“The console market is in a crisis as the new generation consoles aren’t selling very well when compared with previous generations.”
https://www.guru3d.com/news_story/console_market_is_in_crisis.html
They just need more exclusive titles. People aren’t going to buy a console unless there are enough good games for it to justify the cost.
It’ll get better, but either way, expectations need to change. The age of the millionaire blockbuster game is waning. Gamers want meatier experiences with less flash and sparkle. Minecraft, DayZ and more examples of the Indie “explosion” proved that great production values aren’t strictly necessary to make enjoyable games.
I think this might be the last generation of consoles where you have to buy this single box system and that’s enough. The industry is moving more and more into the multi-device service system. PC gaming is not privy to that either, what with remote streaming technology being improved everyday.
Maybe eventually console manufacturers will stop making consoles and just manufacture multiple devices where you can play any game from any game maker.
edit: btw, for some reason people will always jump to conclusions when a console launch is not exactly a resounding success. MS will not let the Xbone die so soon. The PS4 will get more exclusives. The WiiU is uncertain but will not die until Nintendo says so either.
I just hope this generation of consoles is the last.
Why? I want a legit explanation that is not a selfish “PC gaming is superior” argument.
Because the concept of a console platform doesn’t have anything to offer, I doubt XboxTwo and PS5 will innovate. And a closed system is a bad system.
That only makes sense now tho. The console industry always made a success out of running behind PC technology ever since the Atari 2600, it’s nothing new.
This new console launch period has been slow for other reasons other than lack of innovation. Honestly, that’s one of the lesser reasons. Mobile gaming exploded like no one could predict exactly and that’s not exactly a place where innovation abounds, as well.
The previous generation lasted too long. HD game development (AAA) costs too much and takes too long to make. Marketing cost are off the roof like never before. Independent gaming is gaining more and more traction every day. Valve offers a platform that offers a quality of service that stands unmatched right now and they want to go further. This is what worries console makers right now. The giant is coming from the other side.
Open systems are good but only a minority really cares. I don’t see average playstation joe losing sleep because he can’t mod games on his PS4. He’s probably more pissed off at the fact that there was no PES2014 for PS4. Gamers want games and these new consoles are not getting many right now.
Innovation happens in the background and it’s only relevant when mister CEO of Apple says it’s their brand new innovation.
Like I said, this might be the last generation of consoles as we know them for decades but it’s not the death of them. Not yet.
I also think they will evolve into something not called a “console” anymore, that’s why I said I hope it to be the last in the scheme of things as it has been now for decades (a box under TV with restricted access and options that can’t be replaced or upgraded)
For example. Sony imagines their PS5 to be solely cloud-based, but that’s just their daydreaming, not possible anytime soon, unless they want to loose 80% of customers. Maybe in 20 years…
I couldn’t agree more with you on the mobile part.
Not that much innovation happens within the mobile spheres either, sure, but as you said also, console generations last too long, because the consoles are too expensive to make and it takes a while for the investment to turn into profit. New mobile device on the other hand gets released almost on daily basis, that’s where the success lies. It’s not about the scope of innovation, but the speed of it.
About modding, I think that’s an understatement. More consolists are jelly of mods and would like to tailor a game to their liking could they do so than you think imo. Plenty won’t admit it tho. At least I would be from something like this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1o-ojTM6tCE and that’s just aesthetic improvements, some mods turn a game into another completely.
You talk about average Joe on one hand, yet bring up Valve on another. Even they know how important it is to bring content generation into the hands of customers themselves to greatly reduce their own development costs and to get a profit out of customers selling their own content or even whole games to others.
Just imagine one day possibly (and hopefully) yourself buying a game for $60, but then it’s yours and your own alone and you can do anything with. It comes with editor and other tools and you will have made your own game out of it to sell without any legal BS, the developer/publisher of the said original game will just get 1/3 of the profit and everyone is happy.
Something I forgot to mention. More than an open platform, consoles need an open digital market. That’s where PC gaming shines the most right now. With consoles, if you want to get the latest digital only game, you have no choice but to buy it through Sony or MS’s overpriced digital store.
On PC you are spoiled for choice and great deals run every day. Console makers need to allow that to happen.
Another AAA game (Wither 3) delayed. Not good.
While they’re not the entire problem I do think that consoles are at least part of the reason that the AAA multi million dollar blockbuster video game, where most of the budget goes into stuff other than the actual game, which isn’t sustainable and has been shown to not even turn a profit for the devs 90% of the time. And more often than not it results in mediocre at best games. Also consoles perpetuate paid/timed/overall exclusivity which has no business existing in this day and age with how similar consoles are to PCs now and how close they are to each other. Carmack at his keynote said that this would be the last console gen but I’m interested in seeing how this plays out.
What happens if the next generation of consoles all run OSes like the steam box does, but they all run windows and that version of windows is the most hated yet?
What happens when you stop asking silly questions?
I get bored.
the answer, of course, they will become ordinary PC’s
I think next generation is not the answer, it could happen in the current gen, maybe some talented hacker will just release a custom uefi bootloader for ps4 and xbone so that people can finally boot windows or linux on them
This article is total bullshit.
Nintendo’s wild success with the Wii last generation (and relative failure with the Wii U) has way more to do with these numbers than any “shift” in the market or “competition from mobile devices.”
Meanwhile, the PS4 and Xbox One are greatly outpacing their predecessors over the same period of time. The Xbox One already surpassed the first year’s sales of the 360 in just six months, and the PS4 is doing even better (significantly so)!
The only people who should be worried are fans of Nintendo’s console games. There is a lot of bad news there.
The console market that most core gamers care about isn’t going anywhere but up, and the fact that mobile games are doing so well is pretty incidental. The Wii makes the numbers look way worse than they are.