Why is the games industry different?
Discussion
Sorry if this is dead obvious to most people but my buying COD5 for the PS3 and my mate getting it on the 360 prompted this question: Why is the games industry different when compared to the other media industries?
What I mean is if you want to watch a film you can buy any DVD player. Lots of different manufacturers make DVD players, with lots of differing specs, features and prices but they all play the same DVD discs, regardless of who has made the machine. Same for a CD and CD players, you just pick your preferred maker and buy the best player you can afford. If you want to lend your mate a DVD or CD, you don’t both have to have the same equipment.
What stops the games producers or publishers from just making games to a standard like CD or DVD that all manufacturers can make players for? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just buy a console like a DVD player and be able to play against people on other machines?
What I mean is if you want to watch a film you can buy any DVD player. Lots of different manufacturers make DVD players, with lots of differing specs, features and prices but they all play the same DVD discs, regardless of who has made the machine. Same for a CD and CD players, you just pick your preferred maker and buy the best player you can afford. If you want to lend your mate a DVD or CD, you don’t both have to have the same equipment.
What stops the games producers or publishers from just making games to a standard like CD or DVD that all manufacturers can make players for? Wouldn’t it be great if you could just buy a console like a DVD player and be able to play against people on other machines?
Aiten said:
That's why PC gaming will always be the best.
As a long term PC gamer I agree with you.....sadly though I think PC gaming is dying, almost becoming niche. Most high street retailers are shrinking their stock of PC titles but I think this is in reaction to the lack of new titles. Don't get me wrong, there are still some fantastic titles that only really come alive on the PC - Civ, Football Manager, Total War - but it seems most dev studios are focussing on consoles.
towser said:
Aiten said:
That's why PC gaming will always be the best.
As a long term PC gamer I agree with you.....sadly though I think PC gaming is dying, almost becoming niche. Most high street retailers are shrinking their stock of PC titles but I think this is in reaction to the lack of new titles. Don't get me wrong, there are still some fantastic titles that only really come alive on the PC - Civ, Football Manager, Total War - but it seems most dev studios are focussing on consoles.
Nocebo said:
What I mean is if you want to watch a film you can buy any DVD player. Lots of different manufacturers make DVD players, with lots of differing specs, features and prices but they all play the same DVD discs, regardless of who has made the machine. Same for a CD and CD players, you just pick your preferred maker and buy the best player you can afford. If you want to lend your mate a DVD or CD, you don’t both have to have the same equipment.
Um, VHS vs. Betamax, BluRay vs. HD-DVD... I guess it's just that noone has won the console war yet.I don't think the PC is a good example of an industry standard for compatibility either... at least the average console should be able to play new releases for 2 years without needing 18 OS rebuilds, 9 billion driver upgrades and 98% of the hardware replaced. At least, that is, until Microsoft's Xbox takes over the world.
The_Jackal said:
So who is going to tell Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo that they all have to make the same console with the same hardware and code.
Thats like saying why dont Windows and Mac make a common machine that both run the same software.
Never gonna happen.
Well, Macs do run XP. It’s a shame I have an inexplicable and unprovoked hatred for them.Thats like saying why dont Windows and Mac make a common machine that both run the same software.
Never gonna happen.
The_Jackal said:
So who is going to tell Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo that they all have to make the same console with the same hardware and code.Thats like saying why dont Windows and Mac make a common machine that both run the same software.Never gonna happen.
Well, no, it's not really the same in my opinion. The consoles wouldn't all have to be the same would they? They'd jus have to share a specific component or whatever that would allow them to read the same discs, like every other CD, DVD or Blu-ray machine on the market. Apple are the one and only company who have chosen, for whatever reason, to make their machines run different software to every other computer manufacturer. Last time I looked, Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba et al were seperate companies that all made computers that, despite having different components still are all capable of running the same software. You don't need specific software for each PC manufacturer like you do console software do you? Nor do I need a Sony version of the new Ironman blu-ray disc to watch the film on my PS3 but I do need a Sony specific version of the Ironman game (except I'd never buy crap games like that, just using it as a example to illustrate my point!)sorry about the one huge paragraph, whenever I post from the PS3, it seems to remove all my line breaks!
There was also this odd Panasonic Game Cube / DVD Player: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Panasonic_Q
Nocebo said:
The_Jackal said:
So who is going to tell Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo that they all have to make the same console with the same hardware and code.
