Ubisoft wants new console gen

By Fred Dutton Published 11 April, 2011

Old tech stifles creativity, hurts business.

The lack of new console technology is to blame for the current software sales slump as developers aren't feeling inspired to come up with creative new ideas, claims Ubisoft's CEO.

Talking in an interview with MCV, Yves Guillemot explained that although Kinect, Move and the 3DS were helpful, what the industry really needed was a new generation of home consoles.

"Yes, the accessories and handhelds are really good, but I think it would be great for the industry to take advantage of technological advancements.

"Processors are more and more powerful, graphics cards have moved on, there are many technologies that would help us deliver a better experience and help the industry to grow."

When it was pointed out that this is the longest gamers have had to wait for new hardware since Ubisoft started doing business, Guillemot replied "That's right, and that's part of the reason why the industry is in depression. Consumers like the current formats, but there is not enough creativity at the end of a cycle to really spark the business."

Elsewhere in the interview, Guillemot explained that the current industry downturn was a helpful reminder that publishers needed to be innovative to succeed.

"There was a slowdown in the market and it did put pressure on all publishers," he said. "The market fell suddenly; it went from plus 25 per cent to minus 10 per cent.

"On top of that, the DS became more competitive and more pirated and that had a negative effect on us. On the DS alone we went from €300m with a big profit to €100m with a big loss.

"But this period was a good kick in the arse for us – a reminder to do better, to be more innovative."

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (80) Latest comment 1 year ago

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  • GreatBlackthorn #1 1 year ago

    If this generation is anything to go by, more power does not equal more creativity.

  • Phishfood #2 1 year ago

    If anything the success of BLOPS proves the lack of innovation doesn't hurt business at all.

  • javvyman #3 1 year ago

    UBISOFT shouldn't blame the industry for their lack of innovation. how many Imagine titles are there on the DS now? (answer...close to 50) I could list at least 20 rehashes or barely different sequels.
    Shame, as they did used to innovate....now they're struggling with even their strongest IP's, or busy running them to the ground.
    Edited by javvyman at 11/04/11 @ 21:50

  • Duke_Red #4 1 year ago

    This just shows how publishers have zero creativity, rely on console makers to give them some inspiration... The industry is doomed!!!

  • ForozM #5 1 year ago

    Well, we need new hardware anyway. Bring it on.

  • Ashcroft #6 1 year ago

    Yes, I'm sure telling everyone to fork out £400 on a new system will perk sales right up.

    What a fuckwit.

  • dirtysteve #7 1 year ago

    Nonsense, the Ps1 came out with some great games later in it's life. (Soul Reaver). This is just passing the buck for a lack of creativity, new hardware would make things tougher on devs who have to et used to it. Typical CEO, head up his arse.

  • Master09 #8 1 year ago

    Ubi have made many crap games this gen. Maybe should be looking at themselves.

  • BuddyChrist #9 1 year ago

    Ps2- hundreds of great games, thousands of turds.

    This gen- a few good games, hundreds of turds.

    We had choice, triple A titles are all we have on the main stream market. Indie is bringing back the creativity, but lacks the budget to fully run. There is a clear divide

  • joelstinton #10 1 year ago

    Absloutley Ball.. Ubisoft you just might fold as a game company if you make statements like that. If you can't be creative with current tech, than you are not doing your job, or can't do your job. You can be creative as you like with anything. Take risks and creativity will come. There are plenty of people who would love to do what your employees do, and easily bring new ideas to the table. There are so many stories, and expereinces, yet to be told in gaming.

    Painting and writing still exist and are not stifled by time,new and influential ideas, are always brought to the table. Film and photography, from its essence as not changed either.

  • mumblyjoe #11 1 year ago

    Maybe if Ubisoft stopped all the crap shovelware they make maybe they could produce better games?

  • abot #12 1 year ago

    "The lack of new console technology is to blame for the current software sales slump..."


    No the lack of great games is to blame.

  • thelatestmodel #13 1 year ago

    An artist doesn't blame his tools, he just thinks of new ways of using them.

    Why is it that I can still go back to old consoles and enjoy them? Why is it that great games are still coming out on PC? What an idiot.

  • handsonhips101 #14 1 year ago

    I reckon another year yet.

  • Mister-Wario #15 1 year ago

    I feel unconvinced by this statement. Look at games like And Yet It Moves: original idea on the least powerful home console of this generation. Power does help to a degree but it doesn't mean new ideas for games are out of the question on the current generation.
    And regarding creativity at the end of a cycle: what about games like Okami?

  • dsmx #16 1 year ago

    Hows does old tech stifle creativity? It forces you put resources into something else other than shiny graphics.

    Once you reach a point where graphics can't get any better on current tech you can finally put your resources into making interesting and fantastic games, you look at what games the ps2 got around the launch of the current crop of consoles launched there were some truly outstanding games released but because we all moved onto the next gen consoles for some shiny new graphics most of them were overlooked.

    Here's an idea Ubisoft you have all the game engines why not make some games that use them that aren't sequels, you know take a chance, they don't have to have teams of hundreds just 15-20 people and just let them make the games they want to make release them on the PSN, xbox live and wii ware and see what happens.
    Edited by dsmx at 11/04/11 @ 22:12

  • dingo75 #17 1 year ago

    How about you learn to push out good games on the current hardware before asking for better one?

    Oh and while we are at it: Make some game that is using the most recent PC hardware for a change (unlike your console ports that bore every decent machine using maybe 30% of its power max).

  • O11Y #18 1 year ago

    He's bang on about the DS. No amount of crappy, cash-in titles can justify the horrific piracy which has hit Nintendo's platform in the past couple of years.

  • Lexx87 #19 1 year ago

    Says the company that came out with We Dare.

  • funkateer #20 1 year ago

    Will that be your excuse for bad sales of Rayman 3D?

  • streetmagix #21 1 year ago

    They might have a point. Motorstorm and Resistance were PS3 launch titles and they were fantastic, both have had sequels and spinoffs.. I believe Halo was a launch title for the original XBox? I won't comment on quality (I have never owned any XBox) but it's one of the biggest franchises in the world.

  • MENTAL1ST Verified Senior Software Engineer, Picsel UK Ltd. #22 1 year ago

    We Dare was an innovative concept in marketing. The notion of a sexy party game for adults who've got a Wii sitting around for doing yoga on is quite a good one, the trouble is that they made it neither sexy nor fun, to such an extent that the advertising standards people rapped their knuckles for it.

  • lucky_jim #23 1 year ago

    Everyone seems in an unseemly haste to jump on this guy. It's not like he issued a press release saying "we want new consoles", he was being interviewed and that's what he came out with, presumably in response to the interviewer's questions about the state of Ubi.

    He's wrong though, or at best half-right. I think the global economic meltdown has more to do with it. People are less likely to buy new games - or indeed new consoles - when they don't know whether they'll still be in a job next month. The exceptions are those of us for whom gaming is our main hobby. Ubi are the least likely to have been hit by DS piracy than a lot of other companies, as pirates usually know their games and are pretty "hardcore" (I don't mean that as a good thing, just can't think of a better word right now: basically they're more likely to pirate JRPGs than the latest Imagine Party Babyz title).

    I think the solution to Ubi's problems is more games like BG&E and Assassin's Creed, and less crap like Imagine Party Babyz. But then, I'm totally biased.

  • Duke_Red #24 1 year ago

    Frankly he should be fired, why he is in charge in a creative industry is beyond sense.

    Its like employing an accountant to make paintings in an art gallery

  • paketep #25 1 year ago

    Why do they feel the need to show everyday what idiots they are?.

    We don't care about the tech, Ubi. We care about the gameplay. And not only do you usually give us shitty and buggy games, you even make it difficult to play them with your shitty DRM.

  • FenderMaster #26 1 year ago

    Yeah, great idea, release a new £400+ console into a great world recession with high unemployment, countries getting bailed out, devs like Bizarre going bust because budgets have become so high, 1 flop means studio closure... see how that works out for you... Anew generation means increasing development costs, less risks in boxed copies and yet more studio closures, and who wants that?

  • Zaiz #27 1 year ago

    I dunno, I haven't seen anything that makes it worth making a new console gen. Sure, the newest graphics hardware is nice, but the thing is that resolutions are reaching the point where 'low res' means 'can't count the threads'. So we'd have to push for really fancy tech in other places...but that tech really isn't emerging. The next gen will probably have killer processing power for advanced physics, and maybe a 1080p standard.

    Overall, Ubisoft just can't find ground to stand on. They fucked up the PC scene with their 'drm', then refused to turn out good games except for a few. The company can't live on Ghost Recon and Assassin's Creed, need to break the ground with new IP that also happens to be good IP.

