Acer to enter game console industry?!

[8IronBob]

Someone PUH-LEASE tell me this is a joke:


No, it’s not April 1st, and as far as I can tell, this isn’t any sort of joke. Acer, the Taiwan-based company which is the third largest computer manufacturer in the world and made headlines last year when it acquired Gateway, has announced that it intends to enter the game console market.

At a press conference last week, Acer exec James T. Wong said that the company is thinking about developing a videogame platform with an emphasis on “open standards.”

“If you look at most of the other game machines that are out there right now — Nintendo’s, the Xbox — they are ‘closed’ and proprietary systems,” he told BetaNews.


http://news.filefront.com/notebook-manufacturer-acer-planning-to-make-a-game-system/

Oh come on, this is the LAST company I'd see getting into this.
I'd expect HP or Apple to get into this far before I'd ever think of Acer doing this.

[Wamplet]

Someone PUH-LEASE tell me this is a joke:



http://news.filefront.com/notebook-manufacturer-acer-planning-to-make-a-game-system/

Oh come on, this is the LAST company I'd see getting into this.
I'd expect HP or Apple to get into this far before I'd ever think of Acer doing this.

Surely, you are kidding.

Phantom Entertainment (Phantom Console) is the last company I'd expect to make one. \o

[Mountain Man]

It'll never fly. "Open standards" is a code phrase for "we hope our customers will make the games for us". Problem is, the PC already fills that niche, and unless Acer is able to get some exclusive "must play" games released for it, there'll be pretty much zero interest in this console.

[avatar_58]

Reminds me of the GPX2 which, while somewhat popular, is nowhere near the handheld killer it's hyped to be. Give people open source and they'll simply play emulated games on their TV or do silly open source tricks like run linux or dosbox on it. Very few people will give two shits about games they have to buy, and developers won't even bother to waste their money making retail games for it.

Waste of time.

[hanged_man]

Reminds me of the GPX2 which, while somewhat popular, is nowhere near the handheld killer it's hyped to be. Give people open source and they'll simply play emulated games on their TV or do silly open source tricks like run linux or dosbox on it. Very few people will give two shits about games they have to buy, and developers won't even bother to waste their money making retail games for it.

Waste of time.

so true

[Daveman]

The company's name isn't well-known or popular enough for this to work, regardless of how good the product may be.

[8IronBob]

True, the only thing they're known for now is in the laptop industry, is where they're king. Maybe PC monitors, if you are on a budget, that's the chosen brand. Outside of that, forget it.

[Danule]

they should work on gaming pc's that you can hook up to your tv with ease. and connect controllers into that come with the system.

[8IronBob]

Well, Apple has the Mac Mini, which you can use as a Mac console (if you find any Mac-based games that'll run on it).

[alexgk]

The last thing the videogame industry needs now is an oversaturation of consoles. :doh:

[avatar_58]

they should work on gaming pc's that you can hook up to your tv with ease. and connect controllers into that come with the system.

Why don't people just buy consoles then? This whole thing is utterly pointless.

[evanazzo]

LOL Acer yeah right. I can see this will fail

[Mountain Man]

Reminds me of the GPX2 which, while somewhat popular...
Perhaps that's all they're hoping for.

[Lethe]

It'll never fly. "Open standards" is a code phrase for "we hope our customers will make the games for us". Problem is, the PC already fills that niche, and unless Acer is able to get some exclusive "must play" games released for it, there'll be pretty much zero interest in this console.

You think noone in Acer took that into account before making this decision? They are investing milions in it, they probably have some reasonable plan behind it.

As far as I'm concerned, more competitors on the scene are always welcome.

[Little Conqueror]

It'll never fly. "Open standards" is a code phrase for "we hope our customers will make the games for us". Problem is, the PC already fills that niche, and unless Acer is able to get some exclusive "must play" games released for it, there'll be pretty much zero interest in this console.

Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and maybe even Chinese developers will embrace it. It might still fail, but you forget that the Asian market is their main target, not the Western market. We don't mean jack squat except icing on the cake to companies in that part of the world.

Likewise, Acer is very popular in Asia. People need to stop assuming that just because X is true in their home country that X is true in the bigger picture.

[wayskobfssae]

:doh:

****ing bandwagon.

[Mountain Man]

Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and maybe even Chinese developers will embrace it. It might still fail, but you forget that the Asian market is their main target, not the Western market. We don't mean jack squat except icing on the cake to companies in that part of the world.

