Activision: Xbox Infinity, PS4 May Face Same Wii U Woes

[takk78]

Nintendo is ruining there franchises by forcing gamers to buy shitty, gimmicky hardware. I'd rather play the new Mario games on the original, thumb blistering controller than this stupid thing.

 

[Bloob]

WiiU is currently looking like the only console to actually get new games, while NextBox and PS4 will get the old games, with a new skin and a new name.

 

[Aoyagi]

Tablets provide "cheap but quality gaming"? When?
And of course the consoles will sell when the developers will eventually stop making games for the previous generation...

 

[d_kuhn]

Wii is a casual game console... I doubt their customers are going to be as rabid to upgrade. I don't believe either of the new gamer oriented consoles will suffer the same problem.

 

[puppetMaster3]

Rumor is the neither console will support 4K games. The consoles will be out there for 5 years. PC today supports 4k and there are some $2-3K tvs coming out. So that is a problem for me, I will not buy them.

 

[usbgtx550]

The reason the Wii U isn't doing so well is probably due to the fact it doesn't show much graphical improvement over the xbox 360 or the ps3. Why buy a new console if your current one performs nearly identical and has a more mature game library.

 

[linkgx1]

This all depends on whether or not the consumer is really going the way of the tablet. Tablets are catching up in power whilst consoles are slowing down (diminishing..returns). and honestly we may see a day when game consoles cease to exist.

 

[linkgx1]

This all depends on whether or not the consumer is really going the way of the tablet. Tablets are catching up in power whilst consoles are slowing down (diminishing..returns). and honestly we may see a day when game consoles cease to exist.

 

[somebodyspecial]

I've said it repeatedly on here. Due to all the things Kotick mentioned, consoles are dead. WIIU sales are down 50% Q1. They will all have an xmas pop, but then fizzle like wiiu. The pop at xmas comes from hardcore console people who may not even own a pc or know you can get better stuff on a PC. Now you have one of the top devs saying exactly what I've said previously. Consoles have a tough life ahead. Next year T5 has Kepler in it, T6 one year later (and all the competition will be similarly powerful) so I'd say at within 2yrs after they debut the consoles will be caught or passed by socs (heck they'll all be 14nm then most likely) and the games will be console equals using your xbox360 controller (or whatever) out to your tv via HDMI or miracast etc. They are dead. You can run for the 5-6years after than with this crap floating around in hands. TV's will come with this tech inside also by then (think T5/T6 IN your TV with basically a tablet quality inside). So you eliminate a box totally. You just whip out your gamepad from an old console or PC and play with your TV which downloads games on demand...LOL.
These consoles will sell 1/2 of the 230mil they sold last time together (nin+sony+ms) in their ~7yr lifetimes. I'd bet less actually as I think they'll just die in 2yrs as nobody devs for them once they realize what Kotick is waiting for here. Xmas pop followed by fizzle out. You won't make games for a console with 10mil units each (if lucky) sold in the next year vs a new android game with 500mil=1Bil units YEARLY floating around ALREADY right now. Every year they get more power too. In 5yrs your tablet will be pushing 4K tv's on 10nm probably...LOL. Intel pushes out 14nm Q1 next year (volume) so they'll be 10nm 2yrs later and everyone else 1.5-2yr after them. So yeah, 10nm socs in 5yrs (3.5 or so for Intel). Think Die Shrunk Maxwell in a soc and you get the point.
Dead I tell you, DOA.

 

[Thunderfox]

Tablets provide quality gaming... for five minutes at a time. To compare them to a dedicated gaming device made for people who like playing games is absurd.
PC's are full of FPS games. No variety.
The Wii was a gimmick that nobody cared about once they had tried it. The Wii U is more of the same, AND it has no games.
The value of consoles is that they provide a gaming experience that you can't get
anywhere else.
And for god's sake, bring back the old comment interface. This one is garbage.

 

[nevilence]

If it is anything like the past, I will eventually own all three of the consoles and I generally have in the past. All three have their ups and downs, but all three also have exclusive games which for me makes owning each of them important. Personally I do not think tablets or smartphones can ever replace a console, well not until a smart phone can connect to my tv a deliver an equal gaming experience to a PS3 or XBOX 360 and all with 1080p.

 

[hotroderx]

This kinda makes me wonder if Bobby Kotick isnt just trying to upset the console market. When you buy a console game you can go to a place like EB games and trade it in and it can be resold 3rd party. Thus limiting how much Activision makes on said game.
I would not be surprised even in the least if we started seeing major game manufactures like Activision and EA, just completely stop producing A listed game titles for the console community.
The same can not be said for PC/Android/Apple app's/games. Once there purchased there locked to a certain account name. Thus giving company's a larger profit margin because there are no third party sales.
Something comes to mind back 3-4 years ago weren't company's like Activision bashing on PC gamers saying they where losing untold millions to pirates? I remember correct some even speculated that the PC gaming market would vanish...

