Game on: PS3, Wii finally hitting stores

TalkBack 12 of 24:

Next »

« Previous

• Thread View
• Flat View

Year 2 - No big advantage for Sony

While I know there are plenty of folks more entrenched with the gaming console battle than I, and who will come out on top, I don't Sony is going to catch up or surpass Microsoft as fast as many are predicting for the following reasons:

1. True, Sony's PS3 is capable of supporting higher end graphics and raw power than Xbox 360, BUT... Gaming developers ar enot positioned to take advantage of that raw power and exploit it's capabilities until they understand it better and how to really design games focused on the PS3. In the short term, the games will likely have similar or marginal increase in graphics compared to XBOX 360 counterpart.

2. Not including PS3 unique games (Yes, yes, it's there "console unique" games that often result in the largest pushes for 1 platform over another), many games will be playable on XBOX 360 & PS3, so I think the graphics will be very similar to eachother. Maybe the PS3 will simply "Load" during game play a bit quicker.

3. Despite the jugernuat of a marketing machine with it's huge brand recognition worldwide, MS is far from a slouch, and this is the closest they've come so far to their dream of a device (other than a pc) in the family rooms of America. Unlike trying to play catch up to the iPod w / Zune, I think they are going to do everything they possibly can to hold onto this lead and while they may not maintain the lead in year 3, 4, etc... Updates to the XBOX 360 (like the recent Fall 06' update and ability to stream movies / tv shows) via XBOX w/out a pc are examples that this battle will be as much about broad capabilities beyond the gaming arena, as it will be about the games themselves. Unlike previous consoles which only were concerned with who had the best games / graphics, we are now appealing to users based on games & graphics, but also: Who has the best online gaming community and capabilities in that space? Which makes it easier (and more convenient) to watch tv shows or movies on or share games with others? And of course let's not forget which has the greater "cool or wow factor?" which has been the major cause of iPod's success, and been a contributing factor to Nintendo's DS success over Sony's PSP.

4. Lastly.... let's not count out Vista. You have to assume that at least a good number of people out there who are asking themselves "What role will Vista play in all of this, and what new things will I be able to do with my XBOX thanks to Vista?" We all know that Vista will somehow better enable the XBOX to play as the focal point in the "entertainment room" conveiently from a PC nearby. I currently think the process to connect XBOX to PC's in a home wireless LAN is to complicated, and Vista will help simplify this, meaning more capabilities (and easier to setup and access) for the XBOX. This is one big thing MS has which Sony does not.

5. Ok, so I lied, one more quick reminder, just remember that the Sony is the most expensive gaming console out to date, and a large marging increase over the XBOX.

So... in the end, do I think MS will become the new leader? No. I think down the road, at some point Sony may grab the lead (year 3 or 4). For year 2 (That is, year 2 Xbox, year 1 Sony), I think MS will probably do reasonably well with it's goal of 10 million by Xmas, and Sony will do a decent job of catching up to the headstart. Next year, I think both console will have healthy sales, and PS3 to continue to catchup, although I'm not certain it will beat XBOX yet. The following year or 2(I guess we're talking 2008-2009), The table will beging to turn. This will occur in part because gamers will have games deisgned to truly take advantage of and ideally suited for the Cell processor, and the Xbox's hardware might start feeling the pinch of time with technology begining to feel outdated compared to whatever INTEL & AMD have pushed out at that time. The CELL will take a bit longer before it's hardware suffers the same fate.

So..... There's my rundown on all of this.

Adam

Posted by: ageffner   Posted on: 11/13/06 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

Alert moderator to an offensive message

Subscribe to this discussion via Email or RSS

SponsoredWhite Papers, Webcasts, and Downloads

• INNOV8 2.0: A Business Process Management Simulator IBM Innovate your business' process model, play against the market, compete ... Download Now
• The True Costs of Virtual Server Solutions VMware In an economic environment that is repeatedly heralding the message "do ... Download Now
• Three Steps You Need to Know to Stop Data Loss Varonis Sensitive data exposed to misuse or loss... it is the stuff of nightmares ... Download Now