Levine says tech like Chromecast is where gaming will go

Irrational Games head Ken Levine has said he is excited about the effect technology like Google's Chromecast might have on video games in the future.

Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, Levine said the main differentiator between the next-generation consoles is their unique services. "From a hardware perspective, the PC and the Xbox and the PS4 are very much similar beasts in a lot of ways now," he said. "It's more about the software on top of it and the services they provide.

"What I'm excited about--you saw that Google dongle that came out the other day?--is something like that for games."

Google's Chromecast is a $35 HDMI peripheral that allows streaming of services like Netflix and the mirroring of computer screens. Sony has created a similar idea with its Remote Play interoperability between PlayStation 4 and Vita, and also acquired streaming technology Gaikai for $380m last year.

One of the key principles of Nintendo's Wii U is also that users can play games on the screen when the television is in use.

Levine thinks the experience of allowing people to play games anywhere is now more important than having one central device in the living room. "People want to talk about owning the living room. I don't think the living room matters that much any more," he said.

"It's about wherever you want to game and having your experience. I'm not just saying playing an iPhone game, I'm saying having your game--your big, hardcore game--playing on whatever screen you wanted.

"I think that kind of technology is going to be something that's really important for gamers, because you want to be able to pick up your experience and move it somewhere else."

"The technology's there--it's actually very, very cheap," Levine said last week. "I'm just waiting for someone to do it, because letting gamers define their experience--how they play it, where they play it--that's where it's going. Gamer-driven experiences. That's what excites me."