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Is this the last year of the video console? (1 Viewer)

Kevin Collins

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With all the hype between both the PS4 and XBox One, you have to wonder if this will be a blockbuster hit like previous console releases have been.

It remains to be seen whether these new consoles will bear fruit. The once-lucrative business has slipped in recent years, faced with competition from smartphone apps and computer games. The number of game apps offered on iOS and Android platforms has exploded in recent years. It's amazing how many people I see playing games on their tablet or smart phone these days.

As a result, revenue from console sales plummeted 21% in 2012 compared to the year before. Nintendo’s release of its new Wii U last year failed to generate much interest. Four million games for the platform were sold within the first three months, compared to the 5.5 million which Nintendo expected to sell. Revenues in the industry as a whole continued to deteriorate this year, down 20% in July compared to June.


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How many are gaming on a console vs. a mobile device?
 

Type A

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So much spin Im feeling dizzy....

Anyone who can mention the Wii U as any indicator of the current health of the gaming industry, and that person can still manage to keep a straight face, really doesnt have a clue what Nintendo has managed to achieve with the Wii U. There are many many reasons why the Wii U has been such a miserable failure. I mean, honestly, what are the odds that Wii U gamers would actually want games? And besides who wants a $100 Xbox 360 when you can spend $350 on a brand new Wii U with almost zero third party support, poor online, and a controller so complicated that it alienates their core gamers? There is some logic to the premise that casual games like "apps" will affect Nintendo (casual gamers are their core after all) but that premise is a serious stretch in regards to the Sony and M$ consoles...

8 years. Thats a very reasonable life span for a console and we are nearing the end of that life cycle. The previous generation will be the generation to beat. With the PS2 and Xbox it was easy, HDTV ushered in gaming performance that was previously only achieved with expensive and complicated PC games. The future generation wont have that luxury, I seriously doubt "3D" or media hubs will be nearly the driving force that high def was. Game developers will have their work cut out for them as well, there were some excellent games this last generation and it will be very interesting to see where we go from here. But the bottom line will remain and the console gaming industry will continue to dwarf the movie industry for many years yet to come, no matter its ups and downs. To say that mobile apps or PC gaming has any effect on console gaming is like saying the Nissan Versa sales has a direct effect on the sale of Rolls-Royce Ghosts.
 

Morgan Jolley

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There will be at least one more generation. Unless internet speeds are consistent enough and fast enough to reliably stream games through an OnLive-type service, then you will need a physical box.

Now the better question is whether prices will remain as high as they are and if the consoles will continue to be generally similar.
 

Brian Dobbs

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I think consoles are here to stay for a while. There's no way streaming can compete right now. Plus, games on mobile devices are good if you're bored at the airport, but in no way compare to the real thing.
 

Ejanss

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Kevin Collins said:
How many are gaming on a console vs. a mobile device?
My PS3 console is a living-room Netflix/Hulu/YouTube/Blu3D set-top box that can also play Lego Batman. :)
I"ll match your "Tablets are everywhere!" spin with a "Everyone's cutting the cord!" spin, and smart-TV's just aren't measuring up to the PS/X-Boxes for sedentary home-theater streaming. (Especially now that the X-Box One is trying to out-PS3 its competition with "Can it hook up to cable?") You just don't plop in a recliner and twiddle an iPad.

Type A said:
So much spin Im feeling dizzy....

Anyone who can mention the Wii U as any indicator of the current health of the gaming industry, and that person can still manage to keep a straight face, really doesnt have a clue what Nintendo has managed to achieve with the Wii U. There are many many reasons why the Wii U has been such a miserable failure. I mean, honestly, what are the odds that Wii U gamers would actually want games? And besides who wants a $100 Xbox 360 when you can spend $350 on a brand new Wii U with almost zero third party support, poor online, and a controller so complicated that it alienates their core gamers? There is some logic to the premise that casual games like "apps" will affect Nintendo (casual gamers are their core after all) but that premise is a serious stretch in regards to the Sony and M$ consoles...

8 years. Thats a very reasonable life span for a console and we are nearing the end of that life cycle. The previous generation will be the generation to beat. With the PS2 and Xbox it was easy, HDTV ushered in gaming performance that was previously only achieved with expensive and complicated PC games. The future generation wont have that luxury, I seriously doubt "3D" or media hubs will be nearly the driving force that high def was.
To say that mobile apps or PC gaming has any effect on console gaming is like saying the Nissan Versa sales has a direct effect on the sale of Rolls-Royce Ghosts.
Do I care about the PS4? Of course not. But only because--apart from a few extra disk slots and Sony's dreams of expanding "online gaming communities"--there was nothing left for the next PS to DO.
When the PS3's remain near the top of the line for Blu players, and is still boosting up the bulk of the Blu3D industry, the fact that it can play games too often gets lost in the shuffle.
 

Type A

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Theres plenty of room to grow. Graphics, sound and online reliability and fluidity can all be vastly improved with these next generation consoles. Sadly most of these improvements will likely be lost to folks playing on a 2002 37" Westinghouse LCD using its awesome built-in speaker system. There comes a point where improvements will be modest to nill for most folks. However the ball is in 2k, M$, EA, 343, Activision, Infinity, Beth,Trey and Ubi's court to make that moot. Make us proud boys (again) and Ill be the first schmuck in line :)
 

Type A

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Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive’s Grand Theft Auto V earned over $800 million worldwide on its first day of release, making it the best-selling game of all time in a 24-hour period.With $800 million in sales already, the game will almost certainly set another entertainment record and become the fastest entertainment property to reach $1 billion.
http://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/grand-theft-auto-v-crushes-sales-entertainment-records/Kinda makes that 21% "plummet" in console revenue seem humorous, dont it?
 

Morgan Jolley

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Yeah, whenever movie studios complain that the economy has kept people from going to the movies, something like The Avengers comes out and proves that people will still go see something if they actually want to. The only reason game/consoles sales are down is because, surprise, nobody is interested in anything coming out. Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us sold really well because they're huge/good games even though nothing else really stood out this summer.
 

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