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It was just under a year ago now when the Gamecube was announced, the final contestant in the so-called console war. Millions of console war topics popped up, more numerous than EA’s sports games and everyone quickly got fed up with them. Now they’re banned. :-D
As the Playstation 2 launch drew near, big arguments broke out in the SR forums over which console would be the dominant one.
Sony fans claimed that the PS2 would be an almighty hit and control the games market. The rest claimed that it was so hard to program for and that Sony had made such a mess of it that it would shrivel and die like the Saturn did.
Both sides were wrong.
At the launch itself, the Dreamcast proved to be a better buy with (and this surprised everyone) better games. Who’d have thought that the older technology would be outpacing the newer stuff.
Lucky for Sony, this did not spell the PS2’s demise. Many of its best games were yet to come and the Dreamcast?
As good as it was, no one bought it. It was ignored and went out of production.
The Dreamcast died, the N64 gradually fell off its last legs, and the PSOne was hardly going to compete with its big brother…
The PS2 had the market to itself. Some it’s games were reasonable if not as good as it should’ve been and despite this, there was no decent competition to put it down. The competitors were still a year off arriving to the UK.
The Gamecube disappeared… the Xbox seemed to be the only competitor. Every month, Microsoft released a demo or a bit of information. The Xbox began to look stronger and stronger.
May came and Nintendo official stated that they were considering cancelling the Gamecube it wasn’t a success at E3.
So the Gamecube seemed to be dying while Microsoft and Sony released more details on their upcoming machines in order to get attention.
Then E3 came. Microsoft’s stand was fairly good. But it was just things that people had heard over the last couple of months. Nothing new.
Sony’s stand had a few neat games but again, not much new to shout about. One or two nice games were unveiled but nothing really special.
The Nintendo stand blew everyone away. All it’s secret surprises were let out in one go. The hardware was magnificent and the Games were both good quality and unique.
Sony and Microsoft’s machines all seemed to orientate around “serious adult games”. The Gamecube had a several of these games and a healthy balance of unique FUN games, the sort that had never been seen before on it’s competing systems.
So a year since the console wars started but things have changed.
The PS2, it was launched with a drab amount of games, one or two nice ones like SSX and Timesplitters but otherwise pretty dull. Over the year, its catalogue has built up and there’s now a fair amount of decent titles. There’s plenty that I’d like to play, not £300 worth (or £270 worth for that matter) but it’s getting there.
I expect that come February (the Gamecube and Xbox launch), the PS2 will have a nice selection of games and be priced at £250 with a game. It will certainly be competitive.
The Xbox? E3 wasn’t its greatest moment but it still has plenty to promise.
And what’s more, “anything the PS2 can do, it can do better” seems to stand.
It’s got all the best features from the PS2 (the same sort of games, DVD, Hardrive, Operating system etc) and it’s easier to make games for too, not to mention being more powerful.
And I expect that it’ll have the best online facilities too, Microsoft being very experienced in that area with MSN’s gaming zone and messenger.
It’s downfall? It’ll be released at £300. Most people are likely to go for the cheaper option.
And then there’s the Gamecube. The cheapest system (I reckon £150 or £200 with a game). It will have all the adult games of its competitors and a rare breed of fun games. The Playstation was a breath pf fresh air to the industry with proper adult orientated games.
With every system promising the same old adult games, fun games will probably be a breath of fresh air.
I’ve got friends at school. They all own Playstations and are all casual gamers. They’re completely unbiased to any company. They all adore Mario Kart on the N64. They love it. There is a big market for fun games and it seems that Nintendo have it to themselves… unless they get shunned for their childish image.
So as it stands it can still go either way.
The PS2 was a mess up but it’s built its strength and is ready to compete with its more powerful competitors. It’s built a nice library of games and plenty more are promised.
The Gamecube has been pretty much ignored pre-E3 but it has a unique type of game that you won’t find anywhere else. It’s the best multiplayer machine by far (offline that it) and people might find themselves buying one alongside their PS2 or Xbox for when friends come round.
The Xbox is the most powerful but the most expensive. It is the ultimate tool for developers to create the games of their dreams. It depends on whether it can convince people to part with £300+.
It all depends on the advertising now. Sony needs to show the world that their console is a good as the new ones. Microsoft has got to convince everyone that his or her ultimate power machine will dominate and is worth the money.
Nintendo have got to convince the public that the Gamecube is not simply a children’s toy…
In Japan, the Gamecube is just one month away from its release. The battle for console domination is about to begin.
Who will win?
