The Almighty Materialistic-Christmas (perhaps they should just change it to Material-mas altogether eh?) has come and gone in 2007, and I am sure some of you either got a “next-gen” console PRIOR to the Holiday madness, got one as a gift, or lined up for one on Ye Almighty Boxing Day. But…what exactly is next-gen, considering they’re all out and its in THIS-gen? Can we really say that its the next generation of gaming, graphics, performance (*cough* and pricing) when all three “next-gen” consoles are now out? Yeah, I just repeated myself, and what some tech-blogs out there are saying. And this isn’t really a rant about next-gen/this-gen consoles…because for sure, I’d be cut up and left in a pool of oxygen peroxide.
So what exactly IS this post all about?
There are a few peculiar points about how my household handles consoles and gaming (in no REAL order, ironically):
- Ever since the Sega Genesis, there is some unwritten rule about not buying “next-gen” consoles that come out until its successor comes out.
To put this into perspective, let’s take my PSOne for example (notice the spelling!) — I got my PSOne when the PS2 was out for a few months. Why? Because of cost, harhar.
- There is some sort of multiple personality disorder when it comes to allegiances
I’ve been planning to step into the current console wars for a while now, and I’ve had some clear boundaries/restrictions drawn out and written down. For example, there is no way in Hello I’d buy into the XBox 360 sham. My sights were mainly focused on the Wii, but after playing on the powerful Playstation 3 recently, I’ve had a temporary twist towards Sony’s cat-calling.
We all know that the PS3 blows every console out of the water in terms of processing and graphical power. Actually…we don’t really know about graphical power (everything is just written on paper), because we’re still waiting for a developer to really tap into its power! Of course, we’ve got Gran Turismo HD, GT5: Prologue and Motor Storm to demonstrate how good it can be, but I think we’re still waiting for the real smasher! On the flip-side, the Wii is comparatively MEGA-weak against the behemoth PS3. Ars-Technica quoted Nintendo that the Wii is supposed to be superior to the Gamecube in terms of graphical power, but like the PS3, I think we still have yet to see a developer create a game that really pushes the Wii to its limited limits! But, again loosely quoting Ars-Technica, the Wii is very different and would require a different art/presentation style compared with the PS3. Does this mean that all Wii games will primarily be cel-shaded, cartoon-like…albeit CUTE? Of course, seeing the new installation of MOH on the Wii, we could probably conclude that something CAN be done on the Wii…?
Other than “killing” the Wii in terms of power, the PS3 also kills it in terms of pricing (ie. It’s around $400 more expensive). This point alone would deter my family from getting a PS3 — the price. The $600 price-tag I’m referring to is for the 80GB model, which has a few more features than the 40GB version. For those interested in playing your *legit* PS1/PS2 games on the PS3, you’ll need to invest in the 80GB version, since the 40GB one obviously doesn’t have full backwards compatibility. In reality, I don’t know how often I’d go and play PS2 games, but it’d definitely be great to catch up on all of the DMC titles while waiting for DMC4, right? As well as all the other PS2 games I’ve missed while being in the void. For those more interested in the PS3, the 80GB version comes with Motor Storm, and the console itself has 2 more USB ports than the 40GB version. Those only interested in the 40GB will get a Spiderman 3 Blu-Ray Disc movie included. Although capable of HD, both versions do not include HDMI cables (which cost ~$70). All versions also feature free online play, and contain an Ethernet cable if you don’t already have wireless set-up.
In comparison, the Wii merely sets you back $250 (tax not included). However, there’s only one version of the Wii, and they’re all fully backwards compatible with GCN games and accessories. Meaning, you can play some Smash Bros Melee while waiting for Brawl to come out…or the previous Metroid Primes while you’re getting all your pennies together for Prime 3. The Wii does NOT have an Ethernet port, so you’ll either need to cough up another $25 if you need it, or have an existing wireless set-up. Luckily for me, Kev bought me the Wi-Fi adapter a while ago, so I’d definitely be able to use it if I get the Wii! Despite what some of my friends and extended family think, online-play on the Wii is free like that of the PSNetwork (PS3). The only charges you’ll ever face are those of piracy (if you’re into that type of stuff) or those from the Virtual Console, where you can buy retro games through Nintendo’s online store.
Regarding backwards-compatibility, and the Wii’s ability to use the GCN controllers and memory cards, the PS3 is not able to do this out of the box — you’ll need to buy a converter for your PS3 to transfer your PS2 gamesaves onto your HD. As well, there is currently no way to use your PS2 controllers on the PS3. Flipping back to the Wii (are you getting dizzy yet?), the GCN controllers are definitely a good alternative to the Classic Controller available for purchase, and you’ll probably, most definitely, yes, want to use them for the GCN games. I’d think that was no-brainer.
