General

Joined: A long time ago...

Socal_Rider, to really be sold on the controller (Wiimote?) you have to use it for a few hours. Seriously, there is a novelty at first, but just like the analog stick on the N64, it becomes natural. In same cases, it adds a fun new dimension. Before you right it off, you really have to try it. And not just for a few seconds at a GameStop kiosk. "If the wii fails, you might as well kiss your precious Nintendo goodbye. Nintendo would be delegated to only making games like Sega and probably hand held gaming devices like the gameboy. " 1. Nintendo raised it's profit forcast for 2006/07 by 20% 2. The GameCube doubled Nintendos market share (from 19% to 37%) 3. Nintendo still holds the largest share of the market, mostly because of it's hand-helds. Nintendo isn't going anywhere. Stop hating.

Joined: A long time ago...

most video games these days are just rehashes of old shit... just more polished shit... gta style games have gotten stale... those tony hawk games have gotten stale.... fighting games have gotten stale... first person shooters have gotten stale... people are sick of the same crap with better graphics... Nintendo is the only one looking to resolve that. The remote draws you into the game more. it really does add to the game play. You can do a lot more with it... the 360 will win this time around I know that... its inevitable that the ps3 end up like the sega dreamcast.... too few users to support the developers = no more games...
sony may have a decent list of games that are coming out... but the console sales will have to be there for those developers to continue anything more than that....
and as for blue ray winning the format war... I don't honestly see blue ray or hddvd going anywhere... I think these are more experimental formats like minidisc than anything... I don't think the vast majority of people will dive into either of them enough to make them a standard in house holds...
Keep in mind there were some systems that had some bad ass games out for them... but never took off due to their price...sega cd, neo geo, 32x.... games don't always help if people just aren't willing to buy the system...

Joined: A long time ago...

Again, I think it's way too early to claim that the "too few users" problem will sway developers from making games on the PS3. Wii selling more than PS3s...sure, simply cause there was more in stock and the price was in the toy range. But once people who recently bought HDTVs feel like they need more to push what their TV can do, you can bet that they'll be looking towards the newer technologies.

From a developer's standpoint, Sony is excellent in supporting their efforts. I don't think that's changed with the release of the PS3. Again, I think a lot of people are caught up with hating on Sony. Honestly, I think people have convinced themselves that they will never own a PS3 and will never pay so much for a system so why not hate on Sony for not making it so easily accessible? People will buy into technology when it shows/proves it can deliver the goods. When people who bought their 1080p HDTVs realize it'll be a long while before we get 1080p broadcasts, they'll look towards the Blu Rays and HD DVD. At which point, the PS3 will look very attractive to them because they get a next gen media format as well as a next gen gaming console all in one. Again, this is what the Sony execs hope will happen and what they are counting on in the long run.

I'll admit, at one point in time, I was happy with my upscaling DVD player. But you'd be kidding yourself if you can honestly say you can't see a difference between an upscaled DVD vs. Blu Ray or HD DVD. Mind you, since the formats are still new, you still find direct translations which do not take advantage of the HD features. But watching Superman Returns on the PS3 on Blu Ray left me smiling cause the picture quality was so much better. Now, any DVD I watch seems flat and grainy.

As for the other systems you mentioned, you can't take those without looking at the industry back then. Sega CD...failed because developers didn't jump onto the medium as quickly and the kind of games being developed didn't take advantage of the storage capacity. They were still stuck trying to make games on cartridges which had its advantage over the CD medium...no load times. The Neo-Geo...well, too expensive for both console and games and was a niche market because not everyone could afford a direct port of expensive arcade machines. Sure, the Neo-Geo was priced at around $500-600 dollars, but if you were to compare that to the cost of the PS3 now along with inflation, you'll see that the Neo-Geo was priced waaaay too much for what you were getting. And games selling for nothing less than $100?!?! That's just crazy. The 32X? Well, good concept to try and keep up with the evolving 3D games, but wasn't well supported because soon after that, Sega put its focus on the Saturn. That burned developers as well as consumers. It's too bad because I bought both the Sega CD and 32X addon...I still have them too! :D

