Steam Consolidation - Good, Bad, Inevitable, or Impossible?

[TinCow]

Computer games have a serious problem, and that problem is lack of quality assurance. People talk about consoles, and how its such a big rip-off, but look at the upsides: I can play almost any game worth playing on my console, with a lot less hassle and almost all of the functionality. Most of my PS3 games were purchased via digital distribution, they get patched, and compared to any computer game I've played recently they are relatively bug free. It is this culture of convenience that pampers the customer which has allowed Sony and Microsoft to more or less corner the game market (because PC sales are still niggling at best in comparison). Look at PC developers, and they're all over the map. You have to do some serious research, and exercise serious patience, just to avoid getting burned. SotS2 is my case in point there.

I do not dispute your point regarding the reliability of console games and PC games. Console games are significantly more reliable, and I think that's just a straight fact. However, I think you're placing the blame for that in the wrong place. It has nothing to do with QA and everything to due with the realities of the hardware. Console games are more reliable because there is never any hardware variation. Barring some minor spec variations such as RAM or HDD size, all consoles are identical, not only in hardware but also in OS. As such, devs are always able to test their games on the exact same platform that the consumer will be using. The same is not true for PCs. Every single PC is essentially unique in its configuration due to variation in hardware, OS, settings, and other installed software. It is utterly impossible for a dev to test their game on anything but a small fraction of those configurations. As such, they are not able to spot many problems which crop up their games. This is the price that PC gamers pay for having superior hardware and greater flexibility with their systems. Some of us don't have a problem with it, while others like yourself are repelled. Neither of us is correct, it's just a personal preference for how you like to play games. In any case, the real competition for consoles isn't PC gaming but mobile/casual gaming. Console gamers don't tend to turn into PC gamers, but they're leaving in droves for the new mobile platforms that offer even greater convenience at lower prices.

[TinCow]

I still think that the open nature and variety offered by PC's is its biggest strength, but that variety is disapearing. The next generation of consoles will only blur the lines more, and we already know how the business strategy is going to go. The PS4 will probably stick around for just as long as the PS3 did. The Xbox 720 likewise. It is unfortunate that PC gaming is held hostage to the hardware standards of a more static console business model, but its also not likely to change as long as it is generally easier, cheaper, and 'safer' (for your wallet) to game on Console. Especially if the the Playstation Store or the Xbox Live equivilent continue to evolve and mimic the Steam platform. The only way to push PC gaming into the mainstream is for Steam or some other DD conglomerate (but probably, almost certainly Steam) to mimic the reliability and 'safety' (for your wallet) of Consoles. Otherwise it will remain on the Fringe, for those can't get their preferred type of game on Consoles. I'll always be playing 4x games on PC, but the day they find a way to make those decent on Console, I'm out.

Honestly, I think all the platforms are merging. Consoles as pure game playing devices are dead. The current generation are already heavily used as multimedia devices and the next gen will be even more so. Consoles will essentially be really expensive media centers with a lot of versatility. That's a market where the main competition for Sony and MS is going to be Apple and Google, who are already carving out their own gaming markets with iOS and Android. In addition, all of these systems are moving towards compatible hardware designs. Apple moved to x86 years ago for everything other than mobile and the PS4 is going to be using an x86 chip as well. I'd be highly surprised if any Steam box wasn't x86 as well. As such, we're looking at a situation where basically every gaming device except the iPhone/Pad, Wii-U, and some niche devices (like Ouya and Vita) are going to be running the same hardware as we've got in our PCs. In short, it's all becoming the same and the days of proprietary hardware systems are quickly disappearing. That also means that the idea of a game being restricted to a specific platform is also disappearing. Every year consoles become less like consoles and more like brand name media center computers. At some point in the not too distant future, consoles will basically just be PCs that have been pruned and customized to increase their task efficiency and decrease their problem-solving. PCs as we know them today will continue to exist, but I think our current concept of a divide in gaming will be entirely obsolete. When that happens, Steam will be just as big a player in the console market as it is in the PC market (assuming it continues its current trajectory). It will be the iTunes/AppStore of gaming, regardless of platform.