TheGameCollective

When Sony release firmware 3 for PlayStation 3, they inlcuded a fantastic treat – BBC’s iPlayer. At first, I was unmoved, and thought it a little pointless. Until one eveing, I wanted to catch up on F1 hightlights, and realised just how fantasic it really is – it’s easy to use and works really well. Naturally, one might ask, what other features might Sony have planned for the PlayStation 3? According to IncGamers.com, Sony have not ruled out other options for the console. There’s pressure on Sony to add further features since the announcement that Sky TV will be adding a potentially awesome software add on for the Xbox 360. Looking forward to the next firmware release!

So, who’ll be the ultimate victor in the big boys console war? Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3? Given the heated and often dirty debate this question evokes in many, perhaps I should now turn of comments for this post! I spend a great deal of time thinking of this very subject – hence this post.

To start with, Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg said in a recent interview with Games Industry, that he believes the recent PS3 sales boost, following the slim release and a price cut, is just a short term bump. Greenberg continues by pointing out that Sony loses money on each PS3 slim sold. Perhaps this suggests that the business model Sony employs is unsustainable, but didn’t Sony recently manage to get the cost of a console down to ~ £150 a piece? And doesn’t So maybe this is non information, he wouldn’t be doing his job if he wasn’t bigging up his products in interviews, now, would he?!

I believe both consoles are well placed to become the winner in this ‘war’. With the release of the PS3 slim, Sony has adopted a new approach to selling it’s flagship console. Firstly, it’s a slick looking, whisper quiet (well, nearly!), BluRay player and great media center, which just so happens to be a stonking game machine.

While Micrsoft want their console to be more than just a games machine. Up until recently, only price cuts have been adopted along the way to shore up interest. However, in October, Sky TV are set to release software for the Xbox that will extend the reach of Sky TV to a greater audience via the Xbox 360. Making it a very attractive media center for the home! But there are some downpoints to this service – you need broadband, it’ll cost you for the service and the Xbox 360 isn’t near whisper quiet! Not exactly the perfect marriage – but then the best marriages don’t need to be perfect!

There’s many other points to consider in this battle, like Natal and Sony Motion Controller and how that will impact on the gaming experience. Then there’s the rumour that Microsoft are already considering the relase of the next Xbox in 2012 while Sony are trying to squeeze a few more years out of the PS3. With the release of any new Xbox console, the Xbox fanbase is set to benefit from a major and most likely, a PS3 thrashing  upgrade. A major coup!

If Sony can pull of the new approach to selling it’s flagship console, then it has a real chance of triumph here. Either way, it’s going to get very interesting!

How many of us are thinking of the next generation of console? PS4 and Wii 2 – what improvements might they bring to our gaming needs? Typically, the improvements were easy to predict – greatly improved graphics, processing power and functionality. That is, until Nintendo produced the Wii, or rather, they spotted a trend in gaming and exploited it to great effect. By producing a cheap and graphics light console and instead, targeting the kids purse string holders and appealing to good parents concern for their children’s health, Nintendo single handedly turned the decades long gaming trend on its head. The idea of getting up and moving about to play a game was new and, it would appear, inspiring. Ignoring the fact that the Wii remote and nunchuck were only able to detect general movements, the new control device was innovative and caught imaginations the world over!

Sony and Microsoft, on the other hand, created consoles that fitted into the trend very nicely, obeying and (generally at least) satisfying the hardcore gamer’s needs.  The PS3 and Xbox 360 are powerful gaming machines, with the traditional joypad as the main controlling device.

The success of the Wii raised some serious questions – Is the age of increasing graphical montage coming to an end? Is the hardcore gaming market shrinking or becoming bored of gaming?? Neither – the general consensus is (as far as I have interpreted) that gamer appetites have grown more diverse. Consider the popularity of games on Facebook and Yahoo and other social sites, booming markets, which have poor graphics, and focus instead on game play and the social gaming aspect. Evidence perhaps that gameplay is of prime importance to gamers. There’s still a monster demand for ‘Hardcore gaming’, feeding the improving graphics movement and makes up games such as COD4 and Gears of War – complex games in terms of control and skill to play. And then there’s Wii sports, great gameplay that all the family can play and games which can be picked up with friends and everyone can get involved, couples and all. Gamer’s want their games to become more engaging!

So, step in Natal and PlayStation Motion Controller. Microsoft’s and Sony’s responses to the gaming market’s gamplayability desires. Both of these systems offer huge potential in gameplay and are set to turn gaming on it’s nogen with greater enthusiasm than Ninendo’s aging stick. And if Sony and Microsoft can pull the new systems off, I reckon, enough to breath plenty of extra life into both the Xbox 360 and PS3, enabling both companies to put of the next generation of console for at least another 5 years. These two new control systems could well put Nintendo at risk of falling far behind in the console arena – even considering the Wii Motion Plus. The Wii will become the assteically poor cousin, making the need for a Wii 2 more important if Nintendo to maintain its current lead – I’ll hazard a guess at 3 years!

The future if gaming is looking very interesting indeed!

According to EL33tONLINE, the cost of production for a single PS3 unit is now £150, or there abouts,  which is a 70% reduction on the cost when the PS3 was first unveiled (£500). This should give Sony ample room to reduce the cost of the PS3 to us consumers in the run up to Christmas, and claw back much of the lost ground to Microsoft and Nintendo. Many following the PS3 price stories flying around on the tin-ter-net will know that much of the rumours concentrate around a slim version of the PS3 – it did wonders for the PS2 and there’s no reason why Sony won’t be applying a thin thick thin (?) helping of slimness to the PS3 .