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Screen Digest speaks on the long-term of this generation's console market

Posted Jun 19, 2007 at 1:29PM EST by QJ Staff

Listed in: Wii, PS3, Xbox 360 Tags: Microsoft, Screen Digest, Sony

Screen Digest, an analyst group based in the United Kingdom, has conducted its own analysis of the gaming industry as it stands and went out on a limb to check on the long term viability of each of the three major consoles. Though no clear winner was seen in the horizon, the firm did offer insights on what each console-maker can do regarding the status quo.

Screen digest started off with the Microsoft Xbox 360, which it says seems to have "hit a wall" with the American company's target market being too focused on adult males. In the analysis, it was stated that the Xbox 360's bread and butter demographic is satisfied with a lot of great FPS games in the shelves, but added that the console is not doing very well with other gamer categories.

The firm did give praise to Xbox Live for having a large and dynamic user base that's making the business thrive for Microsoft and its partners, but reiterated concerns as to "how long can the XBLA catalogue grow while maintaining high or even worthwhile levels of profitability for publishers?"

And while pundits rave about the fast sales that Nintendo is experiencing right now, Screen Digest asks how long the aging technology of the Wii can keep its users happy. The agency recalls some suggestions of the casual gamer market drying up, saying "the Wii's target market could be saturated more quickly than its competitors..."

Screen Digest adds that issues with publishers having cold feet about launching third party titles on the platform. Faced with tough competition from Nintendo itself, publishers might opt to just "ride the coat tails of the Wii's install base" as the analysis suggests. However, the firm does emphasize that if the Wii continues to fire on all cylinders, the investment being put into it can channel publishing funds out of the Sony and Microsoft backyards.

As for the Sony PlayStation 3, the analysis made by the firm is all too familiar to us by now. "There is no doubt that currently there is a lack of distinctive content to drive hardware sales but Q4 2007 and Q1 2008 could reveal some unrivalled games which are exclusive to PS3," says the report.

Also in the suggestion list was a price drop by the end of the year. The analyst agency says that it's a move that Sony has done in the past and the timing would be in line to cuts with earlier products. If you want to see the full analysis text in verbatim, follow the read URL.

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spent AUD1,000.00 for a PS3 is because i'm in it for the long run... i didn't look at the current game library and based my purchase on that as what XBots would like to imply with the "$600 to play Resistance and Motorstorm" comments... i took account the future of gaming on the PS3 (anyway i currently already have 14 games for it since the March 23, 2007 Australia launch)..

i did not look at the current Blu Ray movies released and it's market share and based my purchase on that... i took account the future of media entertainment on the PS3.

i'm in it for the long run and the PS3 is more future-proof than the wii and 360 combined and it is a freakin well built machine...

my AUD1000.00 is money well spent on the PS3.

# woot — Guest 2007-06-19 16:39

Same here, i bought PS3 really beacuse i wanted MGS4 and all the other exclsives, not the first part games but the many awesome 3rd party games to come, within the first year of the PS3 we will see better games released then we did in the first year of the 360 (Gears of war........ and.......)

# test — Guest 2007-06-19 17:03

test

# ... — Guest 2007-06-19 17:56

I can understand your "future-proof" talk. But your going to buy the next Playstation when it comes out right? So even though the PS3 might last 10 years as they say, the PS4 is probably going to be released in 2011-2012. So really your console is only going to last you 4 to 5 years anyway before you upgrade to a new beast.

I bought the 360 because it was the first next generation console on the block to offer the next generation experience. I have been playing amazing games for the last year and a half. The amount of content that has come out and is coming out daily on the 360 blasts all other consoles out of the water. Microsoft has opened my tastes up in a variety of different games via an enormous amount of demos, trailers and previews that have been released on the XBL service. I have grown to love the arcade service which is delivering terrific bite size gaming experiences on a weekly bases. Even if I don't buy the games, i still have the trial. The fact that all games have an online component to them is an amazing achievement by MS. I can easily hook in with my friends and family, see what they are playing, invite them into my games, chat with them across the network or in a game as simple as UNO or something as hardcore as Gears of War.

I think MS has really pushed the envelope of gaming and Sony are trying to catch up and are trying to add a lot of the features that makes the 360 so great (many call it copying). You may see the PS3 as a future proofed media console, but the 360 is my future proofed online gaming console.

If the PS3 was released first i would of bought it. I want the newest in gaming technology when it comes out. Even though the PS3 and Wii is out now, the 360 is still delivering the best experience. Until that changes I'll stick with my 360. As a 360 owner the PS3 really offers nothing yet, and considering it's more expensive it would be crazy to buy one. I think a lot of people were surprised that it wasn't a great leap forward above the 360 after all the hype Sony put into it. In fact in many areas it has been a step down from what MS delivered. The best thing for PS3 owners is that the other 2 consoles are pushing Sony to do better. That in turn this will push MS + Nintendo to keep delivering a better experience and product to it's consumers.

This generation is defaintely a 3 way horse race, and any gamer can enjoy either console. I choose 360, FTW.

