Support NeoGAF

[Lazy8s]

With the decline of the Japanese console industry and the financial misfortune of its publishers, the success of just a PlayStation home platform - which can’t get much better for a console than it has been with PS2 - is proving to not be enough. The prominence of the US market has many of the publishers looking to adapt a significant focus to it in order to make enough money, and there is expectation that the next Xbox will be a substantial part of that market. Decent support for Xenon would then be an integral part of such an international focus.

Among other measures, competition between the hardware manufacturers needs to be spurred to excite and reinvigorate the Japanese industry. The publishers there would then give respectable support to Nintendo’s next system and also not be so hesitant to show Xenon in Japan at least a decent amount of the support they’d be giving it in the US toward this hope for competition.

Emerging markets like China and India could also become vital factors.

 

[JackFrost2012]

If you say so.

 

[bobbyconover]

I like it when people pretend that they know stuff.

 

[JackFrost2012]

I like it when people pretend that they know stuff.

PROTIP: Use thesaurus.com to hide the fact you have no fucking clue what you're going on about!

 

[cvxfreak]

Since when did India matter in the game industry? To develop games perhaps, but as an industry in itself?

 

[seismologist]

Just get a PS3 you wont have to worry about which games get ported.

 

[MassiveAttack]

I like it when people pretend that they know stuff.

Actually, everything in his post is extremely valid. He does in fact know what he's talking about.

As for China and India as well as Korea and Taiwan, you will see these territories emerge as a real force in game development for the next-generation of consoles. The reasons for this are many but lower cost of development and outsourcing are foremost.

If you think only Ubisoft has a 300 person development studio in Shanghai, I guarantee they won't be alone amongst Western publishers by next year.

 

[jarrod]

I think the major Japanese firms will "test the waters" with Xenon, like they did XBox initially. If they get an encoraging return, they'll keep support going then.... the only JP developer I really expect to skip out would be Square Enix.

At the same time though, XBox's importance to the western market market has ben a bit overstated (by PR, the media and fans themselves). In the scheme of things, XBox actually has less relevance to the market than N64 did...

 

[kaching]

Among other measures, competition between the hardware manufacturers needs to be spurred to excite and reinvigorate the Japanese industry.

Didn't you get the memo? Microsoft says they're focusing on software over hardware going forward

I think all the effort put towards hardware competition is a sideshow display for this industry and just distracts from the fact that more effort simply needs to be put towards invigorating the content and expanding its breadth and variety. I think more vigorous hardware competition is ultimately detrimental to that goal.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I think all the effort put towards hardware competition is a sideshow display for this industry and just distracts from the fact that more effort simply needs to be put towards invigorating the content and expanding its breadth and variety. I think more vigorous hardware competition is ultimately detrimental to that goal.

I agree with this, but fierce hardware competition is needed, as, in the past, it has coincided with some of the best software output, IMO. More closely-matched platform competition usually results in a focus on creating and seeking out more unique and more impressive software. This also results in a greater need for more developers and with that comes a greater chance for different ideas in game design to be offered up and given the chance to shine on their respective platforms. It's just more healthy all around.

 

[TTP]

How does this apply to the PC scene?

 

[MightyHedgehog]

The PC scene doesn't count, IMO, as the PC is a general tool and not a focused platform for entertainment. Not saying PC game development isn't important, but it's a completely different animal...for one, it's an open platform.

 

[TTP]

Hmm... but still videogame has evolved on PC even without the kind of competition you think is needed for that to happen.

And IMO it only applies to first-party titles or exclusives. I think a no-hardware competition situation would just mean developers will have to fight each other on the same platform. That would really be healthy I suppose.

Sure, given development costs nowadays it's easier for a plaftrom holder to release/publish great software 'cos they have got money (royalties) coming anyway all the time.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I'm not saying that game design will go into the shitter once we've eventually reached the point where there is only one console platform, but in the foreseeable future, the way things work now doesn't seem to be changing much and that means that competition of the SNES/Gen US-type needs to be the norm, IMO. Purely software-based competition is always going to be there, but with juggernauts, such as EA 'owning' the gaming landscape, it has become too difficult to compete with smaller titles that have similar ambitions -- I'd love to see a console that dominates without the help of EA, actually. I think the chief concern is that games cost way too much to produce on consoles these days. The average sort of financial risk involved with producing one title on a console these days puts a serious damper on uncommon designs from smaller publishers that simply get out-marketed and fail to even have a chance at breaking even. That and that there's too much of an emphasis on blockbuster sales expectations on titles, in general.

PC gaming (and open platform game development) will always be around (I hope), so the evolution seen there will happen at the more leisurely level it has always been...though, the rapid push for high-technology requirements is fucking with this a bit, IMO.

 

[gofreak]

PS2 is far more popular in the West than Xbox. It's likely the same will apply with PS3/Xenon. So whilsts Xenon will be important, I don't think it'll be as important as you might expect (i.e. "Playstation-important"). It would be a mistake to characterise Playstation's only strength as being Japan..

 

[Deg]

The JP market has been growing this year so far...

I dont expect much for XBox 2 in Japan given the disaster with the first Xbox. No doubt they have engraved a negative image there.

 

[MrSingh]

同時多発エロの方が面白いと思います。

 

[Drexon]

I think I see an eye! 'Cuz you see, japanese developers have had their heads stuck up their ass so long and... well, you get it.

 

[Late Stage Marxist]