Games consoles 'under threat', says Kojima

[Scorpio]

Telegraph Interview from Yesterday with Kojima



Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, believes that video games of the future will be delivered over the network and will be platform-agnostic
Games consoles 'under threat', says Kojima
Hideo Kojima, creator of the Metal Gear Solid franchise, says video games of the future will not be confined to consoles
By Claudine Beaumont, Technology Editor
Published: 3:33PM BST 08 Apr 2010

Kojima said that games would eventually run on networks and be platform-agnostic, enabling gamers to continue playing on the move.
"In the near future, we'll have games that don't depend on any platform," he said. "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."
Kojima was speaking at the launch of Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, the latest instalment in a franchise spanning more than two decades. He said the game ? which is exclusive to Sony's PSP hand-held games console, would be good training for his development team, allowing them to learn what elements were needed for a truly portable gaming experience.
"I looked at this in part as an experiment aimed at the future," he said.
His comments elicited a diplomatic response from Hiroshi Kawano, president of Sony's gaming division in Japan. "We hope [Kojima] continues to develop for platforms, but we deeply respect his sense of taking on a challenge," he said.
Peace Walker, which goes in sale in the UK this summer, has already won plaudits for its intricate story arc and technical capabilities. It features Snake, the hero of the Metal Gear franchise, as the head of a group of mercenary soldiers seeking to halt an invasion of Costa Rica.
Kojima said players would be rewarded for stunning and capturing enemies, rather than killing them.
More than 27 million copies of Metal Gear Solid games have been sold over the last 20 years, and key protagonist Snake is one of the most recognisable and popular characters in video game history.

Interesting words directly from the man himself, thoughts everyone?

[Flabio]

It's an easy thing to say, and pretty much everyone is saying it in the industry at the moment, but they forget that there are plenty of countries that simply don't have the infrastructure to deliver this yet. The UK included.

I can see another whole generation of machines that can do both download and retail discs before we lose them completely.

Plus the whole 'platform agnostic' thing forgets that the people that own these platforms are going to do their damndest to make sure that doesn't happen. Can you see Nintendo being interested in a single platform given how much they love to reissue the same hardware over and over?

[Scorpio]

Nintendo have no interest in a single platform they are a single platform unto themsleves...

[NW2013]

If platform-agnosticism did come to pass the main people to lose out would be Sony, Nintendo and MS. It makes sense for the developers. Nintendo would have to make sure that their software was compelling and new enough to ensure people kept buying their hardware if all of the third parties developed for a single platform (could argue they have no third parties anyway).

Agree with Flabio though that the infrastructure isn't there to support it probably for at least 5 - 10 years.

[Scorpio]

I have a X360 Elite running on my 19" HD Laptop that cost half the price of an Apple Power Book and runs everything and all apllications and has a superior operating system...

[J0e Musashi]

I have a X360 Elite running on my 19" HD Laptop that cost half the price of an Apple Power Book and runs everything and all apllications and has a superior operating system...

Yes, and?

[speedlolita]

My laptop cost 1/10th of the price of a power book. \o/

[wakka]

They stopped making Powerbooks in 2006.

And yes eventually everything will be network based but as others have said the infrastructure isn't quite there yet.

[knight_beat]

It's an easy thing to say, and pretty much everyone is saying it in the industry at the moment, but they forget that there are plenty of countries that simply don't have the infrastructure to deliver this yet. The UK included.

Yep, there's been a lot of talk of applications (games and tools) capable of scaling to various types of device, from handheld through to game console and computer over the last 10 years. Sega, Nintendo, Apple and Microsoft have all mentioned the potential for integrating gaming hardware and moving games/applications between devices, though the end result has often been less ambitious. I can remember Amiga Inc. making a similar claim to Kojima when promoting their Amiga DE (Amiga Anywhere as it was later known, or Amiga Nowhere as it is now dubbed) in 2000. The majority of companies have (in my opinion) made the mistake of taking basic applications and attempting to scale up to more powerful hardware. This is certainly a practical approach, but you primarily get a bunch of games and applications that were designed for low-powered devices and can't compete with more feature rich applications on the native hardware. Google has arguably come closest to fulfilling the vision by using the browser as a delivery platform. Applications such as Google Docs were designed to replace desktop apps, but can also be accessed and used through smaller devices.