毒瘤:今年的市场主流将是掌机.

Handhelds drive games market, says Enix chiefBy Mariko Sanchanta in Tokyo
Published: June 10 2007 23:32 | Last updated: June 10 2007 23:32

Powerful next-generation consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation 3 are mismatched to the gaming environment and handheld game devices are set to dominate sales this year, according to the chief executive of one of Japan’s leading game developers.

Yoichi Wada, chief executive of Square Enix, said the demographics of gamers have undergone a sea change in the past few years, forcing software developers to shift their strategies accordingly.

“There is a new breed of gamers in the market – we have to make games for all kinds of people,” said Mr Wada, in an interview with the FT. “In the old days, we could just focus on the PlayStation or the GameBoy, but the environment has changed completely.”

In an abrupt turnround for the company, Square Enix announced this year that Dragon Quest IX, the latest instalment in its successful franchise, would only be produced for Nintendo’s handheld DS machine. The move was groundbreaking, as previous Dragon Quest instalments were made primarily for the PlayStation and PS2.

“We chose the Nintendo DS because the widest array of people use it, including people who previously did not play games before,” said Mr Wada.

Nintendo has sold more than 35m DS portable game-players globally, and is set to sell 22m units this year. In contrast, Sony aims to ship 11m PS3 consoles this year.

Software makers are hedging their bets as a clear winner among next-generation consoles has not yet emerged, and in light of this trend, companies such as Sony are focusing much more on in-house software development.

“Management [at game developers] are making decisions on a pure economic basis these days,” said Jay Defibaugh, analyst at Credit Suisse. “You are putting a lot of risk on the table if you develop an exclusive [title] for the PS3.”

Mr Wada said certain next-generation consoles were over-engineered for today’s gaming environment.

“There are too many specs – and you also need a high-definition TV, a broadband connection and a deep knowledge of gaming – these consoles are mismatched to today’s environment. In a year or two years they will fare better,” Mr Wada said.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007


文章要点
Sony的Playstation3和Microsoft的XBOX360跟目前的游戏环境不符.掌机市场将是今年的主流.
SQUARE ENIX想要开发各种不同类型的游戏以应对不同的新玩家.比如NDS的『DS Style』系列
选择让『勇者斗恶龙IX』登陆NDS是因为这是目前最流行的，最多人使用的游戏平台.而且还包括了从未接触游戏的NU.
Credit Suisse的Jay Defibaugh说道：开发商如果只开发PS3的游戏，那将会有很大的风险性.商人还是以眼前的利益为主的...
和田洋一表示次世代的标准太高，你不仅需要一台能插到1080P的TV.还要有一个很好的网络环境等等...这跟现在的游戏环境不符.不过，这个现状将在一年后或者两年得以改善.