Technology wise, the GCN was superior to the PS2.
CNN declares PS3 "A Sinking Ship"
- Thread starter CaptJimboJones
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Technology wise, the GCN was superior to the PS2.
I think somebody said it best that the Wii wins the console wars but 360 is winning the software wars. 360 are hardcore gamers who need the newest games to get their fix. Wii are leisure players who boot it up during parties to keep their girlfriends entertained while they do another keg stand.
Speaking as someone who doesn't own a PS3, 360 or Wii, I have to say my outside perspective is pretty much in line with what most people have been saying here. That the PS3's major flaw is that even now, two years after it's launch it's way too expensive for most people to consider any tying itself to BluRay is a bit of a two edged sword, since if that format fails to sell, then so will the console.
A year or so back I fully intended to buy a PS3 reasoning that the bluray would probably be the format to win out the "HD format war" and that since my last machine was a PS2, all the games I have should still work as I recall sony promising the PS3 will be backwards compatible. Indeed, it's a selling point that prompted me to buy a PS2 in the first place as I had (and still have) a number of PS1 games. However, I have since read that sony had for some reason decided to restrict the backwards compatibility to selected titles only. After checking the compatibility list I could find online, less than half my PS2 titles would work at all, so there went that selling point and although BluRay did indeed win out, the prices have yet come down to a level that makes them more desierable than standard def DVD and to be honest, based on a demonstration I looked at in the shops, the difference while noticable isn't THAT great, especially since I don't own a 50" screen.
So my solution? Easy; I bought an Xbox360 controller for windows and stuck to my usual tactic of staying a year or so behind the times in terms of PC hardware and games. Saves a HUGE amount of cash compared to what I'd spend if I made the same purchases 12 months earlier. In most cases it's at least a 70% saving and the only down side is not having the "latest things"....boo hoo.
A year or so back I fully intended to buy a PS3 reasoning that the bluray would probably be the format to win out the "HD format war" and that since my last machine was a PS2, all the games I have should still work as I recall sony promising the PS3 will be backwards compatible. Indeed, it's a selling point that prompted me to buy a PS2 in the first place as I had (and still have) a number of PS1 games. However, I have since read that sony had for some reason decided to restrict the backwards compatibility to selected titles only. After checking the compatibility list I could find online, less than half my PS2 titles would work at all, so there went that selling point and although BluRay did indeed win out, the prices have yet come down to a level that makes them more desierable than standard def DVD and to be honest, based on a demonstration I looked at in the shops, the difference while noticable isn't THAT great, especially since I don't own a 50" screen.
So my solution? Easy; I bought an Xbox360 controller for windows and stuck to my usual tactic of staying a year or so behind the times in terms of PC hardware and games. Saves a HUGE amount of cash compared to what I'd spend if I made the same purchases 12 months earlier. In most cases it's at least a 70% saving and the only down side is not having the "latest things"....boo hoo.
by not offering a cheaper, stripped down version of the PS3, it's like sony is saying "this will be your playstation experience. our way or the highway" and they're suffering
it looks like their motion-sensitive Wii-mote clone controller isn't as great as they were hoping
Also, the Wii has the classic gaming market cornered with downloadable nes, snes, n64, and genesis games. Combine that with the ability to play GameCube games (with GCN controllers) and that's a lot of games
I think Sony was trying to do too much with their super machine. Nintendo went back to the basics. Some people just want a game machine to play games. If they want to play dvds, they probably already have a dvd player by now (perhaps another reason why ps2 and xboxes sold better than GCN -- dvds were still relatively new)
it looks like their motion-sensitive Wii-mote clone controller isn't as great as they were hoping
Also, the Wii has the classic gaming market cornered with downloadable nes, snes, n64, and genesis games. Combine that with the ability to play GameCube games (with GCN controllers) and that's a lot of games
I think Sony was trying to do too much with their super machine. Nintendo went back to the basics. Some people just want a game machine to play games. If they want to play dvds, they probably already have a dvd player by now (perhaps another reason why ps2 and xboxes sold better than GCN -- dvds were still relatively new)
I think Nintendo is cleaning up on both hardware and software..where it counts the bottom line. I think Nintendo is consistently more profitable than either MS or sony in the game arena.
