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[Magic Carpet]

I only want better and better hardware. If more companies lead to better hardware, then I say yay.
But if it leads to more exclusives then nay I say.

 

[jroc74]

Because history has shown many times over it rarely/never works and consumers don’t want to drop hundreds of dollars on hardware that won’t be supported in a year.

Also, the same reason I don’t want yet another streaming service.

Historically, only 2 to 3 home consoles have been able to survive in the market. Any new entrant led to one of the incumbents leaving in time. Likely why no one new enters and a consumer that is a fan of one could be concerned. The market seems more healthy today despite fragmentation (mobile, Oculus, more PC penetration, streaming, whatever the fuck Netflix is trying to do).

Agree with this.

Some platform isnt gonna survive. History has shown this time and time again.

I think we should be lucky there are 3 home console platforms as is. Someone new enters and its either them or one of the vets getting pushed out.

 

[lucius]

If Apple or Google offered quality stuff as good as or better than the Sony, MS, Nintendo, or Steam it wouldn’t be that long until the naysayers switched or supported it look at all the people complaining about Epic at first now so many free games sure it’s not steam but I will use Epic now .Steams still better but still competition is good. There probably only a few that might be able to make a new console work though and is it even worth it for them at this point.

 

[solidus12]

I mean I would like to have more company if the games stay multiplats; not a fan of this trend that MS started of buying big publishers.
Studio acquisitions were cool when there was "organic growth" now it's just an arms race.

As a Sony fan, I'm not pleased with the Bungie purchase: they should have acquired Kojima Productions, Quantic Dream, and Ready at Dawn (from facebook).

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

If done right, a new company to shake things up in the games industry could be momentous. New IPs could be made for the new platform, new innovations could prompt the current ones to stop resting on their laurels and compete with them. I would love a brand new IP on the tier of Resident Evil to emerge, with it could come a new fanbase, new conventions to discover. New names in the game developer catalogue would certainly freshen things up

 

[64bitmodels]

I picked "yes", but please no Ms, google, Apple, etc. All they're interested in is the gaas portion of gaming... Completely predatory in nature, I have no interest in this.

buddy, i've got some bad news for you

Xbox Series X | Xbox

Discover the fastest, most powerful Xbox ever with the Xbox Series X.

www.xbox.com

 

[kikkis]

I doubt you could win in console space with same strategy as ms and sony. But imagine if player went in to console space that released system that didnt have first party exclusives, or paid online and allowed more pc like features like using console for devlopment and other things, not just gaming. Sure it wouldn't be enough for die hard fanboys who need every exclusive no matter how average those are, but for me this system would be better since I game on monitor.

 

[Craig of War]

I used to be resistant too
But not anymore cause the more competition the better for me as a consumer
When the companies try to 1up each other i benefit as a consumer

 

[V4skunk]

They are afraid of competition, it threatens their favorite box or their PC ports.

Unify all on to pc.

 

[Grumpy Toe Nail]

Would rather they spend that time/money on making multiplat games not hardware.

 

[Robb]

I wouldn’t mind and would definitely be willing to switch things up if they make a compelling product with great content.

Doesn’t seem like many are interested in that though. To me it feels like most just want to dip their feet in the space because they know there’s money in it, then jump ship as soon as they realize it’s expensive to have your own studios and hard to actually make games.

 

[Ozriel]

Switch and Quest are at least physically unique. PS and Xbox are both pretty redundant in terms of hardware, and owning them both is largely a waste outside first party. Both systems have mostly the same games.

Both have different services.
There’s no Gamepass or Play Anywhere on PlayStation, and Xbox doesn’t have PSVR2. Not to mention their different first party library.

