360 vs. PS3 vs. Wii - The Designer's Perspective 361
Gamasutra is running a piece today written by Ernest Adams, a frequent contributor to the site and an amusingly opinionated game designer. He writes to weigh in on the console war debate from the perspective of a game designer. He runs down the usual list of pros and cons for each machine, and then digs into the most creative aspects of each machine. Finally, lays out what he sees as the end result of this hardware generation: "So who, at the end of the day, will be the also-ran in this generation of consoles? On the global scale, I'd say it could well be neither the PS3 or the Wii, but the Xbox 360. The PS3 will win over the hardcore gamers who have to have the fastest, most amazing machine available. The Wii will skim off the younger players and those who don't have as much money to spend. Both have the advantage of being made in Japan, so they'll crowd the Xbox right out of that market. In the US and Europe, it's harder to say, but I see the Xbox's early start as more of a liability than a benefit."
I have to disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know what will happen in total sales, but I expect that the so-called "Hardcore" gamer will likely purchase multiple systems and will be very attracted to the Wii because the nature of the titles it recieves; what I mean is that many of the so-called "Hardcore" gamers will buy pretty much any piece of hardware that has enough exclusive games, and pretty much all Wii games are exclusive due to the nature of the console.
The majority of gamers are not hard-core and are no where near as big of graphics whores as some people assume; gaming is probably not their only form of entertainment so they're probably less likely to spend too much money on it. The price of the Wii is probably very attractive to them, but they also haven't played enough games to care about how stagnant the industry has become.
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
People who buy a console because of its hardware are not hardcore gamers, they're assclowns. Hardcore gamers are primarily concerned with games, as the term implies.
Ok, this wasn't terribly on topic but I had to get it off my chest.
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
If I really wanted the biggest and best gaming machine, I'd buy a PC.
As far as I'm concerned the only thing a PS3 is good for right now, is a cheap Blu-Ray player. But at the same time you'd have to convince yourself that it's even worth buying any blue laser disc player at all, nevermind the Blu-Ray over HD-DVD.
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
Considering you're a self professed hardcore gamer, you should know that the PS3 DOES have stuff going for it other than just Blu-ray.
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No, the Wii is getting a FF: crystal chronicles sequel. !3 if confirmed to be PS3 exclusive. no plans after that so far.
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surely a problem in itself? back in the old days I don't ever recall the "wah! give me a year before you have an opinion! why do you have to be so mean! judging something is politically incorrect!" argument being too popular.
>Considering you're a self professed hardcore gamer, you should know that the PS3 DOES have stuff going for it other than just Blu-ray.
such as?
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Funny)
What do you mean, "unless Sony drops the ball?" Not only has the ball been dropped, but it's rolled down the driveway and is sitting in traffic! The only thing the remaining exclusives could be waiting for is to see if Sony can retrieve it without becoming road kill.
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I also find it funny how you say you can't have a strong opinion on the PS3 for at least a year, whereas everybody else seems to already have a very strong (positive) opinion on the Wii.
I think the ebay prices pretty much show how this is working out for Sony: PS3s going unsold even at retail, W
Re:I have to disagree (Score:4, Insightful)
What system _doesn't_ have games? Certain systems tend to focus more on certain types of games...but what's being implied here is that the Wii will win out because of the games available on it. Other than the fancy controller, what's different about the games available this time around?
Some people prefer non-nintendo games, or at least don't care about them enough to only buy that system.
Most likely is that there will be a larger multi-console camp this time around. Why not? The Wii is cheap enough that even if it is a gimmick in the long run, no big deal.
But chances are very very good that traditional non-nintendo gamers aren't going to 'switch' to the Wii. If anything, they'll get the Wii too. Probably after the 360 if that's your thing, probably before the PS3 if you're more in that camp.
What probably won't happen though is people buying a 360 and a PS3. Yes, of course some will, but in general most won't. Why? Because for all intents and purposes, they're very very similar, and more and more games are coming out for both consoles.