 

[everygamer]

I have every intention of buying the next generation of both Xbox and PS systems, after buying the Wii and watching it collect dust for the last year (because I used my xbox/ps3) I decided that the Wii U was a toy and not worth my time. The reality is that the industry no longer expects Nintendo to play ball with the big boys when it comes to video games. Nintendo found a unique market with the release of the Wii when it came out several years ago, a more consumer friendly device that reached to a much large market segment ... it was the right place and the right time for the product that they had. Unfortunately, the market has changed, those casual gamers that used the Wii in the past are now playing with iPad's and Android tablets and are not interested in a game system that has what looks like a tablet for a game pad. The console market has once again shifted back to the gamers, so unless you have a top notch gaming system that also plays the role of a robust media center your not going to make it in that market.
Microsoft/Sony have both radically changed their products over the years into powerful gaming systems that are also dynamic media centers. For Nintendo to compete in that market they need a console that can match the xbox/PS feature to feature, and the Wii U is not that device as it barely matches the last generation of their products.
As to the Ouya, its nifty, but if I hook my Asus Transformer Infinity up to my TV via the HDMI cable I already have the device, actually I could just hook my Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone up to the TV via the HDMI cable and it would be the same as having the Ouya, it does 1080p and was released more than a year and a half ago, and its more portable. I just need to pair a Bluetooth controller too it and then what's the point, I already have an Android console system at that point.
Nintendo should give up on hardware at this point and just port its huge library of games to Xbox/PS/iOS/Android/PC and make a few billion in gams sales. Think about it, they could sell Mario Brothers for $4.99 to about 300 million phones right now.

 

[everygamer]

As to locking game sales to specific consoles or accounts to inflate profit margins. I see no biggie in this. Right now if a title comes out for Xbox/PS3/PC I usually buy it for the PC. I can't re-sell it at EB, but then again most PC games are about $20 less than console games on release because developers know they can't be sold again at EB and lose a sale. Console games are $60 because of stores like EB/Gamestop reselling product over-and-over-and-over again, before those stores started doing this games usually sold for $30-$50. Once EB/Gamestop came along console games shot up in price. Reselling games shifted the profit from the game development companies to the stores that sold games, when you by a pre-owned game at Gamestop the developer gets 0% of that sale. So by buying at Gamestop, you are making the developer generate less revenue, thus they need to raise the cost of games to make a profit. It also makes it harder for them to generate enough profit to start the next project. So when you get that game at Gamestop for $40 and you feel your getting a discount, your paying what games used to be worth before the gamestops of the world undercut the profit margins that game developers make.
I also hate media, can't stand CD/Bluerays, they just eventually get scratched up and stop working. When I buy PC games I get it via digital download, I can always re-download it again later, so no biggie if the disk gets scratched ... and then its tied to my account already anyway.

 

[invlem]

I wouldn't consider the Wii U pricing big bucks... Confusion seems to be the correct answer for why the uptake is so slow... Personally if I wanted to play a game on a tablet.... I'd use my tablet... If I buy a console i plan on playing it on my big TV... don't understand why Nintendo can't grasp that concept

 

[Guest]

Yup Tablets and stupid smart phones have ruined gaming wont be long before all we get is stupid fing Angry birds games.

 

[Guest]

tablets provide quality gaming? are you kidding me, mobile games are a freaking joke they provide a cheap thrill for a few min and you are on to another one.

 

[g00fysmiley]

while you can't get a high end gaming laptop or desktop for the price of a console you can get a low-mid leel pc /laptop which is about on par with a console so i think the article put is well. consoles need to expand functionality and xbox live needs to be free like sony's i know it is the reason i will not be buying their next console. probably will get a wiiU when the next smash brothers comes out and maybe the ps4 after a eyar or so of release and a price cut or 2... just not interested in paying for a limited function computer when i mostly game on pc anyway,

 

[kartu]

Someone, who switched from console/PC gaming to smartphone/tablet "gaming", please show up!
Most PS3/xbox360 users will buy next gen consoles.
Decent PC is NOT more expensive, thanks to AMD's APUs, but it doesn't integrate into living room as nicely (sofa/TV/controllers).
Some games can still only be planed on PC (shooters, yeah, consoles have them I know, real-time strategies).

 

[TeraMedia]

The people who bought a Wii were people who didn't already have a Wii. Everyone from your grandmother to the babysitter living next door.
The people who would buy a Wii U are people who don't already have a Wii. Or a Wii U.
See the problem?
And the article is partly right about one thing. Hardware in tablets and phones is improving rapidly, pushing up from the bottom of the Wii U's gaming market. While a Wii U is still much more powerful than an android phone, that difference won't last forever. And the proportion of people who care about the difference will decrease as the difference itself is reduced over time. Basically the Wii U is entering into a market that is just the leftovers from it's predecessor's to begin with, is being squeezed from the bottom by handheld devices and secondary sales of its predecessor, and is being squeeze from the top by lower anticipated prices on XBOX 00 and PS4. Yah - good luck with that.