14 DAY TRIAL // Sony insists that it has a ten-year development plan for the PlayStation 3 home console while Microsoft says that the Xbox 360, with added Kinect, can be competitive for the next few years.
But at least one industry veteran believes that the current stagnation in the video game industry can only be broken by the introduction of new gaming consoles that use new business models.
In an article published on IndustryGamers, Robin Kaminsky, who was an executive vice president of publishing at Activision Blizzard, says, “Today’s traditional games market is in trouble. The retail packaged video game market is down and has been declining for 2 years. July 2011 was the worst month since October 2006 for U.S. retail game sales.”
The former executive believes that lack of innovation is to blame and that a new console generation needs to be introduced alongside new ways of both creating and playing games.
She adds, “For traditional games to grow, I believe a new generation of consoles is needed, consoles with real innovation and the resulting onslaught of new IP and innovative gameplay. Ideally these consoles will bring a breakthrough on how games are played or what kind of game experience can be delivered.”
The new business model might be something like Gaikai, the streaming service that promises gaming on home devices without the need to actually own the game.
A number of analysts have speculated that next-generation consoles might do away with the need for physical disks and will allow all players to simply stream or download titles to their platforms.
At the moment Nintendo is working on putting the finishing touches on the new Wii U home console, which is set to be launched in 2012.
The device still uses physical media, offers current gen graphics power and a new controller that has an integrated touch screen as well as traditional controls.