The 360 and the PS3 are similar enough to PC's that this is where the bulk of games are being targeted. Most bang for your development buck. It just makes sense. There's still a few proprietary titles on each system, but that's getting to be fewer and fewer all the time.
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That's very likely, indeed. Many of the first fans are older now, and some have amazingly
moved out of ma's basement and/or got jobs. I'll most likely end up with a bunch of consoles
of both the current and previous generation within the next six months. Currently only got
a DS and a PS2, though.
I'm no fan of any particular platform, but I'll get the one(s) with multiple games that interest
me. Just one platform-exclusive won't w
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Funny)
Infinium Phantom
No, no ! You're wrong (Score:4, Funny)
No you're wrong. They'll have Duke Nukem Forever.
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I think the point is that you have more possibilities for great games with a more powerful system. Look at the Wii. It has a more "powerful" controller by many people's standards. That controller allows games that the others can't match. Similarly, the PS3 is more powerful in the traditional sense of the word. Theoretically, this could allo
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Meanwhile I see the Wii as the runner up behind the PS3 largely due to it's low price point and classic Nintendo style. I see the XBox 360 becoming another Dreamcast. Like the Dreamcast, I'd consider buying a 360 but not
Re:I have to disagree (Score:4, Insightful)
What I can say is that in both the Sony PSP vs. Nintendo DS and Sony PS2 vs. Micrsoft XBox/Nintendo Gamecube "console wars" Graphics, AI, Physics, Media Playback and Internet Capabilities meant very little to the average consumer and the system that "won (is winning)" was the worst system in most of these ways. Gamers buy gaming systems to play games, the system that has the most games that fit their desired playstyle tends to attract them.
In general I would say that the XBox 360 is at a disadvantage because it lacks Japaneese development and Japaneese developers (unlike North American/European developers) tend to produce their games as console exclusives.
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Insightful)
Microsoft has proven that they can design a solid online offering, providing centralized friends lists, voice, chat, messages, easy matchmaking, really cool and innovative (as well as retro) games on XLA, coutnless downloads (that work in the background) and more. The PS3 forces each developer to provide their own online support or demand that gamers subscribe to a third-party service.
Online support on a console does not mean slapping on a badly integrated browser (every time I try to surf on my PSP I want to blow my brains out), it means seamless online gaming. We live in a day and age where people get connected for everything. From YouTube to MySpace, World of Warcraft to Instant Messaging, people do not want to stay alone at home, disconnected and secluded. Xbox Live brings gamers together, and that's the ace in the sleeve of the Xbox strategy, especially when paired with Live Anywhere which loops in the windows gamers too. Sony had a year to get their online act together and they have learned nothing.
I could cite many other reasons why the 360 will impress and endure, including community offerings using XNA, a non-Trojan horse HD-DVD drive, amazing non-Halo exclusives like Mass Effect, Lost Planet, Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey, but to me, Xbox Live carries a lot of weight on its own.
Yes, I am a huge Microsoft & Xbox 360 fan (although I also own a PSP and will buy a Wii as soon as I find one), and Microsoft might not beat Sony's numbers in this generation, but one thing is for sure, both the Xbox 360 and the Wii will eat a huge chunk off Sony's 70% market share.
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Re:I have to disagree (Score:4, Interesting)
That is HIGHLY unlikely, if soully for the reason that no alternate controllers, even first party controllers, ever catch on on a massive scale, aside from slight alterations like the Wavebird (wireless) and XBox S controller (smaller). Even DDR pads are a fairly niche market, when you look at the grand scheme of things: it's justified for basically only one game series. The controller you're talking about would practically require exclusively written games for it... we're not talking Wavebirds and S Controllers, here.