Likewise, Acer is very popular in Asia. People need to stop assuming that just because X is true in their home country that X is true in the bigger picture.
Please, give me some credit here. Like avatar_58, the first thing I thought of was the GP32/GP2X/etc. which have only been marginally successful in the Asian market (and all but unheard of outside of it).

[avatar_58]

Japanese, Korean, Taiwanese, and maybe even Chinese developers will embrace it. It might still fail, but you forget that the Asian market is their main target, not the Western market. We don't mean jack squat except icing on the cake to companies in that part of the world.

Likewise, Acer is very popular in Asia. People need to stop assuming that just because X is true in their home country that X is true in the bigger picture.

The asian market? Oh you mean Nintendo and Sony's turf? No one with half a brain would try to march in there with their open source dreams and hope for any piece of the pie.

[Danule]

Why don't people just buy consoles then? This whole thing is utterly pointless.

what? i dont get what your saying, why is a pc hooked up to a tv useless? that makes no sense.

[avatar_58]

what? i dont get what your saying, why is a pc hooked up to a tv useless? that makes no sense.

If one is going to hook up a gaming system to a TV, why wouldn't you get one with wireless controllers which is at a far lower price? Most PC games are meant to be played with a keyboard and mouse, and they include writing that you'd have extreme difficulty seeing from a distance.

I understand the media center appeal, emulators and everything else - but a gaming PC hooked up to a TV solely for gaming seems truly pointless to me. I would much rather shell out for a Wii, 360 or PS3 if I wanted couch gaming.

[Danule]

i didnt mean only for gaming, i meant geared towards being better for games and for being hooked up to a tv, it can have wireless controllers though i would rather have a wired one... but you could also hook up mouse and keyboard, look at the itnernet, download movies, do all that stuff and play pc games. there might be a market for that.

[wayskobfssae]

If one is going to hook up a gaming system to a TV, why wouldn't you get one with wireless controllers which is at a far lower price? Most PC games are meant to be played with a keyboard and mouse, and they include writing that you'd have extreme difficulty seeing from a distance.

I understand the media center appeal, emulators and everything else - but a gaming PC hooked up to a TV solely for gaming seems truly pointless to me. I would much rather shell out for a Wii, 360 or PS3 if I wanted couch gaming.

TV is quickly becoming de-standardized. Giant plasma screens are the IN thing now, and even for the existing consoles, more and more people people are playing them on their $10,000 entertainment centers.

A lot of gripes about PC gaming is that it's too expensive to keep up with. Now consoles (and everything else) are becoming more like PC's. In the end it's probably going to be just as bad for consoles. Sure you can play your X-box on an analog television, but you're not getting the "full experience" unless you're playing it on a huge widescreen HDTV with dolby surround sound, just like on a PC game if you're running a video card that can't handle volumetric fog, shadows, and real-time physics.

Go figure.

[avatar_58]

Erm, what? I bought a 37" for like $740. Thats hardly "$10,000" as you say and it looks excellent. "Most" people do not own expensive entertainment centers, despite what best buy commercials may tell you. LCD TVs are getting cheaper and cheaper these days. Frankly I don't see how it's any different than buying a $500+ LCD for your PC, which many gamers are doing these days.

[evanazzo]

Erm, what? I bought a 37" for like $740. Thats hardly "$10,000" as you say and it looks excellent. "Most" people do not own expensive entertainment centers, despite what best buy commercials may tell you. LCD TVs are getting cheaper and cheaper these days. Frankly I don't see how it's any different than buying a $500+ LCD for your PC, which many gamers are doing these days.

Every things getting cheaper because (at least around here) in 2009 all TV goes HD and stops broadcasting in analog.

Anyway on topic i don't even like Acer computers i don't know why i would buy an Acer console. This is going to be like the Ngage

[wayskobfssae]

Every things getting cheaper because (at least around here) in 2009 all TV goes HD and stops broadcasting in analog.

Anyway on topic i don't even like Acer computers i don't know why i would buy an Acer console. This is going to be like the Ngage

I don't know about their computers, but I'm reading this on an ACER display and I'm quite satisfied with it.

What I want to know is how anyone thinks there's even ROOM for a 4th Console giant. Isn't the industry over-saturated enough as it is?

