For my
last entry (this semester flew by!) I wanted to part with an idea on the future of gaming consoles.
As we
discussed in class, virtual worlds have encroached their way into our lives and
will continue until the PS9 is possible (if you don’t know what this is than
google it, it was a commercial for the PS2) This made me think of our
discussion on the Steam console (which would only be great because of their sales!)
which may have been false at the time, but it is an interesting question to
ponder. How else can games creep into our lives?
I saw
an episode of 30 Rock a couple of
weeks ago and Alec Baldwin’s character Jack pondered how he could get closer to
his customers. His answer, the sofa! In the show he works for Kabletown (cable
company) and his bright idea was to sell expensive sofa to people, it’s his way
to bring back his accomplishments from his time at GE. He figures if he already
controls what they watch, on what they watch it on, and the times they watch
it, what other experiences are there? Obviously it was quite a comical way in
which he came to his answer, but none the less he makes a good point. For
gamers, or just people really, virtual worlds are all around us in just a few
decades and the expansion is not slowing down in the slightest.
While
many are speculating the companies to reflect on the current generation’s lack
of new sales versus used and the rise of digital distribution there is another
area that is growing.
Media Incorporation
on consoles shares Jack’s ideas on Sofas. Companies are adding new applications
for the other arts like music, movies, and tv. Just recently Microsoft has
released apps for cable television networks like Xfinity and Dish as well as
paid orders for MLB network and HBO. For now they are simply ports, but if they
follow in the path of Netflix soon these applications might be full features.
As well more and more social apps are being added. This year has seen the
addition of Youtube stations to Xbox and Amazon Viewer to PS3.
Soon
(well currently, if Xbox had a newer interface that is) there would be little reason
to ever turn on anything else but a game console to listen to music, watch a tv
show, or to do what it was meant to originally, play a game. What’s left to wonder
about what the 720 or ps4? It’s clear that they will continue to broaden their
horizons. Some trails have already begun
with the Playstation Vita as Sony is definitely attempting to break newer grounds (even if it takes them a while.)
The console relys almost exclusively on digital downloads and has such very
interesting features like NEAR (it allows Vita owners to see what other vita’s
are doing within a couple miles of you) All these consoles are looking to keep
players sitting (or standing depending upon the game) on their console and not
the competitors, which for the first time is not just other game consoles.
The one thing I hope is that the motion
control wars will be over. But with the “success” of the Kinect, Microsoft will
most likely try to keep that incorporated. If anything I hope that games will
learn from the Playstation Move. Of the 3 current gen, the Move is actually the
most satisfying. Maybe if the new cycle incorporates something with the Kinect
and the Move, there might be a way for other mediums to interact with the new
technologies other than to turn a console on.
While
we will have to wait most likely 2 more E3’s before we hear anything of
substance I can only hope that whatever the new direction is they will find
their Sofa fast so they can go back to focusing on games. The one thing I do
want more of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0KTUysrwgQ
and less http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OnDizZ7UT0
Does
anyone else have any different suggestions for what they think the future will
hold? Do you want more media’s available from one source or do you just want
your console to play games?
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