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?

Vision

[dsginter]

Here's what I'm hoping:

1) Sony uses a custom Linux distro for PS3
2) PS3 becomes infinitely popular
3) Sony releases cell processor for PCs
4) Cell processor takes over PC world
5) Linux now has hundreds of game titles, thanks to PS3 development
6) People dual boot Linux for games, eventually dump windows
7) No proft!

Confirmation?

[Sir Haxalot]

I heard that the next generation of consoles will be cheaper than the current generation of consoles when they came out, because PC prices have fallen so dramatically over the past year, and the console makers want to be as competitive as possible. Can anyone confirm?

The game is most definetly afoot

[fwitness]

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]

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_]

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:Game On Indeed

[powderbluedictator]

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?

Might sit out this next round

[Zed2K]

I might actually pass on buying any of these next consoles unless I can get them at a discount (not likely) or a game comes out that is so remarkable that its different from anything I've already got. I've already got a PC with a ton of games and a PS2 and gamecube that I rarely play. Show me something amazing and actually new and then I might be interested.

Re:Most interesting thing is that they are the sam

[dartboard]

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:Pity the Dev

[Anonymous Coward]

Ha! I've been working on the Xbox2, and let me tell you, we've already been pulling double duty for 8 months.

Re:Vision

[Anonymous Coward]

Do you know how slow consoles are for general computing?

I've had people tell me that a PS2 was as fast as a 1GHz Pentium 4...

Lets put it in to comparison:

Sun Ultra 2 485769.1 21.7
Pentium II 266 484358.6 21.7
PPC 7100/80 (upgraded to G3/240) 480364.5 21.5
Amiga 4000/CyberstormPPC (604/233) 467746.8 20.9
R5900/294 (Sony Playstation 2 Linux -O3 -fomit-frame-pointer) 454782.2 20.3
AMD K6/233 435896.6 19.5
R5900/294 (Sony Playstation 2 Linux) 430361.2 19.2
Powermac 604e/180 (240m ram, 512k L2) 425360.9 19.0
AMD K6/233 413956.7 18.5
Powermac 604e/200 408090.0 18.2
RS6000/B50 (AIX 4.3.3, gcc 2.95.2) 407308.3 18.2
AMD K6/200 374838.4 16.8
Pentium Pro 200 356929.4 16.0
Pentium Pro 200 (BSDI 2.1) 347986.9 15.6

The Linux PS2 port is so horribly slow...

Re:Competition

[devmage]

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:Viva la Revolution

[SilentChris]

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.

Re:Sigh

[EpsCylonB]

Personally I hate the fact that games are getting shorter, it is especially noticeable with FPS's. Unreal, Half Life (1), quake 2, these games all offered great value for money single player experiences.

However devs are responding to the market, there was a survery that found out that something like 75% of all games sont get completed, which is ridiculous compared to other media like films and books.

Re:Perfect!

[DCheesi]

xBox also has the KotoR series, which is a big deal right now. I've found that if you're a western (D&D style) RPG fan, the xBox is the way to go. In general, the xBox excels in the genres traditionally dominated by the PC, which fits in with its chosen market segment (older gamers).

The new M$ console will fail in Japan, of course, but in the US it should do at least as well as the xBox. If it really is MCE in a cheaper package, it may even do better.

The only thing keeping Nintendo alive is Mario and a couple of other never-ending nostalgia franchises, plus their kid-friendly image. Unless the Revolution really changes things, look for Nintendo to lose even more ground.

Sony inhabits the middle ground, which happens to be the standard console market of yore. They'll be fine whatever they do. Even tying themselves to yet another proprietary format (BluRay) won't topple Sony's gaming empire.

Re:Viva la Revolution

[MilenCent]

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).

Paper Mario's true uniqueness comes from the derandomized, battle system that offers a play mechanic that involved changing the rules to battle (Badges). It is true that that was also used in the first game, but in game circles people typically don't complain until you've copied something twice.

Metroid was a fantastic game, but built on a series close to 20 years old.
Yeah, but the play style was created anew for the game, due to it being in 3D, so it doesn't count.

Just because a game happens to be in the same "universe," or have the same characters, as a previous one doesn't mean it's a brainless copy of the original, especially in Nintendo's case. The Mario series now numbers eight "main" games: Donkey Kong, Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros., SMB2, SMB3, Super Mario World, Yoshi's Island, Mario 64 and Mario Sunshine. Each has offered considerable differences from the one before.

For any other company this would be amazing, but Nintendo's reputation has gotten so elevated that every game is now expected to be a revolutionary thing. (How many Crash Bandicoots were made with almost identical gameplay?) Which no one can do, not even Nintendo.

But Nintendo does take chances with their core franchises -- and sometimes they pay the price for those chances, like when a bunch of know-nothing gamers snub Wind Waker because of cel shading. But Wind Waker's vast explorable ocean also bugged some gamers. I thought it was terrific, but some complain that it's largely empty. (I would retort: not nearly as empty as Ocarina of Time's Hyrule Field, yet OoT is almost universally adored.)

In fact, the only true "new" series invented with the GameCube are Pikmin and Viewtiful Joe (the second from Capcom).

You forgot Animal Crossing, sport, which is Nintendo's biggest advance this year. There's also Cubivore and Doshin the Giant, two games that got extremely short shrift. (Cubivore was almost impossible to find, and Doshin didn't even get a U.S. release.)

Some people like that, but I like the "Jet Set Radios" and "Kalimari Darcies" (sp?) of the world.

I do agree with your opinion on those two games.

original names huh?

[sunami]

Not that this much matters to the performence of the systems, but I can't help but notice the unoriginal names that the Sony and Microsoft systems have.

"Playstation 3" - that's VERY original.
"X-Box Next" - there's the X-Box word in the next console again.
"Revolution" - That's something new, original; much better than "Gamecube 2" or whatever.

I mean, come on guys, pick a good name for your creation!