I got to thinking this morning about what primarily Sony has been touting about 10 year life cycles and their consoles. While I have nothing against it, I suddenly realized something. One of the main reasons that I am a console gamer is because it's (relatively) inexpensive, all i need is the console and a t.v. and i can play a game. Granted most of us that consider ourselves "hardcore" gamers need to have an HDTV and surround sound...and some of us might even go a little further and get "gaming" chairs or mini-fridges (so beer can be cold and quick). But what it comes down to, at least for myself, is convenience and, more importantly, money. By being a console gamer I only have to spend a large amount of money once, for the console. This one time expenditure then grants me all the latest games, and assuming i have even a measly 19" LCD HDTV capable of displaying 720p, then I can see nice crisp visuals, it's everything one needs to really enjoy gaming today.
However, if I were a PC gamer the expenditures would be a little different. I would need a high-end PC in order to play most games to their fullest extent, and if i wanted to keep playing those games I would need to upgrade some various pieces and parts of my PC's equipment every 6 months-a year, in order to stay on top of things. Now I'm not trying to incite riots from any PC gamers here, I enjoy PC games, I really do, I've just become more of a console gamer as the years have passed. But I'm straying from my topic.
My point here is that, if the current consoles (Sony isn't the only one that is supposedly thinking 10 year life cycles now) last for ten years, which would have them being phased out by around 2015ish, then what does that mean for our games? I know some developers are claiming they've already gotten all they could out of the 360 while others claim they've pushed the PS3 to its max, and most developers still arn't even attempting to use the Wii to its potential. If the current gen of consoles has another 6 years of life, then will that cause the industry to stagnate because of a lack of hardware innovation and improvement? Or will we see a replication of the Apple market? Will things like project Natal, PS3 Slim, the DSi etc. become more of the accepted norm.? If that becomes the case, will consumers actually be willing to (especially in times of economic downturn) shell out the cash for their Xbox 540's and PS3 v.2's? Will a more PC like environment be something that the average gamer is willing to accept, with each company Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo, requiring full hardware upgrades in order to play the newest games?
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