Thats like saying why dont Windows and Mac make a common machine that both run the same software.
Never gonna happen.
Well, no, it's not really the same in my opinion. The consoles wouldn't all have to be the same would they? They'd jus have to share a specific component or whatever that would allow them to read the same discs, like every other CD, DVD or Blu-ray machine on the market. Apple are the one and only company who have chosen, for whatever reason, to make their machines run different software to every other computer manufacturer. Last time I looked, Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba et al were seperate companies that all made computers that, despite having different components still are all capable of running the same software. You don't need specific software for each PC manufacturer like you do console software do you? Nor do I need a Sony version of the new Ironman blu-ray disc to watch the film on my PS3 but I do need a Sony specific version of the Ironman game (except I'd never buy crap games like that, just using it as a example to illustrate my point!)Thats like saying why dont Windows and Mac make a common machine that both run the same software.
Never gonna happen.
sorry about the one huge paragraph, whenever I post from the PS3, it seems to remove all my line breaks!
Alex said:
Alfanatic said:
whereas a prepackaged console is both cheaper to buy and will stay out-of-date for longer.
EFA.
So, you can walk into Game, buy any PC game and know that it will run perfectly on your 5-year old PC do you? As that's what I can do with my PS2, and that's what 'current' means.Nocebo said:
The_Jackal said:
So who is going to tell Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo that they all have to make the same console with the same hardware and code.
Thats like saying why dont Windows and Mac make a common machine that both run the same software.
Never gonna happen.
Well, no, it's not really the same in my opinion. The consoles wouldn't all have to be the same would they? They'd jus have to share a specific component or whatever that would allow them to read the same discs, like every other CD, DVD or Blu-ray machine on the market. Apple are the one and only company who have chosen, for whatever reason, to make their machines run different software to every other computer manufacturer. Last time I looked, Dell, HP, Sony, Toshiba et al were seperate companies that all made computers that, despite having different components still are all capable of running the same software. You don't need specific software for each PC manufacturer like you do console software do you? Nor do I need a Sony version of the new Ironman blu-ray disc to watch the film on my PS3 but I do need a Sony specific version of the Ironman game (except I'd never buy crap games like that, just using it as a example to illustrate my point!)Thats like saying why dont Windows and Mac make a common machine that both run the same software.
Never gonna happen.
sorry about the one huge paragraph, whenever I post from the PS3, it seems to remove all my line breaks!
Even so, you still get PC's and MAC's (not to mention Sun's etc..) - you still have software than can only run on Windows or Linux etc...
So while PC's are more generic, dont get fooled into thinking its any sort of love-fest, its just manufacturers and programmers going after specific markets.
When it comes to consoles - its no different really - its just a specific piece of hardware built for a specific purpose - to write a game for it you need a coding license from microsoft or sony, which gives you access to the structures to know 'how to' write to the console.
This is no different to writing a program for windows or mac, or linux etc...
The simple fact is, all consoles would need to have the same base system and coding structure for them to be able to run the same games (which is what PC games basically have - you cant lend your PC game to your mate with a MAC and vice versa), and getting them to agree on a base code means agreeing on a base hardware which removes competitive advantages, which means they will have to fight on price, which means less profit...
deckster said:
Alex said:
Alfanatic said:
whereas a prepackaged console is both cheaper to buy and will stay out-of-date for longer.
EFA. So, you can walk into Game, buy any PC game and know that it will run perfectly on your 5-year old PC do you? As that's what I can do with my PS2, and that's what 'current' means.Alfanatic said:
Um, VHS vs. Betamax, BluRay vs. HD-DVD... I guess it's just that noone has won the console war yet.
Be interesting to see sales statistics of xbox360 vs PS3. I don't know anybody who has a PS3 and that includes my mate who has a pathological hatred of anything mainstream (you know, the kind of guy who has an apple mac and a fiat, drinks beer you've never heard of and only wears clothes from obscure websites). jollygreen said:
Alfanatic said:
Um, VHS vs. Betamax, BluRay vs. HD-DVD... I guess it's just that noone has won the console war yet.
Be interesting to see sales statistics of xbox360 vs PS3. I don't know anybody who has a PS3 and that includes my mate who has a pathological hatred of anything mainstream (you know, the kind of guy who has an apple mac and a fiat, drinks beer you've never heard of and only wears clothes from obscure websites). Gassing Station | Video Games | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff