EA wants an open gaming platform
By Nilay Patel 
posted October 19th 2007 12:21PM
posted October 19th 2007 12:21PM
Considering EA is the king of repackaging the same game for multiple consoles (and multiple years -- hello, Madden), you wouldn't expect the company's head of international distribution to call for a single universal platform, but that's exactly what Gerhard Florin told the BBC he wants. "We want an open, standard platform which is much easier than having five which are not compatible," he said, adding that "You don't need an Xbox 360, PS3 or Wii -- the consumer won't even realise the platform it is being played on." Florin's comments were based on his prediction that set-top boxes would eventually contain enough horsepower to stream and run games over the net, a development he said would kill the market for dedicated consoles in the next fifteen years -- which means he's obviously never had to struggle with a cable company DVR, because we think we'll stick with a console that can register more than three button presses without locking up, thanks much.[Via Gamesindustry.biz]
We'll see this right around the same time we all drive electric cars.
Wow, has he ever heard of Trip Hawkins? He made this thing called the 3DO, it was an open games platform that failed miserably. Oh, and he founded EA.
I guess that's what happens when you edit your own Wikipedia page to rewrite your company's history; you end up forgetting it.
Yeah, I'd love an open platform like that... But they are all right.. it's a PC.. with set system specs... Or a Mac. But the problem is, Software development is a clusterfuck any way you look at it. On consoles you have to design for 3 seperate fixed hardware platforms.. each with different technical power, and user interfaces... on the PC you have, literally hundreds of possible hardware configurations..... which can choose to disagree with eachother at any point in time. and beyond that, PC games barely sell, save for the BIG BIG names... and PC gamers don't like innovation.
If i had my way, Now that all Game console controllers can be connected to PCs, either by USB or Bluetooth. I'd like to see games be able to use em all. But... PC gamers need it to be Keyboard and Mice all the time.
yes its called windows / xbox 360. games port over with .net working on both sides. tweak for the triple core and memory subsystem and you have 2 games with no effort. nintendo isnt too bad, just take out every single physics/animation/particle/effects system, set resolution to 640x480, and simplify geometry by 9000%. add half assed motion controls. playstation on the other hand, good luck. absolutely sucks from a programmers perspective.
Are you sure you didn't accidentally hit the 'm' instead of the 'k' when you typed in your name? That post would make so much more sense if you did.
And from what I hear the gamers simply want EA to die.
Now what's easier to achieve and has bigger support?
What drivel.
Valve needs to manufacture and release the STEAMbox. Pre-order now!
Ogad, not steam :o