Square Enix: Consoles set for extinction

Square Enix chief Yoichi Wada is preparing his firm for the demise of physical media – and potentially the death of home consoles.

In an exclusive interview with MCV that will be published next week, the CEO of the publisher – which now owns Eidos and is famous for its epic disc-based Final Fantasy games – said that a dramatic change will come in the next decade offering more opportunity for market growth, but fundamentally transforming the traditional industry.

"In ten years' time a lot of what we call 'console games' won't exist," he said.

[Nathan123]

Maybe if FF13 bombed, then Square Enix is set for extinction XD

[Bodyboarder_VGamer]

Probably, that's the franchise that made them what they are now.

[Simon_Brezhnev]

by 10 years games going to be terabytes lol and im pretty sure Comcast by will limit downloads a day by 1gb or charge extra for game content streaming.

[Slacker_Mum-5]

I can see physical media gone in 10 years easily. Especially considering it's already starting to occur.

Consoles could probably store terabytes of data and I'm sure the standard internet speeds will be through the roof by then.

[Vivi]

Haha nice try but whatever happens S-E are gonna make a killing from FFXIII.

Uncharted 2 has sold 1 million worldwide to date and Naughty Dog consider that a success.

FFXIII is predicted to sell 1.5mil in Japan alone in just 7-10 days..

It will probably do 1.5mil at release in NA PS3/360 combined and 1mil in Europe easily.

[TOO PAWNED]

the likes of this guy and Kotick can go a F them selves...

[crck]

I love how these CEO's are always trying to shove consumers into digital downloads so they can cut out the middle man and used game sales. But honestly these guys are just kidding themselves. Unless they start selling the digital version at a decent discount (20% to 30%) they'll never get things their way. Just look at those persona 3 sales on the PSP in Japan. The umd version outsold the psn version 11 to 1 was it? And the PSP3k outsells the PSPGo 7 to 1 on a weekly basis. When people spend money on a game they want to own it, not rent it.

[mrb3ar]

*yawn*

http://crapedits.ytmnd.com/

[sikbeta]

GOD, this Wada is lost!!!

We can say that in 10 years Consoles will evolve and become more than a gaming console, but deffinetly is not gonna die

The more the population expand, the more consumer will have, I mean now gamers are not a big part of the global population but the young population of this era will become gamer and so on

[ABizzel1]

@1

I was thinking the same thing.

After I read it, it made sense. Console are shifting to digital media, and in another 10 years (Nintendo Wii2, PS4, and Xbox 3 will all be out by that time) The move to digital media will be here since TB HDD will probably be on capable on USB Flash Drives by then (we're at 128 now that leaves 256GB, 512GB, and boom 1TB). So internal HDD's should be in the 128TB in 10 years, and by the time the (PS5, Xbox4, and Nintendo whatever) come out a 500TB HDD should be on the way meaning those consoles will definitely be streaming only (If we don't have a one or two console future by then). Oh and internet connection speed will be much faster making downloading GB's of data simple.

[SuperM]

Problem is internet speed is not keeping up with the increased size. Some drastic changes will have to happen with the internet if we are to be able to do this.

[Perkel]

only if every country will have at least 6-8 Mbit/s connection...

[NecrumSlavery]

Square hasn't put out a AAA since maybe FFXII. So if FFXIII fails, Square will take a major hit. But it won't and versusXIII will trump, then Kingdom Hearts III. Square will have a bunch of money to waste on mediocre 360 RPGs.

[multipayer]

I really don't like square enix, they are just going to milk sheep with terribly valued DLC, even if FF13 does have 30 gigs of cutscenes.

I expect no less from someone who collaborated with disney.

[Anon1974]

The guy's talking about 10 years down the road, and he's probably 100% correct. As we become more and more interconnected with each other, as our networks expand and become faster the shift to reliance on these networks is inevitable. Microsoft's Shane Kim had already commented on this, that the future probably will be a cheaper console that links to a network rather then plays physical media.

I don't think we have the bandwidth available for this yet, but look at the Chrome OS, look at any type of cloud technology. This is the future and it just makes sense that gaming, often at the forefront of many technological advances, would evolve to take advantage and actually drive these new technologies.

