Acclaimed game developer Peter Molyneux is hard at work with his new studio, 22 Cans, developing his next big game. While Molyneux is busy designing a series of interactive experiments, beginning with Curiosity, he has kept abreast of the developing game industry as it branches out to growing platforms like mobile, free-to-play, and social. He's had a chance to check out the Nintendo Wii U, as well as Microsoft's SmartGlass.

Thus far, he has reservations about tablet gaming.

Molyneux talks about the challenges that developers face when trying to create true multi-screen gaming experiences.

IGN: What do you think of the multi-screen experience that’s evolving with tablets and with the new Nintendo Wii U and Microsoft SmartGlass?

Peter Molyneux: The thing about the SmartGlass is that the tablet is a thing that you have with you all the time. Now, in that sense, I understand completely as a consumer and I’m excited to see what these guys do with it. But I do have a problem with it. I now have a screen in front of me on my lap and a screen up on the wall that I’m looking at. Which one should I be looking at? Should I be looking up at the big screen and down, or at my lap and up? Should I be checking down on my lap every few seconds?  What’s going to incentivize me to move my eyes from the wall to my lap?

In a way, part of me is excited by this. But part of me is worried that this is a bit of tech which us tech boys get really excited about, and until I see some really great uses of that SmartGlass or the Wii U GamePad, the jury is out for me to be honest with you. I can see it if I’m watching a football game that the scores would come up on the SmartGlass. I’m all there for that. I can see if I’m watching a TV episode and it gives me some background on the actors. I’m kind of there, but I can do that on the internet already. The real use for me is how it’s used as part of the entertainment experience, and then that divided attention that you’re demanding of a player is going to be really challenging to balance well.

IGN: Do you think also it could be a generational thing in the sense that you and I are both older, but there’s a younger generation that does currently watch TV and play on a tablet or a smartphone or a PC all at the same time?

Peter Molyneux: That’s a very interesting point, but I think what people do when they have multiple screens is something very simple. They will listen to the big screen whilst distracting themselves on the small screen. That’s not what SmartGlass and Wii U are talking about.

They’re talking about producing an entertainment experience that you’re engrossed in. So you’re not typing an email while watching TV. You’re playing a game while watching TV on the GamePad and that’s where my problem comes in. I know I need it when I’m watching a football game. I need SmartGlass to do my emails or check Twitter or distract myself, especially when the things are at a low point in the plot. But that’s not what SmartGlass or the Wii U are about.

It’s about giving you a second screen into the same experience, and that’s where I’m a little bit challenged. I agree that the younger generation has the ability to switch very fast between different things, but that’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about them being in the same experience. I just think it’s like a lot of tech out there at the moment. There’s a huge amount of tech out there at the moment, including the cloud -- and the cloud has been around for some time -- and it’s not until we get the great applications that actually use that hardware and delight us with those experiences, that we’ve really appreciated its value.

IGN: What are your thoughts on what Nintendo is doing with the Wii U overall?

Peter Molyneux: I struggle to see anything amazing coming out of Nintendo. There are a few, “Oh, that’s smart,” but there’s nothing that makes me rush out as a consumer to buy the new device. I’ll give you a great example of how tech should be used.  It’s what Nintendo did with the Wii when it first came out. They introduced motion control.  They were one of the first companies to introduce motion control and they had a fantastic Wii Sports Game. As soon as I picked up the controller and started waving it around, I got it. I already understood it. But I’m not sure there’s a same sort of application out there for Wii U. I think to myself, “Well, what’s the reason to get it?”  Do you see what I mean?

IGN: I do. I’ve tried out a lot of the launch games and outside of the Nintendo games like NintendoLand and Ubisoft’s Rayman Legends and ZombiU, there’s not a lot of innovations. And I did find it challenging, even while standing at the kiosk, focusing on both screens.

Peter Molyneux: There you go. I had exactly the same experience. I played those games and I thought, “That’s cute.” But the psychology of making a game is hard enough because plasma screens are so big now. It’s hard enough to get the player to move their eyes from the center of the screen to the borders.

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It’s hard enough to get the player to move their eyes from the center of the screen to the borders.

When you’re designing a game for a plasma screen you’ve got to really flash the corners of the screen. You’ve got to get movement in, otherwise people don’t notice anything in the corners. Getting people to move their eyes from the screen down to their laps is incredibly hard. There has to be some huge motivational thing like the words coming up, “Look at your GamePad now.” If you’re going to do that, from a design perspective that sounds a bit clumsy and complex.

IGN: As we look at the upcoming launches of three new consoles, what role do you see them playing in this evolving gaming ecosystem?

Peter Molyneux: Consoles have a very tough time ahead of them. The main issue is that existing console manufacturers are so embedded into the standard retail model in that they spend two years developing a game and then they push it out to retail stores and they’re done. They get a huge amount of money and then they move on to the next sequel that takes another two years. That world is gone forever.

