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[Obliterator]

Isn't that the definition of a niche?

Where have I said consoles aren't niche Queso

Maybe he's interpreting "shrinking market" as "collapsing market" for some reason.

No there are posts and articles everywhere on the Internet declaring console gaming is doomed. They aren't difficult to find. I'm arguin against that idea for at least the next 10 years or so

 

[SparkTR]

I think the open platforms are going to last a lot longer than the dedicated platforms.

I think the biggest difference there is that open platforms have no single manufacturer that can dictate whether it lives or dies. Microsoft could refocus the xbox as a service that's divorced from a single console and end dedicated console development for their platform as we know it today, or sales might not pick up for Nintendo forcing them to exit dedicated hardware whether developers like it or not. But no single entity has that kind of power on mobile or PC.

 

[Captain Tuttle]

I dont want to sound like an old man but this new generation is a failure. From the cartoons kids watch today to bullshit like this. The generation born in the 80's and early 90's were the best. Those generations appreciated quality.

You should hear what those of us born in the late 60's and early 70's say about you guys

 

[StereoVsn]

That makes sense to me. My daughter is 3 and I let her play educational games on my iPad. My friends' kids all play on parents smartphones (kids are 3-6, phones are mostly iPhone) or on tablets. Some have their own iPads or iPhone (older iPads and older iPhones locked to WiFi only).

My daughter is too young to quite grasp physical controls just yet but I am sure in a year or two I'll give her a 3DS.. And probably my wife's Mini retina (to be replaced by then).

Think about it, kids get say 4-5 games a year as presents. That's equivalent to $200-300 in iTunes or Google Play money (or more due to sales) and this will go a long way for a kid doing mostly F2P. Oh and unlike SE or Capcom, Disney updates their apps.

Actually Disney is pretty good with this as their F2P is just purchasing the game or portions of the game vs regular F2P shenanigans.

Also due to phone/tablet upgrade cycles a lot of people have older phones or tablets which can play games just fine.

 

[alterno69]

My 9 year old son soends a lot of time on his ipad, but he also plays on Xbox One and WiiU.

He also spent $500usd on a free to play ipad game this month 😓

Spoiler

which apple was nice to return once i realised it, he also lost his ipad for the next two months 😂

 

[CosmicQueso]

You should hear what those of us born in the late 60's and early 70's say about you guys

Born in the 80's = old man? What.

Kids these days thinking they're old, amirite?

 

[StoppedInTracks]

Generally they tend to play relatively simple games where the relationship between their touch motions and what's happening on screen is very intuitive.

Like Angry Birds is actually a pretty good example and I've heard people I know with kids in that age range say they've play it.

Girls <2 years old usually play Dress up a Barbie/ Pet Doctor/ Baby Doctor/ Fashion Show/ Colouring Book type of games. They are really great for touch screens. Of course they have IAP up the ass

Angry Birds is kind of hard and they keep launching the birds in the opposite direction, lol, into the woods.

 

[sörine]

I think the biggest difference there is that open platforms have no single manufacturer that can dictate whether it lives or dies. Microsoft could refocus the xbox as a service that's divorced from a single console and end dedicated console development for their platform as we know it today, or sales might not pick up for Nintendo forcing them to exit dedicated hardware whether developers like it or not. But no single entity has that kind of power on mobile or PC.

iOS isn't an open platform though. It's very much a walled garden and not really that different from how consoles operate in that sense. Lucky for Apple it's a phone/tablet first and a game player second.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I'm thinking this is something that will have its ebbs and flows. The next gen if gamers will eventually grow up and mature to a point where they want the developed systems and want to relax and play a real game with precise controls. I suspect the next gen of consoles, or the one after that will experience a huge Renaissance.

 

[Coffee Dog]

I'm thinking this is something that will have its ebbs and flows. The next gen if gamers will eventually grow up and mature to a point where they want the developed systems and want to relax and play a real game with precise controls. I suspect the next gen of consoles, or the one after that will experience a huge Renaissance.

I don't see this happening in anywhere near large enough numbers to have a huge impact. The availability of music and camera functionality surely spurs interest and turns passionate folk towards dedicated devices for those functions, but not enough to make those devices anything other than an enthusiast niche.

The market will surely not die out, but it's definitely past its peak.

 

[KingJ2002]

not surprisng since everyone has a cell phone or tablet.

and there's so many F2P titles that it becomes easy.

but of course there's still a future traditional console in the home space... i just think that the current consoles and their pricing tiers just don't support that future.

 

[ZhugeEX]

It's pretty logical PC would take a bigger hit. Mobile and consoles are still way more simple to use.

