Polium clarified on Twitter why their console could have an advantage. The post was brought to light in a recent article by Metro.co.uk Metro’s article was anything but friendly towards the company. But Metro was so focused on a comment not being answered that they failed to point out how this comment shows the value proposition of the platform.
Since their announcement of a crypto gaming console earlier this month. The makers of Polium have been met with harsh criticism. Kotaku went as far as to write a headline saying it would never ever happen.
A lot of critics that pointed to the small team of just 4 people, are probably comparing this to the team required behind nintendo switch. It is the first thing I thought as well. But this tweet really sets the record straight. And it is achievable even with a tiny team.
Their plan is simply to bridge a few wallets with software and make a small device that connects the wallets and lets them play games in a browser. This is hardly a major undertaking at all. And there is value for people who are involved in Play 2 earn games.
The comments to the tweet that went unanswered was about do we even need crypto in games at all. Which echoes the sentiment that a lot of people are opposed to crypto in games. And they have really good reasons. It can ruin the gameplay. NFT’s are expensive. Guilds are exploiting players in the third world who are working as virtual sharecroppers. There is an environmental impact of blockchains. The list goes on and on.
But there are also millions of people playing these games and quite a few people actually earning a living. To that market, this device might actually have some value.
Consider a “Scholar” in the Philippines playing to earn for a few guilds. This device would allow him to have a bunch of wallets, and quickly switch between games. There is definitely a value proposition here. Will it compete with Switch and Steam Deck, absolutely not. Can they pull it off? If that is the only plan, a device which runs a web browser, and connects a few wallets. A small team of competent techs could definitely pull off that.