There’s enough unique about both flagships to justify owning both. And I happily do, along with a Switch and Quest 2

 

[StreetsofBeige]

To me I always wanted an apple, amazon, tencent etc console. More competition means more content for us. Apple investing heavily into the triple A space or amazon going beyond just Luna giving us more content for a dedicated console or even a third party publisher. I just don't understand why so many gamers want there to just be the big 3...I imagine when Xbox got into the console market for the first time there was a ton of resistence, so to me It's just if its not good don't but it IE stadia...but I'm not mad at google for trying.

Probably because others failed, so nobody wants to get burned with a dud system. Nintendo, Sony and MS are proven to stick around. While lots of other makers disappear. Sega, SNK, NEC, Atari, 3DO etc.... Even Google's Stadia seems dead and that's a giant company with deep pockets. Even though most gamers dont want a stream only kind of platform, that did so bad there's no way a console maker would do it that poorly.

The big 3 + PC + mobile/tablet seems to hit a sweet spot where the industry flourishes and there's enough platforms for gamers to play games.

I dont think Xbox OG got a ton of resistance. It sold well for first attempt I think the resistance came more from it's a giant heavy console and cost more than PS2 and GC. But game and feature wise people liked the new games, performance, HDD and online gaming.

 

[Alan Silvestro]

I Wanna buy everything but I can't afford it! So, I vote no!

 

[TLZ]

Ghost of Caelid I don't mind it at all. In fact I love it. I prefer physical if possible. But I don't mind digital if done properly. Stadia's offer was bad from the start. If they went the Netflix way from the start they would've seen more positive feedback. And let people buy if they want.

 

[Majormaxxx]

Why too many consoles is bad? Same reason why too many streaming services is bad. If you want to be able to experience a rich selection of games o movies, you'll have to pay for all consoles or streaming services.

 

[Marvel14]

Just for the design factor I'd be interested in an apple console. My main worry would be if it was an apple arcade machine and not a true console. But if they entered the AAA console market I would be interested.

People can't support what they don't know they need/want so it's unsurprising that there's so much skepticism in the thread.

Where I can see a company like Apple really disrupting positively is if they somehow integrated a competitive console into a multifunction portable Apple device like an Apple Watch or IPhone and used next gen streaming or some new technology to massively expand the software library....and undercut platform exclusivity.

Lofty wishful thoughts but not completely crazy either.

 

[ZywyPL]

Seeing how consoles are pretty much ITX PCs with custom OS, it's should be relatively easy to join the market hardware-wise.

But on the software and server side, it would require one hell of an investment. I think the gaming industry has become way too huge for anyoneto join in except for the world's biggest companies like Google, Amazon, Facebook etc.

 

[arvfab]

I would be all for it. More competition = more effort from all.

But I don't think there are enough buckets in the world to contain all the tears of people crying for (timed) exclusives.

 

[Davevil]

One last ride for Sega and i'm done

 

[Valentino]

Absolutely fuckin not. It’s just more drama. It’s just more consoles you have to keep buying with every new version. More consoles taking up space in your house. More muggy exclusives shit. There’s an insane insane annoying of games already. And you all get anxiety about your backlog as it is. More competition won’t change the quality that most devs output now either. Greedy nerds!

 

[SmokedMeat]

More console companies buying up exclusivity, or outright buying developers to work exclusively on their product.

Just what we need.

 

[Swipeyowifelike]

More console companies buying up exclusivity, or outright buying developers to work exclusively on their product.

Just what we need.

Just think of how many new and thriving studios would end up closed betting it all on this exclusive.

 

[nominedomine]

Unify all on to pc.

No. I play mostly on PC but consoles have their place too.

Maybe once Valve refines their hardware alternatives consoles wont make much sense until that happens consoles arent going anywhere.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

i only want sega back in console market

MS should by them on a Wednesday. Then give them all the money in the world and let them basically do whatever the f they want with it. Recreate the old Sega developer teams, let them go nuts and develop games like they did for Sega consoles, just this time for the Xbox brand. Get back / rehire old veterans that left the company. Now that I think of it, I'm in doubt if MS even wants to get into the first party exclusives competition like we had back in the day. Maybe this idea is bad.

