Ex-Xbox boss: ‘I think there will be another generation’ of consoles

But what would it look like?

Former Xbox boss, Robbie Bach, believes that there will be another generation of consoles… but they probably won’t look, or operate, much like they do today. 

Talking to Geekwire, Bach — who was head of Xbox for over ten years — said: “the year before PlayStation 4 and Xbox One launched, everybody said the console market was dead, and they wondered why Sony and Microsoft was doing it.” 

I think there will be another generation. What the console looks like is a very interesting question.

“Is it just a game box or is it more? What’s the balance between what an Apple TV is and what an Xbox or a PlayStation 4 is? These are really interesting questions, and the teams going to have to wrestle with those. That next generation will be a whole new game.”

Bach goes on to reflect upon the impact of virtual reality in gaming, stating that the “key question” will be how manufacturers commercialize the technology.

“I think that the technology and the concept is wicked. I mean really powerful, and not just in gaming.

“This could be for business, commercial use, retail use. There’s a lot of applications for it. The problem is, right now, you’ve got to walk around looking like a complete goofball wearing this crazy thing on your head. You look like you should be in a Star Wars movie. By the way, they have problems with people getting sick using it. There’s certain conditions where it’s really tough. They have to figure out how to commercialize it.”

“My favorite comparison is touch technology on-screen. There was touch technology on the screen five or six, maybe seven years before the iPhone, but the commercialization required an expensive screen device and a stylus. That commercialization never worked. Apple came out with a much less expensive, less precise, but less expensive, commercialization with a finger and it went like that. To me, commercialization is a key element in what’s happening in virtual reality.”

For the full interview transcript – which includes a detailed discussion about Bach’s successes and not-so-successes as Xbox lead – head on over to Geekwire.

What do you think the next generation of game consoles will look like? Share your predictions in the comments below…

GeekWire Radio: Former Xbox chief Robbie Bach on lessons learned from Microsoft’s console business [Geekwire, via VG24/7]