Home Gaming Twitch boss predicts the end of consoles as we know them

Twitch boss predicts the end of consoles as we know them

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FutureImperfect

Both the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One are doing rather well. The Ps4 has sold over 20 million units, and while the Xbox One seems to be doing a little more poorly, the console is selling better than its predecessor was at this point in the lifecycle. The future, for consoles, is bright. Or is it? According to Twitch’s boss, these are the last consoles we’ll see.

Speaking to The Guardian, Twitch’s top chap Emmet Shears says that consoles have life cycles that are too long – putting them at odds with other electronics that are upgraded at a much more rapid pace.

“The problem is, the seven-year upgrade lifecycle doesn’t work in the face of the two-year upgrade cycles for every other hardware platform,” he said. “It’s so intrinsically built into how consoles get manufactured and made and the full business model, that I’d be surprised to see another generation.”

He predicts that in the future, instead of consoles as we know them, we’ll have set-top boxes – like Nvidia’s Shield or Amazon’s own set-top box – instead.

“They’re going to have to change form,” he said. “You can already see this on both Xbox and PlayStation where there’s a tighter upgrade loop for both the operating systems and the games. This is the first step toward being able to iterate the hardware platform. I could imagine a version 1.1 product from both Microsoft and Sony which adds in slightly more speed and slightly more memory very similar to how phones and tablets work today. I think it’s going to look more like the mobile phone market over time.”

If you’ll recall, Twitch accepted a great big takeover bid from Amazon that totals nearly a billion Dollars.

“Amazon is a big games company; it sells a vast quantity of games,” he said. “Over half the world’s developers are using the Amazon Ec2 cloud platform – actually it’s probably even higher now. So over half the industry are active consumers of Amazon services.

“So what does Amazon bring to the table? They sell video games effectively, they have a platform for producing video games, what Twitch brings to that is the missing piece of the puzzle: a community. We provide that reach, and it made a lot of sense. We also gained access to a lot of things through the purchase that it would have taken us a long time to build ourselves, if we ever actually could.”

I’m, not quite as convinced that we’ll see that much of a change in consoles this next gen – though I definitely do believe we’ll see sufficiently powerful tablets or smartphones functioning as home consoles in the not-too-far future.

Last Updated: March 24, 2015

42 Comments

  1. Blood Emperor Trevor

    March 24, 2015 at 12:33

    It’s the end of the consoles as we know them, and I feel fine.

    And no, he’s twitching a bit too much to be taken seriously. What’s going to power your set-top box? Let me guess Mr Internet-based Company… the cloud?

    Reply

  2. Hammersteyn

    March 24, 2015 at 12:37

    So he’s acctualy speaking on behalf of Amazon who bought them for a billion dollars? Seems legit

    Reply

  3. Michelle

    March 24, 2015 at 12:40

    Does this dude even game?
    I don’t feel comfortable holding a tablet and playing a shooter.
    Besides one enjoys the feeling of button bashing and how the controller feels in your hand.

    Consoles games will not die out,nope. They’ll just become more sleekly designed and faster processors built in.

    Reply

  4. Splooshypooh

    March 24, 2015 at 12:42

    Consoles will never die, they are cash cows for the companies who make them and people have become used to them and the controllers in their hands while sitting on the couch. These stories always come as the guys who want to develop/market the “next big thing” just want to make some noise for publicity. I really like sitting on my ass, BTW

    Reply

  5. Ryanza

    March 24, 2015 at 12:45

    These streaming companies would love to turn video games into a pay-for video game streaming service. Pay for lag more like it. Anyway fuck this notion. You not taking video game products away from us. Video game streaming service. What shit is this. Seems like me + PC will be enjoying The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 till the end of end. I don’t think I’ll need other video games after those two games.

    Don’t Support Streaming DRM. The Witcher 3 is coming.

    Reply

    • Splooshypooh

      March 24, 2015 at 12:47

      Really hope the Witcher doesn’t turn out to be a 4K smoothly polished turd.

      Reply

      • Ryanza

        March 24, 2015 at 12:54

        I’m not sure that this is in reference to. Yesterdays fiber comment? But anyway. No need to worry. The Witcher 3 will be a video game. And if you like those sorts of video games then you will like The Witcher 3. Plus The Witcher 3 has no DRM. So you can sell the game if it turns out to be a turd. Or you can wait to find out if it’s a turd after release. But because there is an option to sell the game, even the PC version, just buy it and test it out for yourself.

        So far I have seen nothing bad about the game. But the proof is in the buying. Thank God for no DRM.

        Reply

        • Mark Vincer

          March 24, 2015 at 13:07

          Sooo, you’re against DRM?

          Reply

          • Francois Knoetze

            March 24, 2015 at 13:13

            Mark you seem to be new here bec the DRM thing is Ryanza’s thing. Along with Witcher 3.

