Victim of Culture

One console to rule them all, or in the darkness bind them

David Jaffe, designer of such madcap romps as Twister Metal and God of War, thinks there might be merit to a one console platform. Does this maverick know no bounds with his heresy?

To be fair, Jaffe is not advocating one unified console platform as much as he is waxing philosophically about it. He questions whether the competition between the hardware manufacturers really does much to benefit gamers, or simply themselves. He’s updated his original blog post a few times now, including explanations of how a consortium of big name developers such as Electronic Arts, Capcom, Square, Ubisoft, and others could make such a fantasy a reality. He even defends against the idea that this would simply be the 3DO2 (or 3DO 360 if Microsoft made it). There’s been some negative reaction, especially to his assertion that it would be the equivalent of the standardized DVD, VHS, and television broadcast formats. And he’s right, because of the nature of the format.

Unlike with unified home video formats, which often are fought out, video games are a uniquely home format. Ever since the death of the arcade in the 1990s, it isn’t like there’s some other first-run format for a video game other than your PS3, Xbox 360, or Wii. Want to play the newest Madden? Your only bet is to buy the full game, or perhaps rent it. This is quite different from film, where you actually have a wide variety of avenues. There’s theatrical release, pay-per-view, pay cable (such as HBO), broadcast TV, DVD, etc. Several different stops await a film along its distribution path before it runs out of new ways to generate revenue. Video games, on the other hand, essentially have one.

Yes, this has changed in recent years as classic compilations and digital delivery systems such as Steam and Xbox Live Marketplace have entered the market, but essentially the bulk revenue from a game still originates with its original release at retail. Now, imagine if films only played at Lowes movie theatres, or viewable on Sony televisions. Sure, there are the occasional exceptions such as art house films openly exclusively in big cities, but generally if you want the content it’s there for you. With video games, it simply isn’t. Want to play Mario? Buy a Wii. Otherwise, the game simply won’t work.

Many home video enthusiasts cheered on the recent win by Sony’s Blu-Ray format. Their reasoning was that a unified format meant more consumers would jump on board a high def optical disc format, and in the end might lead to one of the two rival formats actually surviving. Even those who thought a long, drawn out feud was best still welcomed the arrival of dual format players. So, why not with video games? It may not be plausible for one format to rule them all, but it’s almost certainly preferable.

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