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Yeah you're pretty much right there ox, whenever you get someone in asking which console is best for them, atm we pretty much say Xbox for power, Sony for family (mix of games from Buzz to GTA to Sonic) and Cube for kids or retro gamers. But with the next-gen war, that's probably all gonna change. I'd say PS3 will be for the 'hardcore' gamers (i.e. my console has better graphics than yours, nyah!), 360 will be more family/hardcore and Wii will be retro/kids/grown-up kids.
But so far its pretty overwhelming. Customers and 'net reviews constantly point out the cost of the ps3 (vs. a 360 AND a Wii for £25 less...) and the game companies are backing the Wii more at Launch... it was another article in our retail mag today; forget which studio it was but it was a big one and they pretty much said Sony has fucked up.
Statistics: Posted by pevil — Fri Aug 18, 2006 6:49 pm
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I guess I'm just not a console lover. I'm not saying all console players are suckas (look at Mole
) but on the whole it's more the kids' platform, you know? In the pre-release blahblah on the elder scrolls forums it was almost painfully clear who the console gamers were, their lack of punctuation and avid use of 1111's gave it away. 
The way I've always looked at consoles (ever since the SNES) is:
-Nintendo: quality but mainly aiming for kids and women
-Playstation: kids/adolescents, the true console gamers
-Xbox: more mature console gamers, often commuting between pc and console.
Yeah yeah, it's not a very nuanced division but you know
Statistics: Posted by Rinox — Fri Aug 18, 2006 5:37 pm
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However, I'll agree. I hate Sony because Sony is a bunch of ass monkeys who deserve death... but beyond that, they've really screwed the pooch on the ps3. Blue ray is the biggest screwup they've made. They should've shipped with a double layer dvd and left it at that... with maybe an external blue ray upgrade later. They're trying to push it, though, because it's their baby and some moron in management decided that the playstation's popularity will push blue ray into winning the HD war... whcih, I think, it's more likely to push Microsoft into winning the console war.
Sony has made a LOT of really bad decisions lately. I hope this one undoes them. Hell, if pushing blue-ray was that important, they should've shouldered a higher percentage of the cost of the console... winning the hd disk war would be worth more to them in the long run, probably. Especially if they get to license it out to everyone. But I don't care, I hope the whole company flops and burns.
Statistics: Posted by Satis — Fri Aug 18, 2006 1:57 pm
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But handheld wise, Nintendo have always had the market (Gameboy was pretty much the ONLY handheld til PSP came out, and PSP is severely behind in sales; most of the games are just PS2 ports and since most people have a PS2...)
I think this time though, Sony have fucked up big-style.
360.
Been out a year. Got some more games coming out on it (~30 between now and Christmas). Got GTA 4, Res Evil 5 and some other big hitters debuting on it (NOT the ps3 as they would have done on the ps2 - clearly devs are losing faith). Costs £210 or £280, can upgrade the cheaper one to be the same as the expensive one for only ~£100. Nice graphics. Similar spec to ps3 (slightly worse), dedicated LIVE gaming system that has been tried and tested for years.
Wii
Stupid name. Actually has something 'revolutionary' rather than just a graphics upgrade, namely the motion detection. Yeah its been seen before, but not as a major feature, just as the odd gimmick on things. Has 27 launch titles, 7 from Ubisoft (maybe not everyones taste but have to admit they're a big publisher). Doesn't have the same graphics power as the PS3/360. Can download NES, SNES and Megadrive games from the Internet (possible dedicated online service for multiplayer as well?) Rumoured to be £150 and has bluetooth.
PS3
Slightly higher spec than 360. New 'Live-like' dedicated online service to be launched with it. Lost most of its key titles to 360 (will still have them, but will come out later). Barely any launch titles (only 1 from Ubisoft - they clearly thing Wii will be more popular). Comes in 2 brands: Standard 20gb hdd £340 (not available in Europe) or the HD ready, all singing all dancing £425 (only one we get here). For those americans who can buy both versions, buy the expensive one because you CAN'T upgrade. If you later get a hdtv and want your ps3 games in hd, you have to fork out the full £425 for a brand new ps3. Plus it looks like a toaster. And the pads are just old Dual-shocks (thank god they ditched the boomerang) but they took away vibration (which has outraged everyone i've told) and replaced it with motion sensor (oddly enough after E3 when the Wii demonstrated its Wiimote...)
I personally am with Satis; PC rules. I do enjoy playing Moles 360 though, and the Wii does look fun (i love my retro stuff, and I like simple 'kid' games sometimes) so as its pretty cheap, I'll get that. I may get a PS3... but only if they're gonna sell on ebay
No way I want one to actually keepStatistics: Posted by pevil — Fri Aug 18, 2006 11:33 am
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Anyway, didn't know about the bizarro measures Sony is taking in order not to get swamped at launch.
On the other hand, instead of a part of gamers getting their console really early and others having to wait a few weeks extra almost everyone will get their machine around the same time. So it's bad news for games store employees like you or freaks who camp outside shops, but good news for regular suckas. Not that I like it, but i'm not buying a console anyway so no matter. @ the DS/Nintendo games...well, I can farm irl too, and it's really not that exciting a hobby.
As fun as the DS etc games may be, not every game on the other consoles fits the tried and true format you mentioned (shoot-run-snipe-run-shoot) of course...not to mention that shooters suck by definition in consoles. 
It's like the pc market: if you want you can spend your entire time playing the same old shooters and racers over and over again, but sometimes you find a little gem of creative and innovative gameplay that didn't really hit the mainstream much. Like psychonauts turned out to be one of the best gaming experiences I ever had, and i'm sure you'd like it by the way. Erh, this rant isn't leading anywhere. I dunno, ever since the original NES I never really liked a Nintendo console. Snes was messed up, and I'm not even gonna start about the gamecube. If the PS3 is really that fucked up marketingwise it might bring Nintendo back to the absolute top, but afaik (you can correct me on this, I'm not in the bizz
) the sales figures of both the Xbox and PS2 have been eating Nintendo alive lately.Statistics: Posted by Rinox — Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:14 pm
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