          • Ryanza

            March 24, 2015 at 13:14

            It’s because the Witcher 3 is being released with no DRM at retail that I like to use it.

          • Mark Vincer

            March 24, 2015 at 13:15

            Does Witcher 3 have DRM? I kid, I kid!

          • Ryanza

            March 24, 2015 at 13:16

            Yes The Witcher 3 will have DRM. I kid you not. 3 versions of the Witcher 3 will have DRM.

          • Mark Vincer

            March 24, 2015 at 13:17

            Wait, how many versions are there? I swear, I step away from this site for one week and it all goes to pot

          • Ryanza

            March 24, 2015 at 13:19

            sev7n

        • SojournZA

          March 24, 2015 at 13:14

          besides heralding witcher 3 in each an everything you post

          I wonder what other games you play or have purchased, do any of them have DRM? I think you support more DRM then you let everyone believe

          I could be wrong but I doubt it

          Reply

          • Ryanza

            March 24, 2015 at 13:21

            It’s not about me. It’s about those gamers without internet who can’t buy and play games that they want to buy and play.

            All gamers will be able to buy and play The Witcher 3 if they want. And that is a good thing. And that is because of no DRM.

          • SojournZA

            March 24, 2015 at 13:23

            so i just wanna clear this up, you do support DRM through your own purchases.

            but for the common man (no interwebz) you vocally cry support for there needs, not your own? for neutrality etc?

        • Splooshypooh

          March 24, 2015 at 15:22

          But how will i download it without DRM? 😛

          Reply

          • Ryanza

            March 24, 2015 at 16:24

            gog.com + more of the money gets back to the developers through buying at gog.com

          • Splooshypooh

            March 24, 2015 at 16:43

            I really do hope you get what you’re looking for dude, i’m gonna wait a bit for the dust to settle after launch before buying into it.

          • Ryanza

            March 24, 2015 at 17:13

            I am getting a PC version of a game with no DRM at retail. Plus the game should be good.

            Have to support No-DRM at retail day 1 for those stats to by high.

  6. RinceThis

    March 24, 2015 at 12:49

    Still don’t get this twitch thing…

    Reply

    • Hammersteyn

      March 24, 2015 at 12:57

      It’s like the World cup, but now with more SA viewers

      Reply

      • Admiral Chief

        March 24, 2015 at 12:59

        XDXDXDXDXD

        Reply

      • Blood Emperor Trevor

        March 24, 2015 at 12:59

        But the world cup only starts in September. :/

        Reply

        • Admiral Chief

          March 24, 2015 at 13:02

          The TRUE world cup yes, with sport for MEN

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            March 24, 2015 at 13:12

            I know nothing about any other type of world cup. Are there even other sports?

          • Admiral Chief

            March 24, 2015 at 13:20

            F1?

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            March 24, 2015 at 13:22

            That’s not a sport. That’s a bunch of cars driving in glorified circles while you hope to hell there’s a crash to provide even a modicum of excitement during the hours of boredom.

          • Norm

            March 24, 2015 at 13:22

            Nailed it!

          • Mark Treloar

            March 24, 2015 at 17:01

            MotoGp

          • Norm

            March 24, 2015 at 13:22

            Isn’t F1 used when you need help?

        • Hammersteyn

          March 24, 2015 at 14:14

          True, the current one has pretty much ended

          Reply

          • Blood Emperor Trevor

            March 24, 2015 at 14:18

            I don’t know what you’re talking about. -_-

      • RinceThis

        March 24, 2015 at 13:06

        ouch!

        Reply

  7. konfab

    March 24, 2015 at 13:04

    Sure, when I can get a stable 5ms latency, there won’t be a need for local processing. However that is not going to happen until we either get a global fibre network, or P-cell becomes a reality.

    For the uninformed, P-cell basically allows cellphones to have the bandwidth of fibre.
    http://www.artemis.com/pcell

    Reply

  8. Matthew Holliday

    March 24, 2015 at 13:41

    i like the idea of xbox and PS going for a set-top box type thing.
    reduce price, plug into pc, let the pc do the work, play xbox/ps games.

    its all in the software, no pressure of having to keep up with the hardware.
    that way we can atleast get decent PC ports.

    Reply

  9. Mark Treloar

    March 24, 2015 at 14:03

    So basically what he said is the consoles will start getting regular upgraded just like phones……..or……wait for it……..PC’s.

    Reply

  10. Ir0nseraph

    March 24, 2015 at 14:29

    O wow so one day when I have FTTH at my home I can have all my games safely in the cloud , and stream it to my home.

    O wait maybe not.
    http://mybroadband.co.za/news/internet/122522-twitch-accounts-hacked.html

    Reply

  11. Legeres

    March 26, 2015 at 15:56

    I bet they’ll head more towards Virtual reality than actual changing the console itself overly much, immersive environments rather than controllers. I can just imagine the kids of the future saying “you played video games with your hands? how barbaric”

    Reply

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