Sony resurgent?

[Agathon]

Depends on how you define appetite, I suppose. I think they could easily increase sales, particularly as more games are released over the next year, if they could only reduce their prices to remain competitive with Nintendo.

It is a real problem. If the Xbox 360 is beating the PS3, and the Xbox isn't beating its former incarnation, which was a massive financial failure, then that does not bode well for console sales.

The 360 and PS3 are very pricey. Probably too pricey for most people to buy for their kids, but about the right price for young men of ages 18-35 to buy.

But this is the problem with the tech industry. If you design something to appeal to young, tech oriented men, that will limit your customer base.

Tech journalism suffers from this problem. It's almost all written by techie men, who are a minority. Real profits are to be had by producing something that enables ordinary people to do great things without a steep learning curve. Nintendo understands this. Microsoft and Sony do not.

[Agathon]

Originally posted by nostromo

In part, yes. But I'm sure that the fact that its dirt cheap helps a lot.

It's not dirt cheap. It is at the sweet spot for console sales.

Also, the controller is innovative, but the games aren't really innovative, IMO. Its all the same old Mario crap. People seem to think that innovative control scheme = innovative gameplay.

That's not quite true. A different control scheme forces different gameplay to some extent.

Also, how long can people go on without new games? Nintendo didn't announce anything new at E3.

That has yet to be seen. As of now, Nintendo is cleaning everyone's clock. The Wii is the iPod of consoles.

I don't understand why you're saying this. Xbox Live is considered pretty innovative in the console world and most people love it. Microsoft is clearly the leader here. PSHome? Come on! Give me a break!

Xbox Live is a crippled email and chat system, with a particularly bad UI. If you removed that, and just let people connect via the games in order to play, it would be almost the same. Xbox Live offers precious little over what PC games with online multiplay have offered for years. Public scores? Battle.net has had ladders for years. It's not much more than PC online gaming with a friends list.

PSHome is marginally better, because Sony understands that online gaming is only really going to work if there is a strong sense of community. That's the lesson from WoW's success.

The company that will be truly successful in online console gaming is the company that understands that they should be attempting to produce a MMOM (Massively Multiplayer Online Multiverse). In other words, you don't have a series of games where there is just a connection between people playing the same games at the same time, but where all the games are part of a larger enclosing world. Xbox Live does very little in the way of an enclosing world.

PSHome is trying to do this. But it needs to go much further, especially with regard to internet integration. The online service needs to be much more like a social networking site, with the opportunity to share media and to access the community from outside the console (the Xbox Forums are nowhere near good enough, and the offficial game forums are usually better).

There's a lot of other stuff they could do better as well, especially with regard to matching, catching cheats and moderating online play.

How is that even possible? The Xbox is not even on sale anymore.

Kuci was right.

[ghen]

I'm 27, avid gamer.. I own a Wii and no other console.

I'm basically waiting for Final Fantasy or RE5 or any other large game to hit the PS3 before I buy it. As far as the war goes between the two? There's no contest, the PS3 will win. I predict the market will only start to shift early next year though as games in development get released.


As far as being a gamer with the Wii, well the controls aren't perfectly 100% accurate, and developers haven't figured out the optimal control scheme for a FPS, but Wii Sports is part of my exercise routine and SSX and other games were way more fun with motion controls! At only $250 its a steal for that sort of thing. If you're any kind of console gamer you already have a gamefly or gamerang account anyway.

[Kuciwalker]

Kuci was right.

Redundant, but that's okay

[CrONoS]

I don't understand how the PS3 could win?

Why people would want to have a PS3 while they can have an XBOX360 with a bigger software library! Look just how Thief will finally not be exclusive for PS3. The gap between the 360 and the PS3 will increase more we will advance near Christmas.

PS3 can be technically better, but they are not selling enough PS3 to help software developer, developing exclusively for them.

But the main reason why it will not win the console war is; blu-ray.
People would have no reason to buy a PS3 and using it as a blu-ray player; The only advantage of Sony is; It is ship as a BluRay player.

Familly(mass market) will determine who will win the war; and there no many family who want to have a console as a movie player.

How can, Blu-ray, surpass the HD-DVD? There more studio on HD DVD( at least Universal is only with HD DVD).
HD DVD player cost less money than blu-ray; people are not tech expert. Which average family care about having the best picture quality? (which HD DVD, already have at a lower cost).

They are screwed, like they were screwed with Betamax versus VHS.

Sony; You're screwed!

[DrSpike]

Since Asher isn't here and this is turning into a bit of a Wii lovefest I'll point out that the vast majority of the Wii games right now are rubbish.

To an extent the Wii is dependent on the new Metroid, SSBB and Mario Galaxy being good. I know I wont be buying one until at least some of those games are out, and well received.

[asleepathewheel]

Originally posted by nostromo


In part, yes. But I'm sure that the fact that its dirt cheap helps a lot. Also, the controller is innovative, but the games aren't really innovative, IMO.

Elebits? Kororinpa? Trauma Center (yes, I know its a ds port, more or less, but controls quite differently)? Wario-Ware?

Would those games be fun/playable at all with an analog pad? Kororinpa with the sixaxis would be good, but not with the 360 pad.

Also, you're completely ignoring the pointer function of the wii-mote. For some reason, "real" gamers tend to overlook the pointer and think the controls are pure waggle gimmickry. I'm not exaggerating by saying that the pointer completely revolutionizes controls over console fps/3rdps. The best example of this is re4: Wii. Just fantasic to move with the nunchuk and aim/fire by pointing the wii-mote. Vastly superior to moving a pad around. MP:3 should be amazing.

Originally posted by nostromo
Nintendo didn't announce anything new at E3.

Wii-Fit?

Oh right, that's not a "real" game.

[Nostromo]

Also, you're completely ignoring the pointer function of the wii-mote. For some reason, "real" gamers tend to overlook the pointer and think the controls are pure waggle gimmickry. I'm not exaggerating by saying that the pointer completely revolutionizes controls over console fps/3rdps. The best example of this is re4: Wii. Just fantasic to move with the nunchuk and aim/fire by pointing the wii-mote. Vastly superior to moving a pad around. MP:3 should be amazing.

I agree, the Wii-mote is very promising on paper. Its not only promising for shooters, but also for strategy games. Too bad it doesn't work very well in practice. At least, that's what I read in the initial reviews. I never tried it myself, but some reviewers wrote that they were underwhelmed with the controller's responsiveness. Maybe they fixed it since then, I don't know.

Also, its just too bad they're wasting all that potential on lame Nintendo games. I'm sorry, but all the games you guys mentionned leave me cold. Trauma center is intriguing, but I probably wouldn't buy it. Lets just hope that the third party developers wil hop on the Wii train and develop good games.

[asleepathewheel]

Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition.

Promising?

Pretty fulfilled. It just takes a good team for correct implementation, just like any control scheme. I can't imagine playing an fps/3rd person shooter using analog sticks again (though inevitably I will, the Halo 3 wii port is...unlikely )

I expect MP3 to be even better.

[Adrian Hon]

Originally posted by DrSpike
Since Asher isn't here and this is turning into a bit of a Wii lovefest I'll point out that the vast majority of the Wii games right now are rubbish.

To an extent the Wii is dependent on the new Metroid, SSBB and Mario Galaxy being good. I know I wont be buying one until at least some of those games are out, and well received.

For hardcore gamers, sure. But in my experience, Wii Sports is enough to get someone seriously interested in buying the console. I recently bought Excite Truck, which is a lot of fun as well.

I agree that the Wii needs more and better games, and I think Mario, Metroid and Mario Kart will do the job, but it'll be another year or so before the floodgates really open with stuff beyond the irritating party games they have at the moment.

Prediction: Wii Sports 2 will be the console's biggest seller.

[Verto]

Originally posted by Adrian Hon


For hardcore gamers, sure. But in my experience, Wii Sports is enough to get someone seriously interested in buying the console. I recently bought Excite Truck, which is a lot of fun as well.

I agree that the Wii needs more and better games, and I think Mario, Metroid and Mario Kart will do the job, but it'll be another year or so before the floodgates really open with stuff beyond the irritating party games they have at the moment.

Prediction: Wii Sports 2 will be the console's biggest seller.

I certainly hope that Nintendo doesn't waste any time on a WiiSports 2.

[Kataphraktoi]

Wii: Jedi Knight

When?

[snoopy369]

/me prays

[self biased]

regrardless what comes out for xbox 360 that is exclusive, i will be buying a ps3. the sole reason is that if i'm to believe the precedent of the previous generation is that there is no game that will be released for the 360 that won't be released for PC in any eventuality.

[asleepathewheel]

I guess, if you don't mind waiting 1 yr+ for a game that will cost full price and require a near top line pc to run.

Seriously, Halo 2 was just released to pc. ! Thankfully Bioshock is I believe a simultaneous release.