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Now, I’m a new person myself. I can’t remember who said it, but apparently every newbie is allowed one Console Wars post. So this is mine.
I can understand the lure of the console wars. Your young and in the playground at school. You don’t understand politics or race issues, and you’re maybe even a little too young to be really into football or girls. What do you argue about? Consoles, of course. You spend half your free time with them – it makes sense. There’s a nice clear line - you’re either a Nintendo boy or a Sega boy. Sonic or Mario acts as a figurehead for your quasi-religion and impassioned arguments are frequent and sometimes even bloody.
However, as we grow up are wallet expands and all of a sudden we can throw money at whatever consoles we fancy. PlayStation, Saturn and N64? No problem sir! This is when a very obvious thought strikes you – why limit yourself to one console? If you want Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid and Virtua Fighter you have no choice. Why miss out on the classics because of pointless brand loyalty? Well, obviously there is no reason, but mortgages, car insurance and tropical holidays soon take that fat wallet and turn it into a healthy over draft. So, you’re forced to pick and choose. You’re youthful optimism that you’d never have to wait for a console again has been trampled over by thoughts of putting food on the table and those over complicated pension plans. You’re suddenly a kid again and have to pick and choose what console will suit your needs best. This is where the interesting new twist comes.
With this generation of consoles there is little or nothing to differentiate the three big players.
Why? Well I’ll start with “power” or “speed” or whatever you want to label the console’s “grunt”. It’s very hard to draw any sort of lines between the three looking at the numbers. On paper there are differences between… ohhhh…. lets say processor speeds. Now, the X-Box has a faster processor than the Gamecube – but the Gamecube is 128 bit versus the X-Boxes 32… so, which is “better”? Simple answer – you can’t say. It was a very simple example, but highlights the different architectures used and to attempt to compare the consoles from their vital statistics is a total waste of time. As I’m aware kids don’t listen I’ll repeat myself – comparing the PS2/X-Box/Gamecube’s processor speeds, RAM quantities etc is totally pointless. In terms of the actual results you’ll see from the console’s games you may as well compare the three on the length of their instruction manuals or, ohhhhhh…. lets say the shoe size of the three companies Presidents.
Fair enough, you say, but one must be more powerful than the others. Yes. Of course that’s true, but while maybe those extra three sprites on screen made a difference in the 8-bit console wars, everything is so powerful now that the small differences are almost unnoticeable. Keeping it simple, if you have five of something and loose four, it is a lot. If you were to have five thousand and some wee scamp took another four, it wouldn’t really be noticeable.
The wiser among your ranks may now be looking smug and thinking “its the games that matter anyway”. Well done, you’ve hit on the vital area. It’s the games that’ll end up eating your hours away, not thinking about how many bits the console is chugging through its processor every second. So, the battle is now fought on which consoles have the best games. Well that’s a silly starting point really as every console will have some great titles the other console don’t. However, there is now another interesting development – the death of the exclusivity licence. Obviously in-house titles will always be exclusive, but what about those boys at Capcom, Square, Namco, Sega and friends? In generations past they have promised their big franchise to one console and one console only. Those days are coming to an end. Why? All sorts of reasons.
When Sega and Nintendo ruled supreme, 3rd parties had to be at the god-like console creators’ beck and call. Sony changed that by realizing that the 3rd parties made the games that consumers bought and made the console a success. Sony were the fluffy, friendly company versus evil old Nintendo and the exclusive franchises flocked over to the new boys and there PlayStation. With a clean slate in the new generation, the 3rd parties hold the power. There is so little to distinguish the consoles other than the games on them. Clearly, for the 3rd parties most money is to be had by being able to sell their games to as many consumers as possible. Obviously this is made easier if you are selling the title on all formats.
What we are seeing are short-term exclusivity deals. Sega are proving to be the King of these at the moment. They promise, for example, Microsoft, that Jet Set Radio Future will only appear on the X-Box for a year, and after that it can be converted over to any other console Sega fancy (I don’t know the exact period of the deal, but you get the idea). So, sooner or later most titles are going to be on most machines. If a game is successful on one console, the developers will be keen to increase their returns by taking the step of converting it to the other consoles.
Now we’ve got three very powerful consoles, with the majority of the classic titles appearing on all three. What’s left? Consumer support. The Dreamcast was a cracking console but “failed” due to a lack of consumer support. There are numerous reasons for why this happened, but that is another long-winded post altogether. The vital question is will there be enough cash about to make it worth Nintendo, Sony AND Microsoft’s efforts. Ermmmmm... probably. But they’ll have to earn it – which is what Sega’s ludicrously poor marketing campaign didn’t do for them.
And the finishing line is in sight.
What is there left to war over? From a gamers point of view, very little. No matter which console we buy we will get a very powerful machine with a host of great games. What more could a gamer ask for?
A console war post form a newbie – bet this isn’t what you were expecting.
I can understand the lure of the console wars. Your young and in the playground at school. You don’t understand politics or race issues, and you’re maybe even a little too young to be really into football or girls. What do you argue about? Consoles, of course. You spend half your free time with them – it makes sense. There’s a nice clear line - you’re either a Nintendo boy or a Sega boy. Sonic or Mario acts as a figurehead for your quasi-religion and impassioned arguments are frequent and sometimes even bloody.
However, as we grow up are wallet expands and all of a sudden we can throw money at whatever consoles we fancy. PlayStation, Saturn and N64? No problem sir! This is when a very obvious thought strikes you – why limit yourself to one console? If you want Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid and Virtua Fighter you have no choice. Why miss out on the classics because of pointless brand loyalty? Well, obviously there is no reason, but mortgages, car insurance and tropical holidays soon take that fat wallet and turn it into a healthy over draft. So, you’re forced to pick and choose. You’re youthful optimism that you’d never have to wait for a console again has been trampled over by thoughts of putting food on the table and those over complicated pension plans. You’re suddenly a kid again and have to pick and choose what console will suit your needs best. This is where the interesting new twist comes.
With this generation of consoles there is little or nothing to differentiate the three big players.
Why? Well I’ll start with “power” or “speed” or whatever you want to label the console’s “grunt”. It’s very hard to draw any sort of lines between the three looking at the numbers. On paper there are differences between… ohhhh…. lets say processor speeds. Now, the X-Box has a faster processor than the Gamecube – but the Gamecube is 128 bit versus the X-Boxes 32… so, which is “better”? Simple answer – you can’t say. It was a very simple example, but highlights the different architectures used and to attempt to compare the consoles from their vital statistics is a total waste of time. As I’m aware kids don’t listen I’ll repeat myself – comparing the PS2/X-Box/Gamecube’s processor speeds, RAM quantities etc is totally pointless. In terms of the actual results you’ll see from the console’s games you may as well compare the three on the length of their instruction manuals or, ohhhhhh…. lets say the shoe size of the three companies Presidents.
Fair enough, you say, but one must be more powerful than the others. Yes. Of course that’s true, but while maybe those extra three sprites on screen made a difference in the 8-bit console wars, everything is so powerful now that the small differences are almost unnoticeable. Keeping it simple, if you have five of something and loose four, it is a lot. If you were to have five thousand and some wee scamp took another four, it wouldn’t really be noticeable.
The wiser among your ranks may now be looking smug and thinking “its the games that matter anyway”. Well done, you’ve hit on the vital area. It’s the games that’ll end up eating your hours away, not thinking about how many bits the console is chugging through its processor every second. So, the battle is now fought on which consoles have the best games. Well that’s a silly starting point really as every console will have some great titles the other console don’t. However, there is now another interesting development – the death of the exclusivity licence. Obviously in-house titles will always be exclusive, but what about those boys at Capcom, Square, Namco, Sega and friends? In generations past they have promised their big franchise to one console and one console only. Those days are coming to an end. Why? All sorts of reasons.
