Sony president: Wii is setting up devs for a fall
In a post-E3 interview with Mercury News, Sony Computer Entertainment of America’s Jack Tretton presented his two cents on the nature of software development, hinting that Nintendo’s success in the casual gaming sector could mean upset for many developers.
Rather than attacking Nintendo, the Sony boss expressed his concern about the general trends in the industry’s software development. He explained that while the Wii was onto a good thing now, by the time other developers had gravitated towards casual gaming, it might not be the ‘in’ thing anymore and they could be left without an audience:
One of the big problems of software development given the costs is that companies are slaves to Wall Street and Wall Street wants results. If you have a long-term perspective on development, you have to be thinking two years out. To build a good game, you can’t bring it to market in less than two years. If you react to what is going on here and now, you may find yourself with a different marketplace by the time you get there with the code. We have seen it time and time again. Tomb Raider was a revolutionary product on the PlayStation. Everyone tried to do a rip off. By the time they got there, it was too late. When Grand Theft Auto came out, everybody gravitated to Grand Theft Auto. Now the Wii is having success. They are touting casual gaming. Supposedly everybody is going to race over to casual games. The unfortunate thing is the fruits of those labors will show up two years down the road, and if the consumer tastes shift, they will find themselves all dressed up with no place to go.
We’re not too convinced. Although Tretton cites some good reasoning with Tomb Raider and Grand Theft Auto, they were massive success within an already-established gaming market. Nintendo, on the other hand, have broken away and capitalised on a whole new audience altogether, making it all the more likely that casual gaming will outlast just a few years. Hasn’t Brain Training and the like already proven that on the Nintendo DS?
What do you guys reckon?
He forgot the most recent example: The PS2 was #1, so developers jumped on the PS3. But now they got there and the audience has moved to the Wii or 360.
I hope no one would expect a Sony exec, whose company in the middle of letting ALOT of people go because of poor PS3 sales, to say anything positive about what is about to be his biggest competitor. Do you actaully believe he wouldn’t love to trade places with Nintendo right now??
I think he is right. People jumped on hardcore gaming years ago. Now that the 360 is flooded with hrdcore games it is losing market share. Hardcore gaming didn’t sell console games. People moved from computers to consoles to get away from PC’s. For a three or four year period console hardcore gaming ruled. Now Nintendo has captured the original console gaming market back. He has it right, he is just confused about the results.