The largest third party developer in the world chimes in on why a single console could be the wave of the future. Electronic Arts, one of the biggest publishing/developing houses in the world, has said that it would be pleased with a single gaming platform, effectively bringing and end to the brutal "console wars". Gerhard Florin, EA executive VP and general manager of international publishing, explained: "We want an open, standard platform which is much easier than having five which are not compatible.
We're platform agnostic and we definitely don't want to have one platform which is a walled garden." What sort of device would this be? For one, set-top boxes could be a potential route, though there's PCs to consider as well.
"You don't need an Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii," he continued. "The consumer won't even realize the platform it is being played on." Analyst Nick Parker further promotes EA's opinion: "Competition was required to ensure the pace of technology was maintained.
Going forward that is irrelevant. Gaming will just require potentially a Ј49.99 box from Tesco made in China with a hard drive, a Wi-Fi connection and a games engine inside.
It's basically a boiled-down PC." "There are a lot of companies coming into the market. Games will be provided over the net.
There might not be a need for a PS4 or dedicated consoles." Will EA's PlayCube 720 [tentative, of course] be the next big change for the industry? Sound off your opinion in our comments section.
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