  • adamantium #28 1 year ago

    Some of the best console games of their generation have come out at the end of the cycle. PS2- God of War 2 Xbox- Halo 2, Jade Empire, burnout 3, N64- Conkers Bad Fur Day!..

    cant agree with this guy at all..I would think older tech would force developers to be more creative. And hurts business??- You have much larger install bases 5 years in to a cycle

  • Lemming81 #29 1 year ago

    Err, it wasn't the consoles that decided to cut a whole Rayman project down to a bunnies mini-game was it Ubisoft?

    Seriously, I'm surprised they could make this statement with a straight face.

  • el_pollo_diablo #30 1 year ago

    Guillemot? Looks like more of a vulture to me.

    /satire

  • thewaste #31 1 year ago

    If anything Limbo and Super Meat Boy show there isn't a correlation between creativity and new powerful hardware.

  • barat #32 1 year ago

    Ubi has been the most disappointing publisher this generation. Last-gen they shined with Splinter Cell 1-3, Prince of Persia and Beyond Good & Evil.

  • Raiko101 #33 1 year ago

    Ubisoft and innovative are two words that rarely go together. Regardless of the console.

  • playgen #34 1 year ago

    So what were those creative titles Ubisoft released for the brand new hardware the 3DS? oh right its a handheld so magically doesn't count.

  • Kaminari #35 1 year ago

    Ubisoft would be hilarious if they weren't downright pathetic. Why did they jump on the Wii bandwagon again?

  • HermitArcader #36 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • ubergine #37 1 year ago

    Like so many other commentators, I find Mr Ubisoft's comments to be pretty strange.

    During what I fondly call the Gamecube generation I thought Ubisoft were a model of what games publishers should be, and I think I was not alone in that. EA, whose long villainy had seen their fortunes turn south, even bought (if I recall aright) about 20% of Ubisoft not to take over and rape it, as many feared, but to (as EA claimed) get a better look at and understanding of Ubisoft's model. The simple version was Ubisoft published a blend of established money earners as tentpoles to riskier, and regular, new IP, which gained them respect I think from core gamers and so good word of mouth. I've been of the belief that this lead somewhat to EA rolling the dice on titles like Mirror's Edge and Dead Space.

    Now Ubisoft has fallen somewhat in my estimation, although in fairness I think they are still taking risks with new IP (Assassin's Creed is not that old after all) and the skyrocketing cost of development this generation would explain their much greater risk-adversity (eg re-publishing Rayman 2 of 3DS instead of a new game) but there reaches a point where it just doesn't make up for their greatest crimes (eg re-publishing Rayman 2 of 3DS instead of a new game.)

    I cynically think Mr Ubisoft (I'm not going to humiliate myself by trying to spell his name - why can't we see the article AND the comments at the same time? IT'S 2010!) just wants a new console generation because of the success he found with slamming out cheap launch window titles like Raving Rabbids and, perhaps not cheap, but well marketed and badly made titles like Red Steel. Perhaps what he means by wanting new tech is some new as-yet-unimagined gimmick like waggle to kick start a new buy-anything fad.

    Or perhaps he's just fucking nuts, because the best games of this entire generation look to be coming out over the coming eight months, homebrewers are showing the amazing potential of Kinect (if only some publisher would bother tapping into that) and the downloadable space for consoles is truly blossoming.

    If anything, this is a time to hearken to Nintendo's philosophy with Wii - that more powerful tech does not necessarily make for new or better experiences. That was 5+ years ago now and I think consoles like PS3 and 360 are only better set to occupy that space that Nintendo has until recently dominated and, as is at least my experience with the 360 (don't have PS3) the 360 is a much better made machine with vastly better online services and general capabilities.

    As much as I'm always curious about some new super-console on the horizon, the concept that we are in need of a new generation, coming from Mr Ubisoft, is fucking absurd.

  • bluetoothion #38 1 year ago

    There are two sides of this and i but i think this guy goes for the bad one.

    Either he tells us that new generation will benefit more the innovation since it will take a lot less time to tackle the dated hardware of closed systems such as consoles...will if not totally go away will mean noticably less work optimising hours and and less bottlenecks to cope with and thus more focus on the game it self . Of course handhelds are meant to be of lower or not expected to equal to full machines so developers work on this knowledge beforehand so there is an easy and i guess a very convincing view of what he meant about the need of new hardware.

    however i m pessimistic and see many developers not giving shit for their game's outcome and thrown themselves on HD rehashes of PS2 era that is so BLOODY FANTASTIC and SOOOOOO innovative.....jeeeeesh.

