The future of video games may no longer involve consoles

Where do you see the future of video games going?

I was thinking about this, and I think a couple things might happen over time. For one, the rise in Smart TVs, so to speak, that allow you to not just switch channels but also access Netflix and Hulu, could end up changing things if Google makes a deal to put their Android operating system in them. Why do I say that?

A couple things. The Android operating system in cell phones and tablets supports game controllers. An Xbox360-esque controller was being used in a demonstration of an Android tablet running Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2. The tablet was also hooked up to a TV. So there was a game controller, controlling a game running on a tablet operating system, but the picture came from a big TV instead of the small tablet.

Another thing worth pointing out: Steam's Big Picture Mode. It's not perfect, and considering that most PC games don't support controllers, and Big Picture Mode was made for controller input and being displayed on a TV, there's a bit of a disconnect, but basically it lets the PC act like a game console with all the games you own on Steam selectable via controller. The controller can also be used to text chat (with a very novel input method that beats the "onscreen keyboard" style of typing) and browse websites.

So, what am I getting at here? With all the convergence that's going on, with companies making deals with each other and combining or buying out their tech, and with Microsoft, Apple and Google in competition with each other (in different venues), and with the current threat to handheld gaming systems posed by smartphones and tablets, combined with Steam having a new interface that works really well on a TV in its early beta form, I see the following eventually happening one day:

I think at some point, TVs will use the Android operating system. They may come with a controller to allow users to navigate the menu options and even type (probably using something similar to the "daisywheel" method on Steam), due to Google pushing support for game controllers (Google Chrome supports them, though it's up to the makers of websites to actually use them). If that's the case, then that may create a situation where, due to everyone who owns a TV essentially owning a game system (controller plus the TV's operating system), we may see people buying games off their TVs, and an increase in people who play video games. Just like smartphones have made people who wouldn't normally play games play them, having one's TV be one's game system, and having the games be advertised on it, could lead to an increase in gamers.

If this situation sounds farfetched, bear in mind that many of the things we do today probably sounded farfetched not too long ago. Smartphones have changed things, tablets have changed things, Microsoft has a hybrid operating system that's trying to be both tablet and laptop/desktop, and people hook their computers up to TVs at times as well. TVs essentially have a simple "operating system" of sorts built in, and if that can be expanded upon, maybe replaced with a new one, things could really change there as well. There would be no future for consoles if one's TV was also their game system and literally everyone (once TVs running the new operating system caught on) owns one.

What do you think?

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Android is currently being shunned by many developers due to rampant piracy, a fragmented market, poor sales, and many other things. That alone shoots most of your post to hell. And adding DRM to the system would ruin the "open" aspect of Android that made it so popular to begin with.

As for Steam Big Picture, need I remind you that it basically requires a computer hooked up to your TV? Given how much a good computer costs, I doubt it'll be used very frequently by very many people.

edited 23rd Sep '12 5:41:11 PM by burnpsy

Do they make controllers for the cell phones?

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Doubt it. while this opens new markets for games, it by no means spells death for consoles. especially given that consoles are gaining more uses. eg, why buy a 200 dollar blue ray player when you could buy a 250 dollar ps3 that can do so much more?

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@0dd: Rather simple ones akin to the SNES-controller, yes. With some work, you can also synchronize more advanced Bluetooth controllers with certain Android-phones.

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I used Steam Big Picture as an example of how companies are starting to embrace, and understand, a console-like experience. I don't see that as a direct threat to game consoles at all, for the reason you gave. The point on Android piracy makes sense, although if Google could get it under control, I do perceive them making a TV version of it sometime in the future.

edited 23rd Sep '12 5:56:27 PM by BonsaiForest

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@Joesolo - While game consoles are doing more, such as Netflix on a PS 3 or X360, at the same time, TVs are doing more as well. All it would take would be an operating system and a controller. As handheld devices such as smartphones become increasingly powerful with every yearly refresh, I can imagine a "smart" TV having power roughly equal to, or greater than, current consoles in a few years. That would actually be good enough for a lot of people.

