EA Founder: Consoles Will Become Niche

[Evil Smurf]

It is niche, want to play Pokemon? Buy a DSi/3DS/DSiXL/3DSXL. Want to play Uncharted? But a PS3/VITA. Want to play Gears of War? Buy a Xbox 360.

 

[Erttheking]

Nice EA, get the hardcore elitists clawing at each other. Come on we have to put up with enough of that without you dumping gas on the fire.

 

[Two-A]

Gotta love that the guy who made the 3do is predicting the slow death of console gaming.

I feel like we're missing a more important talking point here. The console and PC experiences are beginning to converge.

No, they are not. Console-centric games are still based on the "arcade + cinematic eye-candy" paradigm, while PC games, (both traditiona hardcore and facebook casual) are based on the "tabletop game meets utility software" paradigm.

What games are you playing? I can name a few "PC Games" that aren't tabletop-esque (Skyrim comes to mind). Besides, I think you are missing the point he was trying to make. During the PS2 era the majority of games were RPGs, 3d platformers and action adventure games; genres that are rarely marketed to the PC crowd. Nowadays, most console games are shooters and sandboxes. And there is more of an effort to port games from console to PC and vice-versa.

The PC is dead, now the console is dead. Would someone make up their mind already.

I thought it had been revived once digital distribution became a thing.

The PC is dead, now the console is dead. Would someone make up their mind already.

Makes sense that a number of the better games for the PC in recent years have all been about zombies...

'Cause Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, Minecraft, TERA, and Smite were all about zombies.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

I feel like we're missing a more important talking point here. The console and PC experiences are beginning to converge.

I wouldn't say they're converging, more like the PC is simply adopting the only few things consoles ever had as an advantage in the great debate.

Mostly due to Steam I might add.

but look at theings on the console side

downloads....internet conections...updates and patches

seems kind of "PC"-like to me

I guess, but he did say that they're beginning to converge, so I assumed we were talking about more recent times. Those PC-like additions were soooo 10 years ago

 

[Erttheking]

Your new avatar makes me chuckle, I never much cared for Mort.
.

I personally felt uncomfortable around him, like I said to walk on eggshells. Probably because of one instance where I made a thread where I talked about feeling alienated from the rest of the Escapist for my political and religious views, and he proceeded to give me shit for said views, apparently missing the irony. That thread turned sour fast.

 

[Something Amyss]

I like the fact that PCs and hardcore are apparently mutually exclusive.

 

[lacktheknack]

Well, this makes the long-overdrawn "PC Gaming Is Dead" sentiment that so clearly rang through these halls a mere two years ago look kind of hilarious, doesn't it?

 

[Something Amyss]

Well, this makes the long-overdrawn "PC Gaming Is Dead" sentiment that so clearly rang through these halls a mere two years look kind of hilarious, doesn't it?

Alternatively, it makes the dude making the statement look like an utter tool with no concept of what he's talking about, since console gaming has also been "on the way out" for more than a decade.

 

[lacktheknack]

Well, this makes the long-overdrawn "PC Gaming Is Dead" sentiment that so clearly rang through these halls a mere two years look kind of hilarious, doesn't it?

Alternatively, it makes the dude making the statement look like an utter tool with no concept of what he's talking about, since console gaming has also been "on the way out" for more than a decade.

To be fair, I've not heard that sentiment to any great degree until the rise of cell-phone games.

 

[Strazdas]

He said that consoles are the source of innovative gaming and that hardcore gamers like innovative gaming. From these two completely illogical things i decided that he knows nothing about what he is talking.

 

[FalloutJack]

So, just to clarify, are we calling this one "EA Says Something Stupid Again"? Honestly, it's gettin' like Anonymous committing hacks of violence just to desperately stay relevent now.

 

[mixadj]

I have a ps3 and it might be my last console. I have realized that maintaining a mid-tier pc is cheaper in the long run than buying multiple consoles. There is also the fact that there are not enough console exclusives coming out anymore to warrant a purchase. There are much more PC exclusives and indie titles that are usually cheaper and more enjoyable than anything that will release on consoles. I have other friends who are slowly switching over as well. I think the pc market is actually growing and starting to take over a reasonable portion of console sales.

 

[xPixelatedx]

there's always going to be a hardcore segment, a segment that likes innovation

What!? I am pretty sure the hardcore crowd has stayed away form innovation as much as possible, that's why they have their title. The wii waggle, the PS Move and Kinect are all seen as garbage by the hardcore crowd, and all of that is the "innovation" this gen has brought. They just want great games, and to make great games one doesn't necessarily need innovation at all, just skill at their craft.

Also, it's kind of funny for EA to keep making predictions of doom and gloom, especially now about people who are starting to collectively give them the finger. Spiteful much? Of course games sales are low right now, outside of a few gems like Borderlands, why on earth would they be high? The fall rush doesn't usually start until November. Yeah a lot of games just came out but most of them were crap.

