Monthly Archives: September 2012

Train2Game News: Games industry speculation about ‘spectacular’ new consoles

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GAMESTOP CEO Paul Raines expects a next-gen console next year with another to follow in 2014.

On top of that EA – one of the largest games companies in the World says we should look forward to the gaming future.

Paul Raines speculates that Microsoft’s Xbox 720 and Sony’s Playstation 4 will not both be coming out in 2013 like previously thought. One will be released in 2013 with the other following in 2014.

Which comes first remains to be seen.

Mr Raines said “This week, I’m getting a lot of rumours that are very interesting about 2013 but we have not been expecting two more consoles in 2013.

“We’re expecting Wii U this Christmas, another console next year, and another one in ’14. These rumours change every week, but we’re hearing more about next year.”

EA Labels president Frank Gibeau has said the number of gamers has raised exponentially. 10 years ago there was an estimated 200 million worldwide. Now the number is estimated at almost 2 billion.

He added that EA has several new IPS in the works ready for launch with the next-gen consoles.

Mr Gibeau said “The time to launch an IP is at the front-end of the hardware cycle, and if you look historically the majority of new IPS are introduced within the first 24 months of each cycle of hardware platforms. Right now, we’re working on three to five new IPs for the next gen.

“When you launch a new IP it needs to do something really, really remarkable, and that’s easier to do when you have a new set of technology that gives you novel capabilities.

“I’ve seen the machines that we’re building games for, and they’re spectacular.”

Train2game News: Valve opens up to hardware in boost for games industry

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Valve LogoVALVE is looking for more staff to work on something which could confirm rumours about them moving into computer hardware.

It emerged today that speculation about Valve starting to create hardware appears to be true following adverts for staff on there site. Valve, which makes games such as Half-Life, certainly are no strangers to experimenting with new ventures.

This attitude has led to them creating highly inventive games such as Portal, the versatile Source Engine and the online game platform Steam.

Valve has always been about making things better in the gaming world, whether it’s for gamers or games developers, veteran and student alike. They have always encouraged modding for budding games developers and often employ talented, promising students. Now it seems they want to take it further with creating new hardware for PC, opening up more ideas for games developers.

Valve said: “Open platforms like the PC and Mac are important to us, as they enable us and our partners to have a robust and direct relationship with customers.

“We’re frustrated by the lack of innovation in the computer hardware space though”

“Even basic input, the keyboard and mouse, haven’t really changed in any meaningful way over the years. There’s a real void in the marketplace, and opportunities to create compelling user experiences are being overlooked.”

What is being created still remains to be seen but there are rumours of a “Steam Box” which could be some sort of console. However, from what Valve says about input methods it sounds like they are looking in to peripherals for PCs.

This is one to watch to see how it develops.