microconsole

Reflections On Microconsoles

For a time I believed that microconsoles might change the face of the games industry, but they haven't really worked out. Thoughts on why.

What Games Are: Fire TV And The “Casual Console”

Fire TV is basically doing what everybody's been saying Apple TV should be doing by now. 80% of its pitch is about having video and music from many of the usual sources. The other 20% is that Fire TV

What Games Are: The Wacky World Of Convergent Divergence

It used to be the case that developers had a binary choice between a multi-platform strategy with lowest-common denominator game ideas, or make a bet on a single platform in the hope that its unique a

What Games Are: The Perplexing OUYA Reflex

With the extended overreaction to the Free The Games fund from the development community, the question to be asked is why do OUYA and the other microconsoles consistently draw a lot of negativity from

What Games Are: Self-Publishing On Console Will Not Create The Next SuperCell. But Microconsoles Might.

It's interesting to watch Microsoft pivot to liberalize their platform and allow self-publishing for indies, but that doesn't mean Xbox will suddenly be the home of the next SuperCell. There's still t

What Games Are: The Ludophile Mindset

Like the audiophile who spends serious money on her music, the ludophile spends aplenty on games and consoles. Both want perfection. The question for the games industry, however, is whether perfection

What Games Are: Who Will Create The No-Bullshit Games Console?

For a device category whose core appeal is supposed to be making games simple, we get complex ambitions, the rush to features and a proposition that increasingly makes no sense. What is a game console

What Games Are: The Reviewers Are Wrong About OUYA

Reviews of Ouya have thus far perhaps been unfair because they tend to either rate the machine against Android devices or existing consoles, when it is neither of those. The new microconsole-style of

What Games Are: My Three GDC Themes

Women in games, the continuing rise of microconsoles and the normalizing of real money gaming. These were the three themes that I noticed most at this year's Game Developers Conference.

What Games Are: ‘Twas The Night Before GDC

The annual Game Developer's Conference rolls into San Francisco next week. The event is always worth attending if only to see what the future will bring. This year's, more than most, will be a real be

What Games Are: Consoles Are Sinking. Get To The Lifeboats!

While the Sony press event this week has largely been received as a wasted opportunity, it speaks more to the fate of the game console than the PS4. Microsoft may win the next generation, but will win

What Games Are: Why The Xbox’s $5 Problem Is Great For OUYA

The news that next-generation consoles may lock games to devices is not controversial by itself, but the willingness to price those games effectively is not historically a strength of Microsoft or Son