The Current Console Dynamic - Room For ... - The Gamer's Challenge
This industry doesn?t half feel cramped sometimes. Three major hardware providers fighting tooth and nail to attract the attention of the public and the enthusiasts alike. Three home consoles which can be considered successes in terms of sales and market penetration. Add to this mix the handheld sphere, the ever present PC gaming scene and new frontiers like those found on touchpads and mobile phones. In the past gaming was never big enough to support so many manufacturers. Now for the first time we have a generation in which all these branching corners of the gaming world seem able to co-exist happily. The question is, with another generation on the horizon, will this last?
It?s an intriguing question to ponder given the increasing rumblings coming from Valve that they are moving into hardware (into what capacity remains to be seen.) Plus?gossip that Apple are eyeing up the console space never seem to go away, even as their non-dedicated gaming devices continue to change the way people perceive and play handheld games. And let?s not forget that in the past companies like EA have toyed with the concept of their own dedicated console, until deciding to remain a software juggernaut.

The current generation of home consoles. Will these three be joined by others in the future, or will they continue to dominate the living room
But given the size of this industry now, why aren?t more lining up to join Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo? Largely due to how risky such a venture is. It costs huge amounts of money to produce a console, and the lines between success and failure are very fine. This is the first time gaming has become large enough to support three home consoles in rude health. It is hard to guarantee that a fourth console will find its own, ultimately profitable, niche.?? You need only look at history to see why so many are nervous about upsetting the status quo. During the early nineties it was almost unthinkable to think Sega would one day pull out of console development. Yet that is what happened with the dawn of the PS2 era, (as well as chronic mismanagement of the company, but that?s a tale for another day). As a result they were forced into being a software only company. Some would say this opened the door for Microsoft to join in the fun, but even their participation in the console game appeared shaky initially as they struggled to keep up with Sony?s monster seller.
It is only now that we have three consoles all on a relatively equal footing in terms of market share and public perception. But these three still present a large barrier to entry for anyone else. You have to convince the public to adopt your new product over the established rivals. This takes huge amounts of money and there is little prospect of an immediate profit. It?s taken Microsoft nigh on a decade to get their Xbox brand in such a position. But the industry is growing all the time, with many now owning multiple consoles, so why haven?t others taken the plunge?
The answer is that, simply put, they don?t need to. Most companies get by releasing as much software as they can on the existing consoles, and not forgetting PC of course. As for the likes of Apple? Well as previously mentioned they have no need, having entered gaming via the back door with their Ipad and Iphone. They have realised the way to get a slice of the gaming pie is not to go for greedy bites of it, but take tiny nibbles in areas which the other companies largely leave alone.
Nowhere perhaps is this shift more evident than in the handheld market. There has been a boom in mobile games found on portable touchscreens, while Sony?s latest dedicated handheld seems to be faltering somewhat. The king of the portable space, Nintendo, has seen their 3DS chug along pleasantly, though not explosively. Yet it seems they too won?t replicate the massive success of the DS. This was always unlikely, but even so, it shows that there is a shift going on for gaming devices, and the lines between them are increasingly becoming blurred.

People love gossiping over the possibility of Apple joining the console manufacturing fun. The reality is, given their success with the Ipad and such, they have little incentive for such a scheme.
Some developers have stated?belief that?we will see a one console future, with all companies providing their games largely as digital downloads. This seems an unlikely outcome, provided of course the different console manufacturers remain profitable. The real issue it seems is whether anyone else joins them. As of this moment, this too seems unlikely. For the key issue for any new product is to provide a new experience for customers, and given the dilution between gaming and other entertainment media, such new experiences are more difficult to devise.??? The fact is that many companies are looking beyond the dedicated gaming console, and are instead fixated upon the idea of an entertainment system that provides, music, TV, movies, online and the like. You need only look at Microsoft and Sony at each E3 to realise this is their focus. It is in these areas that the console space is becoming increasingly cramped. Perhaps this is the area in which gaming, and indeed consoles, faces its stiffest competition.
That however, seems slightly melodramatic. What is clear now is that the gaming world has grown into something much more diverse and dynamic when?compared to a couple of decades ago. Online has enhanced gaming in so many ways; and by that same token it allows the industry to grow in tandem with other entertainment branches. So perhaps asking whether companies are keen to join gaming exclusively is asking the wrong question. As we have seen from Apple, it is possible for companies to join the industry with a broader goal in mind; to provide all forms of entertainment. This is where the current dynamic will see its greatest changes over the coming years. Not in the release of brand new consoles from new companies, but in what other companies will offer in conjunction to traditional gaming experiences.
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The Current Console Dynamic - Room For Anyone Else?,Source: http://www.thegamerschallenge.com/industry/the-current-console-dynamic-room-for-anyone-else/
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