Hardware diversification is healthy, says Square Enix president

Square Enix president Yoichi Wada thinks that the diversification of hardware, with very different offerings from each manufacturer, is a positive thing.

"It was going to happen anyway, it wasn't accidental," he said, speaking to GamesIndustry.biz.

"Videogames became popular in the 80s, and for about fifteen years, until the year 2000, the main focus was just on ensuring that everybody had a console.

"Now we have moved to a new era where we have more types of gamers and console users, and what is important for both hardware and software makers is how to deal with diversified demands from diversified users."

He thinks that with this generation of consoles people take it for granted that all of them should be and are multi-functional, but manufacturers can sell their products as games consoles or as multi-functional machines.

For example, Wada noted that, by placing a great emphasis on Wii Sports and Fit rather than Zelda, Nintendo is positioning the Wii more as a toy. Sony, on the other hand, is not appealing to consumers with the same sort of messages.

"[I]t is each manufacturer's responsibility to communicate with potential customers, and let them know which of them would make the best use of which function in each console," Wada said.

He doesn't hold out much hope for the eventuality of a standardised console which would eliminate hardware diversification.

"Speaking as a software manufacturer it would be convenient for us, obviously, if everybody was to standardise. But that kind of standardisation would be impossible, in my opinion.

"I would like it to happen, but there's not much chance."

The second half of the interview with Yoichi Wada can be read here.