    So i ll suggest that he probably is saying that at the moment we know there is a lot better hardware and really can not care enough to create something from scrach and to a limited extend of todays console because its tough boring and ofcourse expensive....and if a new console generation arises you ll be so blown away with graphics of the next uber monstrous GPU and CPU that we don't need to be innovative for another 4 years when the future bottlenecks surface to worry again so yeah we need new consoles now is what i expected to hear..

  • smelly #39 1 year ago

    I've got 20 quid on nintendo doing a new console announcement at e3

  • patootik #40 1 year ago

    In Ubi's defense Rainbow Six Vegas, Assasins Creed, GRAW, and RUSE are some of the best games this gen IMO.

    However I disagree that we need new hardware, I'd be more than happy to go another 4 or 5 years with the current tech as (despite what the PC crowd might say) I dont believe the jump between current consoles and the highest spec PC is that significant. Certainly not as perceivably significant as any other console generation.

    Some great games coming out this year, and I've no doubt next year will be very nice too.

    Innovate and get the best out of the current hardware.

  • green_nifta #41 1 year ago

    He's just getting the industry ready for the Ubisoft Console that they'll be announcing at E3

  • drumbaby #42 1 year ago

    Ubisoft in 'too scared to take risks' shocker.

  • dean0null #43 1 year ago

    Hopefully with the next generation companies will focus on atmosphere and features instead of extreme graphics. Sure, I love to look at pretty things, but make it play silky smooth and I'll be much happier. Give me extra features (like local split-screen) standard and I'll buy in.
    Edited by dean0null at 12/04/11 @ 00:57

  • drhickman1983 #44 1 year ago

    I don't see how new tech will actually open up new avenues in game design. New tech will offer better graphical opportunities, but with each new generation the possibility for new gameplay mechanics barely grows.

    Lets see Ubisoft really push the current Gen first. Until games appear that actually strive to break free from the consoles limitations; that really make the console creak (example: Shadow of the Colossus pushed the PS2 up to it's limits), I'm not convinced a new gen is needed.

  • dsmx #45 1 year ago

    I would argue that Black pushed the ps2 as far as it would go, SoTC pushed the ps2 over the limit. That said Black is an astonishing feat of programming on the ps2, critereon how you managed to get a ps2 game to look that good is beyond belief.

  • Mr_Brown #46 1 year ago

    They continue to flog tired series to death (Splinter Cell, Rayman, PoP etc) but refuse outright to make another Rainbow Six game. The console generation has nothing to do with their poor decisions. They have a FPs franchise that is very much adored by large proportion of players, FPS have never been so popular and it will definatly sell well. But no, instead of another Rainbow Six game let's make Ghost Recon Future Soldier and another splinter cell 3D well done idiots.

  • dean0null #47 1 year ago

    @Mr_Brown: I think most people are getting FPS fatigue.

  • davisorle #48 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • davisorle #49 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 20:44:35 16-04-2012

  • sirtacos #50 1 year ago

    Ico, Black, Shadow of the Colossus and Bushido Blade, to name but 4 on one console, show that creativity isn't a hardware problem.
    (Black's innovation wasn't so much in its concept as in its execution - the graphics are astounding for a PS2, and the environmental destructibility makes it that much more impressive...)
    It's been said ad nauseam here in the comment thread, but it bears repeating: a new gen now/soon is a shit idea. Utterly balls-out stupid.

    Then again, if Guillemot was speaking purely in terms of Ubisoft's business model, then it does makes sense, I suppose - a new console's capabilities would obfuscate their total lack of recent innovation and enable them to release mediocre launch titles capitalising on shiny hardware/new mechanics. Then again, that idea doesn't take into account the overwhelming probability that the customer base in question would be fucking tiny compared to the number of people who bought 360s and PS3s, thus making the entire concept absurd and negating Guillemot's point entirely, even if it was only made from a cynical profit-driven way. Which it would be, coming from a CEO.

    So Guillemot's statement - as I understand it - fails on every level.

