The 360, PS3, and Wii are apparently the last succesful generation of consoles

[Queasy]

Link

Alex. St. John, the boss of online gaming network WildTangent, has said that the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii will be looked back upon as the last successful generation of games consoles.

Speaking at the Casual Connect conference in Seattle, as reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, St. John labeled the console market an "extremely fragile business".

?I am going to predict to you that the PS3, the Wii and the Xbox are the last generation of consoles that you either see or that anybody regards as successful in the market,? he said.

St. John made similar remarks in a recent interview with Edge, telling us, ?I?m going to say something heretical now: that old notion of the console wired to the big TV ? its time is up.

?Consider how laptops have changed the market. You have PCs now that can compete graphically with consoles, if not yet with 360 and PS3 then with Wii. So kids can play anywhere, or they plug in a gamepad and plug into a TV for that ?immersive? experience. People in our generation might cling to that idea of the console running BioShock, but laptop gaming is going to dominate the market for this next generation.

?The console era is fading rapidly because graphics are no longer the differentiator: people are looking for other things like community or new types of input.?

What nonsense. First of all, laptops that can compete graphically with the 360 or PS3 or even the Wii cost thousands of dollars. That's not going to change with the next generation of consoles and laptops.

Secondly, we are already seeing communities being developed for the 360 (Live with Avatars) and PS3 (Home) and even the Wii to some degree (Animal Crossing).

And as for new types of input, has he been paying attention to this generation at all? The Wiimote? The Six-axis controller? The motion controller that MS is developing presumably for the next gen.

Consoles will still have their place and be successful because they've evolved greatly already because of online services and different inputs. We'll see even more evolution in the next generation as well.

 

[Aikouka]

I wouldn't listen to a guy whose software I've always considered annoyingware. "Ugh, that stupid software snuck WildTangent onto my PC? Uninstallz FTW"

 

[CKDragon]

Alex. St. John, the boss of online gaming network WildTangent...

What a tool.

 

[AstroManLuca]

That is pretty silly.

 

[mugs]

1. I've never even heard of WildTangent
2. I'm not even sure we can call this generation "successful" at this point considering how much money Sony and Microsoft have lost.
3. PC game sales are a drop in the bucket compared to console game sales, even in traditionally PC genres (FPS). Consoles aren't going anywhere soon, although we may see a change in how much of a loss MS and Sony are willing to take on selling the first year or two worth of consoles.

 

[Queasy]

Originally posted by: mugs
2. I'm not even sure we can call this generation "successful" at this point considering how much money Sony and Microsoft have lost.

As a whole, this generation is doing gangbusters money-wise. A good portion of that is due the Wii obviously but software and accessory sales are through the roof as well.

 

[purbeast0]

wow this guy is so full of fail ...

1. he says we now have PC's that can compete with consoles graphically ... umm it's been that way for QUITE some time now, but actually it's consoles that can't compete with PC's graphically.
2. if anything, the success of the wii going into a completely, untapped gaming market, will make next generation even MORE successful than this one.
3. how the hell can he claim the console era is fading rapidly when the sales of Halo 3 and GTA4 are the biggest launches in console history?

this guy is full of shit.

 

[RandomFool]

Yeah, No.

 

[Kabob]

Yeah, because history has taught us that when something is wildly sucessful 5 times straight it's doomed to fail the 6th...

Methinks WildTangent is upset that no one knows who they are and needs something to get people talking.

*edit* the only way it might be in trouble next time is cost-related. Sony almost doomed themselves this time around with a $600 console. If the console price shot up to $800 or $1000 or the games are $70 or $80 next generation then yeah, sales will suffer horribly but I think (hope) by now that the manufacturers/game developers have figured out what the market is willing to pay.

 

[lupi]

Actually he isn't talking about PCs competing with consoles. He speaking about laptops getting cheaper and able to compete graphically with consoles. With nvidia and ati now also pushing laptop graphic cheaps there has been another round of price drops and performance increases.

I see his point in that a similarly priced laptop could be used for much more and is definitely more portable, but I wouldn't say it's anywhere near as imminent as he says. Which also leads to unannounced technologies that could make the entire discusion moot.

 

[BladeVenom]

Originally posted by: mugs
3. PC game sales are a drop in the bucket compared to console game sales, even in traditionally PC genres (FPS). Consoles aren't going anywhere soon, although we may see a change in how much of a loss MS and Sony are willing to take on selling the first year or two worth of consoles.

