14 DAY TRIAL // The President of Square Enix, Yoichi Wada, was not really impressed by the motion-control devices and the 3D technology that was presented at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo. In Wada's opinion, Kinect, Move and the Nintendo 3DS are not innovative enough to change the face of the industry, but are just logical extensions to what has happened until now.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Wada said that, “With game console input, Nintendo's DS and Wii had a dramatic effect. What was announced with Kinect is just a small extension to what is already available. So it has also reached a point where something different has to happen for next level disruptive technology. Unless Kinect becomes the interface like the one we have seen in Minority Report or it becomes so advanced that it reads brain waves, technology has jumped so much already we can't think of anything more that can be added to that.”
About 3D, Wada declared that he thought it was not the time yet and, because of that, the short-term effect would not be relevant for the industry. While the available 3D technology is not bad, it's not great either and it is still some years away from showing things that really jump out of the screen. Moreover, 3DTVs are still too expensive for the average consumer.
The real battle is fought in the realm of network connectivity. The online services that console manufacturers provide should evolve into something that permits publishers to implement whatever business models they feel are profitable. Yoichi Wada is known for his opinion that the implementation of multiplayer or, at least, social networking components in video games is what the industry should be focusing on right now. He also said that Square Enix would create an Internet platform for its games, but that it would not be similar to Valve's Steam service.