  • Peter_LIAR_Molyneux #51 1 year ago

    Of course Ubisoft want new consoles. Their whole business model is simply carpet-bombing every system launch with loads of shovelware and watching the clueless (parents, grandparents) and desperate (anyone who got swindled with Red Steel) line their pockets and quarterly reports. Just look at the Wii, Kinect and 3DS launches for proof. Heck, the Wii still has a black eye to this day because of the damage that Red Steel inflicted upon our collective psyche! If it says Ubisoft on the box during a system launch stay the hell away, trust me.

  • Sevens #52 1 year ago

    Ubisoft stifles creativity.

  • VP1398 #53 1 year ago

    Nonsense, Ubisoft just wants to trigger the way to squander more money from us, the consumers. They would like to see us throw away our PS3 and 360 consoles and collections of expensive games and then buy a new generation console with new software,games and accessories. For me PS3 and 360 are still cutting edge consoles. The thing is always to make us pay more and more.

  • anomagnus #54 1 year ago

    I'll echo a post on Kotaku here. The man makes a valid point, that there will always be a limit to what you can squeeze out of current hardware, and that he feels (and bear in mind, this man knows more than you about his company) that they've hit a wall with their development.

    The Xbox has been out for 6 years, and the PS3 for 5years. Thats an unreal lifecycle. But can anyone realistically believe we're going to see much more out of it?

    And in response, you get people like ashcroft, with their knee jerk reactions and insults, likely in the notion that this is some attempt to rob him of £400.

    Regardless of anything else, i've been watching all the news sites, and little tit bits like this article about new machines are becoming more and more common. The end is nigh for the current generation. The seeding has begun. I've enjoyed every moment of it, but the games are starting to blend into each other now, as the game engines have gone as far as they can.

    Every generation of machines brings us something new. I look forward to seeing what the next generation brings.

  • sickpuppysoftware #55 1 year ago

    You had a new gen of handhelds Ubisoft and you released a steaming pile of old shovelware onto it.

  • Yuroko #56 1 year ago

    Ubisoft just wants another new machine to re-release Rayman 2 on.

    Seriously, though. It's this stage in consoles lives that get me excited. The twilight years are when games you didn't think were possible on current tech get released. This is when developers get creative and squeeze every last bit of power out of the machines. A couple of examples would be Donkey Kong Country on the SNES, which was astonishing back in the day and Treasures Gunstar Heroes on the Megadrive. Gunstar Heroes was doing shit the Megadrive shouldn't have been able to do like scaling and sprite rotation, plus it was super colourful, like a SNES game.

    This is the kind of thing we can look forward to this gen. Soon we will see developers forcing the Xbox to produce games like Uncharted 2 and the PS3 might be able to release multiplatform games on par with the 360 (joke!). Sadly, with Ubisofts attitude we won't be seeing this from them. We'll just be on Raymans Raving Rabbids: Just Dance Babiez Edition 10.



  • sirtacos #57 1 year ago

    @anomagnus

    tit bits? :D

    Anyway your fundamental point seems to be to conflate hardware with imagination and creativity. Powerful game engines do not a better game make, and while I agree that, at some point, a step up on that level is required, the basic thing about art - for me - is overcoming, or rather using, the limitations of a particular medium to express yourself.

    The only tenable argument I can imagine to support Guillemot's statements is that developers are reticent to devote too many resources to new IPs as they are scared that (given the development cycle of a game) their release will be overshadowed by new consoles - and thus brand spanking new launch titles - by the time it's finished. That's arguable, of course, but it's a better basis for discussion than "we can't have 2000 enemies on-screen with individual follicle models and sweat physics so we can't make the RTS we want because we're stifled, STIFLED by the technology". I don't buy that.

    I may sound like a broken record, but there are plenty of older games that trump newer ones and still stand up to scrutiny a decade later precisely BECAUSE* the developers had to innovate to overcome the technology's inherent limitations. * (granted; only partly because. Technology does have an important part to play. But we're long past Pong and its ilk and while I'm just a gamer, not a dev or programmer, from my layman's standpoint I think it's absurd to call our current console technology creatively 'limiting', especially when the vast majority of titles are derivative crap that really don't do the hardware's evolution justice)
    Of course that's a matter of opinion and my point is slightly affected by a case of rose-tinted glasses...
    Edited by sirtacos at 12/04/11 @ 08:40

  • kosigan #58 1 year ago

    Sales slump? With Black Ops being the biggest-selling game ever? Also going to prove that creativity isn't, apparently, wanted by a large section of the game-buying market.

