"Modern Warfare 3" Will Mark the End of the Video Game Console Era

[BreakABone]

These articles tend to pop-up from time to time, but usually with a focus on the handheld business vs the smart phone model.

This is the first one I've seen that proclaims the game's industry as a whole is in danger due to the emergence of smart phones.

I know there are still some major video-game industry bulls out there. I hope they have a huge victory party when Modern Warfare 3 sales hit the stratosphere.

Because odds are, there won’t be much to celebrate after that.

http://www.minyanville.com/businessmarkets/articles/video-gaming-industry-video-gamers-video/9/23/2011/id/37031?page=full

[Vampyr]

That article is hilariously bad.

For one thing, Zynga's profits dropped 95% from Q2 2010 to Q2 2011. Went from $27 million to $1.3 million - so I don't think Facebook games are going to be conquering or killing consoles, ever.

As for smart phones, I do think those are cutting into the handheld system business (3DS and the Vita), but I still think there is a market for high quality portable games. As long as there is Pokemon, there will be a Nintendo handheld.

In addition, developers are still developing for consoles first and porting to PC, the result is that console games end up being better and looking better, so customers continue to buy those games instead, and just fuels the whole process continuously.

Take a look at Rage from ID soft which just came out. Looks horrendous on the PC, looks amazing on the Xbox and PS3. Other examples are Alpha Protocol, which is flat out unplayable for most people on the PC due to the fact that mouse smoothing is turned on by default and cannot be turned off without going into the .ini file and changing about 6 different fields.

Mouse smoothing is something needed on a console to assist with aiming, but on a PC it makes your reticle move in .5" jumps, like it's on a grid. I think Borderlands had the same problem when it was released. Not sure if they ever fixed it.

[Bond]

Well, let's look at the writer's qualifications:


Michael Comeau is a writer based in Brooklyn, New York. He blogs at LongShortTrader.com and VideoGameStocks.net.

Michael spent 2004 through 2008 at TheStreet.com, starting out as a member of the research team. Before long, he became a featured columnist across the company's network of sites, and managed an investment newsletter service.

Prior to TheStreet.com, Michael worked as a Research Analyst for Toyota Motor North America, studying the US auto industry and emerging automotive technologies.

His primary market interest is consumer electronics, particularly video games, and he has been quoted by the The New York Times, CNN Money, MacDailyNews, and GamePro, among many others.

In his spare time, he enjoys photography, cooking, and exploring his neighborhood of Sunset Park.

http://www.minyanville.com/gazette/bios.htm?bio=188

Yeah ...

There are a lot of spotty financial commentary websites out there, and this appears to be one of them.