When Sega and Nintendo ruled supreme, 3rd parties had to be at the god-like console creators’ beck and call. Sony changed that by realizing that the 3rd parties made the games that consumers bought and made the console a success. Sony were the fluffy, friendly company versus evil old Nintendo and the exclusive franchises flocked over to the new boys and there PlayStation. With a clean slate in the new generation, the 3rd parties hold the power. There is so little to distinguish the consoles other than the games on them. Clearly, for the 3rd parties most money is to be had by being able to sell their games to as many consumers as possible. Obviously this is made easier if you are selling the title on all formats.
What we are seeing are short-term exclusivity deals. Sega are proving to be the King of these at the moment. They promise, for example, Microsoft, that Jet Set Radio Future will only appear on the X-Box for a year, and after that it can be converted over to any other console Sega fancy (I don’t know the exact period of the deal, but you get the idea). So, sooner or later most titles are going to be on most machines. If a game is successful on one console, the developers will be keen to increase their returns by taking the step of converting it to the other consoles.
Now we’ve got three very powerful consoles, with the majority of the classic titles appearing on all three. What’s left? Consumer support. The Dreamcast was a cracking console but “failed” due to a lack of consumer support. There are numerous reasons for why this happened, but that is another long-winded post altogether. The vital question is will there be enough cash about to make it worth Nintendo, Sony AND Microsoft’s efforts. Ermmmmm... probably. But they’ll have to earn it – which is what Sega’s ludicrously poor marketing campaign didn’t do for them.
And the finishing line is in sight.
What is there left to war over? From a gamers point of view, very little. No matter which console we buy we will get a very powerful machine with a host of great games. What more could a gamer ask for?
A console war post form a newbie – bet this isn’t what you were expecting.
I first started with a speccy then moved to a sega master system, then onto a SNES and that was it for consoles. Amiga the PC and i am sticking with my PC which is so much better than any console. Don't get me wrong i had great fun with the sega and SNES but adter i got a pc there was no turning back. Even tho PC r more expensive they can do soo much more + the games are better. e.g quake 3 on a console sucks big time (no mouse)
thats it from me on console wars
beckett1
thats it from me on console wars
beckett1
I know what's in it, so I'm not going to read it, but from the look of the replies Ii get the impression it's not worth the potassium ions.
I was aware of the irony - don't waste your breath followed by a coupleof hundered words... hmmmmmm...
Console Wars: Don’t waste your breath
Ok.
Ok.
blah blah blah : )
Is there any escaping these console wars topics??
Is there any escaping these console wars topics??
Now, I’m a new person myself. I can’t remember who said it, but apparently every newbie is allowed one Console Wars post. So this is mine.
I can understand the lure of the console wars. Your young and in the playground at school. You don’t understand politics or race issues, and you’re maybe even a little too young to be really into football or girls. What do you argue about? Consoles, of course. You spend half your free time with them – it makes sense. There’s a nice clear line - you’re either a Nintendo boy or a Sega boy. Sonic or Mario acts as a figurehead for your quasi-religion and impassioned arguments are frequent and sometimes even bloody.
However, as we grow up are wallet expands and all of a sudden we can throw money at whatever consoles we fancy. PlayStation, Saturn and N64? No problem sir! This is when a very obvious thought strikes you – why limit yourself to one console? If you want Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid and Virtua Fighter you have no choice. Why miss out on the classics because of pointless brand loyalty? Well, obviously there is no reason, but mortgages, car insurance and tropical holidays soon take that fat wallet and turn it into a healthy over draft. So, you’re forced to pick and choose. You’re youthful optimism that you’d never have to wait for a console again has been trampled over by thoughts of putting food on the table and those over complicated pension plans. You’re suddenly a kid again and have to pick and choose what console will suit your needs best. This is where the interesting new twist comes.
With this generation of consoles there is little or nothing to differentiate the three big players.
