Android, iOS overtake Sony, Nintendo in US portable game revenue


It's hard to take this data seriously when there's an enormously obvious omission from it.
 
Also, it coincides with the end-of-life of the previous generation of handhelds. Of course sales are going to be lower when just about everyone who wants one already owns one. :rolleyes:
 
I guess its a trend thing. We will see when the Vita comes out if things change. What is interesting is the power race that dominated the world of desktops has now moved to Mobile phones. Since the mobile phone market is much bigger (way more competitors striving to be better than the rest) I would presume that they will start accelerating away in terms of power from gaming handhelds until the only reason you would buy a gaming handheld is real controls (not a small point) - But how long before smartphones get there act together with real controls?.


The other problem that exists for Handheld game consoles is the price of games. Typically these cost 5-10x more than games on mobile phones . This is because the smartphone platforms have a larger audience and they can get there profits through volume. To be honest, this in my opinion, is whats going to kill off the dedicated gaming handhelds unless its addressed quickly.


Not long before smartphones with these badboys come out : http://www.slashgear...ailed-09194118/ .


So , to sum up , youve got smartphones which:


1) Are generally more powerfull than dedicated gaming systems and only getting more powerfull at a way faster rate


2) Have much cheaper games


3) Only lack real game controls


So basically, once a smartphone comes out with real game controls , its all over for dedicated gaming systems unless they do something drastic. Thats just my opinion .


I also see SONY changing there strategy ie the PS platform for android . They are seeing the future and moving to line up with it. That was the smartest move I have ever seen SONY do. They know the smartphone will be The gaming platform moving forward. Nintendo on the other hand, hmm dont see much strategy coming from them.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
You forgot:


4) Which everyone already owns


and


5) Which are available extremely heavily subsidised, so even people who can't afford one have one ( which I guess is the same as 4, so let's call it 4a )


It's not so much a case of: "Shall I buy a smartphone or a portable gaming device" as "Why should I buy this portable gaming device, I already have a smartphone"


The likes of Sony and Nintendo would do best to stop pussy footing around the App Stores and start releasing worthwhile versions of their A-list titles.


I don't care to look up who's responsible for Cooking With Mama on the iPhone, but it's a travesty of micro-payment crippled shite compared to the DS versions. It could so easily mop the floor with them.
 
I fear its a bit more complicated than that, especially with Android.


It works via a Java VM and has a software limited heapsize, usually 24mb, which brings it on par to PSP and makes it excel the NDS easily, however next gen portables already exceed the 24mb Android VM limit...


So the 512mb memory on Android really isnt 512mb... unless you code your game using the NDK, which kinda ruins the idea of Java on Phones.


Sent from my Optimus 2X using Tapatalk
 
Well, this is not about buying the systems, it's about buying GAMES for it.


Seriously, how many PSP or DS games have been released lately?


Very few, since both systems are outdated.


We all know Nintendo somehow fucked up the 3DS launch with no big titles from the start, but as long as Sony isn't doing the same and there are games like GTA, etc. coming for it, I see no reason why the Vita shouldn't be a success.


Comparing the sales of gaming consoles which are currently EOL with recent smartphone titles is pretty silly.


Additionally, there are so many cheap (both in price and gaming titles) for Smartphones available, that still produce tons of sales and therefore revenue.


There are so many casual gamers that buy a 2USD title each couple of days... that's A LOT of revenue, but that's a different market than GAMING CONSOLES are aiming at...


So in my opinion, that analysis is just useless.


EOL consoles and a different target market...
 
Less than useless, it's downright dangerous. Misinformation in the wrong (or right) hands can become a self fulfilling prophecy.


I wouldn't be surprised to see this reposted on several other news sites, blasted around forums and chat groups, and used by several people as justification to not buy the next Nintendo or Sony console: "This article says they're dying, so I won't waste my money buying them" sort of thing.
 
@ ED


I would have to disagree that they are 2 different markets for the same point Gadgetoid raised which is very true. People already have a smartphone, you're asking a proportion of them to also buy a gaming console. Thats the short of it. Its a hard ask when there smart phone is more powerful than any gaming console they could be considering. Don't get me wrong, as a long time gamer (or old crustie as Prometheus called me ;) ) I love gaming consoles. Heck I even own a Gizmondo (Now thats hard core - lol) and boxes of handheld consoles.