 

[tehwalrus]

Makes sense that a number of the better games for the PC in recent years have all been about zombies...

Guild Wars 2? Planetside 2? Battlefield 3 (the console versions don't count)? Torchlight 2? Diablo 3? Starcraft 2? Sins of a Solar Empire? FTL? Kerbal Space Program? Tribes: Ascend? And these are just recent games. I barely tried and I could list a bunch.

GW2 - check
Torchlight 2 - check
Diablo 3 - check
Starcraft 2 - check
All those games have zombies, I haven't played any of the other ones...

The PC is dead, now the console is dead. Would someone make up their mind already.

Makes sense that a number of the better games for the PC in recent years have all been about zombies...

'Cause Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, Minecraft, TERA, and Smite were all about zombies.

Minecraft is all about zombies, and zombie pigmen... and Skyrim had entire hordes of undead! Pay attention people!!

 

[Bloodstain]

Nice EA, get the hardcore elitists clawing at each other. Come on we have to put up with enough of that without you dumping gas on the fire.

I recommend reading the article before commenting.

Hawkins founded EA after leaving Apple in '82, which he then left to form 3DO in '91.

Or, in other words:

I'd like to immediately point out that in the present he has fuck all to do with EA so you don't get free EA hate for this one, shame on you Escapist for even needing to put EA in the title of this article.

OT: The console market will definitely continue shrinking, seeing as every device can play games in one form or the other nowadays. Will it become 'niche', though? I have no idea.

 

[smithy_2045]

Owning a console is equivalent to owning a jet. That has got to be, by far, the worst analogy I've heard this year, and I often make deliberately bad analogies for shits and giggles.

 

[VeneratedWulfen93]

Is this good or bad far console gaming though? Basically more devs will leave console for PC because of restrictions I take it? Well I'm screwed due to my multiple reasons why a console is better for me right now since it'll probably be around when I move out that I get one and even then Halo 4 will be out by then so I won't be touching my PC until something like Dawn of War 3 comes out.

Now more than ever seems to be the time to play my PC a bit more rather that just using it for college work and the occasional game of Dawn of War. What the fuck was my Steam login again?

Guess I should just stop arguing against it. I'm still playing my xbox mostly though, the PC in the house is shared by the family and I prefer the exclusives of xbox.

 

[Rawne1980]

Release the PS4, the Xbox Loop, the Wiiwhatever and sales will rocket back up to perfectly viable and profitable levels.

I'm gonna make a little bet with you.

I bet you 1 packet of Jammie Dodgers that the next gen of consoles doesn't sell as well as this one did.

In fact, I bet sales are going to be drastically lower.

 

[Wolle]

Hawkins founded EA after leaving Apple in '82, which he then left to form 3DO in '91.

This sentence needs to be taken out and shot.

 

[Entitled]

What games are you playing? I can name a few "PC Games" that aren't tabletop-esque (Skyrim comes to mind). Besides, I think you are missing the point he was trying to make. During the PS2 era the majority of games were RPGs, 3d platformers and action adventure games; genres that are rarely marketed to the PC crowd. Nowadays, most console games are shooters and sandboxes. And there is more of an effort to port games from console to PC and vice-versa.

I'm not denying that certain games can ignore these paradigms. Multiplatform games can be made, desperate developers can try to transport their favorite genre to the platform where they hope more money, etc.

But due to historical origin, console and PC audiences have entirely different expectations.

The idea behind the first consoles was, to bring the button-smashing fun of the arcade, to the living-room TV. Their input system, the "controller", is entirely based on moving a character around in a virtual space, while killing enemies with another button. And being hooked up to the TV gave it a sense of passive entertainment, just lay back on the couch and enjoy the spectacle.

Meanwhile, many of the early PC games, from Civilization to Elder Scrolls, were transporting older tabletop RPG and strategy traditions to the computer, while many of the new genre games, such as Sim City, or Elite, were still built to be less "instant fun", and more "economical simulation", what Yahtzee once described as "dad games", for people who are already used to dealing with calculations and menus and thinking, while sitting in an office chair and leaning towards a monitor.
The mouse and keyboard controls themselves are more appropriate for clicking on menus, scrolling through large maps, and generally controlling coplex systems such as spaceships, armies, OLD-school RPG inventories, even in an FPS, they are used for more tactics and "simulation". Note, that Yahtzee also counted Minecraft, and DayZ as "dad games".

Games like Elder Scrolls V, Mass Effect, or Fallout 3, are decent examples of a mix between PC and console values, with their control and combat simplified compared to old-school RPGs, but complicated compared to console action games, but they will inherently be on the fringe of both paradigms.

That's what kickstarter games like Project Eternity and Shaker are all about: Not nostalgia, or retro-elitism, but the feeling that these modern games are no longer being made for us.

Even when new genres, such as facebook games, are created without the influence of consoles, they will naturally be founded on traditional PC values. Farmville might be very casual, but in it's core mechanics, it is another "dad game".