Apple’s new iPhone 15 series is about to be released in Korea. This time, instead of the Lightning terminal that Apple has insisted on, it is attracting attention by supporting the same USB-C terminal as Android smartphones/devices.
There is also exciting news for those who frequently play games on their smartphones. It was difficult to properly enjoy high-performance games with existing smartphones, but thanks to the upgraded performance of the iPhone 15 compared to the previous generation, you can also enjoy high-end console games such as ‘Resident Evil’, ‘Assassin’s Creed’, and ‘Death Stranding’. do.
Apple iPhone 15, scheduled to be released. The highest specification model costs over 1.9 million won. Source = Apple official website
However, price is also important. To enjoy high-end console games without any problems, you need to purchase the model with the highest specifications. The price of the iPhone 15 Pro, the highest specification model, is 1.55 million won, and the iPhone 15 Pro, which supports a larger screen, is 1.9 million won. Despite many changes, the price is unconventionally the same as the previous generation, but at this price, you can buy 2 to 3 PlayStation 5 (PS5), the latest console device. If it’s a cheaper digital version of PS5, you could buy 4 units.
Of course, you don’t buy a smartphone just to play games. However, if you choose the highest spec model for the purpose of comfortably playing the latest games, you may be overspending. If you buy a model with lower specs and use the difference to purchase a console game console, you can enjoy the game comfortably and satisfactorily.
A console game console that has become a cost-effective product. Source = Sony homepage
The same goes for PCs, which run more games than smartphones. Although it is said that the surge in prices of graphics cards for mining PCs has stopped as the coin/virtual asset craze has cooled, the prices of PC components have risen significantly across the board, so if you want to purchase the highest performance gaming PC, you have to prepare to spend millions of won.
A top-spec PC priced at over 4 million won using top-spec components. This is a price that allows you to buy 8 PS5 units. Source = Compuzone
As the prices of smartphones and PCs rise rapidly, the ‘game cost-effectiveness’ of the latest console game consoles such as PS5 and XBOX Series In the past, playing console games was perceived as an expensive hobby, but these days, considering the cost that must be invested to comfortably enjoy the latest games that support 4K resolution and 60 frame display, console game consoles have become the most economical option.
The fact that the latest PC version of the game is somewhat disappointing in terms of optimization, unlike the console version, is another factor that makes console game consoles stand out even more. Since the latest games are usually released optimized for console game consoles, problems such as frame drops often occur on PC even if the specifications are higher than the recommended specifications. Because of this, even for the same game, the evaluation score of the PC version is often much lower.
For example, in the case of Bethesda’s ‘Starfield’, which recently became a hot topic around the world, when many people complained about PC optimization issues, developer CEO Todd Howard said, “We put a lot of effort into optimization, but the latest technology is Since it has been applied, users may need to upgrade their PCs,” he said, receiving a lot of criticism.
Since the recommended specifications for ‘Starfield’ are higher than other games, the standard answer was that if you want to run it more comfortably, you need a PC with higher performance than the recommended specifications. However, problems often occur even on high-specification PCs purchased for millions of won. , There were many angry voices asking, ‘How much more expensive a PC do we have to buy!’
‘Starfield’, a game with many complaints due to PC optimization issues. Source: Bethesda homepage
Eventually, as interest in console game consoles increased due to their high cost-effectiveness, more people naturally purchased console game consoles. Accordingly, domestic game companies are also paying a lot of attention to entering the console game market.
Recently, Neowiz has been attracting attention by releasing a console game version of its new game ‘The Lies of P’, and several game companies, including NCSoft, have also announced that they are developing new console game versions.
‘P’s Lie’ is attracting attention as a domestic console game. Source = Neowiz
Although mobile game sales are still overwhelming in Korea, considering overseas markets, the scale of the console game market is truly enormous. According to the ‘2022 Korea Game White Paper’ published by the Korea Creative Content Agency, the global console game market size as of 2021 is $55.14 billion (about KRW 75 trillion), accounting for about 25% of the global game market.
In particular, in the North American/European markets, where domestic game companies are not making much progress, console game shares are high, reaching 40.5% and 33.7%, respectively, so developing console games is essential to enter the North American/European markets.
Until a few years ago, the domestic console market was so small that it could be considered a wasteland for consoles, so domestic game companies did not show much interest in it. Now that the market situation has changed and domestic game companies are actively responding to the console market, we look forward to the release of domestic console games that are comparable to famous overseas game companies.
Youngjun Cho, Game Donga Reporter jun@itdonga.com