In term of future gaming user base, Mobile > Consoles > PC.

Dedicated handheld consoles are dead though.

You mean-

Mobile > PC > Console.

 

[Rocky]

not surprisng since everyone has a cell phone or tablet.

and there's so many F2P titles that it becomes easy.

but of course there's still a future traditional console in the home space... i just think that the current consoles and their pricing tiers just don't support that future.

Not to mention that these days schools actually issue ipads to students. At least the schools my niece and nephew go to do. They aren't allowed to take them home, but they can mess around on them if they get their work done.

 

[ZhugeEX]

Yep exactly. The middle tier of the industry has totally collapsed. Its either massive 300+ staff teams or tiny indie studios. The entire "middle class" of the industry has dissappeared. That and publishers are very risk adverse due to the costs now days and are making "safe" titles in established genres or franchises. For example why open world games are all the rage currently

I've been saying for a while that if indies/smaller studios are smart then they can make a killing releasing console/pc games and effectively becoming the new "mid tier" which left at the end of the last decade.

That being said we'll never see the same number of big physical releases on console again as the number of games coming out will continue to decrease and we'll start to see studios focus on big core titles that generate high revenue. As you say, there is a reason why Open World is king, it's a safe bet.

 

[Trogdor1123]

I don't see this happening in anywhere near large enough numbers to have a huge impact. The availability of music and camera functionality surely spurs interest and turns passionate folk towards dedicated devices for those functions, but not enough to make those devices anything other than an enthusiast niche.

The market will surely not die out, but it's definitely past its peak.

Maybe, I just think that games and gamers will mature. I could easily be wrong but I think more people will grow to see mobile games as a distraction rather than a hobby.

 

[StevieP]

Maybe, I just think that games and gamers will mature. I could easily be wrong but I think more people will grow to see mobile games as a distraction rather than a hobby.

In the past, a child would received a half busted old Nintendo handheld or if they were a lucky, whichever console at the time had the games they wanted first or second (or third) hand. Hence, they grew up (like many on this forum) engrossed in the traditional market and more likely to continue to support it.

Today, vastly more kids are growing up on smart devices. So, what the heck do you folks think they will do? Magically transform to a market they have had little or no exposure to, with far more expensive games, just because? No... they're starting out in a different place.

We view games as a hobby. The mass market views games as a distraction. That's why mobile has encroached onto all traditional markets.

There are vastly more gamers than there were even a decade ago. They're just playing games where they find the grass greener.

 

[ZhugeEX]

There are vastly more gamers than there were even a decade ago. They're just playing games where they find the grass greener.

 

[Kolx]

This just prove that 1-year-old are the most hardcore children.

 

[Trouble]

RIP consoles. Also RIP NPD.

NPD does sales numbers for a lot more things than consoles/games. They'll be fine as long as brick and mortar retail remains a thing.

 

[Melchiah]

RIP consoles. Also RIP NPD.

Seems like PC gaming is heading to the grave quicker among the younger folk.

On the flip side, 45 percent of kids use a home PC for gaming, a drop of 22 points since 2013. The decline is most prominent among children ages 2 to 5. Video game consoles are also losing ground -- used by 60 percent of kids surveyed compared with 67 percent in 2013.

 

[zeroroute]

I'm sorry but I don't see one mobile game that brings me any interest compared to console games. Not one.

Grab Cytus, thank me later.

 

[Macrotus]

I'm sorry but I don't see one mobile game that brings me any interest compared to console games. Not one.

I personally enjoyed Puzzle & Dragons and Monster Strike.
But those aren't anywhere close to console and PC gaming, regarding a game having "depth", so mobile gaming would never replace the enjoyment of PC/console gaming for me.
For example, imagine MGSV's gameplay. It uses all the buttons and stuff on the controller and lets you do so many things. Same for some other games.
You can't make those type of games on a touch screen.
And especially when it comes to action games, displaying buttons and a d-pad on a touch screen isn't gonna work, thus you can't implement various controls.
I've tried it with Square Enix's Seiken Densetsu remake on mobile and also every sequel of Metal Slug. It was just a horrible experience.

But I do also wonder, if consoles/handhelds were to disappear, I wonder how Nintendo would release a Mario game on a touch screen without a physical d-pad and buttons.
Because I have slight hope that they'll come up with a genius way to over come this.

 

[Langdon Alger]

First Japan abandons consoles and now this. As someone who likes console and PC games, the future's so dark I have to wear...night vision goggles or something.

