THQ: no need for new consoles

THQ does not see the need for more powerful videogame consoles and would rather focus on innovative inputs and richer stories.

CEO Brian Farrell told IGN, "Frankly, the last thing I think the industry needs now is new hardware. You look at the games coming out on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 now and they look stunning."

"If we were to have another $1000 box that the hardware guys have to subsidise and that software developers have to spend even more money developing, that model just doesn't work."

"So to have an extended cycle with a broader audience I think, strategically, is exactly the right way to go, and Move and Kinect are both designed to do that. The market will decide if one or both of those will work, but I love the concept of both hardware guys trying to broaden the audience beyond just the core consumer."

When asked to predict when we might see a new generation of hardware he responded, "What's in it for the gamer?

"Better graphics? They're pretty darn good now. Better sound? No. Gameplay? Probably not. So I think the ways games are evolving now is really a direction we're going. Where it's going to be is in the play experience; richer stories, better characters, production values that are much more like movies."

THQ is making its first big foray into the peripheral market soon with the uDraw tablet for the Wii, out in the US on 14th November.