Some PC gaming enthusiasts think that their platform of choice will someday render consoles and dedicated portables obsolete. This view is wrong for the following reasons:
1.) Consoles and Portables are cheaper than Gaming quality PC's.
Let's break it down via manufacturer. I did not bother citing sources by providing hyperlinks for the prices I found. They are likely to change fairly often and the links wouldn't be all that helpful. All prices were found online on 10 March 2015.
MICROSOFT
XBOX 360 - According to Wal-Mart's website, various bundles are being sold for $180-250
XBOX One - $500 AT LAUNCH, recently reduced to $350.
SONY
PS3 - Anywhere from $140 to $275, depending on HDD size, game bundles and whether or not the system is new or used.
PS4 - $400
PS Vita - $200, maybe a little more or less, depending on the source. May have pack-in game or not.
NINTENDO
WiiU - $300
New 3DS - $200 at launch
3DS XL - $200
2DS - $130
CASH NEEDED FOR HALFWAY DECENT GAMING PC - $600, IF YOU BUILD IT YOURSELF.
So, I can build a PC for $600 that will be decent for playing games for MAYBE a year or so before needing a potentially expensive hardware upgrade. Or, I can buy any of the 5 consoles and/or 4 portables being supported right now and get many years of enjoyment from new releases on newer consoles or rather impressive back catalogs for older ones like PS3 & XBOX 360. Keep in mind that all of Nintendo's current hardware offerings are also backward-compatible with the original Wii and DS, giving me thousands more choices that I will probably not get anywhere else. And ALL of the current consoles and portables are anywhere from $200 to $400 less than the PC and are pretty much ready to go straight out of the box. PC's might have better graphics but, cost-wise, they are at a tremendous disadvantage here.
2.) PC games are a pain in the ass to get working, compared to consoles and portables.
PC games require installation, configuration and making sure you have the right video/sound cards, processor, drivers, etc. etc. etc. And God help you if you are trying to get an older PC game to work on a newer version of Windows. :/
Other than downloading updates for games on the 7th and 8th Generation devices, Consoles and portables don't have that problem.
3.) Despite what some people think, cell phones and tablets are not going to replace portables and consoles.
And no, the recent announcement that Nintendo will be releasing titles on
smartphones doesn't counteract this talking point. Their AAA material
(and HUGE back catalog of hits) will always be released on their own
proprietary hardware. The cell phone games are just going to be simple
little things that are meant to drive people to buying their hardware
and the games for that hardware. They've done these sort of things
before. For example, the e-Reader accessory for the GBA. Most of the e-cards made for that accessory were all cards designed to add levels and items to games on the GBA or GameCube. The others were either really simple games like Kirby Slide, a re-release of the Game & Watch titles and some of the earliest NES titles.
4.) Physical copies of games are still the norm with consoles and portables. PC games are starting to be released only through download services like Steam.
Not everyone wants to use Steam. Physical copies are tangible and can be enjoyed for generations of the family or resold when you no longer want them. Digital copies, for now at least, cannot be traded or resold. That makes it rather difficult to get some of your money back by reselling a game you didn't like to a re-seller like GameStop, Amazon or Wal-Mart.
And no, game companies do not deserve a piece of the action when I decide to resell my games. Would GM be entitled to a slice if I decided to sell my long since paid-for Chevrolet? Of course not!
5.) Nintendo is NEVER going to release games on a platform that they don't control. MICROSOFT isn't likely to walk away from a business where they have significant marketshare, either.
So, that is ONE company that is always going to make it's own hardware rather than developing for Windows PC, MacOS, iOS, Linux or Android. They like having control over the hardware because that way, they will know exactly how to wring the most out of it for the best game experiences. If there is one hardware manufacturer around today that can keep consoles and portables alive, it would be Nintendo. They make a profit from virtually everything they produce.
To my knowledge, Microsoft has not made a single dime from the XBOX division. Sony makes money from their PlayStation division but, everything else they do is losing money right now. So, among the current crop of gaming hardware makers, Nintendo is the one in the best financial position to keep consoles/portables alive. That's also assuming that Microsoft doesn't decide to take more money from their other operations to keep funding the XBOX division, which I'm sure they would. XBOX gave them huge marketshare in console gaming and PC games have never been very profitable for them. Why would they walk away now when they've established themselves as a major player in the industry?
While we're on the subject, why are they *not* releasing a portable? Nintendo needs the competition and the PS Vita just isn't getting that job done right now.
- Lord Publius
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