Square-Enix President Yoichi Wada is predicting that in the next five years "console games" won't exist. He also said that his company has been preparing for the change by beefing up production of social and browser games at its Japan studio, so when that time comes around, they'll be ready.
"In ten years time, a lot of what we call 'console games' won't exist.
"Somewhere around 2005, the console manufacturer's strategy shifted," Wada said.
"In the past the platform was hardware, but it has switched to the network. A time will come when the hardware isn't even needed anymore.
"With that, any kind of terminal becomes a potential platform on which games can be played - that's exponential growth in the potential of gaming. The potential size of the market is enormous.
Wada also warned that all distributors and sales firms will suffer a big negative impact if they fail to make the shift on time.
That's a very interesting perspective, but will broadband be ubiquitous in the U.S and Europe in the next ten years? We don't know, however it's one of the many pieces that must fit in the puzzle; so now it's a wait and see situation, but if Wada is correct on one thing, it's that manufacturers and distributors had better take heed. Because technology and time is progressing at extreme speeds.
11/26/09 Ernice Gilbert
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