Death of the Console

10 years ago, you had a choice: the PS3, Xbox 360, the new Wii, and also Nintendo DS. Before that it was the PS2, Xbox, Nintendo 64, Gamecube, etc.That's all changing now. As mobile technology rises, people are turning to their phones to play games. 10 years ago, phones didn't come close to that processing power. Now, they do. You can play the older GTA games on your phone, which says something. While some companies have embraced the idea of mobile gaming, others are still skeptical about it, It's not just the console companies, as there are also the video game developers. 

Sure, console have failed in the past, the Sega Genesis, Wii U, and many more, but the overall trend seems to have declined. Look at these stats below. It doesn't matter what company is doing better because they're all still declining.

Also, PC gaming has risen. People prefer to game on their PC's because they can continue upgrading the components and with a laptop, an carry them wherever they want. Also, PC gamers use services like Steam or Origin to store their games digitally, so they can play from any computer. Some people will still stick with console, but people like me honestly prefer PC gaming. There's no problem with controllers as you can still hook up Xbox controllers to PC's, I mean it's all Microsoft so why would it not. The exception is Apple, of course.

PC's are also more powerful than consoles, provided you have the money to spend on powerful computers with high-end graphics cards, processors, etc. I would say about $900-$1200 will get you the same or better performance than a $300 PS4/ Xbox One.

As if consoles could take another hit, Valve, the company behind Steam, and also the one that released some of the best classical PC games like Half Life, Left for Dead, Team Fortress, etc., has tried to bridge the gap between PC gaming and console gaming with its Steam Link and Steam Machines (basically just overly-hyped computers that have moderate gaming power and are just packaged to look like a console) that allow the use to use their computer like an actual console. I mean Steam even has its own controller now.

It does seem to be taking a positive turn, with the new Nintendo Switch that is expected to sell 14 million this year, more than the 13 million Wii U's sold from 2012 to this year. 13 million is terrible considering the original Wii sold over 101 million. These old mobile consoles like the DS are already outdated. No one really wants to buy them anymore.


http://money.cnn.com/2017/11/09/technology/nintendo-switch-wii-u/index.html?iid=EL
https://ebgames.com.au/nintendo-switch-217391-Nintendo-Switch-Neon-Console-Switch