Take this example, I was looking at buying the 3DS, They had them at Kmart for $199 , which is cheap for Australia. Before I shelled out my money I looked at the game prices which were about $68 US. I thought holy shit thats a fortune, but I guess thats what games cost so I was about to buy it. However, I got my wifes iphone touch 4th gen, I thought I'll load a game on it, decided on Nova (2?). It was free, but you dont get the full game. Ok lets see what it's like, It's awesome, and I mean graphically awesome and awesome in every way. Heres a game that's like Halo running smoothly with rich featured graphics on my ipod touch. I thought I'll buy the full version. expecting $68, but no, it's about $10. My wife says $10 wow thats expensive for a game, im like what the. As I found out most games are well below that mark and there are some awesome games. Thats the huge disparity that exists at the moment , why the F would you buy a gaming console with less power to buy games that cost 10 times as much when as Gadgetoid said you already own something better in your smartphone or ipod touch. Answer, becuase you want full game controls or you wouldnt.


SONY has got it right in there strategy which is obviously shifting towards the smartphone ie Experia Play, PS Suite on Android and of course buying out Ericson also has a small role in this strategy. At the same time they are also covering all there bases by giving the dedicated game console one more huge crack with the Vita. Will the Vita be successful, I think so, at least initially. When Other devices come out straight after it with Tegra 3 chips, that will be a telling story, especially if any come out with real game controls (Experia Play 2 perhaps) to differentiate themselves in an already crowded market (you would think some will go down this path just to be different from the pack).


Also, on the point of comparing smatphones with EOL consoles, the 3DS isnt EOL, its current and its not doing that well. I doubt Nintendo will be making much on it now that they have lowered its price. Given that they have already made there first loss in 30 years , and its a big one - $1 billion, it's worrying. What worries me most about Nintendo, is they dont seem to have a strategy to compete with smart phones/ipod touch's and the like in the coming future. They don't seem to have any strategy at all and that worries me. Personally I have liked there products (I own a GBA SP, Micro and DS Lite) so it's sad for me to say Im worried about them. I want them to succeed , but they need to get a strategy together quick.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
So, are there full major games like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Legend of Zelda or any of the Tales-Games on Smartphones?


Because those are the kind of games I buy handhelds for.


RPGs with a good story that spans over 30 - 40 hours of gameplay.


I know smartphones have great graphics, and maybe there are some random dungeon crawlers or cool racing games out there, but are there really titles with an in-depth story?
 
Less than useless, it's downright dangerous. Misinformation in the wrong (or right) hands can become a self fulfilling prophecy.


I wouldn't be surprised to see this reposted on several other news sites, blasted around forums and chat groups, and used by several people as justification to not buy the next Nintendo or Sony console: "This article says they're dying, so I won't waste my money buying them" sort of thing.
See here, for example. :p

People already have a smartphone, you're asking a proportion of them to also buy a gaming console. Thats the short of it. Its a hard ask when there smart phone is more powerful than any gaming console they could be considering.
But not everyone owns or wants a mobile telephone. That's an assumption frequently made by technologist/analyst types with the curse of being too close to what they're enthusiastic about. :p


Moreover, history has frequently proven that people don't care one jot about the "power" of a gaming device. Usually the more successful ones are the ones that the technologistic types decry as being "not powerful enough", which then go on to enormous success. :p

SONY has got it right in there strategy which is obviously shifting towards the smartphone ie Experia Play, PS Suite on Android and of course buying out Ericson also has a small role in this strategy.
Wasn't the Experia Play a massive flop that stores can't shift, now?

Also, on the point of comparing smatphones with EOL consoles, the 3DS isnt EOL
And the point was: It's not in that comparison you linked to. ;) It's completely missing - they only list the DS, which is at the end of its time and is already owned by almost everyone who wants one.
 
Less than useless, it's downright dangerous. Misinformation in the wrong (or right) hands can become a self fulfilling prophecy.