I'm left scratching my head at the comments from other users regarding this topic. I don't get it. Do you think games will suffer somehow? Do you like spending money on consoles? If anything, given the billions that are spent creating and marketing the latest, cutting edge hardware - wouldn't it make more sense for business to sell network hubs that then link to their super networks and allow you to play any game you want streaming off their servers rather then lose billions selling hardware in the hopes that the software will make it back eventually? Wouldn't it make more sense for consumers then shelling out huge bucks every few years for the latest hardware?

Obviously we aren't even close to that yet, but I don't think these advances are something we should feel threatened by. As long as the appetite for games is there, as long as there's a market there will be companies that will deliver consumers what they want.

Edit: And a phantom disagree already. Seriously, I don't understand. Why is this an issue? 10 years ago, Quake 3 launched and was huge. It also pushed a lot of computers to their limitations. Now I can play it online anywhere using a PC and a web browser. Anyone care to tell me how this is a bad thing, or how this is a danger to the future of gaming because I really don't get it.

[The Killer]

is that why all square enix games sucks this generation so far? hmmmm i think SE is set to self destruction.

UPDATE

why does wada remind me of MS executives about Digital download is the present and future when their HD-DVD just died??

i think MS is paying him a lot! in any case, FF13 better over perform or else SE is in deep trouble, all this gen with no games and no realy income except from MS.

@1.11

so true, only simple minded or an informed people will not agree with you! only when the whole world or at least all the countries that there is console will have high internet connection will then wada micro fantasy will come to truth.

[Microsoft Xbox 360]

Only people to mention such stupidity are from Bobby Kotick and Yoichi Wada. Coincidence? I think so. Both have the same business strategy. Milk, milk, and more milking. Also, let's not forget they both have that evil/money sign look to them. LOL

[Anon1974]

“In the past the platform was hardware, but it has switched to the network. A time will come when the hardware isn’t even needed anymore.
With that, any kind of terminal becomes a potential platform on which games can be played.”

This is happening right now, as we speak. We aren't talking about digital distribution here, we're talking about playing games on the network. Think about it. In 10 years time say you have two options. You can buy a new console for $1000 (inflation) and buy individual games. Hardware can be glitchy, can break down, can be expensive, etc..etc.
Or, you can buy a cheap network hub that you hook up to your TV. For a fee, you connect to all the same games that are being played on the console and you can play all of them, instantaneously, lag free on their servers over their network. When new games come out, they worry about upgrading the hardware and games get better and better while people left with a regular console are left having to upgrade.

That's what we're talking about here, and this is coming. It just makes good business sense. Microsoft is already patenting new systems to take advantage of "cloud based" gaming. OS's on your PC will go that route, why wouldn't games eventually?

Again, if anyone can offer up an argument as to why this is a bad thing, or why it's unlikely to happen, I'd love to hear it because I can't think of anything. Someone made a point that the network infrastructure might not be there in 10 years, but that's the only thing I can think of that could stand in the way.

[UnwanteDreamz]

If gamers were smarter they might realize that digital distribution will ruin gaming. I see this as the death of being able to own your media. You will be paying to use it not own it and there will be no more selling or trading games when the dust settles from this thing.

Too bad so many will let this happen without so much as a complaint untill it is too late. They are setting us up and we are letting them. There was a time that I thought physical media was not needed and should go the way of the dinosaur but I have opened my eyes to what is happening.

I will not support any gaming system that does not give me the opition to own my purchase outright.

[ultimolu]

Oh snap. o_o

No u didn't...:T

[TotalPS3Fanboy]

[jadenkorri]

maybe im stuck in my old ways, but i always prefer a hard copy... you will only lose it if stolen/fire/flood, which don't happened alot. Harddrives can fail at anytime, and losing the data due to virus or whatever gonna be costly. Setting a 1 time dl, or 3 time on different cp or whatever is retarded. Give me an account with unlimited dls, and I'll be happy. Games and movies i love, and go back to playing, once and awhile.
You've paid for it, you shouldn't have to buy it again.

[Anon1974]

Do you also buy every movie you watch? Now, bear in mind, he's not talking about Digital Distribution. He's talking about running games off the network, probably for a subscription fee.

How is this any different then Video on Demand services available now? I just need to have a cable box and I can watch a movie I don't own. Would it be that much different to play a game the same way? How about renting? Plenty of gamers don't even bother buying games, they just rent them, finish them and take them back. What would be the difference if you did the exact same thing but just never left your home?