 

[chiimisu]

Like I said in the Vita thread - kind of sad, but still very expected. The only reason my 12 years-old sister is aware of stuff like Kirby and Sonic is because she's seen me playing them growing up. The same could be said about 3DS/consoles in general. She plays her smartphone all the time and watches Minecraft videos on it instead. The times has changed, but it's not necessarily a bad thing. Why being different is bad? It's like saying "Oh they don't do 2d animation like Disney anymore" ignoring all the great animation of past years. There will always be enthusiasts so don't worry about gaming as we know it ending. And the library of past generations is still enough to supply you with great games 'till the rest of your life

Spoiler

considering you have any life outside gaming at all

.

 

[gabagool]

How is a two year old a valid demographic for video games? They'll slap their dumb baby hands on anything you give them.

 

[ZhugeEX]

How is a two year old a valid demographic for video games? They'll slap their dumb baby hands on anything you give them.

Exactly......

 

[CrunchyFrog]

 

[Haunted]

edit: ayy crunchyfrog

 

[Breraa]

Younglings now get their first taste of gaming on tablets and phones but let's be honest, as soon as they're old enough, they'll move to consoles and PC.

Mobile is replacing gameboys not consoles.

If anything more kids are being exposed to gaming through inexpensive phones while before it was just the well off.

For instance, I didn't get a games console till I was 11, my nephew was playing on my brothers phone aged 18 months.

 

[ZhugeEX]

Man, there is a simpsons quote for everything!

 

[Sandfox]

How is a two year old a valid demographic for video games? They'll slap their dumb baby hands on anything you give them.

That doesn't really mean that the parents are giving them just anything.

Younglings now get their first taste of gaming on tablets and phones but let's be honest, as soon as they're old enough, they'll move to consoles and PC.

Mobile is replacing gameboys not consoles.

If anything more kids are being exposed to gaming through inexpensive phones while before it was just the well off.

For instance, I didn't get a games console till I was 11, my nephew was playing on my brothers phone aged 18 months.

I don't really see that happening too much unless mobile just fails to deliver on content for older people.

 

[ZhugeEX]

I don't really see that happening too much unless mobile just fails to deliver on content for older people.

I can see it happening because right now a lot of big franchises and game types are still on console/pc and mobile hasn't been able to dig too deeply into the audience that wants to play that type of big screen content like it has with dedicated handheld gaming for example.

But in 5, 10, 15 years? Who knows? If Mobile is able to replicate that content or publishers decide to give up on consoles due to dwindling userbase/sales then we could see mobile or the next big thing takeover whilst traditional console becomes even more of a niche. (And it already is a niche)

We already have plenty of evidence which shows that family/kid friendly games still sell better on last gen compared to next gen and we already have companies like Activision bringing games like Disney Infinity to mobile etc... So if consoles fail to appeal to youngsters this gen then more and more publishers will move their kid friendly games to the platform where kids will migrate to. At the moment that's Mobile and not PS4/XB1. So Sony/MS/Nintendo need to bring over the family audience this gen, that's not going to happen at $399 right now.

 

[Sandfox]

I can see it happening because right now a lot of big franchises and game types are still on console/pc and mobile hasn't been able to dig too deeply into the audience that wants to play that type of big screen content like it has with dedicated handheld gaming for example.

But in 5, 10, 15 years? Who knows? If Mobile is able to replicate that content or publishers decide to give up on consoles due to dwindling userbase/sales then we could see mobile or the next big thing takeover whilst traditional console becomes even more of a niche. (And it already is a niche)

We already have plenty of evidence which shows that family/kid friendly games still sell better on last gen compared to next gen and we already have companies like Activision bringing games like Disney Infinity to mobile etc... So if consoles fail to appeal to youngsters this gen then more and more publishers will move their kid friendly games to the platform where kids will migrate to. At the moment that's Mobile and not PS4/XB1. So Sony/MS/Nintendo need to bring over the family audience this gen, that's not going to happen at $399 right now.

Yeah, I was talking about when the young kids grow up in a decade or so in addition that a lot of the people playing mobile games as kids now probably won't become anything more than the people that just play games like Candy Crush.That's a long time from now though so we'll just have wait and see how things develop.

 

[Renekton]

Yep exactly. The middle tier of the industry has totally collapsed. Its either massive 300+ staff teams or tiny indie studios. The entire "middle class" of the industry has dissappeared. That and publishers are very risk adverse due to the costs now days and are making "safe" titles in established genres or franchises. For example why open world games are all the rage currently

Midtiers have to fight with discounted yesteryear AAAs like Black Flag, Witcher 2 or Skyrim.

 

[mckmas8808]

I don't really see that happening too much unless mobile just fails to deliver on content for older people.

This is what I'm betting, because mobile literally CAN'T deliver all the experiences that consoles and PCs can.