Ubisoft awaiting next generation – Video Games Update
It’s seems that Ubisoft has joined the list of companies like Electronic Arts, Square Enix and Epic Games and are also against the notion of extending the current console life cycle.
It has been almost seven years since the Xbox 360 came out at the end of 2005 and the console is still alive and kicking in the market. The same goes for the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Wii which are five and six years old respectively.
All three consoles are enjoying healthy sales in the market with lots of third party support but that does not change the fact that the hardware is pretty much obsolete when compared to the latest PCs. Even some of the handhelds and mobile devices are technically
superior to the current generation consoles.
Ubisoft CEO and Co-founder, Yves Guillemot, understands that console manufacturers do not want to release a new console that quickly but he stresses that the lack of the latest hardware limits developer creativity. Microsoft and Sony are likely to ignore
these comments as the two companies are finally enjoying profits from their gaming hardware Divisions and probably don’t want to spend a fortune on beginning a new console when the old one is still selling great.
Guillemot blames the stagnation in the industry and the lack of new intellectual properties on the lack of new consoles as the Ubisoft boss said, “It's a lot less risky for us to create new IPs and new products when we're in the beginning of a new generation;
our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds -- and they are really going after what's best. ... At the end of a console generation, they want new stuff, but they don't buy new stuff as much.”
Things might turn out badly for Microsoft and Sony if the majority of third party developers shift their focus on the Nintendo Wii-U which is set to be released this holiday. The Wii-U is reportedly somewhat graphically superior to the Xbox 360 and the Playstation
3 and is capable of native 1080p resolution output. Hopefully Nintendo’s new console might force Sony’s and Microsoft’s hand to bring out their new consoles sooner than they have planned.
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