AND you can use a game pad if you want and get that "sit back" effect. I use my ps3 controller on my computer all the time for emulators and if I got a bluetooth connection (which I plan to do soon) I could even use it wirelessly.tehroc said:
Harrison: Gaming's Future is the Web Browser, Not Consoles
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
- Start date
Not to mention the unanimous love of a PC over a console. Not everyone wants to play next-gen games on a PC...Space Spoons said:
Farmville? FARMVILLE? You call THAT a browser game? Of all things I thought Runescape would have been in that place, you know since its been Browser Game of the Year 3 years so far ( I think).
Anyway I doing see browser being the dominant here, you can only do so much in a browser compaired to consoles (or PC's heavy system)
Anyway I doing see browser being the dominant here, you can only do so much in a browser compaired to consoles (or PC's heavy system)
Uhuh, uhuh. You keep telling yourself that, and while you're dreaming why don't you do some real work and lay the infrastructure all over the world to make this a remote possibility.
Gaming will never truly take off on phones and ipads until they get some damn buttons. Gaming on an ipad, and I mean real, precision control, games, will never take off until the thing gets some buttons. Its great for things like cube runner and angry birds but street fighter is an impossibility. The psp phone thing is probably the closest to pulling this off so far but it still looks a bit sketchy.
but yeah it rocks ^^
I see this possible for shooters, RTS, maybe TBS, the ones that are more suited to the mouse and keyboard interface. But not all gaming is best on the computer, and what isn't best on the computer definitely won't survive the hassle of a browser interface.
I don't think he's thought of everything. For one, FaceBook games are still bound to a proprietary platform in that they have to use the FB API. And if we aren't talking about FB games, we almost certainly are talking about Flash games, which, again, isn't open at all. The platform isn't just hardware. And just because it's not hardware doesn't mean it's open, or even accessible.
Does he really think everyone will want to develop gemes in obfuscated JQuery, or whatever the dominant platform turns out to be?
What about Atom processors or 10 year old hardware with zero 3D acceleration?
Who makes the standard(s)?
What makes any of this non-proprietary or open?
Why would this not just lead to a different type of war where once again non-game concerns intrude on the actual, you know, gaming? Big hint: I still see money in his system, and we know what THAT does to civility amongst players.
What makes you think there will be a "win" in the browser app market? FF and Chrome are still battling it out and that's just on my own desktop!
Why would this market behave any different than the core console or PC format markets, which have never produced a clear "winner" for more than the length of the current cycle?
If it's actually fully open, cross-platform, and uses zero third-party add-ons to work, a browser based platform inherits 100% of the disadvantages of cross-platform PC gaming while gaining 0% of the advantages that a console gives. I'm just curious how that math works, from a developers point of view.
Does he really think everyone will want to develop gemes in obfuscated JQuery, or whatever the dominant platform turns out to be?
What about Atom processors or 10 year old hardware with zero 3D acceleration?
Who makes the standard(s)?
What makes any of this non-proprietary or open?
Why would this not just lead to a different type of war where once again non-game concerns intrude on the actual, you know, gaming? Big hint: I still see money in his system, and we know what THAT does to civility amongst players.
What makes you think there will be a "win" in the browser app market? FF and Chrome are still battling it out and that's just on my own desktop!
Why would this market behave any different than the core console or PC format markets, which have never produced a clear "winner" for more than the length of the current cycle?
If it's actually fully open, cross-platform, and uses zero third-party add-ons to work, a browser based platform inherits 100% of the disadvantages of cross-platform PC gaming while gaining 0% of the advantages that a console gives. I'm just curious how that math works, from a developers point of view.
When computers all meet consistent power standards, and browsers are all the same, I could see this. Otherwise, it is immpossible. Have you ever tried building a website? You have to code the site for every popular browser: IE, Firefox, Chrome, Opera, and all their most recent versions, and the need to keep up with the latest version and security exploits. Not to mention Safari is on a completely different OS that uses different graphics and so on. I couldn't imagine doing this for a game. Game release dates are thrown off enough just because of the hardware differences.
it'll never work. there are too many people(like me) who just prefer the console interface over a computer with mouse/keyboard. Also, it's much harder for parents to control what games kids play in a browser basis.