Out of all the answers and theory’s I’ve heard, Meka’s seems to be the best one:
The gamers…
As the Playstation 2 launch drew near, big arguments broke out in the SR forums over which console would be the dominant one.
Sony fans claimed that the PS2 would be an almighty hit and control the games market. The rest claimed that it was so hard to program for and that Sony had made such a mess of it that it would shrivel and die like the Saturn did.
Both sides were wrong.
At the launch itself, the Dreamcast proved to be a better buy with (and this surprised everyone) better games. Who’d have thought that the older technology would be outpacing the newer stuff.
Lucky for Sony, this did not spell the PS2’s demise. Many of its best games were yet to come and the Dreamcast?
As good as it was, no one bought it. It was ignored and went out of production.
The Dreamcast died, the N64 gradually fell off its last legs, and the PSOne was hardly going to compete with its big brother…
The PS2 had the market to itself. Some it’s games were reasonable if not as good as it should’ve been and despite this, there was no decent competition to put it down. The competitors were still a year off arriving to the UK.
The Gamecube disappeared… the Xbox seemed to be the only competitor. Every month, Microsoft released a demo or a bit of information. The Xbox began to look stronger and stronger.
May came and Nintendo official stated that they were considering cancelling the Gamecube it wasn’t a success at E3.
So the Gamecube seemed to be dying while Microsoft and Sony released more details on their upcoming machines in order to get attention.
Then E3 came. Microsoft’s stand was fairly good. But it was just things that people had heard over the last couple of months. Nothing new.
Sony’s stand had a few neat games but again, not much new to shout about. One or two nice games were unveiled but nothing really special.
The Nintendo stand blew everyone away. All it’s secret surprises were let out in one go. The hardware was magnificent and the Games were both good quality and unique.
Sony and Microsoft’s machines all seemed to orientate around “serious adult games”. The Gamecube had a several of these games and a healthy balance of unique FUN games, the sort that had never been seen before on it’s competing systems.
So a year since the console wars started but things have changed.
The PS2, it was launched with a drab amount of games, one or two nice ones like SSX and Timesplitters but otherwise pretty dull. Over the year, its catalogue has built up and there’s now a fair amount of decent titles. There’s plenty that I’d like to play, not £300 worth (or £270 worth for that matter) but it’s getting there.
I expect that come February (the Gamecube and Xbox launch), the PS2 will have a nice selection of games and be priced at £250 with a game. It will certainly be competitive.
The Xbox? E3 wasn’t its greatest moment but it still has plenty to promise.
And what’s more, “anything the PS2 can do, it can do better” seems to stand.
It’s got all the best features from the PS2 (the same sort of games, DVD, Hardrive, Operating system etc) and it’s easier to make games for too, not to mention being more powerful.
And I expect that it’ll have the best online facilities too, Microsoft being very experienced in that area with MSN’s gaming zone and messenger.
It’s downfall? It’ll be released at £300. Most people are likely to go for the cheaper option.
And then there’s the Gamecube. The cheapest system (I reckon £150 or £200 with a game). It will have all the adult games of its competitors and a rare breed of fun games. The Playstation was a breath pf fresh air to the industry with proper adult orientated games.
With every system promising the same old adult games, fun games will probably be a breath of fresh air.
I’ve got friends at school. They all own Playstations and are all casual gamers. They’re completely unbiased to any company. They all adore Mario Kart on the N64. They love it. There is a big market for fun games and it seems that Nintendo have it to themselves… unless they get shunned for their childish image.
So as it stands it can still go either way.
The PS2 was a mess up but it’s built its strength and is ready to compete with its more powerful competitors. It’s built a nice library of games and plenty more are promised.
The Gamecube has been pretty much ignored pre-E3 but it has a unique type of game that you won’t find anywhere else. It’s the best multiplayer machine by far (offline that it) and people might find themselves buying one alongside their PS2 or Xbox for when friends come round.
The Xbox is the most powerful but the most expensive. It is the ultimate tool for developers to create the games of their dreams. It depends on whether it can convince people to part with £300+.
It all depends on the advertising now. Sony needs to show the world that their console is a good as the new ones. Microsoft has got to convince everyone that his or her ultimate power machine will dominate and is worth the money.
Nintendo have got to convince the public that the Gamecube is not simply a children’s toy…
In Japan, the Gamecube is just one month away from its release. The battle for console domination is about to begin.
Who will win?
Out of all the answers and theory’s I’ve heard, Meka’s seems to be the best one:
The gamers…
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your not just taking the mickey? is that really all that was wrong?
