Posting from slashdot for discussion here.
The article cites recent GameStop SEC filings showing “…just seven percent of its total sales were PC games, compared to 64 percent of revenues coming from console games.”
Better push for Java on current consoles, next-gen, whichever. PC space ever shrinking.
Well I can’t state strongly enough that the GTG is very aware of the importance of consoles and is eager to have a solid story there.
BUT I’ll also add that this is just one data-point, really. I’ll be more interested in seeing the yearly IGDA statistics which sum up the whole of retail.
One odd thing…what do you think makes up the OTHER almost 30% of sales not mentioned?
Arn’t most consoles moving towards PC-like hardware anyway? Putting Java on them should be slightly easier 
Not to mention that all the analysts (Gartner et al) are suggesting that the home is going to have one central server which runs everything (TV/Music/Games/ THE WASHING! :)) So I guess we’re going to get another convergence situation with consoles merging into PCs merging into control systems…
Kev
As a counter-data point, 100% of my sales have been on the PC and the same goes for nearly all the other developers I know. Depends which way you slice the statistics and who wants to make what conclusion…
Cas
For Germany, a large games markets in Europa, there are other numbers. I’d be interested to see other market’s numbers as well (United Kingdom anybody? France? Asia?).
2002:
Sold CD/DVD/cartridge units, in total
° PC: 46%
° Consoles: 27%
° PC info/edutainment: the rest.
Turnover in ¤, in total:
° PC: 42%
° Consoles: 42%
° PC info/edutainment: the rest.
2002 to 2001 comparison
° Entire market: units -13% , turnover -7%.
° PC: units -19% , turnover -14%.
° Consoles: units -1% , turnover +7%.
° Info/edutainment: units -14% , turnover -20%.
(Association of enternainment software Germany, http://www.vud.de/infoservice/)
To my knowledge these numbers are funded and together with other resources also used by commercial game developers.
So it looks like the market situation in USA and (parts of) Europa still differsl. For Germany the PC market is still very strong. In terms of sold game units it’s also still the strongest.
Maybe we could ask why the PC games market decreases?
I think the complexity needed to install/patch a game on PC is a very bad thing (for normal users). Users could be fed up with this (at least I am). On the console this usually is much easier. This is why I prefer to play MAME on PC usually, hehe.
Time to show that professional Java games will run on a PC as the matter of a click? 
[quote]As a counter-data point, 100% of my sales have been on the PC
[/quote]
Considering that your product is not available for consoles I don’t find that very surprising :). If you aren’t counting Macs as a “Personal Computer” the Mac version hasn’t been available for that long, compared to the “PC” verson.
Pah, hogwash. ;D
2003 was a terrible year for games - wait for 2004 with Doom 3, Half-Life 2, UT2004, The Sims 2, Black and White 2, Everquest 2, Middle Earth Online, World of Warcraft, Rome: Total War, The Matrix Online… Then we’ll see if sales pick up at all!
[quote]Pah, hogwash. ;D
2003 was a terrible year for games
[/quote]
Not only was it a bad year for pc games, most of the good games were either avalible on all formats, or console exclusives.
Zelda, Metroid, Viewtiful Joe, F-Zero, Burnout 2, Prince Of Persia, just to name a few off the top of my head.
And, of course, the other 30% was the stuff that EB sells:
DVDs, controllers, memcards, action figures, magazines, cheat guides, etc.
-ChrisM
Yes, the PC market in Germany is damn strong (everywhere else consoles dominate clearly). However, it’s a very small percentage of the world’s population. I really would like to see the numbers of the USA, asia and europe, too.
You forgot Pain Killer, Far Cry and Stalker
And something completly different… Doom is now 10 years old (full version was released 10.12.1993 :))
I do wonder whether pc games shoot themselves in the foot by having more staying power. With a typical console title you play it through and it is done- most pc games you quite possibly don’t bother with the single player game at all, but the multi-player stuff can keep you going for years - how many people are still playing half-life or unreal tournament in some kind of modded form. Multi-player games have almost endless replayability and you don’t really need to keep getting more games if you are happy with the ones you have.
