[Edit: I wrote this for StartScreen, I figured I'd just copy & paste it here as well]
If you've been paying attention to the news and rumblings about the current financial trend in technology, more specifically, the games industry then you know that us gamers have quite the road ahead of us this year. With platforms warring for our dollars and developers struggling [financially and with the aformentioned platforms], innovation may come second to keeping these respective companies above water.
Sony posted nearly a 3.0 billion dollar operating loss for the year of 2008. Clearly the PS3 and PSP are not the blame for such a huge loss, but I am guessing they did not live up to projected sales estimates [but I must admit the PSP was a beast in mid to late 2008!]. What is truly unfortunate, in these troubling times*, would be that the last thing [as gamers] we need is bickering between companies and suit-types.
Kazuo Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment 'big boss' goes out of his way, after the recent NPD findings, to give you the new company line
Via Eurogamer:
This is not meant in terms of numbers, or who's got the biggest install base, or who's selling most in any particular week or month, but I'd like to think that we continue official leadership in this industry," Hirai told Official Playstation Magazine.
"It's difficult to talk about Nintendo, because we don't look at their console as being a competitor. They're a different world, and we operate in our world - that's the kind of way I look at things.
"And with the Xbox - again, I can't come up with one word to fit. You need a word that describes something that lacks longevity," he added with a laugh.
A quote that has pretty much made Mr. Hirai more famous than any E3 or TGS press conference. This is pretty much par for the course. I actually like seeing a good natured competition between companies. I believe Kaz was trying to sell me on why the PS3 NOT selling is an 'okay thing'. This interview would have made for the perfect platform to blurb out some quick facts about the direction of what appears to be a company suffering from a couple of setbacks. Hirai decides to up the ante by adding further fuel:
"We don't provide the 'easy to program for' console that [developers] want, because 'easy to program for' means that anybody will be able to take advantage of pretty much what the hardware can do, so then the question is what do you do for the rest of the nine-and-a-half years?"...
"So it's a kind of - I wouldn't say a double-edged sword - but it's hard to program for, and a lot of people see the negatives of it, but if you flip that around, it means the hardware has a lot more to offer," he said
Wow, where to start. Anyone reading this knows what Kaz is getting at with these statements. He's playing the host of Double Dare and asking developers: Would they like to do, yet another, physical challenge? Developers have been busting their humps on the current generation of game consoles. Having an executive flippantly show them the silver-lining in what has already been stated by many devs'the cloudiest of days'.
Microsoft is not exactly in the clear here. Unfortunately for recessions and worldwide economic instability, no company is safe from the 'mighty ax of cutbackery'. Microsoft has, in my opinion, done the impossible as far console sales are concerned. If the NES or Sega Genesis launched in their respective years only for you the consumer to find out the console was rushed and fundamentally broken...that is IT! Seeing as there was less of a market for multi-platform game consoles then, the chances of a console being adopted after the hardware was initially found faulty was slim-to-none [leaning more towards none]There is was no recovery then [just ask the Jaguar, Neo Geo or Sega Saturn], but there is now.
With clouds looming over all consoles this year [even the Wii...how many third party games will do well on that system?] it is difficult, as a gamer to see someone like an Aaron Greenberg take jabs back at Kaz Hirai. When in all honesty Microsoft Xbox's main concern should be producing systems that a)Does not break. It is absolutely unacceptable to be this far in the consoles life and still not have come up with a solution [could Jasper be it?]and b)Figure out a better online subscription method.
Console exclusives are becoming rarer with each passing year. It also does not help that almost every major company is suffering cutbacks of just about every kind. So having your game on a single console or platform that has a history of not promoting third-party developed games, spells bad news for a console and maybe the developer as well.
I still think this is the best time to be a gamer. I still think that some of the best games have come out in the past 3 or 4 years. Unfortunately, I still think the future of multi-platform gaming as it pertains to this current economy is uncertain. Sure, the games industry is booming larger than ever, but something doesn't quite feel right. There is a recession and entertainment generally does well in this climate. If there is so much money being made, then why are so many people being laid off? Saving money is one thing, but there aredev teams being axed right when their game is due for release. This was not meant to be a conspiracy theory rant. Companies do this all the time [right?]. I do not own a Wii, PS3 or Xbox 360 [oddly enough I've played a great deal of games on all those systems thanks to the ancient art of 'friend-moochery'], but I was planning on getting one this year. If this trend continues, I may have another year where I blow another wad of cash on my PC.
*The people of CNET's Buzz Out Load have a drinking game going where: If you hear a newscaster or anyone in everyday life say the words 'In these troubling times' you find the nearest alcoholic beverage and you chug it.