DEBATE - Console war is "totally irrelevant"

THQ executive Jack Sorenson has branded the hardware battle betweenSony, Microsoft and Nintendo as "totally irrelevant", arguing that therewards offered by each represent a "win" for games publishers.
Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz last week at THQ'sproduct showcase in San Francisco, the US publisher's head of worldwidestudios said there was "too much of an emphasis on the sports aspect ofwho's winning and losing", and that his company was focusing onopportunities rather than installed base.
"I think [the console war] is totally irrelevant. Even in thehistory of the business, other than something like the Dreamcast, youcan do decent business on lots of platforms," he explained. "So theissue is not who wins, it's can an independent publisher do a goodbusiness on that platform. We're thinking everything from high-end MMOall the way to cell phones."

Pointing to THQ's success with Game Boy Advance,Sorenson revealed that the publisher would continue to back olderformats as long as they remain viable.
"There's a ubiquity of gaming out there, and the platform is reallyjust a medium. If that makes sense [we'll publish on] PlayStation 2next year for something, PS2 two years from now," he said. "Wecertainly probably carried on longer on the GBA than most and had avery nice business out there because there're 80, 90 million GBAs outthere - maybe a bunch left in closets and drawers, but there's stillenough audience to buy them. All these platforms kinda win."
Sorenson also elaborated on comments made by CEO Brian Farrellon THQ's response to the mergers and acquisitions activity of theindustry's giants, insisting that the US outfit was not under anypressure to "make a point" in the market.
"We're certainly looking at acqusitions all the time," he said. "[But]we're not in any rush in any one area. When I started I think it wasthree studios and 150 people in development, and clearly we rushed abit to get scale and a certain size where we can cover a lot ofdifferent bases both genre wise and on a technology and platform basis.
"And we're there and past that, so the bar is probably a little higherin terms of what we'd look at in terms of fit, and how good they are,and what they are bringing new to the group. But I wouldn't say there'sany one target we're looking for right now."
Asked where the merger of Activision and Vivendi, and theacquisition of 2K Games by EA would leave a publisher of THQ's scale,Sorenson argued that the US firm's strong financial foundations werekey.
"Being a public company you're always driven by growth. But if you feelyour growth can be driven by what you already have then you probablydon't need to push it as much.
"We have all the elements, and we don't really feel there's any onething that's missing because of size. If you can get the growth andfind the profits and build based on your own strategy it's actually alot better and easier to do it that way than, say, acquire anothercompany with an entirely different culture, trying to bring themtogether. That's a huge event, especially the ones you just mentioned.These are not easy to do.
"We're not driven to do something that's counter to our culture andstrategy just in order to prove a point. [We're] trying to be incontrol of our destiny."
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