"I would argue that one of the least interesting things about the games industry was that every 5 years you’d see a new console or platform from everybody at about the same time with about the same or similar upgrades or services. You’d sort of harvest it and then it’d cycle back. We got used to it. It’s what seemed normal. But it’s not a particularly smart way to run an industry... bulges in technology investment followed by harvest. And let’s be realistic. Consoles used to be 80% of the industry as recently as 2000. Consoles today are 40% of the game industry, so what do we really have?"

"We have a new hardware platform and we’re putting out software every 90 days. Our fastest growing platform is the iPad right now and that didn’t exist 18 months ago. So the idea that we’re categorizing the industry as being [cyclical]... Nintendo is off cycle with what? I mean, the point of reference is gone. And so Nintendo is bringing out a new platform that brings together some of what we’re learning from new media and new platforms like the iPad and then integrating that with a console. It’s the perfect time for that in the industry," he added.

Ipad and other smartphones making that much of an effect already, today?!? Oh yeah!, but.. wow??
Is the EA guy talking true numbers or just "figuratively speaking" without really understanding the precise 40% and 80% proportions?

With more than 25 million units sold, the iPad has become much larger than a number of other historic game platforms (the Sega Dreamcast sold about 8 million units). As such, it’s helping Apple to swing developers back into its fold, according to a recent survey by Flurry. Android tablets are expected to catch on at some point as well.

“I think this is going to be incredibly disruptive,” said Giancarlo Mori, chief creative officer at mobile game publisher Glu Mobile, speaking on a panel at VentureBeat’s GamesBeat 2011 conference last week. ”It’s fueled by the desire to have your gaming device with you at all times.”

In our panel on the Rise of Tablet Games, Julian Farrior (pictured), CEO of Backflip Studios, which has sold more than 100 million mobile games, said that current mobile games sell about 10 times more on the iPhone than they do on the iPad. Still, he is ”extremely bullish” because the iPad has higher average revenue per user (ARPU), higher advertising revenue, and a longer duration of game play. Backflip’s Army of Darkness Defense tablet game has a 42 percent higher ARPU with iPad users than iPhone users.

“I love where these trends are going,” he said. “The duration of play is 32 percent to 36 percent longer. If the trends continue, they could be as important as my iPhone game business.”

"One of the key important things here, though, is the change that's yet to happen but it's about to happen," Lees told attendees at the event, "and that is the bringing together of these devices into a unified ecosystem. We won't have an ecosystem for PCs, and for phones, one for tablets - they'll all come together."

So far, that's in keeping with Microsoft's previous announcements: Windows 8 will run on x86 and ARM across desktop, laptop, and portable devices. Windows Phone, the company's smartphone-oriented platform, will borrow key technology from the desktop while the desktop borrows technology from the smartphone.

Read more: http://www.thinq.co.uk/2011/7/15/keynot ... z1SkOi37Qr

I think Windows 8 running Xbox 360 games is a great idea.

I'm actually wondering how potent nVidia's project Denver will be. If it's as powerful as a PS3, it could create quite a platform in terms of turning a smartphone or tablet into an excellent gaming console that you could hook up to an HDTV.

Denver is rumored to be an 8-core cpu, 256-core GPU. It will certainly be more powerful than a PS3 in both cpu and gpu capabilities.

“There will come a time where the consumer is simply not prepared to pay $60 up-front for a game anymore, the same way they have said that for movies and music and television. That's one thing. And then I think, you're right, it's the global infrastructure that facilitates the shift. As soon as technology provides a viable alternative to a disc, then that process will change,” he explained.

Wilson said there’s still a convenience issue preventing disc based titles from going away. Some users have data caps preventing them from downloading the latest titles. For example EA/BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic has an install clocking in at 30 to 40 GBs. That’s a bit much for a consumer to download all at once.

. . .

“Over time, based on consumer feedback, those chunks that we deliver on that day-to-day, week-to-week basis are going to get bigger, and the releases that we do on an annual basis are going to get smaller, and ultimately you end up in a place where we are delivering a true, consumer-driven live digital service. We're building architecture and infrastructure to facilitate a time when the pipes into consumer homes are big enough to move that kind of data around,” he said.

In July, video game sales cratered 26 percent compared to a year ago, following a 10 percent overall drop in June and the worst month since 2006, NPD reported.

While it may seem like the game industry is in a funk, these sales numbers reflect only retail sales. Other digital sales – including used games, rentals, online games, mobile games and social games — show constant growth.

“There is no getting around the fact that video game sales in the new physical retail channel suffered its lowest month since October 2006,” said Anita Frazier, an analyst for NPD.

She said that, despite the very rough month, new physical retail sales are down just 4 percent year-to-date and, based on seasonality trends observed over the last 10 years, the trend for the year is expected to be flat to down 2 percent in overall sales.

Total video game hardware, software, and accessory sales at retail stores were $707.7 million in July, down 26 percent from $961.3 million a year ago. Overall console video game sales (excluding PC games) were $687 million, down 20 percent from $855.3 million a year ago.

Game hardware sales were $223 million, down 29 percent from $313.8 million a year ago. And game software sales were $336.2 million, down 17 percent from $403.3 million a year ago. Accessory sales, which in earlier months this year were up thanks to strong sales of Microsoft’s Kinect motion-sensing system, were $127.8 million, down 8 percent from $183.1 million a year ago.

If you throw in the sales of PC, console and portable games, the total is $356.9 million, down 30 percent from $509.3 million a year ago. That means that PC games are also suffering pretty bad right now.

Last year saw the release of RockStar Games’ Red Dead Redemption, while this year RockStar (which is owned by Take-Two Interactive) released the highly acclaimed LA Noire detective game in May. LA Noire dropped off the top ten list already. Meanwhile, Take-Two’s big release for June, Duke Nukem Forever, completely cratered and fell off the list in July. The game was panned by critics.

. . .

Frazier said that a year ago, 19 games sold more than 100,000 units. This year, only eight games sold more than 100,000 units. That was because there were so few new releases. Last year, 29 games were released in July, while this year there were only 17 releases. August could also be a slow month because EA’s Madden NFL 12 won’t release until Aug. 30 this year.