160°

Infographic: Is the Console Dying?

Fool.com: ''With all the hype around the Wii U, you're probably wondering if this is a good time to invest in Nintendo (NTDOY), or any gaming company for that matter.

An investor might reason that GameStop (NYSE: GME  ) has much to gain from sales of the Wii U consoles, games and accessories. Then, as the Wii U hype dies down, we can look forward to the release of Sony's (NYSE: SNE  ) PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's new (NASDAQ: MSFT  ) Xbox in late 2013, if the rumors are true.''

SynGamer4149d ago

Gaming-only consoles? Yes, they are a dying breed. Media-focused consoles? Those are definitely on the up-and-up. Microsoft really changed the game with the Xbox 360's integration with a number of MS/Windows applications. Sony, for their part, have also done a decent job at bringing media to the living room.

Really though, we can thank Netflix, Amazon (Prime), and Hulu (Plus) (and a host of other apps/channels) for daily usage of our consoles. I have my PS3 on almost every night for Netflix simply because it's the best version of the app at this time (IMO).

I feel Nintendo's TVii for the Wii U is an interesting concept, but I feel the next wave of mediacentric home devices are going to come from Microsoft and Sony. They'll pack the gaming punch, but we'll be seeing almost everything available if predictions hold true.

Personally, I can't wait :)

decrypt4148d ago

In reality all the console makers are having problems.

Ill start with MS. MS is a huge whale, which heavily relies on its Windows division for its existence. Xbox Division is a very small part of the group. If Windows were to go down, it would take the entire MS corporation with it, Xbox division wont be able to pull the company along. Times have changed, the day and age when people preferred to upgrade PCs every 2-3 years and get a new OS with it are things of a the past. 3-4 year old computers can even today run any application people want to run.

Hence there is a lack of willingness to upgrade PCs and buy new OSes. Instead People prefer to buy tablets and smart phones for most of their daily use like Emailing, Facebook, Twitter, surfing etc. People have even started to prefer to buy Macs. All this change is resulting in lower sales for MS specially for Windows 8. Eventually this will hit there most profitable product the enterprise servers etc. If people migrate to devices like smart phones and tablets there will be no point in having MS servers for large corporates. Hence with Windows tanking, MS will be in trouble, the Xbox division will not be able to do much, it can barely exist on its own.

Sony, This is a company that was worth over 200billion USD back in 2000. Today its worth a mere 10billion usd, its hardly a shadow of what it used to be. Sony has been beaten in just about every electronic segment be it TVs, DVDs, Cameras, Cell phones.

NYSE: SNE has fallen from 60usd a share 5 years back to hardly over 10usd today. Hence Sony isnt doing too well either, infact their position is worse than MS.

Nintendo, They had a lucky run last gen with the Wii gimmick. Wii U seems to not have any multiplat support. Nintendo is a bit of a dark horse at the moment. I am not optimistic on their approach since i dont think the Gimmick will sell this time.

Overall all the console makers seem to be in trouble. None of them really are in a comfortable position.

Psychonaughty4148d ago (Edited 4148d ago )

You are wrong about Microsoft, they make more from Office than Windows and almost half again from server and tools, they would be fine without Windows albeit 1/3 less the company they are now.

Saying that, I predict some choppy years for Microsoft in the future if they continue to keep their eggs in 3 to 4 baskets (although exactly the same could be said for Apple).

Sony are very close to going bankrupt, you are right about them, they are not dominant in any area now and are in fact lagging in most areas.

As successful as Nintendo has been and I have massive respect for them they are totally dependant on the success of their consoles and things aren't exactly going well in Japan's econonomy atm, One failed console generation for them would be the end of them although I hope it doesn't happen.

I agree with your overall sentiment though, this industry is in a precarious position.

