Does convergence have a place in gaming?

By Blake Snow

Danc from Lost Garden tells why he thinks convergence, or an all-in-one product strategy, is a poor business model, especially for game consoles. From the article: "I'm not a fan of convergence devices that promise to do everything. They tend to under perform in the market due to a variety of factors."

He cites the following four reasons where convergence fails:

  1. Confusing benefit statement – Vague to the consumer like PSP's "Experience entertainment
    without boundaries" promise to the gamer.

  2. Compromised solution that competes poorly against single purpose solutions – "Look at the
    classic VCR TV. You end up with a crappy TV and a crappy VCR glued together by a weakened user interface."

  3. Higher cost of entry – A multi-function device forces you to buy a bundle which generally cost
    more.

  4. Single point of failure – When one piece fails, the whole thing fails.

Do you think convergence can work for game consoles? Do gamers want this?

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