That's the claim coming from a digital marketing company which insists that there is no innovation on consoles and as such, they are working on borrowed time. The company, known as Clickz, is claiming that the PS3, Xbox 360 and even the Wii are a "giant step backwards."
"We are entering a future that many in the game industry are still denying and fighting against. We are watching the icon of gaming, the console, quickly and ungraciously bow to the Internet," claims Clickz on its Web site. "As difficult as it may be to lose our cultural icon of game play, we must. Gaming is undergoing a major transition.
"Those who have spent time in the game industry are very familiar with the five-year cycle. Every five years, console manufacturers release the next-generation systems. Historically, we have embraced the console's definitions of next-generation gaming and quickly adapted. But this time, the cycle is much different: the consoles are facing competition and extinction.
"Don't you see the innovation, the rich graphics, the evolution that Xbox 360, PS3 and the Wii are facilitating? I can't either. Arguably, the consoles have taken a giant leap backwards."
The rather arrogant and smug prophecy goes on and on and on, but the basic message is that consoles will die, while the online games with which Clickz deals shall live forever. Apparently, nobody wants to to switch off their computer and go play a console game, despite the fact that console games are still able to sell millions and rake in a ridiculous amount of cash each year.
If consoles are rendered extinct by "casual" crap like Second Life, I will eat my own trachea in amazement. That is simply not going to happen.
Contest:
3:24 PM on 11.10.2008
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This statement was obviously made by someone who hasn't played anything more advanced than "bejeweled", and most likely hasn't even owned a console since..oh....super nintendo...
what a dumbass.
Sarcasm aside . . . am I truly to believe that the horrendous "5 year cycle" is any more preferrable to upgrading a PC on a regular basis? Similar demons, different names. Move along.
Reliable spin from a biased source.
The original article is stupid. The people who wrote it are stupid. The ideas are stupid. You're stupid for putting it up. We're stupid for reading it. I'm stupid for criticizing it. Ron NSFWorkman is stupid for saying everything in a clear concise manner. This text is stupid. The backdrop is stupid. My lower intestine is stupid, though technically it is entirely without a brain, so it's the only thing currently exempt.
Other than that, I completely agree.
Plis, I'm waiting for Pendelton21 to show me this "retarded" person he speaks of.
I do think the central sentiment is in this case not even based on any logical thought process, and pretty much an empty statement of opinion without factual merit.
Blizzard are so minted from WoW sales and subs, they can do pretty much whatever they want. Starcraft 2, Diablo 3 will help them stay in this position forever more. Any other developer on PC has their work cut out for them. Therefore, what this news piece is saying is crap, as there is more money to be made and potential realised on consoles, and that will only build as consoles keep improving each generation.
With Xbox Live and PSN, there is so much potential. And one only needs to look at the success of Rock Band, Guitar Hero and LBP, all of which aren't on PC. Also, like someone else said, PCs can be absolute bitches when it comes to running games, with more specs than stars in the sky (well maybe not, but you know what I mean).
Well said and so true.
Also, I haven't even HEARD of this company, so why are they deciding that my gaming stuff is a step backward? I like the precious...
If anything casual games are BETTER done on consoles :S
http://www.bit-tech.net/news/2008/01/30/pc_game_sales_constitute_14_percent_of_total_sales/1.
Granted, it's dated (almost a year ago). But I doubt that the tables have turned much since then.
I have no idea where companies like Clickz get their information from or base their forecasts on.
I have personally made the jump from PC gamer to solidly-entrenched console gamer. I like playing games from my couch. I like the controller. I like just buying a disk and putting it in my machine and it good to go. I like that this is the rule, not the exception. I like the fact that console gaming seems so much more inclusive; by that I mean that it seems so much more inviting to watch someone play a console game than it does a PC game.
All these and more add up to me = console gamer.
I mean, there is an ounce to truth to this, in the fact PC revenue is moving online... but like Ron said, there's no reason consoles won't be going there too.
I play my TF2, HL, and soon L4D on my pc, and Motorstorm, LBP, and Need4Speed will get their paces on my PS3. My Wii gets a little dusty periodically, but Mariokart and VC titles keep it fresh.
Good article and I too will eat something from my body in amazement if the casual market kills gaming, I'm thinking maybe my torso..or spleen.
This would make sense of a lot of things stated in the piece. As it is though, it seems like Kevin has zero actual experience with any present-gen console. Like he's basing his understanding of their capabilities on the likes of the Playstation or the N64.
It's this overarching theme of console gaming and online gaming being mutually exclusive. It's like he's not privy to the fact that there does indeed exist consoles that are online-capable, that people log months of hours on a single console game (CoD4, anyone?) playing online.
It's a theme that is cited heavily throughout the article. That's what has me confused. I can't peg where he's coming from. It's like he's missed the last half-decade in console gaming or something.
I will gladly take an "inferior" version of Fallout on my 42" High-def, while resting at 145 degree couch angle, rather than the 90-degree computer-chair, 19" display superior PC version. And I think most people (who breath with their mouths closed) would tend to agree.
Someone needs their eyes checked...badly.
We so care about how your favorite system is better than the next guy's.
Ha ha. Just kiddin'. No we don't.
I, for one, will play great games on the PS3, the Wii, DS, PSP, and the PC. I don't own a 360, but I know there's some sweet games over there, as well. I will also revel in the fact that whatever option we, as gamers, choose, we're still in the position that every system has games that we can enjoy.
Those of you who want to turn every article into a big PC vs console battle can take your fanboyism and bugger it up your cornholes.
i predict psycho_terror is the future of gaming. all gamers will bow down to me, praising my god like awesomeness, as their archaic and useless consoles are rendered afire before my magnificent glory.
Like fuel cells, it will always be just 15 years away. We mean it!