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As the PS2 continues to improve its standard of games and reputation there are two more consoles on the horizon. Who will win the fierce battle of the consoles??
I have two schools of thought on this one really, one is "Gamers will win", the other is "Large publishers will win".
Gamers will win:
With each console vying for our cash prices may drop. No company will be able to afford to be emore expensive than the other. Also, first/second party developers will be encouraged to work harder on those titles that will attract more gamers. So we'll hopefully see them pushing out all of the stops and coming up with exceptional games.
However, it seems to be that graphics sell games remarkably well at the moment, which could mean that developers are encouraged to work less on the gameplay, and more on the appearance of the games. This would be bad news for the gamers, as many of the games could suffer from a lack of substance. It's here that middleware in development will become crucial.
Publishers will win:
With three main consoles on the market there will be more interest in them, this could cause sales of consoles to grow, and increase the size of the market. There will be huge financial implications on the success or failure of a game, and small developers may find themselves bought out by larger developers or publishers just to stay in business.
The more development talent working for them will increase the profits of the publishers no end. This could lead to an increase in the importance of marketing the games, as opposed to the consoles. There will be a number of choices in each genre when it comes to chosing a new game, and generating hype has always been a good way to increase sales.
Whatever happens it will certainly be an interesting year, to see which each company does to try to boost sales of their consoles, and how the publishers react to the increased market size.
Gamers will win:
With each console vying for our cash prices may drop. No company will be able to afford to be emore expensive than the other. Also, first/second party developers will be encouraged to work harder on those titles that will attract more gamers. So we'll hopefully see them pushing out all of the stops and coming up with exceptional games.
However, it seems to be that graphics sell games remarkably well at the moment, which could mean that developers are encouraged to work less on the gameplay, and more on the appearance of the games. This would be bad news for the gamers, as many of the games could suffer from a lack of substance. It's here that middleware in development will become crucial.
Publishers will win:
With three main consoles on the market there will be more interest in them, this could cause sales of consoles to grow, and increase the size of the market. There will be huge financial implications on the success or failure of a game, and small developers may find themselves bought out by larger developers or publishers just to stay in business.
The more development talent working for them will increase the profits of the publishers no end. This could lead to an increase in the importance of marketing the games, as opposed to the consoles. There will be a number of choices in each genre when it comes to chosing a new game, and generating hype has always been a good way to increase sales.
Whatever happens it will certainly be an interesting year, to see which each company does to try to boost sales of their consoles, and how the publishers react to the increased market size.