Another Wii Trailer
If you don't know what the Wii is, and why it is innovative, just watch the video. Although they are exaggerating, you get the idea. The video has been viewed 140,000 times already, which means it's pretty popular.
Notice how Red Steel, Zelda and Metroid are played by young guys alone in the dark? And the grandparents and families are playing Wii Sports? Well a "hardcore" gamer tried out Wii Sports and was unsatisfied with it. Seems like they are going after different markets between serious versus casual gamers. Wii sports (includes tennis, golf, boxing, baseball & bowling) will probably be only fun multiplayer. I'm hoping there will be enough depth to allow for skill differentiation.
So even though there seems to be demand for the Wii, lot's of experts are saying that Sony will still win this generation's console wars. In fact a lot is riding on this as Sony has been facing a lot of trouble recently. After reading some of the arguments, it is pretty convincing. I'll break it down for you.
First, what is the Sony Playstation 3 (PS3)? Here are 23 quick facts.
Here's Ars Technica well presented argument. It's a little lengthy though.
For a short version of reasons why the PS3 will win, check out these 5 reasons.
Even the Economist chimes in. They quote Iwata-san (Nintendo President): "[Iwata-san's] hope is that existing gamers will act as ambassadors, encouraging friends and family to give the Wii a try." Yeah, he's calling me out...that's my job.
Anyway, if you don't like reading, then you can watch some PS3 ads instead. They are fluff though, but unfortunately, fluff usually convinces the masses.
Some financial analysts wrote about the ps3 saying how it will eventually outsell both the Wii and Xbox360, but I can't find that link. Instead I'll show you Nintendo's stock price.
It's definitely going to be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe there will be parallels to the DS. Before being released everyone thought the PSP was going to pwn the DS and that the DS would be gimmicky. Turns out the DS is pwning the PSP...on sales charts at least.
posted by Nelson at 11:49 PM
8 Comments:
That's a good question that I'm trying to figure out myself. I don't have as much time as I used to for gaming, so I can see the appeal of casual gaming. But on the other hand I grew up (when I had more free time) with more of a hardcore gaming mentality.
I think what it really comes down to is time. For more hardcore gaming, it requires large continuous blocks of time, which is becoming more and more rare. So I think I will enjoy more casual gaming in the future.
Now according to what I just said above, the grannies have tonnes of free time. Therefore, they should should be classified as hardcore gamers!
So maybe that's something to look forward to...retirement so I can become a hardcore gamer again! haha...
My money is on the Wii and the XBox 360. I think Sony will definitely end up third in this battle. Why? The XBox is priced right, has a huge lead, and much better online support. The Wii is innovative, has received excellent reviews, and is priced to move.
The problems with the PS3:
- BluRay. Don't forget there's still a format war going on out there between HD-DVD and BluRay. Who's to say Sony's going to win? Or if they do win, that it's going to be a clear victory? Look what happened to Memory Stick vs. SD. And speaking of SD, in my mind, rotating optical media's days are numbered...
- Price and supply (availability).
- Quality. The PS3 is a complicated machine with a totally new type of processor. The IBM Cell processor, in my mind, is the kind of CPU you put in a supercomputer to work out the bugs, and then migrate it to the consumer space. Not the other way around. Good for them for trying, but in my mind it's a huge business risk. Keep in mind that the next gen of consoles will be out in a few years.
That last comment was made by me, BTW. ;)
Jeff
lol......i never knew u blogged so much!
lor
Lor, yeah i started blogging again on a consistent basis about a month ago. You should have come with us on the CN Tower climb... look up my blog entry about it and how well Justina did!
Jeff,
A few comments:
The way optical disks are sold now, it's too much of a cash cow to give up now. Even so, they say that this one will the last format with rotating optical disks. In the future everything will be broadband/hard drive/flash memory.
I think the PS3 will give them an early lead for Blu-ray and that will help tremendously. I don't know how HD-DVD will compete. The only angle I can see is fighting with cheaper price. Or maybe getting more studio support.
Sony says next gen lifespan for them is at least five years, which is about typical for consoles. I have a feeling that Nintendo will be releasing another console sooner than that...basically to get more money from consumers buying virtually the same product, like with the DS Lite. I think hardware makers are adopting an Apple/IPod way of releasing products. I.E. get your customers to buy multiple units of virtually the same thing every (few) years (or less).
About Microsoft...they are behind projections for expected sales. They targetted 10 million units by the end of this year, but I doubt they will meet it (currently at 6 million). They also haven't had a hit yet that would really drive sales of the unit (I'm thinking Halo 3).
So I'm hoping Nintendo wins, but I'm not getting my hopes up too high.....yet....
Hey Jeff, how popular is the xbox/360 in Japan? I heard there are actually quite a large population have have never even heard of it... according to some gaming conference anyway :/
Wow, my brutal writing above... anyway, haha, forgot to add that the one thing PSP got right was the "standby" mode. Anyone want to buy a PSP for $400 :P I think I saw someone trying to sell his in E2....
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