For the price, I really do think you're getting a lot for the PS3. Am I buying into potential...sure, maybe. But I do know I'm using all the features the PS3 has to offer me right now: Decent FPS game with Resistance, using the Wi-Fi feature too play online with, watching Blu Ray movies, downloading demos to test out future games, using my HDTV to its full potential...how can I be unhappy with my purchase? I'm definitely looking forward to the number of games coming out for it in the future. Sure, I have to wait a few more months before those games comes out, but that's what the Blu Ray player is for.

We have a Wii at work. I've seen/played some of the games that utilize the Wiimote. For me, I don't think it's the control scheme that draws me into a game. For me, it's characters, story, stunning visuals, and a good soundtrack that sucks me in.

Another gripe I have for the Wii is the annoying interface. It's too childish for me. It's so big and dumb, imho. But I must admit, I love the overall look of the Wii console. Small and clean looking. Very influenced thru Apple's designs. But just like people are playing the "wait and see" game for the PS3, I'm doing the same for the Wii. Until there is a compelling game I must play on it, I will hold off. You say Twilight Princess...I say sure...Gamecube version. I can experience the same storyline, characters, gameplay, sound and visuals without having to mimmic in-game gestures...again, for me, gestures doesn't add to gameplay.

I'll argue that games will help sell a system. But right now, Sony has to get over their first generation titles which only demos the potential. Once game developers have more time to innovate and optimize their development cycle, we'll see more compelling games that push the next-gen hype.

Joined: A long time ago...

"And yes, the Gamecube did in fact boost sales that much. Link: http://gamecube.gamezone.com/news/11_04_03_08_12AM.htm Nov., 2003 "ales figures gathered from the nation's largest retailers show that Nintendo GameCube effectively doubled its market share to 37 percent from 19 percent. The system now runs a strong second in the U.S. market as it challenges for leadership during the important holiday sales season." How do those words taste, asshole?"

LOL not only are you a tool, you are a complete fucking retard that likes to twist facts for an agenda.  You are quoting an article from '03 that has little relevance to the long term sales figures of the GC.  THAT ARTICLE PROVES ONCE AGAIN THAT STATISTICS TAKEN OVER A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME ARE WORTHLESS!  What eventually happened?  Nintendo came in 3rd in the 6th generation console war, selling 21 million GCs, wwhile XBox sold 24 million and PS2 105 million (actually 111 million as of Sept. '06).  Seriously, I don't think you could have picked a more biased source to quote from. 

Joined: A long time ago...

well the thing is... Nintendo may be selling more... and they may indeed have more available units... but the thing is... Theres about 1 ps3 for every 3 nintendos... but the difference is, the nintendos can't stay on the shelf... The demand for the ps3 dropped dramatically. You still can't find a wii very easily.. but I can think of 4 stores off the top of my head that have the ps3 in stock and on the shelf right this very minute. The demand for the system is whats going to sell it... and right now, the only people buying it are the fanboys... not the casual gamer which makes up 80% of the market.. The other systems will always have the advantage because they are cheaper... Even if sony pulled a $100 price drop out of its ass, the xbox and wii would get price drops to counter that.
Keep in mind, when the dreamcast came out it had a buttload of titles on its "coming soon" list.... but as soon as the developers saw that the audience they were making games for was so small, that list of coming soon games stayed the only games out for that system, with very few releases past that... The demand for the ps3 couldn't be any worse. The holiday season proved that the only people buying it were people wanting to sell it on ebay.. Most of america wont be to keen to make everything in their living room hd for 5 or 6 more years... and by then people will already be talking of the next systems.. No one this day in age is going to spend $800 for a system Just so they can play tiger woods in hd.. Saying shit like "people will buy it to use their hd"  proves the point that your convinced that graphics sell the games/systems... and they really don't... if people want hd theres cheaper ways to do it than buy a ps3... xbox 360 can connect in hd, and you wont notice the image quality difference at all... if you want hd movies and tv shows and don't want to buy an hd player, you can download hd stuff from xbox lives market place.... no need to buy the hd dvd player.

