Are Console Games Dying?

IGN reports on comments made by Peter Vesterbacka of Angry Birds fame on a panel at South By Southwest:

“console games are dying along with the concept of paying $50+ for a game.”

I think both concepts are false, though not completely made without grounds. Understanding that Angry Birds has sold over 100 million copies, I can understand why this comment was made, but 30 years of modern console development isn’t going to just go away ’cause some birds started knocking down walls one dollar at a  time. In fact, sales of console based games are up 3% since last year.

Looking back at the history of game sales and evolution, I think a case can be made that cheap games will get cheaper, and more costly productions will push prices upwards beyond $50. As technology makes game production cheaper and more affordable for indie developers, we will see a spike on the low end – much like what we’ve seen over the last two years with the iPhone market, and the mass-market titles for the Wii. However, as long as high budget titles are out there,