David Jaffe - In Ten Years Just One Game Console

The folks at 'The 1up Show' had the chance to interview David Jaffe, the well-known designer behind God of War. They discuss his upcoming project for the PS3, Calling All Cars, the future of the God of War series, as well as the ever-increasing price of making games. From the article: "A lot of games recently it's cell phone, PC, DS, PSP, if you look at EA they blanket it -- it's everywhere. As a gamer, I kind of miss the 'you can only get it on this system.' There's kind of an excitement that was about that back up until recently. With this new hardware, though, that idea is seems to be going away. Is it really all going to come down to first party now? Or it ultimately going to come to one system? 'Cause 10 years from now there's going to be one system because there's so much more third party software than first party software from any hardware manufacturer. It may not be feasible to make it the war of the first party or the war of the exclusives." The entire interview is viewable online.

Comments

Bread on his table

[Prien715]

In case no one can read between the lines, he's saying that platform exclusivity is a very good thing that needs to be saved. ...He's also an exclusive title developer for Sony.

No self-interest here.

Not a chance, but this may be more likely

[the computer guy nex]

Console developers could come together and make a hardware/api "standard." Same type of disc, same hardware capability, etc.

Each console would then have its own flavor around it. Microsoft could continue the Xbox LIVE service for game delivery, purchasing/renting movies and music, home theater integration, peer to peer communication, PVR capability, etc. The next gen of consoles will be much broader than just games.

Game developers then could make just 1 game for all consoles that meet the "standard" and would be assured compatibility. More time is spent making the game better rather than making it work on different pieces of hardware. Development costs would plummet.

Console developers could then focus on making the best hardware that meets a standard and gives the customer more functionality. Game developers could focus on the game itself, rather than morphing the game to fit different hardware. Customers can buy 1 disc and play it in a PC, Mac, xbox, playstation, nintendo, etc.

Will it happen? Most likely not, but probably a better chance than companies simply leaving the console market. Games make too much money.

Iconic

[MeanderingMind]

There are exclusives for all the systems, but they aren't iconic in the ways they used to be.

15 years ago the average gamer age was much younger than it is now. Gamers were kids, and kids identified with icons. Whether it was TMNT or ghostbusters on the television, Nerf or Super Soakers in the back yard, or Mario and Nintendo we were young and brand loyal.

In short, things felt a lot more black and white then. There were a lot of excellent and appealing iconic games. Sonic was arguably at the best he ever would be. In fact, many people feel the same way about Mario, Link, Samus and more. Something was lost between the SNES/Genesis days and the polygonal era that followed.

To some extent, it was the exclusive games. In those days most games of note were on one system or another, with key differences notable between the ports when they weren't. The difference between the systems was much more palpable.

Beyond that, it was quite simply easier to play. That's not to say it was easier to win, I'd be shot by many gamers if I claimed the old games were easy. What I'm suggesting is that it was much easier for anyone to simply pick up a game, a controller, and have fun.

This is something that up until recently the market had forgotten. Regardless of whether I like playing games for 15 minutes or 15 hours (ah, college) it's nice to have fun the moment I start playing. The longer it takes to get the ball of fun rolling, the less likely I am to maintain interest.

In conclusion, games should live by the Othello motto. "A minute to learn, a lifetime to master". Complicated and confusing controls/gameplay do not a deep game make anymore than confusing and disjointed plot/dialogue makes a good movie.

Re:Iconic

[Jerf]

Something was lost between the SNES/Genesis days and the polygonal era that followed.

Personally, I think it's because the control schemes available for 3D games have enforced the same basic mediocrity of control onto all 3D games. We didn't notice because we didn't have anything better to compare with. As a result, there's a certain sameness.

Despite what you may think, this post isn't about a Wii, which I've only spent about 5 minutes with (on Excite Truck, no less) anyhow. It's about the difference between interacting with the real 3D world and the computer world; the differences are so large you almost can't see them anymore. The Wii may be a step in the right direction, but it's still just a step.

One example: I don't care how stupid your new real-world Army recruits are, even the ones that manage to blow themselves up never spent two minutes running full speed into the nearest wall while looking nearly straight down or straight up. But that's a normal part of learning a first person shooter. It shouldn't be.

On the other hand, a traditional gamepad maps into a 2D space quite well. Up => Up... what more could you ask for?

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[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

MMOs and simple puzzle games?!!

[Ender Ryan]

What the hell are you smoking? PCs are the "home" of MMO, FPS, RTS, Puzzle and -real- adventure games, and probably several genres I'm forgetting. Consoles don't come close for any of said genres, and where they make an attempt, they are second-rate(eg. Halo. Yes, compared to its PC counterparts, Halo sucks. Yes, I had an Xbox. Yes, I had Halo.).

I don't see consoles usurping PC gaming's top genres anytime soon.