EA Envisions “One Console Future”

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Gerhard Florin, EA executive VP and general manager of international publishing, envisions a gaming future with one platform, an idea that would make developing much simpler for companies.

“We want an open, standard platform which is much easier than having five which are not compatible,” Florin said to the BBC. “We’re platform agnostic and we definitely don’t want to have one platform which is a walled garden,”

Florin admits, however, that his dream is at least fifteen years off, which would be how long it takes the industry to move beyond the current console model.  He speculates that the one console future could be achieved by server based software that is streamed to PCs or set-top boxes, essentially making the “one console” into “basically a boiled-down PC.”

Analyst Nick Parker commented on the possibility, stating that “There could be a Nintendo channel, a PlayStation channel and an Xbox channel on your set-top box.”

These comments will undoubtedly cause a resurgence of the rumors that EA, the most powerful third party publisher, might be interested in developing a console, especially in light of their recent acquisition of developers Bioware and Pandemic.