Digital distribution is different. If I'm paying full price for something, I want a product in my hand that I can do with what I want. That's not what's being discussed here. We're talking about games instantly being accessible online, running on someone else's servers while your "console" is now just a network conduit, and for that you'd probably pay a subscription fee. Is that such an evil concept? To me, it seems to offer much more flexibility and variety then currently having to own a bunch of consoles, and then needing a physical copy of each game I want to play.

What if, right now, some company had a Wii, 360 and PS3 all in a room and I could from the comfort of my own home connect to those and play any game those systems had to offer. Wouldn't that be worth a monthly subscription fee to you?

That's the direction I feel the industry is ultimately going. It'll all be streaming over the network.

[boJABER]

I rather have physical media than digital contents. I love building my collection

[RememberThe357]

I can't help but laugh.

[Ju]

I would question if the industry is really thinking this through. What benefit does a fully server based market bring ?

At first it seams it'll will help reducing costs on the production side - until you realize you have to offset those costs by maintaining huge server farms. What now is a one shot disk production cycle will require storage and maintenance of the titles in some sort of virtual warehouse; for a sustained amount of time, which will explode with the size of the game library.

One can argue, that this is been done already (like with PSN, Live, etc) and dedicated servers for MP games, but going completely that route...hm...I don't know. It's an intriguing idea, for sure, but I am also certain, this whole business case is made out of theories. We will see. I think they'll try, realize it'll costs more than going to some Chinese factory and let them press some disks, eventually, and then we'll be back to where we are.

Those new boxes will be more like universal set-top boxes, rather then consoles. So much I can agree upon, but I believe, there is a reason why we have consoles, however, and that business model will survive (happened with a lot of new technology at first).

The market would require one (!) virtual console platform to who all vendors will have to agree too. I just can't see that happening. There will always be someone who believes he can do better then others - and thus breaks all standards. Which, BTW, I think is a good thing, because the market stays competitive and creates progression in the technology.

Saying "downloadable" or "DLC" or what not is just the "IN" word in the industry today. Well, parts of it will become reality, no doubt about it, but possibly not in the form people visualize this today.

[Anon1974]

That's easy. Billions not spent building new consoles and building an installed user base.

Sure there's cost maintaining servers but that would be offset by subscription fees, and bear in mind, we're talking about 10 years into the future now. Technological advancements would no doubt bring down costs related to these type of server setups in the next decade.

We'll still have choice. I imagine different companies will have different games on their network to try to set their network apart from the others.

[Ju]

Yeah, but the whole console business model is build around that the HW actually does not need to make a profit. The money comes from license royalties the platform holder collects.

Now, with not controlling the HW, but the "virtual platform" being the owner of the content, who would build those set-top boxes ? And how would they make money ? On the HW itself ? How can they sell those machines cheaper then current consoles if they are forced to make a profit with it ? And with more competition (assuming, there would be an open platform).

Further more, so what, eventually there is 1 "virtual" platform holder ? Do license costs disappear ? That's what the publishers would hope for, that's why they support that model. Where would this put companies like Sony/MS/Nintentdo ? Why would they support this ?

And, who guarantees that all these games run on a variety of HW platforms? Another reason why console specs are frozen for a relative long period of time. We have seen that with licensed HW before. But usually they were never 100% compatible - because the HW vendors need to point out their resp. special features to have a competitive edge.

Also, "Billions saved" is not true. It might be true for the (virtual) platform holders themselves. But somebody else needs to develop and produce the set-top boxes. That money is just transferred, but it certainly will still be spent. And, given we will see a higher competition in that area, the box needs to be cheap, resulting in rather underpowered machines, rather then state-of-the art technology.

Eventually, for us gamers, this is a bad thing. We might end up with lower box prices, but with a variety of (incompatible?) platform networks. Each platform holder (without controlling the box) needs to charge extra per content now. I would say, eventually, the box + "play-on-demand" will result in higher prices then what we'll have today.

Damn, you pay a per monthly cable fee + a rental on a set-top box + video on demand now if you have a cable subscription. Easily $50-$100 a month. That's where this is heading...

And there is still no open market to buy any set-top box for any cable provider.

