The thing is Chris we are still in a global economic recession so people tend to hold on to their money in favour of paying bills or buying a new gadget, pre built pc's can be over priced for what you get as most are only good for web browsing or running an office type suite and desktop sales will pick up again in a few years time. I believe this has happened before in the past where desktop sales have slumped and then picked up again.

 

As what seems to be 99% of the flight sim community builds their own computers or have them built to spec the sales dell or hp etc make really have no baring on the future of flight sim and the direction it is taking with the products on offer.

 

PC games are set to overtake console games sales in the couple of years which could mean that people are just not upgrading as often as there is not many games that will hammer most modern computers.

The thing is Chris we are still in a global economic recession so people tend to hold on to their money in favour of paying bills or buying a new gadget, pre built pc's can be over priced for what you get as most are only good for web browsing or running an office type suite and desktop sales will pick up again in a few years time. I believe this has happened before in the past where desktop sales have slumped and then picked up again.

 

As what seems to be 99% of the flight sim community builds their own computers or have them built to spec the sales dell or hp etc make really have no baring on the future of flight sim and the direction it is taking with the products on offer.

 

PC games are set to overtake console games sales in the couple of years which could mean that people are just not upgrading as often as there is not many games that will hammer most modern computers.

 

There has never been a time before where people can afford very cheap, portable computing that could do a fairly good job of taking the place of a full computing device. I just went through upgrade training and everyone in the class had an iPad where before everyone would bring their laptops or read it on a book. We were able to converse outside of class with simple apps. It's a changing world and not one that a flight simulator can easily fit in. Although there was a little X-plane contests going on, on some people's iPad's.

 

The recession has had an impact as well. Again a lot of the people I converse with have said they would rather spend their times out in the real world now that they have found out it is largely free. Off time is usually spent on gaming consoles where it is now a one stop shop for gaming, video and the light social networking. Why sit in front of a computer when you can do the same thing on the couch with a giant screen and surround sound?

 

I'm pretty sure that 99% of the flight simming community does not build their own PC's. You could say maybe 99% of the people on AVSIM do, which I believe is still off by at least 25% and people here are the hard core simmers. The college I went to there was only one student that had a custom built PC. All the rest were running off the shelf units. All my other friends outside the industry would run whatever they could get at the store. Very few people actually build their own PC's and citing this as a reason for Flightsim making a comeback is ridiculous.

 

PC games are only 0.5% of total video game sales. Only $500 Million was spent on PC games. Compare that to the $10 Billion as a whole for video games. Why do you think that Microsoft was trying to find a way to make Flight more console ready?

 

Here is a little infographic to show you flight sim is on the way out.

That's a great info graphic above.

Here's a similar one with another outlook.

The future, at least to me, is in a platform agnostic approach.

UDK for instance allows you to build solutions for mobile, desktop, and console.

And your products should support the platforms that really suit it.

 

Desktop computing isn't going away ever...even if the hardware we use changes. Some tasks just need a desk and chair and a quiet spot :)

As well as the most screen space and horsepower you can afford.

 

The surge in mobile is because there’s a void there…many people are buying this hardware and its apps for the first time. It's a rush that will slow too in time...years from now.

 

I do agree someday we'll have so much horsepower and bandwidth that we won't talk about mobile, desktop, and console...it'll just surround us everywhere. We're not there yet :) Right now desktops give the best performance for the dollar…by a good margin. But it is part of a cycle.

 

 

dmaher, I don't understand the last section of your graphic...

 

Call of Duty MW 3 sold 6.5 MILLION copies in it's first 24 HOURS...

pc game sales over the past year ( 12 months ) is up 230% and the top selling game in the last year ( 12 months ) was a pc game, console games will always make more money as they cost more than the pc version of the same game. Console game sales have dropped by 28% in the last 12 months.

 

When you take out the money and start counting unit sales the pc is really starting to give the console a run for its sales even if it cant beat it on money taken.

 

p.s. i think that the tablet is a bigger threat to the console market more than the pc in years to come as the tablets are already starting to overtake some hand held consoles in terms of visual quality.

 

I have a cheap £150 tablet and the graphics quality is great and its just about the right size for reading airport charts :)

any new The Entertainment Software Association includes Microsoft and other major games developers. Its 2011 report contains the following facts.

 

flight games comprise 1.5% of total computer games units sold (page 8)

 

Total annual sales of computer games 24.6M (page 10)

 

Therefore total annual sales of all flight computer games is 1.5% of 34.6M which equals 0.369M or 369,000/year.

 

That's a trivial number in relation to best selling games which throws serious doubt of the commercial viability of any new flight games - Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 sold 6.5M on the first day

That is what I want to see....The comeback of the Desktop PC. They are just better even if you are a Gamer. I never owned a console as they just don't have the power behind them.

That is what I want to see....The comeback of the Desktop PC. They are just better even if you are a Gamer. I never owned a console as they just don't have the power behind them.

 

True I've loved computer gaming for years and was an occasional console gamer. More recently I have become a console gamer because even though it has less power the graphics are still impressive and fluid. Delivery method can be internet or disc just like computers as well. They are on the rise.

Any comments on the fact that traditional male acitivities such as shooting and football do very well in simulation sales. But cooking and sewing simulations sell at somewhat lower volumes?

any new The Entertainment Software Association includes Microsoft and other major games developers. Its 2011 report contains the following facts

 

 

That data seems to be a bit old.. 2010-2011 and it seems to only cover the usa and not the rest of the world ( i might be wrong but that is what it looks like )

 

What we need is more current global data 2011 to 2012

 

What we need is more current global data 2011 to 2012

 

Considering we are just over half way through 2012, I don't think we will be getting any data. The 2010-2011 year is the newest we have to go off of. I'm pretty sure we aren't going to find a huge reversal of computer game sales.

