Welcome every one to the year 2007! Yes I do realize it’s a tad bit late to announce that, but we have much more important matters to discuss. I’m talking about the game industry, and I will try to be as unbias as possible. People, fans and consumers. Lend me your headsets, for this year is going to get ugly. For Sony, we have heard promises and whispers of sweet nothings from them about the PlayStation 3, the supposed “console victor” in the current console wars. And yet what have we, the people, have seen from them so far? Failure. Sony has claimed of selling 1 million units in it’s first month, which is total bullshit due to the lack of evidence to back up that claim and the news of the hardware mess ups. I’ve noted this before on another site, and I will say it here. Sony is advancing the technology used in the PS3 so fast that it will cost the concumer an arm and a leg to buy. Who the hell needs “Blu-Ray”? I’ve seen a few Blu-Ray dvds, and it was nothing special to gawk at. “Wow! Now I can see firm nipple tips of Pamela Lee on my tv! Thank you Blu-Ray!” Ha! That’s just about the only thing I would ever thank them for. Back to the PS3, the controllers do seem a bit, ummm, UNORIGINAL perhaps? The first concept was bad enough, having it look like a boomerang or a banana.

I will however give them props on the sleek design of the console, but it weighs like a gorilla. Look, I’m trying my best to be UNBIAS, but it’s really hard dealing with Sony. And yes, I will do the same for Nintendo and Microsoft, but you will just have to wait. Now the titles for the PS3 are promising, don’t get me wrong though, because I also think they’d look great on the X-BOX 360. Give it time, oh yes, give it time… If we look back to the years 2001 to 2005, we’d all remember the PS2 Imperialism Sony had held for four years. Before that, the PS1 was doing great against the N64, but we’re not going to talk about that, yet. So, what made the tables turn on Sony? Was a change of executives? Lost interest of what gaming really was? That brings us to this conclusion of Sony. What was so great and promising about the PS1 and PS2 that still outweighs the PS3? The games? Most likely. The development costs and software being used? Sounds reasonable. Or was it that America itself was READY for the advancement of that type of technology? As even an average consumer myself, I find it really hard to hand out my debit card to pay for a $600 console to play the games that have just about/the same graphics of a X-BOX 360 game. Sony needs to understand, once again, of how to sell to and understand the American economy. The PS1 and PS2 were best inventions they had ever created, thus far.

Now, onto Microsoft! Oh yes, that big time company that dared itself into the gaming wars, and now is turning out to be the victor in this new generation of systems. You Sony fans can scream all you want, but you know deep in your hearts that you are crying at the horrible results for the PS3. It would seem to be fair to note that Microsoft has had issues with some of their units, but not at the rate Sony has with the PS3. As I said in a forum before, and I quote:

“So the XBOX had its first shitty run, but the gaming titles for it made it survive and other factors that I might not be aware of. Still, they held true to the fans and people by making the XBOX 360. Now the tables of turned for them, Microsoft is recieving more publicity than Sony when it comes to selling games, but still behind Nintendo. No matter, there is absolutley NOTHING wrong with being #2 in the “Console Wars”. It just shows that you’re getting ahead of the competition and have to build up more of a library of variety gaming and consumer service. I also firmly believe that Microsoft can make it big if they concentrate on selling to the best audience they know how to sell to, and that would be to Americans.”

So far, still true. Microsoft knows how to sell to the American audience that Sony once had known. The games thus far are mainly in the genres of FPS, RTS, Sports and Fighting. There are very few titles that deal with RPG, Family, and regular platform. Maybe I’m wrong, but you should get the gist of what I’m trying to say. It’s a great system, but it could be greater if it had a much more variety of games. If the Final Fantasy series went onto the X-BOX 360 only from now on, that would deal a big blow to Sony. I’m sure there are developers out there trying to make a great RPG for the system. Give it time. As for the system itself, it’s really great but has its flaws. Such as the heating issues ensued after a couple of months of its release. Granted, Microsoft had a back up plan for it. Good going MS! Back in the day of the X-BOX, there wasn’t just heating issues. There were crashes, bugs, non-functioning buttons and what-not. It was just terrible for them back then. But Microsoft learned fom their mistakes and improved greatly upon them. But what is hurting them right now is the Japanese market. As I said before in a forum before:

“There is ONE thing that has been bothering me sooo fuckin much, and that is “What makes the Japanese consumer buy a Nintendo system other than a foriegn system?” I’d guess that they don’t trust any foriegn manufacturer other than themselves, but that would be just too damn selfish of them ;)”

Which is what the American developers need to understand as well as Japanese, is that everyone has their one view of what makes a, let’s say an RPG a great RPG above the rest. Is it the graphics? The characters? Environment? It really depends on who you’re selling to. If the Japanse want to sell their games over here, follow the example of Square-Enix, NIS, or Nippon. Yes, I know there are more than that, but I’m just too damn lazy to look them up. I will go deep into the RPG genre in another topic. It really needs to be discussed, but at another time. The X-BOX 360 has the features the American consumer wants at a low cost, but apperantly not low enough for the Japanese? I’m not too sure, but I will find out more once I’m in Japan soon enough. As for the American developers and publishers, they’re doing a great job thus far with titles such as Gears of War, Lost Planet, Oblivion and Dead Rising. There is so much potential behind Dead Rising, it’s not even funny. As well as Oblivion too.

Now for Nintendo! They have the BIGGEST fan base ever for a console/game company than any other. So what if the Wii doesn’t match up to the superior graphics of the 360 or PS3? That wasn’t their goal, and they know how to sell to both American and Japanese consumers because apperantly they sold about 3 million in their first month, IIRC. Nintendo has millions and millions of dollars saved up for any situation that they can outlast any game company in the future console wars. Seriously, they probably laugh at the competition right now. But let’s look at the other side of the fence, shall we? The games right now are a bit bleak, with only having a few titles right now compared to the 360. Granted, having Zelda and a upcoming Metroid game will keep the system afloat for a long while. The graphics, as everyone knows, is subpar to what the 360 and PS3 can handle. Which does affect the consumer to some degree, but still lures with their “Wii Wand” gimmick. It’s a unique touch to the system and gameplay to the games. Though there have been stories of the wand slipping from the grasp and hitting TVs, cats, little children and cattle. God knows how it hits the cattle.

There is soo much to go on and on about the gaming industry, and the rest will be addressed soon enough. But for right now, I’m sure you guys are getting tired of reading and I really need to finish up Final Fantasy IV Advance. I have beaten the game, gotten through the Lunar Trials for Yang, Cecil, Rosa, Rydia and Edge. God knows that it will be a pain for getting through with Edward

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