Secondly, why the hell would Nintendo want to give up the ONE THING that makes its console unique and attractive to the public (besides the feeling that you're buying into a company that is actually striving for innovation for the long term)? They'd be pratactically writing their own death sentance, at least in the hardware market. We're looking at a possible leader or strong second place in this coming generation, and you're suggesting they simply throw it away? No, Nintendo's got something to prove: that balls-to-the-walls processing power doesn't automatically make for a good game or a successful console. They could not have done a better job of proving that, so far. It's better for business, it's better for gamers, and it's better for developers, in the long run.
Also, Nintendo spent years developing and honing the Wiimote to get it to the surprisingly usable piece of machinery it is today. The logistical hoops that Sony or Microsoft would have to go through, simply to include precision tracking (plug-in for LED sensor), would be staggering... and let's not even get into the legal reprocusions.
No, Sony and Microsoft will, and should, stick to their guns in maintaining systems that target their prime demographics. I think it's really refreshing to finally see some real separation between consoles, this time around, with huge differences in design philosophy and gameplay expectations. It starts to kinda make all the various consoles in past generations seem redundant.
Re:I have to disagree (Score:5, Interesting)
About my early doubts about the Wii and non-gamers, I've seen some very impressive things, that make me think Nintendo may just be crazy like a fox. Watching a forty year old stop at a Gamestop in the wall to play Wii sports, and responding with something equivalent to "This is fucking awesome!" and "When are these gonna be on sale?" impressed me very highly. Anecodotal reports of non-gaming girlfriends seizing controllers are also very encouraging.
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It's very very easy for Microsoft to add a motion sensing wand/controller to the Xbox 360. It's very very difficult for Nintendo to add the graphics power and multimedia capability to the Wii.
*If* the Wii really starts kicking ass (and I'm not convinced yet, it's still far too new... all consoles sell out in the first month, even crappy ones
this whole article is just a waste of time (Score:3, Insightful)
"In the optical media era, Sony brought out the Playstation
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Doesn't that imply...? (Score:4, Insightful)
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That's not true at all. Being in the middle means that you're better than a Wii at graphics, performance, and probably have better games, and you're cheaper than a PS3. I *always* buy the middle of the road computer hardware when I'm upgrading because it offers the best balance of price and performance. For example, there's no way I'd pay $400 for a CPU when I know it'll be $150 within 6 months. The same goes for expensive graphics c
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Please tell me you were looking for a +1 Funny Mod here.
I'll grant that the PS3 has the new Cell processor, but other than that both the PS3 and the Xbox360 are just a souped up PS2 and Xbox respectively. Nintendo just decided not to soup up their console as much as their competitors and decided instead to spend their time and money on a new control scheme.
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The Wii is most certainly a souped-up GameCube, but this detracts nothing from what Nintendo has done with it. A friend of mine, a Nintendo dev, were having lunch a few months ago. When I asked him a few months ago what the new Wii hardware was like, his response - "It's basically a Gamecube..." It rather surprised me. Obviously, it's been boosted in both performance (clock speeds have doubled approximately) and memory , but the point is that fundamentally,
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The GGP asserted that the Wii is [i]only[/i] a souped up Gamecube, with the implication that this makes it not revolutionary. He then asserts that the Xbox360 and PS3 are truly revolutionary advances in gaming technology, with the implication being this is because of their souped up hardware. This should seem rather odd for the reasons the GP stated. In all technicality, the Xbox360 and PS3 are also just souped up Xboxs and PS2s (albeit to a greater degree).
That, I think, was th
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First of all, I do like the Wii. But there at a LOT of things that 1080 graphics allow that 480 simply does not. One simple example is real-time strategy games. Pixel real estate is at a premium, and you would have a graphics nightmare trying to do that on 480 resolution. Now, one could say most Wii gamers could care less about RTS. But IF you did want to play one, you could not do so on a Wii. The upcoming
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No, what it means is that your competitors are doing a better job at targeting their demographics. The Wii is the affordable, fun device for casual and mainstream gamers, while the PS3 is the expensive, high-end device for serious gamers wanting top multimedia experiences. This leaves the 360 in the middle with its userbase leeched off on b
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In the games department, the 360 definitely is very similar to the PS3 and I could definitely start a flamewar by saying that one has better graphics quality than the other because they're so similar it's hard to choose.
