The Video Game Critic

[QUOTE=Segatarious]  I honestly do not understand this 'one console standard' argument.

The videogame industry is not like the DVD industry - and the DVD industry has several 'standards' and always will. VCR, Betamax, DVD, Blueray, etc etc etc.

And those are just simple recordings. Videogames are not recordings. They are programs. They have different requirements and hardware targets that are constantly changing and/or being refined.  And a multitude of control inputs.

So are you going to force Nintendo to put their games on a universal format? Why should they? They can do it at any time, if they wish. Same with any other company - that is their prerogative. You have no legal bearing at all to force them to do anything, and they have no incentive to bring out a 'universal format'  on their own.  Every game company choose where they want to put their game, what is wrong with that?

What about tablet and cell phone games - they make up a TON of this industry -  should that also be a universal standard? Take the TV off the wall and use it as a touch screen? Oh wait, it was not built for that. So - mandate ever console has a Wii U tablet as a primary controller? Really???? Is this realistic at all?

Like I say, the closest thing is PC.  Go wild! It is not universal, but as close as you can get.....

I think the game industry is too standardized already, and that is one more reason for the glut of generic games. [/QUOTE]

PCs are not a standard, as they exist as a distribution of differently spec'd machines.   Mobile games are improving, but they are mobile devices, and so will always be limited to batteries and miniaturized sizes even if they decide to integrate better controls like they did for keyboards.  No, we are talking about a full featured plugged into the wall video game console standard.  No one is talking about legally making anyone do anything.   Its probably not illegal to produce home video on HD-DVD or Beta or LaserDisc, but why would you?  All those things you mentioned - VHS, Beta, etc - were either consecutive standards or competing ones, and one almost always killed the other off.  The consumers eventually chose the winner, and shunned the rest.  Why not here?  The home video market did not need more than one standard, and neither does the home video game market.  Controls are also outside the scope.  Like I wrote before, the home video game market did have a universal standard in generation 1 - many of those pong era machines had the exact same chip in them.  What differed were features like...tada...the controls.   Got a game that needs a different controller?  That's fine too, as that's done now too, such as racing sims.  

+1 to everything Scotland said.

Hardware exclusivity simply isn't good for the consumer. It's only good for the corporations.

VHS was the standard, but now it's obsolete. Sony Beta made a bid for the successor standard, but it failed. DVD succeeded VHS, and Blu Ray succeeded DVD.

If this 'idea' is such a 'good thing' and 'great idea' why does it not make any sense? What standard?

This is not so hard to understand guys, game consoles are nothing like TV, DVD players or dishwashers.

Why aren't baseball stadiums standardized???? Hickey stadiums are. So are basketball stadiums, and football stadiums.

Why not baseball???? Because creativity.....

Asking for a standardized game ssytem is like asking for every novel or movie to fit a generic standard.

[QUOTE=Segatarious]Asking for a standardized game ssytem is like asking for every novel or movie to fit a generic standard.[/QUOTE]

No, it would be like having every novel be compatible with a Nook, or at the worst, that every novel had to be printed on 6" by 8" paper and be no more than 1000 pages long (for example.) The content could be just as diverse as ever, it just needs to fit in the right shaped "container."

By the way, I'm not in favor of this. I like different shaped "containers."

[QUOTE=Segatarious]If this 'idea' is such a 'good thing' and 'great idea' why does it not make any sense? What standard?  This is not so hard to understand guys, game consoles are nothing like TV, DVD players or dishwashers...Asking for a standardized game system is like asking for every novel or movie to fit a generic standard.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the replies, Segatarious. 

Going from your novel and movie analogy, how about this - a video game console standard is like a standardized language.   If instead of having to spend hundreds of extra dollars to buy a Nintendo console to play their games, what if you had to learn Japanese to play them?    Would that makes sense?  Certainly Japanese can express ideas English cannot, but in the end, its like having a different controller.  Its not the root of the issue, just a facet.  No.  You demand a standardized (for your region) language to play your games.  You don't want to walk into Game Stop / Juego Interuptcion / Venatus Desine or whatever and see different areas for Games In English / Games in Spanish / Games in Latin / whatever.  Good grief / Dios Mio / Deus Bone!  

No, its not that hard to understand.  Just like a common standard language helps commerce, then a common video game console standard would help consumers.

Well, what about these online services?

Except for Nintendo, they are all payed subscription based now, regardless if your new system has any games you play online, or would want to. So what about that?

Every game console is its own unique ecosystem, for a variety of reasons. I do not see the parallels with DVD.

Netflix offers ONLY CONTENT that they have paid a license or royalty for. As does Amazon Prime. That is common sense. Sometimes their libraries over lap, but always they will offer content the other does not. What of it? This 'one console format'  is like asking Amazon to play any TV series or movie you could ever think of. That's fine, that's great, the more the merrier - but - that's not what the product is. You do not have a valid or realistic expectation here.