Update: Jade Raymond joins Google as Vice President | Rumor: Google's gaming console details leaked, possible controller design revealed via patent

[DonFerrari]

Shadow1980 said:

RaptorChrist said:

In many ways I would agree that the original Xbox was a failure. I could see it being said that the Xbox 360 couldn't've been possible without the Xbox, so the Xbox was steps in the right direction. But then again, has the Xbox division of Microsoft ever turned a profit? I find it hard to believe that they haven't, but I can find some articles from as recent as 2016 that state Microsoft has never profited with the Xbox, and that only revenues are rising.

Google's main advantage is the amount of computing power that they have, not to mention among the most talented developers in the world. Maybe if Google partnered up with Sony or MS they could create something impactful.

It's been a long time since a real competitor showed up in the market, and the more I think about, the more I think that the home console market is going to be on a major downhill trend in the coming years. The mobile gaming market is causing people to not bother with the home console market. Something may need to change, and maybe Google sees an opportunity there.

@Bolded. I've never bought into the claim that mobile hurts console gaming. The iPhone debuted almost 12 years ago, yet we've seen no real impact on the home console market. Hardware and software sales remain incredibly strong, at least in the West, with no signs of a contraction. In the U.S., same-gen console sales for the PS4 & XBO were at above 9 million units every year from 2014 to 2018, a streak that's never before been accomplished (chart below). While combined PS4+XBO sales never quite reached the peak of combined PlayStation+Xbox sales from Gens 6 & 7, the stability has been remarkable. Assuming a Nov. 2020 release date for both the PS5 and Xbox 4. I think this generation is on track to end at around 70M in the U.S., on par with combined 360+PS3 sales. Now, you could argue that the console market is now a zero-growth market, but nobody should have expected it to continue growing forever. As with any other consumer electronic item, there are only so many households willing and able to own a game console (poor people are less likely to own a console, as are people born before 1960), and it's clear that consoles (or at least conventional consoles) have reached a saturation point. Stable sales are not shrinking sales, and the lack of growth should not be viewed with alarm.

In Europe, the PS4 is already the second best-selling home console ever in the region, behind only the PS2. It will probably end up somewhere in the 45-50M range. The XBO is running well behind the PS4, but should end up at around 14-16M. So, we're talking around 60-65M conventional consoles sold in the region, as good or better than combined PS3+360 sales, and about on par with combined PS2+OXbox sales. Again, no indication of a contracting market.

The home console market has undergone a contraction in Japan, but that was already well underway in Gen 6 when smartphones were not yet a thing. However, the handheld market (well, Nintendo handhelds, anyway) continued to do well in Japan despite the existence of mobile gaming, which you would find even less likely given that you would think mobile competes more directly with portable consoles than with home consoles.

Most companies consider lack of growth almost as good as shrinking market =´[