[Blaster_Master]

I think he was metaphorically speaking about his company.

[sikbeta]

Well, if SE still making stupid moves like they did for 3 consecutive years, you are SO RIGHT

[SuperStrokey1123]

Yeah, i dont know how that company stays "big" still. All the game they have put out lately have sold fairly poorly except for their DS titles. Prehaps they should be more concerned with their own position in the market, one where they are reviled and not loved, rather than the console manufacturers?

Also is this some kind of reference to onlive?

[MajestieBeast]

If final fantasy and dragon quest cant be milked anymore then we SE are gonna be extinct took the words right out of my mouth there wada

[SpoonyRedMage]

It's an interesting point but I disagree. Consumers don't want server based offerings for one and it restricts access to games, which isn't a good thing either, not for consumers and not for publishers.

[dgroundwater]

Agreed. I hope Xbox goes Blu Ray next gen and PS3 stays the same. It has the space and it's completely affordable now. The next gen should keep discs I say.

[ViciousBoston]

I hope Xbox goes Blu-Ray too, they'll be paying ass tons of money to Sony and the others in the group who patented Blu-ray. Gotta love royalties. more than likely Microsoft will be using dead HDDVD for their system.

[evrfighter]

or could very well go the route of insanely large Hard drives (2tb) with usb based Installs.

Or maybe perhaps a locked Usb 3.0 flash drive that replaces discs entirely. Usb 3.0 already puts disc read/write times to shame.

Usb drives if made properly can be 10x more sturdier than a disc. I've personally washed my OCZ Rally 4gb drive accidently and still ran like a champ.

Outside of discs there are plenty of options to choose from.

[CrippleH]

I would like a USB 3.0. They should dress it up because USB sticking out kind of looks tacky.

[bjornbear]

interesting, but i'd say "consoles" will simply change, not becoming extinct, but having a whole new meaning.

Remember, even nowdays what we call "consoles" are halfway between a PC and a game station, so the future might bring something completely unified, who knows!? =O

[LightofDarkness]

Ah, whatever happened to Square and their adventurous SNES thru PS1 era? Where's the next Brave Fencer Musashi? Chrono Trigger? Xenogears? Tobal? Bushido Blade? Secret of Evermore? All classics, and yet Square won't even touch them any more.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is, I don't care what this guy has to say any more. They no longer have their finger on the pulse of gaming. They've forgotten what made them great, yes Final Fantasy helped a lot and made you money, but what made them worth heeding was their ability to step outside of their box. their own world, and try something new every once in a while. They just don't do that now.

[SpoonyRedMage]

They've had quite a few new IPs this gen. TWEWY, Blood of Bahamut, Cross Treasures, Sigma Harmonics, Nanashi no Game, The Last Remnant, Yosumin, Gyromancer, Nier, Lord of Vermillion, Fantasy Earth: Zero, Order of War and Infinite Undiscovery.

[Perkel]

Squaresoft was bought by Enix that's why is Square Enix, and when Enix bought Squaresoft things go wrong... i wonder why.... (wada)

[SpoonyRedMage]

Wada was the boss of Squaresoft before the merger so no, it wasn't the fact that Enix absorbed them, although Enix's practice of outsourcing seems to have become the norm for the Squaresoft side as well now.

[EpsilonTeam]

Bye Bye Square we wont miss you.

[SuperStrokey1123]

Square we will/do miss. SE... not so much.

[4pocalyps3]

please stfu...

[Gobot]

so is this guy saying that PC gaming is making a come back!(pc gaming was never dead. never will be.)
all i can say about this is that in ten years, no one is gona want to play final fantasy25: we're gonna milk the sh*t out of this game

was eidos a failing company before square bought them? or what's the status on that?
tomb raider deus thief those are the only games i can think of that eidos
has

[artgamer]

Sure Wada, just like how The Last Remnant was set to be a half decent game.

[pixelsword]

Fixed.

[HammockGames]

LOL. Well played! I like your title way better.

[Ravage27]

that makes infinitely more sense. :)

[seifer085]

Last Remnant Ps3 is extinct cause of you!!!

[Yarite]

No need to tell us Wada, we all know the change is coming and is already starting.

