Predictions about the Death of Consoles

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VideoGameCritic
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Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 19th, 2018, 8:45 pm

I found this amusing:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/01/ ... than-ever/

Never trust the media "experts" when it comes to video games.

Let's face it - WE'RE the real experts.

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scotland
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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby scotland » January 19th, 2018, 10:40 pm

I thought I read the Nintendo Switch has boosted console sales in Japan notably.

The allure of playing on your 65" tv seems to quite strong. Thats something, large relatively inexpensive tvs, that may have changed the slide to computers. It may also be that the lifespan of these consoles seems to be so long. The last generation lasted how long? That helps consumers feel confident in their investment.

The 'death of consoles' stuff makes me pesimisstic on VR. People want to play games on their couch or easy chair, not standing up with googles on in some large open space.

I hope portables prove to be as strong as consoles. The success of the Switch may have doomed any true 3DS successor.

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Atarifever
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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby Atarifever » January 20th, 2018, 5:15 am

scotland wrote: It may also be that the lifespan of these consoles seems to be so long. The last generation lasted how long? That helps consumers feel confident in their investment.

Yes. Exactly. Most of the time "experts" in gaming media argue about when a console cycle lasts "too long." They then say that leads to lost customer interest. I have always felt the reverse is true 100% of the time. The point of buying a console instead of a PC (or nothing at all) is to just play videogmes easily and with fewer hardware purchases necessary over time. There also seem to be sweet spots in price of consoles, number of used or sale priced games out, and second and third wave programmed games that leads to the biggest sales and impact. I think this is just about price point and game selection. Seeing going back to a higher hardware price and less, but more expensive, games as a desirable situation I think points to how out of touch most of the games media is with game customers.

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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby DaHeckIzDat » January 20th, 2018, 2:47 pm

We heard those same predictions about paper books when the Kindle came out, and look where those went.

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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby Atarifever » January 20th, 2018, 5:31 pm

DaHeckIzDat wrote:We heard those same predictions about paper books when the Kindle came out, and look where those went.

I need a like button just for this post. :)

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scotland
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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby scotland » January 26th, 2018, 6:12 am

Atarifever wrote:
DaHeckIzDat wrote:We heard those same predictions about paper books when the Kindle came out, and look where those went.

I need a like button just for this post. :)


Came across this stat, in articles as both Walmart and Apple seek marketshare in ebooks.
For America, ebooks are 17% of the book market, at 490 million ebooks sold. Five yeats ago, it peaked at 23% of the market, bjt its been slipping since.

As I get older, ebooks gain value for being easier to read. It also helps niche books see the digital light of day. I also buy them for kids, and as a parent, this mode of buyj g bokks has a lot to say for it. However, I also enjoy libraries and book stores, new and used. So, I am happy with a healthy mix of physical and digital bokks seem to be at.

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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby DaHeckIzDat » January 26th, 2018, 10:09 am

scotland wrote:
Atarifever wrote:
DaHeckIzDat wrote:We heard those same predictions about paper books when the Kindle came out, and look where those went.

I need a like button just for this post. :)


Came across this stat, in articles as both Walmart and Apple seek marketshare in ebooks.
For America, ebooks are 17% of the book market, at 490 million ebooks sold. Five yeats ago, it peaked at 23% of the market, bjt its been slipping since.

As I get older, ebooks gain value for being easier to read. It also helps niche books see the digital light of day. I also buy them for kids, and as a parent, this mode of buyj g bokks has a lot to say for it. However, I also enjoy libraries and book stores, new and used. So, I am happy with a healthy mix of physical and digital bokks seem to be at.

Exactly. Ebooks are definitely a legitimate market nowadays, but they didn't bring about the death of paper books like a lot of people were worried about.

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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 26th, 2018, 8:13 pm

What annoys me about experts is how they see a trend and assume it will just continue until it reaches 100%. Sometimes I wonder if these video game experts even play games.

VR is another one of those trends. Personally I don't think it's going to take hold, but I don't think there's anything wrong with being a niche market.

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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby Atarifever » January 26th, 2018, 9:03 pm

DaHeckIzDat wrote:
scotland wrote:
Atarifever wrote:I need a like button just for this post. :)


Came across this stat, in articles as both Walmart and Apple seek marketshare in ebooks.
For America, ebooks are 17% of the book market, at 490 million ebooks sold. Five yeats ago, it peaked at 23% of the market, bjt its been slipping since.

As I get older, ebooks gain value for being easier to read. It also helps niche books see the digital light of day. I also buy them for kids, and as a parent, this mode of buyj g bokks has a lot to say for it. However, I also enjoy libraries and book stores, new and used. So, I am happy with a healthy mix of physical and digital bokks seem to be at.

Exactly. Ebooks are definitely a legitimate market nowadays, but they didn't bring about the death of paper books like a lot of people were worried about.


One really good theory (supported by market survey data) is that with people spending so much time on screens, they look for specific opportunities to not spend some time on there. Where a non-screen option is available that is also cheap, convenient, and essentially indistinguishable in its delivery of the information, it's an easy choice for people to just use the physical option (books here) as one of their off-screen choices. The physical difference between, say, 2 novels in your vacation luggage versus none is so minimal that it essentially doesn't matter. Given the minor price difference between a used book or an eBook (or even a new paperback and a new release eBook), it's as affordable to buy a book, read it, then toss or donate it as it is to download it. eBooks have few benefits worth spending extra time looking at a screen for.

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Re: Predictions about the Death of Consoles

Postby VideoGameCritic » January 28th, 2018, 9:22 am

Atarifever - that's a really good point about people trying to get away from video screens. I know that when the weather is nice I really like sitting on the porch with a REAL book just to take a break. It feels good!

Also, I associate computers with work so I would never take a computer device on vacation.


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