So after spending last night gathering all the info I could on the PS3 and staring lustfully at its shiny, black body…I’ve probably awoken to my senses. And my decision is still pretty clear, that I’m still siding towards the Wii despite its meekness in power when compared with the PS3. However, I’d want to play games that are randomly fun…possibly borderline cartoon-ish.
But here’s the clincher/contradiction, I also want kick-ass graphics…ones which only a big black beast known as the PS3 can offer. In the end, I’d probably get a Wii when the next console war comes out in 4-or-more years…because that’s how things work in this family, sadly. That, and the saying that “You’re an engineering student, you don’t have time to play!” echoes through ever room and store.
:'(
Why won’t you buy a 360? Its crazy fun, great games are already out for it, and its competitively priced. I love my 360 and Xbox LIVE is a (expletive deleted) load of fun. That is if you define fun as being called every profanity known by man by a screaming 11 year old boy. The 360 is also nice looking console too.
I originally wanted a Wii too, but I refuse to pay $500 on eBay for something that is worth $250, and I don’t feel like beating up soccer mom’s in future shop so I can get my Wii on instead giving it to their obese kids.
I was tempted by the PS3 this holiday season as well. The thing is drop dead sexy and it can run linux and do all kinds of cool things. Cell (the processor that powers the black beast) is insanely complex to develop for. It is a completely new and proprietary architecture that is insanely parallel. Being a developer, I would much rather code for a triple core chip that is comprised of pretty much standard big endian PowerPCs (like the one in the 360) then the Cell which has 7 available kinda-cores and one PowerPC based master. Theoretically, the PS3 is crazy fast but Cell isn’t the kind of chip you want to program a game for. Cell is great for stuff that is massively parallel, such as scientific computing that uses huge matrices that would make Greg Lewis have an orgasm, but your not gonna get many developers on board. Although, at the end of the day, UT3 on a PS3 looks like too much fun to pass up.
The 360 DOES look nice at times, but for some reason, I just can’t get into the 360 “hype”. The Red Ring of Death issue which plagues most of the systems bought/still on the shelf is a touchy issue, even if M$ has allocated around $1.5B to repairs/replacement…but then again, there’s no saying that the first batch of PS3s and Wiis aren’t going to have these kinds of problems.
One thing I either commend M$ (or curse them) for doing is the whole concept of XBL/XBLA. I just don’t see why we should pay monthly fees for online gaming, and if we bought additional online content, to keep said content. It’s definitely a great way for M$ to get more $$ though. It’ll help pay off the repairs.
The Wii’s graphics could be really nice once people start doing crazy things with the it. Twilight Princess, which was originally developed for the GameCube, looks pretty awesome to me. Maybe I’m blind, but it looks only a bit more blocky than Assassin’s Creed on the PS3, and I don’t think it’s that noticeable unless you’re playing on a completely massive TV. Super Mario Galaxy is pretty visually stunning, as well… Although it’s my personal belief that if people are arguing about how realistic the water is, the graphics are good enough… Maybe that invalidates everything I just typed.
If you’re looking for amazing graphics mainly, then a 360 really should be your top choice – it has that and is cheaper than a PS3, and there are already a lot of great games for it.
But I’m just a random lurker reiterating points. By the time the next console wars start, there will probably be a clear winner, anyway, and the choice will be obvious. 😛
PS3 loses because PS3 has nothing I want to play.
I’m a PS fanboy, so here I go. Well, for starters, it’s no secret that up until now, the library for PS3 is looking pretty bleak. “Assassin’s Creed” ported horribly. “Heavenly Sword” is fun for about 10 minutes. The sports games? Well, those aren’t really games anyway. “Orange Box” is also borked. The only things (in terms of games) that the PS3 has going for it would be UT3 (homg) and the impending MGS4.
Then look at the Wii’s line-up. You’ve got games like Wario-Ware (which is sort of neat if you’ve got a party going on and nothing better to do at a party than sit around and do repetitive meaningless motions AND you’ve got ADD) and Wii Sports (which, I’m sure most people will agree, gets boring after a few matches of dead-easy tennis). If you look around, the Wii’s games are mainly targeted at selling to entire families (i.e. Nintendo knows it’s the parents they need to impress) so you can pretty much bet most of the generally “hardcore” games are out the window (except, maybe, Manhunt 2, but that’s a heap of garbage anyway). I honestly don’t see the appeal of the Wii. I mean, yeah it’s ornamental and maybe fun when there are small children around, but I don’t see what’s so innovative about combining a D-pad with your everyday remote controller. I’ve played with the Wii maybe a total of 5 times, and 3 of those times I was using it to play SSBM for the Gamecube.
