LongShot #104: Key Next Gen Comparisons

[GamerDad]

David Long's LongShot #104: Key Next Gen Comparisons article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=2881

[Brett Hollembeak]

"Sony has already said dumb stuff like 1080i..."

That would be 1080p, Dave. You might want to go back in there and edit it before a fanboy calls you on it.

Also, I sure hope you get your Newbox real soon. I'm feeling bad for you, man.

[SiW]

Hmm.

While I don't disagree with what you've written Dave, I don't think it's even worth anybody's time discussing platforms on tech alone. Software, software, software.

We agree that Live is Microsoft's strongpoint, but it's software driving that - Marketplace should be huge. The early adopter buzz has been great - every 360 owner I see talks about buying Geometry Wars 2 or Zuma or trying demos. Gamers who dismiss casual games on the PC are raving about the same games on the 360, partially because it's so easy but I think also because of the price. I'm sure we'll see prices creep up as we did with downloadable content (much of it was free on Live at first, and then the premium content rolled in), but with the points system, I think MS has a winner. This is all aside from the solid friends list and matchmaking that was already in place.

And I really think we'll be saying a similar thing about Nintendo. Sure, the remote wand is a very big deal, but I don't think you can call that alone the big difference for Nintendo. Just as big - judging from forum buzz - is Nintendo Wi-Fi. The previous complaints about Nintendo not "getting" online play has been wiped out by the enjoyment of playing DS games together and the same naysayers are now excited about the Revolution's online capabilities. For multiplayer, but also because of their equivalent to Live Marketplace - the back catalog of NES/SNES/N64 titles that will be available for download.

As far as Sony's concerned, I don't know anyone (other than the sort of people who argue about VHS vs Beta,ax) interested in the PS3 that cares about Blu-Ray. Really. All they're interested in is the games potential - Metal Gear Solid 4, the Shadow of the Colossus sequel. I just hope Sony realises this soon

So yeah, I think people really are more concerned about games this time. Or maybe I'm just too hopeful.

[Dave Long]

"Sony has already said dumb stuff like 1080i..."

That would be 1080p, Dave. You might want to go back in there and edit it before a fanboy calls you on it.

Also, I sure hope you get your Newbox real soon. I'm feeling bad for you, man.

I have one.

--Dave

[Dave Long]

Hmm.

While I don't disagree with what you've written Dave, I don't think it's even worth anybody's time discussing platforms on tech alone. Software, software, software.

We agree that Live is Microsoft's strongpoint, but it's software driving that - Marketplace should be huge. The early adopter buzz has been great - every 360 owner I see talks about buying Geometry Wars 2 or Zuma or trying demos. Gamers who dismiss casual games on the PC are raving about the same games on the 360, partially because it's so easy but I think also because of the price. I'm sure we'll see prices creep up as we did with downloadable content (much of it was free on Live at first, and then the premium content rolled in), but with the points system, I think MS has a winner. This is all aside from the solid friends list and matchmaking that was already in place.

And I really think we'll be saying a similar thing about Nintendo. Sure, the remote wand is a very big deal, but I don't think you can call that alone the big difference for Nintendo. Just as big - judging from forum buzz - is Nintendo Wi-Fi. The previous complaints about Nintendo not "getting" online play has been wiped out by the enjoyment of playing DS games together and the same naysayers are now excited about the Revolution's online capabilities. For multiplayer, but also because of their equivalent to Live Marketplace - the back catalog of NES/SNES/N64 titles that will be available for download.

As far as Sony's concerned, I don't know anyone (other than the sort of people who argue about VHS vs Beta,ax) interested in the PS3 that cares about Blu-Ray. Really. All they're interested in is the games potential - Metal Gear Solid 4, the Shadow of the Colossus sequel. I just hope Sony realises this soon

So yeah, I think people really are more concerned about games this time. Or maybe I'm just too hopeful.

Before I reply...

We know enough about the entries from Sony and Nintendo to put together the key selling points of each of the systems, even if Nintendo claims there's even more to learn about their unique control method for Revolution. To help you understand the major differences in the hardware experiences you'll get next gen, without going into detail on potential software variety, here's a look at the kinds of things you can use to help you determine which one will be best suited to you.

I specifically said I'm ignoring software because the selling points for these consoles when they're brand new really don't have anything to do with software, especially this time since Microsoft is probably getting better marks for having HD and people are raving more about Live than any of the actual games...

Anyway, I think you're too hopeful. Games are being obscured by the other technologies in the Sony and Microsoft boxes. The more people spend time tinkering with all these other things that the machines can do, the less they're playing games. That doesn't bode well for the developers and publishers who want people focused on putting a new game in that machine.

I'm going to expand on this a lot more over the next few weeks though, so I'll leave it at that for now. This was just a look at the hardware differences and what's really the key selling points for each machine that aren't available on the others. In that respect, The Controller is by far the most radical, no matter how it ends up being received.

--Dave

[Brett Hollembeak]

I have one.

--Dave

Good! Now go plaster some Nintendo stickers on that sucker, and think happy thoughts!

[Dave Long]

Holy hell does this thing blow out hot air!

--Dave

[momGamer]

And yes, I've already gone in and activated the parental controls. Since it looks like all three of the new systems are going to be including them, it's something you might want to look at.

Heck YES it does blow hot air. Those clearance recommendations in the manual are not requests; they are necessary and I'd give it all you can manage. Set it up with air-space on all sides if you can swing it. The shelf I had set aside for it wasn't over-happy with the weight but we've got that squared away now. I'm rearranging my office area to get a nethub near it without having to run cable in ugly places, and then we'll be sitting in clover.

The casual games are no joke, either. We had a major fight at my house today over high scores in Hexic in between rounds of Need for Speed. The kids are really hitting this hard. Those Zone regulars who bought the thing on their kids' request for whatever gore-soaked smashum game are going to have a nice surprise in gameplay sitting there. We already have a list of several games we'll be downloading once I set this all up.

It isn't exactly plug-and-pray. Setup is going to be an issue in a lot of places. I ended up trying to walk my younger son through making his profile up over the phone from work. That was not an easy task.