游戲機為何沒被淘汰？

游戲機為何沒被淘汰？

人們很早就認為智能手機會搶走主機游戲的生意，而事實上，不僅主機游戲的市場份額在復蘇，分析師們還預言它將迎來一個“黃金時代”，那些驚訝于主機游戲長盛不衰的人都應該試著玩一玩。

測試中可能遇到的詞匯和知識：

lunatic 瘋子['lu?n?t?k]

underplay 不充分的表演；秘密行動[?nd?'ple?]

gadget 小玩意；小器具['g?d??t]

commuter 通勤者[k?'mju?t?(r)]

genre 類型；種類[???nr?]

epic 史詩的，敘事詩的['ep?k]

impenetrable 不能通過的；頑固的[?m'pen?tr?b(?)l]

bifurcate 分叉的['ba?f?ke?t]

spectacle 景象；場面['spekt?k(?)l]

lag 落后；遲延[l?g]

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How consoles survived the rise of the smartphone （657words）

By Helen Lewis

* * *

In 1925, John Logie Baird wanted to convince the public that his latest invention would be a great success. Unfortunately, when he arrived at the London offices of the Daily Express, his sales pitch was quickly dismissed. “For God’s sake, go down to reception and get rid of a lunatic who’s down there,” a news editor reportedly told staff. “He says he’s got a machine for seeing by wireless.”

This illustrates our inability to predict the appeal of a medium, and particularly the problem of making a judgment without hands-on experience. “Seeing by wireless” sounds impossible — until someone shows you a television set.

And that is why anyone surprised by the continued success of console games, with a revival of market share and analysts forecasting a “golden era” — long after smartphones were supposed to have stolen their business — should try playing a few. Appreciating the difference between the experiences makes it easier to see how they can happily co-exist.

Of course, we should not underplay the explosive rise of mobile gaming. A decade ago, playing a game on the go meant buying a dedicated gadget such as the Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable. Now commuters tap away on their phones at Candy Crush or Clash of Clans, while answering emails and checking the weather on the same device.

This year, for the first time, mobile games sales are predicted to be higher than those on consoles and PCs. But that is down to the creation of a vast new market, not the cannibalisation of an old one. Many of those playing games on their commute go home and switch on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4.

The two genres are quite distinct. Mobile games are friendlier — not least because their revenue model depends on players sticking with them. They are often free to download, making money from advertising or in-app purchases. They often tend to focus on repetitive puzzles or slow-building strategies, which lend themselves to small pockets of time and imprecise, stab by fingers.

Console games, however, need to justify the purchase of the machine itself, at about ￡250, and of the game, at ￡30. So they tend to be epic — sweeping plots, gorgeous graphics, storylines that unfold over many hours. (I have personally saved humanity at least a dozen times, and each time it looked beautiful.) They often deal with war or its peacetime substitute, sport. And they demand precision and dedication, making them almost impenetrable to anyone who did not start playing as a teen.

This brings us back to Baird and his great invention. Television did not kill the movie industry; we did not all decide there was no point going out when we could watch what we wanted at home. Instead, the mediums bifurcated: each focused on content suited to its form. Films, like console games, can do spectacle in a way smaller screens cannot. Captain America is a very different experience from Mad Men. So is Grand Theft Auto from Fruit Ninja.

That also means films and console games are open to the same criticism: their high production values are a barrier to innovation because so few companies can invest the tens of millions it takes to make them. Hollywood is dominated by the Big Six studios, themselves owned by conglomerates, and the top-grossing films of last year — Star Wars Episode VII, Jurassic World and Avengers: Age of Ultron — are all sequels. In games, the 2015 US bestseller list was topped by Call of Duty: Black Ops III (a sequel to a spin-off, no less). Minecraft was the only original title in the top 10.

Even as the console world celebrates confounding its doubters, it should reflect on this. Hollywood studios try to encourage smaller, independent films but the games industry has lagged behind. Expanding the middle of the market, the space between space operas and addictive puzzlers, should be its next big challenge. Where is the Woody Allen of console titles?

請根據(jù)你所讀到的文章內(nèi)容，完成以下自測題目：

1. What would replace the game consoles as people thought?

a. smartphones

b. DVDs

c. computers

d. televisions

2. When mobile games sales are predicted to be higher than those on consoles and PCs firstly?

a. 2017

b. 2018

c. 2019

d. 2016

3. Which one is not right about mobile games, compared with console games?

a. their revenue model depends on user agglutinant

b. they often deal with war

c. they often tend to focus on repetitive puzzles

d. they always make money from advertising or in-app purchases

4. What is films and console games’ same criticism, as a barrier to innovation?

a. high production values

b. advertising & publicity expenses

c. complicated making process

d. hard to swallow

[1] 答案a. smartphones

解釋：人們很早就認為智能手機會搶走主機游戲的生意。

[2] 答案d. 2016

解釋：今年，預計移動游戲的銷量將首次超越主機游戲或電腦游戲。

[3] 答案b. they often deal with war

解釋：移動游戲相對更友好些——主要因為其盈利模式取決于玩家的忠誠。移動游戲通常是免費下載的，其收入來源于廣告或玩家購買游戲內(nèi)嵌的應用程序。

[4] 答案a. high production values

解釋：二者高昂的制作成本成為創(chuàng)新的障礙。