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If gaming is gonna be nothing but smartphone crap then its gonna be a bleak bleak future for gaming.

on the bright side, PC's will reign supreme.

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I agree, but that's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking if TVs, with their gradual accumulation of features, start to come with game controllers to control them, which could then be used to play downloadable games on their considerably large hard drives (these are the same hard drives that store recorded shows and movies after all). The processors used in computers are getting more powerful and over time, what was expensive today becomes cheap tomorrow. Console-quality games could be downloadable onto a TV's hard drive in the future, with the TV running an operating system designed for both TV shows and games.

edited 23rd Sep '12 6:09:52 PM by BonsaiForest

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I foresee that a console system with full TV functionality will arrive faster than a TV with full console functionality. This is because the majority of TV buyers are not gamers even now and are likely to go with the cheaper game-less configurations, while the majority of console buyers will leap at the chance to play their games without a separate TV.

I need to try this out on my phone.

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Interesting point. It can be really difficult to predict the future, and you definitely have valid points there.

Most people are not gamers, and I think if TVs coming with controllers and running an operating system, with a downloadable store that includes games as well as TV episodes and movies, and that becomes the norm, then there won't even be a "cheaper model". So we may end up with many converted gamers, as people think "That game looks interesting; why not?"

edited 23rd Sep '12 6:22:48 PM by BonsaiForest

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Extra Credits had a episode on this subject that was pretty interesting: [1]

This is excellent. Many of the points I made are made here in this video. I do think the industry needs to accept and embrace the coming future. I want to see AAA games on whatever new devices we play them on. I want games like The Last of Us to still exist, and in order to do so, they'd need to find a way. There's no denying that change is happening.

I do think the "TV with a game controller and ability to download games" will happen at some point though. Steam Big Picture Mode is an example of a program that has an extra interface designed around controller input, and Valve is smart enough to understand that TV users are different than computer monitor users. Steam Big Picture Mode is possibly a sign of things to come... on our TVs themselves? We might have our own TVs use a similar console-like interface, and if they have enough processing power, decent games as well. And if they come with controllers, people will simply download games because they're there, and give them a try.

edited 23rd Sep '12 6:44:04 PM by BonsaiForest

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I just fail to see how this will be a good thing.

All I see is a future where farmville and angry birds reign supreme.

edited 23rd Sep '12 7:44:42 PM by Thorn14

But Angry Birds is fun.

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And here comes more Pessimism.

As for this idea, well, I can see it happening, but I don't think it will be as fast or as overblown as most people make it out to be.

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Is everything a war between hardcore gamers and casuals to you?

edited 23rd Sep '12 8:06:46 PM by JudeDismas

A fun that only lasts you 5 minutes at most. Not something I'd call a full game.

When actual gaming is being pushed away in favor of casual gaming, I tend to get worried.

"actual gaming". lol.

Yeah, it seems like in a fairly short time we'll start to see various household electronics combined into a single does-everything machine (DVR, gaming, TV, etc.)

edited 23rd Sep '12 9:24:16 PM by Boredman

cum

Because you're not gaming unless you game instead of having a real job.

I never said that. I'm just saying, which has had more effort and value put into the craft of making a game, Angry Birds or Deception ?

One has a huge team working on crafting a story and gameplay.

Another ripped off a newgrounds flashgame and sold it for millions.

edited 23rd Sep '12 9:50:23 PM by Thorn14

There actually are plenty of good smartphone games out there - for example, CAVE has been making a series of very good smartphone ports of their Japanese arcade games, with English localizations no less. There are plenty of other examples to be found in just the iTunes App Store alone, if you know what to look for. It's just the low barrier to entry which makes Sturgeon's Law take full effect.

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That is very different from casual gaming, dude. You're talking about the developers and makers of games, as opposed to how many hours one spends in gaming, which is in the other end.

edited 23rd Sep '12 10:13:09 PM by IraTheSquire