the go. If Sony can lanuch a real PlayStation Phone with yearly updates to keep up or ahead of Apple/Samsung, again, that is gold.

Having consoles improve year after year, and always at on the leading egde of tech, will put momentum behind gaming like we have never see. With the addition of non gaming software and services, PlayStation and Xbox, can replace the PC in 99% of households. The only eople that will have tradional component swap PC's in the next decade will be the most hardcore gamers, and gadget geeks. The rest will be web browsing, watching TV, shopping, gaming, and going on VR adventures on Playtation and Xbox like pre-packed, and perfected systems that do it all.

First, lately they're pushing 6-8 years. Second, there's a big difference between buying a new console every half decade+ and having to buy updates or newer models for your console throughout that half decade. At that point it'd be silly not to just go full PC, as you can upgrade far more effectively there on your own time.

This is certainly a poor precedent to set... I really thought old add ons like the sega cd/32x or the N64DD showed this sort of thing was a bad idea.

You're pissed over a rumour? Has your time on the internet not taught you not to trust everything you read? For all we know this is just ps4 slim and kotaku made a story out of nothing. Until anything is officially confirmed why be pissed exactly?

No, it's not. The 6 to 10 year console gens benefit everyone from gamers to publishers. The only issue is the weak hardware but that's why gaming pcs are around for those who care about that. If gamers really cared about graphics as a whole, they would just be pc gamers. The big three sure as shit won't do a tiered console hardware because there's no profit in it. The big 3 don't even make a profit til half way through a console gen. 

You keep pressing the "consoles will replace all PC's" any time there is talk of the two. consoles arne't ever going to replace the PC and the PC isn't going to suddenly vanish from exitence where all that remains is your fave brand that helps you pay taxes while playing a video game at the same time, I'm sorry but billions of people use PC's for gaming and other tasks, including actual jobs and services that don't require Sony, MS or Nintendo.

4K enabled PS4 for movies = good move

4K enabled PS4 for gaming = bad move

Consumers don't really respond all that well to costly hardware upgrades mid-generation. N64 had the expansion pack but that was only ike $30US and was optional anyway.

That makes no sense at all for Sony and probably not for Nintendo either. Phone makers continue shurning out phones on a constant basis because that's where they get their money from. Most of them do not run stores where they get revenue, like Apple and Google do. So they have to do this quick cycle to keep the money flowing. Console holders don't get money from selling hardware, they get it from SW sales (and nowadays from subscriptions). There is no advantage whatsoever to trying to sell different devices on short cycles when the money they give you is tiny compared to the real revenue streams; if anything, it causes userbase problems, hurting those very streams. Why do you think last gen lasted so long; necessity. And after coming from the longest gen ever, why would anyone think we'd suddenly arrive at one of the quickest? The same necessities are still there.

MS is the only one that could either benefit or at least not be hurt from doing something like this by unifying Xbox with W10 because reduction in revenue (for example someone buying a game on Steam instead of Xbox/W10 store) could be compensated through other means, like more XBL subscriptions (if online was still paywalled or if non-Xbox users subscribed for the "free games") or an increase availability of Xbox-specific content to traditionally-PC users. Still risky but much more believable. Sony and Nintendo? No.

And the notion that games could potentially scale across these devices is laughable. Of course they could..at an even more horrifying optimisation than they do now. Remember how several games ran late last gen? It'd be even worse this time around. Nobody would get their money's worth; old device users would be gimped and new device users would not see the device's potential properly used either. Nobody benefits from anything.

This is how Sony wants to make money = SW + Vue + Now + PS+ + Accessories

Nowhere does risky HW revisions factor in here, specially when their current HW is selling so well.

Lets see, how much time is Final Fantasy XV, and The Division ?, i think that Both are atleast in production since 2012 (Final Fantasy XV, was Re-made, is not like FFXIII Versus, was), and both will release in 2016 (FFXV, i hope that will), so is 4 Years of Production, you mean that we need 4 Upgrades, for Each Console, this would mean 12 Versions of Consoles for developers to work, if you take away Nintendo, is 8 Versions, Plus the PC Version, this would raise the Development Cost, and the Time for the Development, and more Machines would come up, Developers would never finish a game if they plan to support them all.

And a Bad idea does not became a good idea if you continue to spread it around, this is nearly the same thing that Microsoft, did at Launch (and look where they are today), and something like the Developer of the Last Devil May Cry, that gave the Middle finger to the Fans of the franchise.

What is SW ?, Star Wars ?.

 Actually, Sony and Microsoft set themselves up to break even or make profit from day one with PS4 and XBO. There are also a good amount of gamers that like consoles but do get dored after 3 or 4 years with the old hardware. By bringing out even a mid cycle power bump they could keep these people putting the money in their pockets instead of poking their head into PC gaming for a year or 2 tell the next console comes.

I don't think PC's are going anywhere. There is way to much business in medical, design, engineering, and many other fields that need high end PC's. PCs are a good thing, and I am not against PC. However, I do think that PC's for your average desk job, or mechanic job are over kill, and they are a massive waste for your avaerage Joe as a hom electronic. 

Closed system boxes like PS4 and XBO are ideal for small business and home use, and having the them grow with tech in a very Smartphone like manner, is absolutly the best way to go for consumers, console makers, game developers, and programmers. 

I mean you don't have to look much further than the future plans for XBO to see MS is truning the Xbox into their in house PC. Xbox will be to PC, what Surface is to Laptops in the next 5 years. That is a great future, and one that will start putting Xbox in millions of more homes at a staggering rate.