All In One Console: Good or Bad?

SFX360:

In the age of an industry where there are three different console manufactures, things seem to get a bit crowded. The thought of there being a one console future seems like blasphemy to the nerd raging fan boys of forums everywhere, but it could be a major benefit to the industry as a whole.

The idea of a one console future is simple: just like there is a standard for HD TV’s there would be a set standard for a console per generation and anyone could make a console if they wanted too. This would be a huge leap from the current situation where hardware is completely different and it not only takes time but money as well to optimize for each console...

[MultiConsoleGamer]

A "one console market" is bad for consumers.

[L6RD7BLU3]

Monopoly effect will take place.

[MidnytRain]

Exactly, this is basic economics. If there is only one company or other collection of people providing products, they can make whatever kinds of games they want and charge however much they want for it. There would be no competition to pressure them into pleasing customers when they can throw anything in our faces and say, "It's our way or the highway."

[AcesHigh291]

Not one console market, a one tech spec per generation.

[LOGICWINS]

If it was a one console market, then where would the aspect of competition be? I like seeing companies try to outdo each other. This is good for consumers.

[Emilio_Estevez]

They would compete in software and accessories...They would also compete to sell their version of the console. Might have some other companys jump in with their version of the console....It was done before, can't remember which console it was, someone could look it up if they really wanted.

[wrath39]

Bad, causes a monopoly in the market leaving consumers at the wimb of the manufacturer.

[antauwnehart]

lol!

[Relientk77]

We need to have competition and choices

Also an all in one console would be bad for the economy and consumers

[mamotte]

We should call it "Sonintensoft"

And then, buy a PC.

[Relientk77]

Microtendony

Sintendsoft

Ninsonysoft

[SpLinT]

they wouldnt have to merge names ...this isnt dragon ball Z . Call it Nintendo

[NamelessTed]

It won't happen and we shouldn't want it to happen. What if we only had one PC? What if Linux and Mac OS didn't exist and you only had Windows and you could only have Intel? That would be a recipe for pure disaster.

What if TVs were all the same? What if we didn't have CRT, plasma, LCD, LED, OLED, and all that?

Differences in hardware and software are both absolutely necessary and inevitable. Neither the Xbox 360 nor the Wii would exist if everybody just decided to make the same thing because it is easier.

Anybody who thinks is would be better to only have one console hasn't actually thought through the whole process.

[Dsnyder]

Microsoft has had a monopoly for years in computers and look at thier quality. Viruses run rampant and new sofware is buggy as hell. Thats because M$ knows they dont really have to try. That is why the support of 360 even with RROD still alive today is perplexing to me. MS just has no work ethic or integrity anymore.

But yeah one console markets=Monopoly. Monopoly=communism. Communism=death.

[coryok]

stupid idea, no campany in their right mind would launch a console under these conditions, most of the profit is from software sales and under these conditions hardware manufacturers couldnt take any percent of revenue from software sales as all software would run on all systems

[chase167]

bad idea

[Dan50]

If they allowed AO games and didn't ban them I would be ok we need SOMEONE to say adults can play games made for them.

[Apotheosize]

A single platform? Like I dont know...the PC?

[Legion]

This author knows nothing about the gaming community nor commercialism.

How would world markets deal with this supposed agreement on one console?

I am so tired of these types of articles... they are futile and lead to Fanboy bickering and are only made to get hits on poor websites.

[SleazyChimp]

I'm glad to see that most people see this as a bad idea cuz it is. Competition drives innovation. If Sony didn't have to try and grab your attention away from MS and Nintendo(and visa/versa)they would have no drive to put cutting edge features in their system. Take Bluray for instance. If it would have been nintendos way your system would not of played any movies, if it would have been MS way you would have been stuck with the $150 Hd dvd add on BS. And you have to know that if there had been no Wii there would not have been a Kinect or Move. So long as these companies are at each others throats trying to get our money, the gamers all win! The worse thing that could ever happen would be for them to all to come together. Then you would have to buy what they put out or not play at all. I like things just the way they are thank you very much.

[thebudgetgamer]

;

[NateCole]

Nah, its stupid. The same thing with people that want all exclusive games to be multi-plat.

[jetlian]

No more fanboys! No more devs having to dumb down games to fit many skus. No more exclusive content for this/that version.

Seems like a winner to me. Less risk for major console holders(MS,SONY,NIN)

[madjedi]

" Would love it
No more fanboys! No more devs having to dumb down games to fit many skus.

Stop being a tight ass gamer, you want nintendo franchises buy a wii, sony games get a ps3, ms games get a 360. It's not that damn expensive. And you people think $599 was expensive, it will be as bad as that plus if your the only game in town why lower the price any over time, where else are the suckers going to go.

I'll take rabid ps3/360/wii fanboys(there is a ignore button) and dumbed down pc games on consoles(if it was really so bad people would just get a pc), if it keeps this nightmare scenario away.

When you have gamers from all systems saying this is a horrible idea 99% of the time they are right and your wrong.

All 3 console manufacturers are doing fine, the only thing this would do is usher in the second video games market crash, no thx.

[jetlian]

I got all the current gen systems fool. And I named valid points at that.

Biggest misconception you have is you feel competition will be no longer.... Wrong. MS sony and nin will still be fighting over who gets holiday sales.

