With the first day of Spring a little over a week away and Sony still insistent on getting the PS3 out in that impending three month window, the jokes and conspiracy theories are inevitably starting to hit fever pitch. I’ve just been reading this feature over on 1UP and it really made me think.
I chuckled at their Dreamcast 2.0 feature back in November and although those parallels are quite amusing, I have to say that the ones between the PS3 and the N64 are even more compelling and Sony will be in trouble if they come out a year after the 360 with little extra in the way of power and a price tag $100 bigger, brand name be damned. Microsoft’s launch might have been a minor debacle but the signs are looking like unless Sony have pulled the wool over all our eyes they could actually be taken to the wire with this one.
I’m tempted to back Microsoft if only because I want to see what would happen if a system that they can’t give away in Japan becomes the top dog. That could be interesting…
Having Microsoft give a run for Sony’s money is a v. *good* thing, particularly in Japan; its a shame that perhaps the Japanese don’t see that. Do consumers, developers and publishers really want to be in a position were Sony pretty much arrogantly dictates prices, etc. without any other serious contender challenging them? If Microsoft wasn’t around, what would Sony’s next gen online service look like? Almost certainly Sony have been taking notes. You could argue that theres always Nintendo around to keep Sony in check – but that seems unlikely given the demographic and niche they’ve carved out for themselves using their franchises. This generation I’m hoping Microsoft manages to catch Sony with their pants down and level the playing field a little (might well be a possibility given how close to the chest Sony has been playing the whole PS3 price/release thing).
Seriously, who’s not looking forward to Metal Gear Solid 4.
In our age of HDTV gaming everyone seems to have so much disposable income they’ll buy everything anyway. It’s not like when you were eight and had to choose between a snes and a megadrive.
You’ve made me go all nostalgic for those days – who didn’t love arguing on the school playground about whether or not the Megadrive was better than the SNES? Memories…
As for MGS4, it depends whether it’s like the first MGS or not. I didn’t think much of MGS2 and 3 at all.
I see you won’t be drawn into such an argument – damn you sir ;o)
As squidman says, funds permitting theres no reason to allow a petty thing like hardware to get in the way of a good game.