All Three Next-Gen Consoles at e3 2005

Word is now out that, in all likelyhood, all three next generation consoles will be displayed in some form at this year's e3. Nintendo's Revolution has been rumoured to be making an appearance for a while. Yesterday Sony announced the PS3 would be available in playable form at the convention, and Microsoft was soon to follow regarding the Xbox Next. Game on?

No news is good news

[SFalcon (809084)]

Word is not out that, in all likelyhood, all three next generation consoles will be displayed in some form at this year's e3. Good to know there's no updates on the matter, thanks!

Competition

[TrippTDF (513419)]

I suppose that in the interest of competition, all three are rushing to put something "showable" together, regaurdless of how close they are to market. I'd take anything I see with a grain of salt, knowing that these consoles were probably go through some big changes between E3 and market.

Re:Competition

[devmage (685080)]

Nintendo doesn't rush, they have been working on Revolution for quite some time and indicated it would be at this E3.

They also mentioned at the last E3 that they do not consider Microsoft competition, and they will beat or meet the PS3 to market.

They actually took quite a few shots at M$ and Sony last E3. It was nice to see Nintendo taking the gloves off after taking a beating for some many years.

I will be quite interested to see the what makes the Revolution so revolutionary :)

Re:Competition

[unclethursday (664807)]

Playable showcases of both the xbox next and ps3 arent too unlikely, both of them must be pretty close to final product.

Doubtful on the PS3. I know a few people at a dev studio or two which in turn are owned by large publishers, and they say they have the Xenon (Xbox 2) dev kits already, but the last time I asked (about a month ago) none of them had either the PS3 or Revolution dev kits.

There's also the fact that the prototypes for the Cell chip were only just recently made and are being tested.

If the PS3 is going to be using the Cell, there's going to be at least another year before anything is playable at an E3 or TGS or whatever. Under 5 months is simply not enough time to not only learn an entirely new architecture, but also make playable demos running on said new architecture. And E3 2005 is in less than 5 months.

The only way for the PS3 to have something playable at this year's E3 would be for Sony to change from using the Cell to using a different chip that developers already know (like an x86 or PPC variant, or maybe an updated Emotion Engine), and they could throw together playable tech demos.

But, if Sony still is adamant about using the Cell chip, then it's going to be at least another few months before they can even have development kits ready for developers to begin learning the new architecture on. In that case, don't expect to see "playable" PS3 units at E3 this year.

From The Butt-Spell-Checker-Sad-Tt-Wad-Okay! Dept

[American AC in Paris (230456)]

Word is not out that, in all likelyhood, all three next generation consoles will be displayed in some form at this year's e3.

Well, it is now.

It begins!

[jkmiecik (242175)]

And thus begins the 12 month wankfest over which system is superior, based from debates online from people who have only seen press photos of the system in question and have never played it. I hate console -release years on my gaming forums.

I enjoy it personally

[buffer-overflowed (588867)]

I'll flame people. They'll flame me. We'll get into a how long have you been gaming virtual penis measuring contest. We'll all enjoy it and point at each other and laugh. And no opinions will be swayed.

God himself could descend down upon gaming forums populated entirely by evangelicals in console launch years and declare his preference, backed up by Jesus and the holy ghost, and this is still how it would happen.

The game is most definetly afoot

[fwitness (195565)]

This will make for quite the interesting year game wise. It will also make for lots of price slashes. Since the current consoles still have lot's of graphics power and a huge install base, it's going to be a good year to be a gamer.

Ah the circle of consoles. Makes my heart warm.

Pity the Dev

[Bonker (243350)]

I have nothing but condolences in my heart for those poor devs and designers who just found out with these announcements that they're going to be pulling double or even triple duty for the next year in order to back up the salesmen's promises.

New Input Scheme, Save Us Nintendo!

[Iscariot_ (166362)]

Am I the only gamer that has finally grown tired of the hand-held controller input scheme? Isn't it time we dawn some sort of VR goggles or other similar display and perhaps a new input method? Or is the next generation of consoles going to be identical to the last (and the one before that!) with more ram, processing power, etc?

I know that Nintendo is working on a new type of controller, and that might be enought to persuade me to purchase their console over the other two. But really, I think it's time someone take a larger leap foward than touting it can render toy-story in realtime and has uber magic special online abilities.

Re:New Input Scheme, Save Us Nintendo!

[decipher_saint (72686)]

You want my Power Glove?

but wait..

[kevinx (790831)]

comeon, those are just vaporware.. I'm holding out for the phantom.

Viva la Revolution

[TimmyDee (713324)]

Personally, I'm hoping that Nintendo has a winner on their hands with the Revolution. I've always been a fan of the kinds of games that get released on the Nintendo consoles. They tend to be unique and wonderfully playable. Some may complain that the titles tend towards the younger demographics, but I think that many of them are playable and, most importantly, fun at all ages. Their games tend to be unique whereas PS and Xbox tend to have their catalog dominated by titles that mimic (or are direct ports) of PC games. Sure, the GC has it's share of ported titles, but it also has a ton of exclusives that absolutely rock. Plus, it helps that I've always preferred Nintendo controllers to any others.

