Is this a good sign for gamers in 2014
All gamers rejoice
There has been lots of talk of how all the consoles have been doing especially since the release of thePS4, and the X-Box one; however, there is also a lot of confusion in the news as to how they have been doing. You hear news that the PS4 made the most sells, but the X-Box one made the most money ect. If you look at all the information though there is success for all the video game companies.
PS4/Vita
The PS4 had a bit of a rough start simply because of some hardware issues when several gamers tried to log on to the Playstation Network causing it to bog down. Then you have the issue of the blue ring of death which while it was in the news a lot only affected a very small percentage of the consoles out there, but didn’t help the consoles reputation. Then we look at the numbers, the PS4 has sold over 4.2 million consoles selling every single PS4 in stock making the PS4 the most sold console in the market at the moment; however, the Vita has done little to really gain any attention in the previous months. Even Playstation UK boss Fergal Gara has explained that the Vita is not one of the companies best selling products.
X-Box One
The X-Box One faced most of its issues before its release with the issues of the possible always online connection, and no pre-owned games. This was a very significant issue to the gamers, myself included who sometimes buys games off of friends, and has a poor internet provider for online gaming. Luckily those were changed, but it still had some effect on sales with players skeptic after all the negative press. The X-Box one still managed to sell almost 1 million consoles and over 600,000 X-Box 360’s in December. How you ask? Because of the price of the X-Box one microsoft makes more profit per console so it while it’s not selling as many it’s still making more money.
Wii U/3DS
The Wii U just had it rough all year with poor sales mainly due to a lack of games for the console. With games like Super Mario 3D world just coming out and games like Super Smash Brothers, X, Hyrule Warriors, and Mario Kart not coming out till next year gamers have not been motivated to purchase a Wii U till recently; however, the Wii U has had record sales last December due to all of the listed games coming out later this year.
The 3DS was the overall victor of the year achieving record sales in 2013 as the 3DS reached 11.5 million units sold in the U.S alone. This has a lot to do with a nice blend of games you can buy such as Shin Megami Tensai 4, Project X Zone, Animal Crossing, Pokemon X/Y, Legend of Zelda Link Between Worlds, Mario and Luigi Dream Team, Luigi’s Mansion 2, and Fire Emblem Awakening. When everyone thought the 3DS was finished it blew everyone away with the onslaught of amazing games in 2013.
So as you can see gamers everywhere can celebrate a successful year in 2013. Sony selling the most consoles, Microsoft with the highest console profit, and Nintendo with the most hardware sells all the major gaming companies have something to brag about; however, with most of this news happening towards the end of the year what does that mean for the gaming industry in 2014? It looks like another wonderful year ahead of us if things continue as they are.
Jacob Carpenter is the writer for TSCN.TV and also a blogger under the name JSnakeC on IGN
