Consoles are doomed - Romero

***wraggster*** · April 10th, 2007, 10:32

via eurogamer

Slipgate Ironworks' John Romero - formerly of id Software and Ion Storm - reckons that consoles like PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 will have to undertake radical change to avoid being killed off by cheap PC hardware.

"Next-gen console is big but its future isn't too bright with the emergence of cheap PC multi-core processors and the big change the PC industry will go through during the next 5 years to accommodate the new multi-core-centric hardware designs," Romero told Adrenaline Vault.

"My prediction is that the game console in the vein of the PS3 and Xbox 360 is going to either undergo a massive rethink or go away altogether."

Romero - whose credits include the likes of Doom and Quake, and ill-fated first-person shooter Daikatana - has greater expectations for Nintendo though, backing its belief in broadening the market with a more accessible machine.

"The Wii has the perfect design for a console that doesn’t pretend to be a PC and is geared more toward casual gamers than hardcore gamers," he explained.

"The hardcore gamers are going to either be playing on their PCs or a new PC-like platform that sits in the living room but still serves the whole house over Wi-Fi, even the video signal," Romero predicted.

In the meantime, he's working on a PC MMORPG at Slipgate Ironworks, although he still can't say anything about it, other than, "we're creating something that's the first of its kind and we want to be first to market with it".

**kaffie** · April 10th, 2007, 11:07

Lets do some 101 math. One outlay on a console with a 5 year lifecycle versus multiple outlays every 6 months or so over the same period on a PC. Hmmm...

1 x a Xbox 360 = approx £300

10 x variations of new gfx card/sound card/mobo/CPU/ram etc = Romeros a moron

**XDelusion** · April 10th, 2007, 11:50

John Romero: A Legend in his own mind.

**werpu** · April 10th, 2007, 12:29

Originally Posted by kaffie

Lets do some 101 math. One outlay on a console with a 5 year lifecycle versus multiple outlays every 6 months or so over the same period on a PC. Hmmm...

1 x a Xbox 360 = approx £300

10 x variations of new gfx card/sound card/mobo/CPU/ram etc = Romeros a moron

Not really a moron, an AMD system with about 1 gig ram and a GeForce 7600 is around 700 dollars.
The next thing is, that PC games after 1-2 months only are a fraction of a price of the similar console version. Third an upgrad every year is exaggerated it is along the lines of every 2-3 years. Sorry to say that, medium ranged PCs currently hit the PS3 price threshold, and given the fact that most 2-3 month old pc games are in the 30$ range while console games get their first reduction after half a year minimum makes the PC overall cheaper.

I think now that console prices have hit PC regions there is a critical line reached which could cause a problem for consoles, especially since the overall savings are zero, in fact they are more expensive if you add in the game prices.

**alucard001** · April 10th, 2007, 13:17

romero stfu

**Mr_Biggs** · April 10th, 2007, 13:41

what a ****ing moron.

a good pc would cost around 1000 bucks if you dont want to play slideshow games, and you would have to upgrade the son' bitch every year or so to keep up with the newest games. i hate to have to think if the game I want will work with my PC's hardware. If i want a game for my xbox, i look for a game with the xbox symbol on top of the box. This is foolproof unless youre some kid's dumbass mom out birthday shopping.

John Romero-Mega Dumbass.

**MZeroEW2** · April 10th, 2007, 13:55

I agree as a PC gamer it cost way more to play games on PC then on my Playstation or xbox. it's true i rather pay one free every 5 years then pay that same free every 2 i know what it takes to upgrade a PC and 1 Gig ram is nothing these days.

**Vangar** · April 10th, 2007, 14:26

John Romero has always been a failure. Daikatana would have to be the biggest example of this. Leaves to create his own game, but uses the quake engine anyway? What a tool.

I'm not listening to what he has to say again, after i bought daikatana expecting something other then killing friggn frogs.