EA Founder's Bizarre Console Remarks

Trip Hawkins. A man famous for founding Electronic Arts, one of today's largest and most industry-defining companies in the world of gaming. IGN recently caught up to him for an interview, and some of his comments concerning console gaming in particular struck us as odd.

The console market is always going to be with us, because there’s always going to be a hardcore segment, a segment that likes innovation. But it’s going to become a smaller market, and it’s going to be more like a hobby market.

In the context of the interview, Hawkins was comparing console gamers to the ever-growing number of "casual" users who interpret gaming as something one would do to pass time on Facebook; Farmville, for example. But console gamers - hardcore? A group that enjoys "innovation" while using the same hardware for 5+ years? Don't tell the PC gamers, I'm sure they'd be quite offended.

Hawkins goes on to explain his reasoning with an odd analogy. An analogy in which he compares the console phenomenon to... Uh, airplanes?

You look at airplanes. Most of us just want to be a passenger, but there’s a hobby market for people who are really into aviation and want to take flying lessons and maybe someday have their own airplane. I think that’s what’s happening to the console market.

Uh-huh. So... People don't want to play games because they like to be a "passenger" and do nothing... So they want to watch movies? No, no... Wait. I'll get this. Console gamers, because we like gaming as a hobby, wish to build and own our own console. So we should build a PC and become PC gamers. No! Console gamers want to take programming classes and learn to create their own games so they don't have to play Farmville. Maybe? Damn it, I don't know.

Hawkins then goes on to contradict his original statement about console gaming become niche with this gem...

But there are billions of people now playing games. The gaming industry is finally becoming mass-market. It’s across two billion PCs and four billion mobile phones, and within a few years a billion tablets. In terms of total audience size, we’re getting into really big numbers.

Oh, oh, no... I get it now. PC's, tablets, and mobile phones will slowly replace consoles because they're too "hardcore." Growth into a mass-market, billion-dollar industry solely due to consoles means that the audience of the largest facet (consoles) of said industry will shrink. Why, Trip? Why?!

I started working at Apple

I founded Electronic Arts

Because fuck you, that's why.