My views on the Console Wars.
Alright, here's how I feel about the Console Wars. Personally I think a lot of hype is coming over very little basis. Right now it's easy to say that between the PS3 and Xbox, Xbox 360 is superior. However, with only a few months under its belt, I feel that we have a lot coming from Sony, a company with a lot to prove in 2007, and its third party associates, especially since Sony's graphics system and processor has an edge over Microsoft's system.
The Wii is in a league of its own. As many predicted, the Wii is quickly becoming a hit system, and I believe as more big titles are released for Nintendo's nex-gen console, we're going to have an enormous number of sales, especially when all the nex-gen consoles go mainstream.
Now to be honest, I think that Wii's gaming library is going to be severely handicapped when compared to PS3's and the 360's at the end of this console cycle. Why? Because Sony and Microsoft had almost an entire console generation to themselves. The Gamecube didn't come close to either the Xbox or the PS2, and over that cycle, both Microsoft and Sony developed franchise games that many are waiting on to be ported to the next generation.
So what do I see in 2008? I see almost the same thing as what we're seeing now, a stagnant market. The combined problems with the cost of systems and lack of interest in new games is pushing many people away from Gaming in general, and many are looking to PCs, as high speed internet becomes more common.
What do I feel that the gaming systems need to do to survive this console cycle? A few things:
·Lower Prices - People are getting fed up paying $400 for a system and having it screw up after a few days. Which leads to the next point.
·Quality, not Quantity - Yeah, I realize that gaming companies want to make huge sums of cash, but if they sacrifice quality anymore, they're not even going to be able to sell their product. Make the hardware more reliable and let the software sell the systems.
·Focus on Gameplay - Stop emphasizing the gimmicks! Nobody efn' cares about a quadXpentium20000P19 Processor if the game is two minutes long! This is more to the software companies, but really we need more focus on the games not the graphics. Hell PS2's graphics weren't anything special, but the games were amazing.
·Define an audience - This "Let's get everyone involved" attitude is a fallacy. No matter what there will be people that just don't want to play a video game. Stop trying to make everyone happy and capture a following that will buy things reliably. Don't gamble when it comes to selling a product.
·Keep the competition friendly - I think the "cut-throatedness" of the console war is getting out of hand. Seriously guys... if someone wants a PS3, let him have his ******** PS3.
·Stop scaring away the hardcore gamers - These guys want a system that works, they want a system that will last, and they want a system that has great games. If you aren't putting that on the shelf, you won't be selling nearly as many consoles as is possible.
And lastly, we all need to stop being so stupid about things. Who cares which console will come out on top? None of us are making money off of it, so why not just enjoy our games instead of arguing all the time? The bad attitudes in gaming today are simply ruining the industry.
