Console Games Doomed
Dead in the next decade, apparently
Although game-on-demands services such as OnLive and Gaikai have yet to fully exert their grasp on gamers, Square Enix head honcho Yoichi Wada believes that they represent the future of home gaming.
Rather than having bulky, single-format processing machines under our TVs, Wada thinks that physical media is on its way out to be replaced by digital distribution and server-based games. Indeed, according to Wada, the likes of Sony and Microsoft are already gearing up for the sea-change that this would represent.
Speaking to MCV, he said: “In ten years’ time a lot of what we call ‘console games’ won’t exist. And the consequences for anyone who isn’t ready for the shift could be disastrous: Wada warned that “all the distributors and sales firms will suffer a big negative impact”.
“In the past,” he continued, “the platform was hardware, but it has switched to the network. A time will come when the hardware isn’t even needed anymore.
“With that, any kind of terminal becomes a potential platform on which games can be played – that’s exponential growth in the potential of gaming. The potential size of the market is enormous.”
“Social and browser games are going to grow dramatically – especially in areas like Asia which does not have as big a console market.”
It’s hard not to agree with Wada. Square Enix is gearing up for the challenge by dedicating more resources to browser-based games, and Activision has also stated that they are in favour of untethering some of their games from consoles. As recently as last month, Denki’s Colin Anderson spoke to me about how developers stand to benefit massively from digital distribution thanks to the attendant reduction in production costs; and Gaikai’s model seems to offer a one-stop-shop to anyone’s gaming needs.
Add to this the massive rise in social and browser-based games and the fact that you still need at least three consoles if you want to have access to every new game out there, and Wada’s prediction seems all-but inevitable.
While digitally distributed cloud-based “games on demand” will happen (probably in the next 10 years). If business teaches us anything, it won’t be the early adopters like gaikai or onlive to usher in this new era, instead they will pave the way and die by the wayside (sadly) to have some unnamed company champion this. This happens time and again in business (google, facebook, wow). But hey at least they can say they started the revolution at parties!