The TV happened to be on the other day and there was an ad from Dell or some other computer manufacturer offering their computer at a price of about $350. I realized that this price was very nearly competitive with a console system''s release price. Now, obviously this computer was not a gaming computer, at least by today''s standards. But even a gaming computer today costs a lot less than it used to - you can probably enter a decent contender for about $1k, where it used to be well over twice that amount in the old days. And then I considered how we have a lot more combination appliances than we used to. For example, I have a CD player/alarm clock/radio combined into one cube, and I also have a DVD/VHS player. So it seems likely to me that someday, maybe in another decade, the additional features a full computer offers will outweigh the advantages and price of any dedicated gaming platform, and our market will "de-segment" itself. Is this wishful thinking?

Yes, it''s wishful thinking.
One of the primary reasons to buy a console is that it''s simple. Very, very, simple. Plug it into the telly, switch it on, and off you go.

Cas

The *best* part about platforms IMHO (for developers) is that you don''t have to worry so much about testing on different hardware setups.

The best part about them for consumers is that you don''t have to worry about your console being too slow for games that may come out for it in the following months/years, since the developer is required to make it playable on the fixed platform.

I don''t really think it''s so much about the price...

Console''s competition with PC is not based mainly on competitive pricing. The reason it (or rather they) dominate the gaming market is because they are more user friendly, games run faster (with OS working in Kernel mode), and the console is generally found in the living room and other central areas, allowing for easier (shared) multiplayer with friends without the need of networking multiple machines.

I don''t believe the market will ever "de-segment". I own a PC and an XBOX and get good use out of both in different ways.

I agree, it isn''t a price issue. You will notice that the growth and growth of the console has gone hand in hand with games moving into the mainstream. On the PC however some research has shown the market shrinking slightly.

For hardcore gamers strugling to get a game to work was part of the "fun". The normal man/woman in the street prefer to switch on and play - they also want a gadget they understand. This box plays games.... I want to play games ..... therefor I want one of these boxes.

Dan Marchant
Obscure Productions
Game Development & Design consultant

Yup. Likewise, I reckon "super cheap PCs" are much more likely to evolve into simplified "browser boxes" that definately aren''t designed for games.


Personally I see three markets:

1) Average mainstream PC user, your parents, your "non-geek" friends etc, I reckon those are also the vast majority of home PC users:

- They don''t play action games on their PC, if they play anything it''s usually not much more than solitaire. Tetris or a puzzle game if you''re lucky.

- If they do play games, they play mass market games on a dedicated games console because the experience is far less troublesome, and the location of the console is in the entertainment area of their home etc.

- They don''t use many "serious" apps. The vast majority only use their PCs for a combination of internet use, writing a few documents, managing their home finances and the like.

- They don''t have a clue about configuration, the more advanced features of the OS, about new hardware etc. They don''t desire fancy hardware, they don''t keep their hardware up to date. They don''t need hardware and OS flexibility.

- They''ve often experienced problems and frustration when they''ve tried to do something "advanced" like install new software.

- They aren''t computer enthusiasts, they see computers as something associated with work



For these people I see a new box that: Connects to the TV or a monitor. Comes in a small box that isn''t intended for any internal upgrade. Has say a P200 with TNT1 level graphics or less. PC peripherals work with it. All the legacy and flexibility/customisability is removed from the OS. It has a keyboard and mouse/trackball/controller. Productivity software designed for it doesn''t have complex installation procedures - you drop in the CD and the software is usable within seconds - it does a full install automatically if necessary - very little user option. Only a few apps run at a time, some such as email always run. Only signed executables can be run on it.

If it were Windows based, albeit stripped down and rewritten in a CE or Xbox type way, then it''d be a recompile for developers at the most and a need to link with special installation code [similar to console dev at the moment].

Rumour has it that some of the majors are working on something like that based on similar observations to those I''ve stated.

In a way all it''d just be convergence of things that are already available - your cable TV set top box with email capabilities meets stripped down games console [albeit absolutely NOT intended for playing games on] meets a few other non PC computer platforms.



2) Mainstream gamers.

- They play their games on consoles, sometimes owning more than one console.

- Occasionally they see a screenshot of a PC game in a multiformat magazine that makes them want to get a PC.

- Many tire of PC games quickly and end up mostly using their PCs for the same small selection of non-game apps those in #1 do. .<br><br>- When they try PC games they get burnt by the numerous OS/game bugs, problems, interoperability issues. Though many of those problems may seem trivial to us pro/enthusiast PC owners, they aren''t to a novice.<br><br>- A console doesn''t seem bad value for these people because upgrades <br><br><br><br>3) Prosumer / hobbyist / "techno geek"<br><br>- Some of these are us lot, the people who visit technology boards like GameDev, who are interested in where technology is going.<br><br>- Others are the people who want to use specialist productivity apps so get a PC (or similar platform) that''s most suitable. Examples would be a graphic designer, a musician, someone wanting to edit and title videos etc. Not necessarily professionals in those areas.<br><br>- More likely to buy PC magazines, keep up to date with hardware developments etc<br><br>- Capable of upgrading their own machine and performing most advanced tasks<br><br>- More likely to upgrade when they can<br><br><br><br>So I reckon pretty soon there''ll be three things available:<br><br>1) A "home utility console". Price <= Games Console price < PC<br><br>2) A game console. Price < PC, Price > "HUC"<br><br>3) A PC Price > Game console, Price > HUC<br><br><br>While there''s obviously a bit of crossover between markets, I think the majority of people fall fairly neatly into &#111;ne of the categories<br>

Despite everyone else''s statements, I''m still not quite convinced it''ll "never happen" myself, the reason being that the problems involved in developing and playing games on computers are certain to shrink over time.

I''m willing to agree here that this is the main block that will keep a seperate gaming platform viable and probably won''t be offed for a long time(especially while we have an OS as unreliable as Windows around), but someday it will; a standard computer will be strong enough and reliable enough to do any game we need, and installation hassles will have been eliminated through a combination of improved software and prefab units that ship in working condition and can be quickly reset to factory settings if needed. (It is also my opinion that the gains we get from improved hardware appear to be diminishing with each generation, making prefabs a viable option for a multi-purpose device like a computer.)

But this is all just speculation anyway. It''s the market we have right now that we''re dealing with.

Keep in mind that the console makers take losses on the console itself. They make up the money with liscencing and software. PC hardware companies can''t really do that.

You can build a fairly good gaming computer for < $500, so I wouldn''t be surprised if computer companies stopped charging an extra $500 for "assembly" to compete with the console market.

I used to not have a pc capable of playing cool games.
It took until ''02 for me to get my dream machine.
I also can no longer play those games I wanted to when my machine sucked.
I can still play almost any console game I want on any system I want. I can buy a dreamcast, N64, a new playstation1, and a Gamecube for the original price I paid for my ps2 without going online.
Good luck PC market.

Although it''s not just software, my gfx card has troubles as well.