Consoles, as we know them, are dead. But games aren't.

CVG:
As dramatic as it sounds, everything we know about the way we buy and play games is set to change forever. Scratch that. It's *changed* - but we're missing the bigger picture, or refusing to acknowledge its significance. The symptoms of a collapsing industry have shifted from whispered outliers, to a chorus of lament. Bottom line: the days of £40+ boxed games, physical shops and expensive consoles are over.

[black911]

Everything is dying Music,Movies,Television,Gaming ,Clothing etc.

2012

[LastDance]

Pfft...binary domain was ignored because its crap and the world is in an economic crisis.

Those services mentioned will still be implemented but how is having cloud gaming going to help AAA production costs aside from shipping?

[dedicatedtogamers]

I somewhat agree with the article: consoles are dying because consoles have lost their identity. They're not "consoles" any more. They're mini-PCs. Consoles used to feed off the frantic, pick-up-and-play spirit of arcade gaming, but now consoles are just graphically-inferior PCs. Why do you think the Wii was/is so popular across all demographics? It was a game console that wasn't trying to be a PC. It was just trying to be a freakin' console.

[Flatbattery]

As someone who games on PC and console I can see the advantages and disadvantages of both sides. At this point in time I can still see PCs being too much trouble for a layperson, whereas a console is still pick-up-and-play.

[dedicatedtogamers]

@ Flatbattery

I'm not simply talking about PC vs consoles, what I'm pointing out is that consoles are becoming more and more likes PCs by adding in all these non-gaming features, making PC-style games, etc.

In the distant past, consoles were built upon their platformers, sports games, racing games, and RPGs. Nowadays, consoles are focused on shooters, shooters, and more shooters, which are better on PC anyway. I wish consoles would focus on console-style games instead.

[Flatbattery]

I don't intend to offend but that sounds a little elitist.

Why can't PCs and consoles co-exist and each cater for everybody. Yes shooters may be better on PC, but they are just as playable on consoles.

I say the more outlets we have, the better. It encourages competition and at the end of the day that can only benefit the gamer.

[DasTier]

I'm not sure whethere it's that I don't understand or don't agree :/

[2pacalypsenow]

Maybe the economy is so bad people don't buy as many games? has nothing to do with consoles

[LightofDarkness]

Yeah, they'll always have a market, but I believe they've hit their peak and are starting to ride the downward slope. It's going to get harder and harder to entice the casuals, who have always had a pretty big hand in making a console successful. They don't care as much about sitting in front of a 50" plasma TV and playing the latest blockbuster games.

Conversely, game makers have been trying to market to that crowd too much, and now their core audience who DO care about all of that have become disinterested because they're not being catered to in any meaningful way, or are seemingly being ignored.

To compound the issue, the gaming press have been invited into the "inner circle" with the money men, using their powers to overhype mediocre and stagnant games to drive up sales, while ensuring that nothing below an 8/10 is considered a good game worthy of purchase by the majority. This has created an atmosphere of distrust and disconnection from the major gaming media outlets (IGN, GS, 1Up).

I've been saying it for 2 years now that this industry is going to crash (although I often felt it would be around 2014 or so). And the reason is because too much money is involved. Once the big money men get involved, everything revolves around them. The industry no longer becomes customer oriented, it becomes money and investor oriented. And in reality, a crash is one of the best things that could happen, because it means that those people will leave for greener pastures. It will also means tighter budgets, but that's perfectly fine with me, because so much money in games is swallowed up by advertising and celebrity talent, rather than actual game development.

So if it does come to that, don't freak out: it's a good thing. There will be 1000s of young developers with nothing better to do than make games for the hell of it, impassioned and unrestrained by the harnesses of greedy publishers and ignorant investors. PC might become something of a last bastion of real gamers for a while, but things will turn around.

[Tyre]

The Console market has been growing year after year and now it's normalizing...happens every generation. Again a consoles dying article...sigh, all Developers say the opposite..hold ur horses, consoles will be here for at least another 10 years. And don't make an argument for cloud, it's way too early for streaming games only. Hell it took me 3 days to download the games from PSN Plus. Everyday we still have lag from day to day in online MP games. Companies have stated that streaming only is not feasible with current networks. Dedicated hardware is here to for years to come maybe they are going to introduce streaming games next to digital download & retail, but for now these Journalist should shut the hell up and stop jumping to premature conclusions. The purchase of Gakai by Sony doesn't represent Sony goes all cloud. Geez these journalists... and again a flamebait article.

[Alos88]

Just another doomsday article that's more about getting traffic than anything else.

[CanadianTurtle]

Well, the arcades died back then so who knows. Time will only tell. I'm pretty sure consoles will stay for good, they'll just get smaller and smaller.

[greenlantern2814]

people have been saying the gaming industry is dying or consoles are dying but it is not true, sure they have been hit by the economy but it was the last industry to feel the economic down turn raking in billions of dollars while music, movies, television, went down. the auto industry, the housing industry, every industry has struggled. but nobody was like it is the death of ...., the point being the industry may be on a downturn but it will be back up before you know it.