Europe is key to winning next-gen war, says Florin

Electronic Arts' international publishing boss, Gerhard Florin, has declared that Europe is key to determining who will win the battle of the next-generation consoles.

Speaking at the Reuters Technology, Media and Telecoms summit, as reported by News.com, Florin said, "I believe the biggest fight will be in Europe. Whoever wins the hardware war in Europe, most likely will be the overall winner."

According to Florin, there will be an increased emphasis on narrative and the emotional experience of playing games once the focus has shifted away from hardware horsepower.

"Everybody gets carried away with the technology. When the technology gets more usable... Then the story tellers get more to the forefront," he said.

"My hope is, but I can't tell you when it will be, that we reach the peak in perfection so that the consumer doesn't see the difference in technology anymore - then it is a pure race for entertainment."

However, Florin said, when it comes to mobile phone gaming there are still technical challenges to overcome - and the amount of money to be made will depend on the audience demographic.

"If new consumers come in, they might not react to new hardware in the same way as the core gamers who go for bits and bytes and have to have the latest processor power," he observed.