The Benny (Macho)

As news go it's not particularly surprising that EA would rather not have to develop and port across multiple systems. Rather than just a unified console though EA's Gerhard Florin wants a completely open one. From the BBC:
An open system would presumably mean not having to go through Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo to get it published on a system (saving EA the money money that entails), but the benefits aren't so clear for the console manufacturers themselves, especially if, as Florin puts it, "Gaming will just require potentially a £49.99 box from Tesco made in China with a hard drive, a wi-fi connection and a games engine inside. It's basically a boiled-down PC."

Less unlikely (though still hardly probable) would be the big three joining together to launch a single, closed system. Microsoft genuinely seem to value the Live/Marketplace side of things over the hardware, Sony are very much interested in pushing the hardware and Nintendo's focus this time round has been games and innovative controls. In theory none of these primary interests clash as much as in previous generations, but you'd still be talking about splitting the money across three different companies. Nintendo, for one, would be unlikely to favour running huge losses in hardware development and clearly don't believe in open online gaming, while Microsoft and Sony don't seem to be in any danger of becoming bedfellows any time soon.

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Gabriel013

This guy is crazy imo. Sounds to me like he spends 24/7 thinking "how can I squeeze every last cent." Though this kind of thinking is how you keep a business making a profit he seems to be thinking too simplistically. It's almost like he want the sales but only wants to pay a couple of guys and their dog to spend a few hours developing a game. Seems to sum up the overall EA ethos.

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Darth Koth

Indeed, without competition I think things would get a little flat if you know what I mean, just look at the state of PC gaming

and if EA want to make more money why don't they make some decent games with decent framerates, the framerate on Tiger Woods is starting to get on my nerves, twice its stopped me from beating Tiger now. grr

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Gabriel013

That's just your punishment for using the 3 click system

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