Console Wars!
With the console war well on its way it is becoming more evident as to who is going to emerge as top selling console for this generation.
With things like the recession, higher cost of game consoles, battles for exclusive titles, it seems to be one of the most competitive console wars to date. I just recently bought a Playstation 3 to accommodate my Xbox 360 and Wii, so I Figured I would give my two cents on where Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are going.
Price: One of, if not, the most important aspect of a game console when potential buyers.
Playstation 3: The price of PS3 has gotten much better since the original $600, 60Gb first launched. I can now buy a superior console for $400 with 80 Gb of storage. The only disadvantage is the lack of PS2 backwards compatibility, however there have been rumors that Sony plans to release software that enables PS2 compatibility on all PS3 consoles. Even with this price cut, this price is still very high considering the recession and cheaper price of other consoles. Not to mention Sony loses money every time they sell a system, a further price cut would be devastating for Sony in the short run.
Xbox 360: Microsoft has done pretty good for itself with the Xbox 360. The $200 price tag of the arcade system officially makes it the cheapest console. For 100 dollars more you get a 60 Gb Hard Drive included.
Nintendo Wii: As a note to all other Wii related topics, I’m finding more and more difficult to generalize this market as the same market Sony and Microsoft are competing in. That said, the Wii topics will probably be written from a “hardcore gamers” perspective, not a “casual gamer”. Concerning price, the Nintendo seems to be a marketing genius, seeing how it’s kept its console at the same 250 dollar price tag that the Wii had when it first launched. From a gamers perspective the Wii is probably the biggest waste of $250 dollars.
Worth the Money?/Exclusives..: Kind of bleeds in with the “price” subject, however focuses more on what features you get with the console concerning how much you paid for it, and the number of exclusives.
Playstation 3: Considering Sony loses money every time you buy one, it would seem like a pretty good deal. For $400 I got a Blu-Ray player, a game console, and with the right Linux distro, a home computer. Not bad for $400, however, Sony is really hurting when it comes to exclusives, the controversial subject haunting flame wars everywhere. The truth is, the PS3 just isn’t worth $400, especially because I already own an Xbox 360. In fact, the only reason I bought it was that the bundle came with Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2, effectively acting as a price cut for me. After I bought Ratchet and Clank, it then became apparent that their weren’t any other games on the console that I didn’t already have for the 360, after I complete these 3 games, I’m not really sure what games to buy after that. Sony is going to have to get more at least twice as many (good) exclusives, or a price cut to 300 dollars if they plan on competing with the Xbox 360.
Edit: Just bought infamous; a nice addition to Sony’s library. Still, only four games though.
Xbox 360: Not much more than a gaming console, but there are tons of exclusives. I could name 5-10 exclusive games off the top of my head I would immediately buy if I were a new buyer to the console. The 360 is a good investment simply because of all the software available to it.
Nintendo Wii: Pretty Much all exclusives; however there are only a select few that are actually good, most of these being first party games. The whole “Motion-Control” gimmick got old to someone like me in few hours. I haven’t touched my Wii since Brawl was released. I could write a few paragraphs on this subject, but I won’t, because I’m assuming the majority of you aren’t too crazy about this console anyways.
Online experience: Probably the main distinction between this generation of consoles and the last generation of consoles.
Playstation 3: Hey you can’t beat free, eh? All in all PSN is pretty decent considering I don’t pay 7 dollars a month to access it. Not much to say other than that. PSN has got some cool stuff, but XBL’s library of downloadable content dwarfs it.
Xbox 360: They didn’t invent online play on consoles, but they might as well have. Microsoft is obviously undisputed champion in this area. Sure it cost money to access online play, but it is worth every single dime. With the new dashboard update the interface is incredibly streamlined, and online play still feels superior to the PSN. Also, it seems to be getting a bunch of DLC that the PSN isn’t, making some of the games near exclusive status on the 360.
Nintendo Wii: Once again free, but very cumbersome online play. It’s virtual console downloads is the only reason I would ever use this feature.
Motion Controls!: You’ve probably heard that both Microsoft and Sony planning to release and have demoed their motion control interfaces, as well as Nintendo’s “Wii Motion Plus” addition. Obviously, these “casual-gamer friendly” additions is somewhat due to Nintendo’s success with interface.
Playstation 3: The PS3’s motion control system is currently my favorite of all 3. “Wands” as there calling them are two, you guessed it, wand like controllers that let you control objects on the screen. Judging by the demos, it is very precise and looks much, much more responsive then the Wii-mote. Still in early development, but looks promising.
Xbox 360: Looks like they’ve got some cool stuff going down at Microsoft as well (no, not Windows 7). They’re calling it project “Natal”. It’s essentially a very advanced video camera that takes very accurate measurements of whatever is being displayed to it. Basically, it makes your body the controller.
Nintendo Wii: Nintendo recently released the “Wii Motion Plus”, which essentially makes the Wii-mote much more accurate. I’d like to see what developers could do with this.
Future of the consoles: My predictions on the future of these consoles
Playstation 3: It looks like Sony is finally going in the right direction now. The last two E3’s have been impressive as far as exclusive titles go. Sony most certainly can make it if production costs become cheaper and they can finally announce that price cut everyone has been asking for. And, if developers finally get the hang of the PS3 architecture, then this consoles future looks a little shaky, but positive nonetheless.
Xbox 360: Microsoft has had great success marketing the Xbox 360. Prices are ridiculously cheap compared to when it was first released, and is subsequently the cheapest console. The Xbox offers affordability and a library of games that hardcore gamers are looking for. My only problem with the Xbox lies in the fact that the Xbox may not be able to keep up with the steadily rising requirements console developers are demanding. Another problem is the 9Gb DVD’s Microsoft has been milking. At this rate, multi-platform games will take up multiple discs on the Xbox 360. Final Fantasy 13 is a perfect example of this. Are developers going to want to build more advanced games, or will they simply keep developing one version of a multiple-platform and then port it to the PS3? I’m guessing the latter, but who knows. There have been talks of “Natal” being bundled with a new Xbox, possibly one with beefed up hardware.
Nintendo Wii: Let’s no try to worry about Nintendo. Though they’ve pretty much dissed the entire hardcore fanbase, they’re massively successful. Nintendo could sell <insert useless piece of junk here> and make it successful.
Anyways, that was my mindless rant on the console wars.
Also, because a massive flame war will probably ensue, try to keep it respectful. Keep the pointless fanboy comments to a minimum.
Originally Posted by Jin
Bookmarks