He sounds like he's trying to have it both ways. Anyone can play Farmville -- it's not very processing intensive and that's why it's widely available. To be able to play a game on the technological level of Modern Warfare 2, to use his example, you would need a VERY good video card -- in other words you would need a gaming computer/laptop which are even more expensive than consoles. I think the web is a great medium for low tech widely available and casual games but if someone is willing to invest in the hardware that would allow them to play AAA games they're probably just going to buy a console.
100% False. The browser is already dead and dying as it is. Not counting us, most people use Apps for all of their information.Tom Goldman said:Harrison: Gaming's Future is the Web Browser, Not Consoles
Phil Harrison sees the videogame industry's next generation coming from the web browser rather than new hardware.
In the past, the videogame industry has tended to advance itself every few years through new hardware. The Nintendo became the Super Nintendo, the PlayStation became the PlayStation 2, the Xbox became the Xbox 360, and so on. Former president of Sony Worldwide Studios and Atari Phil Harrison doesn't think the generation after the one we're currently in will come from another hardware advancement, but from technology that puts better games in web browsers instead.
Speaking at the Italian Videogame Developers Conference in Rome, Harrison said that within the next 5-10 years he believes we're going to see games on the quality level of Modern Warfare 2 [http://www.amazon.com/Call-Duty-Modern-Warfare-Xbox-360/dp/B00269QLI8] inside of a web browser and on other mobile platforms like cellphones and the iPad. He believes the technology that can deliver "very rich, very impressive gameplay" on these platforms will create the industry's next generation.
Harrison thinks this sort of advancement will lead to a new "browser war" as companies fight to be the best at delivering this sort of content. "Somebody is going to win," he said. "Somebody is going to deliver console level 3D graphics, video and audio into a web browser. That will be the tipping point for the evolution of our industry that will accelerate what we can do in a browser, and I think will create the next generation platform for games."
Also key to this "browser future" is the concept of an open platform. Microsoft, Sony, Apple, and Nintendo all have "closed policies" that make submitting games a complex process. Harrison feels that more open platforms, similar to Facebook, can dominate outside of the casual realm by catering to the hardcore crowd. "The battleground for the future, and the opportunity in the future is going to be about [...] who is going to be satisfying the needs of the core gamer on an open platform," he continued.
Games like FarmVille have largely found their success through accessibility, which Harrison believes is the future of the entire industry, even for the companies currently operating on a "closed" basis. "The console companies, I believe, will want to figure out how to become more open and to deliver more content without restriction to more people, to stimulate creativity," he added.
Harrison himself might be trying to invest in this new kind of technology in his current position at London Venture Partners. It's interesting that we're seeing many, many games playable through browsers nowadays, but they're mostly casual. Facebook developers are constantly saying that they have the platform's first "hardcore" game, but these titles are never quite on the "core" level of Call of Duty or Gaikai [http://www.amazon.com/Fallout-New-Vegas-Xbox-360/dp/B0028IBTL6/ref=sr_1_1?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1291573595&sr=1-1], which potentially could lead the way.
Source: Develop [http://www.develop-online.net/news/36512/Harrison-Browsers-hold-key-to-industrys-future]
Permalink
This reminds me of the article Wired did about how the internet is dying and everything will shift to an actual medium of easy to grab information for most data. Which I truly believe is the way things will go for the medium. I mean if you think about it; its much easier to just hit an App button on Chrome or your iPhone. While navigating through a series of webpages is a pain in the ass.
Even games like Farmville have only been successful through the success of Facebook. It has most of its attention through the App. Imagine if farmville had no Facebook integration, or anything do to with social networking at all?
Just my idea on this :O