Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all showed off hardware they claim to be the next big thing in gaming. Square Enix head honcho Yoichi Wada doesn’t seem to share that level of enthusiasm. Asked for his thoughts on the future trends, Wada expressed the sentiment that none of these are going to definatively change gaming as we know it.
Basically these technologies will stimulate the consumer market, so as a game company we welcome these new trends and the next step will be for us to create new games that will work on the different platforms or with different technology. But be it Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony, the announcements they are making this time are not the kind of technology that will definitively change the industry itself. So I think it is only an extension of the existing trajectory, if you will.
Wada went on to comment that he expects the more important battleground between the console manufacturers lies in their network services. He (and no doubt every publisher on Earth) desires that the network infrastructures be opened up to allow publishers to try different approaches to earning revenue. I realize it’s just good business, but that whole concept just screams, “get ready to pay a subscription fee for every game you want to play in the future.”