1upgamer994148d ago (Edited 4148d ago )

LOL, Wii U Gimmick? Clearly you have not sat on your own favorite chair and spent a few hours with the Wii U. The gamepad is no gimmick. There are very few reviews of the ports to Wii U that in any way say the gamepad makes the Wii U gamepad a gimmick. Hud, Maps, on the fly no pause weapons switch , Making calls on Madden 13 via gamepad, BOPS 2 Multi-player. Far from a gimmick. I have PS3 and PC, but now Wii U is my favorite way to play. Also if you don't like the gamepad Use the Pro-controller, or Wii Remotes. Yeah You can pretty much play any way you want to on Wii U.

pixelsword4145d ago

Ignore decrypt; he has one bubble for a reason.

lol :D

N4g_null4148d ago

It seems gaming media is killing gaming. They don't even talk about gaming as if they can enjoy it as a whole. It seems they have a side they are rooting for and they are invested into it some how. Adults always mess things up.

There is a such a thing as coexsisting. Plus growth of one side does not mean extinction of another. Unless one side over extends enough to put them in jepoardy. Ask sega, even nintendo and now Sony. Yes this can even happen to ms.

dedicatedtogamers4148d ago

If devs focused on making gaming-only consoles...

- Manufacturing prices would be lower (and therefore profitability would go up while retail price would be down)
- Game quality and quantity would inevitably increase as the console makers spend time on making games instead of Youtube integration, TVii, video chatrooms, and movie streaming apps
- Stupid, waste-of-resources features like social integration would no longer be included with games

Unfortunately, "consoles" these days are simply dumbed-down PCs with fewer features. Consoles used to be very different compared to PCs (the games, the controllers, etc) but now they're not.

GreenRanger4148d ago (Edited 4148d ago )

That is the saddest picture i've ever seen.
On topic: The consoles aren't dying, just changing so much that they don't resemble consoles anymore.
If they are not all in one devices, they'll vanish, just like the wrist watch and alarm clocks.
Even TVs have multiple uses these days.

MikeMyers4148d ago

That's because the consumer is also evolving. We have become masters of multi-tasking. Very few people go looking for a cellphone that is about phone call quality. They instead want other features besides just talking to people. Why have a game console that just plays games and a bluray/DVD player that just plays movies and a CD player that just plays music? They are able to integrate them all into one device now. Nintendo always seems to be the last to adapt, riddled with history and living in their own bubble.

Consoles have grown with hard drives, online patches/updates, online multiplayer, apps like Netflix, reward systems, online stores. I expect them to keep evolving, so no, they aren't dying. In fact the gaming market itself has grown because now you have people playing games on many devices. Sure it might have some effect on console sales, but looking at last generation they sold well over 200 million between the 3 consoles.

N4g_null4148d ago

We are not masters of multitasking. We can look at different things at the same time but doing two involved task at the same time tends to make for one dissatisfied task doer. Task organizer would be better than task master. That is a bad cliche.

MikeMyers4148d ago

The Wii U can require you to multi-task. How many times have you seen people watch TV while using their smartphone. That is multi-tasking in the sense I'm talking about. I'm also elaborating on the person above who mentioned how even TV's now have internet enabled features.

Some consumers are no longer satisfied with one product only doing one function. That is why game consoles are nothing like they used to be and why they will continue to be center pieces in your living room that does more than just gaming.

MrKim124148d ago

They ain't dying. Just evolving.

PhoenixRising374148d ago

no, consoles are not dying. they are only becoming more popular. Everyone i know has an xbox or ps3, whether it's my grandparents or teachers, everybody has one now.

MasterCornholio4148d ago

I can agree with some people that handhelds are dying (despite the 3DSs impressive sales) however i honestly dont see the death of consoles anytime soon.

The Wii U might fail though due to its unconventional controller design but so might the 720 and the PS4. We really will not know the answer until the consoles have been in the market for a while.

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Christopher2d ago

It's not the fault of the gaming industry. Gamers were told what was happening, were warned about where this would lead, did nothing, and now are acting like it's the fault of publishers that they kept buying these games and investing in MTX. If only those gamers at that time felt as strongly about these things as they do Helldivers 2.

Hugodastrevas2d ago

I don't think MTX target the common gamer but instead predate on the so called "whales". It's gambling pure and simple.

Christopher2d ago

Oh, so it's okay to buy MTX-laden games as long as you don't spend money on MTX, which has led to even more MTX-laden games with even more predatory practices where content that used to be unlocked is now behind paywalls?

