10 million PS4 sales say Pachter is wrong about consoles ‘going away’

GameZone's Matt Liebl: "this is one of those topics that I just can’t agree with Pachter on. Not when every bit of evidence seems to suggest the opposite being true. 10 million PS4s. 5 million Xbox Ones. Combined sales of the two are over 70 percent greater than those of their predecessors (PS3 and Xbox 360) at the same point in their respective launch, which at the time of the NPD’s August 2014 report was 10 months on the market."

[Codewow]

Pachter is usually wrong anyways, so why do we give this guy any of this air time? He feeds on the whining of the internet. He's a troll that gets paid.

[vishmarx]

patcher is the king of 'facts out of a**' land.
he needs publicity and were giving it to him

[darthv72]

the "console" as we know it may evolve into something else. something that can do double duty as a mobile device and home unit.

while i do not agree with the idea that consoles are going away, i do believe in the idea that they will transition into something more.

It takes the right company to research in bridging that gap of full size power but be in the palm of your hand. Its getting there and companies like sony have shown it can work but needs some serious refinement to make it sustainable.

[redwin]

But, didn't Sony said the same? It was worded differently. "PS will change to a pay service" remember? They said that after they bought a company to stream video games. Soon they'll only gave a device hooked to the tv receiving info. And im sorry to say, it'll be all digital. And I'm sorry, the last hand held I bough was the psp . How is the ps vita, is it all digital? Because if it is, that's the Trojan hourse .

[theXtReMe1]

I agree with the OP.. He's an attention whore that says things to spark controversy, to keep his name in the news. No different than a celebrity trying to keep themselves relevant.

[badboyz09]

Pachter is a Microsoft Puppet.

[AngelicIceDiamond]

Can't help but to think Pachter doesn't look at facts or considers logic very well.

Which is probably why hes wrong half the time. This is a shining example of Pachter's ignorance. The PS4 is at 10 mill. How the hell are consoles going away with that many PS4 sales?

That's the kind of blind Pachter thinking I'm talkin about.

Logic backed by facts clearly don't click with Pach.

[Eonjay]

As an interesting side note to this, Patcher once said that he doesn't get paid for making accurate predictions, he rather gets paid for making "projections" and then interpreting the results.

So, he gets paid to make retrospective analysis....

[BitbyDeath]

I agree, should just ban him and VGChartz while we are at it.

[Evilsnuggle]

Most of the times I agree with Michael Pachter. Because most of the time he speaks just common sense . But this time mikey is way off. Console will stop being sold when people stop buying them. Look at the sales of PS4 . The PS4's is the fastest selling game console of all times. That tells you that the console market is health.

I actually think that the console market is growing. Because of the popularity of games on smartphones and tablets. More people and more children are coming in contact with games on smartphones and tablets. That gets more people interested in video games. Sony and Nintendo have mostly made a profit off games and consoles . Why would they stop selling game consoles. Yes if something comes out better than game console then game console will die. But there is nothing like it right now.

When is new technology coming to replace game console. 60 years ago people thought we would have flying cars and robot servants. But technology has not advanced that much as it was expected to.

[Death]

Hardware sales are very high and software sales are very low. For the business to be healthy and have a future, software sales need to be much better.

I normally don't agree with Pachter, but it is clear cloud based computing is the future. Sony is pushing this as hard if not harder than Microsoft. The ability to play PS4 games on a Bravia this fall is a game changer. Progress will move on and it looks like in the all digital future "gamer rights" are a thing of the past. The reveal is becoming more of a joke every day.

[Spotie]

Your comments are becoming more of a joke every day.

[BitbyDeath]

GTAV breaking global software sales = low ???
Go home, you are drunk

[Death]

"console and handheld software sales lowest since May 2000" May 2013
http://www.gamespot.com/for...

"The big drop was due lackluster software numbers" Jan 2014
http://venturebeat.com/2014...

"Software sales are said to be lower than last year by 67 percent." June 2014

http://www.electronista.com...

"NPD Reports Strong Gaming Console Sales For July; Dip In Software Sales" July 2014
http://www.bidnessetc.com/2...

