Jaffe - "next generation of hardware will be the last"
Ex-Sony man and creator of Twisted Metal and God of War says consoles have had their time and will be gone within 10 years, but he concedes that his track record for predicting industry trends isn't the best.
David Jaffe, formerly of Sony Computer Entertainment America and Eat Sleep Play, has decreed that "consoles are going away", and that the future of gaming lies in streaming services.
Speaking to GI International, Jaffe said ""Look, consoles are going away. I think in 10 years - probably sooner, but 10 years is always the safe thing to say so you don't sound like an idiot - but here's what I'll say: I'll go on the record and say that the next generation of hardware will be the last consoles. And they should be."
He went on to say that he expects the likes of Sony will still make hardware capable of playing games but that "you'll probably buy a television that streams the stuff. And you'll still have Sony, loud and proud and strong making these great, big, epic games like God of War and Uncharted, and they'll be making great little games like Sound Shapes, but they'll become more like movie studios for video games."
Jaffe also revealed that he's not blown away by Nintendo's efforts with the Wii U:
"I don't see the Wii U and say 'oh my God I have to have that.' ... it's not like I'm knocking it but I would say that I wasn't blown away by any individual piece of software that was exclusive to Wii U," he said.
Jaffe went on to say that he doesn't believe that the Wii U will be "anywhere near the success of the Wii," before conceding, "But I don't f***ing know - I mean I thought PSP was going to clobber the DS. I'm in the industry, I make a living in the industry, but I have no track record of guessing this s**t."
Jaffe's comments concerning the death of consoles echo comments made recently by Crytek CEO, Cevat Yerli, who said "I suspect that the next-generation of home consoles will be the last one," while Id co-founder John Carmack believes the next generation will be a long one and that dedicated consoles could become the "...niche of people who want the extreme experience there.”