Console gaming finally overtaken PC gaming
- Thread starter phenix
- Start date
Frankly it depends on what we consider "PC gaming." There's a whole lot of revenue drawn from things I'm sure the bulk of us completely ignore, so consoles have been a lot more lucrative for "out gaming" for quite some time.
jvd said:
From ebgames.com
PS2 new releases
Test Drive: Eve Of $39.99
Viewtiful Joe $29.99
Astro Boy $39.99
Ghosthunter $49.99
Hot Shots GolfFORE $39.99
Madden NFL 2005 $49.99
Madden 2005 CE $59.99
FunkMaster Flex $14.99
Echo Night Beyond $39.99
Average $40
PS2 coming soon
GTA: San Andreas $49.99
Star Ocean The End $49.99
Phantom Brave SE $49.99
FFXI: Chains EXP $29.99
Average $45
PC new releases
Political Machine $19.99
DOOM 3 $54.99
Amer.Conquest Gold $19.99
Ballerburg $19.99
EverQuest Platinum $29.99
Catwoman $19.99
Perimeter $39.99
Soldiers: Heroes $39.99
DAOC: Platinum $29.99
Average $30
PC coming soon
FF XI: Promathia $29.99
SWG: Lightspeed $29.99
AO: Alien Invasion $29.99
UO: Samurai Empire $29.99
Average $30
Hahaha why don't u look at top of the line tittles. after all thats what u did with ps2.
doom3 54.99
half life 2 49.99
rome total war 49.99
warhammer 49.99
tribes vengence 49.99
everquest 2 49.99
There are many games that fall off the radar that are put out on the ps2 at launch for 20$ .
I also like how you add in expansion packs like uo which is the 8th expansion pack for the game. Or everquest platnimum Why didn't u include everquest 2 collectors at 90$ ? or half life 2 collectors at 64.99 ?
doom3 54.99
half life 2 49.99
rome total war 49.99
warhammer 49.99
tribes vengence 49.99
everquest 2 49.99
There are many games that fall off the radar that are put out on the ps2 at launch for 20$ .
I also like how you add in expansion packs like uo which is the 8th expansion pack for the game. Or everquest platnimum Why didn't u include everquest 2 collectors at 90$ ? or half life 2 collectors at 64.99 ?
Shouldn't we be more focussed on initial list price of the game and not what it can be found for a month or two down the road?
Games for consoles rarely ever debut for less that 40 to 50$, but that's because of the "razors" marketing scheme that the console industry uses. Since the consoles commonly cost more to manufacture than they actually sell for, the money is made up for in games and peripherals sales. PCs don't have to sell at a loss and thus the games can sell at whatever price the developer deems appropriate.
Consoles should be pretty easy to count profits against then because they're a pretty static target, but the PC market has non-arbitrary prices so it's hard to tell what is or is not profit.
In truth, the console market has been doing better than the PC market for years now, but it doesn't mean it's making as much money. There are more games developed for the PC than for anything else, but these aren't necessarily games you've heard of, they may only be basic flash or shockwave games. That being said, the money that shifts from hand to hand in the PC market isn't all seen and it isn't all accounted for, and furthermore it doesn't all go back into the market. The profits for that are then hidden and impossible to calculate.
So I'd say the PC market is still larger than the console market, but the console market is more prosperous than the PC market.
Anyway, later
Iridius Dio
Games for consoles rarely ever debut for less that 40 to 50$, but that's because of the "razors" marketing scheme that the console industry uses. Since the consoles commonly cost more to manufacture than they actually sell for, the money is made up for in games and peripherals sales. PCs don't have to sell at a loss and thus the games can sell at whatever price the developer deems appropriate.
Consoles should be pretty easy to count profits against then because they're a pretty static target, but the PC market has non-arbitrary prices so it's hard to tell what is or is not profit.
In truth, the console market has been doing better than the PC market for years now, but it doesn't mean it's making as much money. There are more games developed for the PC than for anything else, but these aren't necessarily games you've heard of, they may only be basic flash or shockwave games. That being said, the money that shifts from hand to hand in the PC market isn't all seen and it isn't all accounted for, and furthermore it doesn't all go back into the market. The profits for that are then hidden and impossible to calculate.
So I'd say the PC market is still larger than the console market, but the console market is more prosperous than the PC market.
