Hope Left 4 Dead 2 is re-released next year in Australia with an R rating (as we will finally get this rating). The game we got is the horribly modified German version.
Irrespective, I think Sony will get a sales bump from the 'new' PS3. Gullible consumers will think it is better than the previous model. In my opinion, Microsoft have put profitability over sales volumes the last few years. Whereas Sony previously cut the price of the PS3 and reduced profit margins. They will both be maximising profit on this gen because the next gen will take a while to get profitability.
There is no certainty of Sony dominating the next generation of consoles. Thats like saying the Wii U will be a guaranteed big hit because the Wii had huge console sales. For Sony, if they hope to 'dominate' again they need to make inroads back into the U.S. market. PS2 dominated in the U.S. and now the Xbox 360 does. The game industry is very different from when the PS1 and PS2 were available. I don't think anyone will have any idea until the Wii U and next gen Xbox and Playstati...
I think PS4 and next Xbox will match the Wii U base price of $299 in the U.S. And, there will be some PS3 and Xbox 360 price cuts to 'welcome' the Wii U later in the year. Like last year though, the Xbox 360 price cuts may only be temporary bundle discounts. I think that the Wii U will be moderately successful but nothing like the Wii (which was a one off freak). And whilst the Wii U seems to be a nice piece of hardware I think the next gen PS and Xbox will be superior in most ways.
The problem with Sony's choice of hardware was that it was so unique (compared to PC/Xbox) developers just weren't prepared to put the effort in (and cop the extra expense). Thats why multi-plats have been mostly better on Xbox 360. Like the Xbox 360, the lack of RAM is the killer and why we are close to the limit on performance. A PS3 with 1GB of shared RAM would have been a killer combination though. I think that Sony lost their way after the PS1 hardwise. The PS2 with its hard to p...
I think that Nintendo and Microsoft have large cash reserves and will be keen to aggressively price their new consoles. I reckon $299 U.S. for the Wii U and not much more for the next Xbox. Sony will need to follow so probably little to no profit on the hardware for PS4, at least initially.
I don't think any gamer would want Sony to disappear from the gaming landscape, they have done so much in moving the gaming industry forward. I do worry about companies like Sony, who mainly make money from hardware (eg TV's), competing with the likes of Apple and Amazon who tend to (particularly Amazon) make huge amounts of money from services tied to their limited number of platforms (Ipad, Kindles etc). The companies like Apple, Amazon, Google and Microsoft also have big cash reser...
Wow, what an article and it does a lengthy but very good job of explaining Sony's woes. I agree that Sony does seem to have an identity crisis in that they sell a lot of different products but there doesn't seem to be real focus or direction to the company. Unlike say Apple or Amazon who have a limited number of products but they are generally high quality and are razor focused in leveraging them to sell a lot of software/consumables through their formadable ecosystem of books, music,...
madpuppy
The inclusion of blu-ray caused delays to the PS3 launch in Europe and increased the price of the console due to the initial high cost of the blu-ray drive. Pluses and minuses for its inclusion.
I think a more accurate and virtually lag free Kinect 2 will build on what Kinect has done so far. And there has been some very good games for the casuals so far (Kinect Fruit Ninja, Kinect Sports, Dance Central etc). Not sure where Sony are going with the Move though.
I think that it is up to Nintendo to prove that they are serious about core gamers. Third party games on the Wii generally sold poorly compared with the first party Nintendo games. It is not a surprise that developers may be a bit gun shy about releasing 'core' games on the Wii U.
Codemasters will develop on the consoles that they think offers the best chance of a good sales result. If the Wii U is a success, and core gamers flock to it, I can guarantee that there w...
A game like Dance Central doesn't have to be lag free or super accurate. Most people probably wouldn't know if their dancing was being accurately assessed. However, a game like Steel Battalion needs accurate, reasonably lag free controls and the absence of such is a killer. I think there will always be a limitation with this hands free technology. Some games, like Dance Central, are very suitable and games like first person shooters mostly impractical. Although the use of hand gesture...
StrongMan
You realise that this is a new IP using the Forza name don't you? This is more of an open world game like Test Drive Unlimited. Your suggested additions would be nice for Forza 5 which should be a launch title with the next Xbox likely due late 2013. No reason to not put all this in this game with the likely use of blu-ray.
One thing is pretty certain, if sales don't improve, and the install base doesn't become substantive, then third party game developers will stay away. It is a vicious cycle, less console sales = less third party games developed = less console sales.
I think they need to cut prices, and especially, pack in a memory card (at least 8GB) with every console (worldwide). Here in Australia, the Vita and 8GB memory card is almost $400, about $100 more than a PS3.
Looking at the (Australian) JB Hi Fi website, no the Vita does not appear to come with a memory card. Just like the 4 GB Xbox 360 and Wii U, extra memory will need to be factored into the purchase price. Proprietary memory cards are ridiculous just like the proprietary over priced hard drives for the Xbox 360. At the expensive pricing of the Vita in Australia, along with the over priced memory cards (8GB $43, 16GB $65), the Vita will likely not do well here.
A Kinect 2 with a higher resolution and near zero lag might produce a good game.
Funny how exclusives seem to be the 'be all and end all' for some people. Most games on the HD consoles have been third party games and they have mostly been better on the Xbox 360 in terms of graphical fidelity/frame rate.
Also, why on earth should Microsoft be afraid of Sony? Microsoft has no competitor to the Vita, and, like the last few years, the Xbox 360 will dominate console sales in the last three months of the year (especially in the U.S) and widen further ...
You make good points and they are now mostly on the right track. I do think that they don't really know what to do with the Move controller, and, I question their big push with first party games when Microsoft is selling about as many Xbox 360's with less first party games. The hard core gamers love the diverse range of first party games on PS3 but these games mostly sell less than the Xbox 360 exclusives, and, the hard core community seems to be diminishing as the number of casual ga...
The Sony 'Doom' articles are returning because of Sony's financial situation. And, I think, because there is an element of disappointment that Sony has become just one of the competitors in gaming rather than the behemoth that dominated the market in the days of the PS1 and PS2. And when I say dominated I mean that they smashed the competition making mega profits and contributing to Sega pulling out of the hardware business.
insomnium2
The PS3 lost a lot of the marketshare gained by PS1 and PS2, how is that a success? At least Sony has learned from its many mistakes with PS3 and bought out an awesome console in the PS4 which I think will easily dominate this gen.