Fingers are not static; they come in different shapes and sizes along with a greater chance for human error when precise movements are needed.
With the tiniest bit of training, the human body is far more precise than robotics when it comes to anything but the most repetitive of motion. The slightest randomness (ie a game that doesn't play exactly the same way every single time) and the human body is more capable of adapting than a hunk of plastic.
What happens is that people pick up and iPhone or iPad, and expect to be as immediately familiar with it as they are with buttons. If you've been playing games with buttons for 20 years, of course a touch screen-only input is going to take some adjustment, but once you're there, it's a far more comfortable experience. I say this from experience - there isn't a game that I don't prefer playing on the iPad to conventional controllers, but that's only because I've been playing games on the iPad for a solid 2+ years now.
What also happens is people tend to play only the most basic, popular games (Angry Birds), or games which are designed badly (console ports like Resident Evil 4) when playing the iPad/ iPhone for the first time. Categorically, they are playing the wrong games to understand what the iPad is good at as a gaming platform. People who play the games that are built from ground-up for mobile, or the genres that suit touch screen gaming (Real Racing, Strategy games, RPGs) realise that buttons are unnecessary for those games. They're not "bite sized" games - they're full featured console game experiences.
Also, until humans create perfect voice-recognition and motion-recognition software, those two methods should not be considered in the argument.
It takes a while for technology to improve, yes. We're in the first generation of consumer full-body motion tracking. Voice recognition is only just starting to kick of its first generation in mass consumer markets.
Game controllers are what, 7 or 8 generations in? Of course they're going to be more advanced right now. There will be a time where the new technology is going to render them redundant, though - controllers have reached their technological maximum and now all that's being done is tweaks to design.
Until every household is equipped with a central computer that makes individual pieces of hardware like home consoles obsolete, we will continue to buy plastic boxes that contain electrical components designed with the specific function of running interactive, entertaining software.
In short, PCs and universal handheld devices will over run consoles at some point, but that won't be any time soon, so quit whining.
The argument isn't that gaming in front of your TV is going away, guys. The point these people are making is that the industry will evolve into something new, and games consoles will become old technology - much like how the VCR is now old technology.
And yes, I happen to agree with that. The games industry is quite clearly moving away from the idea of boxes that you stick under your TV to play games on.
Why is everyone's knee-jerk reaction just to say "No!". As Waltz said, quite clearly there's a shift occurring in the way content is delivered. In wanting to curb piracy, and exercise greater control over the way gamers get their hands on games, it's plain to see that the console AS WE KNOW IT is on its way out.
As internet infrastructure improves (as well as technology) I think we're going to see a shift towards games that are delivered entirely through streaming. That way console manufacturers don't need to include powerful hardware in the box under your telly - a modem and some basic input/output hardware will be all that's required (I'm aware that's a simplification). That means they can sell you the box cheaply while having greater control over the software prices, and thus avoid losing money on hardware as has been happening.
In addition, TVs are headed towards all-in-one integration, including games in some capacity.
As Waltz said, you'll still be playing games in front of your TV - just the manner of doing so will change.
So, yes, I think the end of what we traditionally think of as a 'console' is coming. I don't know when, but it's not that far off. Services like OnLive already exist, and other companies will go in a similar direction soon.
I used to have a blog link here. I'll put it back up when the blog has something to read.
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Topic: Is The End of Gaming Consoles Coming?
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