Why is game streaming continually dogged by this implicit assumption that it will totally replace gaming hardware, regardless if someone is for or against it?
Considering large areas of North America alone don't have anywhere near the internet speeds required for even potato-tier service, and are likely to never get upgrades to that level for a variety of reasons, I highly doubt consoles will be going away any time soon.
Yes but once 5g is rolled out in the major cities of the world peoples phones and devices will become the new consoles with hundreds of millions having ultra fast connections . Tge trend now is unlimited data for mobile phone plans coming online before 5g hits . So that really wont be a factor in the not so distant future .
What market force is going to transform the entire industry from dedicated devices to streaming?
Look at Japan for gaming. Consoles were massively replaced by mobile devices for gaming by the time the PS4 launched. Why do you think the PS4 and Xbox1 where such tiny upgrades to the previous generation? In my view that was a low tech low risk approach because they were not sure the console market still existed after they'd seen what had happened over there.
Yet in spite of all those phones people already had, and all the mobile games they could play for free/F2P/P2W, a dedicated handheld console with games that can cost as much as 4000-9000¥ has enjoyed rapid success and enthusiastic support -- not because it streams games or works with the phone you already paid for, but because it's portable.
What am I denying? Your apparent premise that there will soon be no market left for dedicated hardware, and games for that hardware?
Its called progress. Consoles will become like the blackberry once 5g gets going . People want instant everything .
Japan used to be the biggest market for console machines. Look at it now. It is all but gone. That is market force at work. When streaming services start that will determine what happens next. It will either fail, in which case more consoles, or it will succeed, in which case no more consoles. Or gaming PC's. They simply will not let you own a game at that point. It will be games as a service for everything and stopping your subscription will lose what you thought you bought.
Or they will live side by side?
Define progress. Do you think e-sports players (or many/most gamers in general for that matter) will settle for increased input lag, occasional image blur or the possibility of being interrupted in gameplay anytime soon?
From where I'm sitting, Nintendo is thriving and Japanese devs are on a roll like it's the 1990s again. I don't think we have the same definition for "all but gone".
Assuming the worst case scenario, you don't know geeks if you think there won't be workarounds, open-source alternatives, or independent developers. "They" still haven't been able to stop piracy, mods, or hacks. Even on consoles.
Nintendo don't have any other irons in the fire mate. Unlike Sony and Microsoft who have other avenues. Also, are you attached permanently to a TV in your house with Switch? Or can you, shock, take it with you?
Exactly.
I don't see streaming working out the way some people think it will. It's a gimmick that some people will find handy, if it works as promised, in certain locations, for certain types of games. I really don't think you have to worry.
You might think differently if that console got updated with the latest cutting edge components over that 10 year period rather than being several steps behind at launch and being a dinosaur by the end of that ten years.
