The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim director Todd Howard has stated that he’d like to see the age of warring consoles end, with just one system available in future. He likens his vision to that of the DVD market — where there’s a single format for whatever machines people want to make.
“I’d like there to be only one platform.” said Howard in PSM3. “It’s a lot of work to make the games look good on every platform you’re on. I often equate it to DVD or Blu-rays. Once I’ve bought a DVD I can use it in my TV, in my computer, in my car, here, whatever. And I think it would be good for gaming if it was like that.
“… They spend billions of dollars selling consoles at a loss for years, but then make the money back with games. It’s not like the industry is hurting, we’re doing really well. But if I had one wish, you know, we would have better games for a single platform.”
This has been echoed by other developers before. Denis Dyack, in particular, thinks a single-platform future is unavoidable. It would definitely be interesting, but I doubt Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft are quite so ready to embrace such a future.
PS3-60: Bethesda exec calls for single console standardisation [CVG]