# 8th Gen "Consoles" Are Not Really Consoles



## Hydrazine (Apr 12, 2014)

Wikipedia defines video game console as simple a "device that outputs a video signal to display a video game". Not a reliable source, but that's pretty much the purpose of a "console". A device that is used to play games. The focus should be on GAMING.

Consoles are not a multi-media set-top box. There are other devices that fit the "multi-media set-top box" better and/or cheaper. Something like chromecast or fire tv can do this for much cheaper than consoles. Something like apple tv or an htpc can do this much better than consoles.

Look at what features Sony and Microsoft are trying to push. A dedicated "share" button on the controller? Media services like Netflix, Hulu, and Crunchyroll, even first party media services like sony's "music unlimited". The console acting as a TV receiver? Xbone even getting exclusive TV content? That's basically a set-top box right there.

And they add even more BS that has NOTHING to do with gaming. Turning on/off the console using voice commands? An camera that spies on you and send all your activities to the NSA? Playstation Playroom video broadcast service that people are abusing to stream sex? What's the hell are modern wrong consoles?

Maybe you think having these "features" are not bad, but think about the consequences. More bugs, large frequent updates, invasion of privacy, increased costs, monthly subscriptions, and taking focus away from gaming. If consoles are android phones, all this BS is pre-installed bloatware, most people don't want it.

If sony and ms wants to make a set-top media box, nothing wrong with that, Just don't call these things consoles. The last "consoles" are the gamecube/ps2/xbox. The 7th gen began to blur the line. The 8th gen are basically not even consoles.


----------



## BlackWizzard17 (Apr 12, 2014)

So this also includes the Wii u since it does  Netflix, Hulu, Facebook, Youtube, internet browsing Etc, Etc, Etc

So a Gaming Pc is not really a Gaming PC because you can do Netflix, Hulu, Facebook, Youtube, e-mail, Skype, Programming, Video editing, Etc, Etc, Etc, like etc X100

So the Dreamcast is not really a console because it can connect to the internet and use a browser.

Does that mean i have been lied to my whole life? What does this mean?

Lol nah just kidding


----------



## frogboy (Apr 12, 2014)

I don't see your point. Every 8th generation console is defined as a gaming console, as that is its sole purpose.


Hydrazine said:


> And they add even more BS that has NOTHING to do with gaming. Turning on/off the console using voice commands? An camera that spies on you and send all your activities to the NSA? Playstation Playroom video broadcast service that people are abusing to stream sex? What's the hell are modern wrong consoles?


By that logic, previous gen consoles should be criticized for using wireless controllers.

And another thing; I've never met a person that has changed their mind about buying a console based on what it can do besides play games.


----------



## tbgtbg (Apr 12, 2014)

Guess what, this is nothing new this gen.

Last gen consoles did most of that stuff too. Before that you had consoles playing DVD movies and CD music.

It's primary purpose, as designed, is games played on a TV. And yes, they still fit that bill. The media stuff, no matter how hard they push it, is a bonus, not a disqualifier.


----------



## mr allen (Apr 12, 2014)

But it doesn't say a console can only output a video signal to display a video game, only that it needs to be able to do that.


----------



## Gahars (Apr 12, 2014)

Hydrazine said:


> And they add even more BS that has NOTHING to do with gaming. Turning on/off the console using voice commands? An camera that spies on you and send all your activities to the NSA? Playstation Playroom video broadcast service that people are abusing to stream sex? What's the hell are modern wrong consoles?


 
So the PS1 wasn't a console because it played CDs? The NES wasn't a console because it could be controlled with a glove? If people decided to use the Atari 2600 as a paperweight, would that make it less of a console?



Hydrazine said:


> Maybe you think having these "features" are not bad, but think about the consequences. More bugs, large frequent updates, invasion of privacy, increased costs, monthly subscriptions, and taking focus away from gaming. If consoles are android phones, all this BS is pre-installed bloatware, *most people don't want it.*


 
Those sales figures sure seem to say otherwise.



Hydrazine said:


> If sony and ms wants to make a set-top media box, nothing wrong with that, Just don't call these things consoles. The last "consoles" are the gamecube/ps2/xbox. The 7th gen began to blur the line. The 8th gen are basically not even consoles.


 
By your definition, the PS2 and Xbox aren't even consoles because they played DVDs and CDs, which have nothing to do with gaming.

