Yeah 2017 is not accurate, because it's 27% higher than 2016 as per the OP.
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Ars Technica - Years after predicted “death,” game consoles are doing better than ever.
- Thread starter Deleted member 7207
- Start date
I mean, it felt logical to many outside the gaming sphere (and even some within) at the time that this was going to be the natural progression of things, but mobile very quickly proved to be a huge and terrible analogue to the Wii: enormous userbase attracts predatory publishers looking to pawn garbage "experiences" off on unsuspecting and undiscerning consumers, leaving the ecosystem stripped of core appeal outside of the occasional developer with a product that sells on word of mouth, while most other developers wrote it off as difficult or unprofitable and moved over to competing platforms.
Within a few years, mobile had gone from the future of gaming to a a dystopian landscape of wretched and malformed digital garbage, a bunch of square icons with C and D-tier animated characters moaning and reaching for your wallet like so many twitching and almost human Silent Hill nightmares.
Within a few years, mobile had gone from the future of gaming to a a dystopian landscape of wretched and malformed digital garbage, a bunch of square icons with C and D-tier animated characters moaning and reaching for your wallet like so many twitching and almost human Silent Hill nightmares.
Mobile is still growing. Their business model for better or worse has won out.
Sony didn't feed off of ms. MS drove fans away by alienating eu gamers who are concerned about the cost of always downloading and being treated as a 2nd and even 3rd tier market blatantly. They alienated everyone by creating fear over kinect spying on them and the threat of killing off used games sales.
So you're saying all of those fears kept people away from all consoles period? Customers were clearly flocking to PlayStation from Xbox this gen - the reasons why don't change that that's market cannibalization.
It hasn't really and it isn't a very healthy model IMO. It's only winning because of the sheer potential audience size. With traditional games you have a number of business models
1. High end "static" games with a large upfront cost ($60)
2. Low/mid scale "static" games that can cost anywhere from $5-$40 (where indie games usually fall under)
3. High end GaaS with an upfront cost, supplemented through microtransactions and/or DLC
4. Low/mid scale F2P GaaS, supplemented through microtransactions and/or DLC
Between those business models, which are actually fairly fluid and not as rigidly defined, you can support all types of games at all scales. Although, like every industry, the majority of revenue/profits is largely concentrated, the curve is much wider and all manner of devs can see success and recoup their dev costs.
With mobile, you've essentially eliminating #1 and #3, and #2, as a result of MASSIVE price deflation, only supports a much smaller price range (usually only up to $10). Success is even more concentrated and even those who see success do so on the backs of exploitative whale fishing meaning a mere 2-3% of customers buying massive amounts of microtransactions and essentially supporting the rest of the player base's costs. Because you have much fewer pricing models that see success you naturally have much fewer devs who can afford to take a chance in that market.
I'll repeat, mobile's only advantage is in numbers. The business models for that market are largely garbage for most devs, even moreso than the already competitive traditional gaming market
The pro and x show how console gaming is here to stay and provides a great value proposition to casual as well as hardcore gamers.
I'm very interested in the convergence of PC and console gaming in the coming future.
I'm very interested in the convergence of PC and console gaming in the coming future.
I don't know how you inferred all when I was talking about ms.
Anyway your point is simply that sony fed off of ms.
My point is that this also implies Sony actively had to do anything to get those people but it wasn't the case.
We all saw how Sony did put in that effort but it was never required.
Ms was so offensive people who loved their 360 wasn't going to simply abandon their hobby. They were forced by ms to choose the next best alternative and Nintendo simply was never going to make that choice hard. Sony was the only next best alternative.
There's much more to console and PC gaming than the the western AAA experience.
Mtxs are a part of AAA gaming today. That was not the case at the start of this gen. Same with leaning heavily on GaaS in hopes of generating more revenue from mtxs.
That doesn't really change what I said and reducing mobile to just mtx is VASTLY ignoring the other elements of the business/pricing models that I stated. Traditional games having more prevalent mtxs is a natural evolution, started on PC, not mobile, and more of a result of the larger prevalence/adoption of internet connectivity
Yup. I'm glad I'm not a big fan of AAA games or else I'd feel horribly squeezed by the big publishers right now.
Mobile proved its viability. Also last I checked the most played game on consoles right now is F2P. I am not arguing that there is no price variability on consoles. Just that lots of ideas that proved successful on mobile have been adapted to consoles.
Or.............. the market has expanded and become so diverse now that everyone can find experiences that they enjoy, wherever they want to enjoy them.
People then also forgot that the the ps3/360 generation overstayed its welcome and went well over the usual 5 year generation, so of course a decline was to be expected
When exactly did you check? What games are you even talking about? GTAV certainly isn't F2P. PUBG isn't F2P.
That's a very generous way to interpret the trends. I just see a lot of business practices that are designed to benefit the publishers without doing much for consumers.
It's probably Fortnite.
Oh yes they did. It was parroted on message boards as though the console market was guaranteed to meet it's demise.
