he next generation game console war continues to be a bloody one. One army has emerged with lots of victories, another has held its own but the army with the most victories in the last war has been beaten badly and may not have any major victories until the fall months. Over three months ago we posted up our first report from the front lines and gave some advice to Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo for how they can get the upper hand. Now that the war is six months old now we take another look at the ongoing war effort
Square Enix launches Final Fantasy X 25th anniversary site, revealing new Nomura art, books, music releases, and merchandise.
Look I know VIII has its issues and all that but how on earth can the do big anniversary events with new artwork and merchandise for VII, IX and X yet VIII got sweet f*** all.
They could have given it something during its 25th anniversary yet all it got was a single Happy Anniversary post on their social media.
they should know that we are OG fans of VIII as it sold truckload as well. not as much as VII or X. I personally didn't like IX but X and VI are my personal fav.
Shadow Hearts 2 covenant is another game I love. I hope one day someone can make remake, I would be delighted
Final Fantasy VIII is great and you are always the first to defend it in the comments
The Wii is now a retro console. Let’s get nostalgic about an often maligned system.
Crazy to think the WII is to the Switch 2, as the NES was to the WII back then. 20 Year difference.
My wife asks me to bust it out (heh) everyone once in a while to play bowling and tennis with the kids. There was a ton of slop on it but some good stuff as well.
Wii was great but boy howdy did it cause Microsoft to go on a dark walk with the Kinect and the disastrous XBox One launch that they arguably never recovered from.
Not nostalgic for me.. I was there.. anyone who wasnt a little kid realized it was a gamecube with shit tacked onto it, it was the "joke" system and was well below even the switch in terms of comparing it to the latest machines at the time. The machine was well loved by young people and "casual gamers" who now remember it 20 years on, or in most cases more of its sales came in the 15-20 years ago range not right at launch- but again its not nostalgic for people who were "gamers" then really, just for those who ended up with one in their house, the games , graphics, interface and online features were archaic already in 2006.
A brutal reset, a smarter story, and a return to what made it great—Mortal Kombat (2011) revived the series.
Underrated comment. I used to hate that game so much that any time my siblings asked me to play it, I just picked Hom and shut myself down mid-match.
15 years went by so fast. I remember playing through the story mode at launch.
great read, solid advice for all 3 companies.
but all what ps3 needs are only games.
600$ for a console for 5 years, which won`t die, which has free online, blu-ray function and etc. is not much.
price cut will boost sales, but hey, without released games in April sony sold 80k PS3 for 600$ in USA. Just think, 80 000 !
so, with games it will make +100-200k, and with games + price cut it can make +200-300k.
for 600$ you get reliable console, with free online and blu-ray player.
for 400$ you get console, which has a high chance to die in 3-4 years, in adition you have to pay for online gaming, live! is good, but still it cost money. Why not make free online gaming like on pc/ps3/wii and charge for friend list and other feautures ?
Was well written, but I do think that the doom and gloom all over Sony in the article is a little premature at this point. Given that we are only six months into its release and MS is coming up 2 years. A price drop would speed up sales no doubt, but I don't know if they will do it yet.
And again I don't think the Wii is a direct competitor for 360 and ps3, I really don't. It's a sales dream because of that I guess (gamers and non gamers alike buy it), but I truly think 360 and ps3 are in a two way battle here for the 'real' console gaming market.
When the online tv/music/movie download thing starts we are going to see some real momentum, especially considering that Sony has 1.5 million online accounts already at six months. And with not much content to choose from. That and the heavy hitting titles coming out bode for a big 4th quarter and 2008 i should think.
at start of article he instead of the...
Just a perspective from someone outside of US who has never been a console gamer until "next-gen" came along.
I bought a new home and a HDTV (1080i) to go with it.
Knowing next to nothing about consoles, I bought a 360 at USD400 because it was first out with a lot of hype, and it looked sweet on HDTV. Price wasn't a consideration at all at this point in time as I was new to consoles and this was the first next-gen console. If 360 had been USD600, I would probably have bought it anyway.
Imported PS3 arrived next, but almost a year later. By this time, I was already thoroughly enjoying my console gaming experience on the 360 and did think of getting another console. However, unlike when I got my 1st console, the price of the 2nd console would be more of a factor. Imported PS3 was selling at extortionate prices of USD800 to USD1,000. Obviously, the price alone was reason enough for me not to even consider it.
Imported Wii also arrived selling anywhere from USD350 to USD450 depending on whether it was a US or Japanese set. I had already decided to get a Wii because of the hype, but chose to wait for the local launch since the prices of imports were also a total put-off.
Local PS3 launched about 5 months after the imported ones arrived, selling at only USD500. I was tempted to get it and still am because it isn't that expensive. But I still haven't purchased it because there are as yet no exclusive games that interest me except perhaps VF5 which will be out on 360 soon anyway. If I had a Full HDTV, I might have bought it because the Blu-ray player comes cheap to watch movies. But I don't have a Full HDTV and don't intend on getting one anytime soon. Nonetheless, Blu-ray player coming cheap is a draw, and will likely be a factor that pushes me to purchase a PS3 once the exclusive games roll in.
Local Wii then launched at USD400 - the price of a 360. Waaaaay too expensive for something not exactly next gen. I have changed my mind about getting a Wii.
So my present situation is I am a proud owner of 360 enjoying a lot of games (playing Blue Dragon and C&C now), waiting for good exclusive games to come to the PS3, and waiting for the price of Wii to drop drastically (which probably will not happen).