  • Xboxfanuk #59 1 year ago

    I think he is right, new shiny graphics still play a big part in the excitement for games.

  • Inmediasress #60 1 year ago

    @davisorle

    Well first of I agree with you.The statement from Ubisoft basically echoes the end of PC gaming sorry for being dramatic I know it will never end but it is becoming the most neglegcted platform and that is basically a death warrant. We don't see anything just Console ports here and there a few games with PC in mind.
    Ubisoft should not open their mouth in this manner do some PC specific games the new technology is there dx11 and whatnot.

    For the whole Issue of creativity I think that died out for the most part since every big game company/publisher makes games on the assembly line for profit not for creativity.I know I know they must make a living but making a living and selling your mother for extra profit is not the same. $and creativity do not mix well.
    Seeing the industry in it's current state I would not be surprised if another video games crash would occur somewhere in near future.

  • Tyronne #61 1 year ago

    What utter rubbish...there are people still creating games for the speccy,c64 and even the olde atari vcs and they do not stiffle creativity because of the limitations of the systems.

    Improvise and innovate dont bloody moan.

  • HenryFitz #62 1 year ago

    He's not talking about Sony and Microsoft. This is a message to you, Ninty. Stop your messing around. Better think of your future. Time to bring a new Wii out. Take the casuals to town. Ninty! A message to you, Ninty.

    /ska revival

  • menage #63 1 year ago

    I don't think launching a new console would go well.

    And with the 360 and ps3 cranking out power like Crysis 2 and UC3/2, who needs it anyway. Even heftier tech won't be fully matured for 2 years either. I'm quite happy with the level of tech-quality right now.

    But yes, creativity, maybe they need a holiday?

  • Monkey_Chops #64 1 year ago

    Yes, Portal 2 and Batman: Arkham City really do show a lack of creativity.

  • Cappy #65 1 year ago

    Unfortunately his statement doesn't particularly fit well with reality or Ubisoft's own activities 2006-08.

    They had the new hardware, where was the creativity? The overrated flagship Assassin's Creed series shamelessly cribs from Sony's more obscure Sly Cooper series. I guess they took a chance with the Prince of Persia series but they soon scuttled back to the original template because most players hated it.

  • jbrollse #66 1 year ago

    @davisorle

    "even devs like Crytek got to the filthy point of releasing nothing other than console ports. Not caring anymore for graphical advancements till the given GPU power is shoved into a console box."

    The problem is that the PC market is fragmented. You can put out a graphical powerhouse, but what percentage of gamers have a system that will cope with it? Look at the original Crysis - fantastic, but had a massive budget and took ages too recoup it. Add in rampant piracy, and there's little incentive to do anything other than a cheap port. I agree with you that Ubisoft could be looking at the PC market rather than complaining about consoles.

    Anyway, enough of that. I don't see the need for a new generation of consoles at present. There are limited technological developments - Microsoft and Nintendo could move to a higher capacity storage format, but the increased disc space would need more filler which would push up costs. We've seen this gen that game development costs have spiralled, and the quality of games has not increased at the same rate (*cough* Homefront *cough*).

    Instead of pushing for new consoles and photorealistic graphics, why not try working on game engines, design, and the hundred other aspects that have major flaws. You could try hiring writers who can create coherent stories and likeable characters. You could try creating strange new worlds, rather than trying to replicate the one we live in (think Okami). You could try to push AI in games to a decent level, and abandon the higher difficulty bullet sponges that seem to be the standard. Hell, if we're talking about Ubisoft, you could also try to bugtest and patch the games once they've been released, rather than pushing them out the door and ceasing all development (FarCry 2 being the one that springs to mind).

    The only reason that Ubisoft are pushing for a new console gen is so they can bring out the old games - another identical Prince of Persia (starring Justin Bieber as the Prince), another disappointing Splinter Cell (no stealth, all action, starring Justin Bieber at Sam Fisher, with Zac Efron as the President).