You quote Wikipedia's definition of a console and do absolutely nothing to refute it. If a video game console is any sort of "device that outputs a video signal to display a video game," then these devices are video game consoles no matter how many other services they offer in addition.


----------



## Jayro (Apr 12, 2014)

Going from NES to Wii U, that's only 6 gens, so the 8th gen is in the future, about 10 years. Eat shit.


----------



## Necron (Apr 12, 2014)

JayRo said:


> Going from NES to Wii U, that's only 6 gens, so the 8th gen is in the future, about 10 years. Eat shit.


There were consoles before Nintendo.

Also, to the OP, can a VHS be regarded as a console? Since your definition is "device that outputs a video signal to display a video game", but it doesn't say it must be able to play it


----------



## Yepi69 (Apr 12, 2014)

I can say this thread will go well.


----------



## Chary (Apr 12, 2014)

Necron said:


> There were consoles before Nintendo.
> 
> Also, to the OP, can a VHS be regarded as a console? Since your definition is "device that outputs a video signal to display a video game", but it doesn't say it must be able to play it


 
If you wanna be technical, there were those old Trivial Pursuit VHS games...Those _could_ count in some crazy way.


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 12, 2014)

Necron said:


> There were consoles before Nintendo.
> 
> Also, to the OP, can a VHS be regarded as a console? Since your definition is "device that outputs a video signal to display a video game", but it doesn't say it must be able to play it


There are worse examples - think Action Max, a console which displayed... Nothing at all because it only counted points while the "game" was a VHS tape which actually required a separate VHS player.

The name "console" is vague and you can define it any way you want - I choose to understand it as "a thing that has a primary purpose of playing video games" and leave it at that. If we're going to get so terribly hung up on definitions, we might as well call calculators "PC's" because they're personal and they compute.


----------



## Taleweaver (Apr 12, 2014)

Does it really matter how you call them?

Yes, the extra features aren't exactly improvements in the game department. And I agree not many people are going to buy these devices for any other reason than the actual games. But in what other areas should they improve, then?


I could argue that since nintendo isn't pushing most of those services, the wiiu is the last console. As well as the ouya. But what would that prove? Sales figures speak for themselves. The PS4 and xbone may not fit the classic definition of what a console is anymore, they sure as hell sell.


----------



## FireGrey (Apr 12, 2014)

So you're going by a very weak definition to determine this?
I will literally kill you in your sleep.


----------



## Originality (Apr 12, 2014)

They play games, they are game consoles. Their media functions are an attempt to take over other devices commonly connected to the TV. Like how many people bought a PS3 because it was the cheapest BluRay player on the market at the time. It's all an attempt to make more sales/money through diversifying services and appealing to a wider audience.

Just because it does something more than what it was designed to do, doesn't make them any less of a game console.


----------



## grossaffe (Apr 12, 2014)

I'm not a fan of the trend of consoles trying to be more and more. A big part of the draw was that they were machines optimized for gaming getting you optimal performance for budget hardware.  Now you've got multiple OSes eating up your CPU cores and several gigs of RAM. In a push to become more general machines, they're becoming more and more like a locked-down PC, why not just get an actual PC?


----------



## the_raging_snorlax (Apr 12, 2014)

The PS1 was also a CD player. The console market has been poisoned with multi-function devices for a long time. If a device is designed to be used for mainly gaming then I'll call it a console. The technical definition doesn't really mean much. As for smartphones I'd call them multi-function devices with their main purpose being to call and text. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but the PS2 and Xbox could play DVD's so they also "began to blur the line". The Gamecube was the last true console (maybe not if you count the obscure ones most of us have never heard of) and even that can be modded to play DVD's.


----------



## JoostinOnline (Apr 12, 2014)

The Game Boy had a camera a printer.


----------



## Tom Bombadildo (Apr 12, 2014)

This thread. Oh man. Dumbest thing I've read in a long time


----------



## GameWinner (Apr 12, 2014)

The OP is dumb and this thread is dumb.


----------



## YayMii (Apr 12, 2014)

I thought the Share button was for games... If that somehow takes away from the PS4 being a console, then I've been doing things wrong my whole life.
I didn't know that friends and video games were mutually exclusive


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 12, 2014)

The discussion here is that extra functionality somehow disqualifies certain devices from belonging to a given category just because it's there. I really don't understand why anyone would go out of their way to prove that extra functionality which aiding the entertainment factor of the devices is in any way bad.

