I have a Wii and there was a time when I did admire the vision of Nintendo. Yes the Wii prints money but for gamers such as myself they have not come close to the vision they brought last generation. Seeing where you want to go is one thing, getting there is another.
A control scheme does not a vision fulfill.
While Nintendo has made gaming more accessible to persons that were previously not gamers, they have done little else to appeal to the core gamers that were here prior (in the gaming community) and not Nintendo followers. Be careful to look at that last statement. Not Nintendo followers. I am not discussing the Mario Legion.
It is hard to say my view is skewed if it happens to be correct. If I am a certain type of gamer that prefers a more open development approach, more gamer freedom, next gen medium, a user selectable HDD, the exclusives that I like, and a technology that evolves then how am I brainwashed?
People often use that word - fanboy - but if they cast that definition against cold hard fact then it is interesting to see if the definition remains intact.
Just so you are aware there is a vast chasm that exists between a machine that people beat to death to eek out a few more horse power versus a machine that continues to expand exponentially as developers learn it's somewhat difficult yet much more capable architecture.
When I have been a victim of MS 4 times with the 360 (on my 5th) and all but one person on my friends list has experienced the same fate how am I not supposed to take that into the equation?
Game development (in which I have been involved on several occasions) is like an iceberg. What you see or hear above the surface belies the issue below. When I hear Bizarre, Rockstar, Id, etc discussing a disk medium that retards the game experience how am I not supposed to shake my head knowing the issue is huge by the time it leaks to the press?
When I see a console clearly demonstrated to be inferior to another how am I not supposed to think that inferior console is shafting gamers that want the penultimate experience? When I see resources squandered because of payoffs how am I not supposed to view inferior hardware and it's money tossing backer as a problem?
Another note for you, I was a Xbox backer last gen because that was the superior platform.
I am much more matter of fact about that power equation. Now look at this gen. When a machine is a year back in the US and a year and a half behind in Europe yet has handily shown itself to be able to surpass it's competition in graphics, in audio, in storage, in online player numbers then it is hard to say it's only a 'little' more powerful.
When the lesser capable console had the lions share of the attention yet can't match the late comer that has frankly been the whipping boy of the press then how can any person that is a gamer at heart not take a side for the superior possibility. Not for company worship, but for pushing the limits.
For the console against the odds that has shown itself easily to be the technical superior of the three, what could it do if it was pushed to the forefront? Look what we have seen so far in the likes of Killzone 2, Uncharted, MGS4, and others. Look at smaller matters like direct Youtube uploads and usermods in UT3. How much better would GTA IV have been if dedicated to the PS3? We will find out as Rockstar are crafting a huge sandbox for just Sony that isn't bound by last gen storage limitations.
Most titles that are produced are multiplatform. And as long as the devs insist on making both versions practically the same on both platforms then questions of technical superiority will always fluster the unobservant. I personally am not fooled by such and realize that much of this is done not to alienate the 360 fanbase. So the PS3 fanbase gets the shaft as this is seen as the least harmful of the two approaches. I don't know why because last gen the differences with the versions were paid little mind.
Cracks are beginning to show and I am sure that MS just wants this gen to end as soon as is financially feasible. Companies like Id who are likely sitting on the next mass market game engine will make dual disk lower grade 360 versions commonplace. This is because of the way in which the Rage engine functions.
Nintendo receives no free pass from me when they are delivering titles on the Wii that are inferior to Gamecube titles I still have. The fact that I and many other look at the Wii as a glorified Gamecube says Nintendo still isn't reaching the core gamer I spoke about above. I have the Wii, two controllers, legacy controller, Gamecube controller, and Balance Board. But other than the occasional Gamecube title I hardly turn it on.
Myself and people like me are precisely one of the groups Nintendo needs to make a greater effort to court. I am looking forward to The Conduit but it is not enough. Sales worldwide are beginning to flag and Nintendo has to act now to expand into the core audience lest they drop from game console to fad status.
