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All Three Next-Gen Consoles at e3 2005
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?
Word is not out that, in all likelyhood, all three next generation consoles will be displayed in some form at this year's e3. Good to know there's no updates on the matter, thanks!
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.
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.
I have nothing but condolences in my heart for those poor devs and designers who just found out with these announcements that they're going to be pulling double or even triple duty for the next year in order to back up the salesmen's promises.
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Am I the only gamer that has finally grown tired of the hand-held controller input scheme? Isn't it time we dawn some sort of VR goggles or other similar display and perhaps a new input method? Or is the next generation of consoles going to be identical to the last (and the one before that!) with more ram, processing power, etc?
I know that Nintendo is working on a new type of controller, and that might be enought to persuade me to purchase their console over the other two. But really, I think it's time someone take a larger leap foward than touting it can render toy-story in realtime and has uber magic special online abilities.
Go here for teh [sic] funny.
comeon, those are just vaporware.. I'm holding out for the phantom.
I'll flame people. They'll flame me. We'll get into a how long have you been gaming virtual penis measuring contest. We'll all enjoy it and point at each other and laugh. And no opinions will be swayed.
God himself could descend down upon gaming forums populated entirely by evangelicals in console launch years and declare his preference, backed up by Jesus and the holy ghost, and this is still how it would happen.
The key to the enjoyment of pop music is to replace any instance of "love" with "C.H.U.D."
Wait, only three consoles? The Phantom is going to be there, right? I mean, c'mon, it's 2005.
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.
Disclaimer: I own all 3 of the current generation systems and a beefy PC.
"They tend to be unique and wonderfully playable."
Wonderfully playable? Yes. Unique? Hardly. Gamespot gave game of the year for GC to Paper Mario 2. Fun little game, but used the standard RPG format that's been used for years (don't tell me switching to an airplane to complete exactly 5 puzzles during the game is "Unique". It isn't).
Metroid was a fantastic game, but built on a series close to 20 years old. So was Zelda. In fact, the only true "new" series invented with the GameCube are Pikmin and Viewtiful Joe (the second from Capcom). Nintendo is just about the most conservative gaming company there is. Some people like that, but I like the "Jet Set Radios" and "Kalimari Darcies" (sp?) of the world.
Every system has great exclusives. Nintendo's appeals to a family demographic. Xbox appeals to PC fans. PS2 has got the GTAs and Final Fantasies. I wouldn't put one system's exclusives above another.
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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