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Hm, it could go either way.
Based on everything I’ve seen so far, it seems likely Nintendo Wii will come out on top. Nintendo and Wii have had a very good year and good press. It features a revolutionary controller allowing for interesting gameplay. Its system is affordable and there’s a good brand (of games) to go with it.
While I think Wii will come out on top. But I also see Square-Enix’s scenario, a three-way, coming to fruition. Microsoft made a good decision to release the X-Box 360 early, so as to not compete directly with the Wii and Playstation 3.
And, well, even if it was a very bad year critically, Sony will bounce back. The console is too popular to fade away into obscurity, regardless of marketing practices. It may have a weak start, but the console will definitely sale well in the long run.
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Excerpt from Mixin’ It Up, Which Next Gen Console Will Come Out On Top?
Archived Just Below on the Blog
The Consensus So Far…
Recently, research firm DFC has predicted the outcome of the next gen console “war” as a Win-Win-Win situation. In other words, it will be a three way tie between Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft when the consoles are launched. Just as Square-Enix wants it…
And while I believe that the DFC has it right. I do think there will be a clear winner when Wii and the PS3 are initially launched.
While the DFC took into account that consumers are now buying multiple consoles, I wonder if they also took into account the effect of launching the X-Box 360 earlier than Wii and the PS3. While the X-Box 360 has been successful in the U.S., the new venture into console business has yet to see real success in Japan. Yes, the 360 is struggling in Japan, who wouldn’t? After all, Japan is only the backyard of Nintendo and Sony.
I do think that launching the X-Box 360 was a very good, smart, safe move on the part of Microsoft. The company may be cutting its own throat in the long run. The 360 barely has name (Microsoft) and brand (the Halo series) to stand on. It lesser known, upcoming releases titles for the 360 may not stand up to the buzz surrounding the Super Marios, Legend of Zeldas, Dragon Quests, Kingdom Hearts, and Final Fantasies that the Wii and PS3 will eventually launch.
By that virtue, X-Box 360 will look to the loser against the movement of the shiny, new consoles Nintendo and Sony will release. Also, the Playstation 3 is suffering from a plague of missteps due to its own cockiness in the field. Already the company was forced to lower the price of the base PS3 unit in Japan by 20%. The company has all but brushed aside the compliants about the cost of the base unit everywhere else.
Again I am going to call an early victory for Nintendo’s Wii, I think it will outpace the already aged 360 and the too expensive PS3. It could have gone the wayside post-64, like Sega which has two failed consoles to its name. But the loyalty and promises to fans and the success of its marketing for the Wii was been overwhelming.
I think Wii will definitely outpace the 360 and the PS3 in its initial release phase. Once sales slow down, I think we’ll see the “Win-Win-Win” the DFC is referring to.
11 Comments
September 29, 2006 at 3:57 pm
Xbox is still losing money every sale…it’s already a loser :p If it hopes to ‘win’ as it’s suggested, then it needs some serious originality.
Nintendo have always been excellent at bringing fresh things to the fold, and Wii is no different. The controller alone will be a reason for the Wii to be successful!
PS3 may be too expensive, but it’s got better technology and a better lineup IMO.
PS3 & Wii FTW!
September 29, 2006 at 4:34 pm
I don’t know. I don’t think 360 will win. But I don’t think its gonna flat out lose either. I think Microsoft will stick around in the console business. Definitely.
I doubt Microsoft’s X-Box ends up like the Sega consoles.
November 5, 2006 at 3:37 am
My friend currently has an x-box 360 and after watching a single DVD the side of the console was extremely hot, a warning sign of a meltdown all X-box lovers should be aware of, while the PS3 is OVERPRICED, the wii is the perfect gaming console at a reasonable price and the first console that can be shared by the whole familt
November 8, 2006 at 5:53 pm
Heh. I tease my uncle, who owns an X-Box, about the red semi-circle of death.
But yeah, apparently Microsoft is just now owning up publicly to the semi-circle of death (i.e. overheating issues) with its consoles, even though they’ve been fixin’ ‘em for free.
If your friend’s X-Box 360 (if it dies) was obtained before January 1st, 2006, Microsoft will still fix it for free.
November 18, 2006 at 12:02 am
They are all basically equal, but if anything is in the lead, it’s PS3. Nintendo and Sony have more experience in the video game department, in which Microsoft has less. The reason PS3 before Wii, it’s wide selection of games, were as Wii has few realistic games, more fantasy games.
December 1, 2006 at 3:18 pm
360 is a great system. ps3 is too expensive and has no quality games out right now like gears of war.wii looks inovative and i;m sure its fun to play with buddies but i’m sure the initial coolness will wear off especially when the nunchuck controller doesn;t work as well for fighters and certain sports games NFL
December 17, 2006 at 10:38 am
I have a question what is better a 360 or a Wii?
December 17, 2006 at 10:44 am
The only reson I like the 360 is because I really like the game HALO so I don’t know if I should buy the 360 or the Wii?
December 17, 2006 at 9:58 pm
If I were you, I would check out gamefaqs.com and check the libraries of the Wii and the 360, and then some of the faqs written on the consoles.
Here are the links:
X-Box 360 hardware faqs
http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/file/xbox_360.txt
Wii hardware faqs
http://db.gamefaqs.com/console/wii/file/wii_hardware.txt
Games List for the 360
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/xbox360/
Games List for the Wii
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/wii/
December 17, 2006 at 10:16 pm
That said, I would not buy a 360 solely for Halo. While the 360 has Halo, most big name games in its library aren’t exclusive to 360 and can be found on GC or the PS2.
It really comes down to what kind of games do you want?
Both consoles have great collections of action/adventure, FPS, shoot ‘em ups, fighting, and racing games. But both lack RPGs. But the 360 has more “indy” games.
Both have online capabilities, but currently, 360 has the best capabilities because its Microsoft and because its been established longer with the console.
Good graphics, goes without saying. But the graphics of the 360 go beyond that of Wii. The sound quality and such should be up to par (although the speakers on the Wiimote is questionable) and about equal on both. And both also have backwards compatibility.
Gameplay, Wii owns. But it still has kinks. Can’t tell you much about gameplay as far as the 360 goes, but I imagine its just as fun, interesting, and challenging as the GC and the PS2. And both have other game-UNrelated special features. In fact, if you wait to get the Wii, in 2007 it will feature DVD playback.
So I recommend looking through the FAQs and libraries above to see which games (and thusly, which console) you want more.
December 17, 2006 at 10:26 pm
Hope I could help answer your question (its your money, and while I can suggest, its YOUR choice). If you look at “Why I Love Game Informer” on my blog, you can see an article which has a great breakdown on the Wii current features.
I recommend waiting if you decide to get a Wii, so technical bugs and problems can be ironed out. Don’t let that turn you off Wii though, because the 360 still has its problems.