New Consoles on the Way, but Gaming Isn’t the Same
Nick Wingfield — NYTimes.com - November 11, 2013
▻http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/technology/sony-and-microsoft-ready-with-new-game-consoles.html?pagewanted=all
“It’s not an exponential leap in graphical fidelity,” he said of the new consoles. “It’s incremental.”
Global physical and digital console game sales last year were $24.9 billion, or about 39 percent of total game sales, PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consulting firm, estimates in its latest entertainment and media report. That is down from $29.4 billion in 2008, when console sales accounted for 56 percent of total game sales.
The sales drop partly reflects a natural waning in sales that occurs as one generation of consoles ages. This time the drop was especially sharp because of the collapse in sales of Nintendo’s game systems.
There has also long been suspicion that console makers deliberately make fewer consoles than they are capable of to encourage people to camp out in front of stores and other stunts that create excitement around their products, though manufacturers deny it.
“One thing you do not want to have is overstock,” said John Taylor, an analyst at the Arcadia Investment Corporation, a stock research firm.