Seriously, Console Wars Are Pointless

[Killclaw Kilrathi]

So, Yahtzee, if Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo become glorified game publishers and controller-makers, then who is going to decide when it's time to update the standardized hardware that runs these games and controllers? Currently, consoles become more powerful each generation because each console manufacturer does not want to be the one with the least powerful console (unless you are Nintendo). Where would that motivation to upgrade hardware come from if not competition with other businesses? Why would the big three undertake massive R&D and tooling facilities to make new hardware when they are making a great profit with old hardware?

If you idea was implemented 8 years ago I bet we'd all be on the Nintendo Wii with no hint of future generations of hardware on the horizon. Wouldn't seem like such a great idea then, huh?

"If Hollywood only makes movies and DVDs, then who is going to decide when DVD players get upgraded?"

Simple, the public does. He's not advocating for a single static console, he's saying consoles should be more like DVD players and be able to run all games universally. And when the time comes for updated hardware, you can have your pick of the new consoles that are being produced, just like when Blu-Ray came out. And the public chooses via the free market if this becomes the new standard. That way nobody is strong-armed by exclusives into buying a particular new console with gimmicky features they really don't want, they can pick a console to suit their needs and style.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Hmmm, can't say I'd particularly enjoy having candy-canes coming out of my palm.

You could suck them into sharp points, and turn your palms into murder weapons!

 

[ZippyDSMlee]

The console war model is built on the ideal that you eventually sell hardware and software at a huge profit. Thus why we do not have a universal standard for gaming like DVD.

 

[Vuliev]

The only solution I can see is to have a universal gaming OS that can run the Unreal Engine, Cryengine, Frostbite, Unity, Game Maker, RPG Maker, XNA, Havok, Source and other engines and Frameworks and license it to game developers and manufacture consoles that can efficiently run those engines. Of course this will never happen, as much as I wish it would.

Considering that the first three are all owned (directly or indirectly) through EA, and that those three engines are responsible for a vast number of popular titles and franchises (especially the modern shooters), it'd honestly be in EA's best interest to push for a single standardized console. It'd cut their development costs immensely by removing the need to port the game to whichever console they didn't focus on during development.

 

[The White Hunter]

The thing he seems to fail to take into account is that consoles AREN'T merely little computers equal in power and function. There are SIGNIFICANT hardware structure variations between them, and while some ports go seamlessly, others do not.


Try playing Skyrim on PS3. Then play it on Xbox.

That has almost nothing to do with the two consoles being unequal in power and almost everything to do with Bethesda being one of the worst game developers of all time.

Furthermore, the thing you seem to fail to take into account is that in Yahtzee's proposed world, there's no such things as ports in the first place. There will be no "try playing Skyrim on PS3, then play it on 360" because there will just be one standard and the game will either work or not work. Seriously man, you should actually read and understand the article before you reply next time.

Also, side note, play Skyrim on PC, not 360 or PS3. Good grief.

Yep. It's more Bethesda being rather shit indeed.

And yeah, play it on PC. UI is shit on PC though if you ask me, just the console interface with no kind of thought for efficient use...

 

[The White Hunter]

Hmmm, can't say I'd particularly enjoy having candy-canes coming out of my palm.

You could suck them into sharp points, and turn your palms into murder weapons!

Yeah but what if you need to entertain yourself for a while man? think of the logistics!

 

[The White Hunter]

Android based tablets as "controllers"

Only if it comes with tactile anologue buttons and not just a touch screen, frankly, a touch screen is fine for simple inputs like swiping but onscreen buttons are awful things because they lack a tactile feedback or physical presence seperate from the rest of the screen.

Basically I would hate to try play MvC with a touch screen only.

 

[Ryan Hughes]

Too true. Of course, the industry is flat up against the wall known as financial reality, a wall that they seem to not even notice is there. Tripple A development costs $20-30 million USD for a sequel, and even up to $40 million USD for a new proprietary title (I refuse to use the term "IP"). This is up from a projected cost of $10-17 million in 2005-2006. If the next console generation continues this trend, we will see a sharp decrease in AAA titles, as even at $70 per disk sold, they would have to sell at least 4 million units to make a profit on their game. Microsoft and Sony seem to be all for this idea, though, even though it will basically cause their systems to fail, especially if sold at a loss to manufacturing.

EA, Ubisoft, Activision, and Take-Two stocks are all moribund in performance, and rightly so, as investors see that the AAA industry is running towards the wall of financial ruin at 60 miles per hour.

Captcha: mish-mash. Exactly what will be left of the AAA industry at this rate.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Hmmm, can't say I'd particularly enjoy having candy-canes coming out of my palm.

You could suck them into sharp points, and turn your palms into murder weapons!

Yeah but what if you need to entertain yourself for a while man? think of the logistics!

Well, candy canes have the ability to be twisted into circular shapes... If you know what I mean. ;D

[sub]I'm surprised by my onw dirty thoughts. Really, I am.[/sub]

 

[braincore02]

This has to be the most irrelevant Extra Punctuation I've ever read. And Yahtzee knows it, judging by the quote "And while we're dreaming, the sky is also pink, and everyone has candy canes growing out of their palms."

To ask that console makers become simply game publishers is likely never to happen until they run out of cash, because while they're successful, they have no incentive not to continue business as usual. When they fail, they will comply with your wishes. cough SEGA cough

When there's no more money to make off selling console hardware, and subsequently raking in the licensing dough that publishers have to pay, then everyone will be forced to play on PC, and you can live your dream.

 

[medv4380]

At least this one reads like it's about the "console wars" instead of being half off topic rant against Nintendo's latest LSD induced contraption.