Yeah. It's peaks and valleys but consoles aren't going away. Gaming market has expanded as a whole so much that PC, mobile and consoles all have sizable markets to themselves
Switch sold 12-13M, PS4 20M and Xbox probably 6-8m in 2017, giving console market at least 38-42M sales in a single year.
Eventually everyone will have 4K then we will need new consoles and those consoles will do well and then 8K years later and the cycle will continue
Good to see the market do so well and good to see it not be as unbalanced as PS2 gen was
Switch sold 12-13M, PS4 20M and Xbox probably 6-8m in 2017, giving console market at least 38-42M sales in a single year.
Eventually everyone will have 4K then we will need new consoles and those consoles will do well and then 8K years later and the cycle will continue
Good to see the market do so well and good to see it not be as unbalanced as PS2 gen was
The obvious thing to me is that, time and time again, we have seen that people simply enjoy diverse forms of entertainment. Certain formats that are objectively worse or more limited get replaced (VHS replaced by better quality mediums, radio replaced by podcasts or streaming, etc) but in general, people like diverse options and will buy what they need to buy to make them happen. Books are still being written long after movies debuted, music is still part of our culture in a huge way, and console games persist despite the popularity of mobile gaming. They can all coexist.
Phones are great and they do a lot, but I don't want to do everything on a phone - it's a bad way to play games, read books and watch movies compared to other options. So until something comes along and provides the same level of gameplay depth, input control, and graphical fidelity as consoles / PC, all while being cheaper and more convenient, the current paradigm will continue.
All in all it's just not that surprising that consoles are doing well. They offer something you can't get somewhere else and they're (all things considered) pretty cheap for how many hours of entertainment they can provide you.
Phones are great and they do a lot, but I don't want to do everything on a phone - it's a bad way to play games, read books and watch movies compared to other options. So until something comes along and provides the same level of gameplay depth, input control, and graphical fidelity as consoles / PC, all while being cheaper and more convenient, the current paradigm will continue.
All in all it's just not that surprising that consoles are doing well. They offer something you can't get somewhere else and they're (all things considered) pretty cheap for how many hours of entertainment they can provide you.
Good, now can we get some more competition in the console space please? Hopefully, other companies take note and we get at least 1 more major player in the console space to compete with the big 3. I think this will help prevent against Microsoft or Sony doing something really anti-consumer in their future consoles (e.g. Microsoft trying to implement always online DRM, potential for Microsoft and/or Sony to release a console without an optical drive, etc.).
Consoles were supposed to die and streaming games was going to be the answer.
Fun times with those mad predictions.
Fun times with those mad predictions.
There are some very strong revisionist history tendencies on gaming forums lately. I have learned to not engage with them usually as even if you proof them wrong they'll just move goal posts and tell you it's "irrelevant" and you're still definitely wrong and it doesn't really matter what you say (because you're wrong anyways)
lol :)
I have trouble thinking of who has enough money to waste on the initial roll-out OG Xbox style whose "innovations" wouldn't be hugely anti-consumer by your definition.
Mobiles would take over, PC would devour whatever was left of the "weak next gen"... 2011-2013 was a crazy time.
and then the PS4 launch happened
It used to be that tablet and mobile gaming didn't exist.
and then the PS4 launch happened
PS4 carried the industry when the Wii U and Xbone failed and bombed.
It used to be that tablet and mobile gaming didn't exist.
Reminds me an article from the same web site; An interview with Hajime Tabata, the director of Final Fantasy 15.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/08/final-fantasy-15-pc-gameworks-hajime-tabata-interview/
Revelant part:
For my part, i think an all cloud solution would not by that bad; it would put a end to piracy and online multiplayer cheating.
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2017/08/final-fantasy-15-pc-gameworks-hajime-tabata-interview/
Revelant part:
For my part, i think an all cloud solution would not by that bad; it would put a end to piracy and online multiplayer cheating.
Consoles will continue to stay and can coexist with mobile and PC gaming. Mobile is still big but publishers can still release their games as usual on consoles but also sell smaller games on mobile for extra sales just like Nintendo and Square Enix and all the big AAA western publishers with their annual sport games.
F2P was proven on PC 6 years before IPhone existed, and by the time first mobile-app store opened standalone F2P PC-game market was around 8 billion/year.
All mobile proved was viability of the said business models on portable devices.
In the end, it was fitting that the forum was doomed... not the console.
/whatatwist
This is true.
Some key things people forget about 7th gen :
360 didn't start out all that strong. Supply was an issue, and outside of really nerfed 'arcade' model, it was $399 without even a wifi adapter to get a decent unit for years after launch. Sales in 05-06 were respectable but not amazing. Once Gears and Halo 3 came out it really picked up, along with more price cuts eventually cutting it to $299 for decent systems with HD and Wifi. This is why I find Microsoft's constant comparisons to 360 sales to make it seem like X1 was a huge hit kind of off putting and disingenuous. The 360 was a bit of a slow burn, and one that later got a huge 2nd wind with Kinect gimmick mania. The X1 has largely stalled outside of holidays, has needed multiple firesale events to boost sales, needed to drop Kinect to lower cost of entry within months of release, and has no 'Kinect' level 2nd wind on the horizon. However, there is a gigantic consumer base who absolutely will not spend over $199 on a console, so if MS beats Sony to that price point for a notable length of time it could really boost their fortunes in the US.