 

Go into any electronic stores and look at what the stock is like. There are 1 or 2 rows of computer games when the rest of the video game section filled with console games. The future is with consoles and not computer systems.

Here you go, something that is not 2010 based

 

global sales for 2011 and projected forecasts

http://pcgamingallia...2_FINAL_gf1.pdf

 

also pc's with gpu's equipped ( gaming pc's ) out sold consoles 7:1 in 2011

 

with gaming pc's out selling consoles in 2011 i can see why pc gaming is dying :/

 

back on topicish,

 

If 369,000 people in the USA started flight simming in the last year ( regardless of sim software and the fact they might only be using it for training ) then globally we could be looking at over 1 million new people have taken up some type of flight sim in the last year which would indicate to me that it is far from dead or dying. It is a small market when compared to action games but flight simulation has always been a smaller market.

 

I do think that we are in the golden age of fsx due to the high quality of addons that have been popping up over the last few years and the quality just seems to get better and better and some of the addon aircraft for xplane are epic in quality. ( i dont really follow xplane but i get lots of emails about addons for some reason )

Go into any electronic stores and look at what the stock is like. There are 1 or 2 rows of computer games when the rest of the video game section filled with console games. The future is with consoles and not computer systems.

 

Tell that to Valve, the creators of Steam!

 

Digital distribution has become massively popular for most PC gamers these days. With the likes of Steam, Impulse, Gamersgate, etc. I haven't bought a PC title in a brick and mortar shop for a long time.

 

As has always been the case, the PC is leading the way and consoles will follow. Expect digital distribution to become the norm on consoles when they start sporting decent sized HDDs in the not too distant future.

 

Given both Microsoft's and Sony's plans for the next gen consoles to lock out pre-owned games you can expect a lot of those game stores to fall on hard times once they lose their most significant revenue stream.

 

 

As for the more specific flight sim genre - I think now MS has pulled the plug on Flight we have seen the last of the big publisher flight sims. Ubisoft still has a hand in Cliffs of Dover but that has been an unmitigated disaster of a release and Ubisoft don't even mention the title on their website. I don't even know if they are involved with the follow-up "Battle of Moscow" title currently in development. If they are I wouldn't be at all surprised if they cancel that.

 

The flight sim genre is now being run by smaller specialist independant developers and publishers, and the dedication, passion and ingenuity of the community. In my opinion that's the best place to be, and not have development dictated by corporate agendas.

Given both Microsoft's and Sony's plans for the next gen consoles to lock out pre-owned games you can expect a lot of those game stores to fall on hard times once they lose their most significant revenue stream.

 

That wont happen in Europe as the laws have changed ( this effects flight sim addons brought in Europe as well from what i know ) as the transfer ( sale ) of used software is protected by law now and the software developers cant say no to it, this includes both disc based and digital downloads and to sum up the law it says that the developers of software cant interfere or block the sale of used software regardless of the terms of sale. If i buy something from the USA then im not covered by the law as i do normally buy my flight sim from overseas stores as they tend to be cheaper but im more than happy to keep what i got anyway :)

 

here is some legal stuff on it for those who care.

short easy to read version

http://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2012-07/cp120094en.pdf

 

Full version

http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?text=&docid=124564&pageIndex=0&doclang=EN&mode=req&dir=&occ=first∂=1&cid=5252243

 

I dont buy hard copies anymore unless i see a flight sim addon on sale at amazon, i do buy my kids games for there consoles but i hardly buy from Game UK or HMV as they tend to be more expensive than the likes of amazon.

 

The myth of pc gaming is dead started i believe shortly after the launch of the PSone and Game UK fell for the myth ( i heard years ago that sony told them pc gaming was over but i dont know if there is any truth to that could just be part of the myth ) and removed almost all pc games from there shops and used the space for console games which has helped in there downfall over the years. When Game UK finally goes all that will be left store wise is some small independents and HMV and the supermarkets selling console and pc games over the counter here in the uk.

 

HMV game selection is not to bad but they are planning to move in to gadget world to help recover the losses they have been making here in the UK so i have no idea what that will mean for the future of them selling console and pc games.

That wont happen in Europe as the laws have changed ( this effects flight sim addons brought in Europe as well from what i know ) as the transfer ( sale ) of used software is protected by law now and the software developers cant say no to it, this includes both disc based and digital downloads and to sum up the law it says that the developers of software cant interfere or block the sale of used software regardless of the terms of sale. If i buy something from the USA then im not covered by the law as i do normally buy my flight sim from overseas stores as they tend to be cheaper but im more than happy to keep what i got anyway :)

 

I'm curious to see how this is going to pan out with the next generation consoles. Some sort of region-locking similar to what they tried to do with DVDs? Otherwise what's there to stop people in the US buying cheap pre-owned games from Europe?

 

As good as the intentions were when the law came down on the side of the consumer, I think in the long run it's only going to create even more headaches for us.

 

Once consoles start getting seriously large HDDs and games become available via digital distribution like PCs have now I'd expect to see a decline in the sales of physical media console games, just as the physical media PC market has declined in recent years. In such a case I'd expect to see the specialist games retailers on the high street start to slowly disappear.

 

As for HMV, they've been struggling for years... they're a retail dinosaur trying to make a crust living in the era of iTunes, Steam et al. I occasionally pop in and see what DVDs they have on sale for a few quid. Shifting to selling gadgets will be a failure for them as they will be competing with the likes of established retailers like Comet, Currys/PC World, and all the mobile phone shops. That's not even taking into account the increasing number of consumers who only visit these stores to get their hands on the gadget to try it out before going home and buying it cheaper online!

 

The Internet really has had a huge impact on how we buy things, being a brick and mortar retailer in many cases is now becoming a very difficult proposition.