[Water12356]

Wow wth! And ironicly Game Informer (April issue. just got it today.) reported this RUMOR:
Loose Talk has even heard that some within EA are considering a move to console manfacturing - the hitch being that EA is waiting to see if the PS3 picks up its sales by 2010.

[wayskobfssae]

I'm guessing PS3 sales will not have been picked up by then. Past history dictates we'll be (AT LEAST) into the PS4 in 2010.

[Karthik]

Acer is quite popular in Malaysia. I guess it'll take off in certain parts of Asia.

[Mountain Man]

Acer is quite popular in Malaysia. I guess it'll take off in certain parts of Asia.
Acer is popular because they make things that people actually want. I don't think a game console will automatically be popular just because it has the Acer logo on the case.

[8IronBob]

Wow wth! And ironicly Game Informer (April issue. just got it today.) reported this RUMOR:


Well, look at 3DO, that was EA's last attempt to team up with Panasonic for their games, and look what happened. What makes you think the same thing won't happen here with Acer?

[Hudson]

They can try, but this will never take off.

[Superczar]

I was always under the impression that Acer products were borderline junk? I've seen 22" LCDs several times now on Newegg for under $200 and was scared to buy it thinking it was probably junk...

But why the console industry? 3 major parties is already too many console makers...

[Hudson]

Acer makes damn good LCD's (I have a 22" AL2216W, it rocks!) however I just don't see them excelling in the console market.

[Damien_Azreal]

I applaud them for trying... but the console market has some very stiff competition. The 360, PS3 and yes even the Wii. Those are some hard acts to go up against.

I don't see Acer getting anywhere with this.

[Zero]

You guys have no idea why the GP2X and the GP32 where made do you?

Besides having an open source kernel with unrestricted access.
Nothing Sony has to offer or Nintendo Offers comes close to the offerings emulation wise, some people like me like C64,Sega Master system, NES, TG16, Sega CD, Geniesis, SNES, NeoGeo, Mame, Neo-geo pocket, GBA,GBC, GB, PSX and a few others like the Apple II and others Like MSX/2 and more...

When I bought then console I was no expecting a market of games to compete with Nintendo or Sony, that was not the objective of this hand held, it was targeted towards devs and people who want to get there hands wet in the real world of gram programing on a different architecture then what there computer is.

[Mountain Man]

I applaud them for trying... but the console market has some very stiff competition. The 360, PS3 and yes even the Wii.
Why do you say it like that? I thought the Wii was the best selling console among the three.

[Damien_Azreal]

The Wii is the best selling, I have a Wii and love it. But a lot of people will not list the Wii along side the 360 and PS3 because it doesn't have the graphical power they have.

I personally think it's bullshit, the Wii may not push graphics... but it's pushing innovation. To me, it's the best system this gen. But that's a discussion for a different thread.

I just phrased it like that because a lot of people don't think it should be listed with the other two.

[Mountain Man]

I just phrased it like that because a lot of people don't think it should be listed with the other two.
Well then a lot of people are stupid and who cares what they think.

[Little Conqueror]

Please, give me some credit here. Like avatar_58, the first thing I thought of was the GP32/GP2X/etc. which have only been marginally successful in the Asian market (and all but unheard of outside of it).

Your language clearly states that you expect it to fail. The GP2X and its ilk are hardly failures, even if their appeal in the West is very limited. And Acer is a bit more well-known than the people that made the GP2X, anyway.

[8IronBob]

Acer makes damn good LCD's (I have a 22" AL2216W, it rocks!) however I just don't see them excelling in the console market.

Oh yeah, that's the monitor I've owned with my desktop, and defintiely well worth the price tag I put in for it, around $215 from Buy.com. Not one problem with it. However, I'd suggest that Acer take from Dell's XPS line, or even Gateway's FX line (of which Acer owns that line now) and do a gaming line of PCs, rather than go at it with a console. That's probably where Acer should go, imho.

[Hudson]

Well then a lot of people are stupid and who cares what they think.

Unfortunately a lot of those "people" you are referring to are major game developers and publishers.

Most multiplatform games are now only listed as 360/PS3/PC ... no mention of Wii.

