Activision’s former executive vice president of publishing, Robin Kaminsky, has called for a new generation of home consoles in order to stimulate lagging growth within the industry.
Kaminsky reckons the industry is current in a bit of a pickle as of late, highlighting the recent revelation that July U.S. industry sales were the lowest on record since October 2006.
"Many believe digital sales and the economy are the core drives of the decline. I believe a lack of innovation – actual stagnation in game development – is the real culprit," Kaminsky told IndustryGamers.
"For traditional games to grow, I believe a new generation of consoles is needed, consoles with real innovation and the resulting onslaught of new IP and innovative gameplay. Ideally these consoles will bring a breakthrough on how games are played or what kind of game experience can be delivered."
"It cannot be just bigger, more complex games or yet higher definition graphics," she added. "The industry, both traditional publishers and the console makers themselves, need something different in the next cycle… In an industry where new, innovative and fun is key there is no future in more of the same."
Kaminsky went on to offer her two pence as to what the next batch of consoles should focus on, believing platform holders should recognise a need for both casual and hardcore players, as well as embrace new ideas pertaining to control interfaces, payment methods, social networking and more.
"The next generation of consoles and games should recognize that consumers are mobile and active, value the player regardless of where and when they play, consider short and long play sessions, optimize both hardcore and casual games, embrace button/controller led play and new interfaces, enable content to evolve so games are dynamic not static, encourage alternative payment approaches like free to play, that drive more users to try the game, alongside the traditional buy it to play model, drive increasingly social and community driven experiences, and perhaps even allow play across devices regardless of manufacturer or form factor."
Nintendo is already prepping its next home console for a 2012 launch, while Microsoft is heavily rumored to be working on a successor to the Xbox 360, which will supposedly be unveiled at E3 next year.
Sony, meanwhile, has continually played down any hopes of seeing a PlayStation 4 any time soon, with Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida recently saying the console manufacturer has “no desire” to release a new platform.