Ed Fries: Consoles can't ignore Apple model

Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft must respond to the free-to-play model, says Ouya adviser

Console manufacturers must adopt the Apple model by opening up more for developers and relaxing their stringent online game restrictions, former Microsoft exec Ed Fries has said.
Speaking to Game Informer, Fries, who currently acts as an adviser for tiny hackable console Ouya, said Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft could no longer afford to ignore the experience Apple offers developers and users.

He stated that anyone could develop for iOS devices, and that certification was relatively cheap and painless. He compared this to the problems faced by Polytron’s isometric platformer Fez, which recently claimed it could not make an update to the XBLA title as it cost too much to do so.
“I think it’s going to have an impact on the way consoles and developers interact in the future,” said Fries.
“It’s getting harder and harder for the traditional consoles to ignore the Apple kind of experience. Anybody can develop for the platform, certification is a relatively cheap and painless thing, and in the old days of consoles there are all sorts of myths and legends that say that’s a bad thing to do.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...re-Apple-model