    And don't bother suggesting that all games will be downloaded and we'll see an end to physical media. Until fast, unlimited broadband is widespread across the world (sometime in the 23rd Century most likely), there will always be a market for a disc. They'll prise my gameboxes from my cold dead hands (even when I get around to upgrading the PC and installing steam).
    Edited by jbrollse at 12/04/11 @ 10:30

  • Darren #67 1 year ago

    I'm not convinced that new hardware will bring new ideas and innovation though; as proven by the Xbox 360 and PS3, all we'll likely get with new consoles is the same-old stuff dressed up to look prettier that's all. So long as (IMO) stale franchises like Call of Duty (well, the FPS genre in general, really) and tiresome, shallow motion-controlled games remain popular then developers will stick to churning out the same stuff as they know it'll sell. Well, at least until it doesn't as happened with the overexposed Guitar Heroes games for example. You have to take risks to be innovative and in this economic climate and with game development costs escalating it's not surprising that things are starting to stagnate a little.

  • Bagpuss #68 1 year ago

    FFS, reading what some people have said, you get the impression that they would still be happily playing on their Mega Drives and SNES consoles in 2011.

    MOVE ON PEOPLE......THIS GENERATION OF CONSOLES HAVE HAD THEIR DAY...

  • mcreddie #69 1 year ago

    I agree we're nearing the end of this generation of consoles, but it's a bit of a cheek for Ubisoft to claim this. Almost all their games barely utilise the full potential of the machines and just come out with ludicrous amounts of screen tearing and glitches.

    Edit: Apart from AC:2 and Brotherhood, they were awesome.
    Edited by mcreddie at 12/04/11 @ 11:05

  • maxb #70 1 year ago

    what upisoft are really saying is "its not our fault nobody likes or are buying our shit (not all) games its the consoles fault!"

  • username84 #71 1 year ago

    Pathetic

    Although new technologies can open up new creative pathways, creativity doesn't come from your equipment or technology.
    How long have people been writing creatively for?. Pen and ink for thousands of years and no lack of creativity.

  • uknortherner2000 #72 1 year ago

    Is there anyone else like me who thinks the only reason why Ubisoft are desperate for a new generation of consoles is so that they can port their draconian PC DRM systems over to them?

  • DiamondIce #73 1 year ago

    The Super Nintendo era was the most creative for me. More advanced technology does not equal a great new era of games.

  • DigitalDelay #74 1 year ago

    News Shocker - "Poor workman blames tools!"

    Shame to see such blunted views, creativity and originality is obviously at a low amongst many devs. How about you stop dumbing down games for the masses? That is what has fucked up so many great titles and genres on this gen of consoles. A new platform at present would surely just give us more of the same CODs etc, and I cant see graphics being much better really.

  • Architect_z #75 1 year ago

    Yeah I don't agree with Ubisoft. If we only enjoyed games from this era, then why do I still play Mario Kart 64? Metal Gear Solid? Streets of Rage 2? The Sonic and Mario games?

    It's about creating something fun, games arent about graphics, alot of people forget that.

    O yeah, and the Wii, the least powerful of the consoles is still miles in the lead for global sales compared to the PS3/Xbox360
    Surely thats proof enough, that tech doesnt define a great game.
    Edited by Architect_z at 12/04/11 @ 12:31

  • JammyC #76 1 year ago

    And this is coming from the company that has produced "We Dare"? Plenty of other devs are making excellent and inventive games, sounds like they're trying to shift the blame for their crap products elsewhere...

  • CatWeazle #77 1 year ago

    Rubbish!

    * A new console generation now would mean devs take a good couple of years getting to grips with the new architecture, resulting in bland games for a while.

    * It would escelate development costs even further, which would result in an even more risk-adverse attitude from publishers.

    * The initial uptake rates of new consoles would be so small that AAA releases for the new generation would be barely profitable.

    This man is talking total shit. If Ubisoft is making lacklustre products at this prime stage, then he needs to look at himself rather than at the platform holders. Dick.


  • des #78 1 year ago

    I agree with Ubisoft,bring on next gen.Reptilian age people not wanted,go to Nintendo camp.
    Bring on next gen consoles,iphone 5,6,7,8...

  • darkphoenix #79 1 year ago

    I completely agree with Ubisoft.
    This gen is dead.

    X360 and PS3 are dragging the whole industry behind, with their 5 year old hardware.

  • natureboy #80 1 year ago

    I agree with everyone here. There is still life in all consoles and the PS2 has proved you can carry on getting the best out of and 'ageing' machine. If a new hardware came out, as it is the case, Ubisoft and co will fail to make use of the performance and hardware and release the first batch of sub-standard and poor games