However, if you really believe what your saying Yatzee, then go off and develop a game using the very method you're advocating. Don't cop out saying "The Tech Doesn't Exist" because it does. Write a game for a cheap 35$ Android USB dongle and sell it, or write a game using HTML5/Javascript and let people play. Or write your game completely in Java and see how well you do without Native Libraries. If you're able to do any of that then maybe your opinion on that side of things would have some weight. Otherwise it's just fanciful dreams that neglect any grounding in reality.

All of the methods that would put you close to your Utopia come at a huge cost. Most developers, even independents, aren't willing to give up the kind of power you get with a Native system.

The only thing that should be done is that the Libraries should be standardized so that a developer can write their code once and quickly compile their code for any system they want to sell on. For the most part they already are. Then you just have to do what Capcom does and code to the Lowest Common Denominator. However, the newest stuff is never apart of that standard. The "war" you're ranting about is where new things are tested. Graphically the "war" is between different graphics card manufacturers. Did the system use an NVidia chip or an ATI chip. For memory storage it's Did they use an SSD, or HDD. Things that work best are integrated into the libraries and things that aren't are discarded in the next generation. Discarding breaks backwards compatibility, but if you don't do it you end up with junk that's never used to support one idiots desire to run a 386 DX33 game on an 786_64 processor.

Eventually, like Linus to Molnar, you have to draw a line in the sand and say

"Unfortunately there's a nostalgic cost: your old original 386 DX33 system from early 1991 won't be able to boot modern Linux kernels anymore. Sniff."

"I'm not sentimental. Good riddance."

 

[jibjab963]

But Yahtzee, you all knowing master of logic, if it wasn't for the console wars how can I waste all my money!? If I can't dream of having three major consoles at the same time WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO WANT!!!!??!?!?!?!!??!??

 

[Roman Monaghan]

Imagine a word where your movie DVDs only played in a certain brand of DVD player. No one in their right mind gives a shit about what specific brand or company made their DVD player, they just wanna watch their fucking movie. That's how ridiculous the whole console wars thing is.

(don't you even fucking bring up blue ray players I swear to god)

 

[Erttheking]

You know, the vibe I seem to be getting from this is "consoles should die and everyone should be PC gamers" or something to that degree. Call me cynical, but I think that Yahtzee is being extremely overly idealistic.

 

[hakureireimu]

On historical preservation, shoot me, but the only solution is piracy/emulation. One, the games go out of print and are unobtainable, and two, the consoles go out of production and are unobtainable. A free market/capitalist system cannot solve these two problems, period. Standardized hardware is a pipe dream and is not going to happen. The best we can do is a standardized VM, a la Java, but even that won't happen so long as the big console companies are still standing.

 

[Delicious Anathema]

While we're at it, remove DRM from the games, it's been done in music already. I love Steam but as a store and game-managing program, Steamworks is still bad.

Also, we've had VHS, DVD and now Blu-Ray, inbetween there was Betamax, Video CD, Super Video CD and Laserdisc for storing what is essentially the same movie. Also, being on unified hardware doesn't immediately solve the problems though, you're still going to need to upgrade and older games might still not work (like most Windows 95 games available).

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Another point is that in a competition the competitors generally respect each other and that certainly doesn't happen in this industry.

 

[Monster_user]

This ain't a way, and Yahtzee lacks perspective.

NES vs Atari = Competition increased the graphical quality available, and moved consoles away from PC alternatives.

Sega vs SNES = Back to Yahtzee's point.

N64 vs Playstation = Cartridges vs discs (no load times, or more storage)?
One analog stick, vs two?
More PC like console modularity?
2 players vs 4 players.

Gamecube vs Playstation 2 vs Dreamcast vs X-Box = Reduced load times vs All-in-one entertainment & Backwards compatibility, but only 2-player (Online?) vs Dreamcast vs X-Box (Online gaming?).

Wii vs Playstation 3 vs X-Box 360 = Innovative controls vs Playstation 3 vs X-Box live.

Really, what innovation have you seen like the wii motes from third-party peripherals? If it is not the default controller, nobody uses it. Until the Wii, nobody would have taken a chance on Kinect, not after the laughable Eye Toy cameras for the PS2.

At what point would Nintendo EVER create a system like X-Box live? Furthermore, when would Sony have done so?

The only solution I can see is to have a universal gaming OS that can run the Unreal Engine, Cryengine, Frostbite, Unity, Game Maker, RPG Maker, XNA, Havok, Source and other engines and Frameworks and license it to game developers and manufacture consoles that can efficiently run those engines. Of course this will never happen, as much as I wish it would.

So overpriced, overheating, overconsuming big blocks of metal.

Have you heard of a Geforce 8800GT, 512mb? I consider that card to be top of the line. Better yet, one of its low power replacements, like a GT 240, or a GT 620. Don't talk to me about GTX 280s, 480s, 580s, or 680s.

Gaming engine developers just need to slow down, and stop making such demanding engines. Take a page out of Valve's book, match the requirements for Source. Crysis does not look pretty on my machine, it just looks like a screen full of jaggies, and a 40FPS frame rate.

 

[dthree]

The comparison to Bluray/HDDVD is flawed. Games are not simple like video files, and a console is not a piece of commodity electronics like a bluray player. A console now is much more than just a piece of hardware anyway. Its a user service (Live, PSN), its a development platform (dev programs, APIs), its an ecommerce service, and its a publisher. A console maker's job is to not only make the best hardware, but to make their environment more attractive to developers and publishers than the other guy's. I think I disagree with the main point of the article: that the best console is the one with the best games...period. Likening a console to an artist's easel is purposefully ignoring the infrastructure behind each console, and i think YC knows it.