Why? Well I’ll start with “power” or “speed” or whatever you want to label the console’s “grunt”. It’s very hard to draw any sort of lines between the three looking at the numbers. On paper there are differences between… ohhhh…. lets say processor speeds. Now, the X-Box has a faster processor than the Gamecube – but the Gamecube is 128 bit versus the X-Boxes 32… so, which is “better”? Simple answer – you can’t say. It was a very simple example, but highlights the different architectures used and to attempt to compare the consoles from their vital statistics is a total waste of time. As I’m aware kids don’t listen I’ll repeat myself – comparing the PS2/X-Box/Gamecube’s processor speeds, RAM quantities etc is totally pointless. In terms of the actual results you’ll see from the console’s games you may as well compare the three on the length of their instruction manuals or, ohhhhhh…. lets say the shoe size of the three companies Presidents.
Fair enough, you say, but one must be more powerful than the others. Yes. Of course that’s true, but while maybe those extra three sprites on screen made a difference in the 8-bit console wars, everything is so powerful now that the small differences are almost unnoticeable. Keeping it simple, if you have five of something and loose four, it is a lot. If you were to have five thousand and some wee scamp took another four, it wouldn’t really be noticeable.
The wiser among your ranks may now be looking smug and thinking “its the games that matter anyway”. Well done, you’ve hit on the vital area. It’s the games that’ll end up eating your hours away, not thinking about how many bits the console is chugging through its processor every second. So, the battle is now fought on which consoles have the best games. Well that’s a silly starting point really as every console will have some great titles the other console don’t. However, there is now another interesting development – the death of the exclusivity licence. Obviously in-house titles will always be exclusive, but what about those boys at Capcom, Square, Namco, Sega and friends? In generations past they have promised their big franchise to one console and one console only. Those days are coming to an end. Why? All sorts of reasons.
When Sega and Nintendo ruled supreme, 3rd parties had to be at the god-like console creators’ beck and call. Sony changed that by realizing that the 3rd parties made the games that consumers bought and made the console a success. Sony were the fluffy, friendly company versus evil old Nintendo and the exclusive franchises flocked over to the new boys and there PlayStation. With a clean slate in the new generation, the 3rd parties hold the power. There is so little to distinguish the consoles other than the games on them. Clearly, for the 3rd parties most money is to be had by being able to sell their games to as many consumers as possible. Obviously this is made easier if you are selling the title on all formats.
What we are seeing are short-term exclusivity deals. Sega are proving to be the King of these at the moment. They promise, for example, Microsoft, that Jet Set Radio Future will only appear on the X-Box for a year, and after that it can be converted over to any other console Sega fancy (I don’t know the exact period of the deal, but you get the idea). So, sooner or later most titles are going to be on most machines. If a game is successful on one console, the developers will be keen to increase their returns by taking the step of converting it to the other consoles.
Now we’ve got three very powerful consoles, with the majority of the classic titles appearing on all three. What’s left? Consumer support. The Dreamcast was a cracking console but “failed” due to a lack of consumer support. There are numerous reasons for why this happened, but that is another long-winded post altogether. The vital question is will there be enough cash about to make it worth Nintendo, Sony AND Microsoft’s efforts. Ermmmmm... probably. But they’ll have to earn it – which is what Sega’s ludicrously poor marketing campaign didn’t do for them.
And the finishing line is in sight.
What is there left to war over? From a gamers point of view, very little. No matter which console we buy we will get a very powerful machine with a host of great games. What more could a gamer ask for?
A console war post form a newbie – bet this isn’t what you were expecting.
I can understand the lure of the console wars. Your young and in the playground at school. You don’t understand politics or race issues, and you’re maybe even a little too young to be really into football or girls. What do you argue about? Consoles, of course. You spend half your free time with them – it makes sense. There’s a nice clear line - you’re either a Nintendo boy or a Sega boy. Sonic or Mario acts as a figurehead for your quasi-religion and impassioned arguments are frequent and sometimes even bloody.