However, down the road I think that the other features of the PS3 will win over hardcore fans, especially those who like to show the latest and greatest off to their friends. Multimedia playback, internet capability
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First, you are wrong about HD-DVD. It is readily available for the 360.
As far as media playback, web browsing etc., go, I doubt those will be that appealing. If they were, people would be leaping all
Re:Doesn't that imply...? (Score:5, Insightful)
Here are a few reason why I disagree. I guess time will tell which of us is right.
Yes, the 360 does indeed have HD-DVD. And yes, it is an add-on. I think that most people will like that. You have the choice of whether you want to pay for it or not. Microsoft isn't forcing you to buy it with their console. As a result, their console is considerably less expensive without giving up any of it's primary usage capabilities—gaming—and Microsoft was able to get a lot of the systems out and on the market a lot quicker than Sony has.
Not very many people have PSPs. Honestly, I bought one because I thought they were going to be the Next Big Thing(tm). They're not. Their potential never materialized, and I've been sorely disappointed at the lack of cool stuff for mine. The games aren't that good, the UMD movies are dead, and I haven't even turned the thing on in a year or so. I wish I could go back in time and slap myself silly for buying one. Maybe now that the PS3 is out, I can get a little something back for it on eBay.
This sounds like a marketing clip if ever I heard one. This assumes that: 1) people even have a PSP, 2) people carry their PSP around with them, 3) people have wireless access to the Internet everywhere they take their PSP, 4) people's friends will care what's on their PSP or PS3, 5) people will actually want to watch movies on a four-inch screen. Is PSP/PS3 communication neat? Sure. Is it a reason to buy either? No.
When I can rip my DVDs onto my computer and have it stream them to my PSP or PS3, come back and talk to me. (Yes, I know there's probably some long, complicated, illegal procedure to do this, but we're talking about what average consumers can do.)
No, you can't. Every review I have read says that the Xbox Live service is head and shoulders above Sony's online service.
As has already been pointed out, it's not $15 a month. It's less than $5 a month. And considering how much better the Xbox Live service is over Sony's, yes, I think that paying less than $5 a month for it is more than reasonable.
Not near
Re:Doesn't that imply...? (Score:4, Insightful)
Question: What percentage of the PS2's massive install base was sold on launch day/launch year?
Question: When the PS2 was released, what was the most expensive console available?
My 2c.... launch day/launch christmas is irrelevant. I, like probably 90% of console gamers out there, will buy one in a year or so when it hits $400AU or less (as I did with the PS1 - it was $799AU on release from memory), or when one of the "must have" game exclusives for me comes out on it (for the PS2, this was GT3). "It" being Xbox360/Wii or PS3, or all three.
The PS3 has been designed to be competitive for the next 5+ years (which is where the extra BD capacity will be handy). Sure, lack of supply on launch day/this christmas may hurt sales a little bit, but in the scheme of things, I think christmas 2007 and 2008 will be far more important for all the current "next gen" consoles, when game selection is better and price is cheaper.
Expect a "revision 2" of the PS3 that will fix a bunch of issues - in fact, I'm willing to bet that many of the current issues will be fixed in the PAL version, which is due in March 07.
I'll probably end up buying all three consoles anyway, but that's how I see things.
'game designer' AKA former EB sales clerk (Score:5, Insightful)
So instead we get the worthless ramblings of the console dev world's deadweight:
'game designers' aka level monkeys
producers
testers
Doesn't matter (Score:2, Funny)
An odd set of priorities (Score:4, Funny)
Re:An odd set of priorities (Score:5, Funny)
Bah! For a 6 figured salary many of these developers get, I'd be willing to get worked up over Barbie's Pink Pony Video Game Adventure if they gave me half of that.
