14 DAY TRIAL // Current video game consoles like the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 will continue to be the "gold standard" for the industry, at least according to GameStop's president, Tony Bartel, who believes they'll withstand the assault of streaming services like OnLive or Gaikai.
The games industry is facing some serious changes in the near future, as customers can now choose from regular old platforms, like the PC or video game consoles, but also online services like Gaikai or OnLive which stream the actual gameplay to any device capable of receiving it over the Internet and displaying it.
Despite these major changes, GameStop president Tony Bartel believes, via Industry Gamers, that consoles are going to continue being the "gold standard", even if the increase of bandwidth and Internet accessibility are going to allow gamers to try out such online services.
"We continue to believe that the console is a strong platform and will continue to be the gold standard. People will begin to digitally download first a lot more downloadable content. Eventually, full games will become more relevant to some consumers who want to do that. Then we think that streaming will continue to grow. As you get additional bandwidth, we think that it’s going to become more prevalent over time, which is why we’ve invested in it."
Bartel believes that, with the help of GameStop and with more and more people getting interested in downloadable content, the market will grow from the $3 billion (2.2 billion euros) in revenue it earns today to around $6.4 billion (4.6 billion euros) by 2014.
GameStop already offers quite a lot of online content in its actual stores, in the form of vouchers with codes that can be redeemed on services like the PlayStation Store or the Xbox Live Marketplace.
What's more, it has recently incorporated the newly acquired Impulse PC digital distribution service into its business model and its main website.
Do you agree with Bartel? Is console gaming going to remain popular or will other platforms, like the PC, be victorious?