However, as we grow up are wallet expands and all of a sudden we can throw money at whatever consoles we fancy. PlayStation, Saturn and N64? No problem sir! This is when a very obvious thought strikes you – why limit yourself to one console? If you want Mario 64, Metal Gear Solid and Virtua Fighter you have no choice. Why miss out on the classics because of pointless brand loyalty? Well, obviously there is no reason, but mortgages, car insurance and tropical holidays soon take that fat wallet and turn it into a healthy over draft. So, you’re forced to pick and choose. You’re youthful optimism that you’d never have to wait for a console again has been trampled over by thoughts of putting food on the table and those over complicated pension plans. You’re suddenly a kid again and have to pick and choose what console will suit your needs best. This is where the interesting new twist comes.
With this generation of consoles there is little or nothing to differentiate the three big players.
Why? Well I’ll start with “power” or “speed” or whatever you want to label the console’s “grunt”. It’s very hard to draw any sort of lines between the three looking at the numbers. On paper there are differences between… ohhhh…. lets say processor speeds. Now, the X-Box has a faster processor than the Gamecube – but the Gamecube is 128 bit versus the X-Boxes 32… so, which is “better”? Simple answer – you can’t say. It was a very simple example, but highlights the different architectures used and to attempt to compare the consoles from their vital statistics is a total waste of time. As I’m aware kids don’t listen I’ll repeat myself – comparing the PS2/X-Box/Gamecube’s processor speeds, RAM quantities etc is totally pointless. In terms of the actual results you’ll see from the console’s games you may as well compare the three on the length of their instruction manuals or, ohhhhhh…. lets say the shoe size of the three companies Presidents.
Fair enough, you say, but one must be more powerful than the others. Yes. Of course that’s true, but while maybe those extra three sprites on screen made a difference in the 8-bit console wars, everything is so powerful now that the small differences are almost unnoticeable. Keeping it simple, if you have five of something and loose four, it is a lot. If you were to have five thousand and some wee scamp took another four, it wouldn’t really be noticeable.
The wiser among your ranks may now be looking smug and thinking “its the games that matter anyway”. Well done, you’ve hit on the vital area. It’s the games that’ll end up eating your hours away, not thinking about how many bits the console is chugging through its processor every second. So, the battle is now fought on which consoles have the best games. Well that’s a silly starting point really as every console will have some great titles the other console don’t. However, there is now another interesting development – the death of the exclusivity licence. Obviously in-house titles will always be exclusive, but what about those boys at Capcom, Square, Namco, Sega and friends? In generations past they have promised their big franchise to one console and one console only. Those days are coming to an end. Why? All sorts of reasons.
When Sega and Nintendo ruled supreme, 3rd parties had to be at the god-like console creators’ beck and call. Sony changed that by realizing that the 3rd parties made the games that consumers bought and made the console a success. Sony were the fluffy, friendly company versus evil old Nintendo and the exclusive franchises flocked over to the new boys and there PlayStation. With a clean slate in the new generation, the 3rd parties hold the power. There is so little to distinguish the consoles other than the games on them. Clearly, for the 3rd parties most money is to be had by being able to sell their games to as many consumers as possible. Obviously this is made easier if you are selling the title on all formats.
What we are seeing are short-term exclusivity deals. Sega are proving to be the King of these at the moment. They promise, for example, Microsoft, that Jet Set Radio Future will only appear on the X-Box for a year, and after that it can be converted over to any other console Sega fancy (I don’t know the exact period of the deal, but you get the idea). So, sooner or later most titles are going to be on most machines. If a game is successful on one console, the developers will be keen to increase their returns by taking the step of converting it to the other consoles.
Now we’ve got three very powerful consoles, with the majority of the classic titles appearing on all three. What’s left? Consumer support. The Dreamcast was a cracking console but “failed” due to a lack of consumer support. There are numerous reasons for why this happened, but that is another long-winded post altogether. The vital question is will there be enough cash about to make it worth Nintendo, Sony AND Microsoft’s efforts. Ermmmmm... probably. But they’ll have to earn it – which is what Sega’s ludicrously poor marketing campaign didn’t do for them.
And the finishing line is in sight.
What is there left to war over? From a gamers point of view, very little. No matter which console we buy we will get a very powerful machine with a host of great games. What more could a gamer ask for?
A console war post form a newbie – bet this isn’t what you were expecting.