SenkiDala
Member
I left there.
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The "big three" should be called the "big four" now.
Danjin44
The nicest person on this forum
Physiognomonics
Member
Define a console.
Official support coming around December. Currently it takes effort and sideloading to get it to work.
But ya Quest3 has a virtual 1080 portable bigscreen monitor/browser you can use for whatever you want. Seen people stream both PS5 and Xbox to it. I personally use Parsec on mine, so I can stream and use my pc on it from anywhere.
IlGialloMondadori
Member
Now we're getting into the semantic games. I know you'll likely come back with some attempt to say, "Ahhh, but acktually..."
I'll bite anyway.
As far as most people would accept it, for as long as consoles have existed, here's a rough stab: it would be a non-upgradable piece of somewhat customized hardware, using a custom set of sdks, apis, and dev tools provided by the manufacturer; the OS is a custom OS and is completely closed for installing a user's own choice of applications and games, all games and applications must be installed via only manufacturer accepted methods. The OS cannot be reasonably customized, or replaced without significant effort/hacking. Publication of games must pass through the manufacturers approval process and contractual terms. Unless emulated, games will not run on other computing systems. You cannot connect external peripherals unless they are approved and have manufacturer drivers. You cannot add new drivers because of the OS restrictions stated above.
A steam deck meets the critera of the hardware isn't easily customizable/replacable, but outside of that, you're not restricted in any way whatsoever. If you want windows, install windows. If you want to write your own OS to put on there, you can. If you want to create your own games on it, you can. If you want to use it as a web dev box, you can. You can run pretty much any PC game going back to the beginning of PC on it. You can install emulators and run whatever you want. You can run DOS on it. You can connect any peripheral to it you want. You could write new drivers for hardware you created yourself, and publish those on a linux package manager and publish that, and let anyone use those things. None of that is possible with the established definition of console.
It is console-like in that it borrows the ease of use focus from consoles, its big picture mode and interface aren't complete shit without a mouse and keyboard like Windows is, and it is a single set of hardware atm, but there are many Deck-likes that run exactly the same thing.
I think everyone has a pretty good idea what a traditional-model console is, and the XBOX, Playstation, and Switch follow that definition. Standalone VR sets like the Quest are close, and maybe fit the definition. The iPad is kind of straddling it. The Steam Deck is, IMO, not a console.
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I kind of agree with OP.
While the Quest line was introduced with the hope to be the next step in computing (so multi-purpose), in reality its main use case revolves around gaming, at least for the moment.
In that sense it could be stated Meta could also be considered as a "console manufacturer", of a relatively new kind of game system.
The Quest line should be around 20 million devices sold worldwide in a span of 4-5 years which is a notable number for a console maker outside of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft (see below).
At the same time Meta investments into standalone VR headset (and huge losses suffered) defies the logic of a typical console maker.
While the Quest line was introduced with the hope to be the next step in computing (so multi-purpose), in reality its main use case revolves around gaming, at least for the moment.
In that sense it could be stated Meta could also be considered as a "console manufacturer", of a relatively new kind of game system.
The Quest line should be around 20 million devices sold worldwide in a span of 4-5 years which is a notable number for a console maker outside of Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft (see below).
At the same time Meta investments into standalone VR headset (and huge losses suffered) defies the logic of a typical console maker.
Humdinger
Member
LMAO if anyone is the new member of the Big 4 it's Apple, the company which actually makes all the money in gaming.
Visualizing Apple’s Rise to the Top of the Gaming Business
In 2020, Apple generated an estimated $13.5 billion dollars in gaming revenue, despite the fact it doesn't make any games or gaming consoles.www.visualcapitalist.com
"Apple made 2 billion more profits in 2019 than Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and Activision-Blizzard combined."
Wow. I did not realize they were making that much money from gaming. If Apple were included in that graph above this post, the "big three" would be in its shadow, dwarfed by it.
chixdiggit
Member
A console is something that identifies as a console.
Wonko_C
Member
It's coming in December, no VR games though, just flat screen.
That's pretty much how it was for me too half a decade ago. I bet 90% of this forum have yet to play a VR game.
And 30 years later look at how small Quest 3 is. It's always a delight to see technology advancing.Thirty years ago.
VR will never be anything more than niche.
Sega is my favorite company, but they haven't been a console manufacturer for decades now.
Yep. Even the Steam Deck OT subtitle is "It's a PC2." or something like that.
By those metrics Xbox Series would also be considered a flop then.
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