# Devise — Quixand 2007-06-19 18:41

i agree with your points regarding XBL... infact to me this is what made the 360 qualify as a next gen console, when ever a fanboy comes out and say "the 360 is just a 180 and not next gen" inspite being a ps3 fan i never reply to those post to reinforce it cause to me if the wii has that swing wiimote as an argument of it being a next gen then xbox has the XBL as well as the PS3 has the Blu Ray drive and PSN together with the intro of wifi in console gaming. infact i'm a little pissed off caused i love Marvel Comics and the downloadable content for Marvel Ultimate Alliance is in Live but not in PSN.

but i have to disagree on this remark you made:

"I have been playing amazing games for the last year and a half."

It seems to be an implication that the 360 has had AAA games from the get go when in fact XBox fans did what PS3 fans are doing now... and that is to wait... I know cause I waited for a reason to get the 360 while waiting for the PS3 launch but there are nothing then but a bunch of average games just like the PS3 now although when i bought mine Resistance and Motorstorm is already out as launch titles and i only had to wait two to three weeks for Oblivion to become available on the PS3 (i know it's an old title on the XBox but it would be the same thing if i was a new XBox owner and wanted to play Oblivion on my console)... and Heavenly Sword is out soon so a couple of months wait isn't bad as you should know having waited for Gears longer than that (especially if you have a launch 360 unit)...

but as i said numerous times before... staying with dvd hurt XBox status in the future proof category (although it helped in making an early release and cheaper price compared to PS3)... if i was going to spend a chunk of money i want something more than what i already have (i already have dvd in my PS2, home theater, dvd player, desktop, and even laptop)... especially since i have a Sony Bravia... and Blu Ray does that for me.

as for the PS4... i'll probably be too old enough to care... but not old enough to enjoy a wii.

# ... — Guest 2007-06-19 19:37

I guess what seem unimpressive to you was pretty amazing back then. PGR3, Call of Duty 2, FEAR, Condemned, Kameo, Amped 3 and Geometry Wars delivered some great experiences for me around launch. There was heaps of other titles I enjoyed throughout the year, which I won't bother to mention those cause there's no point.

You say you've got 14 PS3 titles yourself. How many of those do you think are AAA titles?

As for the Blu-Ray future proofing, the only thing it has done for the platform so far is make it weaker. If the PS3 launched in late 2006 or early 2007 without Blu-Ray there would be 15 to 20 million PS3's on the market. A wealth of exclusive games from American, Europeans and Japanese publishers coming out left right and center. Sony has put themselfs in a pretty weak position where developers and publishers are now doubting profitability of the platform. It's hard to believe that this is the successor to a console that had 60% install base with the PS2.

When David Jaffe the creator of God of War was asked what he would change about the PS3, he said I would take out Blu-Ray. He realises that it's hurting the platform. The PS3 has a slow first generation Blu-Ray player in it, developers have to pull tricks to get it up to speed which is pretty much just wasting the space. The PS3 can really only process a certain amount of data at a time anyway, and with game budgets at 30, 40, 50 million dollars do you really think studio's are going to double their budgets to create double the content to fill up the disc. Especially when the PS3 isn't even going to dominate market share this generation. The space is great for FMV and lossless audio which can be used for cut scenes. But the industry is moving towards compression technologies anyway with digital distribution taking great leaps few years (note: I did not say digital distribution is taking over, it's just that publishers are starting to push out content via this method more and more). That's what MS and developers of the 360 focus on. You'll see the result when Mass Affect is released this year and how big, expansive and beautiful a 40 million game can be on a DVD disc.

But as you have said before you like the media aspect of Blu-Ray, so that's kudos for you but many other don't care about it (myself included) and just see the price tag and the thin lineup of titles on shelves and give it a miss.

At the end of this generation when Sony as lost a third to a half of it's previous install base I guess that future proofing wont have paid off. All experts agree that Sony is going to lose a large chunk market share this generation even if they win. But if Blu-Ray wins the format war I'm sure it'll be all worth it for them.

# 360 — Guest 2007-06-19 19:39

Yeah I guess the 360 do rule.

LOL @ QJ, fix your damn login.

# long term — Guest 2007-06-19 20:48

the ps3 is already done!!!! it only has about 1 year tops. developers have already been in and out of the ps3 and there is nothing more to fine. it has no more potential. the 360 on the other hand has about another 5-6 years befor its done. the games look better and better. even the wii have about 5 years. but the more they add to the ps3 the slower it gets.

# Please Kill yourself — Guest 2007-06-19 20:58

You don't know ***** about nothing. Just stop posting and go play your 360.

# wii wins — Guest 2007-06-19 21:53

wii wins and ps3/360 fans cry.

# Meh.... — Guest 2007-06-20 00:06

Playstation 3 is a victim of it's predecessor's(PS2) success. PS2 is still selling heh, gamecube and xbox 1 are not selling as well. Just look at it, PS2 still has good games and looking from standpoints of certain people, well why buy a PS3 when PS2 is cheaper and has games that will be played. PS3 has some good games but not as many as it would need in order to ensure success. Alot of people are waiting for a price drop and more games to come to PS3 then we'll see the console wars at it's peak. Let's see what happens.

# Devise — Quixand 2007-06-20 00:28

u've made good arguments and although i may agree with the logic of your points still some of my priorities, preferences, and projections differ...

but it's good to get thru a decent discussion with each of us throwing our arguments and counters and even try to do a one up on each other without one profanity or derogatory namecalling used.

i take back what i said yesterday when i said all you do is flame...

STILL!!! PS3 FTW!!!!!

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Screen Digest speaks on the long-term of this generation's console market

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