Who will be the next hardware maker to exit the market?

[Major Havoc 2049]

Ya, Microsoft lost money on the Xbox brand back when it first launched the Xbox and in the early Xbox 360 days, when it was investing in the future and building up the brand name and customer loyalty. The Xbox division has been consistantly turning a profit for Microsoft since 2008.

[JamesD]

Nintendo could strengthen it's position if they created a separate division for PC and Andriod/iOS games.

Using a different label gives them more freedom to move away from some of their kid safe image.

They could probably buy up a few companies that already produce desirable titles to build a portfolio.

Traditional Nintendo titles could stay on Nintendo specific hardware.

Nintendo would have some protection offered by diversification without reducing the value of Mario to sell consoles.

Looks like Nintendo is making some moves for mobile and may release a new console this year.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/activision-report-could-mean-game-on-for-nintendo-195926157.html

[JamesD]

Microsoft had $88.08 Billion in revenue with a gross profit of $60.54 Billion. Net Income $11.41 Billion Total Cash $102.31 Billion

SONY had $72.51 Billion in revenue with a gross profit of $17.16 Billion. Net Income $1.14 Billion. Total Cash $7.49 Billion

Nintendo had $4.7 Billion in revenue but no info on profit. Net Income $202.06 Million Total Cash $7.98 Billion

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=NTDOY+Key+Statistics

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=SNE+Key+Statistics

http://finance.yahoo.com/q/ks?s=MSFT+Key+Statistics

Edited February 26, 2016 by JamesD

[Andromeda Stardust]

Ninty and M$ are tied on the poll.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Looks like Nintendo is making some moves for mobile and may release a new console this year.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/activision-report-could-mean-game-on-for-nintendo-195926157.html

I thought there would be some mention of NX. Booo...

[Bill Loguidice]

I thought there would be some mention of NX. Booo...

 

Nintendo would be foolish to say anymore about the NX until E3, and certainly the companies with dev kits are going to be forced to be equally tight lipped via contract. Sales of the Wii U and 3DS (the latter based on today's release about sales for the past fiscal year not meeting Nintendo's already lowered projections for it) are already hurting enough. Again, you only want to talk about your next platform at the last possible moment so as not to cannibalize sales of your existing products.

[enoofu]

Don't think we will seen much on NX till around 3-6 months to release, since Sony and MS will probably release new consoles sometime soon in the future also

[JamesD]

Ninty and M$ are tied on the poll.

Funny thing, they are both better off cash wise than SONY.

But frankly, the numbers speak for themselves.

Nobody is even close to Microsoft overall. That doesn't mean the games division is doing spectacular, but it doesn't look like Microsoft is bleeding cash either.

[JamesD]

I thought there would be some mention of NX. Booo...

Way too early for an official announcement. They need to make sure the hardware has been sufficiently thrashed by developers before they will know if it's ready.

They are probably still making final changes at this point, though I'd expect the chipset to be final before the end of this quarter.

The case and other parts will probably continue to be tweaked until just before E3.

[Bill Loguidice]

Don't think we will seen much on NX till around 3-6 months to release, since Sony and MS will probably release new consoles sometime soon in the future also

 

Not a chance of that on the Sony or Microsoft sides. They have zero incentive to do that. They haven't even hit mid-life on their consoles and both, especially the PS4, are selling quite well. You're probably looking at 3 - 4 years before we start to see official rumblings (of course all three companies are always working on the next platform all the time).

[Atariboy]

Don't think we will seen much on NX till around 3-6 months to release, since Sony and MS will probably release new consoles sometime soon in the future also

 

The Xbox One and Playstation 4 are years away from this.

 

Without any intentions of sounding rude, you have some unusual views of this industry. Nothing wrong with that of course and message boards would be a pretty boring place if everyone agreed all of the time.

Edited February 26, 2016 by Atariboy

[enoofu]

 

Not a chance of that on the Sony or Microsoft sides. They have zero incentive to do that. They haven't even hit mid-life on their consoles and both, especially the PS4, are selling quite well. You're probably looking at 3 - 4 years before we start to see official rumblings (of course all three companies are always working on the next platform all the time).

 

True, but generally you want Dev Kits released 2-3 years before a new platform launches, and we still don't know when NX is releasing as it could be in 2017.

 

I don't think PS5 or XBone2 being released around 2020 is far out, when the consoles will be around 7 years old at that point

 

Plus system addons like Playstation VR are also coming out now

Edited February 27, 2016 by enoofu

[Bill Loguidice]

 

True, but generally you want Dev Kits released 2-3 years before a new platform launches, and we still don't know when NX is releasing as it could be in 2017.

 

I don't think PS5 or XBone2 being released around 2020 is far out, when the consoles will be around 7 years old at that point

 

Plus system addons like Playstation VR are also coming out now

 

The NX dev kits have already been out there for some time, so it's perfectly reasonable to think they'll officially launch later this year. If it's 2017, there won't be an announcement at E3 this year. If there's an announcement at E3 this year, you can guarantee it's hitting this holiday.

 

Around 2020 is reasonable for PS5 and whatever the next Xbox will be called (you can be sure it won't be number-based).

 

The launch of PlayStation VR this year should be interesting. It will probably be the most popular and best supported VR solution by far in pretty short order considering the install base of the PS4 and Sony's marketing muscle.

[Cybermario]

i feel Microsoft will exit the console market in the next years. All these crossbuy plans they have, the push in gaming towards windows 10 starting with Quantum Break, etc? I feel they are starting to work their way out in the console race.

