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'Sony and Microsoft aren't embracing change' - Firefall dev

OUYA backer and developer of Firefall Red5 studios has called out Sony and Microsoft's lack of willingness to embrace new ideas and change in the industry. The studio also thinks you are paying too much for new games.

Speaking with Eurogamer, Red5 Studios CEO and ex-World of Warcraft lead Mark Kern has spilled the beans on why he feels consoles are in danger falling behind open distribution platforms like OUYA.

Kern explained, "The reason we have no innovation left on consoles is because you have to spend so much money to make your game appeal to widest possible audience on that platform which is a closed platform, so that's a limited number of users, right? Versus a PC with a free or open distribution model you can build a community around your game."

"In order to stand out from the crowd you have to spend as much on marketing as you did developing it," Kern continued,"this is not a sustainable model. Teams have gotten to have to be larger and larger and larger to justify the $60 up front model."

"It's killing innovation because no one can take those risks anymore or try something new with those kinds of numbers," Kern continued, "I think that's bad for gamers and I think that's cripplingly bad for developers."

"And to be honest, I don't see Sony or Microsoft embracing the openness of the changes that are happening in the gaming industry right now"

Kern has personally backed OUYA on Kickstarter because of its open distribution stance, and is very critical of the way Sony and Microsoft do business with smaller developers, saying that both parties would have called you 'insane' if you tried to pitch Minecraft to them.

What do you think of OUYA as a successful open distribution platform? Is it a good thing for indies and for gamers sick of paying too much for games? Speak your brains below.

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Dave Cook avatar

Dave Cook

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Dave worked on VG247 for an extended period manging much of the site's news output. As well as his experience in games media, he writes for comics, and now specializes in books about gaming history.

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