I also don't understand why a device ideally outfitted to support multimedia _wouldn't_ support multimedia. I'm looking at you, Gamecube, Wii and Wii U. Hell, one of the very first modifications for the Gamecube and the Wii was DVD-Video support because customers generally don't want ten zillion quadrillion devices next to their TV - if they can have just one, it not only means less clutter, it also means savings more often than not.

The Xbox One and the PS4 have BluRay drives, so they support BluRay - this is a plus, not a flaw. There's no reason why they shouldn't. Same goes with media streaming - they're online devices so they do that, and customers like that. So much so that one of the main complaints against the PS4 is its lack of native MP3 and DLNA streaming, so Sony's working on implementing those features in an update as we speak. I'm afraid that you're alone in your struggle, Hydrazine.


----------



## naxil (Apr 12, 2014)

the real question is : is right buy a eightcore hw, with super dupa VIDEOcard with lot of ram ecc ecc.. and i can't write my HELLO WORLD on it? that's the real question about that gens... that power CLOSED is very stupid...


----------



## trumpet-205 (Apr 12, 2014)

Is this thread stupid or what?

First of, there is nothing in the definition that strictly limits console to video gaming. Having console doing more than gaming does not contradict the very definition of console.

In fact, PS2 can play DVD-Video and it is a major reason why PS2 overshadowed Dreamcast despite arrived at the market one year later. At that time PS2 was labeled as the "cheapest DVD player" and many people bought it to play PS1/PS2 games and watch DVD.

I also find it odd that you neglect to mention Wii and Wii U, since you can watch Hulu, Netflix, etc on them. Monthly subscription? You only pay them when you use it. 

Share button on PS4 has everything to do with gaming. It allows you to record gameplay video and upload them.


----------



## Depravo (Apr 12, 2014)

Is a Swiss Army knife still a knife?


----------



## emigre (Apr 12, 2014)

Depravo said:


> Is a Swiss Army knife still a knife?


 

Depends, can you stream yourself having sex on it?


----------



## Arras (Apr 12, 2014)

Spoiler











relevant


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 12, 2014)

emigre said:


> Depends, can you stream yourself having sex on it?


No, but it can get you laid with all kinds of folks who normally would say _"no"_.

I said too much.


----------



## emigre (Apr 12, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> No, but it can get you laid with all kinds of folks who normally would say _"no"_.
> 
> I said too much.


 

I need this:


----------



## DinohScene (Apr 12, 2014)

7th gen consoles aren't consoles either.
Last real consoles where the 6th gen ones then.

Time to move on gramps.
Kids these days want everything on their consoles.
Share their stupid shit on facebook, twitter, instagram, whatever they use.
Watch videos on it, watch telly on it, make a cup of coffee with it.

Hell, watches used to be for looking at the time.
Now they can share stupid shit with the internet.
Glasses where made for people with bad eye sight.
Now they can share stupid shit on facebook.
Phones where made for calling.
Now their pocket computers.

It's time to stop living in the 80's/90's
Welcome to the mid 10's


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 12, 2014)

DinohScene said:


> 7th gen consoles aren't consoles either.
> Last real consoles where the 6th gen ones then.
> 
> Time to move on gramps.
> ...


I would argue that the _"switch"_ from _"solely gaming"_ to _"overall media device"_ occured much earlier than that. Even the Nintendo 64 had a Japan-only set of peripherals for RandNET connectivity _(including art/photo sharing, "visiting" other player's game sessions etc.)_, the SNES had Stellaview with its multimedia capabilities, the Sega Genesis had SEGA Channel, the Saturn/Dreamcast had SegaNet/Dreamarena... And then there's the obvious DVD players in the XBox and PS2, the UMD player in the PSP, Game Boy cameras etc.. Long story short, consoles stopped being solely about gaming and started being entertainment hubs ages ago.


