The Video Game Critic

Posted: **February 12th, 2007, 2:24 pm**

[QUOTE=Minzo][QUOTE]Nintendo has done an amazing PR job. I have seen them in about 3 stores over the past couple weeks. I even saw a used one which was odd. Anyway, I think it will be a couple of more months before supply outstrips demand. Nintendo is selling a ton of units off potential and one or two decent games...amazing. I still believe the system is going to start tanking when "non-gamers" lose interest and people realize there are no games coming out for it outside of first party titles (Gamecube all over again). I can't wait until 2008, then we'll see where everything is really fallling out. Maybe Nintendo will be on top again, maybe not. We'll see.[/QUOTE]

A used Wii huh? That is odd though. 2008 will be showing who is on top and in my opinion the Wii will have plenty of party games by then. PS3 will have different kind of genres but no 2d games knowing sony. And Xbox360 will have it's Halo 3 and plenty of other shooters.
[/QUOTE]

A used one! I suspect it was exchanged and that the retailer was too lazy to return it but who knows. I think the next two years are going to be amazing for this hobby. I no longer wish the Wii a quick and timely death. I think it will be good for all of us if there is more competition. I still believe though that the key is first party support, 3rd party support and online offerings. The Big N does a great job on the first party side of things but the others are still question marks. Of course, the other Companies have questioon marks as well.

Posted: **February 12th, 2007, 2:36 pm**

[QUOTE=JustLikeHeaven][ . . . ]

To say that nobody is buying a PS3 is naive. The systems are in short supply depending on where you go in the country. So yes, while some of you will claim to see PS3 rotting away on the shelf, others are also going to say that they haven't seen one yet. It all depends on where you live, but Sony is still pushing alot of systems. Where I live I have seen a handful of them, but they sell out rather quickly.

[ . . . ][/QUOTE]Yar. Where I live, it's pretty easy to find both sitting on store shelves. It actually seems like the 360's are moving faster than the PS3 or Wii. Which is pretty cool, because orginal Xbox stuff is now dirt cheap.

Posted: **February 12th, 2007, 3:28 pm**

[QUOTE=Shawn]

A used one! I suspect it was exchanged and that the retailer was too lazy to return it but who knows. I think the next two years are going to be amazing for this hobby. I no longer wish the Wii a quick and timely death. I think it will be good for all of us if there is more competition. I still believe though that the key is first party support, 3rd party support and online offerings. The Big N does a great job on the first party side of things but the others are still question marks. Of course, the other Companies have questioon marks as well.

[/QUOTE]

I think all of that is true. I would love to see all three systems succeed even more than last generation. Here are what I think are the keys:

Microsoft:

Obtain first party franchises that rock besides Halo

(Looks okay so far. Still not overwhelmed even with their headstart, but Gears looks like it has some legs... so there is one)

Nintendo:

Get some Third Party love

Utilize Online Play

(Looks shaky so far. There have been a few new 3rd party titles announced, but it looks bleak. If sales continue this trend will reverse)

Sony:

Lock down some must have titles that starting to trickle to the Xbox

Overcome negative karma

(I still think this will be the best system before its over with... but the sluggish sales are starting to make me wonder. Has there ever been a #1 system of a current generation that had this much negative press during the launch? People may be wanting the system to lose, and like it or not, that looks like it is starting to have an effect)

Funkmaster V

Posted: **February 13th, 2007, 10:45 am**

[QUOTE=Funkmaster V]

I think all of that is true. I would love to see all three systems succeed even more than last generation. Here are what I think are the keys:

Microsoft:

Obtain first party franchises that rock besides Halo

(Looks okay so far. Still not overwhelmed even with their headstart, but Gears looks like it has some legs... so there is one)

Nintendo:

Get some Third Party love

Utilize Online Play

(Looks shaky so far. There have been a few new 3rd party titles announced, but it looks bleak. If sales continue this trend will reverse)

Sony:

Lock down some must have titles that starting to trickle to the Xbox

Overcome negative karma

(I still think this will be the best system before its over with... but the sluggish sales are starting to make me wonder. Has there ever been a #1 system of a current generation that had this much negative press during the launch? People may be wanting the system to lose, and like it or not, that looks like it is starting to have an effect)

Funkmaster V

[/QUOTE]

I agree with most of what you said here.

