Is next-generation going to be the last-generation?

Well, first off, probably not. Even with the slowdown the last few years in the video games market, the numbers will probably go up at least a bit over the next year or two as the next-generation Xbox and Sony units hit the market. But I'm trying to figure out where they go from here, and I'm not really quite sure.

It's pretty obvious to me at this point, that we're not going to see the quantum leaps in technology that we saw from PS2 to PS3, or original Xbox to 360. If you look at the hype for the upcoming systems, you notice something interesting. They're getting away from giving you raw numbers such as the amount of polygons it can push, or the capacity of the drives. It's not in the hardware anymore, it's in the add on features.


The video game market lost a TON of ground to the mobile games market over the past few years. It's simple to see why.. one has games that top out at $9.99 or so, and the other's primary market is $60 and up.  You may get 10 hours of enjoyment out of iOS game X, and 40 or so hours from Console GameY, but if you can buy 10 iOS/Android games for the price of one console game, it's a better value.

Starting in the tail end of the current generation PS3's and Xbox 360's and continuing into the next generation.. the big selling points is everything BUT the games it can play.

Watch Netflix on your Xbox 360!
Watch Hulu Plus on your PS3!
Watch TV networks on your Xbox 360!
Watch (major sport) on your console!
Built in video chat on the next generation Xbox!
Post live video of your PS4 game to the internet for everyone to watch

It's all about the add on features.. which leaves me a bit bemused.

If we wanted to watch TV Networks, or baseball, or Netflix, you know, there's something already there to do that.. it's called your cable box. It just seems like a lot of the stuff they're trying to sell us as great additions to the consoles.. is already available to us. It just doesn't make sense, you know?

So far, the next generation seems to be pushing everything but the games. Are video game consoles as we know it dying? Or is it just evolving to a set top box, trying to absorb the cable box to be your one stop for all your TV-activities?

Stay tuned.