Empty Shelves Signal Revival in Game Consoles

New game consoles from Sony and Microsoft are sold out in many stores, with Sony’s less expensive PlayStation 4 proving to be especially difficult for shoppers to find. The PlayStation 4 and Xbox One had stronger sales during their first two weeks on the market — more than two million each — than any previous game console, according to DFC Intelligence, a game research firm in San Diego.

[PSN-JeRzYzFyNeSt]

it was never dead

[GribbleGrunger]

You are correct. More consoles sold last generation than the generation before. The only difference was that they were spread more evenly between the companies: 80 million PS3s, 80 million 360s and 100 million Wiis. Combined, they sold around 90 million more consoles than the previous generation where the PS2 dominated with 125 million (it reached 152 million DURING the PS3 era). There were around 25 million Xboxs and 20 million Gamecubes sold, for a total of 170 million, compared to a total of 260 million in the 360/PS3/Wii era. Journalists need hits.

[Kingthrash360]

BOTH of these^^^
so tired of people saying consoles are dead...gaming is dead. lol if anything gaming has become a way of life. when i was a kid going outside to play at the arcade was it...now a console is in my living room where my wife takes over my ps3 to watch netflix or play music or even play zuma. consoles are here to stay...its the dvd/bluray only boxes that are getting shoved out the living room, replaced by consoles.

[dedicatedtogamers]

I don't think consoles are dying, but I think this is the first gen where the console market might actually shrink a bit. Too much splintering, too many lost customers (for a variety of reasons) to other non-console gaming platforms.

I think the number of multi-console owners (something that greatly helped total console sales last gen) will see a sharp decline. Instead of multiple consoles, a household's gaming will be one console plus one tablet and smartphones, or one console, one dedicated handheld, and a PC, or something like that. I don't see nearly as many people going PS4/X1, X1/Wii-U, etc.

[GribbleGrunger]

I think it's a little too early to call. I certainly think that one company is more likely to dominate this gen, which could lead to another company losing momentum entirely. We're already seeing that with the Wiiu, so we can already reduce that 100 million Nintendo contributed last gen with the Wii to around 20 - 25 million at most with the Wiiu.

Then it's a matter of whether MS and Sony can take that extra 80 million slice of the pie. It's looking more likely that Sony will take the largest portion. Things can change though, which is why I'm still undecided.

Short term: Sony will have a 5 - 6 million lead over the X1 by the end of this year. Now the question is, will people who would have otherwise bought a Wiiu, then go out and buy a PS4 or an X1?

Long term: An X1 price cut? A Kinectless Sku? Even the possibility of Nintendo announcing a new console. Too many variables to assess the long term success of one console over another. I still believe that Sony will win this generation, but by a landslide or by a whisker? That is the question.

[mikeslemonade]

On a side note just because I'm tired of type of articles.. Gaming is one of the few hobbies that haven't increased in price. Stuff is just getting pricier out there gas, movies, food, clubbing, and vacationing.

These game consoles are a very inexpensive form entertainment.

[kayoss]

I knew that Patcher guy was full of shit!

[Flipgeneral]

Exactly. Thank you!

[PSN-JeRzYzFyNeSt]

agreed @Kingthrash360

[MasterCornholio]

I hated the doom articles for consoles because they focused on the Wii Us poor sales and made the assumption that the same would happen with the Xbox One and PS4, I'm so happy that they were wrong. Thank god for Microsoft and Sony saving console gaming.

[Tornadobounce]

I'm over it for the moment.

[Agent_hitman]

Yeah the sign that the PS4 is always out-of-stock means that another PS2 era is set happen.... again

[tigertron]

The whole "mobile gaming is taking over" stuff that was constantly spouted in the media was nothing but rubbish.

Sure, mobile gaming has become more popular, but it will never replace console/PC gaming.