Not seeing a trend here in software sales? Every month NPD pretty much says the same thing. Hardware is up, software is down. GTA had excellent sales, but that is one game and not representative of the trend we have been seeing in software for a couple years now.

As for the rest of my statement, Sony is offering games "free" to Plus members via download that are not actually ours to keep. PSNow is offering games via streaming as rentals. The new line of Bravias are coming equipped with the ability to access PSNow without a console and we have seen Sony's VP of Network Entertainment Eric Lempel state that Sony plans on streaming PS4 games as part of PSNow. http://www.gameinformer.com...

I would love to hear both of your responses on this information since you obviously missed it or have serious reading comprehension deficiencies.

[Tony-A]

@Death:

All those links you mentioned don't hold up in the grand scheme of things. What you failed to realize is that each one of those articles are within the expected major drops in software sales.

Your first was from May 2013.... Just as new consoles were announced. They talk about the lowest since May 2000.... When new consoles were hitting the market. Software always declines at the beginning and end of each generation.

Your other links - Big drop in January, months after new console launches, both with very small lineups with little appeal. Next two are during summer months, which are notoriously dry for games, and it's only worse on summers like this... the first summer for these two new consoles.

"Hardware is up, software is down."

Typical for the industry when between generations. Sure, some unexplained dips might pop up here and there, but the industry is doing just fine - games are alive and healthy. Keep in mind that there are records being broken every year for games purchase via download.

Not so much a trend as it is a cycle.

[Death]

@Tony,

2005 and 2006 were record breaking years for software sales.

http://www.gamespot.com/art...
"With the shift to the new generation of consoles finally complete, there's little left to discuss about the transitional year aside from how well the industry weathered it. The industry-tracking NPD Group today released its US retail gaming sales results for December and for the entirety of 2006, and the figures showed a record sales year and growth almost across the board."

[badboyz09]

Pachter is Microsoft Puppet,

[DefenderOfDoom2]

The question i have for the author of this article , what does 10 million PS4 sales, have to do with consoles coming out in the year 2028? PACHTER believes that consoles will sell strong for 2 more generations !
I think people just see the name MICHAEL PACHTER , and hate on him , without actually reading what he said.

[3-4-5]

"Money Guys" don't know jack about Video Games.

Their ego makes them think their little bit of work knowledge, somehow applies everywhere.

[bunfighterii]

Pachter's point was more about the technology moving to a point where you don't need to get a box that plugs into your tv to get a console experience, no?

I think its more a 'pace of tech' argument, not to say MS and Sony will abandon gamepad + tv style gaming.

[Riggans42]

Isn't this the same guy that said PC is dying and consoles are thriving a few months back?

[Codewow]

What hasn't this man said?

[Whirlwind_Fanfare_08]

For real! i wish i can throw poop at him.
He's a annoying old prune!

[Axonometri]

Funny, someone on this site says he wants to throw poop at someone and he gets agree votes. I simply say "go away" because I'm tired of the sexism crap and I get voted off as immature.

Poop throwing = Good show
Go Away = immature
check

[Geekman]

Something smart and well thought out.

[Starbucks_Fan]

Could we just ban Pachter articles from this site?

[kingdom18]

Why? We need our giggles once and a while.

[mark3214uk]

but everytime we view his vids to giggle he gets paid lol

he is a t**t

[bsmith61]

Still don't know why this guy gets any attention, he's full of shit the majority of the time.

[hello12]

I don't think he meant right this minute. Future technologies are emerging all the time and cloud gaming is likely to get bigger in the future and we might not need to buy a 500 dollar console to play games.

You don't even need a disk anymore to play games and years ago playing games digitally was unheard of.

The profits are not that big, Sony sold 10 million, but they probably made back 10 or less dollars from each one made. Same for Microsoft. The real money is made with games and advertising.

Magoo@ Not the same thing downloading a game with no need for a disk is not a new thing its only in the last 5 years or more it started happening.

And like i said Sony and Microsoft would gladly stopping making consoles if they could get games to customers cheaper. The profits are small not huge.

[MRMagoo123]

playing games digitally has been around for a long long long time, I used to type out pages of commands for my amstrad in the 80s , the game I made was digital only.