Some of us just like to live in denial. =)

[Rocco Siffredi]

"Uncharted 2 has sold 1 million worldwide to date and Naughty Dog consider that a success.

FFXIII is predicted to sell 1.5mil in Japan alone in just 7-10 days.. "

So by ur logic uncharted2 sold ONLY 1 Million at a 27 Million user base. and FF13 will sell 1.5 Million in the FIRST week in Japan where only 4 Million PS3s were sold?

Just another comment with a "Big Hope"

[blind-reaper]

it is FINAL FANTASY in JAPAN don't underestimate that brand name, Final Fantasy alone will sell a bunch of PS3s there.

[Noctis Aftermath]

1.5mil first week is guaranteed since it is Final Fantasy, the number 1 game to have as a japanese gamer, but how can you compare a new(awesome) IP to a franchise that is as old as myself(21)?

[Nihilism]

So true,

I also love how everyone has taken this as a personal attack. 10 years is a long time, we could easily have onlive though tv by then. The console market isn't exactly raking in the cash...unless your nintendo. But the way they do things, I wouldn't be suprised if they were the first virtual console, offering 'cloud' services and games

[m-s-8-2]

Didn't Activision do half a billion dollars in sales in 1 day less than a month ago? Did it involve Nintendo? If sales of consoles/games are down over all year to year, it more than likely has to do with the global recession and less to do with a decrease in interest console games.

[Noctis Aftermath]

No sorry, consoles will be around alot longer then 10 years, sony, microsoft and nintendo will MAKE SURE consoles are still relevant.

Wada just talks to much sh1t, i wish he would commit seppuku.

[mastiffchild]

dchalfont-is ten years a long time?I live in the UK and my connection is supposed to be 8mrg and I rarely get above 4. My exchange(which totally governs what you get even before you get to the line into your home)isn't due to be updated in the next six years as it stands. I'm not alone and know people with exchanges that are barely abioce dial up speeds! In the UK!

Now I know a lot of countries have faster(South/Korea with a blanket 100meg and peaks to 200meg IIRC)but many have slower and ten years isn';t enough time to get the whole of the UK, let alone the world, up to speeds that can even handle this, imo. That's without taking into consideration what my download speeds aew(less than 1meg all the time currently)which mean, to me, even the Onlive figures are ambitious(ludicrous for right now!)and unworkable. I'm sure a lot loof people will welcome somethinbg like this but I won't be in a position(unless I move) within Wasa'd optimistic timeframe. Not a hope of a good enough connection for it at all. 15-20? YES.5 to 10? Don't make me wet my pants Wada unless you only want to sell games in Japan and Korea? You talk about the west a lot Wada but your ignorance of the realities of it over here are staggering at times and if you imagine everywhere (even in the EU) is going to be up to speed by the time you say then I think you're mental. Lots of other bations have the problem with their netowrk that we in the UK do-our networks aren't centrally own like a national grid but all split up and noone is gfoing to take on relaying fibreoptics ionstead of the crappy wire we have now piecemeal when it would cost them millions to do a small hamlet. Bid upgrades are needed for this kind of thing AND the desire to make them(andthe profits at the end of it)and in the UK, at least, it just isn't happeneing as quickly as a lot of people think. Outside of the bigger conurvations the speeds fall off and are often dead slow with no future planned upgrades.

IDK how I feel about it as Sony and MS have already shown they expect MORE cash rather than less for DD games which is a disgrace when you don't physically own anything, it's way cheaper to make, deliever and there's no middleman to pay either. Valve have been a lot better about it though, imo. Laregely, though, whether you game on a PSP,360 or PS3 DD has so far been a very mush more expensive medium than the physical disc has. Where's the reason for console gamers to change from discs? PSPGo sales compared to 3000 sales show they don't see an advantage right now and, currently, if you buy a game and don't like kiit you can sell the disc which is another thing they should, but don't take into account. It shows that this is greed from console makers and devs/pubs but they're shooting themselves in the foot by overpricing(by a long way too) DD games. They could and should be provided at less than half the cost of disc based media and they just aren't and they're rarely discounted either(GT5Prologue is still release price while I can buy the disc new for a tenner!

So,give us a rason to wangt it and we might go for it more AND get onto our govts about better internet connections for all but until then there's no hurrying up the sklow, very slow most places, increase in broadband quality-my exchange was only upgraded to handling up to 8meg(which it NEVER does)18 months ago at great cost to someone and I don't see it happening agin for a while and I'm not alone.

