Author: Yennaedo Balloo
Videogame lover that I am, I’ve been following the current generation console “war” with a good amount of attention and interest. It’s pretty clear to most of us gamers that Nintendo Wii is so far advantaged that, at this point, it’s a pie-in-the-sky dream for either Microsoft or Sony to overtake it with their respective consoles. Still, there’s a race to be had between the Sony Playstation 3 and the Microsoft Xbox 360. I’ll be pulling for the PS3 in what remains of this race. I’ve been a Sony fan for some time now, and it’s pretty clear that Sony has itself together in more ways than Microsoft. It is my prediction that the PS3 is going to come back in the console war, essentially because Microsoft and the Xbox 360 suck. (It should be noted I’m also an Apple fan, but that’s not entirely pertinent.)
Firstly, it should be recognized that the 360 is currently holding the second-place position in the console race (Nintendo is in first by a mile with Wii, which shouldn’t be a surprise.) The PS3 is on the 360’s heels in third place. The PS3 has only been outsold by the 360 in North America, where it is currently trailing by 2 million total units sold as of last quarter’s data. Kudos to 360 and what Microsoft has done right. They cornered the market by releasing early (which they said was the Playstation 2’s reason for success against its original Xbox) and also by battling Sony’s weak spot, which is its price tag. People were wondering upon the release of the 360 whether they should buy a 360 or wait a few months for the PS3, but Microsoft made the issue more than just one of patience. There was a $100-200 difference (depending on your model choice) between the 360 and the PS3. Finally, 360 embraced what people expected next generation gaming to be-online connectivity and community. Xbox Live continues to be one of the best forums for videogamers to compare scores and achievements.
My praise of the 360 is short-lived. As I pointed out in the previous paragraph, the 360 is only 2 million units ahead of the PS3 in North America. This is even with the extra year head start and after the first full year that all three consoles have been on the market together. The 360 continues to struggle in Asia (specifically in Japan, which is one of the most important markets for this industry) and is beset with problems. Whatever Microsoft had to do so that it could beat Sony to the punch with its machine, wasn’t worth it. The “Red Rings of Death” (RRoD) are a problem that beset more than 40 percent of all 360’s while under warranty. (No data exists for how many suffer this failure after warranty.) I’ve seen videos online of experts advising “quick fix” remedies to cure the RRoD, including temporarily wrapping the machine in towels or putting it in front of air conditioners. I thought this was supposed to be the future? Hardware issues requiring hokey patches like this shouldn’t be affecting such a large portion of the product population.
Most important in this war, though, is the future, which is looking a little bleak for the 360. The main techie point is that Sony promised its wonder-machine would be a console to use into the future, one that would have a life cycle of around seven years before the next thing came around to replace it. Sony’s PS3 runs off of Blu-Ray software which gives it a huge software capacity advantage over the 360. This is in line with the future of the DVD. Just last week, Toshiba (the main manufacturer of HD-DVD products) not only announced it would stop manufacturing said products, but it also bought several Blu-Ray product factories in order to begin manufacturing Blu-Ray players of its own. What this means is that the 360 placed its bet on the wrong horse: the 360 runs on DVD format software and even went as far as selling HD-DVD reader add-ons that are now going to be relics. Sony made good on its promise-the PS3 is shaping up to be the machine of the future, and is in fact, the great home entertainment system it was hailed to be.
Microsoft’s final concern for the future should be with what really defines a console’s supremacy in a systems war-the games. The 360 had its moment with Halo 3 and other titles last year, but as far as what this coming year holds, if you go to the videogame magazine section of your local store’s racks you’ll see the impending torrent: this is the year of Playstation. The best titles you can look forward to on the 360 this year are titles it is sharing with the PS3-GTA IV and the recently released Devil May Cry 4. Highly anticipated games with well-established fan bases will be offered only on the PS3 platform this year. I’m talking about franchises that established the PS2 as the console war victor four years ago-Metal Gear Solid 4, Gran Turismo 5, God of War III and Final Fantasy XIII are all scheduled for release this year-not to mention a slew of original titles that have already attracted attention. Point being, I’m feeling very happy with my purchase of the PS3 after the price cut last November, and I have begun budgeting my paychecks for the onset of game releases that will no doubt require my continued investments.
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