Nintendo Okie

At the moment people are worried about the future of game handhelds. Understandable since smart phones now control such a large portion of the market. When one decides which device to carry it’s either the one that plays games or the one that is a phone/GPS/tablet/whatever and also kind of plays games. As for me personally, I don’t really play games on my iPhone. Not because I don’t want to but because the majority of games for the platform don’t interest me. On the other hand I don’t play my DS as much as I used to either. During my college years my DS would get up to 20 hours of use a week. Now I use my DS in spurts when a game catches my attention. We have discussed this very topic multiple times on the Okie Cast and we have written several articles about it as well. However, at the moment my focus is on another, yet similar topic; the future of home consoles.

We are in the middle of a change for the home systems. This generation has already lasted longer than any other and it seems like it will keep going for at least another year before Sony and Microsoft follow Nintendo’s lead. Services like Netflix appear on every console and the 360 and PS3 have several other services which allow you to access content that has nothing to do with video games. I’m not saying this is bad but I do think it signals the end of a dedicated game console. It’s the exact same choice as which handheld do I carry. Given the choice between a box that plays games or one that allows you to browse Facebook, watch YouTube videos, listen to music and whatever else, which one would you give limited shelf space to?

Now I wonder why nobody has ever thought about this before. Looking at handhelds one can gather that it has made such an impact because non-game companies are taking over, or rather have taken over, a game related market. Apple and Google don’t make video games. They’re companies that deal with computers and technology. These companies dominate the handheld market not because they make better games than Sony and Nintendo but because they make devices that provide more services. At the moment, only Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are making consoles but what happens when Apple or Google decide to make a box that provides all the services a 360 offers? Apple TV is already a thing so what if it allowed access to the App store and offered games previously available for iPhone and iPads. Granted a TV would not provide the same control as a tablet but the Wii U is going to have tablet controllers, so why not Apple TV? Google is a company that likes to see a market develop before they dive in. I wouldn’t be surprised if they were to develop some sort of multimedia box in the future. Naturally it would probably have access to the Android marketplace. If such devices were to dominate the console space as their handheld brethren do, what happens to video games?

I’m not saying such devices would be bad but just as with handhelds, if one becomes more important than the others must become less important. Normally handhelds are looked upon as being a generation behind the home consoles but what if this is a case where they are a generation ahead. What if the death of handhelds is a sign of the death of home consoles? It may already be happening. Microsoft is obviously trying to make the 360 an entertainment hub for the home; not just a game system that everyone uses. Likewise Sony has their own objectives of making the PS3 a multi-use device since it’s a Blu-ray player among other things. Oddly Nintendo, with their refusal to adapt, is the company staying closest to making a home, video game device. However many think this is causing them more problems than solutions. Arguably Nintendo still makes the best games of any other console manufacture. After smoke clears, could Nintendo be the sole champion of video games while Sony and Microsoft appeal the general public?

It’s interesting to think about. Video games and the games industry is going through such a huge shift at the moment. They only thing I can compare it to is the death of arcades to the rise of the home consoles. I would hate to see a day when consoles are as rare and archaic as arcade machines but only time will reveal the answer.