Can the PS3 save Sony? That’s what Wired explores in a recent article urging the company to become “fun again.” Author Frank Rose had this say about the Wii:
“The Wii is a product Sony might have developed in its heyday. It doesn’t try to outdo anyone on graphics muscle or computational power? in fact, it opts out of the arms race entirely. Faced with a shrinking videogame market in Japan even as it was being elbowed into third place worldwide by Microsoft, Nintendo had to do something fresh, so company president Satoru Iwata and game designer Shigeru Miyamoto put their heads together and came up with a gyroscopic controller that looks and feels like a TV remote. The Wii transforms gameplay from an exercise in button-pushing to something you do by swinging the controller through the air? pretty nifty when you’re engaged in swordplay. No wonder gamers use words like “wow” and “amazing” when they try it out.”
All who believe this upcoming console war to be the most interesting we’ve ever had say “I.”
It definitely has the most riding on it, for a lot of people.
I totally agree that this generation is the most interesting ever (although the SNES/Genesis wars were great).The last generation, the XBox, the PS2 and Gamecube didn't have much difference in their design philosophies. They were all basic game machines. In fact, I'd say Microsoft was the innovator last time, as XBox live was something really new… …or so I'm told, I don't have an XBox.This time, each console is different, and the Wii has really changed the types of discussions people are having about gaming. It's great.So this generation:PS3: same experience, but much more powerful (status quo)360: focus on online play, somewhat more powerful with heavy emphasis on XBox Live (community)Wii: new ways to play and a focus on fun, but not much increase in power (fun)Finding out which philosophy will be victorious will be interesting for sure. I hope the lesson isn't that the status quo rules all, though. I'm rooting for "fun."
I don't know how many bloggers here have actual game development experience, but all that power in the PS3 and 360 comes at a great cost to the guy behind the curtain. It's not worth increasing horsepower if you can't increase fun factor. PS3 and 360 are going to be undone (in the long run) by the "uncanny valley" principle, while Nintendo is dodging that altogether. In this day and age where something as simple as IPod is outselling full scale home entertainment centers 1000 to 1, the Wii just makes a lot of sense, you know? Graphics are important, yes, but gameplay is WAY MORE IMPORTANT. Originality and creativity with solid design implementation and execution should always be prioritized over visual bells and whistles any day. That's just good game design. Give me Mario Kart over Gran Tourismo any day, ya know?
Blake: "I"!The Wii has a lot going for it for innovative gameplay, that's true, but the future belongs to online gaming! If Nintendo can link the fun of using the Wii's freehand controller with an easy-to-use online gameplay, then it will come out of these console wars on top. But the Wii-mote technology can be duplicated, and the Friend Code system can hinder the growth of its online community. I'm hoping they will realize that!
I! [Blake, was that "I" a Wii pun for "aye"?]I think the current/upcoming console war will divide the factions. We're going to see some people who prefer 360/PS3 type games and others who want what Wii will offer. The question isn't going to be "which side are you on?" but rather "how do you game?"
I, but with reservations.The REALLY interesting generation will be the NEXT one after PS3, 360 and Wii.Microsoft will be gone, voted out by shareholders who see no sense in throwing more good money after bad.Sony will be dealt their first sales blow and be reeling as their company gets inverted: Thier video games division will get finaincially bailed out by the rest of the company.Photo realistic graphics will be done on hardware costing 50$ to make, placing everyone on level technical footing.Wifi Broadband speeds and adoption could make streaming distribution of games a reasonable reality.Wifi advances will see handhelds streaming games as complex as their console counterparts.Wii will have legitamised direct human interfaces as the way forward.Nintendo could be the new encumbant, so knowledgable of their position and the pitfalls, that they'll never fall from the top of the mountain again.Essentially, if it weren't for Wii this generation, there wouldn't be a 'NEXT' generation, as improvements would be almost un-observable. Processing power will have reached commodity levels. The only way forward for home 'consoles' will be increasingly sophisticated interfaces, with the matrix being the ultimate goal.
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