Staff Discussion: A Universal Console?
[size=9]A universal console, would it work?[/size]
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Tarantino
[size=8]There are pros and cons to this in my opinion, we would only have to buy one console which all developers would including work with. Hypothetical Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft and all the other third and second parties would develop for if they all decided they wanted to stop making there own brand consoles which is costing them millions to engineer and develop ever 5 years, each company is losing money on every console they sell so maybe a universal console is not as far away as we think.
But with the universal brand, the word choice goes out the window, we would have the one console, like a DVD player it would do all there is now plus or minus to what you will own. There would be no competition which would lead to no incentive to price drops which could end up bad for gamers.
It would be a good idea for developers and publishers as they could now release games that will reach out to 100% of the market, instead on focusing on a specific hardware. And with each company been able to reach everyone new companies may be made. We may also see more competition between companies than we see now
Their would be one online service to play all games on, your “gamertag” would cover all games not just one third of them as it does now
It may be a good idea, but would it kill gaming as we know it in a few years or would it raise gaming to a new level, I suppose we will never know until/if it happens![/size]
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Donkeythong
[size=8]BIG FAT NO
There would be no point in a universal console at all. The price of it could be anything the manufacturer wanted it to be. The games released would be what they wanted you to play, and also all 2nd and 3rd parties developing for one console, you’d have like 3 games a week coming out and unless it was a massive game no one would buy it as there’d be too many games to have for one console.
It would kill all competition in the market and leave a handful of developers. Quality of games would probably go down as if you want a game you have to buy what they put out. Games retailers would probably lose out as well as major electronics stores could handle the sales distribution of it and only one games specialists would be required per store rather than 2-3 now. Bad idea, big no-no, BAD IDEA!!!!![/size]
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BlackFox
[size=8] No – it would never work!
One of many reasons is that each console is famous for its characteristics e.g Nintendo’s original games, XBox’s XBox Live and the PS2’s …..well ok.
It would be impossible for companies to merge and make games to appeal to all generations. For instance, we’ve all heard rumors of Ninty and Microsoft merging to make games – that’ll never happen though.
Also, imagine the machine. Combine the XBox’s hard drive, DVD player, Ninty’s optical player plus all the other bit and bobs that will appear on the next gen consoles. It’ll be bigger than a family car!
I just cant see this happening![/size]
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jon-neo
[size=8]Same here. It just wouldn’t work. Three is too many for the price that they are selling for, two would work extremely well against each other.
With no competition in the market there would be fewer and fewer unique games. And because of the lack of competition the price of the console and games would be huge, therefore killing all interest in computer games, apart from possibly the PC, then the mega-corporation would go bust, Japan would fall into a state of poorness and try to take over the world. World War (Insert number here) would begin. Then from the ashes Nintendo and Sony will rise to power and the world will be back to normal.
Probably a bit far ahead and looking at the most extreme circumstance, the Universal Console could lead to a World War. So definitely not a good idea![/size]
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ibu2003
[size=8]I don’t agree with the idea of a Universal console, yeah it would be good to have the one ruling body/organization for the verification and rating of games etc. but then you are creating a monopoly whereby it is unfair to stop competitors….
There are the pro’s
1. Cheaper development costs
2. One reliable format
3. All games i.e. Mario, Metal Gear and Halo on one console.
4. All the features of all the consoles combined theoretically.
But there are also the cons.
1. No competition which means they are free to dictate prices of games etc.
2. The same look console i.e design.
3. NO FREE CHOICE
4. The restriction on technology moving forward because of the lack of competition forcing the console to have to upgrade/update.
5. Need i go on? need we go on?[/size]
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rizz
[size=8]This would end the console war, as everyone would be working together, but still it would continue. You are bound to get people who will say ‘The games made by Sony are better than the games made by Nintendo’, or something daft like that.
Also if all the great must have games get released for one console, you may feel the need to buy a greater amount of games that will cost you a lot more. If certain games only come out on certain consoles, you can live without that game and stick with your current console, but if they are all for the same console you will be tempted to buy everything. Then you are out of money and are sad and don’t enjoy playing the game.
There would be no-one trying to out do the other company as I’m sure a lot of people will have already said, so less innovations.
It would just be a bad idea in my opinion.[/size]
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Raditz
[size=8]In some ways yes, in some ways no, say Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony worked together on a console it would be great to not have to buy all consoles forall games, Vice City, Halo and Mario all on one system!. But then again imagine if youre a small company like Retro Studios, out in a sea of developers, if that was the case, there would be know way Nintendo would realize you existed, never mind handing you the Metroid franchise!
All in all things are better with three consoles.[/size]
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FEF
[size=8]It’ll never happen and we know it. But what if there had never been three, and only ever one company? Things would be mightily different. Everyone would own one company’s product, therefore sending the profits sky-high and finally squashing all chances of a competitor ever succeeding in taking them off the top. Life would continue as normal after the release and failure of a new console. Life would continue, boring as ever.
Gaming is all about choices, which is why it’s great to have 3 consoles. All have their pros and their cons, which we all know, and some people prefer one over another for petty or unspecified reasons, which is just ridiculous as they then go and shout at anyone liking the console(s) which they don’t like, and just create hatred between the gaming community.
Games are released for the different consoles, giving a wider variety for more companies, and spreading the reasons for buying each console, therefore making gaming more fun, interesting, and most of all: worthwhile. Gaming is a great thing, and should be kept the way it is. The only difference I would make to the current gaming market is to dispose of all useless fanboys who slag off anybody for a stupid reason like liking a console they dislike, or a game they dislike – it’s just not worthwhile, a waste of space, and a waste of time (which you could even spend playing the games we seem to have grown to love).[/size]
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Cartman401
[size=8]Nope it wouldn’t work.
Here’s why, from a logistical point of view to sit alongside the points about catalogue variation and quality already made.
DVDs, Videos, TVs, etc are all universal entertainment devices, just like you are suggesting for a universal console. They all adhere to common standards.
The difference being the manufacturer of these devices has no control over the provision or delivery of the content. Sony manufacture all the PlayStation games, Microsoft the Xbox games and Nintendo the GC games. Sanyo and Philips do not usually make their own movies. Toshiba doesn’t have a TV station.
The only way to become universal is to allow other manufacturers to make their own versions of the console. (Remember they tried this with the PC Engine which was a fantastic machine but it didn’t fly.)
Control of the software would then be taken away from the sole manufacturer.
So why is this a bad thing? Easy. Consoles do not make money, games make money. Apart from GC which is the only exception all consoles are loss leaders. However by making a universal console the manufacturers would lose the licensing rights and therefore they would have to charge a huge amount for the machine – so you wouldn’t buy it.)[/size]
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