4 ms·

I think people predicted the crash of console gaming because they expected mobile gaming to eclipse it. What realistically happened was the forging of a new ma

I think people predicted the crash of console gaming because they expected mobile gaming to eclipse it. What realistically happened was the forging of a new market, which will not stop folks from buying a console for a solid, reliable piece of dedicated gaming hardware.

meritt 9y ago
I don't think it's hardware at all. I think it's quality of the games. The vast majority of mobile games are all the same type we've seen since they first crept-up on Facebook a decade ago: Farmville-clones, Tower Defense or Endless Runners with an all-encompassing focus on cash shops and in-game advertising. Console and PC gaming (with the obvious exception of certain conglomerates) tend to be focused on a gaming experience that isn't just a monetization treadmill.
- aalleavitch 9y ago
  They're also focused on an entirely different use case: a console is for playing games possibly hours at a time. Mobile games are designed for playing in chunks measured in minutes.
pjmlp 9y ago
I do game on my mobile devices, but only non gamers can think that they had any chance against game consoles. Indies are learning the hard way how the crash of 1983 came to be. Yes, there are lots of junk games in consoles, after going through the certification process that Nintendo brought to the industry as recovery from the crash, which means even worse ones did not managed to be certified. Mobile app stores don't have any bar to meet, beyond a quite basic set of checkpoints by console gaming standards, so finding good quality games is quite hard and worse given the race to bottom, most studios don't get to pay the overall development efforts.
- Feniks 9y ago
  The media didn't really talk to gamers. Looking back its clear the media really bought into the "everything is going to be smartphones" and "Apple is going to kill Sony, Microsoft, Google and God by the grace of Steve Jobs". Nowadays its ofcourse Amazon that they can't shut up about. Basically predictions suck and we all laugh about them a few years later.
sotojuan 9y ago
Maybe hindsight is 20/20, but the only people that thought phone games would replace console/PC "real" games were people that aren't gamers.
- lostgame 9y ago
  Completely agree. This was part of my point not well laid out.
Const-me 9y ago
I think they expected console vendors to do what they did for decades before that: design custom chips. Designing a good CPU/SoC became so much expensive that no single console vendor can do good enough. Fortunately for them, Sony/Nintendo/MS stopped designing custom processors for their consoles, and instead adopted hardware designed by AMD, nVidia and ARM.
segmondy 9y ago
I was one of those people who thought as much, couldn't predict it. Mobile gaming is all about gamification. To keep you playing through tricks so you can watch ads or spend more buying game items. Console gaming is all about game play.
- setr 9y ago
  I believe most multiplayer games have learned the art of gambling mechanics at this point, at least partly as a result of its extreme success in the mobile market. Randomized item/skin unlocks, short-exp leveling, etc. And of course, dlc add-ons has just been getting bigger each year. AAA's are getting worse about "gamification", and I think its going to continue. Mobile didnt take over, but its successes won't be so simply forgotten
msabalau 9y ago
Consoles provide experiences that mobile games can't. That said, mobile has eclipsed consoles. 11% growth to $3.3 billion in the US. But by way of contrast, Pokemon Go hit a billion in revenue by itself last February.

meritt 9y ago

I don't think it's hardware at all. I think it's quality of the games. The vast majority of mobile games are all the same type we've seen since they first crept-up on Facebook a decade ago: Farmville-clones, Tower Defense or Endless Runners with an all-encompassing focus on cash shops and in-game advertising. Console and PC gaming (with the obvious exception of certain conglomerates) tend to be focused on a gaming experience that isn't just a monetization treadmill.

aalleavitch 9y ago
They're also focused on an entirely different use case: a console is for playing games possibly hours at a time. Mobile games are designed for playing in chunks measured in minutes.

pjmlp 9y ago

I do game on my mobile devices, but only non gamers can think that they had any chance against game consoles. Indies are learning the hard way how the crash of 1983 came to be. Yes, there are lots of junk games in consoles, after going through the certification process that Nintendo brought to the industry as recovery from the crash, which means even worse ones did not managed to be certified. Mobile app stores don't have any bar to meet, beyond a quite basic set of checkpoints by console gaming standards, so finding good quality games is quite hard and worse given the race to bottom, most studios don't get to pay the overall development efforts.

Feniks 9y ago
The media didn't really talk to gamers. Looking back its clear the media really bought into the "everything is going to be smartphones" and "Apple is going to kill Sony, Microsoft, Google and God by the grace of Steve Jobs". Nowadays its ofcourse Amazon that they can't shut up about. Basically predictions suck and we all laugh about them a few years later.

sotojuan 9y ago

Maybe hindsight is 20/20, but the only people that thought phone games would replace console/PC "real" games were people that aren't gamers.

lostgame 9y ago
Completely agree. This was part of my point not well laid out.

Const-me 9y ago

I think they expected console vendors to do what they did for decades before that: design custom chips. Designing a good CPU/SoC became so much expensive that no single console vendor can do good enough. Fortunately for them, Sony/Nintendo/MS stopped designing custom processors for their consoles, and instead adopted hardware designed by AMD, nVidia and ARM.

segmondy 9y ago

I was one of those people who thought as much, couldn't predict it. Mobile gaming is all about gamification. To keep you playing through tricks so you can watch ads or spend more buying game items. Console gaming is all about game play.

setr 9y ago
I believe most multiplayer games have learned the art of gambling mechanics at this point, at least partly as a result of its extreme success in the mobile market. Randomized item/skin unlocks, short-exp leveling, etc. And of course, dlc add-ons has just been getting bigger each year. AAA's are getting worse about "gamification", and I think its going to continue. Mobile didnt take over, but its successes won't be so simply forgotten

msabalau 9y ago

Consoles provide experiences that mobile games can't. That said, mobile has eclipsed consoles. 11% growth to $3.3 billion in the US. But by way of contrast, Pokemon Go hit a billion in revenue by itself last February.