Gamers Hideout Senior editor Ryan Archer documents his thoughts on the fall in sales for dedicated handheld machines.
Update Please note commenter's this is an OPINION piece and therefore not everyone will agree, whilst others opinions are valid please try and keep personal insults to a minimum. Thank you.
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the 3DS now has to ''compete'' with all these devices
so naturally the DS did better right?
WRONG
the 3DS sold what the DS did in a year IN JUST 9 MONTHS
just because angry birds are on the rise DOES NOT mean its CAUSING this to fall
$1 burgers are cheap and fast
$15 burgers take time, more expensive but they fill you up
thats what app store games are
cheap fast dollar burgers
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A MARKET (in this 6 billion people populated world) FOR PEOPLE WHO WANT MORE OUT OF THEIR BURGER
it will not die off
appstore games are TIME WASTERS
we MAKE TIME for dedicated game machines to HAVE A GOOD TIME
app store games offer us a way to kill time
real games offer us EXPERIENCES
there will ALWAYS be a market for BOTH things
The 3DS launch was pretty bad. There weren't a lot of games worth playing for a while, and the price was higher than many were willing to pay.
That was then.
You can't POSSIBLY say the sales are falling now(because they aren't, no matter how you look at it), and your reason FOR the decline- the lack of games- was proven to have been part of the problem and has already been rectified.
In other words: while it WAS a reason for the 3DS' lackluster sales early on, quality software is no longer absent, and the system is no longer selling poorly.
... which kinda destroys your whole article.
The Vita's largest issue isn't the lack of software- its library is massive for a system so young, and there are easily a dozen games worth buying one for- but a biased perception. It's believed to have no games(it has plenty), and it's believed to be too expensive(it's actually underpriced for what it delivers).
And sales in recent weeks have picked up considerably, largely on the backs of some retailer sales and the release of Gravity Rush here in the West.
Yes, software moves hardware, and thus a lack of games can be a direct influence on sales. But your argument hinges on too many things that are no longer true, or were/are a small enough part of the truth to be almost irrelevant in this case.
I suggest you do some research on both systems, include ALL the facts, and then try again.
First off, this isn't really an "article" so much as a series of (supposedly) connected sentences, each separated (oddly) by paragraph breaks. The author needs to get a server that displays text properly, or they need to learn how to properly format the written word.
Secondly, as per usual with the extremely biased crowd, its rife with inaccuracies:
I'm not really sure how you can say that the handheld game market is falling when the 3DS outsold the DS in its first year. Are you defining it by market share? Because if that is your metric, then that really isn't comparing apples to apples. Non-dedicated devices do other things besides playing games, making them much more attractive purchases. You're a moron if you buy an iphone or ipad or even iTouch just to play games.
Finally, the author does acknowledge that a majority of iOS games are utter trash. Thereby defeating his own point. That is exactly why the handheld market is going to weather this time of (perceived) competition from iOS games. Until iOS and Android publishers can make the quality of games that you can find on handheld consoles, the handheld market is in no danger. Few titles have high metacritic scores? Well, that's because people expect MORE from handheld games and therefore tend to rate them more harshly. Handheld gamers have higher standards because they expect quality. If you get burned on an iOS game, your impression is: "oh, it was only a buck, so no worries." And that business model is exactly how iOS is SCREWING you as a consumer. They can afford to make crap because they know that they got your buck and a 100,000 other bucks. You bought your iOS game, got a few hours out of it, so there is no risk. Hence, it is easy to get good metacritic scores.
Troll article, or a budding game journalist who needs a LOT more practice thinking about how the industry works. Wait, "senior" editor? How the hell did that happen?
It'll be that way at some point. Smartphone's usability, with console-like hardware power.
"Eggs in one basket" type shit.
The only way handheld consoles can compete with phones and tablest is if they become more like phones and tablets. Otherwise, they'll die out as phones and tablets absorb their market.
Anyone who thinks either the Vita or the 3DS will enjoy the same longevity as their predecessors is deluding themselves. Dedicated gaming consoles -are- obsolete. This is why most gaming devices these days also function as general multimedia devices, to varying degrees of versatility.
"From the very beginning, I've said that Sony really missed a huge opportunity with the Vita. If the Vita had smart-phone capability, it'd be huge. They really should have tried to make it more like an iPhone. "
Many other's like yourself are really missing the real point. PSVita does not need to be a smartphone because...A) Sony already have 22 model's of other smartphones in the market already. That's why the the PSVita is not an Xperia!
when developers can already make games for the smartphones, putting the same game over to the PSVita is not really a problem.
WHAT YOU ARE GLOSSING OVER!
Example you pointed this out:
"The only way handheld consoles can compete with phones and tablest is if they become more like phones and tablets."
And what you are just describing is exactly what the PSVita is!. can you make phone call's on the PSVita? that answer is true you can through skype. why do you think that's one of the main programs smartphones and tablets have as a main 3rd party app loaded on them by the consumer.
the PSVita has that.
the PSVita is running 4 core Arm Cortex A9's the exact same core chipset that runs in over 90% of all smartphones and Tablets. the PSVita is just running a higher end multiple core ver.
same with the GPU.
Hell the only thing that makes the PSVita not a smartphone is the d@mn OS. which is not a reason to say the PSVita is not as capable of a device as the smartphones or tablets.
remember both the 3DS and the PSVita can have their firmware on the device updated..which is a d@mn site done more than many of the companies that make smartphones and tablets do for those devices. How many of those companies do not offer an update to the next ver of the Android OS? YOU ARE STUCK WITH WHAT VER. IT HAS MOST OF THE TIME. WHILE Sony and Nintendo can and will offer new functionality to the game handhelds it's not a static enviroment of old. the game system's today are not like the systems of yesteryear.
I didnt think to myself i have a phone for games, because i have it for calls thats why i bought a vita for games because thats what is was made for.
Apps are just timewasters that im bored of now because they are all pretty much the same and i dont like touch controls.
Tablets atm are a gimmick in my opinion just a larger smartphone that you cant call on and people wouldnt buy a tablet just for games thats just stupid (yeah for the kids maybe) all this crap about handheld gaming is dying due to phones etc... is BS there in two leagues of there own. i am getting rid of my smartphone when my contract is up i dont see the need to keep forking out for smartphones because ultimatly its a phone at the end of the day for calling people, if people actually looked how much they are spending its ridiculous every 2 years it aveages at like £1300 for a phone that you then buy shitty apps for.
PSVITA = £200-£250 one off fee no contract
Phones = average £40 a month 24 month contract
Do the math you want games and buy a smarthphone for it your just idiotic.