Its the penultimate part of this feature, and in this one, I look at the new generation of consoles.
Read Previous parts here:
It was time I thought, that I actually got a console at launch, rather than waiting till it was a few years older. I wanted to be an 'early adopter'. Obviously this generation I had three choices, Xbox 360, Wii and the PS3. I contemplated the 360 for quite some time and for some quite valid reasons. The online system was much better than Sony's proposed PSN, more quality games due to its early release and was not as expensive as the PS3. Quite a lot of people I knew had it, so there would be plenty of multi-player options.
But, even though the 360 seemed the sensible options, I've never been sensible, and I wanted a launch console, so it was either the behemoth, wallet munching PS3 or the oddly named, waggle fun machine the Wii. At the time, no one knew how popular the Wii was going to be, no one could predict how many people would buy it, how many old folks homes would be organising Wii bowling leagues etc.
My main reason for choosing to get a PS3 was because I could play the only game I wanted to for Wii LoZ: The Twilight Princess, on Gamecube as well, with some critics preferring the GC version, so I didn't really want to purchase the console on the grounds of one game. The PS3 meanwhile, had a lot more features built into it which I would use, and had backwards compatibility so I could play all the PS2 games which I owned (well most, it was slightly hobbled due to the software emulation). Another reason, a geeky one I agree, was that I wanted to use it as a personal computer as well, so I needed to upgrade the harddrive and install Linux on it (something I have done).
I got Resistance: Fall Of Man and Motorstorm at launch, though I originally wanted Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, but many Ubisoft games were mysteriously delayed for a month. I was also playing on a SD TV, which stunted the impact of the upgraded graphics, although I was still impressed withe overall scale of things in both games. I got nailed by a lot of 360 owners at school, and whereas I could see where they were coming from, I simply didn't care. Maybe they had forgot that the quality of 360 launch titles was massively below standard.
Don't get me wrong, me and countless others have all gone 'Oh no, not again' at some of the things Sony has done said, especially with the Sixaxis and their backtrack over having rumble in controllers. Promised games such as Lair turned out to be awful, with poor controls and a patch did nothing to aid its life and the way Sony tried to 'help' reviewers review the game didn't got down too well.
I've always tried to stay away from console related discussions regarding which one is best, as looking back, they have all at the moments at different times. I believe (with the exception of the Wii) that it matters even less this generation. Most companies release games on more than one platform anyway, simply due to it being expensive no matter what console you develop for. That said, I'm really looking forward to Final Fantasy XIII
Would I like to play on all three consoles, certainly I would, but money ain't a unlimited resource, and neither is time. I was speaking to some adult Wii owners, who were actually into games, and they were telling me about it and said that its fun, but wouldn't recommend getting one till it was sub £100 at least. And even then, I doubt I would have a extensive game collection on it. I would find myself buying games I already owned from the virtual console. Wii Ware looks promising, but not too convincing for a perspective buyer.
What for the future then. I expect that they will simply keep building and building more things on top of the machines, from firmware to peripherals. The Wii will probably be the first to get an upgrade, new version or a new console, but somehow I don't see Nintendo backtracking from the casual market. Maybe the PS3 will be made smaller, and possibly another model of the 360 will be introduced. But with price drop galore predicted at E3, its going to get very interesting.
Tomorrow, in the final instalment, I look at my PC gaming and the handhelds...
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