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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Portable console gaming is dead

There is still easily another generation for a Nintendo portable. I remember a poll which stated that most 3DS users play their 3DS at home (which means that even if a person is playing smartphone games out in public they might want a more rich experience at home,bed,etc). Sure most of the casuals went to smartphone gaming but there is still a fanbase for a portable system with high quality games. A dedicated portable shits all over a smartphone.



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Malstrom?

(Alternate SW Reference)

(I'll go back to not hearing about Malstrom for a long time now.)



A few things:

Inflation is kind of irrelevant, since the average wage hasn't increased with inflation, it's fallen behind. So even if the value of the console is essentially the same, that doesn't negate the fact that consumer buying power has fallen.

3DS has been doing fine since the price drop, and Nintendo hasn't been losing money on it for awhile now. Nintendo's main problem right now isn't the 3DS, but the Wii U, which is where that red ink is now coming from.

This sort of doomsday soothsaying has been going on for more then a decade now in some shape or form, and it's never really come to pass. I DO think there may come a time when gaming consoles will be absorbed into other technologies, simply because that's where technology is heading now. Eventually this stuff will all be done over cloud servers and you won't even really own hardware anymore, just an interface that connects to hardware and a server. This'll cut a lot of the cost out of having to own and upgrade to the latest technology, but it'll also probably be at least a decade or more before this technology becomes viable for mass market (I can't get decent cloud game play going even on a hardwire cable connection). Until then,dedicated set top boxes will continue to have their place. Not everyone is going to own a $1000 gaming PC, and the technology is still way too expensive to just include in smart TVs and tablets that aren't subsidized by software sales like consoles are.

There is always going to be a market for dedicated game devices, both at home and on the go, in some shape or form. The form this technology will take will certanly change (for instance, consoles will be replaced by cloud gaming services and the only actual dedicated hardware you'll need is a controller or handheld streaming device) but they will always exist simply because there is a large, established market for these types of experiences that isn't going to go away. The millions of people who want to play Cal of Duty won't just stop playing Call of Duty. The millions of Nintendo fans aren't going to suddenly stop buying 30 year old brands like Mario and Zelda. The worst that's going to happen to this industry is that it's going to become more niche, which will mean fewer publishers and fewer big games. But the experiences will always be there, and I wouldn't be surprised if they remain at $40-$60 to boot. Though, we may see other models like subscription and episodic models take off in order to compensate for higher development costs and a smaller market, but we're still talking about a market that will have tens of millions of players in it.

Portable systems aren't going to die, game consoles aren't going to die, big game experiences aren't going to die. This is tantamount to saying that the movie, book, or music industries will die (and they've all certainly had their shares of woes at one point or another). There are simply too many people who enjoy these experiences for that to happen. There is a HUGE gulf between "not selling as well as the fastest selling gaming consoles of all time" and "dying".



jonathanalis said:
Sanky0 said:
paypay88 said:
No its shifted to Mobile.
i can play bioshock , crazy taxi gta sanandreas and old pc games as well as indies on my Tablet and Phone
why would i need inferior hardware with games that 39$
while i can buy GTA Sanandreas for example $3 or $4

3DS hardware sucks much and iPhone and Android is much better than 3DS


THIS +10000000000000000, 3DS hardware totally sucks. Delusional fanboys always say the otherwise.


we dont buy for the hardware, we buy a 3ds for gaming experience. that is believe that phones and tablets cant reproduce, even with more power.

with power of new devices people can get even better experience in nintendo franchies

people can play gamecube titles on new androids ps2 too.

while there a lot problem on handheld. 3ds cant even handle snes wut? my toaster can play snes games.

even on psp i played N64 games let alone snes.there isnt even n64 support for wii u.

 

sorry truth hurts.i am %100 sure nintendo will release some games on mobile next few years



Portable gaming has moved mostly to phone and tablet devices. The market for portables hasn't shrunk any, it has probably grown since the 7th generation, as it had been growing with the GB and GBA. Now it has simply moved to smaller devices with more utility than a 3DS or Vita could ever hope to have. And I don't know if Nintendo will really do anything about changing that next gen.

I still prefer playing the style of game I can get on the 3DS, but I have to honestly admit, outside of the hours one can spend waiting in airports/planes I rarely play it outside the house. So honestly I just play it because it has games I like rather than because it's portable. I mean, it is nice to be able to play my 3DS on any chair or bed in my home but that's about all the mobility it gets.

I did just take it to Indiecade, though, so that's something.



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loves2splooge said:
Kemsus said:
i don't believe dedicated portable gaming is dying, but the market for it is shrinking, i believe there will always be a market for the people who actually want portable games with proper controls, it just might not be as big as it has been in the past.

There will always be a market for it. But as the market shrinks, you also have to scale down your expenses to be in line with that shrinking market. With the release of the New 3DS, it's clear to me that Nintendo hasn't learned anything. They're continuing to focus on stuff that increases their expenses (graphics) in a shrinking market.

oh i think they know exactly what they are doing. They are just trying to get whatever money they can get from current Ninty fans, they are done trying to expand



the_dengle said:

Malstrom?

