The State of the Games Industry in Numbers

Gamasutra has up a pair of articles discussing the numbers from this round of the console wars. One focuses on the current frontrunner, Nintendo. Their numerical superiority is highlighted by the number of million selling titles they currently have on tap. Both the DS and Wii are carrying multiple-million sellers, with the current tally for (recently released) Diamond/Pearl sitting at 12,170,000. Meanwhile, in a lengthy article, the site fully explores the impact of console sales in numerous markets and venues, with comparisons between all three consoles (and a focus on Nintendo's sales). "PlayStation 2 titles make up the bulk of software sales in the U.S. and Europe again in 2007, as they have in previous years. The Wii's 2007 numbers equal the GameCube's in 2006, but its software growth isn't yet matching its hardware's. Microsoft's Xbox 360 has benefited largely from the Xbox's demise and the PlayStation 2 sales' slow decline. Even with the PlayStation 3 hardware's current state in Europe, its software sales in Europe are relatively low."

Comments

No PC gaming mentioned

[Kohath]

It would be nice to see PC gaming included in these. It seems like PC gaming is mostly MMO-only now, with the focus of every other type of gaming (except flash-based games) moving to consoles. But it would be nice to see numbers to indicate whether this shift is real or just perceived.

Re:No PC gaming mentioned

[EtoilePB]

The state of PC gaming bugs me, too. The presence on retail shelves is more or less nil, except for a few dozen copies of WoW (and every store, for some reason, has one EverQuest expansion from like six years ago.)

On the other hand, Steam and GameTap keep, well, picking up steam -- and I wonder if those services are even registering. If I play Overlord on my PC through GameTap, I didn't buy it. But it's still making money and I'm still enjoying it. And the charts don't ahve much to say about that. ;)

I wonder if it's also the nature of PC gaming. I have a couple dozen DS games, because they're easy to buy and sell and finish and so on. I move through each with relative quickness and move on to the next. But my PC gaming tends to be open-ended, replayable games (Civ IV, Pirates!, MMORPGs) that I'd buy fewer of anyway.

Anyway, this has all been idle gazing from the "PC Gamer For Life" navel. I would like to know what the actual market is, too, for curiosity's sake if nothing else.

Re:No PC gaming mentioned

[Shados]

There's also one (probably unpopular) thing to consider... Piracy. on PC, I'd be guessing piracy is relatively extreme, at least for games where the main appeal is NOT online (thus why PC gaming is becoming all MMOs, with a touch of FPSs and RTSs). Single player games seem to be suicide, except for the select few "star" AAA games like Oblivion and such.

If you look at the patterns of the industry, it has a bit of that tendency, even on consoles, unless the console is several times more popular than the alternatives (PS2, Wii)

Its interesting to look at the evolution of PSP and DS gaming for example... PSP had a lot of piracy and DS little, early on. Now the DS probably has even more, so games tend to be slightly more evenly distributed... CEOs of game development companies most definately watch that go. Making games for the PC has to be justified.

Now, again aside a couple of exceptions here and there, non-FPS games that come out on PC only do so because its so easy to dual develop for 360 and PC at the same time...

Re:No PC gaming mentioned

[Chosen Reject]

to upgrade it you can spend $70 for more RAM, and $100 for a better graphics card and your looking at a $210 game and when a Wii costs $250 and games cost $50

And then 3-4 years later you have to upgrade your system again to play a different game while the Wii will be supported for around 5-6 years.

This is actually one are where PC games can shine, though. First off, if all you are doing is upgrading your RAM or GPU then you have 100% backwards compatibility. But in 5-6 years a new game for a console will look 5-6 years old(1), whereas a new game for a PC will look new. Also, you talked about one game ending up costing $210 due to upgrades, but those upgrades work for all your other games. I don't have to make an upgrade for the Orange Box, and then Quake Wars, and then Crysis, and then UT3(2). I upgrade for one and I'm good to go. So the extra $170 (I'll use your numbers for simplicity) is now spread out over the number of games you buy, which admittedly is the same for a console. If you only buy a 360 and Halo 3, then that cost you a lot.

So you have to spread out the cost to the usefulness of the system as a whole. Most people still buy a computer in addition to their console because they need it for things which a console does not do. Assuming they buy a cheap Dell (I think ~$400 right now) and a cheap console (either PS2 or Wii) you are already looking at costs that are more than what I spent a year ago ($550) on a computer that plays the Orange Box and Quake Wars just fine (I have not yet tried the Crysis and UT3 demos) at a resolution of 1280x1024 (which is higher than the PS2 and Wii can achieve. If you look at consoles capable of HD then the price becomes even bigger. But I just have to upgrade to a new GPU (maybe $150) and/or a new CPU (maybe $100) and I'm back up to near top of the line. So for less than the cost of a new console I get 100% backwards compatibility and all my old games can look newer than they did before the upgrade. If you buy an 360 or PS3 to play your Xbox or PS2 games (if they work) you don't get updated graphics, only better fps.

Seriously, the big difference between consoles and PCs is the number of people who can play on a given system, the ease of setup, and the types of games. How you play the games (keyboard and mouse or sitting on the couch) is a moot point as you can hook up keyboards and mice to the new consoles (at least the PS3, I'm not sure about the others or even how well it is supported) and you can always play a PC game on the couch with either a wireless keyboard/mouse combo or by plugging in a controller. So if you want to know which to buy, you just determine which type of games you like(RTS or fighting game), how you like to play (buddy sharing screen space or not), etc. But cost has nothing to do with it.

1) I realize that developers do learn the platforms as time goes by. However, tweaks to make something run faster is not the same as much faster GPU, especially when the time frame is 5-6 years.
2) I mention these games mostly because they are currently the most hardware taxing games, even if two of them are only demos right now.

Today, I ordered an Xbox 360

[LKM]

What about motorstorm, Resistance fall of man, Dirt and Oblivion.

So you have two launch titles and two multiplatform games, one of which really should be played on a PC. You also mention Heavenly Sword, which was supposed to be the game to finally make the PS3 worth it, but at 6 hours of playtime, I just don't see it. GTA IV is probably better on the 360, and R&C looks gorgeous, but it's essentially the same damn game I've already played on the PS2.

I've bought a PS3 on launch, but I've ordered an Xbox 360 today* as my second console next to the Wii. The PS3 games just aren't coming. Maybe I can use the thing as a Bluray player and for the occasional game of Little Big Planet (if we ever see that) or something.

* I ordered a 360 despite the fact that I:

1. Immensely dislike Microsoft
2. Don't want to pay for online gaming
3. Fully expect the thing to explode within a week

It just can't be helped: If you want to play some of the games that don't make it to the Wii, the 360 is unfortunately the better choice than the PS3. Actually, I'd even say that the PS3 isn't really a viable option at all, at this time. Oh, and Sony, what's up with the PS3 controller? Do you really think you got that right on the first try? A decade without changes? I'm not 6 years old anymore, you know! How about a controller that isn't so small that I have to hold the thing with two fingers so I get hand cramps within half an hour of Warhawk and have to use the crappy Logitech chill stream instead, which has totally broken analog sticks and no "home" button?