Computer game sales decline in US?

[Paul Mann III]

People have been telling me Bluray is dead and beig replaced for he past three years... And nothin'... Hmmm.

And they've been telling me consoles would never last since 1988.

Hate on, haters. We're happy with our consoles, which get better every year.

My PS3 has five video services, a bunch of sports services, all of the media access my PC has, and all the goodies that 'might' eventually come to computers.

I can't think of one thing I need my PC for that my console doesn't do.

And that's why PC sales are dropping. Normal people don't have the time or inclination for complex gaming and rewriting the software.

[Selous]

Blu-ray's not dead, it's the future - people just refuse to see it.

I think we'll see consoles and other home entertainment devices move into the scape currently occupied by PCs as they become more singing and dancing.

Look at recent OS launches; Windows 8 is a pile of garbage, but because it's easy to use with an OS like a phone and is based around apps (we called them Programs in my day), people find them as easy to use as the menu system on, say, my PS3.
The PS3 does have all those features, but I wager the lines between the console and, say, the tablet computer will blur in terms of those things. At one time you had a phone, a PC, and a console, maybe a laptop, now people tend to have fewer devices which do more. I have a Sony PS3 and a Sony Bravia smart TV, there's a lot of overlap in what they can do, and that overlap will continue to grow and if I had a tablet computer I bet I could say a similar thing (Don't tablet and phone apps include stuff like Netflix apps nowdays?)

[Arthwys]

Originally Posted by Mountain Man

PC's are killing PC games. Every time someone comes out with a decent game, Gates' Goons change the operating system to a "new" version of Windows that isn't compatible.

Additionally, there aren't that many games available, so naturally, "sales are down".

There is nothing wrong with making modern versions of great classics - Aces of the Deep, Red Baron, Aces Over Europe, etc. Trouble is, the young crowd wants Halo and Doom style games, and Grand Theft Auto.

Yes and no. I feel your pain when it comes to new OS vs old game conflicts, but it's not impossible to enjoy your old games. I'm still playing all my old games: PGII, Myst,Riven,Starcraft,,SFC1,2, and 3, AoE I-III... the list goes on.

However the biggest issue with this story is that it's only taking into account certain platforms, while in reality the gaming industry has reached a crossroads due to two major points...

1. There are too many platforms and the question of which will dominate is yet to be answered, so the creators are currently building mainly for PC and Console platforms while delving here and there into the smartphone and tablet territory on a limited basis. There's a huge question looming in the industry as to whether there's enough profit going to be made vs the cost of porting a title to one of these platforms and whether or not the product will survive transition (picture trying to play WoW or WoT on an iPad)

2. F2P.

That's Free to Play for anyone that has not encountered the acronym before. F2P has quite simply taken a well established industry business model and shaken it by the neck like a terrier with a rat in it's mouth... where customers would shell out $40-$60 for a boxed game and everyone's happy, and can go their separate ways, now the F2P model has shown up, No beautifully created box-art, instruction booklets etc are either neccessary or bothered with. The players get sucked into dropping hundreds ( no exaggeration) of dollars in micro-transactions and keep coming back for more! World of Tanks is an excellent example of this.

It's going to be a few years yet I think until we see where this evolution takes us with our gaming, but in the meantime I'm going to hop back into the NCC1701D and kill something for a while... or maybe my M26 Pershing... oh wait There's always My Myst, or that unresolved zombie issue hmmm....

[Arthwys]

Originally Posted by Paul Mann III

People have been telling me Bluray is dead and beig replaced for he past three years... And nothin'... Hmmm.

And they've been telling me consoles would never last since 1988.

Hate on, haters. We're happy with our consoles, which get better every year.

My PS3 has five video services, a bunch of sports services, all of the media access my PC has, and all the goodies that 'might' eventually come to computers.

I can't think of one thing I need my PC for that my console doesn't do.

And that's why PC sales are dropping. Normal people don't have the time or inclination for complex gaming and rewriting the software.

Actually I'm going to argue with you a bit on this Paul. PC sales aren't toileting as bad as people think. Retail pre-built boxes are down in sales, but boutique sales (Digital Storm, Ibuypower, etc) are on the rise as well as homebuilt boxes.

My last console was the N64 ( only reason I bought that P.O.S. was for Bond's Goldeneye) I'll likely never buy a Console again, not when my PC can run rings around them and multitask like Chip'n Dale on a Speed binge

The numbers of people building their own systems is large, and seems to be growing according to my friends in the Memory Express and Tiger-Direct companies.

[Mackie]

Originally Posted by Paul Mann III

Hate on, haters. We're happy with our consoles, which get better every year.

I can't think of one thing I need my PC for that my console doesn't do.

'To each their own' is what pretty much what everybody has said so far in this thread.

And that's why PC sales are dropping. Normal people don't have the time or inclination for complex gaming and rewriting the software.

PC sales may or may not be dropping but the sale of hardware and games are healthy. Console sales on the other hand have dropped given their age but sales hardly matter for personal preference.

[Paul Mann III]

Originally Posted by Selous

Blu-ray's not dead, it's the future - people just refuse to see it.

I think we'll see consoles and other home entertainment devices move into the scape currently occupied by PCs as they become more singing and dancing.

Look at recent OS launches; Windows 8 is a pile of garbage, but because it's easy to use with an OS like a phone and is based around apps (we called them Programs in my day), people find them as easy to use as the menu system on, say, my PS3.
The PS3 does have all those features, but I wager the lines between the console and, say, the tablet computer will blur in terms of those things. At one time you had a phone, a PC, and a console, maybe a laptop, now people tend to have fewer devices which do more. I have a Sony PS3 and a Sony Bravia smart TV, there's a lot of overlap in what they can do, and that overlap will continue to grow and if I had a tablet computer I bet I could say a similar thing (Don't tablet and phone apps include stuff like Netflix apps nowdays?)

My tablet and my iPhone are both paired with my PS3. Makes for some easier access to some websites, such as Youtube. They have Netflix, but who watches such a small screen when they have a real TV?

[Selous]

I can only presume people must do - or maybe get the service on the tablet and then plug it into the TV? maybe they don't have TV's in their bedrooms and like to watch movies in bed...I've no idea, I've no real point of reference for such heresy because I watch TV and films on a full size screen no matter what room I'm in, but I presume many do because the apps are fairly popular? In the future I'd suspect everything in the home to be more linked than it even is now, with a combination of smart TV and Tablet computer or phone at the centre of the system (or as the jargon seems to be, 'ecosystem')

[Paul Mann III]

Originally Posted by Selous

I can only presume people must do - or maybe get the service on the tablet and then plug it into the TV? maybe they don't have TV's in their bedrooms and like to watch movies in bed...I've no idea, I've no real point of reference for such heresy because I watch TV and films on a full size screen no matter what room I'm in, but I presume many do because the apps are fairly popular? In the future I'd suspect everything in the home to be more linked than it even is now, with a combination of smart TV and Tablet computer or phone at the centre of the system (or as the jargon seems to be, 'ecosystem')

I live I the house of the future.

PS3 and laptop connected to the big TV in the living room and controlled by remote via tablet or phone in many situations.

Slightly smaller TV in the bedroom with the Apple TV, controlled by the iPad mostly; just for the fun of it. Plus the DVD and VCR for when I hide from the wife's guests.

And Wii Fit on the TV in the kid's room, with all the fancy gadgets of course.

Been training with UFC legends on my PS Move, lost weight and gained muscle doing stuff that makes P90X stuff look easy.

And shooting people with my sharpshooter rifle peripheral makes for a good break...