 

[jroc74]

Ppl saying yes dont remember once upon a time this happened...and it did not end well for some platforms. Mostly the new ones.

IF...a new comer comes in and actually offers something compelling, somewhat different then sure. But...some platform is not gonna make it. The smartphone market is basically Android and iOS now, with some Android and Windows phone manufactures no longer making hardware.

That was considered fantasy land to think Palm or Blackberry would be gone from the smartphone market, MS too.

Some platform will not survive: either the new one or one of the current ones. It might literally be a case of be careful what you wish for.

 

[skit_data]

Because it may mean that we have to spend more money on different devices if they buy companies and make their games exclusive of course

 

[Melfice7]

Do these companies try to enter the market because they legitimately have something to offer or because they just see $$$$$?

Sony entered the market out of spite and ended up changing the gaming landscape, Microsoft entered the market to stop Sony's dominance and changed the consoles online landscape.

What Google did with Stadia was laughable.

I dont see any company with the talent, know-how and perseverance over decades that it takes to be successful in gaming

 

[kraspkibble]

Some people don't like the thought of the company that they fanboy over not being as popular/successful. I mean, you can bet that if Apple makes a console it'll quickly move Sony/MS out of place. I wouldn't be too worried about MS because they would have similar money to spend as Apple but Sony might be pushed down a bit.

More companies will mean more competition. I don't see why the gaming market is so special that only Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo can be successful. I'd be up for a 4th company to come in. Apple is really the only one who can do it now and they just happen to have the most money to spend and they could put out a shitty product and it'll still sell really well.

 

[Majukun]

most people grew up in an era where each gen either had a clear winner or a low amount of exclusive games, or both.
a new competitor means an additional fracture of the market and thus more games you can't play just by owning one console

 

[Spaceman292]

An Apple console would be quite interesting considering they would most likely use their own silicon.

It would probably cost five times more than the competitors and have no games. And it would be wildly successful.

 

[Rhazer Fusion]

I feel like what’s the point in more competitors entering the market when most people want all exclusives to die and exclusive content is seemingly becoming more rare on platforms? If the new competitors have exclusive, compelling software then maybe one more won’t really hurt the market. If they have don’t have an adequate amount of quality exclusives to offer and they have similar architecture, etc, then I think it’s pointless to even enter the market because what would they really offer they you can’t get elsewhere?

 

[Shmunter]

It’s like supporting ten different tv streaming services

 

[DeltaPolarBear]

First, no one is resisting new players joining in the gaming market.

Second, gamers can tell when a company is in way over their heads and have done no research into how hard it is to make gaming consoles. So instead of resisting newcomers we just laugh at them for being obvious failures from the start.

Google failed because they literally didn't spend any real money on it. Amazon failed because they bought some game developers, but had no idea how hard it is to make and sell a AAA game from scratch.

No one is deliberately saying we want Google or Amazon to lose. We are just aware that there is nothing easy about the gaming Business, and that if a rich and powerful company don't respect how HARD it is, they will get eaten alive.

All three current players in the console market, Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft, had at some point suffered catastrophic failures that could have ended their gaming ambitions. They got back on their feet by working REALLY hard, and spending crazy amounts of money besides. Gaming is fun and games for players but as a Business, it is still very much an artform.

You need lots of money, but you also need a lot of skill AND a lot of luck. Google and Amazon simply don't RESPECT games, they think it would be a walk in the park to just waltz in and take over. How hard can it be?

VERY, VERY hard. As it turns out.

 

[BlackTron]

Too many ecosystems and fragmentation. The industry has shown it can't really support more than 3 big ones in addition to a bunch of smaller niche stuff.

