Aren't all those reasons you listed causes as to why people say consoles are doomed? I mean people usually doesn't care what the reasons are, they just look at the numbers.
In any case, I personally believe that mobile and facebook games have indeed been hurting both handhelds and consoles a lot. Before the mass popularity of these games, when people talk about playing video games they used to mention PS2, GC, Xbox, Wii, 360, PS3, etc..now they mention Candy Crush, Angry Birds, Clash of Clans, etc. People are starting to see that you don't need to pay $300 + a game to enjoy video games, or if you pay, is only max of $15. Now whether you consider games like Candy Crush or Angry Birds video games doesn't matter, that's the perception people have. I sometimes see the argument that "you also have to pay for the phone which is more expensive than the console" the problem is that phone gives the consumer much more value, you can make phone calls, take pictures, check your e-mail, and up top of all this, you can play video games. Marketing plays a huge role in this.
What Mario Bros. was for the kids 80s, it is now Angry Birds. You bet that the first game many kids that were born 2008 onward played was Angry Birds. I sometimes imagine how the forums will look like in 10 years and see threads asking "what was the first game you ever played?" and Angry Birds will be many people's answer. Those kids will then play other facebook and mobile games until the point where they won't need anything else, and most important, they won't have to pay for them, they will grow up with this mentality. Mobile games and Facebook games are also getting bigger and "deeper", they of course don't match (and probably never will) the size of AAA games, but we will slowly start to see (as internet speeds get better) bigger games that you will only have to use a keyboard and have an internet connection.
The people's gaming needs will be satisfied with the likes of Angry Birds and Candy Crush, this will be the consequence of what I mentioned in the previous paragraph. A new generation that will grow up playing these games, and just as we saw Mario getting bigger moving from 2D to 3D, kids today will see mobile and Facebook game getting bigger and better.
Let's also take into consideration that in a somewhat distant future, when the internet speeds are somewhat balance across the board, developers will stop making games for console. It will be cheaper for them to make the game with single specifications and just let people stream it. Although I don't see this a viable option for at least even a decade when the people that have a good internet speed will overshadow the ones who don't, making it the best option for developers. And this is why I personally believe Sony will do, who knows maybe there won't ever be a PS5 and all their games will be played by streaming. Imagine if at some point EA decides to make a full FIFA game that can be played on a web browser? If that day ever comes, it will be the nail in the coffin for consoles in Europe and Latin America. It benefits EA as well because they won't have to pay for console royalties nor the retailers, meaning they will get every single penny the game costs (well EA is trying to do that with Origin right now, but we all know it sucks really hard).
To be very clear again, I don't expect the above to become a reality until a decade at the earliest, when the people that have good internet speed is big enough to make this a better option and completely ditch out the hardware counterpart.
Nintendo and PC gamer
