It seems the console maker who’s trailing in sales typically says how great competition is and how it’s great for the consumer. Sony’s not leading the console race, as of now, and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president David Reeves stated in a recent interview:
The winner, he said, is the consumer. “That’s why we are not going to slag off Microsoft or Nintendo at all,” he said, “because again it’s rather like the trainer market: one year it’s Reebok, next year it’s Nike, and then suddenly it’s Adidas; it’s cyclical, but in the end everyone wins in five to ten years.”
Sony continues to speak towards their “10 year plan” and how they’re increasing momentum in the market. They’re not winning in sales but with a ten years to go, this is just the beginning. Had this statement come from Microsoft it would be a chance to worry, but Sony has proof to backup their statements.
The PlayStation 2 is going strong as a nine year-old and doesn’t seem to be letting up in game releases. Sony’s press conferences always cover the PlayStation 2 in their talks with the PSP and PlayStation 3 for three big reasons: it’s worth bragging about, it distracts from lower PS3 sales and it separates them from the competition.
Where is the GameCube or classic Xbox in Nintendo and Microsoft’s press conferences and number crunch reports? The fact is, the companies have given up on both products retiring them as “last generation” (translation: poor sales). What better reason to buy a PlayStation 3 than knowing the company is in the game for the long haul?
It might be bit cheaper to buy an Xbox 360 but who’s to say Microsoft isn’t going to announce their next generation console tomorrow and kill off the Xbox 360? Obviously, Microsoft will deny those claims but there will always be doubt without a proven track record.
On the other hand, Microsoft hasn’t seen the success in the classic Xbox and Nintendo hasn’t seen nearly the fervor over the GameCube as compared to their current generation consoles. So, that begs the question, why would they halt all that for new console announcements?
Until they’ve had more time in the market, we cannot be 100% certain what Nintendo and Microsoft are going to do when it comes to next-generation announcements while Sony’s been very clear in each press conference. As Kaz Hirai said to Eurogamer earlier:
“We certainly don’t do the consumer the disservice of basically saying that the consoles have gone by the wayside because we have a new one. Right now, a prime example? PS2 is nine years into it. Where’s the Xbox? Where’s the GameCube?”
If one console maker is looking for a way to stand out and explain their slow sales figures, Sony’s got the PS2 and its long history in their back pocket.
Now, if we could only get those game designers to continue to take it seriously and not put all their eggs into the PS3 basket.
The Japanese government has not allowed PlayStation Network to be activated for Japanese gamers yet due to security concerns, and now an expert is advising Australia to follow suit.
You missed a MAJOR part of Archon. The squares are white or black, and some cycle from light to dark. If you’re playing light, your unit becomes more powerful on light squares, and if you’re playing dark, the reverse is true. The point of the game was to capture all the power squares, most of which were cycling between light and dark.
Archon was super-addictive, especially against friends. It was there with MULE as a staple for most machines.
PS. The sorceress isn’t evil, she’s the dark, the night.
Lolz i like Chess, me and my friend daniel had games that went for like 3 lunch breaks back @ skw =p
It’s been a few weeks since I have replied to the QoTW due to moving house and then a change of ISP (finally I’m paying less than £40 a month for 8Mb/s broadband!).
Over the last two or three days I have downloaded and listened to 5 weeks worth of your podcasts and enjoyed all of them immensely, as per usual.
On to the question of the week; any, and all, of the Halo games.I have played the original three games but not ODST and the /abomination/ that is Halo Wars (Real Time Strategy should never, I repeat; NEVER be ported to consoles). I have never felt the need to replay any of the Halo games because, apart from the feeling of ‘meh’ that they make you feel after playing, they did something I hate… They released the first game on the PC with a decent port, but then the Halo 2 port to the PC was, and I’m being as kind as I can here, totally diabolical. First of all, you needed Vista… Need I say more?
Halo 3 was pretty good… But entirely predictable and again left me with a feeling of ‘meh’. I am the only true PC Gamer in a fairly large group of Xbox 360 owners… And they don’t understand my pain! I tried to show them how FPS’s /should/ be played in terms of Multiplayer (i.e. in a 32 player server with some decent admins) but they still do not see the light!
The only other games that I have played and then decided never to play again are usually games that I just hate, like the new Wolfenstein game (awful awful game) and… Well Mario Galaxy was terrible as well. Other than that I cannot think of anything else!
Cheers, and peace 🙂
In regaurds to the question of the week.
i would not want AC2 cuz i preordered the special edition of the game in September. i would want an alienware gaming laptop =]