And of those 3, 1 wouldn't even be around if they hadn't pumped millions of dollars into it to stay afloat (Xbox). Unless you want to humbly do well on the side with a niche product, you will need to effectively kill at least one giant to take their place in the market (as Sony wiped the floor with Sega). Who even wants to try making room in a crowded market by taking on Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo? These guys are fully entrenched at this point. If I ran a business, trying to beat these guys at their own game they've been playing for over 20 years, no thanks.

Big name platform holders as it is NOW are already moving in a more platform-agnostic direction. We are moving towards less platforms, not more. Your competition has an expensive system that they can't make enough of to fill demand. With games finding their way on to PC. The idea of making a new system with an exclusive game to unseat that is insanity. Even if people want it, you can't make enough to get any momentum. You're better off just making a game.

 

[hullostranger]

Apples already dominating the mobile gaming space. Think it’ll be sooner than later, perhaps leapfrog the rest go all VR/AR for a hypothetical console?

 

[bad guy]

Having to buy 2 consoles to play all the games is bad for the environment. Especially if they don't differ much like this and the last 2 generations of PS and Xbox it's retarded.

I remember people bragging how they have both the PS3 and Xbone. Two crippled Jaguar machines with a slow HDD. For that money you could have gotten one powerful device. (a PC!!1!) ;]

 

[Drew1440]

This generation we have seen a reduction in consoles, with Nintendo consolidating their home and handheld consoles into one product, and Sony discontinuing their handheld. Arguably cloud platforms like Stadia and Luna could be seen as replacement platforms, but internally these are running PC games that are delivered to a TV or a mobile device instead.

Having multiple players isn't bad if they're all doing their own thing, and both Sony and Microsoft have tried to make their boxes unique in the past with Kinect and Playstation VR. There's no point having another box on the market that does the same thing as the others.
Personally if Apple or Google were to release another home console, is like to see one them embrace motion controls again, and have a solid list of exclusive built around them.

 

[TheThreadsThatBindUs]

To me I always wanted an apple, amazon, tencent etc console. More competition means more content for us.

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!.... NO!!!! How naive you are.

In the real world, it takes decades and multiple unsuccessful projects for new dev teams to be formed, nurtured and reach a level where they are able to consistently put out great games. This is a fact (ask Microsoft).

Therefore, new entrants into the gaming market will not go through the pains and sunk investment costs needed to create their own stable of first-party studios from scratch. Especially at this point in the gaming industry history, where development and marketing costs are in the hundreds of millions of dollars. There is no way.

So any new company entering the platform race will only buy up the already dwindling supply of existing third-party publishers/developers, in order to have exclusive games.

How is that good for the gaming consumer? It means they need to buy yet another plastic box to play their games on. Fuck that!

We already have MS behaving this way, buying 3rd parties. We don't need Apple/Google/Amazon/Samsung/Tencent doing the same.

We already have to buy our base consoles + Pro version + PC if you really want to be able to play all the games that interest you. No one wants to have to buy even more hardware.

It's a similar reason why PC gamers chomp at the bit whenever a new games launcher is released and makes existing franchise games to be exclusive to that launcher, forcing users to download and use a separate launcher. In this case, however, it's ten times worse, because on PC, having to download and use a separate launcher is free... it's merely an inconvenience. Being forced to buy a new console costs hundreds of dollars.

You have to be dense not to recognise why that's completely shit for our gaming hobby.

And lol at you wanting an Apple console. So, you want to spend $1000 on comparable performance hardware and then $200 a pop for all your peripherals and accessories? Nah... Apple can fuck right off from the console gaming space.

 

[Tams]

No, because I don't trust any of those who could afford it and want to.

Apple? Terrible attitude as a company and I don't think they 'get' gaming.

Google/Alphabot? Generally shitty company addled with ADHD. I bet they forget their coming Pixel watch within a year.

Tencent? CCP.

Amazon? Fight very dirty. Not sure they 'get' gaming either.

Sega? Yes, please, but they won't and can't afford to.

Not that our current choices are great companies either in many ways, but I do think they know what gaming is and veer more towards good gaming experiences rather than pieces of tech jewelry (as smartphones have become).