It’s a shame developers are too lazy (or maybe p*ssy) to develop for the PS3 architecture. But that’s not the fault of the console, is it? I mean, it’s like saying it’s easier to draw a 2D doodle than a 3D sketch of the same thing and blaming the paper and pencil for it. The PS3 has got potential, and I’m almost sure it’ll be picking up speed once people get tired of 360 RoD and the Wii’s… well, waving things at the TV (and subsequently breaking their TVs and loved one’s face). Give it a year or two, I’m gonna predict that MS is going to release another Xbox iteration by then and the Wii will be sitting quite ornamentally (as it does in most of the Japanese owners’ homes as we speak, according to a poll) when developers run out of ways to get people to virtually jerk (off) a plastic remote.
How come no one mentions the fact that the PS3 is also a Blue-Ray player? It plays better than the only other BR player to support pic-in-pic playback (from Panasonic) and has upgradeable firmware so you just know you’ll be on top of updates and new techs. It costs much less than other BR players and oh, it plays games. If you’re gonna wait 4 years for a Wii, why don’t you just wait for a PS3? I’m pretty sure any price differences between the two in that amount of gestation time will be quite negligible.
Oh and about failure rates, the 360 runs at… what, 70%? Something like that. 7 out of 10. Compared with the PS3 and the Wii which are both around 0.2% failure. First batch too, so FTW. Wait, it was either 0.2% or 2% (but I’m pretty sure it was 0.2%). And now you know.
I think if you buy any of the three consoles you end up being a winner. I made the mistake of buying a GameCube last time.
Carl, it sounds like you haven’t written any software before and that’s why your analogy doesn’t hold up. Developers aren’t lazy. Taking advantage of a CPU such as Cell is no easy task. The way consoles, and the personal computer industry, has shifted to parallel processing in a very short time frame is hard enough, now Sony wants us to adopted an almost completely alien processor architecture. It’s like if you taught a child since the age of four how to play piano. Then a couple years ago you told that kid you need them to play three pianos at the same time while making sure nothing gets out of sync. Then Sony shows up and says screw the piano, you need to play seven miniature guitars at the same time while playing a real full sized guitar. Theoretically, Sony’s solution will produce the best music. The question is how will you play seven mini-guitars and one real guitar all at the same time when all you know is how to play is one piano. You know music right? So just stop being lazy and just play our instruments at their full potential.
So on top of of the millions of dollars in resources that are required to have developers take full advantage of Cell, we are trying to sell a game for a console that has an extremely low market penetration. So we will be lucky if we can break even on game sales.
I’d like to see where you got the 70% Xbox 360 failure rate from. The highest unofficial one I could find was 30%. Regardless of the failure rate, Microsoft is replacing red-ringed 360s free of charge. Mine broke, I called them up, I got a free box with free shipping to send it to them, they got it, and then sent me a brand new one. Their main place for Canadian repairs is in Markam so from the time I called, to the time I had Purolator at my door with a new 360 was about a week. I also got a free month of Xbox Live Gold for my inconvenience so in the end, I actually had something to gain from my broken Xbox.
@Carl: The bias in your comment is quite evident, since you’ve mentioned one franchise which is notorious for mini-games (ie. Wario), and another which is not really a game at all (ie. Wii Sports)…and seem to be basing the entire Wii line-up on it.
If you were to really look at some of the games that are already out there, such as Zak&Wiki (adventure), No More Heroes (reminds me of GTA) and Twilight Princess, as well as the highly anticipated Super Smash Bros Brawl (and everything its offering), we’d all probably see that the Wii isn’t a mere ornament.
Like I posted, the PS3 and the Wii are really waiting for their full potential to be tapped into. And we all know that the PS3 is many times more powerful, so we don’t need to get back into how pretty things can get.
Yes, when you buy a PS3, you basically get a free BRD player (or vice-versa, you buy a BRD Player and get the PS3 free)…and despite how much Sony is trying to merge everything as a Home Entertainment Centre with its fully wireless capabilities and PSP pairing, I’d figure we would all want to buy a PS3 to PLAY GAMES ON. And I don’t know about you, but I currently don’t have an HD TV with a surround sound system, so I’d think most of that BR quality is going straight to waste.
With Sony planning more price-cuts to become more competitive with the X360, the PS3 and Wii both getting frequent firmware updates, and more defining games in the future, it’s definitely safe to say that it doesn’t hurt to wait.
Ars stated before that in the console wars, the winner is definitely known, in terms of hardware (nothing like the 8-processor digital soul known as CELL)…what really needs to be defined now is the robust-ness of the firmware of systems.
@Aaron: No chance for pick-up?