Could the Decline in Video Games Be a Blessing in Disguise?

With the rise in new gaming experiences offered by indie games, the decline in console gaming could be a blessing in disguise.

[Gazondaily]

What decline?

[Paulh82]

sales are down 25% over the past 12 months. thats a serious decline.

[Ezz2013]

are you talking about the sales in US only ?!

[Derekvinyard13]

So many people are already losing there jobs I fear it's going to get worse

[MasterCornholio]

Not to mention that the Wii U is selling terribly which probably means that video gaming is doomed.

Because if Nintendo cant sell their console then who can? Not Microsoft or Sony because they dont have Mario.

LOL kidding but i do notice that theres a sharp increase in indie games over the past few years. And from my experience with indie games they are the ones who offer the most innovative experiences.

[Knight_Crawler]

Sad that so many people will be out of work next gen but since us hardcore gamers demand games to be more AAAA with much much better graphics and are not willing to spend the money for them then developers have no option but to shut down.

This is where complaining about everything like DLC and the ban of second hand games get you.

Thankfully indie games have come a long way and the market has grown.

[SilentNegotiator]

Because the generation is ending, not because of indie devs. lol

[AsimLeonheart]

It has been maybe the longest at least one of the longest generations ever. The market has become saturated. What do you expect? It is cycle that is true for all successful products in business world,

1) Introduction of a product.
2) Period of rapid growth and sales.
3) Period of stable sales.
4) Period of falling sales.
5) Introduction of a successor.

However, some people are taking it as a sign of death of console gaming as we know it. I believe they are horribly wrong and once the new consoles arrive industry will see growth once again. With regards to costs of development, I think big budget marketing is the biggest culprit. Marketing budgets have become too inflated this generation which adds to the costs and makes profitability difficult.

[ajax17]

last year wasn't exactly the best year...

[DownNotOut]

the decline in quality

[Seraphim]

taking a month out of the year and saying X decline in sales this year compared to last is ridiculous. It means nothing in the grand scheme of things. Granted last Feb there wasn't much released and the same can be said about Feb '13. Useless drivel this is.

[I_LOVE_MYSELF]

This has been my best generation and I have been gaming since the 16bit days. I must say that the last year has also been one of the worst years for me. Only a handful of titles truly appealed to me. 2011 was the best year I can recall in a long time. Funny how things switch up. 2013 looks set to amaze, but I can't help but feel that it will take me until next gen to get back in the swing of things. A lot of recent events and trends are causing me to hate gaming.

[WeAreLegion]

Oh, you mean the decline every industry is facing? The box office is pretty far behind, too. Source: boxofficemojo

[SnakeCQC]

yh because of that decline there might not be any movies games or music in the future /s

[Tetsujin]

The only decline I see in gaming is lack of creativity and confidence in a new idea. Independent Developers use what they have, and put in the effort to be recognized so a bigger company can some day hire them, or they become big themselves. The one thing I miss from the 8-16-32 bit era's were different types of games released, and how certain games pushed hardware to prove certain achievements can be done - Examples include Killer Instinct, Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 3/6, Street Fighter 2, Sonic 3 and Knuckes, Tekken 3, Goldeneye, etc. Just because now CoD is always looked at as some type of "godsend" doesn't mean it will last forever - I've played way better games that set standards and wasn't milked to death. If I had it my way I'd put some sort of restriction of the amount of style of games that can be released within a certain time frame to force developers to come up with new ideas and test the market. I understand there's a lot of factors (budget and time being the 2 biggest) however at least try something different for a change.

[tweet75]

even with 25 % loss its still one of the worlds most profitable forms of entertainment

[FlyingFoxy]

Steam sales are booming, even if consoles die PC will always have great games.

[Ulf]

The great part about it, is that making video games will become an unprofitable hobby for all but the most skilled devs. No one can eek a living from the 10000 sales at $0.99 (actually $0.69, after the store takes its cut) a pop, after several people devoted a year of their life to said project.

W00t they get to split $7000 like 3-10 ways, to live off of for the next year. It'll be a great thing to see so many indie chumps pack up and leave. That'll really go well with the Walmart job they've been having to use to buy food with, while making games.

Yep, great thing for the industry. Truly great. /s

[KrebStar]

Complains about a lack of originality in gaming, then suggest more reboots. OK, then. While I am all for independent games, and the vast possibility of creativity to be found in them, let's not pretend there aren't a metric fuckton of lame, unoriginal, ripoffs to be found there as well. I can't be the only one who suffered from 2D puzzle platformer fatigue in recent years. For every indie darling or casual success story, there are 10+ hideous, failed clones begging for the pain to end.

[Jek_Porkins]

There is such a thing as a peak when it comes to a product, you simply cannot keep forward momentum forever. The current batch of consoles (save the Wii U) hit their peak's a couple of years ago.

There is a term called "saturation" in which the majority of gamer's who want a particular console already own one. What you see now is the product of families or casuals finally getting in on the current batch, or people who already own one or two are buying the third console just to own them all.

If you add in used game sales, the industry is actually doing pretty damn good.

[just-joe]

In some way it can be a blessing. Casuals seem to be moving away from console and their smart phones for piece meal gaming. This could mean less shovelware made to trick the casuals and more actual games. Declining sales means gamers are getting more selective, developers (and publishers) will have to wise up to this and make a better product or they will lose big time.

[kamauhigh]

Nobody knows the real digital numbers. Well, they know, they just don't tell NPD so we don't know.