Pachter on why consoles are becoming obsolete

[marurun]

Honestly, if the Nintendo NX does indeed run on an Android base, it'll probably be as Android as Amazon's Kindle Fire OS, meaning it won't be like stock Android at all. It'll probably be some core libraries at best, meaning that 3rd party titles will be easy to port to phones and other devices, but Nintendo can keep their prize characters NX only.

[Cronozilla]

I know people are mostly familiar with Android as a mobile operating system, but they should be aware that it's a complete Linux distribution and can be modified in all the same ways to support any hardware a manufacturer wishes to support.

[Erik_Twice]

Consoles will exist for as long as there's a need for dedicated gaming hardware. You cannot run Grand Theft Auto V or The Witcher 3 on a phone and I doubt it will be any different for their 2018 equivalents.

It's also extremely naïve to think that a decrease in console sales must be caused by their obsolescence as a product while ignoring the huge economic crisis and unemployment rates and the fact that PC gaming is far more popular now than it was during the previous generation.

Yeah I mean it's commonplace now for people to use an Xbox 360 controller on a PC.

That's mostly a result of PC ports having been terrible for an extremely long time and Microsoft's periphelials being actually quite good.

[isiolia]

That's mostly a result of PC ports having been terrible for an extremely long time and Microsoft's periphelials being actually quite good.

I wouldn't necessarily point at the common inclusion of XInput as a symptom of terrible PC ports. 360 (and XBox One) controllers wind up being nice in large part due to that, I think. The hardware is nice too, but I don't think nearly as many people would use them if they had to jump through a lot of hoops to do so. The near-universal, seamless support in newer titles is a big factor.

[CFFJR]

Nintendo has shut down the android rumor:

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2015/06/02/ ... y-says-no/

[Tanooki]

Well if that's not just a way for them to pull attention away, it would show them not being smart once again. They need to do something, their out of date stand alone console model is killing them.

[MrEco]

It's also extremely naïve to think that a decrease in console sales must be caused by their obsolescence as a product while ignoring the huge economic crisis and unemployment rates and the fact that PC gaming is far more popular now than it was during the previous generation.

Exactly what I was thinking.

And even if phone/tablet sales are going up, I don't see how it's at all fair to say "look, this is evidence that people are willing to game on their phones/tablets." None of us know what every person buying one of those products is buying it for. Lot's of people buy phones just to use them as phones and never do anything else with them, a lot of people use tablets for internet browsing or to read books. There's nothing to actually suggest that gamers are going out and choosing to buy tablets or phones over traditional gaming consoles and PC's.

And also this discussion seems to be ignoring one crucial point. The majority does not decide what there is a market for. There's always going to be a market for dedicated gaming hardware as long as there are gaming enthusiasts who want to buy the most powerful hardware with the best user interfaces in order to play video games on their big TV's with all the other perks that comes along with such a setup. Even if that market somehow ends up falling behind and becomes more niche, and the phone gaming market becomes mainstream, it will still always be there.

[isiolia]

And even if phone/tablet sales are going up, I don't see how it's at all fair to say "look, this is evidence that people are willing to game on their phones/tablets." None of us know what every person buying one of those products is buying it for. Lot's of people buy phones just to use them as phones and never do anything else with them, a lot of people use tablets for internet browsing or to read books. There's nothing to actually suggest that gamers are going out and choosing to buy tablets or phones over traditional gaming consoles and PC's.

The greater evidence is likely seen in what people haven't been buying as many of. People are taking -tons- of pictures every day, but quite a lot of them are with their phone, right? For all the buzzwordiness of "selfies", Canon or Nikon or whoever aren't making bank selling $99 cameras for the purpose. Or, as you mentioned, people are using tablets to read books - which means they aren't buying print books, just like the internet/etc has cut into magazine sales, Netflix and streaming strangled Blockbuster, etc.

The niche market will remain, obviously. I think the questioning continued demand for consoles might be warranted. The enthusiast crowd will have PCs, just like they have now. For the middle road, stand alone Android boxes or whatnot - like we already have - would likely make more sense.

I think we're seeing the industry realization and reaction to that already, with all the Skylanders/Infinity/Amiibo/etc type stuff. Massive, massive profit margins on physical merchandise to put in stores, for the folks who gravitate to that.

What may serve to create/maintain a gap is if VR actually takes off, given the level of power needed to make it good.

[Cronozilla]

To be fair in all those examples, the digital option offered better value. Those industries refused to adjust to emerging competition that was a legitimate alternative to their products. They were arrogant about their markets.

I think the main danger would be how analysts react to the non-core market choosing mobile over console. They're not users that are particularly in it for the games, they just inflate sales numbers.

People who want video games are still going to buy these machines. I doubt that'll change ... as long as they're offered.

[noiseredux]

I think the main danger would be how analysts react to the non-core market choosing mobile over console. They're not users that are particularly in it for the games, they just inflate sales numbers.

this is a fair point.

People who want video games are still going to buy these machines. I doubt that'll change ... as long as they're offered.

This is the part I'm not so sure about. I'm certainly not the first gamer I've heard "this generation" say that they were done w/ consoles and would be shifting attention to PC. Certainly I've heard others on this forum echo my feelings that consoles are becoming an antiquated notion. Though admit, this is all anecdotal.

I also admit that referring to anything as "antiquated" on a retro gaming forum is kind of funny.