Hmmm, I dunno. Isn't this about the hardcore/casual ratio? In the 90s most of the gamers were not people who you'd see working in the offices. They had a lot of time on their hands. With time, the number of casual gamers increased and we have today's situation.
As for the DLCs there are two primary causes: mods and the micro-acquisitions for MMOs. Gamers brought this on themselves. They'll also decide if this will be just a passing fad or not.
Consoles were always some kind of limited PCs. They noticed that people prefer to play the games now in short intervals (1-2 hours) and then go into the internet and check with their friends online (or online communities) or do other things internet-related. If they didn't add some sort of connection with the outside world, every console gamer would move back to PC. That's also the reason why they're making integrated browsers into the games (this is a PC initiative). NOW, gamers will play 5 minutes and then talk 5 minutes. Which is kind of funny. But if they integrate such a thing into single-player games, I think there wouldn't be enough reasons to make so many MMOs anymore.
__________________
Don't think about the probabilities. The smallest chance can take us a long way forward. It's not like we have anything else to lose.
|