Live in the Real World
Firstly, I own all three consoles (and used to own a PSP before I sold it as there ARE NO DECENT GAMES) and I am unbiased on this subject. Let's face facts, the Wii is cheaper than its competitors, easier and cheaper to produce games for and has outsold all of them many times over. Nintendo is NOT competing in the same space as Sony and MS, it is dominating that space to a point where companies producing games exclusively for MS and Sony are massively going to lose out and struggle to survive in the long term on a purely numbers basis. Anybody who argues this point is speculating, simple as; they are not living in the real world. The Wii has a buzz about it which has been picked up by the mainstream.
Nintendo, an already extremely cash-rich company, is making profit on every unit and game which they sell, unlike the massive losses of its competitors in console production costs and *cough* reliability issues (I've had 3 of the offending console). The graphics aren't as good, but they are serviceable and I've never had a reason to complain when playing the games, as they are more involving and to me this is the whole point.
The 3rd party games on Wii sell badly because with only a couple of exceptions, they are dull and lifeless ports. resident Evil 4 sells well. Not all consumers are stupid. Only the 1st party Nintendo games get the backing of adverts, sponsorship tie-ins etc and this helps them outsell the others. As will be shown by the upcoming 1st party titles, the games do not have to be partymegaminimix type games to succeed, and Nintendo's commitment to real (not necessarily hardcore) gamers stands firm.
I played Halo 3 last night, and got bored of it after an hour. Graphics: underwhelming, Gears.O.W. is far better in both geometry and artwork. Music:great. Gameplay, unwieldy and stuck in the past although as good as the last generation's Halo 2, very uninvolving. Plot: derivative and unoriginal, see Aliens, Starship Troopers, Battlestar Galactica, Star Trek with many lines of script being pilfered and whole plot lines/set-pieces 'paid homage to'. I don't play multiplayer over the net, I don't know anyone else that does either. Whenever i played online i've not really enjoyed the experience. Net result. plenty of hype, average game. I've had more fun playing Katamari...
The PS3 is built like a tank, is all well and good as a BD player, and for the odd game until you get one and realise that there are actually 1 or two games worth getting and not alot on the horizon which I might want. This is because the games cost so darn much to make! Worse is that Xbox games often have better/more features/graphics in practice (not in potential) than the PS3. Is it really useable as a media hub for the average person? Nope. Far too complicated to configure. Is it really worth spending all that money on for anybody right now?? Really? No it is not (sole exception is to use as a value- added BD player). If mine wasn't a freebie then i certainly wouldn't have bought one. Anybody out there who really does want one, needs to stop and ask why exactly you're buying one right now. Don't assume that the previous generation's performance will reoccur, Nintendo is back in control this generation and both of its competitors are painfully aware of this salient fact. Its not a fad or a trend, the Wii is a platform which has now reached critical mass in the public consciousness like the Gameboy before it, and those who are unhappy about this, for whatever reason, sorry but I told you so.
Reality bites...
Biting the hand that feeds IT
