huh?

sony is very very deep in the red in the game division as a whole. whatever they're profiting from ps2, psn, and psp sales are nothing compared to the deep losses they're incurring from ps3. read their financial reports.

and microsoft only made a tiny profit last quarter, when previously they were losing just as much as sony. all these profits you talk about is nothing compared to what they lose to advertising.

even when games are selling great nowadays, the dev costs are too high to make a profit. that's why studios are closing left and right. you gotta read up on the news man.

You ignore the fact that HD dev costs will drop significantly in the coming years, while sales will increase. Developers will be able to recycle engines, tools, and code, while the HD user base will grow.

Sony is in deep shit though, that's true. If PS3 sales were to suddenly triple in the next months, Sony would probably be forced to limit production.

I think one big assumption you're making is that, for some reason, those games that the other 50% of gamers enjoy will magically not appear on Nintendo's console if MS and Sony go down.

I think that's a very bad assumption.

you are correct, i am making that assumption.

and i'm making this assumption because it is the third party devs and the first party devs of Sony and Microsoft who make the games that the other 50% want to play. if they go bankrupt or leave the game division, do you expect Nintendo to start making Grand Theft Auto, Halo, or Metal Gear?

aside from the fact that Nintendo has little experience in making games in these genres (again, the thread is all about third parties closing down), these IPs are owned by their respective companies and aren't about to be used by anyone else.

so yeah, the 50% will eventually have to find other games to please them. a major percentage would just give up games altogether.

Exactly. All those games will just come out on the Nintendo console or PC.

they won't, if the third party devs that make em go bankrupt.

and that's exactly what's happening now.

I think that for the sake of your argument, you made things too simplistic. Not only is there still the PC for those "hardcore" gamers, but you're assuming that every single 360 and PS3 owner will not want a Wii if it was the only console. Just because I own a 360 and Wii doesn't mean I wouldn't want a PS3 if it was the only console on the market. Also, you don't take into account multi-console owners.. but that's not the worst thing you could do.

Still though, assuming that all 360 and PS3 owners wouldn't buy a Wii is a bit crazy and farfetched.

Are you saying that all third parties are going down the drain as well? There is no reason for them to just stop business without trying to put their core games out on the Wii. In fact, if developers were forced to put their games on the Wii because it was the only system, wouldn't many of the 360/PS3 owners (some reluctantly) move over and start playing the games on the Wii?

Also, there is a GTA game on the DS. Oh shit! :P

I don't expect Nintendo to make every damn game in the world, I expect third parties to want to stay in business and therefore put their games on the Wii.

Also, you're forgetting Apple. While they might not seem like such a big player right now, they definitely have potential.

EDIT: Also, you are bringing up the point that many third parties are indeed posting losses and not doing well, and this is true. However the market still exists, and it's not like all third parties are going to go down. There will be a point where competition levels decrease and the companies that are still left will make money. Things will grow from there. Whether or not video games stay like how they are today is definitely uncertain, but they will evolve and keep on going. I think you're view of some magical crash where everyone disappears is really too simplistic.

I have a PS3 and a Xbox 360 and I'm a huge fan of Mario. Mario is the best known thing in the gaming world and I'd be shocked if even 25% of non-PC only gamers (which seems to be what you are talking about) did like Mario and many Mario games.

Third party software developers need to cut back on costs. Its as simple as that. They are doing something wrong and they better damn well fix it.

Also the losses you see alot of companies posting could be because they are expanding so much because so many more people are buying videogames.

 Wouldn't they just sell the license to a surviving company?