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Sony has recently announced their plans for their next-generation PlayStation 4 game console. Rough hardware specification has been published, and if you weren't sleeping through the last few days you have most likely already heard that "next-generation" console will essentially be a PC.

What does that mean to you, the potential buyer of such system? Will you be able to play existing PC games on it? Nope, because the console will run some custom operating system. What about your existing PlayStation 2 and 3 game collection? According to Sony the only way to play those games will be through their new PlayStation Cloud service. Old games you want to play will be streamed over the Internet, so good luck with playing those first-person shooters if your Internet connection sucks.

I am not going to debate the benefits of social integration here because that is a matter of personal preference — what I want to debate is whether you need to buy into this walled garden again, and whether subsidizing console eco-system with your money makes any sense now that the console is based around the commodity x86 hardware.

I must admit that I never saw any value in owning a console because their hardware was obsolete even before they were released. You were stuck for several years with such hardware while you were paying the same high price for games like everyone else, not to mention that console games are always dumbed down compared to PC unless the PC version is a console port itself.

What I mean by "dumbed down" is absence of save function (only checkpoints), action sequences where you need to mash buttons in a particular order shown on screen, aim assist, too much cinematics and too little actual play, etc. Max Payne 3 would be a perfect example of a "consolized" game — it is a stinking pile of horse shit compared to the original Max Payne and I regret purchasing it, but more on that later in a separate rant.

So, what are the benefits of owning a console? According to their owners benefits are as follows:

  • You just insert a game disk and play (with PC you don't even need a disk if you have a Steam account)
  • You can play from couch on big TV screen (with PC you can do the same)
  • You can watch movies on it (also on PC)
  • You can play with controller (you can attach controller to PC as well)
  • When you buy a game for it you know it will run (same if you have a decent PC)
  • You can play with a friend (possible on a PC in multi-player games but requires another PC unless the game itself supports more than one player on the same PC)
  • You don't have to worry about hardware and software upgrades (with PC you can set software updates to automatic and hardware updates are not necessary as often as console owners might think)
  • "Exclusive titles" (let's face it, they are only exclusive in order to sell you the console, having exclusive titles is a benefit only for the console maker)
And that's about it. There are basically no serious advantages. Nowadays you can buy a decent high-powered gaming PC in a small case that can fit in your living room, connect it to big TV screen (or even a projector) and to your super sound system, add a controller if you need one or just use a wireless keyboard and mouse from your couch with Steam's Big Picture mode

Why do you need next-generation consoles again?