I'll start.

PC components become much, more expensive toward the end of the decade and competition is reduced as hardware manufacturers slowly begin to pull out of plug-in component manufacture, and focus on supplying tablet/console OEM's with components for solder; thus Custom Pc building begins a steep decline in popularity.

'Mouse and Keyboard' becomes obsolete in the **HOME by 2020, becoming the preference of only the remainder of the pc fps crowd.

End of the decade doesn't quite precede: the failure of valves 'piston' and other micro-pcs with open hardware/software due to: poor user uptake, the freefalling prices of consoles and the aforementioned component sector consolidation.

PS3 and Xbox resume support of Linux and thus Steam OS, enabling new games to be released on the 'consoles', which are now basically the hardware locked pcs that we had in the late 80's( amiga 500s etc) .

**edited for clarity.

That sounds like a horrible future.

Yeah none of that is happening.

Jeeves wrote:I'll start.

PC components become much, more expensive toward the end of the decade and competition is reduced as hardware manufacturers slowly begin to pull out of plug-in component manufacture, and focus on supplying tablet/console OEM's with components for solder; thus Custom Pc building begins a steep decline in popularity.

You may be right on this one. We can already see intell delivering soldered CPUs and this process is unlikely to stop here. Lets face it: Having to upgrade our pcs every month to play the latest games has been reduced to once every year, or even less. The market for components is shrinking, manufacturers will no longer be able to make a profit for this shrinking market. Premade pcs are the future, simply because of that. Just like we saw the end of individual radio components (one tuner, one casettedeck, one radiodeck, one recordplayer all turned into one not too long ago).
Besides computers will be more powerfull because compontents dont have to be randomly pairable anymore.
The reason Apples are so popular for their *stabilty* and *speed*, is largely due to the fact the os doesnt have to support the millions of devices windows has to.

Jeeves wrote: 'Mouse and Keyboard' becomes obsolete in the home by 2020, becoming the preference of only the remainder of the pc fps crowd.

Not too sure about the keyboard (cant imagine a better input method; speech isnt as multifunctional or as fast and tochscreen/boards are just meh inho), but i can see better devices than mouses usin Kinect-like setups. Much better for RSI protection anyway.

Jeeves wrote:End of the decade doesn't quite precede: the failure of valves 'piston' and other micro-pcs with open hardware/software due to: poor user uptake, the freefalling prices of consoles and the aforementioned component sector consolidation.

I do think valves shitty idea of pcs is likely to fail, simply because it has little advantages over ordinary consoles (try replacing stuff in such a micro-pc), however the future of the pc IS what you currently see as the micro-pc. Without modularity the pc can be much smaller, simple as that.

Jeeves wrote:PS3 and Xbox resume support of Linux and thus Steam OS, enabling new games to be released on the 'consoles', which are now basically the hardware locked pcs that we had in the late 80's( amiga 500s etc) .

This depends on soo many factors i cant even make an educated guess on this

I don't think Xbox will ever support linux, since it's owned by microsoft ...

I think that what's happening now is the start of a long war between the big three for the 'hearts and minds' of console gamers. It's a race for the living room, which I think Microsoft will ultimately win but not during this decade.

I think that because Valve have started developing their own platform, the writing really is on the wall for
classical ( Mouse and keyboard ) pc gaming; development is, in this case, a survival mechanism.
If PCs are no longer on the desks valve has to get steam onto new platforms(assuming their console fails), and because the new consoles(PS4 and Xbox) are using the same architecture as PCs and new Macs(I think macs changed from RISC mid 2000s?) that day may soon be possible. You may soon be able to play HL2/DOD on your Pc(PS3) in front of your Sony TV, on a controller!.

I think I see this conversation every time there's a new generation of consoles on the horizon.

I think game devs will really struggle to write lines of code without a fucking keyboard or a PC to do it on DUH.

On a less facetious note, I think consoles will become even more like PC's (as they already have done) to the point where they may as well be. There may be more soldered components in our computers, but that will simplify customization to the point that a lot more people are comfortable with it, therefore making it more affordable. Linux will prevail and the open format re-revolution will continue. XBONE and PS4 will be a bit "meh". Apple will continue to jerk itself off and rake in money from gullible twats.

I don't think desktop computers are going to go away for a very long time, due to what Text_Fish mentioned. Games have always been developed on PCs. As for custom built systems? I could see that falling off the map (sadly) if hardware does become way more expensive. It would essentially be pointless to build one due to the price.

zombie@computer wrote:Lets face it: Having to upgrade our pcs every month to play the latest games has been reduced to once every year, or even less.

Who but enthusiasts with lots of cash upgrade their systems every year? I had a Dell for a long ass time before I replaced it in January with a custom build, and that Dell was still gaming decently despite its age. My new PC will last for years before I'm required to upgrade. I may buy an AMD R9 280x if Mantle turns out to be worth it, but if Mantle is a total flop, I'll just stick with my HD 6950 until its no longer powerful enough for solid 1080p gaming. And while I'd love to game at 4K when it inevitably replaces 1080p as the standard, that will depend entirely on how powerful graphics cards are by then. There's no way in Hell I'm gonna spend a shit load of money on two cards for 4K. I've never seen the point in SLI/Crossfire when not many games support it and it costs so damn much.

But anyway, I hope Valve succeeds with Steam machines. We'll have to wait and see whether or not it's another idea that sounds good on paper but fails in practice.

This is funny to read in 2020.

What are this summer's games going to look like in terms of graphics? I honestly haven't been looking very closely at computer graphic stuff for the past 2 years, has there been any other substantial PBR type shift in the production pipeline of games or animation?

I'm curious to know if the change in the production pipeline reflects a change in the way a computers assemble, or what kinds of hardware alternatives would be more conducive to the next PBR type change in graphics.