Got Game? (More) Interesting Lit and Other Bits (Console-Generic)

This blog post references my article 'Got game? Living-room consoles grapple for consumers eyeballs, wallets' in the December 16, 2005 issue of EDN.

As I predicted in my prior post on this topic, it took me quite some time to wade through and cull thousands (literally) of archived articles, press releases, emails and RSS feeds so that I could deliver a comprehensive-but-not-overwhelming list of links to you (the links in my prior post are a solid starting point, and I encourage you to check it out if you haven't already done so). As the title says, this post will contain information that's console-generic; subsequent posts will handle the Microsoft-, Nintendo- and Sony-specific data.

As soon as Microsoft and Sony's respective press briefings at E3 concluded, the Xbox 360-vs-PlayStation 3 comparisons began. Larry Hyrb ('Major Nelson', from Microsoft) took a stab at the analysis, with a four-part post, as did Richard Huddy from ATI (note, both individuals are presumably Xbox 360-'friendly' by virtue of their employers…Huddy's post-Xbox 360 intro comments are here). Anand Lal Shrimp also provided comparative commentary; a controversial followup post from AnandTech entitled 'Microsoft's Xbox 360 & Sony's PlayStation 3 - Examples of Poor CPU Performance' (dialogue from Ars Technica is here, from Slashdot is here) was quickly pulled but not before someone on Slashdot re-posted it (with pictures here).

What do game developers think of the latest generation of consoles? This Slashdot post critiques John Carmack's (id Software) opinions, while this one discusses Gabe Newell's (Valve) thoughts. My article talked about the changing demographics and shrinking population of traditional 'gamers'; Sony's Phil Harrison echoes the trends and the consequent need for hardware and software suppliers to adapt in order to survive. Here's some Slashdot dialogue on an analyst survey of this topic, and here's Slashdot's thoughts on the potential for turning the growing elderly population onto games.

At the end of October, Ars Technica reviewed and critiqued what data was known about the three console contenders at that point (the Slashdot dialogue is here, and a mid-December revisit of the topic is here), while an early-November Ars Technica post tackled the feasibility of cross-platform software development in the face of increasingly divergent hardware features. Code reuse is particularly desireable given that, as my article points out and a mid-November Slashdot discussion reiterated, game development is a huge financial gamble. Speaking of finances, a series of Slashdot posts beginning in early December painted a gloomy picture, at least in the short term:

• Analysts Lower Publisher Projections
• No Blockbuster Titles in 2005?
• EA Earnings Down, Talks Next-Gen Issues

In response, game publishers are following in the footsteps of their music and movie peers by (incredibly foolhardily, in my opinion) exploring ways of suppressing or eliminating the sales of pre-owned games (re-read the discussion on Sony's patent in the PlayStation 3 portion of my article if you need a refresher). From a development complexity standpoint, take a look at recently-published sound-centric articles in Electronic Musician and Mix magazines. On a less serious note (unless, I suppose, you're the one who's competing against a console for someone's attention!), Slashdot explored the topic of 'When The Other Woman Is An Xbox'. Finally, 1up.com (via Slashdot) interviews Microsoft and Sony's head honchos post-Xbox 360 intro, and end-of-year retrospectives cover the best and worst of gaming in 2005.