As cloud-based streaming becomes more prolific, it seems that the humble games console could be on its way out. That's not the case according to Microsoft Studios boss Phil Spencer, who says that the Xbox One won't be the company's last console. "I don't," Spencer tweeted when quizzed about whether Xbox One could be Microsoft's final home console. "I think local compute will be important for a long time." Could smartphones and tablets' reliance on networked features be a shape of things to come for consoles? "You can look at mobile, connected to faster networks, more cloud services but local power still increases each gen," Spencer observed. So home consoles are here to stay then, especially given Microsoft's $700 million investment in bolstering Xbox Live and Xbox Live Compute promising the possibility of game streaming in the future. EA Studios Executive VP Patrick Soderlund also reckons you could be seeing new consoles by 2018-2019. Source - X360A
