@horizonwriter @nameaprice Over time engine developers have to accommodate the lowest spec devices when making cross-platform games. Of the three devices which do you think will be held back? My current gen pc was built mid-spec over 5 years ago and plays the latest AAA games on highest settings and I haven't done squat for upgrades. Ten years ago I was plugging ram and gpu's in every 2 or 3 years.
Next gen consoles are just 3 months old and developers are already hitting their hardware limits and it's going to be about 9 years until PS5 / XB2 are released. Hmmm.
@chaosbrigade @BadMrSnake Revenue isn't any more relevant than units sold Chaos. PROFIT is the goal. Gross profit is: (price-cost) x units sold. Since companies are extremely secretive about their cost structure we'll never know for sure but if you compare the xbox360's tiny contribution to MS earnings with the "warchest" Danny mentioned for Nintendo, I think it's obvious who won that round.
Any console is a poor value proposition for the consumer when you consider game prices, vendor lock-in, generation compatibility, and lack of upgradability. People are getting smarter and the Wii U is just the start of the entire segment's inevitable decline.
People that have early versions of the Oculus Rift seem to gush about how great it is and yet Palmer Lucky keeps telling us about reducing latency, need for better display parts, new wireless development, and on and on. Point being, if it's already mind-blowing fun at this stage what will it be like in 5 years with a big consumer base, savvier developers, and cheap off-shelf parts designed for VR? This could start a whole new phase for the desktop pc.
I admit I've become a Steam Sale junkie. Like Pavlov's dog, I start to salivate in April and October at the coming discounts. At this point I'd never even think about paying $60 for a game I can get for $7 a year later. That would be kinda stupid. Apparently millions of Steam members agree.
@BuzzLiteBeer @Jawehawk-DK I was going to say the same thing. My Steam account was hacked a year ago and my access was denied. I eventually got it straightened out but trying to deal with Valve without account access was a nightmare and they treated me like crap despite the cause being their fault.
If I lose the whole thing tomorrow I had fun and got my money's worth.
@aci808 The only thing stupid is third-party assemblers trying to enter the market at such lofty prices. With 14 attempts someone is bound to sharpen their pencil and come up with a sweet spot between price and performance that sends the other 13 scrambling in the same direction. I predict we'll see a fast convergence toward the same basic spec fairly quickly.
@Ensabuhnur@Derpalon Great comments! I think you both make some really good points.
I think the whole XB180 was in reaction to Sony not cooperating more than consumer rage though.
Derpalon makes a strong point about the game market generally. These firms take outrageous liberties with their customers because most are young and inexperienced consumers. For example, the lifecycle cost of pc vs console strongly favors pc. Yet almost all gamers think the opposite. These pre-buy programs, season passes, pay-to-win "free" games, and over-the-top launch hype are other examples. But the gamer crowd is getting older and becoming more sophisticated. I'm encouraged there is increasing pushback on at least some of the more egregious attempts to separate us from our money.
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