We’re mere hours away from the North American launch of the PlayStation 4, and speculation abounds as to if this is the last console generation we’ll ever see. A few analysts think that the pressure from smartphones and tablets is simply too big, but Jack Tretton, president and CEO of Sony Computer Entertainment of America, begs to differ. Speaking with AllThingsD, he argued that the prediction of the end of game consoles has been around for decades - in fact, it was even around when Tretton first got into the gaming industry.
It’s funny, I’ve heard about the “last console” since 1986, and only because that’s when I entered the business. I’ve managed to ride the “last console” wave for the last, what is that … 27 years or so? There’s a reason the console came about: Sitting in front of a big-screen TV on a couch with your friends. To get the immersive depth in gaming and to get the social experience of sitting around the living room, we’re not going to huddle around a tablet. We’re not going to huddle around a smartphone. I think the technology will come a long way, but you’re still trying to build a console, ultimately. You’re trying to get it closer to a console.
The threat in the ’80s was that the PC was going to take over, and it’s certainly alive and well, but it hasn’t taken it over, and I think smartphone and tablet gaming is actually additive. I don’t think I’ll be in the industry 27 years from now, but I think the next 27 years bode much better for the gaming industry than the last 27 did.
Tretton later expanded on the topic of games as a service: it’s well known that Sony intends to brings its games on the rising mobile platforms in some form, but the focus, he reckons, will still be the PlayStation console.
If gaming exists somewhere, we want PlayStation to be there. So we’ll bring our games to smartphones and tablets, we’ll certainly make it available on competitive devices, we have our own smartphones and tablets. Anywhere the gamer is, we want to be.
But there’s a limitation to what we can do. We can’t take Gran Turismo 6 and put it on a smartphone or a tablet. It’s just gonna be a lousy experience. It’s not going to be what it is. Conversely, you can go out today and play Angry Birds on your PlayStation 3 and have a great time. I’m not sure why you’d want to do that, but you could. You can’t go playing Grand Theft Auto V on your smartphone or tablet. It’s easier to migrate up. I’ve seen some great videos on YouTube, but I don’t confuse them with Hollywood Oscar-winning hits. That’s why you go to the movie theater, even though there’s something to be said for watching something on your smartphone. We call it “good-enough gaming.
It’s like wine. Your first wine tastes good, and you start drinking more of it. You go from white to red, and you go from $10 bottles to $50 bottles. Some people just stop at $10, but some people become wine aficionados and, all of a sudden, if it’s not Screaming Eagle, it’s not good enough. People don’t drink Screaming Eagle because it’s $800 and they want to throw away $790. They perceive that that’s a much better wine than the $10 bottle. Smartphone gaming might be good enough for somebody. For other people, they find themselves wanting more, and they’re looking for better controls, more technology and a more immersive experience.
Personally, I can agree with him quite easily as I’ve never been the biggest fan of handheld gaming as well, let alone smartphones and tablets, although I think the second screen experience that is becoming popular now may be a welcome addition if done well. I also agree with the fact that the core experience isn’t going anywhere, as I doubt that it can ever be completely reproduced on those platforms that aren’t primarily designed for gaming. Still, I strongly believe that there is at least one thing that we won’t see in the next console generation: physical media.
Do you agree?