Yes, go into the volume settings and turn it up to "1". It's fine then.
could u just clear somthingup for me...is it me or is the sound really low when playing DVDs on the PS2?
Oh right. Him. I see.
So, what do you want to argue about tonight? Now you like the PS2, we're a bit stumped ;-)
So, what do you want to argue about tonight? Now you like the PS2, we're a bit stumped ;-)
appreciation of new signing for man utd. especially since he is an argentinian
As a matter of interest, why did you change your name?
nice to be appreciated. thanx
Ah good. Nice to see you with your old name back there Ortega!
BEing a ninty myself, i am surprised at the quality of the PS2. I think it is too far ahead of the game, and GC will always be second best. GC doesnt have a good starting lineup. Perfect dark zero wont be seen for a year after launch, and we still dont have any news on Zelda or mario.
*Dan looks at his incoming collection of GC games, and frowns. Dan opens Word...*
Well, I really really hate these topics because I really have heard it all before, but anyway.
It really is very hard to say which way it will go because, as you say, all machines have strengths and weaknesses. The PS2 will have a lot more great games in a year's time, and it will easily rival the GC's collection. The GameCube is ages away and gamers tired of their PSones or N64s could get bored and need a console NOW. This was one of the downfalls of the N64, could Nintendo make the same mistake again? Aside from that, the Nintendo does have a large following anyway, and does have the most "fun" games. However, this is a double-edged sword as all my gaming friends (Nintys and otherwise) definitely agree that Nintendo games are for kids despite what Nintendo say. Yes, the GC will have more "adult" games (finally seeing the light) but with THAT reputation, one wonders if it will make a difference.
Now we come to the newcomers, the Xbox. This is a tough call. Sony were also newcomers but they did come in with the advantage of being first on the market with the most powerful console and an older appeal. The Xbox is last on the market, with the most powerful console (but only just) and the same older appeal. Not looking to good then. Also added to this are Microsoft's reputation. Sony came and were generally accepted to have conquered the general entertainment market so they could be a worth choice in consoles. Microsoft come in, however, with quite a bad reputation as being slow, unreliable and evil. Who knows what will happen, but here's my (unbiased) view:
The Xbox won't do too well and will fade into the background. It won't "die" in the same sense of the Dreamcast as MS have the resources to keep it going, but fail it will nonetheless.
The PS2 will rule alongside the GameCube. Sony's machine will cater for the older, more mature gamer as well as the softcore. The Nintendo will appeal to young and family gamers and although they will start off with older games, these will get fewer and revert to the usual Nintendo mix.
The two machines will live in harmony. Nintys and Sonyphiles will argue about which one's better for eternity, but here's the beauty of it:
They will both be right, as they will be best in different ways.
Well, I really really hate these topics because I really have heard it all before, but anyway.
It really is very hard to say which way it will go because, as you say, all machines have strengths and weaknesses. The PS2 will have a lot more great games in a year's time, and it will easily rival the GC's collection. The GameCube is ages away and gamers tired of their PSones or N64s could get bored and need a console NOW. This was one of the downfalls of the N64, could Nintendo make the same mistake again? Aside from that, the Nintendo does have a large following anyway, and does have the most "fun" games. However, this is a double-edged sword as all my gaming friends (Nintys and otherwise) definitely agree that Nintendo games are for kids despite what Nintendo say. Yes, the GC will have more "adult" games (finally seeing the light) but with THAT reputation, one wonders if it will make a difference.
Now we come to the newcomers, the Xbox. This is a tough call. Sony were also newcomers but they did come in with the advantage of being first on the market with the most powerful console and an older appeal. The Xbox is last on the market, with the most powerful console (but only just) and the same older appeal. Not looking to good then. Also added to this are Microsoft's reputation. Sony came and were generally accepted to have conquered the general entertainment market so they could be a worth choice in consoles. Microsoft come in, however, with quite a bad reputation as being slow, unreliable and evil. Who knows what will happen, but here's my (unbiased) view:
The Xbox won't do too well and will fade into the background. It won't "die" in the same sense of the Dreamcast as MS have the resources to keep it going, but fail it will nonetheless.
The PS2 will rule alongside the GameCube. Sony's machine will cater for the older, more mature gamer as well as the softcore. The Nintendo will appeal to young and family gamers and although they will start off with older games, these will get fewer and revert to the usual Nintendo mix.
The two machines will live in harmony. Nintys and Sonyphiles will argue about which one's better for eternity, but here's the beauty of it:
They will both be right, as they will be best in different ways.
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