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All Three Next-Gen Consoles at e3 2005

Posted by Zonk on from the allez-cuisine dept.

Word is now out that, in all likelyhood, all three next generation consoles will be displayed in some form at this year's e3. Nintendo's Revolution has been rumoured to be making an appearance for a while. Yesterday Sony announced the PS3 would be available in playable form at the convention, and Microsoft was soon to follow regarding the Xbox Next. Game on?

9 of 371 comments (clear)

  1. Competition by TrippTDF · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I suppose that in the interest of competition, all three are rushing to put something "showable" together, regaurdless of how close they are to market. I'd take anything I see with a grain of salt, knowing that these consoles were probably go through some big changes between E3 and market.

    1. Re:Competition by unclethursday · · Score: 3, Insightful
      Playable showcases of both the xbox next and ps3 arent too unlikely, both of them must be pretty close to final product.

      Doubtful on the PS3. I know a few people at a dev studio or two which in turn are owned by large publishers, and they say they have the Xenon (Xbox 2) dev kits already, but the last time I asked (about a month ago) none of them had either the PS3 or Revolution dev kits.

      There's also the fact that the prototypes for the Cell chip were only just recently made and are being tested.

      If the PS3 is going to be using the Cell, there's going to be at least another year before anything is playable at an E3 or TGS or whatever. Under 5 months is simply not enough time to not only learn an entirely new architecture, but also make playable demos running on said new architecture. And E3 2005 is in less than 5 months.

      The only way for the PS3 to have something playable at this year's E3 would be for Sony to change from using the Cell to using a different chip that developers already know (like an x86 or PPC variant, or maybe an updated Emotion Engine), and they could throw together playable tech demos.

      But, if Sony still is adamant about using the Cell chip, then it's going to be at least another few months before they can even have development kits ready for developers to begin learning the new architecture on. In that case, don't expect to see "playable" PS3 units at E3 this year.

  2. It begins! by jkmiecik · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And thus begins the 12 month wankfest over which system is superior, based from debates online from people who have only seen press photos of the system in question and have never played it. I hate console -release years on my gaming forums.

  3. Re:Game On Indeed by rayzat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Three companies all battling with hardware made by IBM.

  4. Viva la Revolution by TimmyDee · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Personally, I'm hoping that Nintendo has a winner on their hands with the Revolution. I've always been a fan of the kinds of games that get released on the Nintendo consoles. They tend to be unique and wonderfully playable. Some may complain that the titles tend towards the younger demographics, but I think that many of them are playable and, most importantly, fun at all ages. Their games tend to be unique whereas PS and Xbox tend to have their catalog dominated by titles that mimic (or are direct ports) of PC games. Sure, the GC has it's share of ported titles, but it also has a ton of exclusives that absolutely rock. Plus, it helps that I've always preferred Nintendo controllers to any others.

    *Disclaimer: I would not call myself a Nintendo fanboy. I just bought a GameCube last year (my first console), but have played my friends' PS2s and Xboxes ad nauseam.

    --
    Per Square Mile, a blog about density
  5. XBox Next? by faust2097 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Can we drop the "XBox Next" thing? There is absolutely no way the console will be called that, It's just something some game 'journalist' at IGN or ZD made up one day.

  6. Re:Sigh by rjelks · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I've leaned towards the shorter FPS games (ie, Halo2, Ghost Recon 2) for a simple lack of time. I can't dedicate hours a day, forgetting to eat, on a RPG like when I was younger. I tend to prefer the games that I can play for 30 minutes and stop. That's just my $0.02.

    --


    Tech News, Reviews and Tutorials
  7. Re:Stop talking about Graphics! by clontzman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The Xbox was ultimately a poor investment for anyone who bought it. Sure Halo's 1&2 are system sellers. But then what? There were scant few good titles for Xbox.

    Not that old saw again. There are more good games for the Xbox than there is time for any reasonable person to play. There are more than 100 Xbox games on GameRankings with scores above 80%. Xbox gets its share of original games (Halo, KOTOR, DOA, Crimson Skies, MechAssault, Ninja Gaiden) and, almost always, the best versions of multiplatform games, plus XBL.

    I agree that all the prick-waving about whose processor is more powerful is boring, but there's some great stuff out there for the Xbox.

  8. Its all about the B grade Titles by LordZardoz · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Let us, for the sake of arguement, say there are 3 grades of titles.

    Grade A: These games move systems, and are platform exclusive. Halo, Super Smash Brothers, Gran Turismo, Zelda, Metroid, Final Fantasy.

    Grade B: A grade B title is a great game that does not quite move a system, or would if it were not multi-platform. EA's sports titles, Resident Evil, Viewtiful Joe, Pikmin, etc.

    Grade C: A grade C title is a pure average game, most often available on many platforms.

    The X-Box is a collection of a small number of A titles and a large number of C titles.

    The Gamecube has a large number of A titles, and a small number of B games and an average number of C titles.

    The PS2 has a merely average number of A titles, but a staggering number of B and C titles.

    Grade A games do move consoles, but you actually have to like the game to buy the console. Mario Sunshine is a grade A title. But if you think its a kiddie game, then it wont move you to buy a cube. The quantity of B class titles is what makes a console a good investment. This is because there will be more B class games on a given platform then A class games, and while you may not find many 'A' games, you probably will find enough 'B' games to make a difference.

    Multi-Platform games, like Activisions Spiderman 2 game and EA's sports games, are qualified as B titles because they are multi-platform. But multi-platoform games only really help the platform that already has the larger installed base. It does not matter if it looks better on the X-Box if you dont own an X-box.

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