Topic: The end of consoles and devoted handhelds?

I see all the experts talking about this possibly being the lady generation of home consoles and the end of devoted handhelds market coming to an end. I reckon this will be just another speculation thread.

I can see the end of consoles coming but not this being the last generation. I could also imagine the devoted handhelds market surviving and transitioning to where they can stream to your TV and interface with bluetooth controllers for local multiplayer.

What is you guys take and what ideas do you have of the future for gaming being? Am I out of realm of possibility of what the future might hold?

I don't believe gaming consoles are going anywhere.

The incredibly strong sales of the PS4 and the constant support and growth of 3DS alone are proof that interest in gaming consoles isn't dead.

Hereby nominated for most sexist autocorrect-typo of the year. 2/5.

Yes, this console generation has all the ladies, yes.

Wait. No one said there were ladies involved. This changes everything!

I'll fit right in this generation if it happened.

Ha ha love it. Makes posting this thread worth it.

Seriously though, I don't know. 7th gen shipped 260 million home console units and 230 million handhelds. That's up from 200 and 80 million in 6th gen (to be fair, Sony didn't enter the handheld market until 7th gen). Maybe it won't be the end of consoles and devoted handhelds, but maybe we've seen a peak.

But console culture is still strong. PS4 is still blowing doors off of retailers and the 3DS is on track to 100 million. It's also not too late for the runners up to take off. The PS3 had a huge mid-gen turnaround and the Wii U and Vita can do it too.

XBO, I have a feeling will keep a steady pace throughout the generation. It's never going to outsell the PS4, but I imagine it'll keep on as it has.

I see all the experts talking about this possibly being the lady generation of home consoles and the end of devoted handhelds market coming to an end.

The end of the end? Is this like a new beginning?

Anywho, consoles ain't going nowhere

I don't doubt that consoles will go into decline at some point, but I do doubt they'll ever go away.

If consoles and handhelds ever went away, then I feel like this might be the future :I

I dunno, dedicated console gamers seem to be as diehard as PC gamers. Even when console gaming was toast, PC gaming still lived on and even in this smart phone dominated era, the 3DS and PS4 are doing just fine.

While I do believe 7th generation was the peak of console gaming and likely won't be replicated again, I don't think there be a complete shift from dedicated consoles until the top dogs in the gaming world themselves force it. Like by going bankrupt or that idea someone had a while back about Nintendo shifting from hardware to an OS format, I can actually see that from Microsoft or Sony (I love Nintendo but God forbid they attempt something that sophisticated without a LOT of help).