I'm sorry, but I had to laugh when I read your post after reading the thread title. Of all the reasons to be terrified, changes in the release schedule for games ranks really, really low on the list. Quite frankly, I'm far more concerned that I won't find enough time to play through all of the games that I want to play from the list of already released games. In any case, the rate of release of indie games doesn't seem to be slowing down, and will probably actually increase if something like OUYA manages to take root.

That is true, initially.
As with everything, time heals all wounds. Development & console costs will reduce as economy of scale takes effect. & I may be biased, but I welcome new tech. Anything that allows us to move past iD Tech 3 & the fucking source engine.

Well, I"m not worried, the only reason I own a console is so that I can avoid buying my own games. Blessed be Gamefly and their warehouse within one day of my home.

I'm pretty sure before too long they'll figure out that consoles aren't profitable either and have to find a new business model.

I thought this thread was about how stupid young people today are...

OK, so it wasn't just me that was thinking it.

I was going to post a screed about how previous generations were even bigger bastards than my generation or the next generation. But, that's a completely different topic.

It's too early to judge the Vita as a failure. The 3DS did poorly in the beggining too, it only started to sell well after the price cut.

That was actually my first thought after reading the title as well.

I did too! I was all ready to defend myself. xD

There is no defense for being young and stupid. It's just a necessary step on the road towards being old and stupid ;-)

Being scared of the coming generation is a staple since Socrates ;-)

The same here.

But as for the consoles, not too worried.
Less of AAA titles for sure, but I'd imagine there'll be a flux of.. A or AA titles using toolkit and developement system thingies that enable pretty good results for a lot less effort. Pretty good as in the "level of current generation AAA titles".

The middle ground between AAA and budget games has been eroding for a good while already, and that's probably going to continue. When AAA sells in the millions, the games outside of top10 are in the hundreds of thousands max.

The positive thing is, if there's something special about the game, be it the plot or some other gameplay thing, there will be attention. Maybe enough to have an AAA sequel. Or something.

I am not terrified of the young generation but rather have pity with it, with all the coming challenges about climate changes and resources shortage.

PC/Console wise I think that while the technology gives greater possibilities also the development tools get more and more powerful. A bunch of programmers and designers with the right equipment can do wonderful stuff now for which you would have needed a hundred employees in the old time.

So yes, top quality graphics you'll get if you invest a 100 million but the average Kickstarter 1 million project will also benefit from better hardware and I as a customer am confident that other customers also will honor these "small" budget games.

In the grim darkness of the far future, there are far fewer releases.