Play video games? It's an exciting time for you then, because the next-generation of video game systems are upon us, and it's shaping up to be the best war yet! Even if you're not much into video games (meaning a typical female, a young child, or an adult over the age of 40) there might be something in store for you, so stay tuned!
The contenders for this round are: Microsoft's already released X-Box 360, the Sony PlayStation 3, and the Nintendo Wii (no that's not a typo, it's pronounced "we;" take a moment to wonder what Nintendo was thinking and move on). The PlayStation 3 will be released on November 17 and Nintendo hasn't yet announced the Wii's release date, but it will likely be in October or early November. So what does the next generation have in store for us, and which system(s) should you get? My friends, you've come to the right spot! This write-up will be a two-parter: today I'm focusing on the PlayStation 3, then Part 2 (in a few days) will focus on the Wii with a bit on the 360, plus my gut reactions as to which system(s) stands the best chance of winning. So, here goes nothin'!
PlayStation 3: A huge bargain, or a big blunder?Since Sony introduced the first PlayStation, they've pretty much dominated the video game market, wrestling the crown from the reigns of Nintendo and its ever popular NES and Super Nintendo systems. So they're certainly hoping to maintain that success with the PlayStation 3. Certainly there's a lot of promise that they will, but they're definitely facing more roadblocks than they have in the past.
First of all, this thing is super-powerful, and that's where the PlayStation 3 is showing the most promise. Whereas the PlayStation wasn't as powerful as the Nintendo 64, nor the PlayStation 2 as powerful as the X-Box or GameCube (just goes to show that graphics don't mean everything), the PlayStation 3 is definitely the most powerful of the next-gen video game systems. It supports an HD resolution of up to 1080p (very few HDTVs actually support that resolution), and its main processor, named "Cell," is said to be the most advanced processor anywhere ever.
One of Sony's biggest gambles is its inclusion of Blu-Ray movie playback, which really drives up the cost of the system. To briefly explain Blu-Ray, there are two HD movie-playing formats competing to be the successor to the DVD format, Blu-Ray and HD-DVD (please see my
previous HD-DVD article, it explains everything). So if Blu-Ray doesn't end up being the main format that people choose and HD-DVD ends up winning, then Sony is really screwed with the PlayStation 3, since the majority of the PS3's cost is for Blu-Ray playback. Think about it: if HD-DVD wins, movie companies will soon stop making Blu-Ray discs altogether (similar to fate of the Sony PSP's UMD format). If that were to happen, would you pay the extra bucks for Blu-Ray movie playback on the PlayStation 3 (which will be included whether you want it or not) if you don't even have movies to watch for it? Many of you probably wouldn't. Sony's thinking is that the PlayStation 3 will drive the popularity on the Blu-Ray format, similar to how the PlayStation 2 helped make DVDs popular. It's a fairly legitimate point, but DVD didn't really have a competing format, nor was DVD playback nearly as expensive (HD-DVD players, BTW, are half as expensive as Blu-Ray). In any case, it's a gamble.
And just how much is this system going to cost, you ask? There will be two different packages to choose from, like there was with the X-Box 360. One bundle will be $600 and include a 60 GB hard drive, plus have an HDMI output. The other will be $500, include a 20 GB hard drive, and lack the HDMI output (which is confusing, b/c my understanding is that HDMI is required for Blu-Ray movie playback, so Sony really needs to explain how the $500 is supposed to play Blu-Ray movies). Chances are, when you read those $500 and $600 prices, your eyes got big and you decided right then not to buy a PlayStation 3. This is by far the most expensive mainstream video game system to ever come out.
The PlayStation 3 has gotten a lot of bad press for its price-point, but from one standpoint, I think it's actually a huge bargain. Sony's first Blu-Ray movie player will come out in October, and it will retail for $1,000 (other companies already have Blu-Ray players out, also costing $1,000). One month later, you can buy another machine from Sony that also plays Blu-Ray movies, but as a bonus it plays these really pretty video games, and it's going to cost only five or six-hundred dollars! So from this perspective, the PS3 seems like an incredible deal. I'm afraid, though, that the average consumer won't see it that way, and instead think "Five or six hundred for a video game system?! I'll pass." Also when comparing technical specs on paper, the PlayStation 3 looks a lot more powerful than the less-expensive X-Box 360. But in actuality, if you were to compare the two in action, one TV sitting next to the other, you probably couldn't tell a difference. In fact, due to the 360's year-long head start, it has some incredible looking games coming out toward the end of the year that look better than anything from the PlayStation 3's first batch. So why would consumers want to pay the extra $200 for a system that graphically looks hardly any different? I guess the Blu-Ray playback would justify it; but again, will the average video game consumer see it that way?
Of course we could ramble on about specs for days and days, but the thing that really makes or breaks a game system is its games. So really, despite anything I write here, we won't really know which game system is best for another couple of years when each system has enough games out to judge. Frankly, when most any new video game system comes out, its first batch of games aren't entirely that great, and PlayStation 3 probably won't be much of an exception. Reaction to the PS3's first games has been lukewarm at best from the press, with a few standout titles like Metal Gear Solid 4 and Assassin's Creed. Keep in mind, we've been playing similar looking games on the X-Box 360 for nearly a year now, so Sony's got a tough sell on their hands. The 360 also had a notably un-spectacular lineup of launch games when it came out, but now it's releasing more and more quality titles, so the 360's yearlong head-start has been a huge advantage (as was the PlayStation 2's yearlong head-start over the first X-Box and GameCube). But as for judging which system will have the better games in the long run, we'll just have to wait and see.
Other PlayStation 3 tidbits: Sony will offer an online service with the PS3 very similar to Microsoft's X-Box Live, and it's going to be free! Sony's online service will probably never be as popular as the X-Box Live, but "free" is certainly a word consumers like to hear. Bear in mind, the individual companies that make the PS3 games can choose to charge a fee to play their games online, but there won't be a subscription service ala the X-Box Live. Other than that, not much is known about Sony's online service.
And then there's the controller. It looks just the same as Sony's now standard Dual-Shock controller, except that it will be wireless (with a USB port for optional wire connection). But there is one big difference from Sony's other controllers: it will be tilt-sensitive. Meaning you can tilt the controller forward or back, left or right and the action on-screen will adjust likewise. Sony has been widely accused of cheaply ripping-off Nintendo's idea for the Wii controller (more on that in Part 2), and Sony's only showed one game, Warhawk, that uses the tilt function (with less-than-impressive reaction). Don't worry though, it's highly doubtful that PS3 games will be judged on how well they use the controller's tilt function.
So that Sony's system in a nutshell. Obviously there's a lot of question marks in the PlayStation 3's future; this system is probably the biggest gamble they've ever taken. Sony certainly has the history and the marketing power to make it work, so we'll see what happens. Again Part 2 will focus on the Nintendo Wii, and believe me, you'll want to read what I have to say about that! If you haven't yet seen or heard about this system, fun times are ahead.
(Photo Credit: http://regmedia.co.uk/2006/04/06/sony_ps3_3.jpg)
