Reflections on the Holy Trinity 139
1up has a piece looking at gaming's future by reflecting on gaming's past. What do the launches of older systems teach us to expect from the PS3's ... eventual debut. From the article: "Shouts of 'Dreamcast' ... fall a little flat when you consider that Dreamcast was more of a last-ditch attempt from a company that hadn't turned a profit in 10 years. Microsoft isn't bowing out anytime soon, which means that being out in front will probably be an advantage -- by the time Sony launches, the 360 will be over the launch hiccups and rolling with a steady stream of new software. On the other hand, if Blu-ray is as big for the PS3 as DVD was for the PS2, Microsoft could find itself technologically inferior -- a direct consequence of its rush to market. "
Play Station (Score:3, Interesting)
Does the history of the Play(space)Station [wikipedia.org] make Nintendo the father and Sony the son?
Three buttons on the PlayStation controller are X, Square (a box), and Circle (which has 360 degrees). X, Box, 360. So do we have a holy ghost?
Re:I don't care... (Score:2, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong. The Dreamcast look beautiful. I still play some games on it today: Crazy Taxi, Soul Calibur, Sonic, etc. And I maintain it still looks better than the PS2.
However, it's falls slightly behind XBox and GameCube as far as graphics go. It's not way behind, but still not up to their looks/performance.
And the 360? Sorry to break it to you, but no. I will never buy a 360 but even I have to admit the 360 has superior graphics.
It's a shame it died. I still love that system.
Why the blu-ray is a dealmaker: (Score:1, Interesting)
The blu-ray format allows vastly increased storage for games. This gives the PS3 a real and distinct advantage, because game developers-- who are already shipping multi-DVD games-- can just use their disc space frivolously. By the end of this game generation, the XBox 360 will have a serious problem because developers will be making games so elaborate and complicated that you will virtually need blu-ray or hd-dvd amounts of storage to express them. (The Revolution, which does not support HD resolutions and will not need such high-res models and textures, will sidestep the storage problem the same way the Nintendo DS does-- by simply not having very complicated games.)
The blu-ray format also allows you to play Blu-Ray movies, but I can't think of any reason why that should be considered a system selling point; people who have HDTVs already will consider it a nice bonus, but only the geekiest of high-end consumers will specifically set out to buy any kind of blu-ray or hd-dvd player THIS early on.
Some analysts think that the blu-ray drive is a trojan horse to get PS3s into households, but they have it backward. The blu-ray is in no way a guaranteed seller; the PS3, however, is. The PS3 is a trojan horse to get blu-ray players, which Sony stands to profit from enormously in its other divisions, into households.
Re:Why is Blu-Ray (or HD-DVD!) such a deal maker? (Score:3, Interesting)
With the revolution this may not be a problem. But if Final Fantasy XII were made as an XBox 360 exclusive game, how many discs do you think it would be? The cinematics take up a lot of room. So do all those high resolution textures (and bump maps, and normal maps, and...). Don't forget all the character/enemy/scenery models. That is a ton of data, and having it all on one disc helps quite a bit.
That said, I don't think it will be such a big deal, at least not for awhile. If companies target the lowest-common-denominator, that would be DVD (both Rev and 360).
Re:Attempt To Repeat History (Score:2, Interesting)
Plus, unlike MS, Sony is in a position to push the Blu-Ray format via Sony Pictures. I may be dead wrong but unless MS makes some deals with companies, they have no way to force (video) media to be released on HD-DVD.
Thats my $0.02, anyway.
Re:Let's take a hint from the financial world (Score:2, Interesting)
Microsoft launched the XBox among much skepticism and speculation that it was more powerful, and the system did fine (not financially, but in general). They launched the 360 to skepticism and speculation that it was more powerful, and is doing fine.
I question either your analysis, or your recollection of history... The PS2 was a huge success and surged out of the gate, in part due to its support for an existing library of titles (all PSOne games) and its support for a new video medium (DVD). People who wouldn't necessarily buy a whole new system were more than willing to trade in their PSOnes and upgrade (most stores had $100 off the price of a PS2 if you bring in your PS1), considering their existing games still work and they get a DVD player as a bonus.
The PS3 will offer both of those incentives to upgrade - BluRay disc player, plus existing library of tens of thousands of PS1/2 games. I expect to see $100 trade-in deals for PS2s also, and that will help a great deal.
Microsoft launched the XBox with a meager selection of games. They had the mega-hit Halo, and... that boat pirates game that was a great tech demo, but had horrible play, a non-standout football game, a "same as prequel, but better graphics" racing title, etc. And years later, Halo was still the "must-have" title for the system. That's why it dragged, and as for doing great? Not financially, and not in units sold - the PS2 outsold the XBox by more than 10:1.
So, your analysis that Sony will falter and Microsoft will do better seems to not be based on the reality of the situation. Sony will be coming out with a more power console, with support for returning customers (backwards compatibility, likely trade-ins) and support for a new installed technology. Microsoft has what with the XBox360? They were there first? They don't have a standout hit yet (Halo2 was XBox 1 - huge mistake), and they don't have backwards compatibility with all previous titles. They also don't have an HD-DVD player, so they can't say "upgrade to take advantage of this new tech in your home theater".
Only thing we agree on: Nintendo will be Nintendo - they have a niche and they're very happy to keep it. They won't be #1, but they'll never go bankrupt.
Re:Course we can go another way (Score:3, Interesting)
Of course, in my circle of friends, I don't know anyone who's interested in a next-gen console. Period.
XBox360 has no games I'm interested in. PS3 has no games - at all, that I've heard of. (Other than random speculation that Series X+1 will be on it.) Revolution has no games - at all, that I've heard of. Not even speculation on sequels.
So, based on that quicky-analysis, I can come up with absolutely no reason why I'd want to get a next generation console.
Yet.
That can all change. But it all depends on the games, and all the next-gen consoles seem to be lacking in that department...
On the Revolution? Nope. On the GBA/GBDS? Sure. Most of my GBA games are re-released NES/SNES games...