Speaking on the future of the video game industry with GameDaily BIZ, Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack revealed
his aspirations for one standardized gaming platform. Much like a DVD or CD player, this theoretical hardware could be produced and sold by any number of manufacturers so long as it met the specifications laid out for the medium. Such a device, he claims, would ease game development and resolve the fragmentation of the current console market.
"Honestly, we'd rather spend time making the games than worrying about the hardware," Dyack said. "And if everyone had the same hardware and when you made a game you knew you got 100% penetration because anyone who plays this game had to buy this hardware platform just like a DVD or whatever standard media format's going to be. I think that would ultimately be much better for gamers."
Silicon Knights has developed games on a variety of hardware platforms, including Cyber Empires on PC and Amiga, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain on PlayStation, and Eternal Darkness, which began production on Nintendo 64 but was later shifted to GameCube. Currently, the company is working on the upcoming Xbox 360 action RPG Too Human and with Sega on an unannounced project set across multiple platforms. Though recent rumors suggest Too Human, the first in a planned trilogy, might not release until 2008, Dyack described the game as "much, much further along than what people think."
As for the
previously mentioned Eternal Darkness sequel, "it's going to take the right time and the right things to come together to make that happen," he noted.
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Comments
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I think Sony's going to hang in there for this generation, especially in Japan, but MS is going to force them to do things like drop their price before they're ready. I'm sure there will be a PS4, but depending on how that battle goes, there may or may not be a PS5.
The bottom line is, if Sony continues to lose ground to MS at the rate they currently are, they'll eventually be knocked out of the race, and if that happens, MS will be the only ones competing in the 'high end' market. Nintendo's not going anywhere, and at the moment, MS doesn't seem interested in their part of the market, but here's my point: If Sony loses to MS in this generation or the next or whenever, who will go up against them? Who has the cash reserves, the armies of engineers, the business connections to compete against MS? If they can take down the market leader in a generation or two, what start up would even attempt to go head to head with them?
That's all a big if - if Sony doesn't get it's act together and start giving people a reason to buy their console, and until they start showing up with an attractive price point and some amazing exclusives, I don't think the 1 console (plus Nintendo) future is too far off.
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No good developers being lost to the obscurity of choosing the losing platform or anything like that.
The worst case I'd guess would be that if there was one dominant console designed by commitee you might not get more 'risky' features like the Wiimote, and the majority of revisions would be increased horsepower - leaving some 'creative' developers more restricted.
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Who would control the design of the hardware/software/APIs?
Would everything be an exact replica or would there be specifications that the hardware/software had to meet, with everything else up to the manufacturers? (Think about how many early DVD players, even even some still today, fuck up on the menus of certain discs due to bugs or different interpretations of the specs.)
Wouldn't we still have problems with backwards compatibility (of different generations) and different hardware revisions (of the same generation) because even with a single hardware platform people cut corners that are fine on one implementation of the platform but break on others?
Would it stay united? We had a common DVD platform that everyone agreed on and look where we are now with HD-DVD and Blu-Ray.
At the same time, it has struck me as pretty stupid in the past that I have to buy two or three console boxes, all with roughly the same power (Wii being an exception this generation), plus a PC in order to play all the best games. Not to mention handhelds. Often you have to buy another company's hardware to play a specific game and it's all due to business politics rather than the fact that your other box was incapable of playing that game. That seems silly, but having no competition also seems silly so that's just how it is, I guess.
Forget about it.
-Produced and sold by any number of manufacturers. [CHECK]
-Meets specifications for the laid out medium (Windows operating system). [CHECK]
As it turns out this "amazing device" has been readily available for well more than 10 years now. And on top of that, it's existence certainly hasn't slowed down the splintering of other "consoles."
Perhaps this guy and yesterday's delusional CEO ( http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/46429 ) should get together and have a crazy party where they hype each other up with their absurd "predictions" about the future of gaming.
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Snarkiness aside, that sort of situation would be good for developers/publishers. No worries about whether or not a game will die on console with a low install base. No worries about hardware differences when it comes to ports.
On the other hand, it's not so good for us. Prices don't skyrocket, but they do tend to increase in comparison to a more competitive environment. Also if hardware makers can afford to develop and produce a console every ten years because they're the only sho in town, then they will. Also games that would wind up on smaller systems because they're too weird tend to go away.
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This would slow down and stifle advancements in the hardware itself. Would we have to wait for a non partisan 3rd party to draft "specs" for the single console? Its a good idea in theory but would never work.
It's incredibly annoying having to buy three different hardware platforms to get everything this industry has to offer. One platform would get alot more people onboard and benefit developers with an increased audience.
There are some downsides too, competition keeps hardware prices down, innovation in controls would be non-existent. I guess both of these are subjective though. Some would argue that controls would better off be standard and that a price increase wouldn't be a big deal if there was only one hardware platform.
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It would be awful if the only way to play music was on a CD.