Game Consoles Are Dying: A GDC Talk

[Menegrothx]

So you're saying that you're unwilling to purchase a console unless there are X games you want to play on it?

Whats the point of buying a console if there are no games to play with it? Atari 2600 woodgrain model, FZ-1 3DO and Model 1 Mega/Sega CD with Model 1 Genny/Mega Drive sure look nice but I wouldnt want to buy them just so they could look nice on the shelf.

I dont think its unreasonable to wait untill there are enough playable games before you purchase a system. In some cases early adapters got inferioir models, like the overheating first PS1 and Xbox 360 models, red ring of death etc. Some times it takes time with technology before it becomes viable. Thats why manufacturers should make sure they got a good launch date line up of games before releasing their console.

[MrPopo]

Extremely relevant. It ties back in to my point of buying less games at a time. Unless you require something on the order of 50 games to make a console purchase worthwhile then I find it very hard to believe that you can't spread the library's purchases over the lifetime of a console.

It's irrelevant because when I was buying for consoles, I wouldn't buy even used games all at once. I don't think anyone does, except maybe rich Microsoft IT guys.

It's relevant because I'm positing you can buy one game in year one, one game in year two, up to your fifth game in year five. If buying one $60 game a year breaks the bank for you then you weren't really contributing in the first place, so I don't see losing you as a loss.

You are saying that everyone who currently buys used would stop buying altogether, instead of buying new.

No, that's not what I'm saying. Try to read better.[/quote]
So then the people who buy used will start buying new? Isn't that my entire point? Either they start buying new or they don't, if used sales don't exist.

And I noticed that everyone is ignoring my willingness to meet you halfway by saying that new games today are too expensive, so let's cut prices and remove used sales entirely.

[Phades]

And I noticed that everyone is ignoring my willingness to meet you halfway by saying that new games today are too expensive, so let's cut prices and remove used sales entirely.

I'm on board

[MrPopo]

And I noticed that everyone is ignoring my willingness to meet you halfway by saying that new games today are too expensive, so let's cut prices and remove used sales entirely.

I'm on board

My suspicion is that a certain segment of people who defend used game sales today care less about a specific price point ($60 is too much, but $30 is ok) and care more about paying less than retail.

[dsheinem]

I don't think anyone does, except maybe rich Microsoft IT guys.

Thanks for helping turn an interesting discussion about the impact of mobile gaming and its effect on console-profits into a platform for rehashing the used games debates and launching ad hominem attacks. I'd a bit surprised that you went down this road...

[Flake]

I can't believe you and I are agreeing on something.

I know, right? This would be a great time to buy a lottery ticket. You have a good point, though. Gamers expect a degree of utility from their gaming device - for instance, I gambled that the 3DS would have enough software to warrant my early adoption. I was wrong and feel I wasted a large amount of money. In this case, I should have used your strategy.

This is not an uncommon scenario in our hobby.

My suspicion is that a certain segment of people who defend used game sales today care less about a specific price point ($60 is too much, but $30 is ok) and care more about paying less than retail.

Your suspicion is wrong. People do not care about 'beating the system'. They only care about the perceived value of the product compared to the opportunity cost they incur in purchasing it. With so much choice and variety out there, the opportunity cost of buying that new $60 AAA title (that will be in the bargain bin in two months) is far too high.

@Dsh - you cannot divorce the cost of video games from the current circumstances the industry finds itself in. It all stems from the arbitrary MSRP on each and every unit.

[dsheinem]

@Dsh - you cannot divorce the cost of video games from the current circumstances the industry finds itself in. It all stems from the arbitrary MSRP on each and every unit.

I never said otherwise, but the video is looking at things from a different perspective - one that's not this same old "used game sales/DRM/DLC/etc." argument. I have never said I agree with the points that the video makes (I am still mulling them over, tbh), but I was hoping the discussion could be about the points raised in the video. It focuses on the similarities and differences between consoles and other platforms that were on their way out, the idea of disruptive technology, the role of new money in games historically, etc. (Granted, the video doesn't take into account things like the cost of running/playing arcade machines, movie admission prices, etc. - but I don't know that it needed to to make its particular point).

[Menegrothx]

And I noticed that everyone is ignoring my willingness to meet you halfway by saying that new games today are too expensive, so let's cut prices and remove used sales entirely.

Good idea, but are you talking about single player too and how would that be implemented? Console specific lockout on every individual game? That would mean that you couldnt lend games, take a game over to a friends house and that you wouldnt be able to to collect games for old consoles in the future.

new $60 AAA title (that will be in the bargain bin in two months) is far too high.

AAA titles, esp by Nintendo, hold up their value pretty well. After finding a copy of BioShock 2 brand new for 8,5 euros at my local store half a year a go, Ive been regularly scouting that store with out buying anything, trying to keep an eye out for things like that. Maybe if youre lucky, some titles have dropped from 60 euros to 50, but nothing major like that. Some wii games have retained their price for years like non players choice editions of Super Mario Galaxy and Twilight princess

[Flake]

AAA titles, esp by Nintendo, hold up their value pretty well. After finding a copy of BioShock 2 brand new for 8,5 euros at my local store half a year a go, Ive been regularly scouting that store with out buying anything, trying to keep an eye out for things like that.

Nintendo games always have to be treated separately. They hold their value like nothing else in this world

@Dsh - I would propose that Mr. Cousin's argument is flawed. I think the very fact that, once again, we are arguing about pricing is significant. Pricing must be pertinent to the issue if we never seem to move away from it.

[dsheinem]

[@Dsh - I would propose that Mr. Cousin's argument is flawed. I think the very fact that, once again, we are arguing about pricing is significant. Pricing must be pertinent to the issue if we never seem to move away from it.

Let's put aside the fact that he no one can really address every part of an argument as complex as "why consoles are going to continue to lose significant market share" in 25 minutes. Of course he leaves things out that are worth considering. For me, that's not the point. I also don't care much, at this point, about the validity of his conclusion.

What I DO appreciate, and what does intrigue me is that he adds some new wrinkles to a stale debate. I'd just like to think we could talk more about those wrinkles, those specific parts of his argument, rather than say that they have no merit because the conclusion doesn't take into account contingency X or Y.