[MasterCornholio]

"And like i said Sony and Microsoft would gladly stopping making consoles if they could get games to customers cheaper."

Well in many cases (actually the majority) buying a retail copy of a game is cheaper than buying a digital copy on consoles. Once digital becomes much cheaper than retail that's when people will start switching over. Over many people (like myself) just like having physical copies at home. Call me old fashioned but I like collecting disks.

[HentaiMasterRace]

Isn't he always wrong?

[PudgeyBurrito]

It's not actually a bad assumption. I think it scares people that game when someone mentions that and then get defensive in all honesty. All that said and aside. Microsoft isn't pushing a lot of consoles if you look at the progression since launch. They have started more studios and bought a few. When I read about the Minecraft buy out and how much they paid I was curious as to why. Some point towards the fan base which makes sense if they make a Minecraft 2 exclusive. But in all honesty the money just doesn't added up and I suspect with the CEO saying the Xbox Division isn't in his plan for the future but Minecraft is.. Microsoft might be going software like Sega did. It would write off the financial overhead and loss from the division and turn good profit considering the games they have with those studios and new ip's from there new studios as well could maybe start to be more like EA or and Activsion Type idea Developer/Publisher.

Been analyzing the games industry for 20+ years now and it was the first thing that flew in to my head once I thought about and the money invested in it. I know Micheal "Pack Attack" Pachter has been wrong in the past about a couple things and you know, Everyone is in life like the Wii HD things among other things but he has been write as well. We are a fickle bunch as gamers but in all honesty this isn't a bad guess at all. Saying consoles are dwindling was a little over the top but I think he is right in saying they are going to change into software. Think about it.

[vikingland1]

10 million + 7 million + 5 million + 200 million hmmm.

[RosweeSon]

Who?

[BitbyDeath]

Do you remember Jim's Dad from American Pie?
Well he is known as Michael Pachter on gaming sites.
Or it may be his twin brother.

[LightDiego]

Pachter is always wrong, and some fool pay him for that.

[Gore-Content]

Amazes me that this dude still have his job.

[Bhuahahaha]

pachter should be throw away in north korea

[BattleAxe]

PS4 and Xbox One sales will decline next year. The fever pitch of sales, particularly with the PS4, has been driven by hardcore gamers. Moderate and casual gamers will not be snapping up these systems, especially since last gen consoles are still relevant, and people have accumulated descent sized libraries which cannot be transferred over to the new consoles.

[lemoncake]

Will be a slow shift as older gens of gamers will find it hard to transition. It will probably take someone like apple, Samsung, etc to push this move from the traditional console to a purely streaming one. If you had asked me if I would give up on music CDs and go purely digital in 2000 I would have said no way as my internet and such would not be up to it and I want a physical copy with a booklet etc, but now I haven't bought a music cd in years and I can listen to any song I want wherever I am.

[uth11]

Pachter's argument makes no sense. He's saying we don't need consoles because of Roku's and Chromecasts?

Ok.. so If you add big game support to these devices, how are they different than a console?

Oh they stream videos, you say? so do consoles!

Oh but they are small. Only because they don't contain blu-ray's or hard drives and lack heat dissipation (which says they aren't as powerful as today's consoles) If you really want to turn them into game machines you will have to add these things, and then there is zero difference.

Then he says that are phones are getting as powerful as consoles.

yeah but most serious gamers know that gaming on a small touchscreen sucks for most games! And the battery won't last

oh, but you can bring it home, attach external power, your TV and some controllers! Ok, so then how is it different than a console?? except two things, it uses flash, so it will not have enough storage to play today's AAA games, and you got to connect it and disconnect it all the time. Not to mention what if you want to take a private phone call while it's hooked up?

Anyway, don't we have that? It's called an Ouya and it flopped hard?

So no.. I see no evidence that consoles are going away. I also see no evidence that people want one device for multiple purposes. We keep buying these things and most people now have phones, tablets, laptops, consoles, portable game systems, and/or PCs/Macs in the house and aren't really clamoring for one device to do everything for them

[TheRedButterfly]

We didn't need official sales numbers to prove that Pachter is wrong about a lot of things...

- _ -