C'mon now people. You gave the corporations and inch, and they kept taking and taking. Community members told people that investing in these things alone would only lead to more and more MTX and putting more and more behind paywalls. But it's only the fault of the corporations, not the people who kept supporting it with purchases as more and more was taken away?

Hugodastrevas2d ago

@Christopher that's a straw man, I didn't say any of that I just added context.

-Foxtrot2d ago

Well exactly

People stand up for something which seems small to them and they get called whiners or negative. Then years later the shit hits the fan and they all go “why is this happening?” Like they are innocent.

The issue aswell is younger gamers who grew up with all this thinking it’s normal and we all just look like old farts yelling at clouds when we’re trying to help us all, even them.

Crows901d 7h ago

Who woulda thought that listening to your elders could be a good idea...too late now

Hofstaderman1d 6h ago

It all started with that damn horse armour. Back then I thought nobody was stupid to buy into that crap. How wrong I was....

CrimsonWing691d 5h ago (Edited 1d 5h ago )

I like how people move the goal-post. First it’s, f*ck any game with MTX’s, f*ck GaaS games, f*ck this game with “optional” MTX’s (Dragon’s Dogma 2), Helldivers 2 is ok because it’s fun and even though it has Battle Passes or Season Passes and MTX’s it’s ok because… you don’t need to buy them? 🤷‍♂️

HellDivers 2 is the best selling game this year. Just think about that, games like FF7 Rebirth sold poorly, but a continuous game that lives off recurring revenue sells extraordinarily well. Then we’ll hear everyone b*tch about a GaaS future.

I really wonder what this industry would’ve been like if we never gave into this crap, and yes I’m saying “WE” since I’m guilty of it, but man it’s literally no closing the door once it’s been opened.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1d 5h ago
Hugodastrevas2d ago

This is what amazed me the most when playing hours upon hours of stellar Blade version 1.00.00 no bugs, no crashes, no sudden drops in frames, no screen tear, no falling from the world, just a complete package on a game under 50GB.
I think Korea will play a major role in gaming in the long run , because they're releasing banger after banger.

isarai2d ago

Still pretty common to find if you stay away from the AAA publishers, in the last 10yrs ive probably only bought like 3 games combined from EA/ACTIVISION/UBISOFT. Even now i still buy games that work right out the box perfectly fine. Just recently got like 6hrs into Alone in the Dark, and not a single sign of any of that bs, really enjoying my time with it.

shinoff21831d 22h ago

There's such a misconception about every game needing a patch,this and that when in reality it's not even close. You nailed it isarai

Crows901d 7h ago

It's really only AAA devs and publishers that seem to have these constant problems

z2g1d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

And we as gamers have to accept our role in that. Constantly never being satisfied. Constantly demanding more while paying less. Constantly demanding better frame rates, better graphics, more modes and faster faster faster…. Then review bombing the product when a demand isn’t met. Meanwhile those same demands are making games more difficult, complex and more expensive to create than ever before, on shrinking timelines that burn out employees and make their lives miserable.

You wanna know why so many games get delayed? Cuz the original release dates weren’t realistic to begin with, but you can’t tell a gamer their game is further away than they want to hear. Some dev or game designer will be threatened physically. That builds even more pressure and rushing. We are officially squeezing water out of rocks and still complaining about that how hard you have to squeeze the rock be just waiting for rain. Most of the time we take it out on the developing studio, when it’s the publisher making the calls.

All you need to do is read the comments on most websites and social media to see how toxic, entitled and petty the gaming community at large is, and realize how that transforms into impossible expectations on the parts of game makers.

Crows901d 7h ago

Nope. Some gamers are to blame. Never demanded anything you mentioned.

A fully finished and functioning product is a standard. It's not demanded. If someone sells you a tv that only works 60% of the time are you going to recommend it OR write a review calling out the obvious problem...it's not a demand...it's a standard.

A standard triple A publishers can't seem to hit consistently.

thorstein1d 5h ago

You've never heard of planned obsolescence.

HankHill1d 2h ago

I take it you like microtransactions? 🤣

Kinza550121d 8h ago (Edited 1d 8h ago )

This is one battle that gamers have never won, hahaha. They were parading recently for their "win" against Sony. Where's the energy for this one, guys? LMAO!

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