It's the way it has always been in the gaming industry. A console launches to hordes of fans grappling to lay their hands on those monstrous boxes that house the latest and greatest video game systems in the land. For the next four years game after game is released, played, tossed into the trash then the process is repeated. As the console's life rolls on games begin looking better than the initial efforts seen at launch, third and fourth generation games looking almost nothing like what the first games on the system presented to players. Then there are the inevitable price drops which help push the given system (or systems) deeper into the consumer market as sales charts almost assuredly spike at the news of a reduced price tag for the system that was once too expensive for Little Johnny. Simply put, it's the way our industry has always been, and it's likely the way it will always be.
But this generation is proving to be a beast of a different color, a monster of a different size, and it's due largely in part to the two top dogs in the industry Sony and Microsoft and their new consoles, the Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 respectively.
Typically when companies launch new consoles they're prepared to take some kind of a loss with every system that they move off of store shelves. What it comes down to is the fact that each console is sold for much less than the sum of its parts. But even still, the price tag that these companies have slapped on their new hardware gems could lead to less market saturation than any consoles that we've seen in quite some time. With the Xbox 360 retailing for 400 dollars, which will later increase to around 600 dollars if you want that HD-DVD add-on that Playstation 3 users get bundled with their system in the form of a Blu-ray player, that means that both systems will be flying off shelves at twice the price of their successors which were released in 2002 (Xbox) and 2000 (PS2) at an MSRP of $299.99.
What we're getting down to here is the point of this article, the one undeniable fact that has remained absent from next-gen discussions until right now. That being that next-gen gaming is actually bad for business and just may very well be a plague on gaming itself.
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.
How pathetic. I hate the ending of the article. 'Choose your side'. Why would you want to choose any side? I'll say it again people, buy all 3 and reap all the benefits. If you can't afford all 3 then you're not alone, but it's worth saving up for, isn't it?
I for one have no problem with the price of the psp,360 or wii.seems to me that the product is well worth the price,and the price of games didnt go up for what....A DECADE. Seems reasonable to me. Gaming is well worth the price of admission.
when are people gonna stop using that HORRIBLE PICTURE, that grosly makes the 360 look 2 times bigger than the PS3. When in actuality the PS3 is the biggest console by far.
Wii isnt nex-gen they say ....its new-gen.
You will buy what you can. If people love to game it wont matter what console you by or whose picture is bigger than the other. What matters is the games. I have said this over and over again "Brand loyalty has no business in the video game industry!" People who cling onto a consoler maker are usually children with no experience with previous console generations. I own a 360 because it offers what all of the pervious consoles offer plus the next gen promise of better games and more immersive experiences but with the other offerings it seems to be more about corporate drive and gimmicks. But the smart people will by what makes the wallet and the gamer happy.