PC game sales are as good as any individual console.

 

[sao123]

Originally posted by: Queasy
Link

Alex. St. John, the boss of online gaming network WildTangent, has said that the PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii will be looked back upon as the last successful generation of games consoles.

Speaking at the Casual Connect conference in Seattle, as reported by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, St. John labeled the console market an "extremely fragile business".

?I am going to predict to you that the PS3, the Wii and the Xbox are the last generation of consoles that you either see or that anybody regards as successful in the market,? he said.

St. John made similar remarks in a recent interview with Edge, telling us, ?I?m going to say something heretical now: that old notion of the console wired to the big TV ? its time is up.

?Consider how laptops have changed the market. You have PCs now that can compete graphically with consoles, if not yet with 360 and PS3 then with Wii. So kids can play anywhere, or they plug in a gamepad and plug into a TV for that ?immersive? experience. People in our generation might cling to that idea of the console running BioShock, but laptop gaming is going to dominate the market for this next generation.

?The console era is fading rapidly because graphics are no longer the differentiator: people are looking for other things like community or new types of input.?

What nonsense. First of all, laptops that can compete graphically with the 360 or PS3 or even the Wii cost thousands of dollars. That's not going to change with the next generation of consoles and laptops.

Secondly, we are already seeing communities being developed for the 360 (Live with Avatars) and PS3 (Home) and even the Wii to some degree (Animal Crossing).

And as for new types of input, has he been paying attention to this generation at all? The Wiimote? The Six-axis controller? The motion controller that MS is developing presumably for the next gen.

Consoles will still have their place and be successful because they've evolved greatly already because of online services and different inputs. We'll see even more evolution in the next generation as well.

not to mention... I still want a device where 4 people can gather in 1 room and all collectively play a game together...

Tecmobowl (or insert other respective title here) is far more fun when you can taunt the person at the other end of the couch, than on the other end of the world.


The console will never die. ESPECIALLY THE NES!!!!!

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom

Originally posted by: mugs
3. PC game sales are a drop in the bucket compared to console game sales, even in traditionally PC genres (FPS). Consoles aren't going anywhere soon, although we may see a change in how much of a loss MS and Sony are willing to take on selling the first year or two worth of consoles.

PC game sales are as good as any individual console.

umm, no.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Queasy

Originally posted by: mugs
2. I'm not even sure we can call this generation "successful" at this point considering how much money Sony and Microsoft have lost.

As a whole, this generation is doing gangbusters money-wise. A good portion of that is due the Wii obviously but software and accessory sales are through the roof as well.

Yep. Not to mention they've opened up a whole new avenue to make money, DLC.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom

Originally posted by: mugs
3. PC game sales are a drop in the bucket compared to console game sales, even in traditionally PC genres (FPS). Consoles aren't going anywhere soon, although we may see a change in how much of a loss MS and Sony are willing to take on selling the first year or two worth of consoles.

PC game sales are as good as any individual console.

Hahahahahaha. Oh man, that was a good one.

 

[Jax Omen]

Why? it's true. NPD only counts B&M retail stores. Have you seen the gangbusters of money that Steam has made? how about WoW?

PC game sales probably beat the PS3, honestly.

They're most definitely competetive with any single console.

 

[Yreka]

Originally posted by: mugs
I've never even heard of WildTangent

They made a fun little Diablo clone called "fate".. One of the few online downloads I have actually bothered to purchase on PC, I think it was only 20 bucks or so..

Anyway, yeah they are way out in WTF-ville with the laptop gaming comment.. The "movement" they are talking about is nonexistent and unless something changes ( game worthy lappys for less than $300 would be a start) it isn't going to happen.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Jax Omen
Why? it's true. NPD only counts B&M retail stores. Have you seen the gangbusters of money that Steam has made? how about WoW?

PC game sales probably beat the PS3, honestly.

They're most definitely competetive with any single console.

Was CoD 4 for the PC distributed through a download service? Because NPD says the Xbox 360 version sold over 3 million copies in 2007, while the PC version sold only about 300k. I have a hard time believing that 90% of PC gamers would buy the game through a digital download service.

WoW and its expansions and The Sims and its expansions made up half of the top 10 PC games last year.

