State of the current console war!
This is largely a nerdy LJ update about videogames... so I'm gonna assume I'll get 2 comments tops and really I could have posted this at gaf to garner a better responce but right now the forum is going apeshit.
As gamers out there well know , MS ushered us into the apparent HD generation of gaming a year premature when the 360 was released to much fanfare towards the end of 2005. This year head start seemed to do nothing for them as even now the PS2 continues to outsell it every single month.. it's still doing atleast 200K a month however which is perfectly adequete sales. Anyhow the advantage it gained launching a year early was seen this past november with gears of war. Currently it seems the game has sold damn near 1:1 with the hardware. The first big system seller, released rather strategically a mere week prior to the PS3/Wii launch. This game LOOKED incredible and is still better looking then anything else out there for games right now and with a year of development on finished hardware , many other developers are squeezing a good deal of prowess out of the 360 now giving it an edge that's making the decision to buy a 360 or a PS3 a fairly easy one, the 360 has games worth owning and playing whereas the PS3 is just a very good bluray player that's cheaper then any standalone bluray player but still 160 dollars more then it should cost.
Sony however, despite the current software drought was said to have a fantastic fall/winter release schedule with many apparent exclusive games that would get people to buy the hardware. As of today that number has decreased. Devil may Cry 4, a hotly anticipated title for the PS3 is now coming to 360 day and date with the PS3 release becuase the PS3 sales are tanking so hard. Previously the PS3 lost armoured core 4 , assassins creed, grand theft auto 4 and in the near future annnouncements are expected involving metal gear solid 4 as well as mercenaries 2 and shit, even the recently released virtua fighter 5 is coming to 360 this summer. So what is left for japanese exclusive content on the PS3 from 3rd parties ? Well we've got Final Fantasy 13 and it's offshoot FF13 versus and uh.. Tekken 6. The bigger shocker , atleast 1 former PS exclusive has now gone apparently 360 only for the time being- Ace Combat 6. Many japanese devopers have been cancelling PS3 projects left and right in hopes of salvaging some money before sending product out to die in the virtually finished japanese market. In japan there are only 2 markets for traditional games- Otaku which even at full force only account for about 500,000 gamers on a good day and kids. These days in japan it seems adults only play games on cellphones or their DS becuase both are portable and simple and the kids are covered by DS as well along with Wii.
I didn't mention wii in my little rant here becuase at the stupid rate it's selling there's not much point going into my nitpicks with it. People are buying it so fast that even though it's frigging march now , it's impossible to just walk into a store and buy one. You HAVE to be within a store AS they get a shipment of them or you're shit out of luck. To add insult to injury , more wii's are shipped to stores weekly then any other console and this selling out issue is still a huge problem. Will it last ? probally , even though gaming otaku this side of the pacific are growing bored with the thing , casual gamers and families are eating them up.
So I guess to summerize my own opinion on things-
If you have an HDTV and want to play some great games on it then buy a 360
If you have an HDTV and want to play Hidefinition movies on it then buy a PS3
if you want to pay roughly 10 dollars to play an emulated contra 3 then buy a wii
Even if you don't have an HDTV I think a 360's your best bet.
As gamers out there well know , MS ushered us into the apparent HD generation of gaming a year premature when the 360 was released to much fanfare towards the end of 2005. This year head start seemed to do nothing for them as even now the PS2 continues to outsell it every single month.. it's still doing atleast 200K a month however which is perfectly adequete sales. Anyhow the advantage it gained launching a year early was seen this past november with gears of war. Currently it seems the game has sold damn near 1:1 with the hardware. The first big system seller, released rather strategically a mere week prior to the PS3/Wii launch. This game LOOKED incredible and is still better looking then anything else out there for games right now and with a year of development on finished hardware , many other developers are squeezing a good deal of prowess out of the 360 now giving it an edge that's making the decision to buy a 360 or a PS3 a fairly easy one, the 360 has games worth owning and playing whereas the PS3 is just a very good bluray player that's cheaper then any standalone bluray player but still 160 dollars more then it should cost.
Sony however, despite the current software drought was said to have a fantastic fall/winter release schedule with many apparent exclusive games that would get people to buy the hardware. As of today that number has decreased. Devil may Cry 4, a hotly anticipated title for the PS3 is now coming to 360 day and date with the PS3 release becuase the PS3 sales are tanking so hard. Previously the PS3 lost armoured core 4 , assassins creed, grand theft auto 4 and in the near future annnouncements are expected involving metal gear solid 4 as well as mercenaries 2 and shit, even the recently released virtua fighter 5 is coming to 360 this summer. So what is left for japanese exclusive content on the PS3 from 3rd parties ? Well we've got Final Fantasy 13 and it's offshoot FF13 versus and uh.. Tekken 6. The bigger shocker , atleast 1 former PS exclusive has now gone apparently 360 only for the time being- Ace Combat 6. Many japanese devopers have been cancelling PS3 projects left and right in hopes of salvaging some money before sending product out to die in the virtually finished japanese market. In japan there are only 2 markets for traditional games- Otaku which even at full force only account for about 500,000 gamers on a good day and kids. These days in japan it seems adults only play games on cellphones or their DS becuase both are portable and simple and the kids are covered by DS as well along with Wii.
I didn't mention wii in my little rant here becuase at the stupid rate it's selling there's not much point going into my nitpicks with it. People are buying it so fast that even though it's frigging march now , it's impossible to just walk into a store and buy one. You HAVE to be within a store AS they get a shipment of them or you're shit out of luck. To add insult to injury , more wii's are shipped to stores weekly then any other console and this selling out issue is still a huge problem. Will it last ? probally , even though gaming otaku this side of the pacific are growing bored with the thing , casual gamers and families are eating them up.
So I guess to summerize my own opinion on things-
If you have an HDTV and want to play some great games on it then buy a 360
If you have an HDTV and want to play Hidefinition movies on it then buy a PS3
if you want to pay roughly 10 dollars to play an emulated contra 3 then buy a wii
Even if you don't have an HDTV I think a 360's your best bet.