Sunday 12 October 2014

The No Console Future

future console

Gaming is hurtling towards unavoidable transformation. With the average processing capabilities of everything from phones to USB dongles increasing at a rapid rate, the day of traditional consoles is coming to an end.

Historically, the videogame industry has been characterised by change. Be it new hardware, new forms of distribution, new types of games or new ways to interact, this is not a medium with a habit of standing still. The only thing that is certain about its future, therefore, is uncertainty.

What will the games, the hardware, the interactions and the means of consumption look like in three, five and ten years from now? Will we still be plugging HDMI cords from a console to a TV, or will such an idea seem retro in 2020? Will we even need a specialised box to play games from at all? Perhaps the medium will follow the lead of films and music and migrate to the proverbial cloud, as we're starting to see with the likes of PlayStation Now and OnLive.