14 DAY TRIAL // With both Sony and Microsoft unwilling to talk about the next generation of home gaming consoles, one video game industry executive believes that the next big battlefield for the two companies might be gaming-oriented television sets.
Speaking to CVG, David Pery, one of the co-founders of Gaikai and the public face of the streaming service, stated, “Digital TVs are including all of that media stuff. I think the mistake that the console companies are making is not a mistake of their choice – it’s the evolution they have to go through.
“Once the other media hubs can have games – and I don’t mean Checkers, but things like Call of Duty – the public will get confused.”
He added, “With that in mind, who is able to make a TV? Sony is already making them, so it will have to take all that stuff into its TVs. So: my prediction is that Microsoft will have to make a TV. What choice do they have? There have been lots of reports that Apple has bought out a large LCD panel-making company. It’s pretty obvious that they’re on the trail too.”
At the moment neither Apple nor Microsoft or Sony has announced clear plans to create television sets that can independently play current-generation video games, like the above-mentioned Call of Duty.
Sony is working on intelligent television sets that will be able to connect to the new Sony Entertainment Network and to download content, but they are not aimed at a hardcore gaming crowd.
Nintendo is set to launch the new Wii U home console during 2012 all over the world, and analysts of the video game industry are saying that both Sony and Microsoft cannot afford to delay the launch of their own next-generation devices.
Rumors suggest that the two companies might make an official announcement at the 2012 edition of the E3 trade show.