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Is Console Gaming coming to a close?

This is such a stupid argument. Every electronic device is a computer. So what?
It is not a stupid argument. What are the major advantages of gaming in a console versus a PC? All the past advantages like convenience, quality control, and local Co op are pretty much dead at this point.

The only advantage is the few exclusives throughout the gen that are worth playing. I'll happily give that up to play the best version of every other game that releases.
 
To be very honest, the only console I fear to end is Nintendo.

I mean it, because Nintendo is the only company I really can't see having a nice appeal on PC, and they probably would go to the smartphone area, what would be a shame since their games are soo good! I hope Nintendo keeps releasing consoles or at least handhelds like 3DS, for more years and years, while there is appeal for gaming!

Microsoft and Sony are also extremely competent companies but I could totally accept if they moved to PC platform. And actually it could be amazing to have this unification in the future, if it ever happens. There are down sides to it, but also some real benefits.
 
I'll happily give that up to play the best version of every other game that releases.*

*If you have a PC well equipped enough to handle it. Which is limited to a certain number of people who care about that.

Seriously people gotta shut up with that "best version" shit If you're playing on a laptop or a tower you got at Best Buy which I wager is what most people have, you ain't playing the best version of every other game that releases if you can run it at all.
 
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http://www.statista.com/statistics/276768/global-unit-sales-of-video-game-consoles/

Ye it is really growing man. look at that growth.

In this chart, Sony and MS are moving roughly the same amount of hardware each year. Almost the entire difference is from Nintendo shitting the bed. This chart is less of an argument for the console market contracting and more one for Nintendo having no fucking clue what they're doing and being forced into mobile/whaling with amiibos to survive.
 
A lot of people and publishers seem to want this to happen.

It makes sense to them because they see it as more dollars that will be spent on mobile games that they get a bigger profit from than console projects which require more skilled teams and higher budgets to create successful projects.

In as much as making games are a product like a refrigerator or a pair of shoes, mobile games are preferred by the ceos and businessmen making the decisions.
 
No, and I actually think there's been a greater variety of games being released on these consoles than ever before.
 
It is not a stupid argument. What are the major advantages of gaming in a console versus a PC? All the past advantages like convenience, quality control, and local Co op are pretty much dead at this point.

The only advantage is the few exclusives throughout the gen that are worth playing. I'll happily give that up to play the best version of every other game that releases.
If you buy a console you haven't to worry about the specs, tech etc etc and believe me, it's a huge advantage for a simple gamer.
 
PC grow? Uh? I knew big companies survive thanks to the console sales. Everytime I read about pc growth ,I have a terrible headache.

You doubt that PC is growing?

The AAA publisher market isn't the only one, you know. The whole premise of this thread is an extension of that.
 
It is not a stupid argument. What are the major advantages of gaming in a console versus a PC? All the past advantages like convenience, quality control, and local Co op are pretty much dead at this point.

The only advantage is the few exclusives throughout the gen that are worth playing. I'll happily give that up to play the best version of every other game that releases.
Plug and play
Unified online system
Updates are handled correctly for you
No real hacks to constantly plague online games
Games are guaranteed to run and don't need constant driver updates to improve performance
Tailored performance for hardware
Everyone has the same experience online with the upper hand going to experience and practice, not peripherals and macros
Resell your disk based games
Lending games to friends
Etc.

You're right. Its just exclusives that have the upper hand. Totally just that.
 
Not at all, just look at the Ps4 sales numbers.

I do think there is a case to be made for the mid tier games coming to a close, at least in the way we used to know them. For a while there, specially on consoles, it looked liked games would either be small indie titles or big, multimillion AAA retail games.

With how high production costs have become it will be hard to see stuff like this:
The_Red_Star_Coverart.jpg

Getting retail releases this gen, and I often see that interpreted as "only big AAA EA and Ubisoft games have a place on modern consoles"

But at the same time, the rise of Indie devs, the arrival of platforms like Kickstarter and the new tools and engines that are making HD graphics easier and cheaper has opened to door to a whole new wave of studios and creators. Indies are no longer just super small projects with 8 bit graphics, now we have stuff like Transistor and The vanishing of ethan carter and No Man's Sky, The tomorrow children, Rime, Yooka-Laylee, etc
 
Plug and play
Unified online system
Updates are handled correctly for you
No real hacks to constantly plague online games
Games are guaranteed to run and don't need constant driver updates to improve performance
Tailored performance for hardware

Everyone has the same experience online with the upper hand going to experience and practice, not peripherals and macros
Resell your disk based games
Lending games to friends

Etc.