----------



## DinohScene (Apr 12, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> I would argue that the _"switch"_ from _"solely gaming"_ to _"overall media device"_ occured much earlier than that. Even the Nintendo 64 had a Japan-only set of peripherals for RandNET connectivity _(including art/photo sharing, "visiting" other player's game sessions etc.)_, the SNES had Stellaview with its multimedia capabilities, the Sega Genesis had SEGA Channel, the Saturn/Dreamcast had SegaNet/Dreamarena... And then there's the obvious DVD players in the XBox and PS2, the UMD player in the PSP, Game Boy cameras etc.. Long story short, consoles stopped being solely about gaming and started being entertainment hubs ages ago.


 
Well, in those days, not everyone has a RandNET nor Dreamarena nor Satellaview peripherals.
In fact, I dun know anyone who had them.
The majority if not all of the people used their gaming consoles for gaming.
Even in the days of the Xbox and PS2 with their DVD players, the main focus of them was still gaming.

Indeed, they had multimedia capabilities but the primary focus was still gaming.
The 360 in it's early days was focusing on gaming, much like the Wii.
Until the Internet channel came for it and the 360 switched to NXE.

Personally, I kinda like having multimedia capabilities on me console, but what the Xbone has to offer... that's a bit to much.
The Metro dash on the 360 and Xbone is just filled with ads and basically spams you do death with multimedia.
Idk how it is with the PS4, but the Wii U looks pretty similar like the Wii.
I'd say that out of the 3 of the 8th gen, the Wii U is the least multimedia based console.


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 12, 2014)

DinohScene said:


> Personally, I kinda like having multimedia capabilities on me console, but what the Xbone has to offer... that's a bit to much.
> The Metro dash on the 360 and Xbone is just filled with ads and basically spams you do death with multimedia.
> Idk how it is with the PS4, but the Wii U looks pretty similar like the Wii.
> I'd say that out of the 3 of the 8th gen, the Wii U is the least multimedia based console.


I always treated consoles as the low-cost alternative to full-blown PC's for all those who want to get the most out of the entertainment available with the least hardware-related expenses. As such, I want my consoles to pack as many features as humanly possible, and this includes multimedia. If I were to grade the 8th generation systems on the basis of what they do outside of gaming, I'd probably say that they're cutting it pretty close. They essentially offer the same kind of online/streaming functionality and when they lack in one area, they make it up in another. Take the Wii U for instance - it doesn't support BluRay/DVD, but it has its own social network _(MiiVerse)_ which is actually surprisingly robust, not to mention TVii functionality. The PS4 has little to do with television, but it does have the SHARE button and it's becoming more and more streaming-oriented. The Xbox One on the other hand it TV-oriented and it's clear that it was designed that way, especially having the HDMI In in mind, which is an odd feature for a console to have. All three systems try to cater to the customer's needs, even those that go beyond gaming.


----------



## Ericthegreat (Apr 12, 2014)

PS2 played DVDs.... So yeah it was also a multimedia device....


----------



## DinohScene (Apr 12, 2014)

Foxi4 said:


> I always treated consoles as the low-cost alternative to full-blown PC's for all those who want to get the most out of the entertainment available with the least hardware-related expenses. As such, I want my consoles to pack as many features as humanly possible, and this includes multimedia. If I were to grade the 8th generation systems on the basis of what they do outside of gaming, I'd probably say that they're cutting it pretty close. They essentially offer the same kind of online/streaming functionality and when they lack in one area, they make it up in another. Take the Wii U for instance - it doesn't support BluRay/DVD, but it has its own social network _(MiiVerse)_ which is actually surprisingly robust, not to mention TVii functionality. The PS4 has little to do with television, but it does have the SHARE button and it's becoming more and more streaming-oriented. The Xbox One on the other hand it TV-oriented and it's clear that it was designed that way, especially having the HDMI In in mind, which is an odd feature for a console to have. All three systems try to cater to the customer's needs, even those that go beyond gaming.


 
Interesting point of view.
Eh personally, I dun use 80% of the features on the 360, so I dun plan on using prolly 90% of the features of the Xbone ;p

I dun bother much with multimedia on consoles.
Occasional youtube vid or DVD/BD is what I appreciate.
but I got a lappy for serious multimedia.


----------



## grossaffe (Apr 12, 2014)

Depravo said:


> Is a Swiss Army knife still a knife?


Technically yes, but a dedicated knife will serve your knife-wielding purposes far better.  If I'm in the kitchen and I need to slice something, I'm not gonna turn to my swiss army knife, I'll go to a knife that's actually meant for slicing.  If I'm going to a dangerous area, I'll be keeping my hand on my combat knife, not a swiss army knife.  The swiss army knife is decent for convenience if you're not at home, but when in your own home, you should have better tools for everything the swiss army knife can do.