This also doesn’t mean a loss of profitability from pc games - how much money has been spent on Everquest, Acheron’s Call, DAOC, the sims online and friends, without going through the vendors? A bit, to say the least.
Of course, not really playing multiplayer games much myself I probably am a bit hypocritical to be posting about this, but then I’m still playing Morrowind and it’s extra bits, so I’m getting to enjoy pc games longevity as well…
[quote]@Preston
Yes, the PC market in Germany is damn strong (everywhere else consoles dominate clearly).
[/quote]
Actually, according to the last IGDA report I saw (which granted was a yuear or so ago) total sales figures for PCs vs the entire console market were almost exactly equal.
As I say I’ll wait for this years IGDA report before drawing any conclusions, myself.
But I thought everything I read on slashdot was true! ;D
I’ve had a talk to some of my buds and here is their take:
PC shelf space in your average EB is going to get replaced by console shelf space. Only the absolute best PC games will be on the shelves at gaming stores. 2nd market stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, etc. will continue to have large PC retail presences.
Apple will continue to suck at showcasing the games that are available for the OSX platform (not my words )
Even the most diehard PC shop is either making or looking into making their content available on consoles because there is a perceived, though generally not real, increase in opportunity
The growth of broadband is making it possible for electronic delivery of content and will become a growing mechanism for delivery of PC content and eventually 10 years from now may be the primary mechanism for delivering gaming content
[quote]* PC shelf space in your average EB is going to get replaced by console shelf space. Only the absolute best PC games will be on the shelves at gaming stores. 2nd market stores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Walmart, etc. will continue to have large PC retail presences.
[/quote]
I’ve noticed this already… I’m actually a bit surprised at the console market… I would have thought that the PC market would crush it and it would go the way of the Atari 2600. Console games always have lower resolution displays, and generally the CPU is not all that powerful relatively speaking. Must be the price, but as PC prices fall I figured consoles would look less attractive. Obviously I should not be involved in marketing
A console is a special purpose piece of hardware that can be produced relatively cheaply and is exceedingly good at what it does. With its stable hardware (relatively speaking as they do change through the generation) and massive branding, exclusive titles, and obscene budgets a console is by far the way to go to make money. Having see all of the goodies for the PSP, I can only hope that the folks at Sun have at least talked to Sony about creating JVM middleware because NOW would be the time to approach them about it.
“stable hardware”
Yes, I think that is a big advantage. One of the reason I like my Mac. But sadly also a reason that the Mac is more expensive.
Back in the days of C64’s, Atari’s, Amigas etc. the hardware was more of a known entity even for home computers and the games were plentiful.
I’m just jealous of all those cool titles I see for consoles only 
… Java to the rescue? We can only hope.
[quote] … Java to the rescue? We can only hope.
[/quote]
Not until someone writes a MIDP JVM for consoles. I would have hoped that would be Sun, but right now I’m thinking that solution will end up coming from someone else.
There’s still absolutely no value in a JVM for consoles until they’re using some open PC APIs for their video and audio output, say OpenGL and OpenAL (hehe). What’s the point in coding in Java unless it’s going to run elsewhere? The disadvantages in performance are far too significant on consoles to make any perceived development time benefit work out in favour of Java.
And I notice that “exclusivity” is still a factor in console development and I remember that we had a discussion with Jeff a long while ago where I wondered exactly why console manufacturers would want their exclusive titles to simply work on their competitors hardware… didn’t really get a convincing answer either way how this was going to work out…
Cas
[quote]There’s still absolutely no value in a JVM for consoles until they’re using some open PC APIs for their video and audio output, say OpenGL and OpenAL (hehe). What’s the point in coding in Java unless it’s going to run elsewhere? The disadvantages in performance are far too significant on consoles to make any perceived development time benefit work out in favour of Java.
[/quote]
We live in two different universes WRT what I’m after. In the small device world which consists of millions of phones and other portable/low memory devices - Java has a cast iron grip and isn’t likely to lose it until Sun lets it go away. In this space I think that a MIDP JVM makes a LOT of sense.Especially right now. Despite feature and performance issues, most content for mobile/portable devices it written in java.