Sony is kinda caught in a bad area, they can't really dramatically lower the price of the ps3 without risk of destroying the Blu-Ray player market. I'm sure the other makers of Blu-Ray players don't want Sony to undercut them with the PS3.
Sony is kinda caught in a bad area, they can't really dramatically lower the price of the ps3 without risk of destroying the Blu-Ray player market. I'm sure the other makers of Blu-Ray players don't want Sony to undercut them with the PS3.
Agreed. The PS3 is 'too' ahead of its time, which is being reflected in prices and sales.
Wii console units outsell 360 outsells PS3.
I believe total 360 game sales are routinely higher than total Wii game sales in the West, it has a consistantly higher software:console ratio. As is often repeated, a lot of Nintendos end up collecting dust after a few months, or the owners buy a couple of sports or party games for it, or it serves as a secondary console.
Nintendo makes a bucket-load of money because it's their games that always sell the best on the Wii, plus the hardware sales. MS and Sony sell fewer 1st party titles per console. I think Nintendo makes more money from the DS line worldwide. They used to anyway.
I believe total 360 game sales are routinely higher than total Wii game sales in the West, it has a consistantly higher software:console ratio. As is often repeated, a lot of Nintendos end up collecting dust after a few months, or the owners buy a couple of sports or party games for it, or it serves as a secondary console.
Nintendo makes a bucket-load of money because it's their games that always sell the best on the Wii, plus the hardware sales. MS and Sony sell fewer 1st party titles per console. I think Nintendo makes more money from the DS line worldwide. They used to anyway.
But in terms of individual titles, Nintendo Wii/DS has consistently been dominating the Top 20 Sales Charts, with a lot of PS3/360 titles sharing markets for the same title on both systems.
Sony can't afford to drop the price on the PS3 right now. They just cut 16,000 jobs (with the videogame division being one of the main source of the job cuts).
Sony is in a real bad position right now with the PS3. They need to drop the price on the PS3 but they can't (and most likely wont be able to for a long time).
^^ yeah, it sux to be sony. ambition is good, but there is such a thing as 'too ambitious'
If you ask me, the Wii is just more fun. A lot of people like to be actively involved in the game. It is my opinion that the Wii is the closest thing to a home arcade since the button/joystick of the Atari 2600 (i mean arcade-ish across multiple games, not just the nes Zap gun or the snes bazooka or any number of iterations of a steering column, for example)
If you ask me, the Wii is just more fun. A lot of people like to be actively involved in the game. It is my opinion that the Wii is the closest thing to a home arcade since the button/joystick of the Atari 2600 (i mean arcade-ish across multiple games, not just the nes Zap gun or the snes bazooka or any number of iterations of a steering column, for example)
The Wii is fun, and it's a family thing.
The 360 is a gamer thing. Both rule their niches well.
If they want a machine that just plays games, they better not buy a Wii. Unless I imagined the news and weather channels lighting up my Wii Menu.
It won't, with it launching on the 360 aswell people aren't going to care. They'll get it on the cheaper console that already has alot more games and better online service.
And Final Fantasy was a big reason alot of 360 owners MAY have purchased a PS3 afterall, just another reason gone.
Love the article and thanks for posting, but this was the case already about a year ago.
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Rii
Rear Admiral
If only the passengers aboard the Titanic had been so lucky.
True, Wii can do news, weather, internet (its not great but it does it). But I think the problem is marketing, Wii is marketed as only a fun family game system and is cleaning up.
Nintendo hasn't ever bought into the sell console at a loss to move software. The wii either lost very little on launch or actually made money, And the DS and gameboy before was praticaly like printing money.
The Wii and the DS are virtually a license to print money.
However, the amount of shovelware on both systems... Ai-yi-yi.
It's nice that Nintendo has gotten the third parties back on board, developing for their systems. But Nintendo has confused quantity for quality; most of what's available on the system from third parties can be charitably described as "crap."
But isn't FF vs XIII PS3 exclusive?!?