I think you're dead on with Microsoft... there's nothing really stellar about the system... there's nothing really bad about it either. I think it's about middle of the road as you can get. This is absolutely a good thing for the company at this point. They have a good solid machine with a good fan base that's definitely poised to do better than the Xbox. I think I might be more excited about it if I actually had Xbox live but since I don't it doesn't get much play at my place.

I actually feel that Sony has miles of potential just like they say. However we're going to find out quickly whether or not developers can tap that potential. Also it has to overcome that high price point.

I have one big beef with this system and that's the marketing strategy. I really am flabbergasted at how yet another company is trying to market their video game machine as a multi media device.

Haven't the 3DO and CDi proved that it really isn't a viable marketing strategy. Yes I know that the cost is a bargain for a Blu Ray device but at the end of the day it really isn't going to get anymore brownie points for having it in terms of video games. In the eye of the consumer its a game machine and despite what Sony wants us to think that's how we are going to judge it.

I would like to see the PS3 succeed but I don't think it can do it without some big changes in terms of who they are marketing this too. It really seems to me they are marketing this to Tech Geeks and not even gamer geeks specifically. The gamer geeks are much more satisfied with the 360 at this point in time.

Funkmaster I think you're partially right about people wanting to see Sony fail. In this case I believe people just want to root for Nintendo. The simple reason being is people love an underdog and going into this generation Nintendo just screamed underdog in the console market. The result of this is a very vocal few have taken upon themselves to bash Sony and call for its downfall.

Onto Nintendo... yeah the online so far isn't looking pretty. Friend codes are the worst... Hopefully this will change in the future and things won't become so uptight at Nintendo. I see what they are trying to do and the image they are trying to create but I think they are taking it too far. It saddens me that this will probably hamper my Smash Bros. and Metroid online experience.

The 3rd party problem isn't something that I buy into anymore. Everyday I hear about another developer ramping up their Wii development. Yes they don't have the support of the PS2 but hey none of the next gen systems do at this point. There are plenty of big name 3rd parties making games and even exclusives for the Wii. Ubisoft, Sega, Konami, EA, Sqaure Enix, Hudson(I'm not 100% postive about them) and even Rockstar to a lesser extent... these are just some of the few that have committed to supporting it and companies that have games out or coming soon.

They have a hurdle to overcome and that's simply what's going to happen to all those non gamers that have bought into the hype. I don't think anyone can say what they are going to do in the future. To be fair 'non gamers' actually tend to play games but they play Popcap games on their computers and cellphones. Which as we all know is the lowest form of gaming...

Posted: **February 13th, 2007, 11:53 am**

Nothing impressive about the 360? You are out of your mind. It is an incredible system. Easily the best of the "next gen" systems by far. Have you played Gears? Give me a break. Where is all of this 3rd party support for Nintendo in 2007? Just PS2 ports is all I see. I don't think the 3rd party support is there just yet. Talk is cheap.

Posted: **February 13th, 2007, 3:39 pm**

[QUOTE=Shawn]

Nothing impressive about the 360? You are out of your mind. It is an incredible system. Easily the best of the "next gen" systems by far. Have you played Gears? Give me a break. Where is all of this 3rd party support for Nintendo in 2007? Just PS2 ports is all I see. I don't think the 3rd party support is there just yet. Talk is cheap.

[/QUOTE]

I have played Gears.. and I have to say I was disappointed. My initial impression of that game was great but after having beat it I don't think I'll run through the game again.