And the PC helps keep things under control.

I also don't think there's much room in the market for many more console makers, and I'd hate to see any of the existing three go down.

 

[spons]

Whatever I think of Jim Ryan or Phil Spencer, at least they try to take this shit seriously. Most companies don't. Stadia is a flop from multiple perspectives, one of them being that Alphabet just didn't give a shit.
I want to see more competition, but I cannot name a single company that can successfully enter the market right now.

 

[Vandole]

As far as I'm concerned, the platform to play the game is significantly less important than the game I want to play. Software is where I want competition, not hardware.

Additional consoles just segment the market further, and add an additional expense to play all of the games I want to. I would much prefer a unified console then another to choose from with its own exclusives.

 

[Elysion]

Any new entrant would have to offer something that the other, established players aren’t offering, or aren’t offering to the same extent. With the PS1 Sony offered a 3d capable system at an affordable price for consumers, as well as less content restrictions and a more flexible distribution process (thanks to cheap CDs) for 3rd parties. MS offered a unified, easy to use online service for users, and a PC-like development environment for 3rd parties, allowing them to more easily port PC games to console.

The only thing I can think of that would offer something new in this regard is obviously VR – but only if they leave behind these bulky, goofy looking monstrosities that people have to strap to their heads. If Apple for example came out with a sleek, lightweight VR headset that isn’t really a headset at all, but more like a pair of glasses, then I could see them being successful simply by leapfrogging the competition. It would have to have a form factor similar to this:

And it probably should have a see-through mode as well, so that it can be used for AR as well. A system that came bundled with glasses like this (and proper VR controllers too of course), where it’s mandatory that all games have at least an optional VR mode, and which came at a reasonable price (I guess that means no Apple then, lol) would definitely do well, even if it was less powerful than the competition.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

I think three different formats for consoles is enough. I'm not even sure there would be room in the market for a fourth. Especially since each platform holder has what their audience wants on lockdown.

Especially nowadays, the way everything's going is towards playing as many of your games as you can on one platform, using cross-save/ cross-play. Even some Nintendo Switch games support those features. It's convenient!

Where's the demand for another platform?

 

[Impotaku]

*Apple gets into Gaming*

Status Symbol Console for $2000.
Controller Sold Seperately for $300.
Headset Sold Seperately for $500.
Headset Stand Sold for $900 with Apple Branded Logo made out of Titanium Alloy.

Plays Pong at 60 FPS.

Everyone in Apple Ecosystem
"10 out of 10, will buy again" - Becky
"It's so easy to use, even my grandma can play it!" - Agnes (the Grandmother)
"Games aren't expensive enough." - Trevor (Guy in a Ferrari in California)

Add in also the regular iphone style system updates to make your console run slower & slower so they can sell you a slightly newer upgrade. Apple are trash they can stay the fuck out of the gamespace with their deliberate obsolesence bullshit.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I think three different formats for consoles is enough. I'm not even sure there would be room in the market for a fourth. Especially since each platform holder has what their audience wants on lockdown.

Especially nowadays, the way everything's going is towards playing as many of your games as you can on one platform, using cross-save/ cross-play. Even some Nintendo Switch games support those features. It's convenient!

Where's the demand for another platform?

I dont think any console gamer is begging for a new entry. But every once in a while you see some gamers hoping Sega surprises everyone with a new black box with tons of classic Sega games. Back from the ashes kind of thing.

 

[MatrixReloaded101]

The same reason we don’t want more streaming services.

 

[Raonak]

Because we all know all new companies will just focus on GAAS microtransaction because of easy profits.

 

[The_Mike]

To be honest I prefer to buy for 499 euro games for my preferred platform, instead of buying several platforms for 499 to play some games I could have played on my other platforms as well.

You are literally paying for a hardware storefront with exclusives. Why would you want more?

 

[NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt]

i only want sega back in console market