Even though the Personal Computers are making a comeback in the gaming arena for the past few years, the gaming consoles are still a favorite among the gamers and gaming communities all around the world. This is the reason why the gaming industry invests thousands of billions of dollars each year in the aforementioned sector.
If you want to make money by getting yourself into the gaming sector, well, it’s actually a difficult feat due to the tough competition. On the brighter side, if you want to get a taste of the action by putting together a gaming console on your own, there are some things that you should always keep in mind.
The days when only one individual can put together a console are long gone. The changes in the technology, market share and the overall high expectations of the gamers all around the world, contributed in making the task of designing gaming consoles a team effort, rather than an individual’s labor.
The skill set that one should possess to construct a console and introduce the same in the market is just too distinct for a particular individual to master.
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Things to consider
Before you go ‘all in’ and lay down your cards in your quest to come up with a smashing piece of equipment, try to focus on the following points that will ensure success for the console as well as your company.
Platform
The medium that would be supported by your console should be the first thing to plan out while visualizing your console. Technologies like Compact Disc, Digital Versatile Discs, and Blu-Ray discs have been the medium of choice for the modern day consoles.
If you plan to put your console as a future ready product, incorporate the concept of direct download via internet connectivity in your product package.
Storage
The storage capability of the console is actually one of the many Unique Selling Points you can take advantage of. This is actually the feature that enabled the PlayStation 3 to reach record sales worldwide, due to the introduction of internal hard drives in the product package. This allowed the gamer to directly save game data in the system instead of losing it all as soon as the console is turned off.
The consoles on offer from Nintendo, specifically the Wii series offer memory cards in their products for storage. Both the storage facilities have their benefits in terms of business. For a more practical approach opt for the hard drive option, and for an economic approach, go for the memory card option.
Appearance
Decide on the overall aesthetics of your product. There are two ways to approach the final draft of the design for your console.
A button for everything along with jacks for headphones, volume control option etc. and the other one is the minimalistic approach. These are the days when a powerful product is not enough; it also has to be elegantly designed.
Hardware
Keep a close watch while finalizing the vendor for your Graphics Processing Unit. This is the heart of your console and also the driving force that will be attracting both the gamers and developers to opt for your system.
The most powerful GPU will help in future proofing your console in the long run. But you should also keep in mind that selecting the most powerful GPU means that you also need to place your console on top or beside the elite products in terms of pricing!
Plan Ahead
Position your product based on the calculations made in terms of market price. keep this in mind that you need to bear some initial losses as it is the common phenomena every company faces in the initial run. The key players in the gaming industry are Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo and all of them have a common business model that makes them prepared for accepting early losses for the unhindered future business.
Some Tips to Design Gaming Consoles
Commit to the fact of investing a hefty amount in the research and development of your product. Always plan to launch your product within the announced deadline.
Gather the best team catering to the different sectors of the gaming industry such as the marketing, global laws, hardware, software, entertainment, management and obviously economics.
Do your homework on all the past gaming consoles and also stay ahead of your competitors by keeping a close watch on their future products.
Reach out to the gamers, and the gaming communities. This will add fuel to your creative side and provide valuable insight for the type of hardware and features that the current market wants.
Think beyond the money. Initial losses should be welcomed as this is the phase where your product needs to be back, not your pocket!
Last but not the least, take a seat with your team and draft a prototype of your console with the help of all the gathered data. Don’t forget to plan out an advertising campaign for your product as well as the positioning of the product in the market.
Conclusion
The first and foremost aspect that one should always consider is the platform which their consoles will be supportive to. If you are planning to come up with a product that can at least position itself in the market beside the PlayStation or the XBox series of consoles, then some things needs to be considered.
Engage 4 – 5 people under your payroll, formulate a timeline of at least a year or more and a chalk out a minimum budget of around $20, 000. It also water down to one simple aspect that most of the players in the field sometimes ignore. It is the benefits of having the right equipment.
The proper configuration of the circuitry, the processing power, the graphics handling capabilities, the sound management unit, the quality of the Printed Circuit Boards, the outer casing etc. all add up to the success rate of a console.
The third party manufacturers should be made aware of the level of quality that your company is looking for, as it is not only enough for a console to be all powerful and mighty in terms of performance, it should also last long and aesthetically appeal to the masses.
Don’t go on and try to cut costs by opting for some components that is more suitable for a less powerful package. For example, you can’t have a successful PlayStation Console that is making the use of a GPU borrowed from the first generation of PlayStation!