Combined Platform - EA in dreamland again

It would definitely make it easier. It's no coincidence that all games work better on one format than the other.

However, it wouldn't work as it would almost kill the gaming market.
 
Aren't EA supposed to be working on their own console? Could this be it? A dumb IP box that connects to an EA controlled walled garden? Maybe not yet but it wouldn't surprise me if it contained some aspects of that - web games like tetris, bejewelled etc. EA are the masters of hyping up their own products.
 
As the consoles edge closer to a complete media system this unified games platform would mean that a console was no longer judged on its graphical power (assuming they have almost equal hardware). They would now be judged on the extra features they provide; be it innovative controllers, a blu-ray drive or an unparalleled online gaming experience...

having said that... there is no chance it will happen any time soon.
 
Developers make serious money (when they produce a good game), they wouldn't be in the industry otherwise.
So they have to work a bit harder to recode for different platforms (that's when they aren't just being lazy and produce crap ports of games), big deal.
Without the likes of MS/Sony/ATI/Nvidia continiung to push the technology, I for one wouldn't want to see some el cheapo generic box for gaming on.
 
Yes, I agree SoapSurgeon. If the console makers agreed on a basic hardware standard that was uniform across the industry, the consumers would then have a choice of which console to buy going with "the extras" such as Blu-ray capability or a video download service or personal video recording capability, etc.

I reckon on the whole it would mean more games for everyone and better quality because there will be only one lot of code across all systems.
 
It's probably safe to say if things keep going as they are, there will be only one company left - probably MS. They've given the developers what they want - good software tools, good graphics, good CPU. Maybe bad not including a HDD as standard or a next-gen optical drive but as is said, it's the software that makes a device successful. They won't make the same hardware mistakes with the next Xbox in 2010.
 
there is a rumour which was laughed at last year and now not so much that EA were going to buy the xbox franchise off MS.

a lot of EA's current board are ex-xbox heads and they have been buying up a lot of xbox dev's recently with bioware the latest to fall to EA's moneyhats.
 
Blimey. Would MS let them have it? I know it's never made any money for the company yet but I can't imagine MS giving it up so quickly.
 
Heh, they could have unified platform, then hardware manufacturers could produce various upgrades, like processor upgrades, memory upgrades, graphics card upgrades and suchlike.

Then there could be a big focus on the applications, you could companies developing new operating systems, it would be incredibly versatile and a lot more focus would be put on the software companies who could make a lot of money.
 
Would force people to think about the actual software and games, instead of being idiots around their hardware. There are certain developers that are all mouth about their hardware and totally forgot about the software side of things.
 
Rich_L said:
Heh, they could have unified platform, then hardware manufacturers could produce various upgrades, like processor upgrades, memory upgrades, graphics card upgrades and suchlike.

Then there could be a big focus on the applications, you could companies developing new operating systems, it would be incredibly versatile and a lot more focus would be put on the software companies who could make a lot of money.
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That sounds familiar;)
 
Of COURSE they want everything though set top boxes.... think about it. Having all your games come down the net means you will HAVE to log into the publishers system ( such as steam ) to be able to play because as we all know the entire world has fast cheap always on internet now ( yes im being sarcastic ) so its not a problem! and because you will only be allowed to play when online and logged in, there will be almost no piracy anymore. The publishers like EA will be quids in before long.

Ill tell you now this vision will be fact in less then 10 years. The days of going into a store an buying a disc thats is yours for life is not going to last forever. The one thing they have all learned from games such as World Of Warcraft is that its better to take a smaller amount of cash out of peoples pockets each month and have no piracy, than selling stand alone games and losing vast amounts to the bootleggers.

However dont expect to pay less for your games... What used to cost £35 and came in a nice box and cost them a lot to manufacture now STILL costs £35 but they dont send you anything and have only the server to maintain. The music industry as well cant seem to accept that people deserve and expect to pay less for music ONLINE than they do when they buy an actual physical product.

"but what about those who have no internet and cant get cable for the set top box?" i hear you ask!.... "hmm thats only a small percentage of the possible market... we dont care!" they reply :p
 
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It'll never happen but would be welcomed by developers.

One major console with third-party development tools should make game development a lot cheaper for the studios, though I doubt we'd see cheaper games or console hardware due to lack of competition. Then of course you'd see even worse "fanboy" behaviour from fans of previous consoles and the new one, especially if it's from EA.
 
ic1male said:
Blimey. Would MS let them have it? I know it's never made any money for the company yet but I can't imagine MS giving it up so quickly.
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MS still lose billions on the xbox360 so it wouldnt surprise me if they tighten the purse strings and get rid. i would be more surprised that EA would want it tbh, can they afford the billions MS dropped into RROD repairs?
 
Dont understand, have consoles been poor sellers for the last 20 years? have they made a profit in 20 years? have they produce some of the best gaming ever?

Making one console will just mean they can put out what they want and games will become sloppy.

If it ain't broken don't fix it!
 
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