If there's to be new hardware, around which you intend to base the whole console, it needs to be the kind of thing that improves gaming universally, like dual analog sticks on the PlayStation 1. And if no such innovation can be made - and personally I can't think of any, 'cause dual analog sticks came about during the transition from 2D to 3D gameplay and no such massive quantum leap is occurring at present - then would that be so terrible? If everyone stopped trying to reinvent the bloody wheel and accept that the best way to play videogames is with a controller in your hands, fingers on buttons with tactile feedback and an intuitive layout, and your eyes glued to the screen?

Because if we can accept that current gaming interfaces aren't going to get better, and make one set of hardware standard (or at least modular enough to suit all tastes) then that means the industry can finally settle down into the nice comfortable routine that the home movie industry has. The major strength of which is non-exclusivity. Fuck Sony and fuck Microsoft if they try to keep this obsolete "Console War" concept going with a new Playstation and new Xbox, from which they and all of us would have absolutely nothing to gain and everything to lose. That's why this whole concept of the "Steam Box" has me intrigued, because it's basically just a PC running Steam with the TV-friendly interface on. And anyone can build a PC. Just like anyone can build a DVD player.

But that's not what's most important to me. The important part is that, just like anyone can build a DVD player, anyone can buy a camcorder. Then they can make a film about whatever they want, edit it with free dubbing software, burn it to a DVD and show it to their friends on any DVD player. And that's what I want to see: I want a home console where I can jam in something I've made on a USB key and be playing it within seconds. I'm always saying that videogames are a new form of art and an important aspect of art is that absolutely anyone can express the feelings important to them, and with programs like Game Maker and Unity that is very much possible.

But for a culture of universal expression to really blossom, videogames need to drop this fucking exclusive and elitist attitude, where consoles artificially reject anything but the disks it has approved of, approval they will only give if you've proved you have millions of dollars and a willingness to tick all the fucking boxes. Even within the console's exclusive camp there's this persistent two-tier system, with triple-A on one side and Arcade on the other, and that distinction is only getting more needless when it's no indication of which is better or has the longer play time, only how much money the developers had.

Learn the lesson of history, guys: any society with a rigid and unjust class system will inevitably stagnate, then invite unrest and revolution. And I see no reason that shouldn't apply to software distribution, too. Come on. New year, new industry. One where Call of Duty stands next to Cave Story on the same list, with no judgment and equality for all. Think on it.

Yahtzee is a British-born, currently Australian-based writer and gamer with a sweet hat and a chip on his shoulder. When he isn't talking very fast into a headset mic he also designs freeware adventure games. His personal site is www.fullyramblomatic.com.