Wii for the win? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Wii for the win? (Score:5, Insightful)
The Wii was made to reach all gamers, and be good enough for the hard core games but not with top notch specs. They're pulling from their backlog (which as registered will be larger than PS+PS2+PS3+xBox+xBox360 combined as, if I remember the statements right, they could release titles daily and go on for a century and still have titles to release) and adding new stuff that is truly innovative, fun, and entertaining.
I'll get a Wii - heck, even my wife wants to get me one so that we can play it together and have a lot of fun. We've been playing my old 2nd generation NES (the SNES form-factor styled NES) for quite a while now and love it. And with titles like ExciteTruck and and backwards compatibility, I'm all for the Wii.
So if anyone ever wonders why Wii is being thought to be in 1st place - it's because Nintendo did the job, and did it right. They remembered who their real market was and made a product for that market. Finally - the world can have fun gaming again, and it won't be on a PS3 or xBox 360.
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Basically eBayers aren't getting much above retail right now. After you count what they're paying for the auction, shipping (many are offering this for free) and whatever tax they payed when purchasing it, I think many of them could be losing money. It's good news and bad news really. If you're a scalper, well, we didn't like your
Useless (Score:4, Insightful)
Or, (Score:3, Insightful)
Or the gamers who, you know, like to have more than 3 games a year [slashdot.org] and care about more than Halo. It's not like the prices are going to stay fixed forever, and I know kids who have, on their own earnings, bought all three last-gen consoles.
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It's funny that you link to an article about how the Wii won't just have three games a year...
I know kids who have, on their own earnings, bought all three last-gen consoles.
Yeah, and one of this gen's consoles costs as much as all of the last gen consoles combined...
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Advice of the Wise Muse (Score:2, Funny)
The better quote (Score:2, Informative)
"So which do I want to design for? From a creativity standpoint, it's the Wii, hands down (or up!). "
The 360's real liability is its game selection (Score:5, Interesting)
A couple days ago, though, I went over to a friend's place; she manages a small EBgames store, and has a 360 and just about every notable game for it. It was just a small get-together, so a bunch of us spent some time browsing through her collection of 360 games. I'm glad I didn't buy one.
Gears of War. Rainbow 6: Vegas. Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter. FEAR. YAWW2FPS (Call of Duty something, I think). Dead Rising. Saint's Row. Splinter Cell: Double Agent. Dead or Alive 4.
Incidentally, most of these games are the most popular on the 360. Notice something? It's almost entirely FPS. R6:V, CoD and GRAW are your archetypical boring, generic, sequel shovelware. Gears of War and FEAR are both good games in their own right, but considering the company they're in, they don't exactly stand out. Then you have yet another Splinter Cell game, which falls in the same boat: a good game, but reeking of been-there-done-that. Next is Dead Rising, a good game with a few very, very deep flaws, but basically fun, and Dead or Alive 4: an uninspired button-masher fighter that doesn't look like its had its sprites updated in years. Nevermind that the game ought to come with a jar of vaseline, as it's mainly beat-off material for teenagers.
It's not that the 360's game lineup is all that bad, it's just that the console's been out for a year now, and the best game on it is a FPS, on a console that's drowning in FPSes. Yet where are the RPGs? Oblivion and its broken leveling system and litany of cut-and-paste caves/dungeons? Bottom-of-the-JRPG barrel drek like Enchanted Arms (if you're not acquainted with how agonizingly bad this game is, take a look at some of the gameplay videos on Gametrailers [gametrailers.com])?
If the 360 really has a weakness, its the utter lack of diversity in its games. It's a hell of generic sequelism. That's fine in a launch console, but not a year after release.