You're right. Its just exclusives that have the upper hand. Totally just that.

I think this generation has undermined the bolded.
 
The big guns aren't even there yet this generation for the MS and Sony consoles. Rockstar has only released a last gen port. The first next gen only CoD hasn't even released yet (Black Ops 2 on PS3 still has easily over 100K people online every day between zombies and multi).

There are some big games this year, then next year we are most likely at $299 with a Rockstar game coming (probably Red Dead 3), maybe Fallout 5, Gran Turismo 7 etc etc. Both consoles still have a lot of units to sell. The generation is just getting started and the Xbox One and PS4 have done great at their high price points.
 
These articles are so funny. What we are seeing right now is a different market that we had last gen. Small and medium developers can't afford or even risk the development of the big AAA for this current generation, so they are going to invest in something else.

That doesn't mean the end of consoles, but the beginning of a new market. Lots of games are released every week for ps4 and Xbox One, but they seem to pretend they don't exist.

Sega, Konami and many others are not seeing the profit of small indie titles. They don't need to invest a hell of money to release something like a Contra to compete against Hotline Miami. (This is just a stupid comparison)

Consoles are the second most played devices in the world, and sadly in first place is the Mobile Cellphone. They need to adapt to the new market or keep fighting against the big ones, until someone gets hammered by one small mistake. Some will back off, others will adapt, many will fail, and small indies may get bigger and step up.

And for christ sake, there are space for EVERYONE. Consoles will not die, they will adapt.

Can't you guys see what No Man's Sky is right now?
 
I have said it before and I will say it again, the reason the JP market has contracted so much is because last gen had lousy output by JP publishers, Sony included. Compare the PS2 gen to last gen and it is not even close. Now this gen the JP publishers have been sluggish out of the gate again and are clinging to last gen hardware still. I don't think it is a coincidence the PS4 and Xbone are doing so well outside of JP, because western publishers were prepared and have been steadily releasing games to support the consoles. We are nearly 2 years into this gen and have yet to get a Square Enix, Namco, Konami title and Capcom has released one, Dead Rising 3. Sony Japan has released one, Bloodborne. You can't maintain a user base much less grow it with that level of support.
 
Maybe for Nintendo. When it comes to consoles, only Nintendo needs Nintendo. The industry doesn't need them.

Sony and MS are way more relevant and sell enough HW and SW for the industry to survive.
 
Maybe for Nintendo. When it comes to consoles, only Nintendo needs Nintendo. The industry doesn't need them.

Sony and MS are way more relevant and sell enough HW and SW for the industry to survive.

Yeah Microsoft and Sony are doing a really good job of attracting young children and families to the xbone and ps4 so that console gaming doesn't fade to irrelevance. Those kids aren't growing up with mobile gaming as the primary or anything.

Remove: Wii (outlier) and 3DS/DS (handhelds).

Then things looks normal.
Also ******** is a terrible source.

Remove a console and console gaming isn't declining! Totally sound logic. That's how analysts do it too.
 
Yeah Microsoft and Sony are doing a really good job of attracting young children and families to the xbone and ps4 so that console gaming doesn't fade to irrelevance. Those kids aren't growing up with mobile gaming as the primary or anything.
.

You won't be able to play CoD, GTA, AssCreed, Destiny etc on a mobile. The young ones seem to love those.

As long those franchises sell, consoles will stay relevant. And those games only seem sell on Sony and MS platforms. They don't need Nintendo.
 
Yeah Microsoft and Sony are doing a really good job of attracting young children and families to the xbone and ps4 so that console gaming doesn't fade to irrelevance. Those kids aren't growing up with mobile gaming as the primary or anything.



Remove a console and console gaming isn't declining! Totally sound logic. That's how analysts do it too.

If you don't consider the Wii an outlier then you have no idea how statistics works.
 
Some years back I had to deal with a bunch of "Is PC gaming dead" threads at the Gametrailers forum. Now im having to deal with simular threads about console gaming.

Seriously, I remember all of the obituaries for PC gaming back in 2008 - 2010. Wait a complete reversal...
 
*If you have a PC well equipped enough to handle it. Which is limited to a certain number of people who care about that.

