Wii Owners Will Buy PS3 At Xmas

[ShaunM]

I won't be buying a PS3. The only reason I play games is because the Wii is so much fun, and because my whole family can get involved with it. I would never have bought a console otherwise.

That is why the Wii is so successful, and that is why many Wii owners won't be buying a PS3.

[sean.aaron]

Really the idea that Nintendo is in competition with the other console makers doesn't make much sense: they've clearly targeted a different market. Sure core gamers are still important and there are games coming out for that market, but if you look at the line-up it is a niche. The Wii shouldn't be compared to XBox 360/PS3 -- not because it's not truly "next-gen," but because that would be limiting the ambition of the company.

I think it was Sony's original idea to put a Playstation in every home on the back of the DVD-playback capabilities of the PS2; the PS2 did do great guns, but I think the Wii will ultimately exceed that because it's got broader appeal. PS3 strategy seems similar with Blu-Ray and media centre trappings, but again, I think it's too niche a product to do anywhere near what the PS2 did.

This idea has been tried before: 3DO and CD-I and both failed to become the hot consumer item -- even more recently with that gaming platform that was supposed to be a spec that different hardware makers could sign on to (VM Ware? -- sounded like EA's dream "open console platform") didn't work. Why? because at the end of the day I don't think people want one machine that does many things. If they want a DVD player they buy a DVD player, they don't fork out extra for a gaming console that plays DVDs or vice-versa. The only way I could see PS3 being ubiquitous is if EVERY Blu-Ray player sold by ANY manufacturer could play PS3 games and people en masse actually gave a toss about Blu-Ray (personally I think that's a format with a niche future at best and downloads of lower-quality TV/Film and DVD are the future of home video) -- even if that was true PS3 software would continue to be small portion of software sold to this mythical PS3-compatible Blu-Ray buying public.

The Wii has broader appeal because it does what it does well in a way that appeals to people who wouldn't be seen dead with a traditional game controller in their hand. I just don't see any major crossover potential here.

[Ignatius]

Originally Posted by sean.aaron

Really the idea that Nintendo is in competition with the other console makers doesn't make much sense: they've clearly targeted a different market. Sure core gamers are still important and there are games coming out for that market, but if you look at the line-up it is a niche. The Wii shouldn't be compared to XBox 360/PS3 -- not because it's not truly "next-gen," but because that would be limiting the ambition of the company….

The Wii has broader appeal because it does what it does well in a way that appeals to people who wouldn't be seen dead with a traditional game controller in their hand. I just don't see any major crossover potential here.

Interesting post! I completely agree with what you’ve said about Nintendo not being in competition with the other two; prior to the Wii’s launch, the company said it wasn’t trying to fight with MS and Sony over the hardcore gamer market.

With the Wii not being next-gen, that’s worthy of a thread on its own! Personally, I see it as more next-gen that the other two – for me it’s like contrasting the PSP and the DS, one might have better hardware specs, but the other enables a completely different interface when playing games, which (when done well) creates a new type of playing experience.

Getting myself back to the thread, I think when prices begin to come down (like the Arcade Xbox), quite a few people will buy a second machine, as happened with the PS2/GC/Xbox.

[Avan Madisen]

Well I'm one of those people who will buy a PS3 'eventually', but not before they bring the price down to something sensible.

My reason is simple, I buy whatever consoles have good games, and all of them have good games! I already own 12 consoles (that does include 2 Sega Saturns, one is European the other is Japanese) and I haven't got a PSP yet.

Anyone who only ever plays games on one series of consoles (PS, XBox, etc.) saying "None of the others have any good games." are talking out of their ****.

What makes a good game is not the system it's developed on, it's not the graphics, it's not the number of enemies on screen, the size of the maps, how big the lead female character's anatomy is, how many millions of copies it sells, the genre, the gameplay style or even the control system.

What makes a good game is innovative ideas and good exection of ideas whether new or old, and you'll find games with both those things on all systems!

[Sherlock]

It's always an interesting (and for that matter, new) discussion about what constitutes "next generation." While the Wii may not compete graphically with PS3 and XBox, it certainly has more unique features and controls. It also has an internal hardrive, which I believe is crucial to the "next gen" system. While it may not have the power and the glamour of the other systems, I believe its uniqueness makes it next generation.

