Death of the Console?

Is it true to say that the gaming console its on its way out and online gaming is taking over? This was a concept brought to my attention in today's lecture. The main reason for this suggestion was due to the fact that storage on the web is becoming more and more popular as it allows anyone to access data stored from anywhere in the world. If games took this approach, then any gamer could access their saved game without having to be in the comfort of their room. I think it is fair to say, that this is a good idea, it makes sense, but would gamers enjoy it as much?

I find that the environment I am in reflects on how I enjoy the game. Being in the same environment every time I play the game allows me to become more engrossed in the game. I think it has something to do with the familiarity of the place. When playing a game, I am not familiar with the environment within the game, but knowing that I am familiar with the environment outside of the game allows me to focus my full attention on the game which adds to my enjoyment of it.

A thought just occurred to me, I said above that being able to access your game online anywhere is a good idea. But maybe it isn't? Take for instant the young gamer, who spends all there time in front of the television playing till they can't keep there eyes open any more. Parents can hardly drag them away for dinner let alone anything else. So when a trip away is planned it is a time for the family to spend together without the distraction of an Xbox or PS3. Most children known that taking a console on board a plane is not going to happen and have come to terms with the fact that they are going to have to last a week without any gaming. But if games are now available online, all over the world, this quality time with a family is going to become, once again a challenge for parents. Maybe this isn't a fair statement to make, you could argue, isn't it up to the parents to decide when and where their children can play games and yes, I suppose it is.....this could lead to a whole other discussion so I will stop there. The point I am trying to make is that, is it really necessary to make games available online? Would the purpose of this be so that the dedicated gamer could continue their game no matter where they are? Or would it be purely as another way of playing games without having to purchase a gaming console?

Either way, I do not think that the gaming console is on the way out. As one of my classmates mentioned, Ireland does not have good enough broadband to support this idea and the likelihood that in the near future our broadband coverage will have greatly improved looks dim.