You think sony still won't make KZ just cuz MS will have halo hell no! Another thing your missing is console pricing is based on how well the system is selling in the MARKET

So if profits are down they WILL lower its price

lets say it is 600 dollars thats cheaper than wii,ps3,360 sepratly

[blackburn5]

And whoever controls it will have us by the balls, You can't threaten to go to another console, you have to what they say and they can do whatever they want. Why? Because you either game with me or you don't game at all. Without competition they don't have to please us as much as they do now. In short you can't complain about anything. What will you do? Quit gaming? You could but how many of you will quit gaming forever? Everyone could slack off and make any junk they want and you have to buy it if you want o keep gaming.

[denawayne]

If they (the big 3) set a standard on a console format, then the competition for the games will soley be on the software makers.

[Morbius420]

you can threaten to go to the pc as more and more are doing anyway.

[denawayne]

I think most people commenting aren't fully understanding the concept of "one console" platform. The PC can be considered a "one console" platform because any manufacturer can build one including the consumer. But what makes it hard for the software industry for the PC is the fact that the PC can constantly be upgraded. I like to think of the true "one console" platform the same as the Android phone market. Before the Iphone or Android, every cell phone manufacturer had their own platform and OS. Now, it seems every other phone runs the Android system. They all can run the Android apps but it's the bells and whistles in each individual phone that set them apart.

I'm just imagining the PS4 and Xbox 720 being able to run the same game discs. Then it would boil down to which piece of hardware you prefer because of what it can do or the other can't do as well (besides playing games). I mean, isn't that what we do anyways when we buy DVD players, TV's, or cars? It would be crazy to be able to buy a car that had exclusive rights to XYZ freeway and the others didn't?

The only way to standardize console formats would be for 2 of the 3 major companies to join, make a badass console, and then license out the rights for anybody to make their own version. Then the software makers could concentrate on making one version of their game instead of 3.

It all reality, it does seem silly that their are three console formats. Doesn't the big 3 lose money on their hardware anyways? Why wouldn't Sony want to sell Killzone to all the Xbox and Wii only customers?

All I ask is if you disagree, at least give a reason why. I'm sure there are good arguments against it. (The monopoly argument doesn't make sense to me, though).

[madjedi]

First try convincing the 3 manufacturers to agree to a single (static) hardware format that is in their best interests, and get them to agree on future hardware revisions(because technology is never static) yrs in advance. A legal and business negotiations nightmare.

All three companies have a different philosophy, ms and sony are sorta similar, nintendo is off in it's own little world and terrified of online gaming and online socializing it seems.

"All I ask is if you disagree, at least give a reason why. I'm sure there are good arguments against it. (The monopoly argument doesn't make sense to me, though)."

I don't care if it could function or work hypothetically or theoretically, bottom line is not likely to ever happen, just because the 3 companies see things very differently and are in direct competition with each other. (monopoly prices and stagnating software is good enough to me)

This isn't a group of scientists competiting for a common goal, that scenario is more reasonable.

Ms and sony have more invested in game consoles than merely video games, they have expanded to the whole entertainment spectrum just about and community involvement whether user created content or social interactions. Nintendo not so much.

"It all reality, it does seem silly that their are three console formats." And what rock have you been under for the last 6+ console generations, no really you have a strange sense of reality.

Thats like saying it's silly that there is more than 1 kinda of car/truck on the road and that the parts aren't all universal. It's called a choice and/or options, just like why there is more than 1 kind of soda or bottled water on the market, you have a choice.

Again in your perfect scenario(that fails to recognise conflicting interests and points of view or assumed they are all magically solved and agreed upon) maybe but then reality says wake up.

[denawayne]

You make some valid points. I will argue the car comparison, though. What if I owned a Toyota that could only go to a gas station that supplies only Toyota compatible gas and can only drive on Toyota highways? And every other maker had their own proprietary gas and streets? Doesn't that seem silly?

[NamelessTed]

Ok, let us really compare if consoles were more like cell phones in the analogy that you used.

First off, Android isn't the only phone OS. iOS is still hugely popular as is the Blackberry OS and now Windows Phone 7 is on the scene. I personally love Android and have been using it since the G1 first came out but the cell phone market is still very split up, even more so than the console market.

Now, let us image that all the other cell phones didn't exist and every phone on Earth would only run Android. There is still a wide variety of hardware available. Some phones might have larger screens, better resolutions, faster CPUs and GPUs, different amounts of RAM, inclusion of a keyboard or dedicated gaming buttons. There is a massive variety going on.

Contrary to what you might imagine a developer doesn't just need to make a single version of the Android app and leave it at that. Android right now is actually EXTREMELY segmented because of a very wide variety of hardware and software. One game might run flawlessly on a 6 month old phone with Android 2.2 but for whatever reason runs slower on a new device running 2.3 with a different CPU in it.

If all you want is for console makers to decide on some set standards and then allow multiple manufacturers to be able to make a console device you essentially end up with a PC. There are a whole bunch of companies that make fully functioning PCs or just different parts.

I have been ranting for a while now so I will end this with one final thought. There is a lot of money to be made in the entertainment market and even if Nintendo went bankrupt and Sony and MS decided on a unified hardware spec to where we virtually only have one console some other company will see a gap in the market and will release their own thing.

[denawayne]

Good point about another company coming in and just creating a new thing. I guess it would ultimately come down to the software makers to agree to only create software for that one single platform. Will never happen.

The only reason I wish there was a single platform is because I own all 3 and it not only costs a lot but just switching controllers and interfaces blows.