Is Console Gaming Dying?

The Future of Consoles

The other major problem that’s posed by the recession is that it’s stalled progress on the development of the next generation of consoles. We’re now approaching 2010, and the Xbox 360 and DS were launched in 2005, with the Wii following in 2006. When we were this far into the last generation, we were all excited about the next line of consoles, but there’s no sign of anything new this time around.

Instead, all we’ve got are new colours and sizes of the consoles we had already, and the promise of new controllers. The PC meanwhile is making huge advances when it comes to 3DVision, physics simulation and new DirectX APIs, as well as, of course, a regular supply of new hardware.

Microsoft has instead poured its efforts into the new Project Natal controller for the Xbox 360 (and possibly the PC), while Sony has also showcased a new Wiimote-esque motion controller for the PlayStation 3.


Microsoft and Sony will need killer apps in order for these controllers to take off and not be rejected as gimmicky add-ons though. Plus, with the declining sales of the Wii, it’s also a big risk to chase after the casual gaming market now. Either way, the traditional 4-5 year lifecycle of a console is now obsolete, after being established for nearly a quarter of a century.

The reason is simple; people just don’t have the money to spend on a £400 box of tricks when they’re worrying about where the next rent cheque is going to come from. EA’s chief creative officer, Rich Hilleman, summed up the situation in a recent interview with Venture Beat, in which he said “we’ll see a PlayStation 3.5 before we see a PlayStation 4 and an Xbox 560 before we see an Xbox 720.” A clear indication that progress is stalling on the console side of the industry?

Meanwhile, Microsoft’s Games Studios head, Phil Spencer, told Develop that “we like where we are at with the box – 360 currently has a great price point. Consumers don’t want another $400 box right now.”


Significantly, he also asked “Do we need to sell a new console at some point?”, to which the answer (In September 2009) was “I don’t think we need to right now.”

The Xbox 360 and PS3 both contained ground-breaking new hardware when they were released, including the first GPU with unified shaders and the Cell architecture. It’s simply not worth investing into developments such as this now, especially when companies like Sony are making such dramatic losses in their gaming divisions. Even if they wanted to, Microsoft and particularly Sony would struggle to afford launching a brand new machine.

EA’s Rich Hilleman also noted that the biggest shift taking place in the games industry today is “how fast packaged goods games are changing and going away.” This is going to be a very important factor. The days of optical media and game cartridges are seriously numbered now that you can circumvent the need for physical media online and retailers selling the PSPGo are no doubt starting to realise that.