Market share will be 'significantly' reduced as customers abandon systems for smartphones and tablets, claims Ben Cousins
Consoles are set to die out and be replaced by tablets and smartphones, claims NgMoco’s Ben Cousins.
As reported by Gamasutra, the former EA and DICE exec said that the sea-change was already underway and that new devices would steal a ”significant” amount of market share from home consoles.
“I believe that mobile devices and mobile platforms are the disruptive technologies that are going to cut a slice through the Western market,” said Cousins.
One example he gave was THQ’s failure with its uDraw tablet, which drew poor sales that he Cousins says reflects the move by children to mobile games.
He highlighted the fact that more convenient and in many cases less powerful technology seemed to prevail throughout history. He cited the move from arcades to home consoles, and in some respects with Cinemas to TV.
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Cousins said that during the 1950’s, thousands of cinemas in the US were closed down as people took to watching entertainment at home, and that there was a “total and utter collapse” of filmgoers in the UK, with content providers moving to bring film to TV.
"They moved their content to the lower-res, free-to-play TV channels," he said.
"Games content developers need to do the same. They need to move their content to these low-resolution platforms."
He also stated that proof that the market share for console gaming was shrinking was in part due to the fact that Apple, Google and Facebook had a combined market capitalisation of $793 billion, against the $306 billion value of Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo.
This however did not take into account the various non-gaming revenue streams from the companies.
This guy is on crack
I've been saying this for years.
http://www.develop-online.net/news/34411/Kojima-predicts-the-death-of-consoles
posted by Kurt Munro Apr 14, 2010 at 2:03 am
"As soon as the cheapest PC (by PC I'm including every iPad-type thing and in-browser gaming that will be around) can run Uncharted 2 quality graphics on the cheapest CPU's available consoles will cease to have a reason to exist (to provide great graphics at a cheap price)."
Anyone want to offer me a job?
Ha; ha, ha!
Wow, I really didn't think anybody could be so short sighted?
I can see it now......
Instead of sitting at home in front of my 52" LED TV with my 7.1 surround sound system and my latest xbox 360, I will be sitting on a park bench hunched over double trying to shield my tablet screen from the glare of the sun whilst simultaneously keeping a look out for crack heads.
This guy earns how much a year?
@thelion71 You say we're short-sighted?
You will be able to turn on your tablet and stream it to your TV in the future.
I'll NEVER turn to tablets for my gaming needs. I HATE gaming exclusively on touch-screen-only controls. And I'm not fond of having my hands in the way of my gaming. Also, I'd much rather buy a $300 gaming console for about 6 years than a $500 freakin' iPad (which, by the way, gets replaced almost annually). Not to mention that these mobile developers require plan services just to use them. Smartphones and tablets are just way to inconsistent to ever "replace" console gaming, and too expensive, all just for the most mediocre form of gaming.
Besides, did ANYONE notice that MOST mobile games are casual games? People shouldn't take just mere sales data as proof that consoles are "dying"--console games appeal to console gamers for a reason. So what, if your grandma plays FarmVille thanks to Facebook making it easier for the likes of her to play such small casual games? It doesn't diminish the console market.
In fact, we're still very much alive, waiting for the next generation of consoles. I'm waiting for the Wii U to debut just so I can buy it, and it's got an pretty cool controller that plain defecates on mobile gaming. It's got some tablet-like features, but it's got good ol' buttons PLUS the ability to play a FULL CONSOLE GAME from anywhere in the house PLUS the ability to play cross-platform with the Nintendo 3DS. You'll never find a Super Smash Bros. on iPad--it's just not suitable for such fast action. And if Microsoft does anything cool, I might look into their next console, too.
Mobile gaming is surely here to stay, and sure, it's a huge money-maker, but people shouldn't take that as consoles "dying." If consoles are "dying," it's due to lame and uninspired games from major developers, complacent from being on top and unchallenged for too long. But luckily, the rise of AAA indie games are giving major developers some long-due competition and will force big developers to keep on their toes. Consoles will die out? You'll have the pry the gaming console controller out of our cold dead hands. (And before any snobbish PC gamer tries to give me that whole "PC is better" line, I'm very much a PC gamer, too, but I just like playing console games, too, so chill.)
I mean, SERIOUSLY, look at the games this guy's company develops:
http://www.ngmoco.com/games.php
Do ANY of you core console gamers ever see yourselves giving up consoles for the likes of cheaply-developed iPhone games, most of them just being less-than-stellar rip-offs of a million other iPhone games?
Don't make me laugh with this unfair evaluation, Cousins. You make mobile games for a living--of COURSE, you're going to say something like this. But mobile games are what you play waiting on the bus--console games are what you play on the weekend. And while people may spend more money on iPhone apps (and why not--they're dirt-cheap), I spend more TIME and INTEREST on fuller, richer gaming experiences.
Besides, it's only a matter of time before MOST casual gamers get bored of this whole mobile gaming thing--giving the sheer number of uninspired knock-offs and endless sea of cheap clones. And then, some of them will see something like the upcoming Zelda game on Wii U or the next Uncharted game, and wonder what they've missing that console gamers have been enjoying for 30 YEARS. Some people leave console gaming, usually to family life, but many of us just pass it down to our kids. Gaming consoles have survived a crash, numerous slumps, and has inspired even PC gaming in some ways. (Even most PC gamers own at least one console--it's in our blood.)