Anyway, later
Iridius Dio
phat, your post is not indicative of pricing in the console industry nor in the PC games sector. You're using a very heavy bias to support your argument. I can walk into a local Best Buy and see games on all consoles and the PC that are AAA titles and they're all priced at $50, give or take $10. My question to you is: Why did you specifically use expansion packs in your "PC coming soon" list? This shows to me that you picked ADD ON's that are naturally priced lower than when their original games were released.
There is a lot of money to be made in the PC gaming market and not having any licensing fees helps dramatically with that. A game that may need to sell half a million units on a console to generate profit might only half tos ell as few a s a quarte rmillion units to see the same profit.
There is a lot of money to be made in the PC gaming market and not having any licensing fees helps dramatically with that. A game that may need to sell half a million units on a console to generate profit might only half tos ell as few a s a quarte rmillion units to see the same profit.
While this is largely true, the big difference is the number of PC games that sell the "250K" units vs the number of console games that sell "500K". Where the numbers just note some abitrary Profit level.
In general a console title is more likely to break even than it's PC counterpart. The few PC titles that do very well make a lot of money, but then the top 3 or 4 console titles a year probaly make more.
Actually not as many console games as you would think reach 500k units . I would say more than 70% of console games fail to hit 500k. Hell fail to hit 250k .
I can release say jvd vs the ninja's . Spend the money developing the game. Sell a 100k units. Then release for a very low price 4 more expansion packs which are nothing but fan based maps and patches and sell another 200k units combined on that.
Not to mention that decent pc games have a shelf life of 5 years . Counter strike is still selling for 30$ . Quake 3 is still going for 20$ . COnsole games have no where near the life
jvd said:
MMORPG is not so lucrative business, it costs much in administering servers, fixing very-hard-to-reproduceable bugs, and so on. Moreover there are plenty of people who join free beta test and just go away when commercial service begins. It's very risky and you must be a big player to run an MMORPG title.
jvd said:
They are only handful of elite developers who can produce licensable engines or classics so you can't generalize on them. Another factor of their success is, their luck to be able to toss good enough games at the right time when PC with realistic 3D graphics and internet connection suddenly get cheap and broadband enough. They could offer innovative game experience helped by steady growth of Moore's law, but you can't expect much more innovation in PC gaming for some time forthcoming. Or, old games selling well already indicates stagnation to some degree.
Console games could have that life, and basically do anyway. PC games can, after five years still cost 20, or 30$, console games can also cost 20 to 30$ five years after they arrive, but there are systems in place that lower the price of console games so most old games cost less. Actually all three companies have a system for that.
Another point of interrest, a vast percentage of console games are coveted and lusted after for even more than five years after the death of the hardware they were intended for (Think of it like Doom) and people will gladly pay 20, or 30$ for them.
Later
Iridius Dio
Another point of interrest, a vast percentage of console games are coveted and lusted after for even more than five years after the death of the hardware they were intended for (Think of it like Doom) and people will gladly pay 20, or 30$ for them.
Later
Iridius Dio
sunscar:
> Shouldn't we be more focussed on initial list price of the game and not
> what it can be found for a month or two down the road?
No. Games don't stop selling after the first or even the second month and the fact is that PC games drop in price much quicker than console games.
Also, looking past the few big releases most PC games sell like crap. I can't believe this is even an argument. There's a reason why the vast majority of all the big developers and publishers have consoles as their main priority. If you're not id, Epic or Blizzard the PC is just a stepping stone to console development.
> Shouldn't we be more focussed on initial list price of the game and not
> what it can be found for a month or two down the road?
No. Games don't stop selling after the first or even the second month and the fact is that PC games drop in price much quicker than console games.
Also, looking past the few big releases most PC games sell like crap. I can't believe this is even an argument. There's a reason why the vast majority of all the big developers and publishers have consoles as their main priority. If you're not id, Epic or Blizzard the PC is just a stepping stone to console development.
I think you should consider the cost of a typical console, 150-300$ compared to the cost of a typical gaming PC, I would say 1000-1500$. Not everybody can afford to buy a PC for gaming.
I mean if you already have a PC you game but you seldom buy a PC just for playing games. If your sole purpose is to play games you simply prefer consoles.
Thats my humble opinion of course. Actually I never owned a console and most probably I will never own one.
I mean if you already have a PC you game but you seldom buy a PC just for playing games. If your sole purpose is to play games you simply prefer consoles.
Thats my humble opinion of course. Actually I never owned a console and most probably I will never own one.
Similar threads