PS3 similarly was a slow burn thanks to exorbitant prices and a critical lack of meaningful exclusives for a while. Once slim and $299 were a thing along with Uncharted 2, God of War 3, etc, it got its wings.
Wii had advantages of being $249 and waggle innovation against hugely more expensive PS360 competition, but fell off hard once it was clear that it couldn't be a GTA/COD/RDR box for the masses post 2010ish. Sub HD console in 2011+ was a tough sell when the third party support was so awful and the outstanding 1st party stuff was so few and far between.
Anyway, I do wonder why we don't compare PS3/360/Wii sales to PS4/X1/U.
Nah, Wii was still selling extraordinarily well until Nintendo stopped supporting it with a steady stream of new software, circa 2011. Not being a GTA/COD/RDR box never stopped it selling prior to that, and not being a GTA/COD/RDR box isn't going to stop Switch, either.
The console market has still shrunk even if PS4 has carried the market by itself. Last gen we had 2 consoles at 80 million, 1 at 100m and 2 handhelds at 80 and 140 million.
Now we have PS4 that will reach 100 million, Xbone that will reach 50 million, 3DS at 72 million, Wii U and Vita at 15 million each and lastly Switch around 60-80 million.
That is a really big gap between both generations
Screw analysts and click bait articles that predict the end of consoles, AAA gaming and the like. That shit almost cost me my house! (Was laid off from Signal Studios prior to the transition to current Gen). No studios where hiring and it took me almost 6 months before I was hired. Scary times for sure.
They don't know what will happen with our industry, and this medium, like art, film, literature, and music.....it's timeless.
They don't know what will happen with our industry, and this medium, like art, film, literature, and music.....it's timeless.
Are we talking US or WW? Because I don't recall f2p being a prominent business model prior to smartphones in the US. Also, they broadened the market significantly reaching demographics that consoles rarely reached.
360 and PS3 were on the market for so so so long. It was obviously going to slow down and then explode in 2013.
yuppp
first it was mobile, then it was glorious master race stuff..but he we are, still largely buying physical discs as well...bless up
oh my god
first it was mobile, then it was glorious master race stuff..but he we are, still largely buying physical discs as well...bless up
This sums it up perfectly
oh my god
The Industry is going well, but this gen is NOT even close to last gen :
- 100 to 105 million Wiis
- 85 to 90 million PS3s
- 85 to 90 360s million
- 155 million DS
- 80 million PSP
I mean, there is NOT even a remote chance to replicate those numbers. So, no the consoles are not doing better than ever...
- 100 to 105 million Wiis
- 85 to 90 million PS3s
- 85 to 90 360s million
- 155 million DS
- 80 million PSP
I mean, there is NOT even a remote chance to replicate those numbers. So, no the consoles are not doing better than ever...
my last console was the original Xbox (had it from 2003 to 2007), I wanted to buy the 360 in 2006 but there was shortage and hardware failure drama, PS3 was overpriced, Wii was not for me and it just killed consoles for me for a while, I just got a cheapo 8600GT and that was that... around 2012 it really looked awful for consoles, they underperformed badly, PC hardware was cheap, but yes, this gen has been a success, and with the current bizarre PC parts pricing it even easier to justify, for me the PC as my only platform still makes sense because, well, I already have the parts and enjoy some games that are only on the PC, but I would have a hard time recommending building a PC now, while in the past I would always recommend PC and would easily do some math to prove how it was a sensible decision, now, I would rather recommend a console.
Oh darn you beat me to it. But kind of a fair point. I got sick of trying to find a card for a decent price I went ahead and bought the XB1X. I totally think video cards and DDR4 being so expensive has really hurt some PC enthusiasts. Eventually, I might be able to get a 1080 but at this point its just super frustrating finding a card that is an upgrade for me at a price that is MSRP.
Better than ever, not really. What most people don't seem to realize is that, yes, PS4 and Switch are doing pretty well, but it came at the cost of both Sony and Nintendo focusing on a single platform. Switch is no DS + Wii. The PS4 is not even PS2 level of success. So yeah, not really an accurate statement.
It's convenient, that's exactly when Nintendo stopped supporting Wii.
Literally exactly when they had to support 3DS and prepare for Wii.
3rd parties are generally irrelevant to Nintendo's platform success so a drought of Nintendo software usually means that hardware will be a tough sell.
Add on that a very disappointing flagship game for 2011 and yeah Wii failed on its own more than due to ps360 being more popular.
Heck ps3 and 360 performances usually were totally irrelevant to Wii's performance while when ps3 got up, 360 went down and vice versa.
the whole people realized that they couldn't play GTA is BS as well, GTA IV was released in 2008 after all and had no impact at all on Wii's fortune.