A Nintendo manager is arguing that Microsoft is attempting to drive the industry to a hardware transition too soon. Isn"t such a move a good thing? It seems like a good thing all around, but what does this manager see that other don"t?
Why the push towards Xbox Next, console bundles, and Grand Theft Auto have one Nintendo manager steamed. Nintendo Europe managing director David Gosen has strongly criticised Microsoft for attempting to drive the industry to a hardware transition too early, and also attacked the games media for its focus on the next generation.
Speaking at the ELSPA Games Summit in London, Gosen described the industry"s current generational cycle as a "self-fulfilling prophecy," saying that the industry was stuck in a mindset where "five to six years is right, and come what may, we"re going to stick to it." While he admitted that it was too late to change this cycle this time around, he argued that it was vital that the industry break out of it in the future - and he had some particularly barbed comments for Microsoft, for whom he claimed that games profitability "is not their key motivation" in aiming to launch the Xbox" successor during 2005, after only a four year lifespan for the original console.