Next Generation Gaming Consoles: Whose Fanboy Should I Be?
Games First is running an article about the next generation consoles, and why Nintendo might find themselves on top again.
It blows my mind that Nintendo has so effectively proven that they “get” it. How so? The Revolution controller. What? Yeah, that magic wand thing probably is the future of gaming. And furthermore, in the “next-gen” launch lineup it is starting to look like Nintendo is the only company that will deliver a truly next-gen gaming platform. Compared to the Revolution, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 are simply expensive upgrades to existing platforms.
Ouch.
It’s obviously too soon to make an informed decision on the next generation of consoles, but I think the attitudes of Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony have already been made clear.
You can verify the accuracy of these quotes yourself if you don’t believe me.
Sony’s Ken Kutaragi is a goldmine of idiocy, or idiocy-mine, or whatever:
“The PlayStation [3] is not a game machine. We’ve never once called it a game machine.”
“We haven’t been creating our [past] PlayStdations for the sake of games…The PS3 isn’t designed to lean towards games.”
“Our ideal [for the PS3] is for consumers to think to themselves, ‘OK, I’ll work more hours and buy it.’”
“I’m aware that with all these technologies, the PS3 can’t be offered at a price that’s targeted towards households.”
“I’m not going to reveal its price today. I’m going to only say that it’ll be expensive.”
Sounds like an expensive computer that happens to have gaming as a feature. Not exactly my cup of tea, but I’m sure there will be a sequel to Katamari Damacy with graphics that will make my head spin.
Microsoft’s well-oiled spin machine has prevented Robbie Bach, Chief Xbox Officer, from saying anything too revealing or even interesting. Here’s the best I can do (if you know of anything better, please post it in the comments):
“This holiday season, gamers in Japan, Europe and North America pining to experience jaw-dropping high-definition graphics, unmatched online play and compelling digital entertainment features of Xbox 360 will finally have the chance.”
“Renowned development studios around the world are busy putting the finishing touches on their Xbox 360 games. We expect a strong portfolio of titles on launch day and through the holidays that will appeal to fans of every genre and gamers in every region, and with more than 200 games currently in development, continuous new additions to the library are on the way.”
Ugh, this guy sounds like a walking press release.
Anyway, Microsoft’s initial strategy looks to be built on being first to market with a moderate upgrade to the Xbox (shortest lifespan of a console before an upgrade, ever), multimedia capabilities such as listening to mp3s and watching DVDs, and plenty of sequels (with the lamentable absence of Halo 3) and a few original titles at launch.
With that said, the Xbox 360 will be a decently good gaming machine. There’s nothing particularly wrong with it, and it is certainly doing many things right. Xbox Live is a great platform for online gaming, and there will be plenty of great games available. The biggest problem I have with it is its price. The Xbox 360 just doesn’t offer anything special compared to the plain ol’ Xbox, and it certainly doesn’t offer an additional $250 worth of special! Xboxes are going to be cheap when the 360 comes out; I’m thinking about picking one up to satisfy my online needs until the Revolution comes out. There’s going to be a very large Xbox 1 population on Live for quite some time, at least until the new Halo comes out.
By the way, kids, if you’re going to buy an Xbox 360, make sure you get the $400 one. The $300 one will end up costing more, as you’re going to have to buy a $50 memory card if you want to save any games, or a $100 hard drive if you want backwards compatibility (which you will, because there won’t be a Halo on this system for months). Plus, if you go the cheap route, you’ll have the only wired controller on the block. In other words, Microsoft is selling the “Xbox Core System” just so they can claim it only costs $299.
Nintendo, as usual, has been very tight-lipped about the details of the Revolution (supposedly not even its real name). What Satoru Iwata has said, however, is distinctly different from both Microsoft and Sony:
“Different also defines our approach to our next home system. It won’t simply be new or include new technologies. Better technology is good, but not enough. Today’s consoles already offer fairly realistic expressions so simply beefing up the graphics will not let most of us see a difference.”
“I could give you our technical specs, as I’d know you’d like that, but I won’t for a simple reason: they really don’t matter. The time when horsepower alone made all the difference is over.”
“If we continue down the same path as we have in the past, people may become tired of gaming.”
“What’s important isn’t a next-generation technology, but a next-generation way in playing games.”
The focus on specifications (other than Nintendo) this time around is amusing. With claims that the PS3 will be anywhere from 35 to 1000 times more powerful than the PS2, color me skeptical, to say the least. Microsoft hasn’t said anything definitive, but “20 to 30 times the power of the Xbox” seems to be the number being thrown around the most. Nintendo, on the other hand, has stated much more modest specs, saying that the Revolution will be “2 or 3 times more powerful” than the Gamecube.
At first glance, that disparity is alarming, but once you take a closer look at the actual specifications, you’ll see that horsepower is hardly a relevant comparison this generation. According to Anandtech, both systems with published specifications look to be about 2 or 3 times as powerful as their respective predecessors, which makes for a fairly level playing field. On that topic, since when are we concerned with raw processing power anyway? Let’s face it, if we cared about having the latest and greatest in graphics rendering technology, we’d be PC gamers, who will have more powerful graphics cards than each of these systems within months of their release.
As for online gaming, Xbox Live, the Playstation Network, and Nintendo Wifi Connection will all provide roughly the same service. With the success of Xbox Live this generation, none of the Only Three are going to be caught with their pants down this time around. Tick that off of your Next-Gen Comparison Chart; it’s being addressed. However, there is a cost to be considered in the case of Xbox Live; Nintendo Wifi Connection will be free, and Playstation Network hasn’t been confirmed either way.
With graphics and online play basically identical across all three platforms, what does that leave us to argue about? Games. That’s right, it all boils down to the software, as usual. The hardware is simply an interface between us and the games. A hardware upgrade should therefore result in an enhanced interface to the software, right? Sony and Microsoft don’t seem to think so. The Xbox 360 controller is basically the same as the Xbox Controller S, but it’s wireless and it has a few buttons placed a little better. The Playstation 3 controller. . . I think I’ll abstain from commenting on it until the final design is out, because I refuse to believe that they are actually considering releasing that thing.
The Nintendo Revolution controller is obviously something very different than the conventions to which we’ve become accustomed. I could go on about how it’s going to change gaming forever, and how “I can’t wait to use it for $genre!” for a while, but I think anyone who has been paying attention has probably had enough of that. Suffice to say it is something new. It is something that could not have been pulled off before now, and we will have to see if Nintendo has the software to back it up. Remember, this is the company that introduced us to the analog thumbstick with Mario 64, which was the last major shift in user interface technology. Software is Nintendo’s strong suit, and I don’t expect them to disappoint us now, not with what’s at stake.
There will be some that are utterly unconvinced that the interface component is in need of an overhaul. I’m sure Microsoft and Sony will come up with some sort of damage control propaganda that makes us Nintendo fans look like nuts, madly waving around our “magic wands” trying to control our favorite Pokémon in contrast with the cool eighteen-to-thirty-fours playing Halo or Killzone: The Movie online with other cool eighteen-to-thirty-fours.
That, or they’ll pretend it doesn’t exist until they can get their version to market.