[Ross101]

what is next gen:

Ask any game developer what sort of feature that the title in question includes, chances are the first thing they mention is the “next gen” graphics, or physics, etc; Of course, it has not taken long for people to start to ask whether features can be next gen or not. After all, all three platforms have been out for over a year. Speaking of which, what about the Wii? Is it truly a “new gen” console? What is “next gen”? What is “new gen”? These questions and more will be answered after the jump.


First order of business: why are we still using the term “next gen”? I believe that there are a few reasons for this. First, thanks to Sony’s PlayStation 2, there has been an unusual amount of overlap between the two generations. Even though the original PlayStation’s production did continue until 2006, the PlayStation 2 was relatively quick to replace it, largely due to the appeal of backwards compatibility. In this generation however, the PlayStation 2 was not replaced by the PlayStation 3 and has managed to hold its position as a current console.

This is not the only way the line separating these two generations is blurred. Looking at many past generations will show that there has often been a much larger divide between two generations. The Nintendo 64 had 3D gameplay compared to the Super Nintendo’s 2D system. Even though the SNES technically did have 3D,it was extremely rudimentary and is not comparable to the N64’s technology. Then lets look at the Fifth and Sixth generations. The graphical leap between the original PlayStation and the PlayStation 2 was immense. Now, I am not saying that there is not a big difference between last generation consoles and the graphical fidelity of today’s HD consoles, but I do not believe that graphics are the next generation feature that the seventh generation consoles (PS3, 360, and technically Wii though, it can’t do HD) have to offer. It is a feature just not the feature that differentiates them from their predecessors. I will expand on this later.

For the average consumer, this simply means that the PlayStation 2 is an old console, where as the Xbox 360, PS3, and depending on whom you talk to, the Wii are new consoles. Naturally, it makes more sense to associate an old console as being “last gen” and new consoles as “next gen”.

So where does this leave Nintendo? They have said that they are focusing on a “new generation” of game console, instead of the conventional approach of upgrading the hardware. Nintendo took an unprecedented step back in hardware power for a new platform, and as a result, blurred the line even more between what is considered old and what is new. This creates more of a need to distinguish between next generation hardware and past generation quality hardware.

This is why the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 likely be considered next gen consoles until replaced by their own successors.

What is it that makes them next gen? Many people are confused with this. In the end, a console’s power is not what separates it from its predecessor, or at least not entirely. As I pointed out before, each generation has had something that made it something entirely new, whether it is graphical prowess, or an entire new game mechanic. As if the seventh generation wasn’t confusing enough, it has several new elements that makes it unique. I already touched upon how High Definition is not what this generation will be about when all is said and done. Another feature that is being taking advantage of in this generation is online feature. Once again, while what online is being used is very innovative; it is not the distinguishing feature.

The power behind the next gen consoles opens up for far more innovative content than just good graphics. One thing that has been generally overlooked is interaction. For the first time, dynamic interaction with environments and characters can be fully realized. Assassin’s Creed was based on this idea. Grand Theft Auto 4 will also make use of Natural-Motion physics technology. In the end, this is what next gen is about. Graphics are almost at the saturation point. The next step is the slow death of animations and replacing them with technologies such as Natural-Motion, procedurally generated animations, etc. In the end, that is what makes a game truly next gen, and not simply a high-res version of a last generation game. High-definition and online are definitely a part of it. But going from Star Wars: Jedi Academy to Star Wars: Force Unleashed is a proper generation leap in the same way that going from Super Mario Bros. 3 to Super Mario 64 was. Not that this is exclusive to physics. Dynamic interaction is not exclusive to physics or even physical interaction. Fable 2 is the perfect example of the side of dynamic interaction, where a player’s actions have significant, analogue, influence on the game’s world. Another example is Spore, which uses both dynamic worlds and procedural generation at the very core of its gameplay.

The seventh generation of consoles is not just about HD or online features. The real innovation is that developers are using the power of the consoles to make the game obey real world laws and properties, rather than just simulate them on a situational level.

What Is “Next Gen”? : DigitalBattle

[nutter]

Nice find ross

[A Killer Combo]

I Hate halo fan boys i bought a 360 in june 2007 and traded it in 4 months later, PS3 i would buy one.. if i had money! :(

The Great Thing About the wii is that (most) of your family likes it, like my mum and dad, and then they'll buy me more games!, the good thing about the ps3 with its titles is also the blu ray player, it pretty cheap some of the players are £500! blue ray is better but alot of people still use dvd's