[LostDjinn]

that's an interesting prediction. There are a few holes in your theory though. Given the slow pace of internet infrastructure investment in some parts of the world and peoples attachment to physical media, ten years may not be long enough for global mass marketing of cloud based gaming to surpass current trends completely.
Going by some of his past "ideas" I'm of the opinion God ruined a perfectly good ass putting teeth in Wada's head but hey, it might happen.

[hatchimatchi]

square is a joke now. It's crazy too because 10 years ago if someone had predicted that square would eventually be irrelevant to gamers in general they would have been labeled crazy.

[Rocco Siffredi]

@ blind reaper

Dragon Ball and Kingdom hearts couldnt do that and you think FF will? lol.. also, there are 10 times more DS in Japan than PS3s.

So you also want to tell me that FF is more popular than Mario?

haha

[hoops]

Hate DD all you want people but fact is fact. DD will take over sooner then many think for the simple reason:

It's cheaper to make your games DD THEN it is to put it on physical media, package it, retail it, ship it.
It comes down to cost savings for companies and DD will save them money. They cut out the middle man and reatil outlets for the most poart and make a larger profit without having to give someone else a piece of the pie.

[Petit_Amiral]

What happened in 2005?

[ps3rulz]

The day consoles are extinct is the day i leave gaming for good.
All these ceo stfu WADA, KODICK.

[spinbot_lv1]

agree.I'm with you.
if that happens.I'll stop play videogames.

[kesvalk]

go in peace guys...

[Domer25]

Any of us can take a wild stab at what will happen in ten years and be correct. We will be playing games with our toes instead of hands; see quote me on that.

[Knightofelemia]

Question should be will SquareEnix be around in 10 yrs or will a companys like Capcom, UbiSoft, or even EA but them out.

[kesvalk]

not very likely buddy, they publish mangas and animês on japan, so they have other sources of income and other industries to back then up...

[keysy420]

i am not ready for digital distribution. call me a traditionalist but i need that disc for full games

[VirusOz]

A console is used for much more.

[Stoney22]

You and this guy couldn't be more wrong. I agree that DD could maybe happen in the next 20-30 years at the earliest but not sooner then that.
Simply put the infrastructure isn't there, and the need for an infrastructure isn't their. Why would nay goverment spend billions updating their infrastructure when their isn't much of a problem with their current one. sure nobody is getting 100meg speeds but 2-10 isn't bad, and surves out current society.
Not only is the infrastructure not their but the cultural view isn't their either. Most people prefer physical media then a digital one espeically when it comes from £40 investments rather then a 79p charge. Perhaps when the youth of today grow up within a semi downloadable world thanks to things like Itunes they will be more inclined to push such features forward.

[hoops]

20-30 years? LOL
You were joking with that comment right?
Of course...good joke...
Btw they already have the technology for fast internet connections coming out in the next 5-10 years for full DD integration...And DD is already here fyi. Ask MS and Sony and Valve about this.

[PLAYSTATIONGENRATION]

Will be around at least 20 years...the digital market right now and for the next few years will always be a plus..not a driver

[densai]

Not sure i agree with wada here. they make good games though

[111111]

He probably has the sony virus by now and talks alot of crazy stuff. Poor him, may he find his way back to sanity soon :(

[feejo]

Who he is to see the future? Console have alot of advantages over the PC.

[Hallow]

...and my physical disc. I like to pay for what I can hold in my hands not DD. Hope this never happens.

[BrianC6234]

What I find funny is people like this act like everything will be done over the Internet but right now ISPs are trying to find ways to charge us more for broadband. Can you imagine how much we'll have to pay if we have to pay for everything he thinks will run over our connection? That's why I think most games will be run from hardware. Is Square Enix going to become an ISP and give us cheap broadband so we can afford to play their games?

[jakethemuss]

Then everyone could experience sony games but TBH I think without consoles and with enix going head to head with sony and others they will be eaten alive.

[BrianC6234]

Sounds like rubbish to me. He probably thought we'd have flying cars by 2000 too. Consoles will be around a long time still. Maybe part of it will be on a server over the Internet but we'll still have some kind of hardware. I don't see things changing that much that soon really. Square Enix needs to stop trying to see the future and release games now.

