I think the condition of the gaming market was illustrated in a depressingly explicit manner today when my brother, who has a ‘penchant’ (stated mildly) for sports games (including FIFA, which shows his level of taste), went into town to purchase the new Manchester United Club Football title.
According to his report, the queue for the checkout at GameStation was so long it stretched outside the building - all for a licensed football game - and when inside there were three racks dedicated to the title. The GameCube column had been hardly touched. The X-Box column had a fair few copies left…
…and the Playstation 2 shelves were completely bare.
Actually, in the world of sports games, it’s usually the opposite.
Additionally, GC gamers tend to be on the opposite side of the spectrum from the sports game fan, so there’s no surprise there.
And c’mon… it’s England! You guys can’t go 5 minutes without talking about foooootball
(I was in London recently, staying in Chelsea Harbor… and unbeknownst to me, there was a Chelsea v Liverpool game on that evening… and went for a walk to get some fish and chips. I didn’t realize I was wearing red. I ran straight for the first restaurant I could find when people started pouring out of the pubs…)
Of course they have a tarnished reputation. The noises about PS2’s breaking down after a year has become louder,people know that the Ps2 emotion engine was the stuff of prue fantasy and the games that they do have are not as omnipotent as they once were compared to microsoft and nintendo’s offerings. What’s keeping Sony at the top is the sheer number of units out there available due to it being around for six years now.
But ps2 sins will catch up to it with the Ps3,i promise you that.
[quote=“Goonboy Panzer”]Of course they have a tarnished reputation. The noises about PS2’s breaking down after a year has become louder,people know that the Ps2 emotion engine was the stuff of prue fantasy and the games that they do have are not as omnipotent as they once were compared to microsoft and nintendo’s offerings. What’s keeping Sony at the top is the sheer number of units out there available due to it being around for six years now.
But ps2 sins will catch up to it with the Ps3,i promise you that.[/quote]
Really doubt it :(. They’re up to they old tricks again (with bullsh8t FMV) and the sheep are laping it up, and saying it kills the 360 ect.
I just want to know one think Abadd, whats the thinking in the SEGA Japan camp. Are they going to back the PS3 or 360 more Do you have any indication or which way they?re going ?.
I would have said that certain titles will appear on the PS3 and xbox 360 because they will dent their respective markets.japanese titles will be on PS3 and Western titles will appear on Xbox360. I’m expecting SHENMUE 3 to appear on the PS3 because Sega needs to reach the most boarder audience as possible. I feel that Sega brought in all that western talent so they can work soley on the 360 and Sega Japan can work on the PS3.
I honestly don’t know. The one disturbing trend I noticed at E3 was that there wasn’t a single Japanese-made next gen title that was playable at E3. Not a single one.
In fact, there were only a couple of Xbox 360 titles even being shown in video format, while there were quite a few teaser trailers for PS3 games.
Well to be fair there weren?t really much in the shape of western next -gen games playable at E3.
I guess the likes of Mistwalker, Q-Entrainment are holding off till this years Tokyo show .
As for SEGA I really don?t mind them making the likes Sukura Wars and Lets Make? for the PS3. That’s a given
But I hope they back the 360 more.
I’m so pissed off with Sony its untrue and the way they act (and the press lets them get away with it)
Yes you call it childish but I still can?t forgive them for crushing SEGA, and more so with the PS2. In the way they did.
With noting but a pack of lies, fake demos, and bullsh8t promises on emotion and the PS2 entertainment Online plans. Which still do this day SONY hasn?t even come close to delivering on .
And they’re up to it again with fake KZ II demos. I remember SEGA having a hard time with the press, when they said the DC pushed more polygons than Model 3. Sony say they can push over 60 million and even make George Lucas spill his tea, and hardly an eyebrow was raised in the press .
Well my friend is on his third PS2 now, and I know others who are also on their third or fourth. Maybe that’s their fault somehow.
Let’s hope the PS3 is built out of cheap parts (like lenses that don’t last) too, then Microsoft can have a field day pushing the spotlight on it.
Anyway, screw Sony. I’m hoping that the more discerning gamers among us won’t simply buy the console everyone else is buying. Follow the games. So far, I’m not impressed with Sony’s planned pop-culture line-up for the PS3.
Maybe it’s me, though. I still have a first generation NES (imported from New York to California, because they released there first!) and it’s still in perfect working condition. What can I say? I takes care of mah gamez.
Geoffrey, what if the discerning gamers decide the console of choice is the PS3? For instance, the current Xbox had/has no Japanese RPGs (or at least any I can remember), so a fan who plays exclusively Japanese RPGs wouldn’t see the Xbox as this generation’s console of choice. With Mistwalker on the Xbox 360 obviously that will be different with this next generation, but what if there’s another genre that Xbox 360 is missing but is primarily being fulfilled on the PS3 (or Revolution)? A player should follow the games, but the player doesn’t get to dictate which system the games are going to be on.
I rarely buy systems when they first come out, so I haven’t made up my mind what I’m going to get yet. It will probably be all of them eventually, but the order I get them in will be determined by which one comes out first with at least three games that I consider must-haves (my criteria for investing in a system).
BTW, I also have systems from way back in the day, like my old SMS, that are still in working order. Even my Colecovision will works! I’ve never had to buy a replacement system, though I did ruin my Game Gear’s ability to use batteries since I didn’t understand the whole concept of battery corrosion at the time I got it (it still works with the AC adaptor though :P).
A friend of mine’s PS2 laser wore out after a couple of years. That’s the only case where someone I know in person has had to replace their PS2 though. I’ve never met anyone who has had to replace their Xbox or Gamecube… yet.
Anyway, I agree with Rune Lai that the games will ultimately be what makes me decide which console and/or PC to pick up for this next generation. The Playstation 2 had the biggest selection of Japanese RPGs, and if a game comes out on the PS3 that I really want I’m not going to let any desires to see Sony lose get between me and that game.
I’m not prepared to buy an Xbox 360 just because Microsoft have the best chance of crushing Sony. It will need a solid line up of exclusive games (real exclusives, not games that will come out on the PC 6 months to a year later). In many ways, Microsoft isn’t really any different than Sony anyway. I’m sure if they had been in the console wars around the time of the Saturn or Dreamcast they would be just as responsible for the death of the old Sega as people so often blame Sony of being.
Lets face the truth, they are both mega corporations that want to control our living rooms and means of entertainment, and they will use whatever devious means they need to in order to achieve this. Microsoft is little different from Sony IMO, they have already done what Sony have done to consoles in the Operating System world. The original high res Halo 2 trailer is a great example of how much better a game can look in a video than running on an actual console as well, so Sony aren’t the only ones to show off something better than it actually is.
I’m not saying Microsoft aren’t hypocrites I’m just saying that Sega’s death hasn’t got anything to do with the fact I don’t regard Sony as a serious company.
Okay, point taken. Just so long as no one thinks that Microsoft getting into the #1 spot will solve the problems that started when Sony entered the console market, because I honestly don’t see that happening…
- and when inside there were three racks dedicated to the title. The GameCube column had been hardly touched. The X-Box column had a fair few copies left…
For instance, the current Xbox had/has no Japanese RPGs (or at least any I can remember), so a fan who plays exclusively Japanese RPGs wouldn’t see the Xbox as this generation’s console of choice. With Mistwalker on the Xbox 360 obviously that will be different with this next generation, but what if there’s another genre that Xbox 360 is missing but is primarily being fulfilled on the PS3 (or Revolution)? A player should follow the games, but the player doesn’t get to dictate which system the games are going to be on.