Remember Neil Young? He said the NGP was “dead on arrival” ealier in the month? Good. Because he’s back, and he’s just as outspoken as ever.
Speaking to Industry Gamers, Mr Young, ngmoco founder, talked about the state of the current mainstream consoles with respect to digital distribution, cloud technology and networking capabilities.
“In the hardware world, I think Sony’s massively out of position,” he said. “I think they’re in trouble. I think Microsoft’s in much better shape.”
The mobile device champion stated that Microsoft understand cloud computing, said that the Xbox Live service is “world class” and have a “foothold” in mobile, even if it’s a “tenuous” one. “I think they’re in better shape,” he said, by way of clarification.
In a general sense, he’s partly right – the very definition of console gaming is changing right before our eyes, and to think that the next generation of consoles will run off disks again, with normal high-street shops playing a major role, seems archaic, at least one some level.
If it’s all about the ‘cloud’, and it’s a bit ‘if’ – the follow-ups to the PS3 and Xbox 360 could be very different indeed.
TURRICAN-808
Recent Sales figures in comparison to the XBOX360 would indicate Sony’s PS3 hardware sales are catching up XBOX360, not bad considering the one year head start by the 360. Not to mention the strong sales of cameras and PS2’s, Sony is NOT in trouble.
nofi
He’s not talking about sales. At all.
TURRICAN-808
The videogames industry is all about sales though, ‘trouble’ might be seen as loss of or lack of sales, whether digital, hardware or software
Jaffa-the-Cake
I think Nintendo are in more trouble hardware wise than Sony or MS. Now both Sony and MS have next gen motion controls to boost sales, Move is basically Wii HD and Kinect goes even further. But Wii has nothing, its sales are declining, it’s software is stagnating and they’re headed in a downward spiral. IMO they’ve missed their chance to announce a successor to the wii because even if they announce it at this years E3 people will ask why they will have to splash out on a new motion console when they can just add to their ps3/360 for cheaper.
BrainDiver
I think the the 3DS would disagree with that, at will the enormous sales it will undoubtedly achieve upon release.
BrainDiver
*as will
SlapnutzUK
I think Nintendo will release some form of 3D based handheld in the near future.
Also chicken tastes like chicken!
Sympozium
4D? the future beckons!!
skibadee
cloud verses disc the disc wins still.
Forrest_01
I really don’t want to see the end of physical media – I like my pretty collection of boxes!
I also find that purchasing something from the PSN store is a lot less exciting than buying a game from a shop & the resulting anticipation of getting the product home to give it a good thrashing.
Kenny
I agree. Also, I don’t think fast internet is widespread enough yet for an online only sales-tactic. A lot of people would not like having to wait 20-30 hours just to download a game.
jayjay119
If ever there was a combined case of fanboyist delusion, this is surely it. Whopper!
Awayze
This ngmoco company is plain stupid. I hate them and their iOS apps.
double-o-dave
I’d be a lot happier sticking with discs. Don’t like the idea of buying something which you haven’t literally got in your hand or you could lose access to or maybe even paying a monthly subscription fee which would be a rip off considering I’ve only played BCBF2 for about the last year! Besides, if my neighbours changed their wifi password I’d be f**ked! :)
Foxhound_Solid
PS3 is Ryu
360 is Ken
We all know how this will end.
double-o-dave
I think your avatar says it all!
AllTheApesEscaped
Don’t you mean 360 is Rufus?
Foxhound_Solid
Hummmmmm….
You could be onto something there, what the hell…
PS3 is Ryu
360 is Rufus.
We all certainly know, how this will end….
Shinkkkuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
grogy86
Unless the pricing of digital media comes down then disks will always win. Why would i want to buy a digital copy of a game when i could get a disk version for half the price
Smallville2106
Well, it must be true if he says so.