Console Cycle…
So in a year we’ll be staring down the barrel of a new console cycle. I guess technically we are already in the midst of it with the Wii-U. Never the less, for the purposes of this post, I will refer to the Xbox 360, the PS3 and the Wii as the current cycle. This is one thing I do like about consoles. They seem to reboot every few years, giving people a fresh start. I’m in no rush to buy any of these new consoles. Maybe if I had kids, but at the moment, I can wait them out, let them age like a fine wine.
The Xbox 720, or Durango, or whatever it will be called is going to have to work extra hard if they want it to sell in Japan. The country has over this last cycle become averse to consoles in general, much less foreign consoles. Some people have suggested that the big M$ buy Squarenix, or Nintendo. I don’t think a Nintendo sale would ever happen, but buying the house that DragonQuest and Final Fantasy built might not be a bad idea.
I don’t think there is a likelyhood of that happening. At the beginning of this cycle Microsoft was big on capturing the Japanese and flooded their consoled with high-quality JRPGs to rival what Sony did with the PS2. It didn’t work. However, their strategy of flooding the west with games that we like (First person shooters, and open world RPG’s) worked flawlessly. With this upcoming cycle they seem much less interested in Japan. Even at the end of the current cycle we are seeing less JRPg’s on the system. I do not own a PS3, and would have loved to spend some time with Ni No Kuni, but it never came to the 360. Proof of Microsoft disinterest in anything Japanese at the moment. After all, why else would they turn down a Ghibli game?
I’m debating what may plans are for the next cycle are, if any. I am an avid gamer, but as I get older the value of money, and my time is well…more valuable. Do I logically want to spend several hundred dollars on something that eats away at my time like videogames do? As much as I love geek-culture, and videogames are a big part of geek culture, I keep finding that I have this cognitive dissonance. I’d rather spend the time writing, but videogames do help me relax. I’ll see how it plays out I suppose. I’m an old man, and have better things to do with my time, or at least that is what I am being told. Eh, I’ll see.
As I look at this console cycle coming together if I were to buy a new gen console, I might actually buy a Playstation 4. I’m a big JRPG nerd, and if Microsoft isn’t going to give me my vittles, I’ll find them with the next big thing. I’m also a huge Zelda fan, so maybe a Wii-U is in my future, and that might be the only console, if that. Eh, it’s always interesting to see where the chips fall.
Also, Bryzgalov’s new Star Wars mask owns the universe!
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