EA: "We've asked for too much time, too much skill, too much money"
Players learning from mobile, not Miyamoto; user content more important than in-house devs, says Hilleman
EA's Richard Hilleman has said that the console industry has demanded too much from the consumer, with players turning to innovation in the mobile space for their gaming entertainment.
Where once young players learned from video games designed by Shigeru Miyamoto, they now pick up lessons in play from the touch screens of iOS devices.
"I thank Miyamoto for that," he said of the Nintendo designers historical contribution to games. "But he's falling down on the job. And for the past five years that job has been taken over by a dead guy from Cupertino."
"We've asked for too much time, too much skill, and too much money, sometimes all at once," he told the audience at D.I.C.E. Europe today.
"Customers today... are generally looking for a single fabric of play. They want their game where they want it, when they want it, and at a price they can defend to other people."
He suggested that the next generation of consoles can get gamers back if it learns from new trends, where players have become content creators and the focus in development has shifted from hardware to software. According to EA research, mobile games hold the attention for 90 seconds and PC games for 90 minutes, but consoles can keep engagement for two hours at a time.
"Once I get your butt on a couch, I can get two hours for sure. That granularity means I cannot build the same game on every platform. I cannot build Battlefield on every platform."
Next generation games consoles will be more focused on updates to software and services rather than hardware specs, which will scale back the reliance on physical sales and mean the systems will be in a constant state of evolution rather than staggered over time.
"We are no longer in step function; we are in evolution," he said. "We are not changing every four years; we are in continuous change."
"Gen 4 will increasingly become a surrogate to the development of the platform overall, to the point where the hardware doesn't even matter any more."
He also highlighted the importance of user generated content and artwork in the new gaming ecosystem, suggesting that users will be just as important, if not more so, than staff employed in-house.
"Maybe these guys are the new software artists, and that means they will be the key strategic resource for the future... And they know it."
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Steve Goldman on 25th September 2013 6:19pm
So, no thanks Mr. Hilleman. I reject your one-sided vision of the future, and accept a more multidimensional one with a variety of vehicles through which to experience gaming on many levels.
Either try to ride some coattail in an attempt to reach the new audience, or try to adapt to the life reality of the old customers who did not magically stop playing games because they grew older. One choice includes the danger of alienating the old customers if new paradigms are ruthlessly applied to all products. The other choice might not seem profitable enough in the short term as it implies reconnecting with their audience first.
Or blame Nintendo for not delivering customers at EA's doorstep by educating them to only play games in the style EA is doing.
"He also highlighted the importance of user generated content and artwork in the new gaming ecosystem, suggesting that users will be just as important, if not more so, than staff employed in-house."
That really made my day :-) It reminds me when some "visionaries" predicted that YouTube will kill TV because everyone is going to watch only what other people have created. Who's interested in that final episode of Breaking Bad anyway, huh? ;-)
And as far as relying on user-generated content goes... I think we've had ample evidence since the first Doom map that Sturgeon's Law is alive and well. I don't want to have to wade through eight million tons of crap to get to the good stuff. I have enough of that with the app stores.
Edited 2 times. Last edit by Sam Brown on 26th September 2013 11:48am
Also, insulting the most singularly loved game designer in the history of our medium? Not a great way to endear yourself to people.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Sam Brown on 26th September 2013 3:43pm
"User generated contend" has been applying for a job as next killer trend... for the last 15 years.
I am surprised he didn't went for "Oculus Rift" and "Cloud Computing".
Ha, yes, and just 6 years ago, strictly no one foresaw mobile gaming becoming what it is.
Eternal respect to Miyamoto-san and long life to gaming diversity, from 30 second phone poking to 6 hours raiding!
Edited 1 times. Last edit by Nick Parker on 26th September 2013 6:47pm
Let's not talk about comparing the revenue perceived by the mobile games market, against something smaller, let's say, Pokemon sales.
Great swathes of the industry are in denial.
They refuse to see the facts in front of them.
Ostriches is another analogy which is applicable.
The problem was not asking for too much skill, it was consistently turning a blind eye to the fact there were actually different types of players in the modern core audience and many weren't motivated to play by a desire to be challenged or to master skills. And as a result, core developers consistently failed to provide those players with the preference aligned incentives and meaningful rewards they needed to remain engaged.
The problem was not asking for too much money, it was asking the same price for all games regardless of the actual quantity or the quality of the content. And then labeling consumers who complained as entitled crybabies or game illiterate.
And the big problem is collectively... these other problems negatively impacted the perceived value of core games for the majority of consumers. Which is why 7 to 8 console owners out of 10 stopped buying and playing core games years ago.
Edited 1 times. Last edit by David Serrano on 15th October 2013 9:17pm
Just sayin'.