 

[Oyeve]

Every 7 years or so there is a "gaming" crash. Console are not going anywhere. I do think that the next gen stuff wont be as sucessful as what we have now. Last gen to this gen was really a huge leap. Prior to that it was small leaps. But going from PS2 to PS3 or Xbox to Xbox 360 was a HUGE leap as say, going from SNES to Nintendo 64 or PS1 to PS2.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: Jax Omen
Why? it's true. NPD only counts B&M retail stores. Have you seen the gangbusters of money that Steam has made? how about WoW?

PC game sales probably beat the PS3, honestly.

They're most definitely competetive with any single console.

Was CoD 4 for the PC distributed through a download service? Because NPD says the Xbox 360 version sold over 3 million copies in 2007, while the PC version sold only about 300k. I have a hard time believing that 90% of PC gamers would buy the game through a digital download service.

WoW and its expansions and The Sims and its expansions made up half of the top 10 PC games last year.

Its one game. I think overall PC game sales worldwide would be close to individual consoles.

 

[Yreka]

I just don't see it. I just dont see the PC digital downloads making up the difference in the NPD numbers

In the arena of video games, console games crush PC games like The Rock pile driving Vince McMahon in a World Wrestling Federation match?only in this case, there's nothing staged...console games outsell their PC counterparts more than two to one in dollar figures....

Console games accounted for $4.2 billion in sales, and PC games grossed $1.9 billion.

I haven't seen the steam, etc numbers so I dont know.. Are they even close to 2 billion ? Or are you guys trying to count like subscription revenue from Wow, EQ, etc ?

reference

 

[Sadaiyappan]

I think the point he is making is that laptops can be played with anywhere and are going to eventually replace desktops. I definately see this happening after a few more generations of video cards. I think most PC gaming will be done on laptops. But the point is the mobility, so he may be right that the ps3 and xbox 360 type consoles may become obsolete but video gaming will not die out, instead it will be replaced by portable consoles like a PSP2 that can connect to the tv when it needs to and be portable when it needs to.

The very thought of a PSP2 that is as powerfull as a PS3 is mind blowing for me.. If they ever come out with a PSP2 that is as powerfull as the ps3 I will get one for sure, and I should point out that the PSP and DS have turned out to be a colossal hit.

 

[Thraxen]

Originally posted by: Inspector Jihad
Its one game. I think overall PC game sales worldwide would be close to individual consoles.

I'm pretty sure this is true. This has been discussed quite a bit over in the PC Gaming forum, but that doesn't change the fact that the entire console market is much bigger than the PC gaming market. Yes, the console market is divided, but there's still a bigger pie to fight for. And, if for some reason, one of the console companies left the market I think you would see more dollars shifting to the remaining companies in the console market than would be shifted to the PC market. I'd also wager that for many gamers, the initial choice for a gaming platform is PC vs Console and if console is chosen then it's a choice between the available consoles. In other words, I don't think the choice is ever PC vs PS3 vs 360 vs Wii for many people. The consoles are different, but each provide a similar overall gaming environment.

 

[Deeko]

Originally posted by: lupi
Actually he isn't talking about PCs competing with consoles. He speaking about laptops getting cheaper and able to compete graphically with consoles. With nvidia and ati now also pushing laptop graphic cheaps there has been another round of price drops and performance increases.

I see his point in that a similarly priced laptop could be used for much more and is definitely more portable, but I wouldn't say it's anywhere near as imminent as he says. Which also leads to unannounced technologies that could make the entire discusion moot.

I just bought a "gaming laptop" from Dell in March. It cost me $1600. It is pretty beefy for a laptop. It can't come close to my PS3 in terms of gaming.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

Originally posted by: Yreka
I just don't see it. I just dont see the PC digital downloads making up the difference in the NPD numbers

In the arena of video games, console games crush PC games like The Rock pile driving Vince McMahon in a World Wrestling Federation match?only in this case, there's nothing staged...console games outsell their PC counterparts more than two to one in dollar figures....

Console games accounted for $4.2 billion in sales, and PC games grossed $1.9 billion.

I haven't seen the steam, etc numbers so I dont know.. Are they even close to 2 billion ? Or are you guys trying to count like subscription revenue from Wow, EQ, etc ?

reference

4.2 for all consoles(even portables??) vs. 1.9 for pc. seems like it stands on its own.