Disclaimer: Parts of this article could be inaccurate after E3 this coming week.

With the direction the big 3 are taking with current consoles and rumours surrounding Nintendo’s upcoming unveil I started thinking about what the future might hold for the console gamer, and what would be a possible and fully plausible direction for one (if not all) of the big companies to move towards in the coming 10 years and beyond. Using examples from today’s consoles I’m sure I’ll paint a picture for a home console that is more of an entertainment hub for the whole family while not at all sacrificing what you, the gamer, are interested in.

Microsoft’s direction with the 360 seems to be ever changing. While they started off the latest generation with an HD powerhouse that proved that they were catering towards the hardcore gamers they seem to be slowly changing the 360 into a media hub for the whole family. Hulu, Netflix, ESPN streaming as well as the downloading of movies from their Zune service has shown that they mean business when they want more than the hardcore gamer in the family switching their console on, and if the E3 rumours are correct they’ll only push that side of their console more, with the inclusion of some form of TV service.

But that isn’t anything new to PS3 owners in PAL territories with the arrival of Play TV. The PS3 not only utilises similar functionality that the 360 has with streaming movies, music videos and the ability for us NZers (and surely other countries) to watch TV shows we may have missed with services akin to TVNZ On Demand, but the release of PlayTV allowed for much more. Now PS3 users could turn their PS3 into a set top box for their television viewing. With the ability to set it up to record your favourite weekly show, or browse whats going to be on TV for the next week, pause and fast forward live TV and such, Sony were showing they too want you to use their console for more than just gaming. They want the whole family using their console every time the TV is turned on.

While Nintendo are a bit behind in this department — although US Wii owners do have the option of streaming vids/tv shows through Netflix — their upcoming console and the rumours surrounding it may paint a different picture, or at least shape what I’m forseeing as the future of the home console. Having a little screen in the palm of your hands that streams information from the console itself could be the start of something new entirely. Whether someone else is using the TV the console is hooked up to or not will no longer stop you from being able to continue playing the latest release, and when the TV is available again you’ll be able to seamlessly cross your gaming back over to the television. Should Nintendo continue their relationship with Netflix (and for all intents and purposes, why would they stop?) one can imagine that while someone is using the TV for another means, someone can sit back and watch a film or TV show in the palm of their hands thanks to the streaming capabilities of the new console. But this is assuming that’s the road Nintendo is taking.

And this is where the future of the home console starts to take shape. Imagine 10 years from now Mictendny (clearly all console developers have merged) releases the latest home console. Graphical capabilities have either risen to the most they can rise to or smarter ways have been introduced to allow numerous calculations to take place simultaneously, every controller is wireless (of course), have conductive charging batteries (just place on a mat and they charge) and has an HD (and possibly 3D) screen on it. The biggest catch with this console isn’t the fact that all games/software for it is downloadable and that it has a 500TB solid state drive, it’s the fact that multiple users can use it for differing means at the same time.

With the scenario of a typical family of 5 we see the father watching a new release blockbuster on the main TV of the house, streaming of course through the console itself to the TV. The mother is checking her emails/internet through her controller, the data streaming from the console to the controller. The eldest child is playing Grand Theft Auto IX in his bedroom, streaming of course straight from the console in the living room to his own controller. Middle child has her controller propped up next to her bed and is streaming music through Last.FM from the console through the controllers speakers and into her room, and the youngest is sitting down with the latest Brain Training exercises on his controller, streaming (of course) from the main console in the lounge.

Clearly, this would just be a possible scenario and not ideal parenting, but it’s something that I feel will be the direction of the home console in the years to come. It’s no longer all about gaming for the companies behind our entertainment, and that’s not at all a bad thing. If the people around us gamers can start to see that gaming is only a section of the entertainment that can be had from the machines us passionate gamers have come to love, then family entertainment will become so much more than sitting in front of a movie that possibly not everyone is interested in.

The thing that makes this scenario that little more plausible for me isn’t that a company wants the family to all enjoy one piece of equipment, it’s the fact that it makes fantastic business sense. If you can hold a monopoly on a household for all their entertainment needs then you slowly edge out the competition.

I would love to hear your thoughts on why you do/don’t think this will be the future of the home console and possibly how you think it will form.

Originally posted prior to E32011 on www.GameCulture.co.nz