Console Gaming Set To Die… Shocker
Serious business-geeks says Warcraft is the only way…
Apparently it’s time to feel daft about your prized console, no matter which platform you’ve got. According to a writer on serious financial journal, Forbes (which is written by rich blokes for rich blokes), “The console games business is going to die… Simply put, massively multiplayer games will take over.”
OK, then apparently the business world is sticking its neck out and saying that playing games either in the privacy of your own games room or with a bunch of mates (real life pals) is on its way out. Maybe there’s a point to here, maybe the future is entirely constructed from millions of internet-connected orcs. Let’s give the ivory-towered guru a chance and hear what he’s got to say:
So here are some of the more provocative of Forbes’ writer, Clem Chambers’ (who Wired calls a “Market Maven”), opinions:
Or this…
And this…
And finally this…
Now, dont' get us wrong, we like Warcraft, we enjoy getting online and wielding the odd mace, it's all part of gaming. But when serious market analysts start pontificating about the 'death' of console gaming we are reminded of the chap at Decca records who turned a band called 'The Beatles' down because guitar based music was on its way out. There's always a chance that dear old Clem has been involved with the Interweb and PCs for so long that he hasn't noticed the fact that a console can (gasp) get online.
There's also the possibility that, while at his club or on his yacht, he's not noticed that not only has the Wii changed the landscape, but the DS and PSP are also a little bit popular, and they play, well, not very massively multiplayer fests. But, what do we know in the face of 'the market maven'.
What do you think, tell us in the Forum below.
Read the full piece here
OK, then apparently the business world is sticking its neck out and saying that playing games either in the privacy of your own games room or with a bunch of mates (real life pals) is on its way out. Maybe there’s a point to here, maybe the future is entirely constructed from millions of internet-connected orcs. Let’s give the ivory-towered guru a chance and hear what he’s got to say:
So here are some of the more provocative of Forbes’ writer, Clem Chambers’ (who Wired calls a “Market Maven”), opinions:
The console games business is going to die and be replaced by something better. It might not be because making game consoles is now so expensive that they will break the platform companies themselves; it will also probably not be because you will be able to pirate console games on the net like any other piece of static media, and it is certainly not because computer games are a fad.
Or this…
The hardware monopoly wielded by Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo becomes irrelevant when you can play an unstealable real-time game on the family PC over the net. One game, $1 billion in sales: Warcraft is the writing on the wall for the console makers.
And this…
The canny investor should also look out for newcomers, because a new breed of games companies will appear to fill an inevitable conceptual vacuum that will take a few years to close.
And finally this…
Will there be a PS4? Perhaps, but not a PS5.
Now, dont' get us wrong, we like Warcraft, we enjoy getting online and wielding the odd mace, it's all part of gaming. But when serious market analysts start pontificating about the 'death' of console gaming we are reminded of the chap at Decca records who turned a band called 'The Beatles' down because guitar based music was on its way out. There's always a chance that dear old Clem has been involved with the Interweb and PCs for so long that he hasn't noticed the fact that a console can (gasp) get online.
There's also the possibility that, while at his club or on his yacht, he's not noticed that not only has the Wii changed the landscape, but the DS and PSP are also a little bit popular, and they play, well, not very massively multiplayer fests. But, what do we know in the face of 'the market maven'.
What do you think, tell us in the Forum below.
Read the full piece here
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Comments
alexh2o 30 Dec 2006 16:48
1/4
*sigh*
i might one day take note of what an analyst is saying when they themselves actually play games!
it really doesn't warrant a reason why i think this is total bull****!
i might one day take note of what an analyst is saying when they themselves actually play games!
it really doesn't warrant a reason why i think this is total bull****!
RiseFromYourGrave 30 Dec 2006 16:50
2/4
my penny's worth:
this guy is wrong
i guess we might not have consoles in the future, by the waning definition of a console that i understand, set by nintendo and others in the 80s. consoles and pcs are heading in the same direction, i think theyll ultimately be pretty much the same thing, certainly where MS and Sony are concerned. online home entertainment hub workstation or whatever. basically an all-purpose pc. even Nintendo will probably end up with something resembling a pc too (theyre getting there), although it wont compare well to top pcs of the time (MS's and Sony's probably will stack up nicely power-wise) and theyll be dragging their feet from here to there in protest at yielding to the popular demand for all this non-gaming functionality. 'but we want to do what we want' oh nintendo, you are funny
the consoles of the future will have the same type of games, but with continued broadband penetration and companies trying to pull new stereotypes into gaming, theyll have much expanded online componants. companies will no longer be able to get away with sloppy multiplayer features because everyone will be versed in what the experience should be.
this guy is wrong
i guess we might not have consoles in the future, by the waning definition of a console that i understand, set by nintendo and others in the 80s. consoles and pcs are heading in the same direction, i think theyll ultimately be pretty much the same thing, certainly where MS and Sony are concerned. online home entertainment hub workstation or whatever. basically an all-purpose pc. even Nintendo will probably end up with something resembling a pc too (theyre getting there), although it wont compare well to top pcs of the time (MS's and Sony's probably will stack up nicely power-wise) and theyll be dragging their feet from here to there in protest at yielding to the popular demand for all this non-gaming functionality. 'but we want to do what we want' oh nintendo, you are funny
the consoles of the future will have the same type of games, but with continued broadband penetration and companies trying to pull new stereotypes into gaming, theyll have much expanded online componants. companies will no longer be able to get away with sloppy multiplayer features because everyone will be versed in what the experience should be.
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jordanlund 31 Dec 2006 17:17
3/4
I love how everything people are saying about World of Warcraft is the same crap they were saying about Everquest 5 years ago.
WoW is a top seller, sure, but the gaming public is notoriously fickle and as soon as something better comes along WoW will be shrugged off just like Everquest was.
WoW is a top seller, sure, but the gaming public is notoriously fickle and as soon as something better comes along WoW will be shrugged off just like Everquest was.
Earl 1 Jan 2007 16:41
4/4
I dont think we will see the death of Console Gaming for quite a while, but there are some very valid points.
Production costs for the PS3 are very high... the retail price is putting most people of that i speak to daily. (WII's would of sold like there life depended on it)
Online Gaming is growing and very fast, there will again be a massive boost to WoW this month with Burning Crusade coming out (note this is not going to be a been there done it in 6 months even if a hardcore 24/7 player). but WoW is still falls short of becoming "The One" which will come out someday.
but saying that the WII has restored some of my hope for the console market... its actually fun to play, and it has been a long time since i can think of playing a console for fun and not the latest FPS, Sport Sim or Racing Sim.
Console gaming is definatly stale, boring and still a one player for most and in its present form, yes its dated and dying but there is life in it still.
Production costs for the PS3 are very high... the retail price is putting most people of that i speak to daily. (WII's would of sold like there life depended on it)
Online Gaming is growing and very fast, there will again be a massive boost to WoW this month with Burning Crusade coming out (note this is not going to be a been there done it in 6 months even if a hardcore 24/7 player). but WoW is still falls short of becoming "The One" which will come out someday.
but saying that the WII has restored some of my hope for the console market... its actually fun to play, and it has been a long time since i can think of playing a console for fun and not the latest FPS, Sport Sim or Racing Sim.
Console gaming is definatly stale, boring and still a one player for most and in its present form, yes its dated and dying but there is life in it still.