Sports games are not the number 1 sellers.... I have worked in video game sales before... and sports games are never the big sellers... The big franchise games are the big sellers.... Games like mortal kombat, soul calibur, gears of war, gta, zelda, mario, and things of that nature... the sports games by ea, sell... but they are never sold the fuck out like a lot of other franchise games are..

Im not hating on sony just because its expensive... I just really agree with what a lot of financial analysts have said about it... If only I still had that article from the wall street journal... they had a list of reasons why the ps3 would fail in sales and as a whole... most of which you really can't disagree with...
Nintendo isn't set on doing their own thing, theres still 3rd party developers and games coming out for it... Im sure the continuing demand will pull developers in. None of nintendo's systems had large 3rd party support at launch... but  after the first year it picked up. Sony on the other hand I would say is set on doing their own thing... Selling a video game system for unheard of dollar amounts... pushing a media format that will go the way of the minidisc... Piling all kinds of features into the ps3 that will never get used merely to inflate the price for consumers... The sales and demand for the system at the moment are enough.... They may not have had that many systems at launch or available over the holiday... but they do now... and the ones that are on the shelves now aren't selling... When I bought my girlfriend that new zelda game for her wii yesterday I talked to the guy at best buy. He said the ps3 I was looking at had been on the floor since before new years... and the wii's were still selling out quicker than they could get them in stock... and thats the way it is all over the country... blaming the supply on sony's shitty sales isn't a factor... Im sure the supply they handed out wasn't a coincidence... there were a few analysts who said sony was expecting poor launch sales so they intentionally only released a smaller than originally intended quantity to artificially inflate demand... which worked.. and as you saw on ebay... the only people that bought it were the ones who wanted to sell it on ebay...
once the blueray format fails, the ps3 and its ultra expensive blue ray player are just going to be an overpriced waste of money.... what are you going to do with it when no one sells blue ray anymore? market analysts have predicted the dvd format war would be sorted out in 2 years... which falls into the life span of that system... so in 2 years when no one sells blue ray, whats the point of having a $500 feature in there that you wont use?
The ps3 as a whole is a big gamble... Sony is completly banking on fanboys to save them... The blue ray players sales are garbage on their own... so in the next year the ps3 fanboys are estimated to account for 1/2 of blue ray owners.. Sony had no desire to appease the mainstream audience.... sony went and did their own thing this time.. Nintendo wanted to appease everyone...
Sony has been doing a really shitty job of handling customer relations in the past few years and I think that will alienate their sales. The whole rootkit on your music cd's scare had people avoiding sony stuff at the stores.. and im sure it will hurt the sales of the blueray crap.. Supposedly there were even some digital cameras that had the rootkit on them... and theres a whole mess of people that wont buy anything sony anymore because of fear of rootkits or other bullshit included on them... There were even play station 2 games that had that rootkit on them.. I don't think it was too wise of that guy from sony who told the press they were going to be intentionally selling faulty systems at launch because they didn't have time to test all of them. sure sony replaced them... but who the fuck wants to buy something from the store broken out of the box and have to wait a month for them to get it right and mail you a new one? The issues with the batteries exploding... the company is really a mess... and I don't see any organizational improvements with the ps3..

The guys on wallstreet get paid to predict the outcomes of shit like this... so I'll believe what they say... dreamcast all over again... pout, cry, fanboy rant all you want.... sony fucked up... The fact that you can go to the store right now and buy one despite their low quantity should be proof enough that no ones going to buy it.... Theres only sooo many people dedicated to buying sony stuff... Theres not enough suckers born every minute to keep the system going.