[Mountain Man]

Your language clearly states that you expect it to fail. The GP2X and its ilk are hardly failures, even if their appeal in the West is very limited.
Handhelds are a relatively open market, and an open source handheld fills an untapped niche. Consoles, however, are pretty much locked up by the big three, and the PC already provides all the open standards that anybody could want, so what niche will this Acer console be filling?

[Damien_Azreal]

Unfortunately a lot of those "people" you are referring to are major game developers and publishers.

Most multiplatform games are now only listed as 360/PS3/PC ... no mention of Wii.

Yep. :( A lot of developers only care about pushing graphics forward, few care about innovating gameplay... or how we play.

[wayskobfssae]

Unfortunately a lot of those "people" you are referring to are major game developers and publishers.

Most multiplatform games are now only listed as 360/PS3/PC ... no mention of Wii.

Unfortunately, stupidity always makes up the majority.

Yep. :( A lot of developers only care about pushing graphics forward, few care about innovating gameplay... or how we play.

Quite simple really. Everyone follows the formulas that are already working. Generally, nobody really cares if the gamers are getting something fresh, as long as they're still buying the product. Usually the only time companies will break the mold is if the model they've been shoving down people's throats for the past 100 years begins to stop selling. If it's still making money, all they do is change the symbols on the slot machine drums from cherries to grand slams, and the faceplate from Betty Boop to Babe Ruth, and viola, they call it a whole "new" game.

[8IronBob]

Most multiplatform games are now only listed as 360/PS3/PC ... no mention of Wii.

You would think that more and more game developers would give the Wii more attention, given that it has the largest install base out of all of the platforms on the market.

[avatar_58]

Unfortunately a lot of those "people" you are referring to are major game developers and publishers.

Most multiplatform games are now only listed as 360/PS3/PC ... no mention of Wii.

Whats your point? I'm glad it's this way, and I roll my eyes whenever I see a game being ported to the Wii. The Wii should have more unique games dedicated to the control style and taking the lack of graphical power into consideration.

When I see "Far Cry" and "Splinter Cell" on the shelves it makes me want to choke Ubisoft. We don't need shitter looking versions of games we can buy elsewhere, make something different.

[wayskobfssae]

Whats your point? I'm glad it's this way, and I roll my eyes whenever I see a game being ported to the Wii. The Wii should have more unique games dedicated to the control style and taking the lack of graphical power into consideration.

When I see "Far Cry" and "Splinter Cell" on the shelves it makes me want to choke Ubisoft. We don't need shitter looking versions of games we can buy elsewhere, make something different.

Ehh.. no. Exclusivity shafts the consumer and punishes them for making a "bad" choice. In order for me to actually be completely 'happy' as a gamer, I'd have to own every frigging modern system in addition to PC because of all the games I'd love to play, that come out "ONLY" for this and "ONLY" for that. For whatever platform you own, you should be entitled to games that others play, rather than being shafted just because some ***hat corporations shelled out extra cash to get a developer to limit a game to one or two systems.

[avatar_58]

Ehh.. no. Exclusivity shafts the consumer and punishes them for making a "bad" choice. In order for me to actually be completely 'happy' as a gamer, I'd have to own every frigging modern system in addition to PC because of all the games I'd love to play, that come out "ONLY" for this and "ONLY" for that. For whatever platform you own, you should be entitled to games that others play, rather than being shafted just because some ***hat corporations shelled out extra cash to get a developer to limit a game to one or two systems.

If you want to play games like Splinter Cell you own a 360 or a PC - this is well known. Thats the type of game you expect. The Wii, and let's be brutally honest here, is made for a different sort of game. It's lucky if it can do PS2 era graphics. Therefore I'd expect developers to get a little more creative with gameplay since they have almost nothing when it comes to next gen graphical power.

I mean honestly - do you really want to play a shooter like Turok in 480p with degraded graphics? Why not just buy a PS3 or 360 and get the proper experience? You buy the Wii because you want Nintendo games and interesting third party solutions. Not to play the latest Madden or Bioshock.

[Zero]

I'll agree with Avatar, The Wii needs it's own games.

[wayskobfssae]

If you want to play games like Splinter Cell you own a 360 or a PC - this is well known. Thats the type of game you expect. The Wii, and let's be brutally honest here, is made for a different sort of game. It's lucky if it can do PS2 era graphics. Therefore I'd expect developers to get a little more creative with gameplay since they have almost nothing when it comes to next gen graphical power.

