That is the question? We haven't even got one of each of these consoles to choose from yet, but for a while now it has been one of the burning questions on many a geek's mind.
A while ago now, when I first heard of the concepts of the new machines, I instinctively thought that the PS3 would be for me. The latest in technology with a supposedly uber fast new chip in it, the PS3 was gonna blast away the competition. As it got closer to the release date of the XBox 360, I started to hear comments bouncing around the net that some game developers were starting to complain about the process of making games for the PS3. The comments said that the platform was too different from the other machines out there that it would be very difficult for them to be able to design games that could be adjusted to work on other machines. Knowing Sony's history of only wanting 'Sony' stuff to work with 'Sony' products, this news did not come as much of a surprise, but already started to worry me that some of the best game makers might prefer not to be so constrained and would be looking elsewhere.
When the 360 then came out into the market, unavailable but still out there somewhere, the words from Sony started to be a little more subdued. I remember reading about a comment from a Sony exec, which said that the PS3 would be 'as good as' the 360, a little different from the 'far surpassing it' that I was originally expecting. It's getting even closer to the delayed release date of the PS3, so sale prices have recently been fed to the public to gauge their reaction. Now US$600 is a fair bit to slap down for a games machine, so it looks like Sony is going to have to do a lot of marketing to tout whatever else is in it that warrants that price. It would appear that the inclusion of a new technology Blue Ray drive is one of the costliest parts as well as the relatively expensive multi-core Cell processor. A report shown on Gizmodo last week, however, showed that if you take inflation into account, the Atari 2600 was actually a more expensive machine in its day than the PS3 will be now. I've only mentioned the US$600 machine cos lets face it, who is gonna want the shitty version?
Just before E3 in California and at the E3 itself, it was the less talked about Nintendo Wii (the machine formerly know as Revolution) that had been stealing all the attention and comment time. And now I must admit that I have been suckered down a path that I never thought I would travel down, the 'not being able to wait to get my hands on one of these!' path. The thing about the Nintendo that sets it apart from the other two machines is that it is sticking it's neck out yet again and using totally new ideas, basically on the premise that anyone and everyone enjoy should be able to have fun using their product, not just the console fanboys, but also not excluding them either. The new motion sensitive controller (I know the other machines are getting them too) looks like a shit load of fun. Given a large screen, a spacious room, a few mates, and a few of the games that were shown at E3, this machine looks like its gonna be an instant hit. Tennis without having to hit any buttons, should level out the playing field, so that even the kid with the lightning fast fingers will be able to play more evenly side by side with his slower Dad or even Grandpa (if you believe what Nintendo is saying). I've always enjoyed playing the Nintendo style adventure games in the past, even if they do look a little kiddy (who am I trying to fool, damn kiddy), so this new edition in the Zelda series already had me excited. But now, when I read that we can use the new controller system to wave around a sword and even a shield in a separate hand, I just gotta have one. Being able to drive a car by gripping the controller at either end and turning it like a steering wheel, will definitely make the new Mario cart version a riot. At less than US$250 I'm already sold on this product along with, by the sounds of it, a lot of others. Just gotta wait to see when it's coming out. Looks like I know what I'm getting for my Birthday this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment