Here lies PS3, Xbox 360, Wii – online execs turn doomsayers on consoles
More console-hating. This time, online execs unload against the gaming platforms at the BMO Capital Markets’ Interactive Entertainment Conference. The panel discussion heard vivid opinions on the market and what a gamer wants. Read more in the full article.
More console-bashing ensues as online gaming execs got together at the BMO Capital Markets’ Interactive Entertainment Conference. I bet Gabe Newell sat on his weight-worn chair chuckling in delight at the things they said.
Alex St. John, chairman of WildTangent, wasn’t pulling any punches. “I think you’re looking at the last generation of consoles,” he said. “I don’t think Sony of Microsoft is going to make another console.” He also pointed out that World of Warcraft, a PC-only MMO, made more money than all Xbox 360 software in 2007.
Hilmar Petursson, CEO of CCP took another angle. “Really the only value proposition of the console was the lack of the piracy on the console versus the PC.” He adds that PC games are much more piracy-resistant than packaged ones.
Well of course they’ll bash the consoles – St. John’s and Petursson’s businesses revolve around the PC. But the CEO of PC and console game developer Trion World Networks Lars Buttler also cited console weaknesses versus the PC. “You have these huge markets in Asia, Eastern Europe and everywhere else that really don’t give a damn about consoles,” he said. “They’re all PC online.”
Eventually, it all boils down to powerful servers and broadband, which Buttler describes to be “the real platform.” Citing an IDC report, St. John points out, “Only 15% of the next-generation consoles ever sold will ever be connected to a network… The vast majority of consoles will never be plugged into broadband by 2012.”
Ken Ripley, EVP for sales for in-game ad firm IGA Worldwide came to the consoles’ defense, arguing that the consoles are directed to a more general experience rather than core gaming. “As far as entertainment is concerned, there isn’t too much more entertaining on that kind of home theater set-up than playing a console game,” he said, talking about huge HD TVs and Dolby 5.1 digital sound systems.
For more on the interview follow the source link below.
I bet those guys would want to see this:
About The Author
