Ubisoft Investing In Next Console Gen

[Keane Ng]

Ubisoft Investing In Next Console Gen

Contrary to what some industry analysts believe, Ubisoft thinks that there will be another generation of new hardware in the next few years, and are already preparing to invest in it.

Despite what Wedbush Morgan industry know-it-all Michael Pachter said earlier this year, and the coming arrival of on-demand gaming services like OnLive, Ubisoft's Yves Guillemot believes [http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=23411] that there will undoubtedly be another generation of videogame hardware in the coming years, and publishers better be ready for it.

"We need to get ready for the future generation of consoles," Guillemot said during a conference call to investors and analysts. "In the next few years, there will be new home and handheld consoles, and if you don't invest... you will not be able to cope with both [the existing and new generation consoles]."

Guillemot's prediction directly refutes statements [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/90443-Pachter-This-Is-The-Final-Generation] made by Pachter during the GamesBeat conference that took place during GDC a month ago. "I think we've seen the last generation of consoles," Pachter remarked. His reasoning was that third-party publishers, like Ubisoft, wouldn't support a PlayStation 4 or Xbox 720. Content, he said, is "not going to change in any meaningful ways because the publishers can't afford it."

Ubisoft apparently can. During the conference call during which Guillemot made these remarks, Ubisoft reported 14% sales growth in fiscal 2008.

I, for one, can't wait for a next-gen Horsez. Can you?


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[goatzilla8463]

I think we've gotten to the point where the consoles aren't really going to get any better graphics-wise. Ubisoft should spend their time working on making their new games better for existing consoles.

 

[oliveira8]

Maybe they should invest in this console generation and make actual games...

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

There will be another generation.

Xbox 9001, I'm waiting for you.
PS4, I'm waiting for you.
Nintendo Pii...I don't really care about you. Unless you have a regular old controller.

 

[kommando367]

There is still a very small amount of room for graphical upgrades, but I'd rather have large amouts of content.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

This seems more like an excuse to delay their current release line-up.

 

[Erana]

There is still a very small amount of room for graphical upgrades, but I'd rather have large amouts of content.

We're still far from true photorealism, but I agree about the content.

 

[The Shade]

I sure hope there's another console generation. I'll be purely Mac-based for the next several years, so PC gaming is gonna take a serious hit.

 

[dochmbi]

I think we've gotten to the point where the consoles aren't really going to get any better graphics-wise. Ubisoft should spend their time working on making their new games better for existing consoles.

Are you crazy? Of course there will be a new generation and it will have 16x the processing power of the previous generation. (6 years, power doubles every 1.5 years = 16x).

The graphics will improve significantly.

 

[LeonLethality]

I think we've gotten to the point where the consoles aren't really going to get any better graphics-wise. Ubisoft should spend their time working on making their new games better for existing consoles.

i bet they could invest in the new wiii as the ds got an i at the end and a few tweaks why not give the wii a chainsaw and a camera and package it was the wiii >.>

 

[300lb. Samoan]

I think we've gotten to the point where the consoles aren't really going to get any better graphics-wise

that's why the next generation will be parallel-processing enables computing appliances, instead of dedicated game-machines - but believe me, the companies WILL push for a next generation of consoles. at the very least you'll get a PlayStation 4 which will at some point have a Holographic-VD expansion, a Microsoft X-Box with full Windows 7 support, and a new Nintendo, featuring... Peggle 3

 

[shMerker]

*

Now I understand that the last shot there is impressive, but it's not the dramatic improvement that any of the previous shots were. If this trend continues you will see a next generation of consoles where there is no appreciable difference in graphics. If Microsoft and Sony want to compete they will have to do so with something else.

* Sorry, there were very few 3D games for the SNES. Hopefully you get the idea.

 

[Pendragon9]

I expect there to be a rainbow ray format to kill off DVD and Blu ray. It will be in 4d, and cost 6000 dollars.

If Ubisoft is investing in that, then I'm speechless.

 

[onlivefans.com]

I honestly believe that if Microsoft and Sony don't act now and try and build a system similar to Onlive, then they might end up having some major competition down the line. Sony apparently is working on the Playstation cloud already.

Brett - Onlive Forum [http://onlivefans.com]

 

[TsunamiWombat]

I honestly believe your a shill, but moving on.

What exactly has Ubisoft MADE this gen anyway?

 

[Miral]

I expect there to be a rainbow ray format to kill off DVD and Blu ray. It will be in 4d, and cost 6000 dollars.

Cough [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/91276-Is-Holographic-Media-the-Future-for-Next-Gen].

 

[goatzilla8463]

I think we've gotten to the point where the consoles aren't really going to get any better graphics-wise. Ubisoft should spend their time working on making their new games better for existing consoles.

Are you crazy? Of course there will be a new generation and it will have 16x the processing power of the previous generation. (6 years, power doubles every 1.5 years = 16x).

The graphics will improve significantly.

i doubt the graphics will improve to any degree which the human eye can actually tell the difference.

 

[Eldritch Warlord]

i doubt the graphics will improve to any degree which the human eye can actually tell the difference.

The visual realism of games can be improved drastically by better animations. And you will be able to see graphical improvement unless you have poor eyesight, it will just be slight.

But graphics aren't the only thing more processing power can improve; where games will really be getting better is in things like physics models, number of independent NPC's, AI, and after-effects (glare, depth of field, motion blur and such).

What exactly has Ubisoft MADE this gen anyway?

Assassin's Creed
Prince of Persia
and a bunch of Tom Clancy games (Rainbow Six Vegas, Rainbow Six Vegas 2, EndWar, Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter, Ghost Recon: Advance Warfighter 2)

off the top of my head

 

[Lios]

God damned Ubisoft. I swear they're the new EA. All they can really care about is how much they can make, and focusing on the easy stuff to make in a game (basically graphics, which is generally all ubisoft focuses on).

This current console gen has really only just came out, and Ubisoft is already focusing on the next one? Really, there's no point in that, and there's no confirmation there will even BE a next gen console series.

Ubisoft needs to focus on whats going on right NOW, and start making some good releases for current consoles.

 

[Cousin_IT]

I wonder, is he simply referring to the battle of the big three, or is being more encompassing in acknowledging that, while both us gamers & Sony, Microsoft & Nintendo seem to completely ignore the fact; Outside the West & Japan there is still massive scope for new consoles to be marketed.