[djxtheowl]

Nintendo owns the handheld market and I think the console market is mainly Sony's to lose. So, Microsoft I guess.

 

But if handhelds ultimately lose out to mobiles and if the NX doesn't fare better than the Wii U, I could picture Nintendo focusing strictly on software. Hell, they might even make more money as a multi-platform software developer.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

The NX dev kits have already been out there for some time, so it's perfectly reasonable to think they'll officially launch later this year. If it's 2017, there won't be an announcement at E3 this year. If there's an announcement at E3 this year, you can guarantee it's hitting this holiday.

 

Around 2020 is reasonable for PS5 and whatever the next Xbox will be called (you can be sure it won't be number-based).

 

The launch of PlayStation VR this year should be interesting. It will probably be the most popular and best supported VR solution by far in pretty short order considering the install base of the PS4 and Sony's marketing muscle.

You know, with NX dev kits out and all, we still have zero clue of specs and what it is or looks like. I'm surprised there haven't been any leaks yet. Even with strict NDA agreements, it only takes one guy inside a company with a smart phone or some shit to snap a pic and upload it to social media. Hell even the janitor probably has a smart phone and access to the development room. And as we all know, once something gets "leaked", it's out there, and there's no getting it back.

[enoofu]

Don't think their ever been many leaks on the NDA for prior Dev Kits, even after the end of the lifestyle

 

Usually the only way for public to see them is do to bankruptcy of the 3rd party studios

[MantaNZ]

Coleco

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

I know it is unlikely and some of you will want to throw rocks and garbage at me for saying so but I would personally love it to be Nintendo. Despite my answer I DO love Nintendo but that said I have had no interest in any of their hardware since Gamecube. Seems everything after that they insisted on not having anything near the power or capability of competing hardware and yeah I "get" the idea of how Nintendo rely on the first party stuff and different play experiences but at the same time I am tired of the few third party games that dribbled onto their hardware always being different simply because the hardware was not as capable. If the real attraction to Nintendo is their first party stuff, their ip's and franchises than why not just go completely software focused by choice and focus on releasing amazing Nintendo brands and characters on other hardware? I know some of you will say Sega tried that and the result has been not the greatest but I think in Sega's case it was not exactly by choice, if Nintendo did this they would have a much better result I am sure of it especially if they did it under their own terms. Again, I know that it is not going to happen or very unlikely but I for would would be happy to see the big "N" exist solely as a games producer as my mind boggles at what they could accomplish with their franchises (and hey maybe even some new ideas!) on other more powerful competing hardware. I think everyone would gain from that.

[Atariboy]

Nintendo owns the handheld market

 

No, it's smartphones, especially Apple products, that dominate mobile gaming in 2016.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

No, it's smartphones, especially Apple products, that dominate mobile gaming in 2016.

Bah! Smartphone games are not really games; they are mindless entertainment for when you are sitting on the toilet or standing in line at the movies.

 

No buttons, no stick or dpad = not a real game device.

[JamesD]

i feel Microsoft will exit the console market in the next years. All these crossbuy plans they have, the push in gaming towards windows 10 starting with Quantum Break, etc? I feel they are starting to work their way out in the console race.

Microsoft isn't going anywhere as long as there are billions of dollars to be made in the gaming console market.

 

[JamesD]

Nintendo owns the handheld market and I think the console market is mainly Sony's to lose. So, Microsoft I guess.

 

But if handhelds ultimately lose out to mobiles and if the NX doesn't fare better than the Wii U, I could picture Nintendo focusing strictly on software. Hell, they might even make more money as a multi-platform software developer.

In terms of dollars, the smartphone market is now larger than Nintendo's handheld market.

Face it, most people have a phone but not everyone has a Nintendo.

 

Bah! Smartphone games are not really games; they are mindless entertainment for when you are sitting on the toilet or standing in line at the movies.

 

No buttons, no stick or dpad = not a real game device.

I agree the interface is lacking, but in terms of dollars, the mobile phone market is expected to surpass the console market.

I can't remember the projected year but I think that was mentioned in the article I posted above.

 

[Atariboy]

Bah! Smartphone games are not really games; they are mindless entertainment for when you are sitting on the toilet or standing in line at the movies.

 

No buttons, no stick or dpad = not a real game device.

 

Compare the install base of the DS and PSP to that of the 3DS and Vita. There wasn't a mass exodus away from mobile gaming like those numbers would suggest, it just largely shifted to general purpose smartphones instead of dedicated devices.

 

I don't like it anymore than you do, but it happened and happened in a big way in a very short time. And sadly the shift likely will only continue and make a 3DS successor an even tougher sell while Sony has came right out and actually confirmed what everyone already knew when they said the Vita was the end.

 

It's a significant part of the reason why I believe a consolidation of hardware fronts at Nintendo is key to returning to success this upcoming generation. Can't afford to continue to split their development resources across two completely different lines any longer, since 3rd parties simply aren't there in great enough numbers to fill the gaps on even their handheld these days.

Edited February 28, 2016 by Atariboy

[Andromeda Stardust]

No kidding. Mobile devices, especially tablets, are even usurping the PC market. Why bother maintaining a bulky computer system if all you use it for is to check Facebook? Worse, the PC industry is hit with an additional blow since people aren't in a hurry to upgrade their old computers. Most 5 year old desktops/notebooks still have the specs to run current software.

 

Android boxes are also becoming a thing now too. Ouya was the first but it appears the Shield, Fire TV, and other media streaming devices are getting game content now. The All-in-one devices are taking over from dedicated special purpose machines.