Post by Trailfoot on May 11, 2006 19:01:47 GMT -5
It's E3 time again... time to learn where the video game industry is going this year. This was a big E3, since only six months ago the first home console of the next generation (XBox 360) was released, and in a few months the other two (PlayStation 3 and Wii) are coming out as well. So what do we know?
I'll start with Microsoft. They got to market first, they've designed an awesome traditional controller, and their console is about where people expected the next-gen consoles to be pricewise. It's got a major head start gamewise and distribution-wise, and will have been out nearly a year before Wii and PS3 ship. It will also be on its second-generation games, which will start to show just what the console is capable of. However, it is technologically inferior to PS3 and doesn't have the innovation of Wii, which could hurt Microsoft's efforts toward taking the lead in the console wars... or maybe it won't.
Now on to Nintendo. They've got three consoles out for this generation - the DS Lite, the GameBoy Advance Micro, and the Wii. They recently announced that Zelda: Twilight Princess will be released in two versions - one for the GameCube and one for the Wii. Both will have the same story and dungeons and be released the same day (also the day of the Wii launch), but the Wii version will use the Wii's unique controller. That controller is the selling point of their console - it will support some awesome games. BTW, the controller's latest feature was also announced at E3 - the Wii remote will have a speaker. One of the things demoed at E3 was shooting an arrow in Twilight Princess. As the arrow flies away from Link, the sound from the Wii remote gets quieter and transfers to the TV, giving the auditory illusion of the arrow flying away from the player. If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.
Miyamoto-san also thinks that a console is sold by its games, and as such Nintendo announced a decent number of Wii-exclusive launch titles. Elebits is a hide-and-seek game, Red Steel is a shooting-and-swordfighting game that uses the Wii controller to great effect, WarioWare Smooth Moves is a series of fast and fun mini-games, Wii Sports lets you play tennis with the controller and looks really neat, and Zelda requires no further introduction.
They also announced the next Smash Brothers game - Brawl. Not much info on gameplay, though the attack effects look seriously awesome. The new characters that have been announced so far are pretty neat, though... Meta Knight from the Kirby series, Wario, Samus without armor, Pit from Kid Icarus (who looks awesome in this game, BTW), and the biggest surprise, a man who hasn't appeared on a Nintendo home console since the 1980s but is very well-known in modern games, Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series.
Finally, Sony. They simultaneously gave very little information and all the important information. There's only one title for the PS3 that's been announced so far, and it's not even a launch title, but it is the exact right one for them to bring up first. You see, there's this little-known series of RPGs that almost nobody plays, and it's reaching its thirteenth installment on the next generation of consoles. Final Fantasy XIII is going to be PS3-exclusive.
Does Sony need to announce more titles, or is that one a system-seller? It might well have been, if not for Sony's next announcement. They've set the prices for the PS3. That's right, prices - much like the XBox 360, there's two versions of the PS3. The first, called the Core, has a 20GB hard drive, no memory card slots, and no wireless networking. Cost: $499. The second, the Bundle, has a 60GB hard drive, two memory card slots, and Wi-Fi networking. Cost: $599.
Six hundred dollars to get the full system. Let me translate that into terms gamers will understand more easily.
12 top-end XBox 360 games - $600
15 top-end Wii or PSP games - $600
20 top-end GBA or DS games - $600
1 PS3 system - $600
Yeah.
On the plus side, their controller, like that of the Wii, will be gyroscopic, though it won't sense its postiion relative to the TV the way the Wii controller will. It will only sense 6 directions (as opposed to the omnidirectional Wii controller) and will lack the speaker. It'll also be shaped exactly like the DualShock 2, limiting its usefulness in swashbuckling.
Trailfoot's verdict: Nintendo FTW, then Microsoft, with Sony in third.
I'll start with Microsoft. They got to market first, they've designed an awesome traditional controller, and their console is about where people expected the next-gen consoles to be pricewise. It's got a major head start gamewise and distribution-wise, and will have been out nearly a year before Wii and PS3 ship. It will also be on its second-generation games, which will start to show just what the console is capable of. However, it is technologically inferior to PS3 and doesn't have the innovation of Wii, which could hurt Microsoft's efforts toward taking the lead in the console wars... or maybe it won't.
Now on to Nintendo. They've got three consoles out for this generation - the DS Lite, the GameBoy Advance Micro, and the Wii. They recently announced that Zelda: Twilight Princess will be released in two versions - one for the GameCube and one for the Wii. Both will have the same story and dungeons and be released the same day (also the day of the Wii launch), but the Wii version will use the Wii's unique controller. That controller is the selling point of their console - it will support some awesome games. BTW, the controller's latest feature was also announced at E3 - the Wii remote will have a speaker. One of the things demoed at E3 was shooting an arrow in Twilight Princess. As the arrow flies away from Link, the sound from the Wii remote gets quieter and transfers to the TV, giving the auditory illusion of the arrow flying away from the player. If that's not awesome, I don't know what is.
Miyamoto-san also thinks that a console is sold by its games, and as such Nintendo announced a decent number of Wii-exclusive launch titles. Elebits is a hide-and-seek game, Red Steel is a shooting-and-swordfighting game that uses the Wii controller to great effect, WarioWare Smooth Moves is a series of fast and fun mini-games, Wii Sports lets you play tennis with the controller and looks really neat, and Zelda requires no further introduction.
They also announced the next Smash Brothers game - Brawl. Not much info on gameplay, though the attack effects look seriously awesome. The new characters that have been announced so far are pretty neat, though... Meta Knight from the Kirby series, Wario, Samus without armor, Pit from Kid Icarus (who looks awesome in this game, BTW), and the biggest surprise, a man who hasn't appeared on a Nintendo home console since the 1980s but is very well-known in modern games, Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series.
Finally, Sony. They simultaneously gave very little information and all the important information. There's only one title for the PS3 that's been announced so far, and it's not even a launch title, but it is the exact right one for them to bring up first. You see, there's this little-known series of RPGs that almost nobody plays, and it's reaching its thirteenth installment on the next generation of consoles. Final Fantasy XIII is going to be PS3-exclusive.
Does Sony need to announce more titles, or is that one a system-seller? It might well have been, if not for Sony's next announcement. They've set the prices for the PS3. That's right, prices - much like the XBox 360, there's two versions of the PS3. The first, called the Core, has a 20GB hard drive, no memory card slots, and no wireless networking. Cost: $499. The second, the Bundle, has a 60GB hard drive, two memory card slots, and Wi-Fi networking. Cost: $599.
Six hundred dollars to get the full system. Let me translate that into terms gamers will understand more easily.
12 top-end XBox 360 games - $600
15 top-end Wii or PSP games - $600
20 top-end GBA or DS games - $600
1 PS3 system - $600
Yeah.
On the plus side, their controller, like that of the Wii, will be gyroscopic, though it won't sense its postiion relative to the TV the way the Wii controller will. It will only sense 6 directions (as opposed to the omnidirectional Wii controller) and will lack the speaker. It'll also be shaped exactly like the DualShock 2, limiting its usefulness in swashbuckling.
Trailfoot's verdict: Nintendo FTW, then Microsoft, with Sony in third.