GDC: Future of Games
With this year's GDC coming to a close there has been some talk about the future of gaming. There are some people that feel that we are heading towards a one console future where your game console will be like buying a TV or DVD player. These people believe that by making one standard manufactures can reduce cost better and that savings will be passed on to the consumer.
There is another crowd that looks at the internet and says all gaming will be done online. You'll have a persistence storage online like with Gmail. No software is installed locally and all your game saves are out on some server. You can then buy games directly from the developer ala Steam so there is no need for a middleman or licensing fees from the hardware vendor. Maybe you have a setup box to connect to the internet game service of your choice.
I think that these ideas hold water but they have big flaws that will end up making them not much better than what we have now. With a one console future we will see very little innovation. Do you with the Wii or DS would have come out of this model? Simply they would have been too risky prospects and would never have come around. PSN's Home is not out yet but there is no way Sony would have done anything online if it were not for Xbox Live's success. Even Nintendo is finally entering the online frontier. How much innovation have we seen in TVs or DVD players since they have come out? Sure the tech is better but is there any really cool new features coming out each year?
In a world where you buy all your games online and they are attached to your profile will you be able to sell back games? The biggest thorns in the side of game developers are piracy and used game sales. In both cases the developers don't get one red cent. I think piracy is wrong and should be abolished but at what cost? This can be done with making secure game consoles. I think trading in used games is the consumers best friend. Often games do not have any real value to you once you have completed them. Why not sell those games so you can get some new games? Developers hate this because it means someone can now buy that used game for a discount and they will not get their commission on the game sale.
Both models sell themselves as a way for consumers to save money on hardware and games. I think this is absolute BS because what will happen is the manufactures will price that game consoles at a price the market will bare. The prime example is the Nintendo Wii which is retailed at $249 but was believed to cost $150 to manufacture. Why doesn't Nintendo drop their price? Because consumers will spend $249 for their product so why charge less? I bet their kicking themselves they didn't charge $299.
So I think it's safe to say that there will be very little cost saving in buying hardware or games in a single console or online gaming future. Game developers already grumble that the cost of games has barely gone up over the last ten years. The Xbox 360 and PS3 now have games that cost $10 more then previous generation's games but still this is a drop in the bucket for developers. When you cut out the cut that retails and console makers take from a game those costs will not be passed onto the consumers. Steam is a perfect example since games on Steam cost the same as at retail.
So just stop and think about why game developers want to move towards a different model of distribution for games. It's really because they are only looking out for themselves and not the consumers. They see a new way to fleece the consumer by not allowing them to sell back games, trade games with friends or buy used games. All this will do is stunt innovation, allow less people to play games and cause the game industry to decline.
Source:
Jaffe - all-for-one
bruceongames - what-the-experts-predict
bruceongames -there-is-another-way
There is another crowd that looks at the internet and says all gaming will be done online. You'll have a persistence storage online like with Gmail. No software is installed locally and all your game saves are out on some server. You can then buy games directly from the developer ala Steam so there is no need for a middleman or licensing fees from the hardware vendor. Maybe you have a setup box to connect to the internet game service of your choice.
I think that these ideas hold water but they have big flaws that will end up making them not much better than what we have now. With a one console future we will see very little innovation. Do you with the Wii or DS would have come out of this model? Simply they would have been too risky prospects and would never have come around. PSN's Home is not out yet but there is no way Sony would have done anything online if it were not for Xbox Live's success. Even Nintendo is finally entering the online frontier. How much innovation have we seen in TVs or DVD players since they have come out? Sure the tech is better but is there any really cool new features coming out each year?
In a world where you buy all your games online and they are attached to your profile will you be able to sell back games? The biggest thorns in the side of game developers are piracy and used game sales. In both cases the developers don't get one red cent. I think piracy is wrong and should be abolished but at what cost? This can be done with making secure game consoles. I think trading in used games is the consumers best friend. Often games do not have any real value to you once you have completed them. Why not sell those games so you can get some new games? Developers hate this because it means someone can now buy that used game for a discount and they will not get their commission on the game sale.
Both models sell themselves as a way for consumers to save money on hardware and games. I think this is absolute BS because what will happen is the manufactures will price that game consoles at a price the market will bare. The prime example is the Nintendo Wii which is retailed at $249 but was believed to cost $150 to manufacture. Why doesn't Nintendo drop their price? Because consumers will spend $249 for their product so why charge less? I bet their kicking themselves they didn't charge $299.
So I think it's safe to say that there will be very little cost saving in buying hardware or games in a single console or online gaming future. Game developers already grumble that the cost of games has barely gone up over the last ten years. The Xbox 360 and PS3 now have games that cost $10 more then previous generation's games but still this is a drop in the bucket for developers. When you cut out the cut that retails and console makers take from a game those costs will not be passed onto the consumers. Steam is a perfect example since games on Steam cost the same as at retail.
So just stop and think about why game developers want to move towards a different model of distribution for games. It's really because they are only looking out for themselves and not the consumers. They see a new way to fleece the consumer by not allowing them to sell back games, trade games with friends or buy used games. All this will do is stunt innovation, allow less people to play games and cause the game industry to decline.
Source:
Jaffe - all-for-one
bruceongames - what-the-experts-predict
bruceongames -there-is-another-way
Comments