Ubisoft Wants New Consoles Sooner Rather than Later

[Shawn Zipay]

Ubisoft's CEO, Yves Guillemot, has gone on record as saying that the industry has been "penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market." Despite the risks with bringing out a new console, Guillemot still feels as though the world is past due for something new and exciting.

"What we missed was a new console every five years. We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market. I understand the manufacturers don't want them too often because it's expensive, but it's important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity.

"It's a lot less risky for us to create new IPs and new products when we're in the beginning of a new generation. Our customers are very open to new things. Our customers are reopening their minds -- and they are really going after what's best. ... At the end of a console generation, they want new stuff, but they don't buy new stuff as much. They know their friends will play Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed so they go for that. So the end of a cycle is very difficult."

But what about the Wii U? Guillemot expresses his brief opinion on what Nintendo will soon bring to the table.

"I think Nintendo has very often surprised us, so you never know. I think they've created something good, if the customer uses everything they have created, I think we can see a good success with that machine. That type of collaboration can be fun and also challenging at the same time. It's something has never been done before. ... Those guys are taking lots of risks with the games they create -- and they're extremely successful."

"Nintendo is very family oriented. It's a different demographic, so we can't say one machine will be more important than the other."

(via Gamasutra)

[cikame]

Wouldn't developing for current consoles be cheaper due to familiarity? Also due to a larger install base wouldn't there be more gamers buying games for current consoles over one that had just been released?

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Ubisoft Wants New Consoles Sooner Rather than Later

Wouldn't developing for current consoles be cheaper due to familiarity? Also due to a larger install base wouldn't there be more gamers buying games for current consoles over one that had just been released?

Yes.

Its also a fine balancing act. The longer you keep a particular generation, the more outdated it gets.

Of course, I think this is just the industry helping to justify the big three releasing a new console. After every console release there is a huge amount of "why do I have to buy yet another console to play crappy games" in everything.

[Vreki]

Re: Ubisoft Wants New Consoles Sooner Rather than Later

[indent]"What we missed was a new console every five years. We have been penalized by the lack of new consoles on the market. I understand the manufacturers don't want them too often because it's expensive, but it's important for the entire industry to have new consoles because it helps creativity.

B.S.
The reason they need new consoles is that they want to use their graphic power to sell us yet another iteration of the same old stale stuff that they have been feeding us for years.
Staying on the old consoles, on the other hand, would mean that they would have to come up with new and interesting gameplay instead of just polishing the same old turd.

[CptainCrunch]

Re: Ubisoft Wants New Consoles Sooner Rather than Later

Ohoh, someone is disgruntled with the lack of creativity.

Hey, not related to creativity at all, the new Total Recall will be coming out soon.