EdBarton
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Will rising development costs hinder innovation?
There's an interesting piece over at CVG worth bringing on the PS3 Fanboy front. An analyst actually stopped making console guesstimations and thought about the developers end of the equation for a bit. The man, Ed Barton from Screen Digest, called the "risk reduction strategy" of focusing on franchise sequels and multi-platform titles will choke the innovation out of the gaming industry.But it's not just developers to blame -- consumers widely ignore the innovative titles that are specific to one platform (see Ico) but will eat up a franchise title with minor improvements over the last iteration (see Devil May Cry, EA Sports games, etc). In a contrasting view, those games that are now franchises did indeed start out innovative -- there was nothing like DMC before it, but now it's a cash cow. Sort of. It's breaking into the franchise market by creating an innovative title that's key, right? That's my aside, but let's continue on Ed Barton's rant.Barton talks about the PS3 briefly, calling it the one system that will take the longest to exploit the potential of because of the multi-platform attitude of developers. Since each system this generation is so different, he says, the one that stands apart (my words) will take the longest mature. Good stuff. What do you guys think? Will original titles fade out completely, or is making an original title the only way to break into making successful sequels and a franchise out of what was once innovative?
Gamasutra asks: "Is there anything wrong with the PSP?"
We'd like to think that there's nothing wrong with our beloved handheld. However, the truth is that many people, misinformed or not, do not believe in Sony's platform. Gamasutra asked a number of industry professionals about what they think is wrong about PSP, if there is anything at all. David Cole from DFC Intelligence points out that the price drop is a good step, but that's not enough. "I think a new form factor is needed more than a price cut." Ed Barton from Screen Digest is frustrated at the constant comparisons to Nintendo DS: "We forecast that the global installed base of PSP users will be around 29 million at the end of 2007, generating $1.9 billion in software sales. Lifetime software sales at the end of 2007 will be around $4.5 billion. If this is 'failing,' then failure just got a huge brand makeover." Mike Wolf from ABI Research thinks that anti-Sony fanboyism runs wild due to high expectations placed on Sony ... due to their ambitious claims. "I believe the device's perceived 'failure' by some is due to the device struggling to live up to Sony's own marketing of the product, much like what the PS3 is going through today." I completely agree with many of the things these professionals have to say about PSP. It's true that PSP is certainly not a failure, but it could've been far more successful as well. Sony has made a ton of mistakes this life cycle, but as they've been recently showing, things can easily change with a refocused effort.
