EA Founder: Consoles Will Become Niche

[dancinginfernal]

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.

I'm not quite sure what games you've been playing, but you seem to be limiting your range a bit if that's your interpretation of what consoles have playing. A lot of the content the PC and consoles have been playing is usually shared, granted one or the other usually gets shafted by ports. More often PC games, which blows.

 

[Two-A]

(carve away the fat and...)
'Cause Skyrim, Guild Wars 2, Minecraft, TERA, and Smite were all about zombies.

...really?

First off, shame on you for citing MMOs. That's a whole different kind of zombie (and the companies don't even have to program them in). Props for avoiding the blatantly obvious one, though.
Minecraft's not about zombies. It's about taking your giant virtual Lego set and...well...playing Legos. Don't forget how long it took to get an experience point system going; the zombies were not the focus.
And, in Skyrim, it's all about the dragons. The "zombies" were background.

Just because there happen to be zombies in it doesn't make it a "zombie game".

ACK! Off topic! Sorry!

I was arguing against all modern games being about zombies though. Maybe I should've made that more clear. :/

The few popular modern games (that I can recall) that could be classified as "zombie games" are Left 4 Dead and The Walking Dead.

 

[AnotherAvatar]

"The console market is always going to be with us, because there's always going to be a hardcore segment, a segment that likes innovation,"


Lul-wut?

What innovation? The innovation of selling a shitty PC for twice it's price by calling it a 'console'?

 

[Olrod]

Isn't EA "niche" by now?

Surely there are very few people left who actually respect Electronic Arts as a viable games company?

[Captcha: flat tire] Yes, that's one way of describing them, Captcha, thank you.

 

[PZF]

Well good, maybe now that consoles are dying out, PCs wont get anymore crappy console ports.

 

[MammothBlade]

"In the old days I'd go down to the basement to play Grand Theft Auto," Hawkins continued. "But the Facebook gamer is able to play at work, at home, in a hotel on a PC. They can get access to a browser just about anywhere. People are thinking about convenience first."

Except Facebook games don't compare to dedicated titles in terms of value for money. Yes, there is a larger market for social games, but let us not forget there is a considerable portion of the gaming market - anything BUT a niche - which definitely WON'T be satisfied by the likes of farmville and angry birds.

I think this is just typical of the dismissive out of touch attitude of some gaming industry executives, ignoring dedicated gamers in favour of short-term profit from lightweights. Not to use that as an insult, it's just that, face it, people playing those sorts of games don't get as much immersion or depth from their games - yet appealing to their lowest common denominator threatens the future of what's on the market for the more discerning gamer.