Portable consoles need reinvention says Alan Wake dev

Nintendo and Sony need to "reinvent" the concept of the portable console, according to new comments made by Remedy Entertainment executive vice president Aki "AJ" Järvilehto.

"Many smartphones and tablets offer mind blowing value to gamers. Right now you can buy tons and tons of fun on iOS with the price of a single handheld console game. Heck, you can get tons of fun for free with advertising based concepts," said Järvilehto in an interview with website IndustryGamers.

"So I do think the traditional handheld consoles will need to reinvent themselves if they want to compete." The Alan Wake developer's most recent title is mobile app Death Rally, which has already been received positively. Järvilehto confirms in the interview that the company has been evaluating the 3DS and NGP platforms, but no decision has been made to support them.

"I think the market is changing in a radical fashion," said Järvilehto. "Barriers of entry are literally being blown away. New business models are booming and this is not about devaluation. Facebook is doing tremendous things to gaming and attracting completely new people to enjoy different more casual and social games.

"I can't see how the fact that mainstream consumers are finally embracing our industry could be negative. After all isn't that what we've been hoping for since forever?"

Järvilehto did not confirm that the company was involved in Facebook development, but instead stated, "We absolutely still love the console business model though; that's where the big stuff gets done and shines."