Could this be a reaction to the fact that the HD consoles are not doing as well as predicted?

Basically, a lot of analysts out there do not think of the Wii as a traditional console. So if you remove its sales numbers, the industry is in much worse shape.

Mike from Morgantown

PS -- Integrated systems have not worked ... see the Nuon for example.

Of course a headline like "Are consoles headed for extinction?" is just to grab your attention yet Nintendo already knew this which is why they change direction with the Wii. This is referring more to the future of consoles.

Consoles aren't going anywhere yet there is little doubt that both the PC and portables consoles has taken some developer's attention away from consoles.

Is it 1983 again? Because I could have sworn that I'd seen this article before about how Atari and its competitors were falling behind, and all the REAL sales were on the PC. Sure, the names are changed, but it sounds exactly the same. Oh wait, there's an acknowledgment of a system breaking records and making waves, so it must be 1987 again, then. I recall a lot of pro-PC articles coming out then too, and the declaration of consoles as dead even though the NES was a rising star back in the day bringing the industry back to life before their disbelieving eyes.

Why is it that journalists have no recognition of the past, or of patterns that emerge in the very markets they're supposed to be watching? It boggles the mind.

It's great how somebody will write about how consoles are dying and PC gaming will take over and some other writer will talk about the "struggling" PC market in another article. It's as if these writers decide what they want to write about and then go and look for anything to back up the conclusions they've already arrived at instead of properly researching the industry.

That said this particular article wasn't that bad. If you look past the bold headline he seems to think console dying isn't going extinct, it's just going to settle into a role where it shares the market with handhelds and PCs. Nothing wrong with that assumption i'd say.

I find his views... simplistic.

The demand for entertainment that falls under the increasingly nebulous terminology of 'videogames' is on the rise in just about every way.

This entertainment requires some for of tech to deliver it - whether its a seperate box, a standard box you download code to, built into your TV or whatever.

This entertainment covers many specific niches - online MP (strong PC and 360 presence), online MMO (almost exclusively PC at the moment), SP videogames (PS3, 360, Wii and PC) and more casual family games (mainly Wii right now although PS3 should get stronger here, 360 is not making much headway here IMHO and PC is right out the picture as its normally off somewhere in a small room or office).

Standardisation is good in some ways (and devs would love it) but how do you get a Wii agreed upon? Or a 360? Or a PS3? Should the box have build in multi-media and HD playback or not?

The short answer is that there is no all encompasing trend and different consoles/approaches appeal to different audiences. Wii is great but I really don't see most MP FPS gamers seeing it as being anything other than weak while as of yet MMO is a PC monopoly.

Add to that unique IP and its even harder to standardise. MS and Nintendo guard the unique IP jealously. Sony didn't have to and have been caught somewhat with their pants down regarding IP many would see as unique to the brand but they still own plenty of popular IP - and all three want to use it to lure you to their 'club'.

I really can't see this changing much for quite a while unless one of the major players really gets way ahead in all areas (something none of the consoles including Wii I would argue looks likely to do at least this generation).

Yes, devs would like it - and in some ways the idea of multiple versions of the same game do seem faintly ridiculous - and I think many consumers would like the ability to view the tech more like a TV or a DVD player where they do the same thing and play the same content, but the current state of the market makes it very unlikely IMHO.

So consoles - as in a piece of tech that sits near your TV and allows you to experience videogame entertainment - aren't going anywhere. Whether after this gen Sony and MS are quite so keen to use the 'lose money on the console make it on the content' model and push high specs vs Nintendo 'make money on everything and don't push high specs' remains to be seen.

 @ azrm2k

It's exactly the same with "PC is dying" titles when actually "PC market is changing" would be more actuate.

????? So portable systems are selling incredibly well. Consoles are selling great. And this means consoles are dying? Yeah. Whatever.

Well they might run out of ideas one day. I'm worried Nintendo won't be able to follow up the Wii successfully, it would take some beating.

There's plenty of room for innovation in the market yet. Until we have the ability to essentially provide games in the equivalent form of super-lucid dreaming (ie. no interface controls even required, all in your head, and quite possibly at a mental pace far outstripping what the mind handles while awake), we won't be out of ways for gaming to evolve. Once we hit that, though, it is authentically hard to imagine how you would top it.