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What is the definition of a dead console?

hongcha

Member
While the title of this thread may seem obvious or silly upon first glance, I think it warrants a discussion, for reasons I will make clear below.

I see a lot of people talking about one of the consoles currently in production being "dead", but what are they referring to specifically? Is there an agreed upon definition? There are at least 4 possible things "dead" is referring to:

A)Poor hardware sales.
B)Poor software sales.
C)Companies stop making officially licensed games for it.
D)Hardware production is discontinued.

For me, A) and B) do not mean a console is dead, but C) and D) definitely do, and for gamers C) means it even more than D). Is this generally what other people here think? I get the feeling a lot people are going by A) or B) alone. I think those more clearly indicate a struggling or under-performing console than a dead one. We might want to use the term "moribund" to describe some (but perhaps not all) such situations. "Moribund" means something is in the process of dying out, but is not dead yet.

Just trying to clarify and disambiguate.

Any thoughts?
 

Blablurn

Member
VITA.

Seriously though: A console that nobody is buying it and no company is developing for. I guess thats a dead plattform.
 
An ambulance siren.


In all seriousness, I consider a console dead when no more new officially licensed software is released for it.
 

ohlawd

Member
shit hardware sales
shit software sales
shit games
shit price
shit at not being on a shelf in a store
shit at living

shit

real talk doe if my homeboi console ain't sellin' and nobody buyin' then dat means dat shit der is a dun deal yessir. plan da funeral cuz its a hard knock life out der for a dead console
 

NMFried

Member
Advertising can be a big influence, especially the further a system gets from it's launch.

I'd also definitely agree with poor software/hardware sales, as well as an attachment rate with certain software.
 

Valnen

Member
A console that has ceased getting new games for it and has ceased production.

So PS2 is the most recent to die.
 

Cosmonaut

Member
C and D.

For me as a consumer, I don't care about hardware or software sales. It's when companies no longer support the console or when the manufacturer ceases production that it's truly dead.

And please stop with the Vita is doomed talk. I mean we already know. Let the damn console die in peace :(
 
wk6HIhn.png
 

Terra

Member
A console that has ceased getting new games for it and has ceased production.

So PS2 is the most recent to die.

But how about the homebrew scene? There is quite an active hb-community for both PS2 and Wii. Two machines that third-party and first-party support wise can be counted as dead. (Give the Wii another six months)
 

JordanN

Banned
Discontinued or being close to it.

I don't view a console that has bad sales/support as being dead but more of a zombie (although if the support is really abysmal then I'm somewhat prompted to say it's dead).
 

Valnen

Member
But how about the homebrew scene? There is quite an active hb-community for both PS2 and Wii. Two machines that third-party and first-party support wise can be counted as dead. (Give the Wii another six months)

I don't really count homebrew as it requires the console to be modified in some way.

Still bitter I bricked my Wii with a bunch of event pokemon in My Pokemon Ranch stored on it...
 

GavinGT

Banned
Vita isn't dead yet. It's more akin to a cancer patient who's been given a few months or a perhaps a year to live.
 
But how about the homebrew scene? There is quite an active hb-community for both PS2 and Wii. Two machines that third-party and first-party support wise can be counted as dead. (Give the Wii another six months)

There are games that have been developed for the Dreamcast recently, yet I would consider the Dreamcast to be long dead.

When the console manufacturer refuses to license new games for the console, it means that they have COMPLETELY abandoned the system.
 

surly

Banned
D)Hardware production is discontinued.
To me, it's that and that only.

In the case of the Vita, it's still being made and it's still selling, so how can it be "dead"? Selling pretty poorly, sure, but it's not dead.

I remember people saying similar things about the PS3 when that first came out, but it's done alright in the end, so I think people often jump the gun with this kind of thing. "Dead" should be reserved for something that ain't got a chance of coming back to life IMO.
 

zeopower6

Member
Unfortunately, the VITA simply lacks a library atm in both the west and in Japan. It'll find it's legs soon, I think.

PS2 is probably the last dead console but it died a very slow death. It was still selling a million a year, I believe even in the last 5 years or so.
 

clem84

Gold Member
A console for which games are no longer being made, officially licensed or otherwise. That's my definition. The PS2 is not dead. Neither is the Dreamcast.


.
 

Mr Nash

square pies = communism
My definition: Software is no longer being developed for it through official channels, and hardware manufacturing has ceased.
 
When software stops coming to the platform, specifically software that also helps the platform increase it's sales and not only appeals to the crowd that already owns it.
 

gsurfer04

Neo Member
N-Gage? I forgot that even existed. The PS2 never had a quick downfall because of the rubbish licensed games being chucked out for it.
 
I wouldn't say a console ever dies (with a few exceptions). To me, a product dies when it shows no interest to anybody. However, we still have gamers enjoying their NES (speedrunning or not), or their DreamCast because... well it's the DC, guys. I'd be more skeptical about things like Nomad, NGage, Lynx, Jaguar.

All in all, if you still have a community that makes the support live, I wouldn't say a console dies.
 

Into

Member
When it is no longer in production, and no new games are being released for it. So yeah I consider the PS2 to have been alive all these years
 

Terra

Member
The PS2 never had a quick downfall because of the rubbish licensed games being chucked out for it.

Among these 'rubbish licensed games' and random racers, casual games (that attracted hordes of casual gamers) was a core of magical games that satisfied the hard core gamers. It was the magical formula that sold 170 million units and 1.6 BILLION games.
 

gsurfer04

Neo Member
According to Wikipedia, there have been three games released for PS2 in 2012: Major League Baseball 2K12, FIFA13 and Pro Evolution Soccer 2013.
 
Ironically, recently (as in the last four week or so) the Vita has been getting far more games (admittedly on EU PSN, so they're stuff that was delayed because Sony of Europe are idiots. Still, there were four releases this week alone, mostly from XSEED) than the Nintendo 3DS (which had, err... one eShop game)
 

FyreWulff

Member
Commercially dead: when it's no longer being actively restocked at retailers and no longer being manufactured.

Lifespan dead: When no new games are coming out for it.

Dead by execution: When the manufacturer kills the console suddenly at the end of it's run even if it's selling decently.


Lifespan dead: NES
Commercially dead: Dreamcast
Executed: GBA, Xbox 1
 

knitoe

Member
Figuratively, it's when the major 1st party release are release their new device. Or, literally, it's when the console are no longer being made. As a HC gamer, the first is more accurate.
 
The N64 is a good example. While I would still buy new games for that system if they were available, I'm not holding my breath. I have been waiting for Metroid 64 for a very long time though and just have about given up on it. :(
 
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