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Will the Wii have more then another Mario, Metroid, Wario and Zelda next year? Will the PS3 have much more then its MetalGear, GrandTurismo and friends? I kind of doubt it. If you want you can get Viva Pinata, Geometry Wars, any of those EA Sports Titles or simply stick with Dead Rising, BioShock, Gears of War, Assassins Creed and friends, sure, some might come out of genres you already know,
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Personally I'm quite uninterested in the 360 simply because any of the games I would care to play on there have vastly superior counterparts available for PC.
I still can't bring myself to play FPSs on a console. The control schemes have gotten vastly better over the years, but it's still not even close to the trust mouse and keyboard.
Oblivion on a decent pc makes the 360 version seem like a steaming pile of poo, for a number of reasons. Foremost is the graphics of course, they're just not e
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I got a new rig last year, and threw in a 24" widescreen monitor and a BFG GeForce 7800OC. Timing was right. That's about the top of the line for the 'current' gen of pc games. IE: DirectX 9 systems. Hopefully it'll last me longer than usual. It should because the next gen is going to require some time for adoption to really pick up, which is at this point d
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With Oblivion I thought that I would totally change things up and create a custom "Merchant Theif" (what I called him). Oops. As I leveled up on my speechcraft and sneak skills the enemies kept getting strong and stronger while I just got better at bartering.
From the developers perspective (Score:2)
The next generation of MS console will most likely have a motion-sensitive controller as well. They've actually made motion-sensitive products before, so they can easily accomplish and likely top the feat, especially
Bet Against the Cell (Score:2, Interesting)
Winner: the PS2 (Score:5, Insightful)
The current winner is the PS2.
Re:Winner: the PS2 (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Winner: the PS2 (Score:5, Funny)
be careful, someone might get pissed and stab you in the face with a jagged PS2 polygon
So which was the third-place one here? (Score:3, Insightful)
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Consoles no longer appeal to the mainstream (Score:5, Insightful)
It's all about the software. It always has been. The console that has the best software will win. It doesn't matter what the hardware specs are. Great software can compensate for inferior hardware -- though most of today's developers don't seem to understand that. I saw games that ran in 16K of RAM that had more longevity that today's multi-gigabyte monstrosities.
The Wii's advantage (Score:5, Insightful)
There seems to be an error in the headline... (Score:2)
The 360's problems (Score:5, Informative)
So in summary, Microsoft, I don't care what you have to do, but get lots more top quality games out there. Both original titles, and Live classics. Steal from Sony's back catalog as much as possible.
Remember BLEEM! ? (Score:3, Insightful)
It's all about the games.. (Score:2)
Pointless anti-360 propaganda (Score:4, Informative)
First, the PS3 is not the most powerful game machine on the planet. Both Nvidia and ATI are releasing a new generation of very powerful video cards. The 8800 is already out. Any computer with a high end next generation PC Video card is going to be able to curb stomp the PS3. A significant performance gap between the PS3 and the Xbox 360 is far from proven.
Second, the Wii is not that cheap. $249 is not that far off from the $339 for an Xbox 360 Core system with a memory unit. I would prefer a Premium myself, but to each their own. Anyone buying a Wii is buying it because that's the console they want, not because they're cheap. Gameplay is important, but I like decent graphics with my gameplay. We don't know whether the current heavy demand for the Wii is in the general gamer populace or from Zelda fanatics. I'm not trying to be derogatory, it's just that Zelda lovers REALLY love Zelda. 75% of Wii purchasers also bought Zelda.
Third, the Xbox 360 is about to pass the 10 million mark in consoles sold. Whether it happens before Christmas (once the sales figures are calculated) or soon after, it will happen. The Dreamcast sold a total of 10.6 million consoles.
Fourth, the demand for the PS3 has plummeted. Look on eBay right now and look at PS3s for sale. It has dropped down to $100 above MSRP. That's with a crippling shortage. Sony has placed an incredible burden on companies that develop games exclusively for the PS3. Every month, more games drop their exclusivity and are brought over to the Xbox 360.