Once again I don't have Live so saying that it has a good online mode doesn't mean anything to me at present. Mostly my tiny gripes about the game were the boring cinemas and the excessive talking breaking up the gameplay. I've other problems with the game but I'll end it here as that's for another discussion. Also I do like this game I just don't think it's the game of the year material everyone claims it is.

Anyways it is a good solid system but needs a little something extra to make it A+ material. Also the majority of the games are in game genres that I don't necessarily enjoy.

I will agree that it's the best console so far but it has a full year head start on the other two. We'll all be able to make a better judgment on what console is really better in a year or so.

To respond to your second point... you're right talk is cheap. People can confirm games all they want but I suppose until they are out it doesn't matter. Regardless I believe in that mantra a little less each passing day.

Most of the people confirming these games aren't exactly blowing hot air. I suspect we'll see plenty of 3rd party software by the end of the year, and I'll even go out on a limb here and say much of it will be exclusive titles.

Posted: **February 13th, 2007, 4:04 pm**

Well, just because a game comes out for the Wii & the PS2, doesn't mean that it is just a PS2 "Port". A lot of these games are being developed ground-up for the Wii and then being ported to other systems without the motion-controls. It so happens that these games are being ported to the PS2 & the PSP because the Wii's graphical capabilities are not on par with the 360 or the PS3. Some say that's bad for the Wii, but as far as the next generation sytems, they could received "exclusives" simply because the publisher didn't want to upgrade the graphics from the Wii version to put it out on the PS3 or 360.

Posted: **February 13th, 2007, 7:43 pm**

My friends are not only taking jabs at me for not having a Wii yet, but rubbing it in by saying stuff like "You can always play with your PS3! HA!"

Who would have thought the PS3 would become the butt of jokes??

Posted: **February 13th, 2007, 8:10 pm**

Who would have known your friends would be making such stupid jokes? That is the question? I hope they have day jobs. I guess I don't understand your grading system, all of your PS3 reviews were "F"'s right? Let's wait a year and see who is laughing at that time. Maybe it will be Nintendo and their legion of fanboys (including the critic, I guess) or will it be the Sony Fanboys (critic will eat crow) or the Microsoft Fanboys. Who knows????? The word "critic" implies that you are objective. I think you should change the name of this site...try www.I love the wii although i don't own one.com.

Posted: **February 13th, 2007, 10:22 pm**

I just got done watching a video interview featuring Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan and she tossed out some interesting numbers for the Wii. She stated that Nintendo was hoping to sell 6 million Wiis by the end of its fiscal year (March). Perrin said that Nintendo was well on track, so the number might actually be around 7 million.

Honestly I feel bad for Microsoft right now. They are doing everything in their power to give people the best system. They wooed big franchises away from Sony, came in at a lower price point, had a year head start and just launched its first real killer app. So why isn't the system flying off the shelf? Sure 10 million in one year is pretty solid, but it looks like Nintendo is going to eclispe that number sooner rather then later. Halo 3 should help sell alot of units, but Nintendo has some pretty big system sellers of its own. The 360 is finally going to have to compete against something. It was out for pretty much a whole year with zero next-gen competetion..Zero! Now they have to fight for every single unit they sell and its gonna be an uphill battle.

Everyone keeps counting Sony out, but they are like a sleeping giant right now. Once they get things ironed out its not gonna be pretty for anyone. Its easy to count them out so soon, but once the PS3 starts pumping out games its going to be a force to be reckoned with. Plus you know that there are going to be more exclusive games on the PS3 than the 360 because thats Sony's bread n butter. They know that, its their business plan for the past ten years and they are still sticking to it.

Microsoft will probably be fine in the end, but I really don't think they expected the Wii to become the wordwide smash that it has become. You can talk about Gears of War all you want, but that title is soon to be yesterdays news and people will need something more. What big titles does it have coming? Microsoft needs to have a huge year, moreso than Sony and Nintendo.

The Video Game Critic

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