@jamyskis I question how much the tablet business model is hurting the console business model. If their were no tablets and smartphones I still think people would be apprehensive about spending $60 a game and $300 for a dedicated gaming machine. I suspect that Steam would benefit the most if there were no tablets or iphones, 1. because of the awesome cheap deals they regularly have. 2. because it thwarts second hand game sales that have been hurting console game developers so much. Developers have to go where the money is, and unfortunately right now, there is more return on casual games because of how cheap the development costs are and the efficiency of digital deployment of the software.

It's a shame the Xperia Play was such a major failure. If developers had embraced it, I would be very seriously considering getting one.

You know what might give the Vita a little bit of an edge? Add the functionality to do VoIP calling and video conferencing. The reason dedicated handheld consoles are dying is that people don't have the money or the desire to carry two portable devices around with them everywhere. I was actually surprised that Sony didn't do this with the Vita right off the bat. When I first saw the PSP, I thought, "I bet the next version will have a phone"

@Fartman7998 I'm hoping it will make me cheeseburgers.

@nameaprice nah, I'm imagining the Nvidia Wireless Neural Interface...cords are so last decade. Come to think of it...so is Sony.

@ozalme most of the size of a graphics card is due to cooling solutions because they run so hot. The technologies that makes smartphones and tablets possible include ways to keep a system cool without huge heatsinks and fans. I'm not saying they are there, but in just a few years look at the progress they have made.

Of course tablets will never lead the market in terms of raw power, but they don't have to. They do however have the ability to lead in terms of innovation, especially if they make another go and making VR an affordable mainstream thing like it sounds like Carmack is hoping for (its in another recent gamespot article/video).

@ExtremePhobia Yeah, I agree with you...tablets are not gaming rigs...yet. But technology begets technology. Tablets have only been around a few years and they have rapidly been making strides forward. I would never say that the Tegra 3 is a gamer's dream, but I've already seen demos on it that look nicer than a PS2. I am of course, as I'm sure you can tell, a budget minded gamer, but even the Athlon 64 X2 2.7 ghz processor that I've had since 2005 still plays all current games on the market. Most of them I can still play at high settings. The minimum requirement I see on most games is 1.5 ghz dual core. I do forget to consider memory access speed and other data transport technologies though.

When I comment on threads like this, it is usually with my mind 5 years in the future trying to predict what the companies are brainstorming behind closed doors. I would not be suprised if 10 years down the line we had a system somewhat reminiscent of the idea that the wii-u has. Granted the wii-u will probably fail hard, but it will give others inspiration...kinda like what happened with the wii-mote to the kinect. I also get the impression that with the announcement of the google glasses, and recently that gamespot video of Carmack talking about developing new VR gear...that might be part of it too. To me tablets are the beginning of the unification of PC to Console. The Microsoft surface more than any of them, since they are promoting that it will have full fledged PC hardware and OS. Granted, that might fail too...but they are all beginnings not ends.

@randycat100 correction, tegra 3 isn't quite on par yet...but its not that far off either. My bad.

@randycat100 have you seen the specs on the new and upcoming tablets!? They are about on par with my current desktop which plays most current games on medium to high settings. Look up the nexus 7 and check out what a powerhouse that thing is. User interface and developer support is the big issue now I believe.

@ExtremePhobia I agree, mobile gaming probably will never get rid of consoles, but tablet technology HAS almost caught up with desktop technology. The new generation Tegra 3 chipsets are really quite impressive and could play most current games on the market. It won't trump a console, but it will eat into their sales a bit. This is particularly the case with Windows based machines that won't require a port from PC since it IS a PC. The only issue left is user interface which would be solved if you could just plug in a game pad rather than what Rackjaw was complaining about with screen real estate.