(Alternate SW Reference)

(I'll go back to not hearing about Malstrom for a long time now.)


hilarious



loves2splooge said

You're never going to see a success like the DS, GBA or Gameboy again.


I saw this same argument back during the Gamecube days with people writing essays that Nintendo will never see the success of the NES again and that the PSP will rule supreme. It seems the "boys who are always crying wolf" swapped PSP and Playstation with Apple and Google.



paypay88 said:
jonathanalis said:
Sanky0 said:
paypay88 said:
No its shifted to Mobile.
i can play bioshock , crazy taxi gta sanandreas and old pc games as well as indies on my Tablet and Phone
why would i need inferior hardware with games that 39$
while i can buy GTA Sanandreas for example $3 or $4

3DS hardware sucks much and iPhone and Android is much better than 3DS


THIS +10000000000000000, 3DS hardware totally sucks. Delusional fanboys always say the otherwise.


we dont buy for the hardware, we buy a 3ds for gaming experience. that is believe that phones and tablets cant reproduce, even with more power.

with power of new devices people can get even better experience in nintendo franchies

people can play gamecube titles on new androids ps2 too.

while there a lot problem on handheld. 3ds cant even handle snes wut? my toaster can play snes games.

even on psp i played N64 games let alone snes.there isnt even n64 support for wii u.

 

sorry truth hurts.i am %100 sure nintendo will release some games on mobile next few years

you are cheating.

the only way to play a ninty game is having a ninty (for now, i dont know in the future) and also have the nintendo experience LEGALY, without cheating, is having a ninty hardware.

also, we could play gb, gba and ds games in pc ILEGALY for a long time, and the hadhelds werent considered dead, nor pieces of shit for this. what have changed now?



nuckles87 said:
A few things:

Inflation is kind of irrelevant, since the average wage hasn't increased with inflation, it's fallen behind. So even if the value of the console is essentially the same, that doesn't negate the fact that consumer buying power has fallen.

3DS has been doing fine since the price drop, and Nintendo hasn't been losing money on it for awhile now. Nintendo's main problem right now isn't the 3DS, but the Wii U, which is where that red ink is now coming from.

This sort of doomsday soothsaying has been going on for more then a decade now in some shape or form, and it's never really come to pass. I DO think there may come a time when gaming consoles will be absorbed into other technologies, simply because that's where technology is heading now. Eventually this stuff will all be done over cloud servers and you won't even really own hardware anymore, just an interface that connects to hardware and a server. This'll cut a lot of the cost out of having to own and upgrade to the latest technology, but it'll also probably be at least a decade or more before this technology becomes viable for mass market (I can't get decent cloud game play going even on a hardwire cable connection). Until then,dedicated set top boxes will continue to have their place. Not everyone is going to own a $1000 gaming PC, and the technology is still way too expensive to just include in smart TVs and tablets that aren't subsidized by software sales like consoles are.

There is always going to be a market for dedicated game devices, both at home and on the go, in some shape or form. The form this technology will take will certanly change (for instance, consoles will be replaced by cloud gaming services and the only actual dedicated hardware you'll need is a controller or handheld streaming device) but they will always exist simply because there is a large, established market for these types of experiences that isn't going to go away. The millions of people who want to play Cal of Duty won't just stop playing Call of Duty. The millions of Nintendo fans aren't going to suddenly stop buying 30 year old brands like Mario and Zelda. The worst that's going to happen to this industry is that it's going to become more niche, which will mean fewer publishers and fewer big games. But the experiences will always be there, and I wouldn't be surprised if they remain at $40-$60 to boot. Though, we may see other models like subscription and episodic models take off in order to compensate for higher development costs and a smaller market, but we're still talking about a market that will have tens of millions of players in it.

Portable systems aren't going to die, game consoles aren't going to die, big game experiences aren't going to die. This is tantamount to saying that the movie, book, or music industries will die (and they've all certainly had their shares of woes at one point or another). There are simply too many people who enjoy these experiences for that to happen. There is a HUGE gulf between "not selling as well as the fastest selling gaming consoles of all time" and "dying".

Wages of the middle-class and especially the working-class haven't kept pace with inflation unfortunately. So yeah I can see how $170 USD might still be too high for a 3DS in 2014. Plus the price of games went up $10 in the worst North American economy since The Great Depression. And the worst European and Japanese economy since the World War II rebuild possibly.

Nintendo doesn't even seem to be TRYING to compete on value. If the Nintendo never went towards the 3D direction and came out with the 2DS in 2011 for $130 USD out the gate, maybe $150 USD and sold games for $30, maybe parents and casuals would still see the value in buying their portable game console.

Part of it too is the software. I don't give a damn about the 3D. Most people don't. I bought a 3DS because it had the same type of games the DS had. And I got a Vita because it had the same type of games that the PSP had.