Android Joins iOS To Surpass Nintendo And Sony Handhelds In Sales Figures

ElYubiYubi

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These huge numbers further illustrate the current trend toward mobile gaming, which threatens to have a devastating effect on the handheld market shares of Nintendo and Sony. Although 3DS sales figures have been nothing short of robust lately, the growing market of mobile gaming certainly runs the risk of chipping away at Nintendo, especially when several games can be found on both platforms.

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frogboy

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There are a lot more people that think "I need a phone to survive" than people who think "I need a gaming console to survive".
 

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How can one compare gaming on iOS/Android to gaming on Sony and Nintendo handhelds? They're like two different leagues.
How so? Some instances of buttons aside the hardware is there and lengthy/in depth games are being made.

There are a lot more people that think "I need a phone to survive" than people who think "I need a gaming console to survive".
I am still trying to figure out what "indexed consumer spending on games" actually means but this appears to be less "units sold" and more "spend on games".
 

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How so? Some instances of buttons aside the hardware is there and lengthy/in depth games are being made.

Well, that may be true but I think there really aren't THAT many. Also we don't know whether that statistic only accounts for online purchases or also sold games, as you have the option with 3DS and Vita games. Most people like having their games in physical form.
 

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and you need to count that games made for real consoles are longer, so you spend more time playing a single game on 3DS or Vita than a random session of Angry Birds before you go to the store to buy more games and the prices are way more cheap that you don't mind buying a bunch of them for a dollar instead of one for forty dollars.
 

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Android and iOS don't aim for the same demographic as dedicated gaming handhelds. Certainly App Store and Google Play have more sales due to the sheer install base and the nature of these games.

While most games on handhelds are $10-$60, many gaming apps are free to play to a dollar, and almost certainly have in-app purchases, which heavily encourages impulse purchases, whereas $10-$60 is considerably more money and requires considerably more thought before buying a copy.
 

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Nintendo games > iOS/Android games.
Maybe (with the exception of Advance wars, something Nintendo seem to be letting fall by the wayside, I can take or leave most Nintendo franchises and find equivalents or better versions elsewhere). Assuming that is the case though the question would be by how much and is it enough to keep them truly relevant?

and you need to count that games made for real consoles are longer, so you spend more time playing a single game on 3DS or Vita than a random session of Angry Birds before you go to the store to buy more games and the prices are way more cheap that you don't mind buying a bunch of them for a dollar instead of one for forty dollars.
Normally I would have queried the use of the word "real". However I am not sure that is necessarily the case -- plenty of the GBA and DS greats have made their way outside those circles, I can have my 9000 level puzzle games and old classics with serious playtimes are making their way onto it.
 

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Well, uh...

That's not surprising. How many grown adults go out and say, "I need to drop $200 on a handheld gaming device." Not many. Games on iOS and Android are different. They'll see a game for a few dollars, think it's a fun bargain, and buy it. Nintendo/Sony games > Phone games, but Phone userbase > Nintendo/Sony userbase.
 
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Seeing that there's a massive difference between the sheer size of the userbases, this graph doesn't really say much, I'd be more curious to see how much a single user spends on content on average, better yet, average sales figures per App. Statistics like the one presented can be very, very deceiving, especially for developers.

As of July 2013, Google's App Store hosts over one million of applications wheras the 3DS and the PSVita only a couple hundred - even with such a userbase discrepancy, chances that your particular application will be spotted are higher in a smaller crowd.

What I'm basically saying here is that while sales of "Fruit Ninja" or "Angry Birds" may very well soar to the heavens, lesser known games are in the realm of obscurity, hidden behind literally thousands of others. The profits go to the very few popular big name titles, really.
While most games on handhelds are $10-$60, many gaming apps are free to play to a dollar, and almost certainly have in-app purchases, which heavily encourages impulse purchases, whereas $10-$60 is considerably more money and requires considerably more thought before buying a copy.
The Free2Play model has already entered the console scene, and not just with small titles but also with big name franchises such as "Tekken Revolution".
 

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These totals are incorrect, There's no way in hell the Play store is that low as well as Nintendo's. If anything Apple's stupid IOS store that has only 375,000 apps would be much lower apposed to the what near 3million apps Google Has!
 

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