Seriously people gotta shut up with that "best version" shit If you're playing on a laptop or a tower you got at Best Buy which I wager is what most people have, you ain't playing the best version of every other game that releases if you can run it at all.
Eventually if they don't have the hardware at the time that surpasses current gen consoles like I do, they can always go back to those games once they upgrade and see them in all their glory.

And the "best version shit" certainly seems to matter when it's the PS4 that has a graphical edge over the XB1. How come it doesn't seem to matter so much when that same argument is used with PC and PS4?
 
Young gamers on mobile will "graduate" to become console gamers. That growth will be back with a vengeance next gen.
 
What do you base this on?

I see little reason for people who primarily game on mobile to graduate to consoles in any notable number.

This is somewhat of a false pretense. Someone who plays CCS might never graduate to console/PC gaming, but someone who plays FIFA might, to either FIFA proper or Football manager.

There doesn't have to be a 1:1 correlation for both markets to be healthy and exist.
I also think that anyone who thinks that all mobile gaming can replace consoles is nuts.

No FPS/Diablo/GTA sorta solves that from the jump. There's simply no reason to think that people will stop buying consoles to play those types of experiences.
 
If mobile gaming is the future, then I'll be gaming in the past. Thank god for the backlog.

I think consoles are doing fine though, and even if the dedicated game console market dries up, I imagine PC gaming will still be around longer than most of us.
 
If mobile gaming is the future, then I'll be gaming in the past. Thank god for the backlog.

I think consoles are doing fine though, and even if the dedicated game console market dries up, I imagine PC gaming will still be around longer than most of us.

I think people are getting too binary. If one market starts to dominate that must mean the others are dead or going away.

We could be looking at a future where mobile gaming is the most popular and lucrative force in the gaming industry. That doesn't mean PC and console are just going away. They'll shrink down to a sustainable market and continue on.
 
What do you base this on?

I see little reason for people who primarily game on mobile to graduate to consoles in any notable number.

Just a feeling. There won't be any data to show it really because the thirst for mobile games only just began in the last few years. But in general I don't think its a stretch to say that the proportion of people interested in gaming in general has increased significantly thanks to mobile, that could lead more people to make the jump in a few more years.
 
Absolutely not.

If anything, consoles are becoming even more important to the living room/entertainment landscape.

10 years ago I used my console for games and nothing else. Now I use it to play games (with a recent surge in indie interest alongside the established and still burgeoning AAA), watch on demand TV, watch YouTube, listen to music and so on.
 
I don't think its a stretch to say that the proportion of people interested in gaming in general has increased significantly thanks to mobile, that could lead more people to make the jump in a few more years.

I agree with your first point, but the second point was something Nintendo were banking on with the WiiU and it doesn't seem to have worked out for them.
 
It is not a stupid argument. What are the major advantages of gaming in a console versus a PC? All the past advantages like convenience, quality control, and local Co op are pretty much dead at this point.

The only advantage is the few exclusives throughout the gen that are worth playing. I'll happily give that up to play the best version of every other game that releases.

Hey there buddy. Have you seen mkx on PC? Thanks.
 
The day I can plug my movil device to a TV an play with a controller games with console quality graphics and deep , maybe could cosider mobile games
 
Plug and play
Unified online system
Updates are handled correctly for you
No real hacks to constantly plague online games
Games are guaranteed to run and don't need constant driver updates to improve performance
Tailored performance for hardware
Everyone has the same experience online with the upper hand going to experience and practice, not peripherals and macros
Resell your disk based games
Lending games to friends
Etc.

You're right. Its just exclusives that have the upper hand. Totally just that.
-Plug and play, and wait for all updates/installs that go much slower than PCs

-Unified Online System - PC doesn't do as good of a job in this regard, but just about everyone has a Steam account, so it's not hard to maintain a friend's list.

-No hacks- it still exists on consoles. In fact, the entire console can get hacked and PSN/XBL can go down for days

- Tailored performance - but they still perform worse than PCs, so I don't see how this can be considered a point.

- same online experience. You're really grasping with this one. I've never played a game and felt "man, if only I had a better mouse and a macro, then I would have won"

- Resell disk games: a valid point, but PC games can usually had for much cheaper than console games

- lending games to friends: Steam allows you o share games with friends digitally.

I'm still not seeing anything compelling enough. The industry would be much better without dedicated platforms to play certain games. People should just be able to buy whatever hardware configuration they can afford and not have to worry about exclusives games or game specific exclusive content. Consoles going away enables that.
 
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