Tablets to replace gaming consoles?

Video game consoles may be on their way out. Though we're not likely to see them disappear overnight, at least one industry observer believes consoles have a limited future -- primarily due to the emergence of the tablet computer.

John Romera, creator of video games Quake and Doom, says tablets offer many of the functions people expect from the gaming consoles, including high-definition graphics and fast processing speeds, according to news provider Gaming Blend. As the mobile devices become more popular, users may be more inclined to abandoned their consoles for something that's highly portable yet robustly functional.

However, this isn't the first time Romera has predicted the end of gaming consoles. As Gaming Blend reports, Romera made a similar forecast in 2005, when he predicted the PC to spell doom for the traditional console.

"What I didn’t foresee in 2005 was the rise of the post-PC, which are all these tablets now. These are the things that actually will probably be the end of the consoles," Romero says, according to the news provider.

To date, tablet gaming has been a fairly limited affair, with games being rather basic and simple in scope. However, that is quickly changing as the capabilities of tablets improve, opening the possibility that the mobile devices usurp others in the gaming market.