Retail is still an important part of the console business, but a lot of consumers are starting to move to things like the iPad and to digital distribution. People don’t want to go down to a store and buy something that they can buy online just like they don’t want to go down to the store and buy music anymore. The console manufacturers have these two big problems. Their existing business model of development and investing in multiple million dollar development projects and then launching and having this marketing shock and awe campaign. Plus the fact that the technology that’s out there in every consumer’s hands through tablets and phones is now more accessible than ever, and their consoles are stuck in the basement or they’re stuck in the living room. That’s hugely challenging for them.

When you look at the number of units that Apple and Android and Motorola are able to make, the power of tablets and phones are going to exceed the power of consoles very soon now. That’s a problem for console manufacturers because if they’re lucky, over five years they’re going to sell 40 or 50 million devices. And if they’re very, very lucky they’ll eventually -- over a lifetime of consoles -- maybe sell 100 million. That is a drop in the ocean when you compare it to the number of smartphones that are in the market today, and then a tiny drop in the ocean when you compare the number of smartphones that are predicted in the market in the next few years. Just the scaling cost of producing hardware or the penetration of it means that they’ve got a real pricing issue.

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We gamers love our games.

On the plus side, they have a very loyal following. We gamers love our games. We love setting up our gaming locations. We love going into them and inviting our friends.  So they have some loyal fans, but they used to be on the cutting edge of innovation. And they just feel like they’ve fallen back a step now and the people at Apple and Android have taken the crown of innovation from them.

John Gaudiosi is a freelance writer that, among other things, travels the world.

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Today, Bethesda Game Studios – the developer behind Fallout 3 and the Elder Scrolls franchise – Tweeted some interesting news. Notably that the studio is “close on new Skyrim content for PS3 and PC.” It is, of course, the proclamation of being close to a solution to its notorious PS3 DLC issues that’s of real interest here.

Skyrim’s problems on PS3 are, a year out from its initial launch, notorious. And while those problems haven’t plagued everyone who played Skyrim on PlayStation 3, the issues were serious enough that it’s stopped any of the game’s much-anticipated DLC from coming to Sony’s console.

So far, two DLC packs have been released for other platforms. However, both Dawnguard and Hearthfire have yet to come to PlayStation 3, with no word on if or when they would. The third piece of DLC, Dragonborn, was recently revealed.

Unfortunately, the vague nature of the Tweet from Bethesda Game Studios doesn’t indicate much, except that we should likely expect more news sometime in the near future. In the meantime, let’s keep our fingers crossed that PS3 gamers will finally get in on the DLC their Xbox 360 and PC-playing brethren have already experienced.

Colin Moriarty is an IGN PlayStation editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.

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The Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation is suing the architects of the $75 million loan granted to fallen Kingdoms of Amalur developer 38 Studios. According to WPRI, a suit has been filed against 38 founder Curt Schilling -- who lost his baseball fortune following the studio’s collapse -- as well as former EDC executive Keith Stokes, 38 Studios CFO Richard Wester, CEO Jennifer MacLean and 38 board member Thomas Zaccagnino. Others named in the suit include former EDC deputy director J. Michael Saul and Rhode Island lawyers Antonio Afonso Jr. and Robert Stolzman.

News of the lawsuit comes just 24 hours before the two year anniversary of the original deal with 38 Studios, which was signed on November 2, 2010. The assets of 38 and owned studio Big Huge Games were sold for $830,000 earlier this month, leaving Rhode Island owed millions of dollars that could fall to state taxpayers to repay. According to Rhode Island governor Lincoln Chafee, the decision to sue “was not taken lightly and it was taken with the clear goal of protecting the taxpayers of Rhode Island.”

"My message to Rhode Islanders is this," Chafee said. "I know you work hard for your paychecks, and for your tax dollars to be squandered is unacceptable. The board's legal action was taken to rectify a grave injustice put upon the people of Rhode Island."

The suit alleges that "38 Studios failed because of risks that had not been disclosed to the EDC board, but were or should have been known by all of these advisors, and by 38 Studios, and defendants Schilling, Zaccagnino, Wester and MacLean.” It adds that 38 Studios was “undercapitalized by many millions of dollars" and did not disclose that it “was likely to run out of money in 2012.” The full complaint -- along with a video statement from Chafee -- is available on the Rhode Island EDC’s official site.

38 Studios closed in May and executives testified in bankruptcy court in July. The studio’s assets became property of Rhode Island in August. In addition to a sequel to Reckoning, an MMO called Project Copernicus and set in the Amalur universe was also in development at the time of 38’s collapse.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

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Layoffs have hit Lord of the Rings Online developer Turbine. News of the layoffs first emerged this morning on Twitter, and a representative from Warner Bros. Interactive has now confirmed the news, providing IGN with the following statement:

“As part of the continual review of our business operations and fluctuating market conditions, we have had to make reductions in our Turbine workforce. The group continues to remain an integral part of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment.”

Turbine previously worked on the Asheron’s Call franchise, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online. The studio most recently developed Lord of the Rings Online: Riders of Rohan, which was released last month, and is also said to be working on a next-gen MMO.

IGN wishes the best of luck to anyone affected by today’s news.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

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