I wouldn't be surprised to see this reposted on several other news sites, blasted around forums and chat groups, and used by several people as justification to not buy the next Nintendo or Sony console: "This article says they're dying, so I won't waste my money buying them" sort of thing.
Exactly. For how many years has the PC supposedly been dying as a gaming platform? It is still far from true, nevertheless many PC games are shabby console-ports these days.
 
Not everyone has a smartphone. I don't have one and I don't want one. I use my phone to make calls, nothing more. When I actually had a phone contract I used my phone a total of 24 hours (yes one day) in the span of my two year contract (yeah I don't talk much). I now have a prepaid phone that costs vastly less a year than a contract phone.


I prefer dedicated machines for games (PC, consoles, what have you) and choose my platform depending on the type of game, and games that have more than a couple days of here and there casual game play. If I do have a hankering for playing a simple casual game I'll hop on the Internet and browse some online game sites til I get bored.
 
It very much is a segmenting thing.


Why buy an xbox 360 when you can use your phone? Well, xbox can display on a big TV and you can sit on the couch! This is a more obvious deviation, but same logic.


A large %age of buyers of the DS or PSP may have bought it since they wanted portabel gaming, but they were more casual and didn't really want half of whaty they bought; those peope are probably satisfied with phone gaming. But a significant chunk wanted hardcore gaming on the go, and a phone is not going to cut it.


So the only question is .. how many buyers of the mobile console will be 'leached off' to the mobile phone gamign segment?


Your Sonys and such have to sell games to both markets now, since the one market split in half to feed another market.


The old market is _still there_, but is it large enough to support the more hard core dedicated console.


So its possible for a new market to come, and kill and old one when it should not have -- just by population problems.


jeff
 
Soon, we'll be able to hook all smartphones up to the big TV.

Maybe, but I'm still missing proper gaming controls and major gaming titles...


BTW: One thing I'm also having a problem with when gaming on a phone is the battery. If I play it empty, I cannot use the phone anymore, which is stupid.


If I ever buy a smartphone for gaming, it needs to have two batteries (one for gaming, one for the phone), gaming controls and 100% non-stuttering gameplay...
 
I think you missed the biggest point I made. Games on Smartphones are dirt cheap and they are now as good as those on handheld consoles. At the end of the day consumers will vote with their wallet. Just have a look on engadget where they ran the same story. You will find lots of people saying the exact same thing. ie games on handheld consoles are way to expensive - thats the clincher for a lot of people. It's what stopped me buying the 3DS, not that long ago you might of convinced yourself to spend $700 on 10 games, today in the world of dirt cheap smartphone games that are as good, it's a hard if not impossible sell, and thats what a looot of people are saying.


I also thought games on smartphones sucked , ie I thought all it had were games like angrybirds and that sort of thing which are alright but I prefer shooters and the Halo types etc. Then I looked at the games on smartphones and was blown away with was there, I had no idea there was the kind of dept of games I saw. I realised I had been burying my head in the sand with whats available on smartphones.


The other thing to note is that the smartphone platforms are massive, as a developer would you want to invest buckets of cash in the largest and fastest growing platforms (smartphones) or for handhelds? , hmm tough decision , not. This is another worrying point


Also, as I have said previously , unless smartphones get real controls it's a dead issue for me, because I would never use them for games without real controls, unless your happy with an icontrolpad as SONY mentioned. Touch controls suck ass big time. Until that point , handhelds will have a place. When smartphones or ipod touch's come out with real controls, then in my opinion its all over for handhelds. Remember they needed the massive market share they enjoyed to eek out a profit, so even a 20% decline in sales is going to make it real tough for them to survive.


SONY should be ok, with there strategy they have hedged there bets ie PS Suite , Vita and a cross platform - smart. Check the SDK details here:


http://www.engadget.com/2011/11/10/sony-opens-registration-for-playstation-suite-sdk-beta-lets-dev/


Nintendo, as Ive said , is a worry - it would seem they have no strategy at all. Lets hope they release something soon.


As for the Experia Play, Agreed it is Ass, no real controls , just those touch pads, %100 agree it sucks.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Back
Top