That'd be like saying I shouldn't have played Prey when all I had for video was a GeForce 5600. I wasn't playing it with the same graphical power I could've, therefore the game looked 'gimped.' Did it look cooler when I played it on a newer card? Sure. But I still enjoyed it on the old one.

And the Wii controllers are designed in such a way that they can emulate the play control of practically any game system. The only thing it falls short on there is as many buttons. Turn the wand sideways and you have an oldschool N.E.S. controller in your hands. Nintendo obviously intended for it to be versatile in addition to the newfangled "swing your arms around like Braveheart" playcontrol, so I see no reason why all Wii games should HAVE to work that way, anymore than I should be required to buy a joystick for my PC in order to play a flight-sim. Adding device might improve the experience, but it's not necessary.

I mean honestly - do you really want to play a shooter like Turok in 480p with degraded graphics? Why not just buy a PS3 or 360 and get the proper experience? You buy the Wii because you want Nintendo games and interesting third party solutions. Not to play the latest Madden or Bioshock.

This is exactly what Sony and Microsoft are hoping everyone thinks.

As for the Wii being graphically short of PS2, that's a pretty big over-exaggeration.

[Zero]

I am not a fan of Wii's controls, when all you have to do in; say Wii sports is flick your wrists to do the full motion, it's pretty lame, I think they should have thought it out better. You can find little explots in any game, because there is no real way to figure out if the user has swing the Wii-mote or not, I mean if I swing it hard enough it won't even register that I have swing, this it not very good at all.

[avatar_58]

That'd be like saying I shouldn't have played Prey when all I had for video was a GeForce 5600. I wasn't playing it with the same graphical power I could've, therefore the game looked 'gimped.' Did it look cooler when I played it on a newer card? Sure. But I still enjoyed it on the old one.


Do you honestly believe that games will be successful if all they do is directly port them with gimped graphics? People make a big enough fuss over a loss of a few frames with PS3 ports, let alone having to lose HD + half of the graphical effects.

[wayskobfssae]

Do you honestly believe that games will be successful if all they do is directly port them with gimped graphics? People make a big enough fuss over a loss of a few frames with PS3 ports, let alone having to lose HD + half of the graphical effects.

The PS2 had the worst graphics out of the three contenders of the era. It didn't seem to harm sales any.

[avatar_58]

I'm not sure what exactly you think you are argueing here. PS2, Xbox and GC ports all looked the same with minor changes. If the Wii had a port of Assassin's Creed it would look much much worse than the other two, and the gameplay would suffer as a result of smaller view distances.

The Wii is in a league of it's own, forgoing graphics and focusing on gameplay. However simply porting games which were designed to balance both is just silly. You can say "who cares about graphics" but why would I honestly buy a Wii version of Double Agent when I can just play it on my PC with the *exact* same gameplay only with far better graphics? Thats right - theres isn't any. The Wii needs to sell it's strong points and use the remote with exclusive titles.

Otherwise seriously - why even buy a Wii if it's just PS3/360 - lite? We need excusives that use the hardware as it should be used and not just ports of the other two.

[MAT]

Agreed with avatar. The idea of porting games like Bioshock, Crysis etc. to the Wii is silly and doomed to fail. The wii users bought their consoles for a reason and it's obviously not this.

[wayskobfssae]

And "better graphics is everything" is why the gaming industry will forever live in stagnation.

[avatar_58]

Guy - its the SAME games. Why would I play it on the Wii with toned down details? Why on earth would I want to see big daddies with jaggies going 20fps when I can play on my PC with none at over 100? You aren't making sense.

It's like asking why a toaster can't also fry my eggs. I'm sure it's damn near possible, but why wouldn't I just buy a frying pan?

[Hudson]

I'll agree with Avatar, The Wii needs it's own games.

I agree entirely.. I'm just disappointed in the complete and total lack of attention the console is getting. Which is why I pointed out that most upcoming games have no mention of the Wii.

I'll eventually snag a Wii, if only for the new Animal Crossing game (basky has me hooked on animal friend crack!).. however I want to see new innovative games for the system.

The problem is that it's a risky move for developers.. they have an almost guaranteed sell when aiming for the core gamer demographic on the 360/PS3/PC, where as it's more of an unknown area on the Wii (right now anyway, I suspect this to change).

