Ben-DutkaTypically, one listens when Hideo Kojima speaks. But those who enjoy and appreciate their game collections and would rather not have a "collection" of digital files on a screen might not like what he has to say.
The master spoke at a news conference in Tokyo designed to announce his latest project – Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker for the PSP – and he clearly sees a console-dry future. He says that in the near future, developers won't have to worry about hardware platforms and will essentially free themselves from console manufacturers. Said Kojima:
"In the near future, we'll have games that don't depend on any platform. Gamers should be able to take the experience with them in their living rooms, on the go, when they travel — wherever they are and whenever they want to play. It should be the same software and the same experience."
In response to this, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan President Hiroshi Kawano said that it's a "bold prediction" and that they hope Kojima "continues to develop for platforms." We've often heard analysts say that the future of games is digital downloads; i.e., no more boxes, no more physical media – like discs – and in our eyes, no more fun for collectors. But that's merely an opinion and there are indeed obvious benefits to such a "progression." Kojima outlined just a few and we know of the others. So it'll be a very interesting future, nonetheless.
By the way, Peace Walker will be out soon in Japan (June 8 release for the US) and Kojima reminds us that it's old-school MGS; it's about stealth, patience and management. "This is software that developes management skills," he said. "You can even fire workers, something that you can't really do in real life. In the game, I couldn't stop doing it."
Screw DL, I want all my games on psychical media.
I don't want all my years of gaming console & games collections to start turning into nothing more than a bunch of "fugly duckling" flash drives sitting all in a row on my shelves.
And besides, how's that cloud service "OnLive" working out???????
FYI, I was one of the very 1st to ever sign up for the beta testing for their system(just to see what is was about, plus hopefully be able to get it into my collections too). I don't know about them, but I thought I'd be a perfect candidate too.
But, I never got any kind of acknowledgment what-so-ever from them, even though they knew I was around 54(at the time), a long-time gamer back to the Tandy & Texas Instruments Computer days, & had also kept an extensive collection of consoles dating back to the SNES days.
And, it's been quite a few years now and they're still really nowhere yet with their "OnLive).
Anyway, we'll just have to wait & see when OnLive does come out(supposedly it's this June 17th). But with their micro-console & controller still in "coming soon" mode right now, I don't think that is going to be working out well anytime soon.
And I'll be keeping a can of "Raid" next to my computer too, because I'm expect a real big bug festival there too.
BTW, OnLive's pricing(so far) is set to be $14,95 per month, & way too much in my eyes
Last edited by BikerSaint on 4/7/2010 5:03:47 PM
That is the thing that I would'nt like to see on consoles. I'd rather buy a game at store than download it what fun is that?
When I bought a game like Yakuza 3 I was really pleased but downloads would be bleh. I'd just go outside.
I wouldn't't mind if handhelds followed the path of the PSP Go. I love downloading PSP games more even though they can be cheaper used.
I hope gamers have more of a say in this than developers do. Why should Kojima care, doesn't he work for Konami? His paycheck probably wouldn't change that much, if at all by going all digital.
He is talking the truth, we are not too far from some real serious power that will be able to fit in one of those Casio watches from the 1980's. They will be able to just have a virtual machine running on a device with all processing been done on the CPU, no separate GPU needed, one that you can move around and take your game with you! you could play it on your toaster while you have breakfast, then continue on your phone or inside your glasses as you travel to work.
At least wait till 2020 and beyond……my country still download at 50kb-200kb per second……..
I guess they don't care about 3rd world nations……..
I will give up my consoles when I can get a fiberoptic implanted into the base of my brain and have the electrodes attached to my visual and auditory cortex.
I really want a fiberoptic jack implanted at the base of my skull. How cool would that shi- be?
Please run a M$ system so I can with ease, hack in and make you obey my every whim and do my bidding.
Pretty freaking cool, of course you run the possible risk of power fluctuations that could kill you… hahah
Uuuuummmm Kojima, I think you should look around carefully cause we all don't live in your high-tech house.
I bet his house looks like Tony Starks.
He couldn't be could he? The real Iron Man?
Lol Haha.
