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What is a console?

Consoles are as much of "plug and play" as PC. Both require various updates. After turning on my PC, I simply click on a game icon on the desktop and I'm playing within seconds.
 
Technically from this gen on a usual PC with outdated hardware.
The difference is semantics and is totally subjective, although some arguments have more followers than others.
 
NHTtiOU.jpg
 
Not needing to buy new hardware two to three years in to play the latest games for the platform at their marketed and reviewed performance.

An even playing field between all users on the console.
 
NoctisVsStar said:
Plug in and play.
Click to expand...

That hasn't been the case for quite some time. Accounts have to be set up, agreements must be agreed upon, firmware updates must be installed, day-1 patches must be downloaded. The list goes on. There were more steps involved in setting up my PS4 than what was required for a fresh install of Windows 10 or OS X. The Wii U took a good 30 minutes to get up and running, and I remember spending over two hours setting up Gran Turismo 5.

Modern consoles and PCs are approaching each other from opposite ends - PCs have become increasingly streamlined over the last decade, while consoles have become considerably more complex.

The GameCube generation was arguably the last console generation you could call "plug-and-play".
 
I don't think there is one catch-all definition for the modern console. The closest I can think is a hardware device with the primary function of being a games machine capable of playing games that are specifically licensed for use on it.
 
sooooo...a miserable pile of late posts? :p
btw to me the "closest hardware with limited life cycle" and the "plug & play" features are the def of a console
 
Who wants to make the "What is a PC?" thread?

Because that is the real question that stands before us today.
 
ayy a miserable pile lmao

But really, I would define a "console" as a closed-source, one-stop-shop device designed first and foremost to play games. I don't think successive iterations of hardware invalidate that definition, nor does iteration suddenly make it "a PC."
 
To me a console is:
- Designed to play games as its primary purpose
- Plug in and play - i.e. no visibility or need to care about drivers, configuration, etc. (patches and updates are permissible!)
- Designed in a "living room friendly" form factor
- UI that is centred around the gaming experience (and, more recently, media and entertainment apps)
- Can be relied on to play any game released in foreseeable future
Click to expand...


FTFY

Still a great definition
 
To me a console is:
- Fixed hardware platform
...
- Can be relied on to play any game released in the next, say, 5 years, at an acceptable level of performance
Click to expand...

You are absolutely wrong on those two points. Even going back to the very beginning with the Atari 2600, there were hardware expansions and games that relied on them. Your other points were all good.

People just love to bitch and whine.
 
I think of a piece of hardware that focuses on gaming but may have many peripheral functions.

I guess typically it's a closed platform too.
 
Genio88 said:
A weak PC made for avarage people
Click to expand...

I really hope you get that as a tag. You just summed up the whole "PC Master Race" meme in a nutshell.

Vitacat said:
You are absolutely wrong on those two points. Even going back to the very beginning with the Atari 2600, there were hardware expansions and games that relied on them. Your other points were all good.

People just love to bitch and whine.
Click to expand...

Yes, there have been a few hardware expansions (segaCD, N64 memory pack). These were the exceptions, not the rule, and none of them did particularly well. Some of them, in fact, failed miserably.

So, I agree with the definition of "fixed hardware" for consoles.
 
It's a piece of hardware designed almost exclusively for digital entertainment. Often with a focus on uniformity, ease of use and a price point that's atractive to the casual consumer.
 
Number of wires.

GipwaAe.jpg


Look at this shit. My PS4 only needs 2 whereas my PC has like 1 million. Every console seems to be based on this idea.

only
partly
joking
 
Some people don't want to tweak settings while gaming. Some devs want to control the experience in place for them. Make a platform like this with a focused ecosystem on a standardised PC and it's a console.

It's like, a device that goes with a screen while being able to play natively games made for it with the exact experience crafted by the developer.
 
A fixed platform.

Console hardware, software, UI, controller hardware, peripherals all play a huge role and the importance of each cannot be diminished. It's not just about keeping the hardware the same (we've had hardware revisions for years) but rather you want to keep the platform the same. And you want the barrier-to-entry for that platform to be buying a box off the shelf.

This is where the new Xbox model -- if they plan on doing regular console upgrades -- fails to meet the console criteria. I mean, we've used this definition for 30 years. Why muddle the definition just so that Xbox's new direction looks like something it isn't?

It's an Xbox Steam Box.
 
And then what? Imagine they release a new upgraded Xbox One this year at a 500$ price point. Xbox One games won't suddenly all be 60fps at 1080p. Imagine a game that is 30fps with the last hardware and 48fps with the new one? What will happen here? Settings! And dang, here we are.
 
Yeah, the OP is how I would define a console. PC remote play for PS4 also makes me worry a bit about where consoles are headed. It's a sign of the times maybe, but as someone who has been there through it all, I guess I just need to have an open mind vs. my long-standing ideas of what a console represents.

Genio88 said:
A weak PC made for avarage people
Click to expand...
Wow, really? And spelling.
 
We haven't had a good console in a while. I view them as plug in and play with fixed hardware specs. These days with Day 1 Patches and all it takes forever to play any new title.

I wish it was like in the 90's when playing games didn't involve me having to wait up to an hour plus to start playing them for the first time or a few minutes on subsequent playthroughs. The time it takes from booting a console to getting in game has increased substantially over the years despite technology getting better.
 
That would depend, do you want the accepted/dictionary definition of "video game console" or do you want some kind of cultural definition of "video game console". Either way, it is horribly vacuous.
 
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