*Disclaimer: I would not call myself a Nintendo fanboy. I just bought a GameCube last year (my first console), but have played my friends' PS2s and Xboxes ad nauseam.

Re:Viva la Revolution

[SilentChris (452960)]

Disclaimer: I own all 3 of the current generation systems and a beefy PC.

"They tend to be unique and wonderfully playable."

Wonderfully playable? Yes. Unique? Hardly. Gamespot gave game of the year for GC to Paper Mario 2. Fun little game, but used the standard RPG format that's been used for years (don't tell me switching to an airplane to complete exactly 5 puzzles during the game is "Unique". It isn't).

Metroid was a fantastic game, but built on a series close to 20 years old. So was Zelda. In fact, the only true "new" series invented with the GameCube are Pikmin and Viewtiful Joe (the second from Capcom). Nintendo is just about the most conservative gaming company there is. Some people like that, but I like the "Jet Set Radios" and "Kalimari Darcies" (sp?) of the world.

Every system has great exclusives. Nintendo's appeals to a family demographic. Xbox appeals to PC fans. PS2 has got the GTAs and Final Fantasies. I wouldn't put one system's exclusives above another.

Three?

[wetdogjp (245208)]

Wait, only three consoles? The Phantom is going to be there, right? I mean, c'mon, it's 2005.

Re:Vision

[garcia (6573)]

Well considering that Sony offered a Linux kit for the PS2 and it really never took off (due to price because of the HD) I can't imagine this will happen.

It would be interesting though ;)

Re:Vision

[Bander (2001)]

My understanding was that the Linux kit was sold out in pre-orders, which isn't quite "never took off". Sony didn't intend for it to be a mainstream consumer product, but a one-off stunt that paid off more in press and word-of-mouth than sell through profits.

Also, in the form it was released, the Linux kit was definitely more hobbiest oriented than home consumer oriented. Turning it into something with Sony's traditional polish would probably have cost more in effort than would have been made in sales. (De

Re:Vision

[by Anonymous Coward]

What if all the cell processors unite and form a giant A.I. that acts like a super-intelligent penguin, eating all our fish so that the oceans shrink and then there will be no deep end any more. NO DEEP END.

*anonymity to fend off pending uber-penguin attack

Re:Vision

[by Anonymous Coward]

I for one would like to be the first to welcome our super-intelligent fish-eating, ocean-shrinking, no deep end making, cell processor based, uber-penguin overlords.

Re:Game On Indeed

[rayzat (733303)]

Three companies all battling with hardware made by IBM.

Re:Game On Indeed

[powderbluedictator (822151)]

Where is Intel eh? IBM recently sold off it's PC business. Hmmmm, no point in competing it;s own Cell Architecture. Is this IBM trying to take over the PC market again with a few sneaky consoles are a wedge in the door?

Re:Most interesting thing is that they are the sam

[dartboard (23261)]

They are all using IBM processors but certainly not the cell -- only sony will use that. Others will use more traditional powerpc designs I suspect.

Re:Sigh

[rjelks (635588)]

I've leaned towards the shorter FPS games (ie, Halo2, Ghost Recon 2) for a simple lack of time. I can't dedicate hours a day, forgetting to eat, on a RPG like when I was younger. I tend to prefer the games that I can play for 30 minutes and stop. That's just my $0.02.

Re:Stop talking about Graphics!

[clontzman (325677)]

The Xbox was ultimately a poor investment for anyone who bought it. Sure Halo's 1&2 are system sellers. But then what? There were scant few good titles for Xbox.

Not that old saw again. There are more good games for the Xbox than there is time for any reasonable person to play. There are more than 100 Xbox games on GameRankings with scores above 80%. Xbox gets its share of original games (Halo, KOTOR, DOA, Crimson Skies, MechAssault, Ninja Gaiden) and, almost always, the best versions of multiplatform games, plus XBL.

I agree that all the prick-waving about whose processor is more powerful is boring, but there's some great stuff out there for the Xbox.

Its all about the B grade Titles

[LordZardoz (155141)]

Let us, for the sake of arguement, say there are 3 grades of titles.

Grade A: These games move systems, and are platform exclusive. Halo, Super Smash Brothers, Gran Turismo, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy.

Grade B: A grade B title is a great game that does not quite move a system, or would if it were not multi-platform. EA's sports titles, Resident Evil, Viewtiful Joe, Pikmin, etc.

Grade C: A grade C title is a pure average game, most often available on many platforms.

The X-Box is a collection of a small number of A titles and a large number of C titles.

The Gamecube has a large number of A titles, and a small number of B games and an average number of C titles.

The PS2 has a merely average number of A titles, but a staggering number of B and C titles.

Grade A games do move consoles, but you actually have to like the game to buy the console. Mario Sunshine is a grade A title. But if you think its a kiddie game, then it wont move you to buy a cube. The quantity of B class titles is what makes a console a good investment. This is because there will be more B class games on a given platform then A class games, and while you may not find many 'A' games, you probably will find enough 'B' games to make a difference.

Multi-Platform games, like Activisions Spiderman 2 game and EA's sports games, are qualified as B titles because they are multi-platform. But multi-platoform games only really help the platform that already has the larger installed base. It does not matter if it looks better on the X-Box if you dont own an X-box.

END COMMUNICATION