He couldn't be anymore wrong with that statement.
you can tell this guys asian!
well MR Kojima ADSL2+ unlimited download usage may be a standard in asia but your forgetting not everyone lives in asia.
it will be one stone cold day in hell before caps become large enough for people to download full games.
hell most ISPs are offering cheap net here but the catch is you only get 2GBs.
now what the ^%$# can i do with 2GBs?
as john carmack said cloud computing is the future, but not for at least another 10 years or so.
internet speeds are far to slow, they did some testing here to see if onlive would work and in the CBD in sydney the area that has the BEST net access out of the whole country did not meet the requirements.
now if the city did not meet the requirements than how the hell are normal residents suppose to use it?
most people dont live in the city because its cramped, noise and a unit or house there costs easily 4 times the price the same thing out west would.
i know location is everything, as the saying goes location, location, but id rather save the cash and get a nice quiet place, than spend it and get a noisy polluted place.
maybe he can come out here and wave that magic wand of his to get this hole up to standards, but till then your dreaming MR Kojima!
This is precisely why On-Live will remain a pipedream for now, as will the rest of this all digital future. Too mcuh infrastructure improvement is required, and in many countries too many existing laws or common practices need to be overhauled to make the kinds of ubiquitous and cheap high speed Internet access required, impossible.
nah, not in the US its up and working like a dream.
here well yeah not until the gov finishes their replacement lines.
finally they have started replacing the old copper with fiber optics but by the time the whole country has had its face lift its going to be quite a while.
big job ripping out the copper and replacing it for only one town, let alone a whole country!
i still think onlive is going to fall by the way side though simply because it costs money just like everything else, and why would i buy onlive to play multiplats when my ps3 or 360 can do the same?
if onlive had some exclusives than ok, but without those its doomed to flop.
Well, for some urban areas where cable coverage is good or fiber has been rolled out OnLive might work today, but the majority of people, covered by slow DSl, slower DSL or worse, will be unable to use OnLive.
Personally I hat the idea of a single gaming platform that is fixed. It simply doesn't work. If it did there would be no console gaming because PC gaming would have destroyed consoles years ago. However, the technology moves, people update their PC, game makers use hardware specific optimizations to achieve better visuals or performance and suddenly there is no single platform.
In fact game consoles represent the closest we've yet come to a single fixed platform. The hardware spec is fixed and well documented and there is a goos sized market of identical devices to run games on. OK there are three different platforms, but within each there is total consistency for a game developer. It's not like PCs where processor and GPU performance are moving targets and you never know what drivers will be run, or what other applications will be present, or how much RAM you have, or…
Hey Highlander,
Here's an interesting 8-part FCC "National Broadband Plan" article I found, that you might want to take a gander at…..
The Future of American Broadband
March 21, 2010 – by Devin Connors
Table of contents
1. The FCC’s National Broadband Plan and its Effects
2. The NBP’s Six Goals
3. How The NBP Would Change Our Media Habits
4. How the NBP Would Change Our Mobility
5. Other Plans and Benefits
6. The NBP’s Effect on Infrastructure
7. Cost and Implementation
8. Criticism and Conclusion
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/FCC-Broadband-Internet,review-1527.html
Thanks Biker, that was an interesting read. I hope that Comcast's recent victory in court over the FCC doesn't throw a wrench into the works. Although I suspect it will.
digital download,s is the future the very near future thay say blokebuster is losing mony from online movies like netflicks and so on. It cost oil to make all that plastic for games oil that cost mony.IT will probably be cheaper to buy games. the company that make the software dont have to pay people to produce the product. Every 1 better get use to it fast i can see this happening on ps4 and if not most def what ever is after that. digital download ,s is the future
hello …
i like to collect things & physical media will always be preferred…
the net will be faster, not in a far far future, but not tomorrow. CISCO made a super router, Google is going broadband everywhere, a lot is being done to make the next version of the net a supernet. i just wish 'skynet' won't be a side product LOL!
even if we'll be able to stream or download a full bluray worth of data in less than 5 minutes it will remain a problem for we'll never own anything, if we loose an account number, a password.
i want my surroundings to be able to take over what i have if something bad happen to me, with digital content, this isn't really possible, unless you keep everything on a fire/water/nuke but mostly kid resistant paper.
it will be a nice addon, a really nice alternative but physical media won't die, just become more expensive & maybe would only target the collectors.
cheers!
Last edited by Richy on 4/8/2010 4:49:57 AM
I have no problem whatsoever getting rid of physical media. I say, HURRY UP! And there's no need for multi-gig downloads, either. If the future follows the OnLive model, everything will be cloud-based. Hosted on some mega-super server somewhere else, and merely streamed to our TVs / laptops / phones / devices…. In a world of the future, with broadband speeds measured in Gigabits per second, the game experience would be the same on your $50 handheld and your $500 HDTV and your $1500 laptop – the only difference is screen size and controller options.
