Around 6:30 here, Sterling from Escapist starts mentioning the ‘c’ word.
I have to laugh at the Game Industry’s absolute arrogance if they think they can sell at the same numbers in 2013 than they could in 2006. Back a generation ago, the economy was much better and more people were working. The workforce has shrank so much that customers cannot exist in the same numbers as they once did.
The Game Industry can say what they want about the 3DS and Wii U, but what about the Vita? The Vita is doing terrible compared to the PSP. “It’s the mobile market and smartphones, Malstrom.” Is it? They keep coming up with all these excuses.
The Seventh Generation showed a direct link with what happened in the handheld market to happen in the home console market. Nintendo rose with the DS and rose with the Wii. Sony fumbled the PSP and fumbled the PS3. We already know the 3DS is underperforming (with relationship to its cut pricing) and the Wii U is a huge fall from the Wii. Vita is down from PSP numbers.
Will the PS4 outperform the PS3? Will Durango outperform the Xbox 360?
I would not rush to say ‘yes’. If both consoles underperform from their predecessors, which is highly likely, then it is safe to say the console market is tied to the economy. If this is the case, the only viable console strategy going forward would be expanding the number of gamers. This is the Wii strategy and also the Atari 2600 strategy.
Gamers don’t realize it but the Seventh Generation was a Golden Era for gaming. No one ever realizes it is a golden era until much later.
What angers me greatly is how if Nintendo continued their Wii direction and didn’t create a Gamecube HD, Nintendo would be at a ‘hold’ position concerning Wii type numbers while everyone else would decline. Expanding the market while the market is contracting is a ‘hold’. Nintendo would end up a monopoly by default.
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