With the passing of E3 2012, we go by another year with no launch of a new console from Sony or Microsoft. Nintendo is working on their next console that is meant to have similar hardware to the current generation consoles, the Wii U, but we haven’t heard of a Playstation 4 or an Xbox 720 aside from rumors. This might be due to how expensive it is to make consoles in our current market, and trying to sell them later to consumers who might not know if there are any good games on the machine. Ubisoft claims that the lack of new consoles is penalizing developers in making new IPs for games, which leads to repetition in-game design.
Ubisoft has a traditional business tactic of backing new consoles with new games, such as Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Shadow Wars on the Nintendo 3DS. However, with a console that has a large library of games and old hardware, it’s a major risk on the developer and publisher to create new IP on that machine. “We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market,” says Yves Guillemot, CEO and chief executive of Ubisoft. “I understand the manufacturers don’t want them too often because it’s expensive, but it’s important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity.”
I can somewhat agree with Guillemot that creating a new IP on a console with a large library is a risk. Trying to make a new game is hard, and even harder to differentiate it from other games that people are familiar with. If a person already has Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed on their Xbox 360 and see Call of Honor or Ninja’s Creed going for $60 bucks, they might not see much of a difference. Plus, as Guillemot points out, if the consumer has friends that play Call of Duty or Assassin’s Creed through multiplayer, the consumer might not try out the new games.
However there are still fresh, original games being released on the current console that stand out from others. Ubisoft’s gameplay trailer for Watch Dogs is a great example of a new spin on the sandbox games that looks exciting. Plus, while the mobile gaming market is relatively new, it might have a similar issue of stagnation like consoles with other game companies remaking Rovio’s Angry Birds. What do you think? Do you think game developers could make new game IPs on a console that has old hardware?
