I see no reason why multiplayer could not be cross-platform other than MS/XBOXlive and/or PSN denying it. The only thing needed to be sent over the wire is coordinates for characters their statuses etc which should be identical for ANY platform.

Just wanting x-platform multiplayer is not a valid reason to wish for a single console market.

3rd Party publishers would have to discuss options with both MS and Sony to get this to work. I doubt that they will be on board for this as there is no incentive for either one of these companies to allow this to happen. If you want to play a game with your friends you will try to persuade your friends to buy the game for the system that you both have or try to persuade them to buy a particular console. IF 3rd party games were x-platform then this incentive would be lost.

FreeTalkLive said: KBG29 said: A one console future is not a monopoly though. In fact a one console future is less monopolistic than the current model of this industry. Why is it so hard for people to understand this?   Maybe the same reason I don't think war is peace or slavery is freedom?  I could also say Nintendo is an airline company or Sony makes great peanut butter.  Saying the same wrong thing over and over doesn't make it accurate.

Spoken like someone who still does not understand what we are talking about.

It is one set standard platform, but multiple manufacturers with slight variations, multiple software companies, etc.

This is not a monopoly.

 

As long as Nintendo produces it, especially the controllers...

Seriously, Nintendo will never go 3rd party, they'd stop making games, so I'm glad it will never happen.

nightsurge said: FreeTalkLive said: KBG29 said: A one console future is not a monopoly though. In fact a one console future is less monopolistic than the current model of this industry. Why is it so hard for people to understand this?   Maybe the same reason I don't think war is peace or slavery is freedom?  I could also say Nintendo is an airline company or Sony makes great peanut butter.  Saying the same wrong thing over and over doesn't make it accurate. Spoken like someone who still does not understand what we are talking about. It is one set standard platform, but multiple manufacturers with slight variations, multiple software companies, etc. This is not a monopoly.

Actually perfect competition like that would be as far away from a monopoly as you could get.

 

Squilliam said: mike_intellivision said: I think the argument that KGB made is close to how Trip Hawkins tried to sell the 3DO. That did not have a long shelf life. Why should we only one type of console? We have different types of cars. A minivan and a Ferrari have very little in common -- except both will get you from Point A to Point B burning gasoline (petrol) on four tires (tyres). A single console world as described by Squilliam might be great for many gamers, but had such a world existed, we would have no Wii. It is doubtful the market expands. It is doubtful we have motion control. Monopolies tend not to be innovative because they don't have to be. Oligopolies (which we have in most industries) tend to be innovative because it is the only way to win market share. Mike from Morgantown I think you have your analogies on backwards. If you want to make a car analogy the cars would be the games people played and the road would be the console to play them. Just because the roads are provided by a government monopoly doesn't mean that they aren't designed to cater to the needs of people. When there is a monopoly in gaming, some of the very best games are produced. We have people waxing lyrical about the quantity and quality of the games produced for the PS1, PS2, SNES etc which were the monopolies of their day. Its because game developers can target the biggest market and therefore potentially get the highest return for riskier product development. As for innovative controls such as the Wiimote. Theres nothing that says that had we had a single console existance that something like the Wiimote wouldn't have been produced. Game publishers like EA could very well ask for something like the Wiimote, third party companies can still make them and find traction -> see Guitar Hero for referrence and all console manufacturers knew that many people would simply refuse to pick up the typical console controller. Nintendo was the first to do something about it.

Those Guitar Hero controllers are only used by guitar games and will never be used by any other games. Most of those controllers are bundled with game anyway. And for every other game, user base would still be too small even if it were usable with them. Even balance board user base is still considered too small to make games which require balance board (this may change though). So I don't think that is very good example. Third parties generally don't support new controllers unless almost every console owner has it (well, at least over 50%). For new type of innovative controller to find traction in unified platform, it should be bundled with several games and consoles.

As for another reference, check your PC. Current PC keyboard layout was created in 1984 and only 2 buttons have been changed in layout after that ("Windows" and "Menu" buttons which are only nuisance in games). Keyboard layout is not perfect or even good but people are used to it and everyone has it so few dares to change it (heck, even QWERTY was originally created to SLOW writing to avoid key jamming). And those who have tried, have always failed. There has never been a innovative controller on PC which has replaced the old controller. The same has happened with consoles as there have never been a third party controller which has replaced old controller in the middle of the generation.

Btw. Even Guitar Hero can be played without guitar controller.

 

Squilliam said: nightsurge said: FreeTalkLive said: KBG29 said: A one console future is not a monopoly though. In fact a one console future is less monopolistic than the current model of this industry. Why is it so hard for people to understand this?   Maybe the same reason I don't think war is peace or slavery is freedom?  I could also say Nintendo is an airline company or Sony makes great peanut butter.  Saying the same wrong thing over and over doesn't make it accurate. Spoken like someone who still does not understand what we are talking about. It is one set standard platform, but multiple manufacturers with slight variations, multiple software companies, etc. This is not a monopoly.   Actually perfect competition like that would be as far away from a monopoly as you could get.

Exactly, that is why I have been pushing this so hard everywhere I go, and why I was so glad to see you make this post.

I have had this idea for ages now, and it just keeps becoming more and more relevent. Hearing Dennis Dyack talk about it last year on 1upYours was music to my ears. He nailed the vision I have had since the early days of the PS2, and he did it to a T. It is my hope that him and other smaller developers will band together in the next gen and push for a single console future. If they can get the backing of EA, Activision, UBisoft, and THQ it could make things very interesting.

Take this for example, and I think I will make this a toipic of its own. What if next gen the major 3rd parties went out on a limb and decided to work around MN&S? Perhapps instead they turn to other electronics manufacturers, and say Intel and nVidia, and try to strike a deal for a single platform console. Now they get Samsung, Toshiba, Phillips, LG, Pioneer, and Panasonic all making machines to this new standard, and they stick exclusivly to this platform, and give the royalty rapests the cold shoulder. Take it even a step further and say guys like Bungie, Insomniac, and Sucker Punch decide that they are more about games, and the development community, than they are for system wars, and the rest of the crap these monopalistic companys have created. With that MS, Nin, and Sony are left to try and carve their own extreamly niche market.

Squilliam, I have toi thank you so much for getting me back on this. I think I have found a huge goal in my future. If I can get through to the gaming press I may just have the power to get the ball rolling on this. Hopefully Garnett will thropugh this into a ListenUp soon. This really could work, and finally bring gaming back to being about good games.