[Handhelds_FTW]

Reading this made me.

[Cyb3r]

So if consoles die then we will all be playing crappy internet browser games?

[HelghastGeneral]

As long as people refuse to accept digital distribution then its not going to happen. Companies can make 200gig blue ray discs so why do we need to download everything. The only thing one company would do is just to make a profit 100% so we download everything and it doesn't get resold. There is money in making consoles and making new forms of media but not everyone can share this. Since Microsoft will never accept blue ray they will try to do something else. People should learn the fact that the consumer market will have to be shared till the end of time. Competition will always exist if you try to kill one company off another company will step up to compete right back at you. Its a never ending war so companies should just stay in the game and play and focus less on trying to always make a profit because they just make things worse in the end.

[Picnic]

I think that when we're spending just a few pounds, on music, films or games, we may not mind having a digital download, especially as it may cost us more than that to travel to visit a shop or pay for postage and packaging. But if we're spending anything like £30-£50 we may want something physical, something permanent feeling and solid, in our hands.

Also, with current games we get 2 things- we get digital art (the game) and physical artwork on the game box itself. It may not seem much of a difference but we may feel that we are getting less of a product in a way and talk of missing a physical game product will be as academic as missing gramophones.

But if digital downloads become the only option then that is how people will get all new games of course and physical game products will becomes for collectors only like gramophone records (or they may regain some popularity like vinyl records).

If consoles themselves ended, though, the videogame culture might incalculably lose a lot of its character. It might be like imagining Universal Pictures, Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures and Dreamworks all going out of business and combining in to one studio.

[BrianC6234]

Maybe in the future then we won't even buy games. I don't think he's right about this idea but if it did happen they could also have a system where you pay a monthly fee and just go online and play whatever game you want. That wouldn't be too bad. I just don't know about the Internet being used to do this though. Sure the speeds are going to get faster but we already see cable companies trying to say how much we can do over their network. Some people use too much bandwidth and have their account locked. Others are forced to pay even more to use their connection.

[TheGamerz4Life]

This is why they knowingly released sub par RPGs on the 360 to hasten the demise of their market...

[ChrisW]

You mean like...

Enchanted Arms, Eternal Sonata, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 Fusion, Fallout 3, Borderlands, Sacred 2: Fallen Angel, Rise of the Argonauts and so on?

[ChrisW]

Or are you refering to Square Enix games specifically?

[pshizle]

physical media will stay for a long long time!

[Close_Second]

physical media will die if for no other reason to eliminate the second hand gaming market.

[Enigma_2099]

... so why should we trust THIS statement?

[Shendow]

Look at the PS3 right now, it is pretty much on the level of a PC, you can change the hard drives to what ever fits you and you keyboard an other computer things on it.

I bet when the new Xbox comes out, its going to be able to do the things that PS3 can...well maybe without bluray, but who knows on that.

[bozebo]

lol. He is clearly mixing up mmos and dumb client games.

The difference being dumb client games are processed entirely in a server then the audio and video is returned. But at no point ever will that be possible without input lag (we are limited by the speed of light of course).

MS and Sony are only paying attention to it because they need to keep all their options open, there is no proof they are planning on moving to that rubbish. If there is word of a development in the industry - no matter how fail it is - they will have someone look into it.

However, he clearly seems to be collecting downloadable games under the same roof, which is just retarded - however it does mean physical retailers will be affected of course, but they are all ripoff scams anyway. The problem with downloadable only, on Steam for example, is there is no competition driving down the price and encouraging new techniques and you don't legally own the game.

[dredgewalker]

Uhhmm....no...i dont see consoles ever going extinct. People like the idea of buying a game system that doesn't need constant upgrades to play the latest games. And i dont think dlc will ever replace physical media in the near future, they may co-exist but i dont think it will ever replace it.

[robotnik]

Impossible, just look at the sale numbers of every platform. This guy is an attention seeker idiot. He has a bad reputation in SE HQ.

[GAMERIG]

Yeah you all REALLY forget about the gaming portable console such as PSP ans DSi wont dead! they will take over the console ie xbox 360, ps3 and even using DD when consoles are extinct. so you can carrying it anywhere..