People like to say tablets and smartphones are eating into the dedicated gaming market.  I think the opposite.  I think they are a fad and in fact are a gateway that will lead to more people picking up dedicated gaming systems.  Tablet games are simple.  Many people who enjoy them will likely want something more complex after a while.  The tablet craze is relatively new.  Like the Wii, I think swiping fingers on a screen will be boring after a few more years.  Especially with the price.  I think as Wii U takes off and the other next gens launch many consumers will wonder why they are bothering with the limited specs when they can have a much better experience.

I think a good case study is Japan, where a decade ago you could play Final Fantasy IV - the after years on your cell phone.  Games like that weren't available here.  But it was more of a fad.  Today, the dedicated handheld market is absolutley massive in Japan.

Just my thoughts.

Id say Tablets are a fad but I think Smartphones are here to stay.

Smartphones will exist until we get something more practical, like some kind of upgraded version of those google goggles that was just announced. I think tablet will stay until then too. But I see your point, and heck, people thought that the wii would sell 250 mill.+, so why not.

tablet games remind me of the games i used to play as a kid on miniclip or shockwave, casual games just to pass the time, i dont think their going to take over the console market anytime soon

Tablets are replacing dedicated PC in a lot of places so as their functionality grows, so does its relevance. Right now tables are used in a lot of consumer oriented events such as reading, internet browsing and lite gaming but its shift to business is happening.

Tablets are here to stay, until something better comes along. And hybrid tablet laptops are going to become big.

I think you're sadly, sadly mistaken.

The people who want something more complex will buy an XBox or Playstation. In Japan it'll be 3DS.

That's it.

Smartphones are the center of people's social lives, gaming is just a silly hobby for most people, not vitally important to their day to day life. You want to see a person freak out? Take away their smartphone and tell them it's lost and you will see a flip out of epic proportions, lol. 

I don't see Wii U taking off period. Without the gimmick of motion gaming being new to drive it, it's just another GameCube -- a vanilla game system basically only supported by Nintendo with some token third party support that appeals to a niche market. 

lets see... japan...

so japan spends more in the google play store the the entire US and a lot of it goes to games... nintendo and sony should be worried and it has already affected them with the creation of the e-shop, mini's and ps mobile games..

Smartphones will have FAR more staying power as a gaming platform than the Wii did. You can't carry a Wii around in your pocket and make phone calls/texts on it. Tablets, too, may well be around for a while, as they get powerful enough to replace laptops at a decent price.

Don't think so. Tablets and smartphones are an evolution of the desktop. So they are here to stay until something better surpass them.