Los Angeles Times: Video game consoles' dominance is crumbling

[Elee s]

Except for maybe Nintendo arent all consoles up YoY?

Unless tablets and phones get some traditional button layouts they will always be different markets. Just because I bought angry birds doesnt mean Im not gonna buy the next metal gear.

[A_Gorilla]

Am I the only one that recognized every console and controller on that Stegosaurus?

[h0mi]

At a minimum, it's widely believed that the discs that are inserted into consoles to play games will disappear soon. "I don't think we need disc drives anymore, and my hope is the next generation of consoles won't have them," said Mark Rein, vice president of North Carolina developer Epic Games Inc.

This is absurd, and I have to wonder why Mark Rein hopes disc drives will go away.

[Almril]

Yes, if they were smart they'd just build them here... where it would cost 10x as much, cut their margins down 10x, and make 10x less money.

Of course, but eventually you run into Henry's Fords conundrum where you can make things cheaply but no one can afford to buy them.

[TheAnalogKid]

This is absurd, and I have to wonder why Mark Rein hopes disc drives will go away.

I think you probably know the answer to that. Hint - he isn't concerned about the amount of space they take up in your room, thats for sure.

[RedRedSuit]

Of course, but eventually you run into Henry's Fords conundrum where you can make things cheaply but no one can afford to buy them.

I've got no easy answer for that. The only real way to avoid it is be good at being smart and inventing/planning/selling nice things. That's always in demand and will always be well paid.

[Bane]

This is absurd, and I have to wonder why Mark Rein hopes disc drives will go away.

No disc no used sales.

[D1G1T@L]

This is not a blip. Your dillusional if you think that tablets and smartphones are a blip. Eveyrone has one or the other. 5 years ago nobody had one. There is a reason why aapl is the most valuable company in the world.

Ive argued this over in the hd smackdown now for a long time. The internet and smartphone has caused the consumer to stop buying movies on optical disc. Everyone is surfing the net on their smartphone. They dont have time to watch movies. Same thing that the handheld game consoles have to deal with. Its a losing battle.

I should of worded it better. Little blip as in, little blip of gaming on such pads. Unless you get extensions like controllers that plug into the USB ports. Otherwise useless, as adding a controller to Kinect.

[coldfoot]

Unfortunately they are not buying them. They are renting them.

Theyre neither buying them nor renting them on mobile devices though. Just $8 for all you can eat buffet for the bottom of the barrel content.

[coldfoot]

No disc no used sales.

Sure but good luck trying to charge $60 for a download....Unless you want to cut your marketshare by a factor of ten (Mass Effect 2 PSN sales.) There's a reason that the big sellers on PSN/XBL are at most 10$-15$.

[gamma626]

Good. Be done with them. I hope the day comes sooner than later.

The day console gaming dies is the day PC gaming dies along with it. Probably earlier.

[Bane]

Sure but good luck trying to charge $60 for a download....Unless you want to cut your marketshare by a factor of ten (Mass Effect 2 PSN sales.) There's a reason that the big sellers on PSN/XBL are at most 10$-15$.

Hey I'm not saying I agree with him, just that that's his reasoning.

[chipvideo]

Sure but good luck trying to charge $60 for a download....Unless you want to cut your marketshare by a factor of ten (Mass Effect 2 PSN sales.) There's a reason that the big sellers on PSN/XBL are at most 10$-15$.

Mass Effect 2 was already played by everyone who owned a ps3 anyway. They played it on their pc when it came out in early 2010.

[coldfoot]

Mass Effect 2 was already played by everyone who owned a ps3 anyway. They played it on their pc when it came out in early 2010.

Irrelevant, since the comparison was between ME2 on PS3 disc and ME2 PS3 download, both on PS3. Downloads were about 10% or so of the total sales on PS3.

[Indy_aka_Rex]

1950s: The TV will kill motion pictures!
1980s: MTV will kill radio!
1990s: The internet will kill everything!
2000s: Internet video will kill TV and movies!
2010s: Smartphones and tablets will kill consoles and handhelds!

... Yeahhh, I think I've heard this before.