“Dude, have you checked out my new system?”

“No, what’d you get?”

“I picked up a PS3, man!”

“PS3!?  360’s the way to go!” 

And thus begins round 2 of the Console Wars.  Last round, Playstation 2 took an early and significant lead, ending up far ahead of newcomer Xbox and Nintendo’s GameCube.  This round, however, has upped the ante sufficiently to mix things up.  Xbox 360, Wii, and Playstation 3 are all locked in combat for the next four to five years.  It’s an exciting prospect.  Video gamers always win when companies are striving to win our affections.  But right here, right now, for your reading pleasure, are my comparisons of the “Big Three,” my thoughts on their strengths and weaknesses, and my predictions for the victor of the console wars.

Xbox 360 

This console has had a year to gain an edge on the market, and Microsoft knows it.  The system has a powerful processor and a large fanbase.  Halo 3, which isn’t even out yet, is a big game for this system.  I’m not even a hardcore Halo fan, and I’m getting excited about it.  This system has it all… an established broadband connection with Xbox Live, stunning graphics, and a user base that has grown continually.  Well, perhaps I overspoke.  Microsoft does not have everything.  First party development is seriously weak on the Xbox.  They have exclusive games, but their inhouse talent has proven itself weak in the past.  Design flaws in initial versions of the console have resulted in a few isolated instances of overheating and loss of memory, but that’s not unheard of in new products.  Expect big things from this console.  It’s price tag sits nicely in-between the Wii and PS3, making it desirable for those who want raw graphics and aren’t up for the price of a PS3.  Most gaming households will probably own one of these, or have seriously considered purchasing a console.

To me, this console, as impressive as it is, is basically a way to sell Halo 3.  I’m not particularly interested in the Xbox’s other fare (though Gears of War looks seriously nice… if it’s up your alley, get it.  If you own a 360.), but numbers prove that millions out there do.  Personally, I feel better about Xbox this time around, after hearing comments at E3 from Microsoft about how people would buy a 360 and a Wii.  Their competition strategy is focused solely on PS3, and so far, it’s been a successful assault by Microsoft.  PS3 has major ground to catch up on if they hope to compete with Xbox 360.

Playstation 3 

The sequel to the immensely popular PS2 has a lot of expectations thrust upon it.  Sadly, it delivers in only some aspects.  The graphics on this console are without question the best… they have the best hardware and graphics engines of all consoles on the market.  What they have in graphics is sorely lacking in other, critical areas.  Mistakes that were previously exclusive to Nintendo management have been made by their top-level staff, showing what I can only describe as sheer arrogance and disdain for the common gamer.  Their brass has claimed that the console will sell whether or not it has actual games, but simply because it has the Sony name.  Gee, thanks for letting us know how bright you think we are, Sony.  They haven’t improved matters much with their prices.  Low-end PS3s outstrip the top-level 360s in price, and top-level PS3s are in a price range previously occupied by Dell Computers.  This is a serious mistake.  Relying on the hardcore gamer and on the hardcore gamer alone is folly.  Every move this console makes is scrutinized; since release, it has lost many exclusive titles, which are critical to a console’s lifespan.  Many developers are looking to Microsoft and Nintendo and pulling out on PS3 projects because significant numbers are not buying the system.  PS2 games continue to come out!  The reason?  PS3 is currently failing.

This console insults me as a video gamer.  The concept is arrogant (thank you, Sony, I get that you view me as a child), the games are reproduced on other consoles, the price is staggering, and they know it.  Sony is making moves to make the console more accessible, but severe damage has already been done.  Nintendo is entrenched, even though it came out after the PS3; the Wii has sold far more than Sony’s offering.  In this case, PS3 is in trouble, because the market it was going for is currently monopolized by Microsoft.  How ironic.

Wii 

This round’s dark horse candidate is Nintendo’s red-headed stepchild, the Wii.  Ridiculed for its name months before release, it’s making a surprise move on the market.  Advantages?  It has the lowest price of all the consoles, making it the most affordable.  It uses previously unheard of motion sensing technology, making the games more accessible.  It’s targeting a massively wide audience of people.  Therein is the Wii’s most significant advantage—its difference in purpose from the other two consoles.  Who, honestly, would have thought that simply using the “Weather Channel” on the Wii would prove as entertaining as playing a game?  Nintendo’s GUI designers deserve kudos for their achievement with the Wii.  Another major advantage is first-party and exclusive support, which a console like the Wii naturally draws.  Important to note, I think, is that of all three companies, Nintendo is the only one which turns a profit on every console sold.  This may not seem important, but I think it shows a significant difference in the approach to video games, one the other two competitors can ignore, thanks to the wide body of cash they receive from other ventures (look around and see how many things you own that are from either Microsoft or Sony… yeah, I thought so [no offense, Mac users]).  It’s good business sense for Nintendo.  For all the innovative advantages, the console does have the weakest processor of all three.  This lessens appeal to hardcore gamers and has drawn criticism from within the industry.  Furthermore, Wii games have not all fully utilized the Wiimote (my hat is off to IGN.com for coining that phrase).  There is much terrain left to explore with this console.

 For all its advantages, there will be trouble for the Wii when Halo 3 is debuted.  It has a lot of distance to cover, and though the Wii has made up a surprising amount of space between it and the Xbox 360 in consoles sold (about half as many as 360 has), there’s much left to be done for the little console that could.  It’s internet connection is waiting to be further exploited.  More peripherals and channels are a must.  The Virtual Console is a brilliant idea; supplement it by allowing game owners to bring their used games in to a store or location and receive the ROM of that game on their Wii for free!  Ideas like these and more need to be exploited at Nintendo.

Conclusions: 

Well, all three consoles have had their say.  I wasn’t exactly gentle on PS3, but I call it like I see it.  Which console will be the winner this time round?

… 

… 

Microsoft’s Xbox 360.

With all its advantages and the fact that it technically (according to Microsoft brass) isn’t even competing with Nintendo, the 360 will take the top spot in this round of the wars, moving up from #2.  The Wii will be surprisingly close behind it, however, at a narrow #2, proving that its innovation is going to be a part of the gaming industry forevermore.  The disappointment of the next few years will be PS3, the glorified Blu-Ray device.  Too many mistakes have been made for a full recovery.

 That’s all for this editorial… until next time, may your gaming thumbs remain calloused.

 ~Geoff