| Discussion
Developers Roundtable:
The Future of Simulations - Part 4
After the 2005 E3Expo we ran a series
of discussions (linked on our homepage) on The
Future of Simulations where we asked the SimHQ Staff
for their thoughts on the state of the simulations industry.
We'll now follow-up those discussions from the developers
point of view. As a reference, you should also read this SimHQ
2000 two-part interview series available in .pdf here
and here
to see the PC simulation industry's leaders point-of-view
from five years ago.
Our Panel of Participants
Consoles, Controllers and Other Hardware
SimHQ:
At this year's E3Expo some of us got a chance to see early
console titles being shown on the soon to be released Xbox
360. Watching this many of us wondered how long it would take
for a really good flight sim to make it to a console. With
your experience working in the industry, try to predict how
far away the first real flight sim is on a console
based system.
David
(Matrix Games): A year or less I would imagine, but those
will be ports. The fact is there are other problems that hamstring
consoles when compared to PCs. For instance, the need to purchase
a good joystick or other peripheral devises to make the game
more realistic and playable. I believe these other factors
will make it take much longer before we see a VERY successful
console flight sim.
Rick (XSI): I
think the next version of MSFS will be released as a hybrid
for both the PC / Xbox console markets, and a few lucky simmers
will be playing the MSFS Xbox 360 version of flight simulator
on a 50” HD plasma screen sooner than you think. It remains
to be seen if high fidelity combat sim will be viable on the
console in the near future, but I am sure we will find out.
Julian
(XSI): I guess that requires a qualitative
assessment on what constitutes a “real flight sim”.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a flight sim on the
level of say LOMAC appear on a console within the next 2 years.
Nils
(eSim Games): I'm skeptical if it's going to happen at
all. It clearly is not a matter of technical feasibility.
Consoles provide sufficient processing power, and games have
shipped with elaborate controller sets. The question is, is
there a team that is large enough to get a development license
for a console, and do they think that the market chances are
high enough to make a decent profit. But that's the catch.
Developing console titles is a costly venture. Most development
decisions depend on the expected total profit of a title,
and given the choice between a low-risk "me too"
game and a high-risk innovation, the typical choice is to
minimize risks. Therefore I think that the entire market structure
of console titles favors mass-compatible games. And here simulation
games tend to draw the short stick.
Steve
(Battlefront): If it can't be done cheaper and quicker
than a "fake" flight sim, probably never. The problem
is that consoles are SO VERY expensive to get onto. A few
guys working their hearts out in their basements won't have
this venue as a development option. Again, it all comes down
to economics, and the current thinking is almost universally
that realism isn't worth the effort.
SimHQ:
What would you see as the major advantage of developing
a simulation onto a next generation console? Would the potential
benefits (stability, only one or two types of hardware to
program for, fewer patches) outweigh the disadvantages (limited
storage, TV fidelity, potential lack of interest among the
console players)?
 Steve
(Battlefront): See the previous comment. It just doesn't
seem economically viable to get onto the platform and into
the marketplace, so the rest is irrelevant.
Chris
(Lead Pursuit): Accessibility to a much greater market
would be the key advantage. Console technology is not cutting
edge, by the time the next gen consoles are released, their
visual hardware will be surpassed by the latest video cards
for PCs. Even parallel CPU processing is currently here and
now with PCs.
David
(Matrix Games): The largest advantages for a console developer
is stability and very low post-release maintenance. This will
eventually greatly outweigh the disadvantages as next gen
consoles will have large capacities for CDs and hard drives,
are all HDTV compatible, etc. The problem will be more in
making it playable without having to spend twice the cost
of the game on peripherals.
Julian
(XSI): There are certainly quite a number
of advantages, IMHO the two biggest are that you only have
to program for and support one hardware configuration, the
second being the fact the consumer is able to essentially
plug it in and play. The biggest disadvantages in my view
are the fact that the sim and the hardware will not grow between
releases. The user and the developer are limited by the hardware
which quickly gets left behind by PC's in regards to capabilities
until the next generation of console is released. For this
reason I see simulations on consoles appealing to the casual,
short term market, but not to the longer term "hard core"
simmers.
Rick
(XSI): There are many advantages for the console game
developer and user, and that’s why it continues to dominate
85% of the gaming market… it really is a much easier
and less complicated environment with its controlled standards.
The flight sim market is a tiny bit different… I will
try to articulate the fact that the PC flight simmer has several
advantages when it comes to the simulation gaming market.
Most flight simmers, but not all tend to be an older group
in their 30s and 40s that have a much larger pool of spending
power; they are capable of buying many more games than the
younger crowds, as many of them grew up playing the Commodore
64 style computers. simmers also tend to be amazingly resilient,
and most are truly loyal followers of their genre, they also
seem to a have a little extra money to burn when it comes
to latest and greatest PC flight sim accessories and games.
Console games can be extremely fun for that quick fix, but
I really think for the ultimate high fidelity gaming experience,
the vast majority of simmers will always turn to their big
inspiring powerhouse ego building PC’s. Consoles may
catch up technology-wise momentarily, but it’s always
the computer that eventually blows past them in power and
performance, at least for now… but again the console
market is tremendously profitable with its predetermined set
of hardware rules. Our continued devotion to the PC is what
might ultimately help save this genre after all.
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