3 replies to this topic

[Carl]

Well my verdict is in, and although I will buy at least one system this generation, the whole generation just isn't sitting too well with me.  I'll start with the system that launched first and go from there, these are based upon the North American release dates as of this date.

PC:
I may just have to get a new PC as I saw a laptop with a 256 MB graphics card for less than 400 that is almost as powerful as mine, as I mentioned earlier.  However, I thought my 64 MB card would last for much longer than it turned out to.  In some respects it did (I can play Halo, Star Wars KOTOR and Battlefront that actually require DirectX 9, although my card only supports in hardware DirectX 7) but it only lasted for about two years until the 128 MB cards started taking full steam.  When Doom 3 rolled around, I knew my card had been outdated.

That's the main problem with me on the PC gaming front I suppose, I LOVE laptops.  I love being able to take my system places (easily, as compared to a box and monitor), even if my laptop doesn't have much of a portable power supply, there's usually a plug anyways.  But laptops rarely are able to upgrade their graphics card, and so if I do get more into PC gaming I'll have to buy a new laptop with the option to upgrade the graphics card.  Which might be a bit more expensive than the (a little less than) $400 laptop.

X-Box 360:
Although I despised its predecessor when it originally came out (I still hate MS quite a bit but I've tried to get past a little bit of my console bashing habits), the X-Box nevertheless was essential in my college years as I majored in Computer Science and minored in Halo.  But that title was really the only one (besides Ninja Gaiden, and I'm not sure if that's backwards compatible) that stuck with me.  When Halo 2 came out, it was also good.  But Halo 3 hasn't come out yet.  I DO like some of the games that I've seen with the X-Box 360 (Call of Duty 2, Fight Night Round whateverthehelltheroundnumberisnow, etc) but some look like utter crap (Saint's Row?!  I'd rather just get the GTA3/VC combo pack, because that game just looks like a GTA-knock off with a custom character creator).  Still, the graphical promise is still there.

However, being as technical as I am, I cannot in good con-dammit I can't spell this word!  buy the X-Box 360 core system.  To upgrade it to be as capable as the X-Box 360 (as the core is referred to as the X-Box (insert word here)), would take more money than to just purchase the so-called "premium-edition" X-Box 360 for $400.  But that's just about as much as that laptop (more when you count the controllers), though I can't really play laptop games with my friends around a tv.

What's really going to make me get the 360 is Halo 3.  That's the be-all end-all of that decision.  Once Halo 3 comes out, I must get it.  I'll also buy that pack that has Halo 1 and 2 and the maps to complete the series.  But since Halo 3 hasn't come out yet, the nice graphical upgrade can't convince me to buy an X-Box 360, as I think X-Box games look nice, hell, I think a lot of Gamecube games get little credit in their graphics as well (Resident Evil 4, F-Zero GX, etc).

PS3:
If the price of the nice graphics of the X-Box 360 is making me balk, and I've already explained how I cannot in good con-whatever purchase the downgraded system, the PS3 is a joke financially.  I don't have an HD set and I have no reason whatsoever for a new format for my movies.  There's plenty of DVDs out there that I don't buy, I don't need another video player that doesn't get enough use.

The PS3 is probably my most picked-on system, simply because I don't like the controller, I never have liked it.  Recently I've just gotten USED to it, and that was from playing Final Fantasy 7.  The X-Box and GC use letter names on their controllers (besides the black and CLEAR, it's not WHITE buttons on the X-Box controller) and that is much more easy for me to use than square, rectangle etc.  It's like a learning exercise everytime I played the thing.  There's limited color coding but it is hard to see (it's not very contrasting), so until I played FF7 which had a minigame for controller usage, I had no idea which button was which (I just had to memorize button mapping to functions in the game).

But the main reason for not liking the controller (besides another secondary reason that it is the only controller to give me blisters after a mere 45 minutes of playing) is the joystick placement.  I don't like it, I feel that the joysticks should be the primary input of a supposed 3D centered console as the Playstation is geared towards, and putting it on the bottom just makes it weird for me.  Besides which most developers for the Playstation just map the directional pad controls to the primary joystick, making it useless.  Hopefully, if the PS3 ever succeeds in getting off the ground, we'll see more games in the vein of San Andreas which make you use the joysticks for functions that differ from the directional pad, as the Gamecube and X-Box had been doing from the start.

And what the hell is with the crippled motion-sensing?  I'd hardly call that a replacement for the rumble, seeing as the Wii controllers have both.  What's with that?  The PS3 is definitely going to be a "bargain-bin write-off" buy for me, if at all.  A dearth of launch titles and exclusitivity don't really appeal to me, either.

Wii:
Besides the stupid name, this is probably the system that I was most excited for.  But damn it, I wish the price point was lower.  And what's with the releasing after PS3?   Still, even with three more wiimotes and nunchucks, it will be cheaper than the PS3, and it comes with Wii sports which I wanted to get anyways.  But I had wished to have the browser built-in, but it looks like it will cost some money.  Probably like 10 or 20 dollars, still, that kinda pisses me off as I wanted a portable you-tube viewer from the get-go.

Basically there are three games that I want to get for the Wii for the forseeable future.  For the launch, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, although if they do not make it an option of which hand you can use the sword in, I'll be using my left hand because Nintendo messed that issue up.   Link's a southpaw.   Always has been, always should be.  The other two games are Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.  I'm also thinking about picking up Madden 2007, and I'll get Super Smash Brothers Brawl when it eventually comes out.

But DAMN, the price is higher than I wanted it to be: 200.  I would also have accepted a 229 price point as well,  but 250 is kinda expensive.  Oh well, I'll just consider the wii sports as that 50 extra.  But that also disappoints me.

So overall the prices of the next generation are appaling, even the cheapest of them all, the Wii, with 50 more than I wanted it to be.  I'm still going to get the Wii, but just because of Twilight Princess really, and the Virtual Console.  I'm not looking forward to paying the X-Box live fees when I get a 360, but I'll cross that bridge when Halo 3 comes out.

[The One]

hrmm... we shall see how things come out.   you know the Wii will sell for 99 bucks at some point.  and the PS3 will sell for 449, and the X-Box will sell for 299 by the end.

[Carl]

i heard the Wii starting price is close to 300 as PS3 is 500 for the low end on and 600 for the high end one

It is close to 300.  $50 close to $300.  It's $250.  Release date November 19, two days after the release of the PS3.