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 12, 2014)

grossaffe said:


> Technically yes, but a dedicated knife will serve your knife-wielding purposes far better. If I'm in the kitchen and I need to slice something, I'm not gonna turn to my swiss army knife, I'll go to a knife that's actually meant for slicing. If I'm going to a dangerous area, I'll be keeping my hand on my combat knife, not a swiss army knife. The swiss army knife is decent for convenience if you're not at home, but when in your own home, you should have better tools for everything the swiss army knife can do.


You're forgetting that knives come in a variety of shapes and have different purposes. There's simple knives with standard sharp blades for everyday cutting, there's dull butter knives and then there's knives with serrated blades specifically dedicated to cutting bread. Again, there's consoles and then there's consoles, there's knives and then there's knives.


----------



## Gahars (Apr 12, 2014)

grossaffe said:


> Technically yes, but a dedicated knife will serve your knife-wielding purposes far better. If I'm in the kitchen and I need to slice something, I'm not gonna turn to my swiss army knife, I'll go to a knife that's actually meant for slicing. If I'm going to a dangerous area, I'll be keeping my hand on my combat knife, not a swiss army knife. The swiss army knife is decent for convenience if you're not at home, but when in your own home, you should have better tools for everything the swiss army knife can do.


 



Basically.


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 12, 2014)

Gahars said:


> Basically.


I thought of ceramikku knivezz instead.


----------



## Guild McCommunist (Apr 12, 2014)

This thread so far:

Obvious bait.

Kids saying "GAMING ISN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE BACK IN MY DAY".

People who think having more features is a bad thing.

You're all cancer.


----------



## JoostinOnline (Apr 12, 2014)

Why are we even responding to this?


----------



## Gahars (Apr 12, 2014)

JoostinOnline said:


> Why are we even responding to this?


 

Sometimes the best bait is the most obvious bait.


----------



## migles (Apr 13, 2014)

Guild McCommunist said:


> This thread so far:
> 
> Obvious bait.
> 
> ...


 
idiocracy movie?

people like this will generate kids like this, then everyone will be "cancer" like you said lulz


----------



## assassinz (Apr 13, 2014)

grossaffe said:


> I'm not a fan of the trend of consoles trying to be more and more. A big part of the draw was that they were machines optimized for gaming getting you optimal performance for budget hardware.  Now you've got multiple OSes eating up your CPU cores and several gigs of RAM. In a push to become more general machines, they're becoming more and more like a locked-down PC, why not just get an actual PC?


I agree. Especially if gaming consoles are getting some of the same titles that are released on PC.

My main gripe with the latest gen of consoles is the lack of any games I'm actually interested in playing. Show me some new gameplay mechanics and addicting gameplay instead of trying to offer me multimedia streaming apps and stuff I can already do on my PC and Smartphone.


----------



## thaddius (Apr 13, 2014)

All this talk of multimedia devices and no on mentions the CDi or 3DO? Those things could play audio CDs and VCDs.

Also, if you think this means I won't do a poll on the eighth generation, you're dead wrong.


----------



## tbgtbg (Apr 13, 2014)

Necron said:


> There were consoles before Nintendo.
> 
> Also, to the OP, can a VHS be regarded as a console? Since your definition is "device that outputs a video signal to display a video game", but it doesn't say it must be able to play it



Hasbro was actually developing a console that worked with VHS, sort of a precursor to all that FMV shit on the SegaCD. In fact, I think some of those SegaCD games were actually originally developed for that system that never was.


----------



## ShadowSoldier (Apr 13, 2014)

Today's cars aren't really cars. I mean shit, GPS, automatic parallel parking, rear view camera with display, satellite radio, on star.... damn things are robots waiting to take over the world!


----------



## Foxi4 (Apr 13, 2014)

ShadowSoldier said:


> Today's cars aren't really cars. I mean shit, GPS, automatic parallel parking, rear view camera with display, satellite radio, on star.... damn things are robots waiting to take over the world!


Car radios ain't car radios no more - all this MP3/CD support is taking away the joy of listening to the radio for me. If you want to listen to CD's or MP3's, you should do that on your PC, damn it!


----------

