Console wars: part deux

Well folks, the next round of the fabled home video game console battle between the likes of Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft is nearly upon us. On Nov. 17, we will see the first U.S. sales of PlayStation 3, while two days later, the Nintendo Wii will drop. Microsoft’s Xbox 360 has been out since Nov. 22 of last year.

The first round of this battle for home market superiority saw Sony taking a drastic lead over the reigning champion, Nintendo, while a third party entered the fray: Microsoft. The home operating-system behemoth has been throwing massive amounts of money into the market in hopes of securing a sizeable foothold among higher end consumers, and has seen a reasonable level of success. Nintendo is scraping for last place, buoyed by its successful DS handheld system.

Sony’s PlayStation 2, building off the success of the PlayStation and entirely compatible with its older library of games, made the PlayStation 2 a bargain not just for its efficiency in being able to play two sets of games, but because it was also the first DVD player for many Americans. I remember being able to mess with a DVD for the first time on one of those machines – compared to VHS, DVD was amazing. I could skip to key points of a movie in seconds, just like using a CD. It was an awesome deal at only $299 back in 2000.

However, the new PlayStation is a far cry from the deal that the PlayStation 2 was. The PS3 will retail at two prices, according to Sony: $499 for the budget version, and $599 for the high-end version. What a ripoff! I don’t know what Sony is thinking; the PS3 is having a hard time justifying its cost to me. It is not only not very affordable for most people, it doesn’t do anything revolutionary. Sure, it has a new high-definition Blu-Ray DVD player, but the difference between high-def DVD and regular DVD is a lot less than jumping from video tapes to DVD, and a lot of people aren’t going to benefit hugely from a machine geared toward standards a lot of people don’t really have. I know I don’t have an HDTV compatible set, so any money I’d drop on a PS3 would be pretty wasted from a Blu-Ray point of view, and I’m sure the same would hold true for most students here. The launch games haven’t been looking so hot, either. Most of them will be available on the other systems.

The Xbox 360, from my experience, is pretty solid. Being a year old, some better software is coming out for it, and the online experience is second to none when playing games like Halo 2 over its proprietary service called “Xbox Live.” It isn’t as powerful as the PS3, as it’s older technology, but Microsoft has some good franchises that could be pretty solid over the next few years. Naturally, Halo 3 is going to be the must-have game for the system next year. The zombie-smashing fun of the game “Dead Rising” is currently unmatched on any system, and it’s unlikely to change until developers come up with some more mature techniques for the newer systems so they can harness the power that lays in these new machines. Also, the 360 comes with an option to add on an HD-DVD drive, the alternative format to Sony’s Blu-Ray. Since the purchase of the drive is not required, it is a lot more flexible for somebody on a budget, and I’d go with a 360 over a PS3 based on the price alone: $299 vs. $499-$599.

The dark horse in this race is Nintendo and their new system, the Wii. They’re the company I’m rooting for, just because their new controller scheme is so damn innovative. Basically, it’s like a remote controller that’s motion sensitive and reacts to your movements. If you were to play a fishing game, you’d whip the controller like you were casting, and jerk back to set the hook. The controller also has buttons so you can play traditional games on it, as well. Nintendo plans to make available many games from its library going all the way back to the NES through downloads! This is awesome, because someone stole the NES my roommate and I had. I’ll actually be able to finish the original “Zelda”! You can’t argue with Nintendo’s price point, either. At $250, the system looks like a steal.

All in all, I think the competition is good for the consumers because we are getting a lot of options here; however, I’m thinking that Nintendo has a good chance of taking back the top spot. A lot of people buy gaming systems because they’re affordable, and it beats buying a $3,000 PC to play the latest games. With a reasonable price and an innovative controller concept that could appeal to all audiences, I know what system I’ll be picking up. Way to go, Nintendo, you’ve just won back a customer.