There is an increasing trend on PC games when compared to consoles games and this has prompted console device manufacturers and game developers to strategically seek for new innovations in the gadgets. There have been improvements on these handheld devices in the past such as internet connectivity, Bluetooth features as well as incorporation of inbuilt cameras. With the introduction of storage memory enhancement cards such as the R4i cards, this has seen an additional feature of the devices, which still makes them a choice for many people.
According to a report released by PC Gaming Alliance (PCGA), it showed that PC games market recorded a growth of 15% percent in 2011 with sales reaching $18.6 billion. This shows that PC games are posing a challenge to console games. There has been an increase in the number of people who own console games from 50% to 56% in US.
The 7th generation consoles have put a new picture to these gadgets, which have previously been abandoned in preference to PC games. The latest generation of consoles include PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii, all of which have advanced features. And as the DFC Intelligence forecasts show that the global market for video games is expected to grow to $82 billion by the year 2017 up from $67 billion in 2012, it is however, skeptical to games analysts on the future of consoles.
The online games industry has seen a stalled to declining trend in sales and this has partly been contributed to decrease in use of consoles. In a statement by DFC Intelligence analyst David Cole, he has cited that the new generation of console systems like Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft will assist in repairing the uncertain future of console segment of games.
However, this change may not be seen immediately and it might take a couple of years before these handheld devices can gain remarkable position in the market to outweigh PC games. Console users are slowly gaining interests with the devices and this has seen a slight improvement in the number of console games sold in 2012.
Some of the features which have added value to the handheld game devices are such as Bluetooth technology, Skype live communication and call attributes as well as advanced music player and photo viewers. Previously, console manufacturers thought that they had beaten the PC games but this has taken a different shift in the recent years. When coupled with smartphones, tablets and internet enabled phones, the population of consumers who play online games is now being distributed among these devices.
Since the high definition pictures and graphics require high memory capacity to be streamed clearly, users of console devices can use the r4 dsi cards to increase the memory and storage capacity of their devices. This means that the content they download from the internet whether games, music, movies or TV episodes, can be stored in the cards.
In essence, although there has been a decrease in revenues earned from console games, and which has caused a lot of concern on the dwindling popularity of consoles, there is still great hope in the use of these devices. It is expected that by the year 2014-2015, consoles will begin to gain strength and popularity in the market compared to PC games