Are We Ready?
By Bombs_Away 7 Comments
Every time I'm on the internet or reading magazines, the main stories are always about what's next. People want to know when the PS3.5/4 or Xbox 540/720 is coming out, how long for a PSP2 or when a 1TB console will be out. The question is though, are we ready for any of these? I personally think we are already way ahead of ourselves. This week we'll look at the facts about the home consoles.
Playstation 3
The Playstation 3 is a behemoth. Blu-ray capabilities, super fast processor, huge price tag - all these make the PS3 a luxury item. It was over £400 on release, games regularly cost £50 and even when you buy them used they cost £30 and blu-ray movies are easily £20 or more. Yet despite the sheer power of the machine, developers don't know how to use it. Lost Planet is the perfect example, released on both the 360 and PS3, the PS3 version was incredibly buggy. It's so hard to work with that Valve have declared that they haven't even been interested in working with it. There has been nothing that I have seen of it that makes me want to buy one (maybe with the exception of MGS4). The games library, the key to the PS2's success is very, very weak, graphics aren't spectacular considering it's capabilities and even with the recent price cut, it's damn expensive. The only positive I can think of is that it's very quiet, especially compared to the 360.
So considering all this, why are we even thinking of a next gen Playstation? We are not ready in the slightest, the PS3 is still very much in it's infancy. I have so much hope for the PS3 and I know that it will come good eventually. I, for one, hope Sony ignore the calls for a new system and stick to their 10 year plan. It didn't do the PS2 any harm...
Xbox 360
The 360 is a strange case. There are many positives: a great game library, amazing online communities and also the best controller of this generation (I hate the L2/R2 buttons on the Sixaxis and the Wii remote is limited). But then theres the major sticking points - 35% failure rate and the noise is just so off putting during gameplay. That's just unacceptable. The failure rate does seem to have been fixed though, and for the time being, in my opinion, it's the number one current gen console, especially as it's £199 for the 120GB Elite.
Nintendo Wii
And then we come to the Wii. Everybody who's anybody knows that the current gen King is the Wii. This is the console that has brought videogames to the mainstream, from children to grandparents. Yet this isn't even a fully next-gen console! It's best game is a PS2 port (Resident Evil 4) and the top seller's week in, week out are Wii Fit and Wii Sports resort, these aren't even proper games! If there's one console that's in major need of a complete overhaul it's the Wii. Initially part of the problem was the lack of support from 3rd party publishers, but that's been addressed now and it's become obvious that the Wii remote is limited, especially with Natal and PS3 motion control just around the corner. There hasn't been a significant game release for the Wii in a long time, yet whenever the holiday season comes around these consoles are like gold dust.
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