The Xbox 360 may come in third. Japanese sales are awful. But Japan is third behind the Europe and the U.S. in console sales (remember only 128 million Japanese). As well, many Japanese may opt for the Nintendo DS this generation and forgoe a console. The Japanese live in tight quarters and have long commute times, making a portable the optimal choice. The Xbox 360 is pricey, but the other consoles are pricey for what your getting. The Wii is based on the Gamecube architecture and really should cost about $199 with a game. And nobody wants to pay $599 for a game console. So Microsoft should drop the price of a Premium Xbox 360 to $299 with a game. It would be a much more appropriate price.
Sorry, a single insider's perspective is flawed. (Score:5, Informative)
The prevalant view is that no one is going to lose this round. At least not drop out. If someone does it's Sony, pure and simple. They are not turning a profit, don't have a good starting position, their company is in ruins and looking to cut a lot of budget, and the system is asking for more commitment at both ends then the other two. In addition their "Entertainment center" idea is just flat going to fuck them, because unless people constantly buy games, they would have been better off just selling Blu-ray. That being said, they will sell a LOT of systems, the problem is how many games will the sell. No Xbox Live, and other Microsoft developer helpers hurts them. The motion controller is also difficult to work with and their processor is crap for a developer. It's full potential won't be reached not because it's so powerful but because it's layed out in such a poor style. A 360 can get full potential by any programmer who knows about multithreading, GPU vs. CPU, and simple optimization. You might not get direct control of the hardware but in these days no one really wants it. Why does renderware sell? Because it controlled the hardware, not the programmer.
The 360 does a lot to help the programmer, and that's a big step, from match making, to networking code, to Directx, the programmer is put at ease. Porting a game to the 360 is a lot easier then to the PS3. That being said, what's important is sales and not developer's feelings. The point I'm bringing up here, is that the 360 is developer friendly, and with the big inroads that Blue dragon has made in a certain foreign market, Sony might have some issues. But this only talks about games. So let's look at current system sells.
Ps3s will sell in Japan of course, but the fact I've walked into 3 stores in the last 3 days, and seen PS3s in them isn't speaking highly of what sony has done. The fact that people are returning ps3 mainly because they can't sell them on Ebay speaks of intent to buy versus intent to resell. Yes those systems might not last long, but Wiis are selling out instantly with over four times the quanities already hitting stores.
Again is this important? No, This is just discussing what the trends to today is. So what's the prime goal. Well I'll explain who "Wins" The winner is the one who makes the most money and the most units. Note that this is NOT the same person, but the true winner the one you should care about but don't is the one who makes the most money. They will definatly continue to the next round.
The 360 has almost 10 million units out there right now. That's a shit load of units, but in reality it is far from insurmountable for Sony to come back from. The extra year has given Microsoft a good lead. Great. On the other hand Sony is having trouble breaking 1 million, and Wii is probably going to get 2-4 in the next 3 monthes. The 360 has exclusive titles, as does the Wii. Sony has "announced" certain titles, but dates are getting fuzzy, and exclusiviness is being called into question. Sony has lost a couple. However They still claim to have the big 2 (MGS, and Final Fantasy) and after FFXII's big launch, that's good however looking at the other exclusives they've had one can notice I didn't meantion stuff like Assassin'
Re:PS3 vs Wii (Score:5, Insightful)
I'll try to remember that to get people to stop asking me to bring my Wii to their Christmas party
So far I have not seen anyone play with my Wii and not be immediately engaged. Honestly, from what I have seen, the novelty of shiny graphics wears out far faster than the Wiimote does; I've seen crowds gater for 5 minutes to check out the graphics of the XBox 360/PS3 only to disperse immediately to do something better with their time.
Most people don't care all that much about graphics when they're enjoying the game they're playing; in fact if you're enjoying the game you will probably not be paying too much attention to any of the graphical effects that are happening.
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My friends just asked to have the New Year's party at my house so they can play with my Wii. On the one hand I'm happy, on the other hand I feel strangely used.