EGM had an entire section titled "dissecting the wii" this past issue, which basically states that since it's aimed at a casual audience the chance we will see more core/mature gamer content on it is slim.

I really don't think it's as fatal as they make it out to be, however there is truth in it.

[Edit]: Another developer avoiding the Wii: (http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=17922)


Are you planning for creating games on the Wii or DS? Your announced titles seem very core-gamer focused, potentially PC/PS3/Xbox 360.

RvL: We’re primarily focused, right now, on properties that focus on the "core gamer", which tends to be 360/PS3/PC-centric. We’re interested in the Wii, but haven’t seen any strong concepts on this platform and for the time being we aren’t really focusing on it, and to be honest we don’t see many groups, outside Nintendo, making much money on the Wii.

[avatar_58]

I agree entirely.. I'm just disappointed in the complete and total lack of attention the console is getting. Which is why I pointed out that most upcoming games have no mention of the Wii.


Well we're in agreement here. I think third parties are nuts, because as Brawl and Galaxy have proven with sales numbers the potential is gigantic. They just need to come up with creative solutions rather than porting their standard "heres a gun, go shoot something" games.

[Daveman]

But it's not just casual gamers buying the Wii. Hardcore gamers are getting it as well, and more serious games can sell if they're made well.

[Hudson]

Indeed, I had high hopes for Far Cry, Medal of Honor, and Red Steel on the Wii. Granted this is just one genre.. however the Wii has the potential to create an immersive FPS experience beyond anything we've seen before, but instead the developers just tacked on the controls as if they were an afterthought and payed no attention to honing the graphics for the Wii.

The Gamecube produced some pretty fantastic visuals.. so the Wii is obviously capable of more than what has been released, however crappy ports have made it seem like it's unable to reach even PS2 quality. If devs focus on the strong points of the systems graphics (like say for instance, Capcom did with RE4 and the RE:Remake on the GC) they can do much, much better.

[IwantMORE]

I thought that most consoles made money on games, how do you do that with an open platform?

Still if the can make it work good on them, but it's going to be tough. MS will all their billions only sold a few more X-boxes than the 'failure' Cube from Nintendo and looks like it's not going to end up in 3rd place behind the Wii and PS3.

I guess if the can get a durable machine with the right specs cheap enough the could make an impact, but they are not that big a name in the west.

[8IronBob]

Well, you have XNA for the X360, so if Acer does something like that where you can develop apps and games for their "console" or whatever else, then they can charge you per month or year, or whatever else to make your own games and apps for them. Guess that's what Acer may probably be after. With that in mind, all the games you're really gonna find are ones you download from the development community.

[Reaper]

Guys, guys, lets get back to the point here: The Wii, while awesome, is only getting a small trickle of games coming out, whilst the 360/PS3/PC are getting a steady flow. It's saddening. :(

<Me wants to use my Wii for more than dry humping> ;)

[Malgon]

This is a little left field, and not at all what I would expect. I think that they will have a tough time going up against the other consoles, but as someone mentioned it's not really aimed at the western countries and more at the Asian market. Who knows, Acer could do very well there, since they seem to have a much bigger presence in Asia than anywhere else in the world.

[Reaper]

In befoe da lock:
Clarifying comments made earlier this week, PC manufacturer Acer has stated that it will not be releasing a dedicated gaming console.

"Acer is not going to release any game console but the idea is to develop a high-end PC (so not a console) targeted at the serious gamer," a company representative explained to videogaming247.

"That was a major misunderstanding as [Acer senior VP James T Wong] was wrongly interpreted," the rep noted.

At the time, Wong's comments were taken as a sign that Acer was considering an open, non-proprietary game system. Unlike current consoles, such a device would theoretically allow users to create and execution their own programs without prior approval or authorization from the manufacturer.

[Malgon]

All cleared up then. :o

[IwantMORE]

I think there is a bigger issue here as well, maybe there should some sort of 'console system' standard for PC's. For example any system with X, Y and Z in them are PC console 1.0.

Everyone from games developers to hardware sellers and especially end users could benefit from having a standard 'games PC' not maybe for the serious upgrader but for the 'Yes I would like to be able to play any type of game' buyer.

Some form of guarantee that the machine you have will be able to play all games over the next 3-5 years.

[Mountain Man]

On the bright side, all of us who said that Acer would have to be crazy to try and enter the console market with such a proposal were right. :D