I find this interesting. I dislike console titles because it offers very little in terms of creativity. More often than not the only creativity a developer can bestow upon its game is within the confines of a specific tried-and-true genre. PC gaming to me has always been the low-cost alternative to big name, wide-audience titles. It’s where ideas are born and where all famous game designers got their start. One of the bigger issues of development has always been the hardware standard.
Well, raise your hand if you’d embrace a non-proprietary, non-licensed hardware standard for game development? raises hand
The only reason I love PC gaming, despite its hobby developing nature, is it is a free exchange of ideas and risk taking.
I could see this type of console system taking off big time with many indie developers finally making that push into console development. If I’m a hardcore gamer and I agree with this move, then that should say a lot.
I really hope Acer makes the move - it would be revolutionary. On the flip side, however, my $6000 computer will be be regulated to development purposes rather than a split between both.
The news article states that they are considering, amongst other things, a “console or console-like game system”. I may be dreaming here, but I’d absolutely love something like that…
that’s not really what he said, its how it was understood. cuz if that’s what he meant, there’s a little problem of “actually making money off of the thing” that they’ll have to overcome.
I think selling the hardware at above cost could take care of that, just like any other hardware manufacturer. Not everyone has to sell their consoles at below cost like MS. But I do believe this is one of the reasons why it is still in ‘consideration’ phase. Tying more revenue into an open gaming system is hard to do - but if done right it could be achieved. It’s a niche market that gaming as a whole desperately needs. I don’t see how they couldn’t make money.
Then again, I’m not an expert in economics - I just have foundational knowledge…
sure, enthusiasts would love a machine that’s open for hacking, can install any os and is sold for a profit. problem is they all already have one, its called a pc.
everyone else who would rather pay less and have less configuration options, they have 360s and ps3s
and if no one buys it, who would make games for it?
and if no one makes games for it…who would buy it? sure they could corner the indie market…with whatever copy protection it might have or not, but no one is paying above cost to do what a pc already does.
I think they are trying to create a gap in between what’s considered a PC and what’s considered a console. The way I see it, they are trying to create a machine that is free to develop for, but still has the constraints of a regular console - things like dedicated OS, limited HDD, and built-in copy protection.
There is such limited information to go on, and I can’t do anything else but speculate. However, it is a great direction to go into. A moderately priced laptop goes for $500 these days. Without the added extras like a screen or OS I could see them selling the machine around $350.
PC is ever-changing. That’s one of the biggest issues when it comes to developing for the PC, second to only piracy. A stable, PC-like platform with assured hardware capabilities market-wide and built in copy protection could separate itself from the PC market.
Mm. I dunno. One of the major reasons I play games on PC is the mouse and keyboard interface. Two others: it’s right next to my internet computer, whereas my consoles are a few feet away, making it awkward to alternate. And I can have 100-some games installed simultaneously, so that a switch of game is a couple of clicks away. So they’d have to hit those sweet spots for me to be interested.
Also, I’m not sure it’d play in retail, and that’s something that tends to be an sales issue.
While I like the vision, I somehow fear that it would end up as yet another “but it runs Linux!” gizmo that gets:
-the usual bunch of emulator ports.
-ScummVM.
-a couple homebrew tetris clones.
And then the “community” goes onto the next niche contraption that comes out.
But yeah, I’d love to see an open mainstream console.
Can you explain this position please? Because it looks like a bunch of lunatic nonsense from the reading I’m giving it. Lately, I’d say there’s some truth to it - there’s not a massive amount of creativity on the HD consoles, as they start to resemble high-end PC games more and more, while the PC freeware scene is really awesome and full of ideas (to a slightly lesser extent, so are handhelds and the Wii). But before the last couple of years? PCs haven’t been a wellspring of imagination since the C64 era.
Oh boy, I was just looking to find a replacement for my Phantom, which is starting to show its age, and along comes Acer to fill the gap. Thanks, Acer!
Well, we really don’t know what’s inside this theoretical system. Also it’s not like it’d come out this Christmas, but be a year or two down the road at least.
