| Jay520 said: @ Jwein You seem to be under the assumption that casual gamers (especially online gamers) will be satisfied with a tablet. I seriously doubt that will be true. You also assume that most of the world can't afford multiple expensive devices. I also doubt that to be true. If the products are all highly desired, and provide different experiences, then they won't eat into each others sales. When has one product ever harmed another product when their similarities was only the fact that they were electronics? Games like Farmville, Angry Bird, Temple Run, etc., aren't going be enough persuasion for someone to stop playing CoD, Halo, GT, etc. Historically speaking, one device has never directly harmed the sales of another device UNLESS the new device provided an experience that was superior to the previous device. That Isnt the case with the iPad. Other than simply being electronics, they aren't direct competitors. Besides, the existence of a tablet can be countered by the lack of Wii purchases. The big releases are the same every year: Call of Duty, Assassin's Creed and maybe a Sony and Microsoft exclusive. That's always been the case and I don't see how 2012 is any different. The rest of the year is typically showered with small-medium which 2012 also had a lot of. Hitman, Sleeping Dogs, Dishonored, Max Payne, etc. (All games which haven't released this gen; some if which are new IPs) 2012 wasn't much different than previous years in terms of software, yet software and hardware sales were still down MASSIVELY. This year is already much worse with the consoles already down 50%. The PS3 and 360 are dying and no software will change that. It's an inevitability of console generations. I'm interested in your thought process here. Are you expecting some kind of resurgence for the PS360 here? Current trends are pointing to the PS3 & 360 being irrelevant by 2014/2015, and new consoles haven't even been announced yet. Are you expecting sales for these consoles to magically fight gravity and reach sustainable levels? Expecting the PS3 & 360 to even stay relevant when the next gen consoles release is highly flawed imo. Consumers are bored of this generation, and more software won't change that. And expecting tablets to cause a huge dent in console gaming is also unlikely. As I said before, never in history has an electronic device harmed another electronic device's sales unless it adequately performed the function of the original device. |
No, I'm not saying that people will be satisfied with a tablet for gaming. I'm saying that the desire for a tablet will outweigh the desire for a new gaming console. Basically, Timmy has to make his birthday wish list. Does he want an X-Box 720, or an iPad mini? However you want to slice it, funds for everyone are limited and if someone spends 400 dollars on an ipad, they're less likely to spend that on a new console. For example, I bought a PS3 earlier this year (my old one died). But as I used it, I realized I needed a new phone (broke) and I could use a new computer. I returned the PS3. It's not that I thought the phone and/or computer would be better for gaming, it's just that my funds were limited. I had to make a choice.
I'm not sure what you mean by countering the existence of tablets. Not trying to be an ass but I'm assuming that was a typo and I don't get what it was supposed to mean.
Last year actually had quite a few more big games. Uncharted 3, Infamous 2, Saints Row 3, Skyward Sword, Skylanders (which at the time was exciting and new), Battlefield 3, Arkham City, Skyrim. Tons of stuff. Plus, the Wii was still alive with Mario and Sonic and Mario Sports Mix performing well, and the novelty of the Kinect hadn't entirely worn off yet.
I don't expect the 360 and PS3 to see a revival, I'm just expecting a continual slump for the industry, aside from the Wii U if Nintendo provides software. The key is this; why will the X-Box 720 and PS4 revive the market?
That's the point I seem to be losing you on. The 720 and PS4 can have great success, but only if they provide new and exciting experiences. You're approaching this from the point of a hardcore gamer who NEEDS to have the newest and shiniest toy on day one. I bought the Wii U on day one because it was new, it said Nintendo, and it played games. But most people aren't like that. Most people don't have that NEED for something new to play. Yes, gamers are bored with the games they're getting now, but that does not mean they're going to rush out and buy the next new console. Being new is not enough. Wii fans didn't rush out to buy the Wii U because it was new, nor did PSP fans rush out to buy the Vita because it was new, nor did DS fans rush out to buy the 3DS because it was new.
New is not enough. So, the question is this. What are the 720 and PS4 going to do that's going to make the 360 and PS3 irrelevant? What games are those systems going to have that's going to make people say "I'm going to take this 400-500 and use it to buy a PS4 instead of just playing the next COD on my PS4"? I don't think that the PS4 and 720 are going to do anything special enough to reenergize the industry, at least not for a year or two.
