E3 And the Mirroring of Software.

[tapedeck]

With the reality that Sony have lost out on exclusivity of FFXIII, yesterday, many were fearing the 360 would dominate the PS3. True, it has gained established franchises in GOW, Banjo etc... but I feel some people should look at it in a different light...

 

First of all, Sony still have established franchises in which they can rely on. Even a "new" franchise such as Uncharted "charted" with gamers. That is building a franchise right there. The pool of talent all developers have, internally is still exciting enough to force sales of each console.

 

However, just as the sports genre has, more titles (ala FPS/RPG's) are going to go 'the multi platform route'.

As games "expand" developers will be putting more resources into their products and thus will be needing to gain money back twice as fast by releasing said titles on multiple formats (ala CoD/FFXIII.) it doesn't take a genious to notice that it's worked for EA for years.

 

Microsoft may be able to push companies into going multiplatform with cash, but the bigger picture is that titles are becoming so expensive to create that it's now apparent we will see less "large" franchises on a single console. And money doesn't last forever. And moreso, the suits decide where the cash goes. Perhaps only the internal 1st developers will have the pleasure of individual console development - for now.

 

With companies needing to recoup money, even the days of internal parties creating solely for one company could be soon over. With Wii we've seen a lot of titles release exclusively for that console (both good and bad titles) yet this is because the entry levels for production are far lower. And yesterday in Microsofts conference we saw a mass amount of time spent on the "cheaper to develop" titles - those relying on social factors, not graphical ones. Who knows what the future will bring, but impressions so far indicate that exclusve titles could be fast coming to an end.

 

Thoughts as ever people...

[Deathjam]

Dunno if it's such a bad thing, as it allows those often overlooked features of a console to be brought to the frontline, and actually be given some consideration. Granted a game console is all about the games, but when the situation is as it is now, you have to come up with other reasons for your choice of purchase.

 

Also, consoles are fast becoming entirely differernt beasts to what has come before, in that they come equipped with hard drives and online capabilities, and can provide gaming performance, almost on par with a pc, and then go further allowing for video playback, picture perusal and editing, muscial enjoyment, and social aspects in that you can contact and converse with others through your console. Features that have all been only previously found in your average PC.

 

Also, initially I thought it would give fanboys less fuel for their fires, but now I think the reasons for their choice of purchase will, at least, be just as ridiculous and pathetic as they are now.

[tapedeck]

With recent inclusions such as HDD's, USB's, Ethernet connections etc...Do you think PC's are going to become less important in the household?

 

If consoles start offering vast amounts of multimedia, (primarily around downloadable content) wireless keyboards/mice(via USB/Bluetooth) and then start offering word editing packages - would people use them in their homes more than a PC? Especially if said console was just running from the home (HD)TV set.

 

I know the PC will never die. Gladly! But with all of this added functionality perhaps consoles will eventually become the standard multimedia/gaming/document handling/communications devices in peoples homes?

 

Essentially, if youths turn to these "consoles" when growing up and discover their internet/multimedia/communication functions perhaps when they are older they will use their future consoles in a manner expected to be from a PC.

[Guest Jordan]

PC's rock "da interwebs" for a few reasons:

 

1, Web sites do not look good stretched out to a 32"+ HDTV in widescreen. Not to mention per inch on a monitor you get a higher resolution than per inch on a TV. If that makes any sense.

 

2, Keyboards + Mice only work well on a desk. Keyboards on your lap is just uncomfortable and using the internet using a Wii mote pointer or PS3 dpad just doesn't work.

 

3, I feel sitting infront of a monitor to be far more comfortable, especially since office chairs >>> sofas.

 

I mean, imagine trying to use MS Word on a console...

[Will]

In response to Tapedeck's last post:

 

We're already seeing the decline of the PC as a main gaming platform. Casual players, women, young children, girls etc. who have used PC's to play things like The Sims and verious online flash games are now playing on DS's and to an extent the Wii recently. Hardcore FPS players are finding equal and often better experiences on home consoles. So yes, in a sense the PC is losing out to consoles.

 

More and more people are buying laptops, great for work and the odd email but just not up to the task of playing the latest games, again this pushes more people to rely on consoles for their gaming fix.

 

Consoles will probably develop further still but I'd say its unlikely they will replace the PC for the staple uses of a PC. Its just not practical for more people. A games console is used with the TV in place of watching a DVD or usual TV. A PC is often used at the same time as someone else is using a home TV, transfering what it does into the living room just won't work for the vast majority of people.

 

I'd agree with all of Jordan's points, and those are exactly the reasons the PC won't lose its core uses to the home consoles.