I think Kojima has a valid point, and the future very well *could* be that way, and I would love it if it were. But I think the gaming oligarchy will squash innovation to keep their control. It may happen, and it would be awesome, but it will be a while. Not because the tech isn't there, nor that the desire isn't there – but that the status quo will be hard to change.
You all have to remember one thing here. This is not about download speeds it's about capacity. If consoles come to an end everyone who plays games will not only have to have a computer but one with at least a terrabyte (if you play the way I do). If systems leave you will still need to purchase hardware this will not help us as the consumer but only the businesses themselves. I personally think it is also a good thing to have a hard copy of anything you buy. Movies and games have largely been downloaded and there are still majy flaws with this. Should your computer or console break you will lose all you downloaded. Sure you could call the companies and request another download as long as the agreement you made with them permit that but while all the downloaders are having thier balls busted over nonsence I'm just gunna throw the disc in a presto! I have my game or movie back. Besides we all know what happens when you use up to much of your available space, you system will progressivly slow down and when your at max capacity you will have to delete something. I happen to be a big supporter of bieng able to keep everything I pay for how about you?
On PSN your account has a transaction history, you have a set number of activations you can use on every piece of content purchased. The activations are based on your console's unique system identifier.
So even if your console dies, you can still activate a second console and re-download the content without charge.
You all have to remember one thing here. This is not about download speeds it's about capacity. If consoles come to an end everyone who plays games will not only have to have a computer but one with at least a terrabyte (if you play the way I do). If systems leave you will still need to purchase hardware this will not help us as the consumer but only the businesses themselves. I personally think it is also a good thing to have a hard copy of anything you buy. Movies and games have largely been downloaded and there are still majy flaws with this. Should your computer or console break you will lose all you downloaded. Sure you could call the companies and request another download as long as the agreement you made with them permit that but while all the downloaders are having thier balls busted over nonsence I'm just gunna throw the disc in a presto! I have my game or movie back. Besides we all know what happens when you use up to much of your available space, you system will progressivly slow down and when your at max capacity you will have to delete something. I happen to be a big supporter of bieng able to keep everything I pay for how about you?
i actually welcome wut Kojima predicted, universal platform for all games, that way, developers no longer need to focus on the type of consoles, just put all focus on making a great game and software. this actually makes sense and will work perfectly, no more consoles wars, lets all just look for great games, isnt this wut gamers want?
however, i dont want the digital forms of games, i still prefer games in physical forms, still with cover art, boxes, manuals, guides, etc.
so in short, universal platform but release games in physical forms.
Last edited by BigBoss4ever on 4/8/2010 2:08:58 PM
Universal platform? OK. How often should it update? Who decides how much it costs? What's to stop someone making theirs better with a faster chipset or some other 'extra'? Who decides what goes into the box? Who controls content delivery? Who's network is it? Is there only one network? Is that a monopoly? What's to stop them from abusing their position? How do companies making the standard consoles compete with each other? How do they get you to buy their version of the standard instead of someone else's identical version? If they can only compete on price because the features are locked, that will make profit margins on them razor thin. Where will the money for developing new features and the next generation of console come from if there is no profit to be made?
Net Neutrality hopes not looking great…
I don't see high speeds in our future…
even speeds equivalent to the high speeds in other areas of the world now!
I also don't see who or what would bring about the end of consoles to one common delivery system… competition drives progress, variety inspires innovation. All this talk of one system, no multi-consoles is bunk.
I don't see it happening ever. Tell me one consumer product (semi-comparable in terms of customers etc.) that started out as a few and finished with just one. Gaming has evolved from whatever the first system/platform was to the "big 3" it is now. It is worth mentioning that the 'Rule of 3' is real… (google that or magic number 3 in sales or business)
Look at the auto industry… Sony, Nintendo, M$ are not going anywhere. And if we did lose one, I think it would be because they were run out by another company (see: Sega Dreamcast).
No offense to all the Sega fans out there, but Sega ran themselves out of the console business.
No, we need multiple consoles, otherwise a company who has the monopoly, doesn't ever have to do another thing to keep up with the forward thing, or even upgrading.
Think, MS already want's to rule the world, so you should fear this 1-universal console only idea, as much as I do.
Dude, we should start a website or something, I've always hated this idea for all the reasons stated in this thread.
PHYSICAL COPIES ONLY
I hate digital downloads
I kinda don't like digital downloads. I guess that's why I made sure to get a psp 3000.
Also I hate the idea of server consoles or whatever there called.
Anyway I would miss my cases.