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You're really desperate, aren't you?
My friends view the Wii the same as they view really good board games (Axis and Allies, Settlers) or tabletop RPGs or what have you: An incredible way to spend an evening together once or twice a week. It's a social activity that we all really enjoy the hell out of. Novelty factor applies to my buddy's K'nex Christmas Tree that well all help him set up each year for Christmas, not something we will d
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Re:PS3 vs Wii (Score:5, Insightful)
From the almost viral effect the Wii is having, in a couple of years we might see 100 million households with Wiis that are just getting bored of it. Remember the old shampoo commercial? "I told 2 friends, then they told 2 friends" etc. Every last person who's been over to play with my Wii (insert joke here) is now lining up every weekend trying to get one. Once they have it, every one of their friends will be doing the same.
If having half the the planet owning your console, and bored of it, is a problem - I'd like to have that problem, thanks. You think these people will stop buying games entirely?
Besides the fact that "a controller that doesn't really work very well for most games" is complete and utter bull. I've never seen a new idea implemented so nicely on a release lineup. The games designed for the wiimote work amazingly well RIGHT NOW - imagine how good this will get in a couple of years.
I've been a Nintendo fan for decades. I've loved nearly everything they've put out. Yet even I didn't think they'd see a TENTH of the demand and excitement going around right now. It's almost scary just how many people are telling me they want one. And it's got hardly any games yet. Wait until this thing has a few hundred titles out.
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I know Nintendo has said they make a profit on every Wii, so it's not like they're gonna go out of business if they don't sell enough games. But presumably, they'd like to have the best of both worlds and sell a lot of consoles and a lot of games. Unless playing games with the Wiimote continues to
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I can. It's the only way I ever win at Boxing! It does get exponentially better with each person / controller added in, but even single player WiiSports is fun.
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the same PS3 that can't do lighting right in fight night round 3? yea Sony released a real winner with that one
Re:Nintendo's achilles heel (Score:5, Insightful)
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Re:Nintendo's achilles heel (Score:4, Insightful)
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Yeah, I know Zelda and others could have been done without it. But it's the games that use the Wiimote to best effect that's gotten people talking.
TW
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Nintendo has already won against the motion-sensitive controllers which are sure to follow. Nintendo has the mind share already. Mind share is a large part of why Apple's iPod remains on top, and it will be a large part of why Nintendo will continue to control the motion-controller game market.
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If Sony or Microsoft create a controller that works just as well as the Wiimote, they still lose. The winner is always the first to market with a functional concept. To stand a chance, Microsoft or Sony have to create something that is clearly better than the Wiimote.
Maybe if the Wii had launched with a whisper and no one knew about it, the competitors could have gotten away with introducting something similar and taking the market. But that's not
Re:Nintendo's achilles heel (Score:5, Insightful)
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I would disagree, but I would not find the idea to be divorced from reality. The Wii is a powerful contender. I believe it may surpass the PS3, IF the developers step up with a vengeance. I believe this is unlikely, because I think the only truly revolutionary use of the Wii technology will be in first-party games. Third-party developers will generally either copy Nintendo badly, or do something new and ill-advised.
> Somebody has to sell fewer consoles than
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Anyway, I meant people will wonder why they ever bought the PS3, not the 360.
TLF
troll (Score:2)
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I have only one word in response: Dreamcast
Though at the end of the day I really think Microsoft is go
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While I agree that its a neat ability with the PS3, thinking in pure numbers, this can't attribute more than a tiny tiny fraction of the console buying public.
You could argue the other side too, I have a computer, i don't need a browser on my tv, all I want is games and to stream my photos/videos, why pay more for some things I won't ever use.
But again i'm not trying to be argumentative. You're exactly right, some people will buy the ps3 because they
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'kay... that's about
Sony Online for PS3 is free
And sucks...
Sony has donated code that has been accepted into the main 2.6.
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