Xbox Co-Creator Says Consoles Have Won

Andy Chalk

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Nov 12, 2002
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Xbox Co-Creator Says Consoles Have Won


Seamus Blackley, one of the driving forces behind the creation of the original Xbox, says the rise of Facebook and mobile gaming doesn't mean consoles are dead, it means they've won.

There's a growing feeling in some quarters that the end of the console era is nigh. Online casual gaming, mobile devices and "the cloud," the thinking goes, signal doom for conventional couch-and-TV-dependent devices. But that's not the case, according to Blackley, who co-wrote the initial Xbox proposal for Microsoft and became one of the device's biggest boosters. What it really means, he told Edge [http://www.next-gen.biz/news/blackley-consoles-arent-dead-theyve-won], is that consoles have won.

"All kinds of people are releasing consoles. They're called iPads, and Facebook. What's happened is not that the console business has died, it's that it has won," he said. "You can't release a device that's not a console now, and if you release one that can't be a good console, it will fail. It's just true."

The denouement came with the rise of gaming on Apple hardware, Blackley said, despite the fact that Apple "hated" videogames. "The victory of games is utterly complete with Apple. It's a total victory," he said. "They tried real hard to make the iPad about word processing and music, and the audience just doesn't want it. It's beautiful. You don't need a games strategy anymore."

"You need to have a strategy so that your platform isn't disadvantaged in playing games, because gaming is going to be the number one activity on any platform," he added. "The highest calling of any digital device is to play a game."


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TimeLord

For the Emperor!
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Aug 15, 2008
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Wait... what?

I'm confused and afraid on so many levels. But not surprised since these words came from a console creator!

How can you say consoles have "won" when those things like Steam go from strength to strength all the time. I'm not saying PC gaming has won, but consoles definitely haven't either!
 

uppitycracker

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Oct 9, 2008
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By god, by this logic, even PC's are consoles!!! ALL HAIL THE CONSOLE MASTER RACE AS I POST ABOUT CONSOLES FROM MY CONSOLE!!!
 

Falseprophet

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Jan 13, 2009
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Shouldn't we define what a "console" is, first?

If a console is supposed to be a device dedicated to video games, then consoles died with this generation, when every "console" became a home entertainment system and multimedia player.

If that's not the definition of console, and a console is instead a device that plays games in addition to running other applications, then PCs have been consoles for decades now. Heck, that would have made my Commodore 64 a console.
 

orangeban

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Nov 27, 2009
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Not to stamp on your thunder Mister Xbox, but I'm pretty sure the highest calling for my computer will not be playing video-games. Not to sure what it *will* be though, maybe writing a thesis or hacking into the CIA database. Who knows.
 

Nuke_em_05

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Mar 30, 2009
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What did they win, exactly? And why didn't anyone tell me there was a competition so I could get my body paint, foam extremities, and beer helmet together to cheer?

I think that it is less that gaming has made its way into other technologies, and more that all media is being found on all tech now.

Everything does everything now. That isn't exclusive to gaming.
 

Armored Prayer

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Mar 10, 2009
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*Slowly tilts head* ....Bwhat? This man greatly confuzzls me.

And dammit I hate Console vs PC races. We gamers shouldn't divide ourselves.
 

orangeban

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Nov 27, 2009
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Falseprophet said:
If a console is supposed to be a device dedicated to video games, then consoles died with this generation, when every "console" became a home entertainment system and multimedia player.
Wait, if a console is only pure if it only plays games then... long live the Wii! The Wii is the king of consoles! Nintendo, you sly bastard, I knew you had a reason for not including a DVD player.
 

Souplex

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Jul 29, 2008
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TimeLord said:
Wait... what?

I'm confused and afraid on so many levels. But not surprised since these words came from a console creator!

How can you say consoles have "won" when those things like Steam go from strength to strength all the time. I'm not saying PC gaming has won, but consoles definitely haven't either!
There's a reason Steam won't release their sales numbers. It has something to do with the fact that there are almost no major PC exclusives left, (Aside from little browser games, and MMOs obviously, but that's not really what people are talking about when they say PC gaming) and that statistics say that PC game sales make up roughly 7% of total game sales, but I can't quite put my finger on it....
 

SlayerN

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Nov 26, 2009
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So are all the little kids playing hide-and-seek in the park gaming consoles now?
 

Sixcess

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Feb 27, 2010
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AC10 said:
I guess sometimes victory is just declaring that you win.
Mission Accomplished?

Anyway, this all sounds like a guy trying very hard to convince his audience, and himself, that consoles are still relevant.
 

New Troll

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Mar 26, 2009
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"You need to have a strategy so that your platform isn't disadvantaged in playing games, because gaming is going to be the number one activity on any platform," he added. "The highest calling of any digital device is to play a game."
That should say 'is to play good games.' And yet I still don't fully agree. On most devices, gaming can be a nice add-on, but not the reason for.

As for taking this as a PC vs. Consoles statement. Consoles still have a long ways to go in the usefulness department. How many people do you know own a Playstation 'for work?' And again, gaming would only ever be a nice add-on for work unless you work in the gaming industry. But that would be another issue altogether.