Watching the E3 coverage, online and on G4TV, a relatively clear picture has emerged as to what the strategies are of the big three game console companies (Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo).
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 is not really so much a next-gen console as it is MS’s stealthy attempt at getting a home entertainment computer attached to your TV set. They have bet that what people want (even if they don’t know they want it yet) is a box that can not only do games, but can be the gateway to a whole bunch of services and a virtual marketplace that’ll suck in the whole family. J Allard got a lot of snickers over a vision he laid out in the press conference of two 360 users: Striker, a hardcore gamer, probably the purchaser of the console, and VelocityGirl, likely his kid sister, who’s not interested in games, but uses the built-in marketplace/micropayments system to create T-shirts and other products, and designs game components to sell to gamers like Striker. Then, of course, mom and pop like the photo slideshow capabilities, the digital music playback, the movie trailers, etc. It’s one big happy family warming their hands over the digital fireplace thoughtfully provided by Chairman Bill.
Sony’s vision is very different. They’re all muscle and hardware, building their console around the amazing Cell processor. They really went all out to create a true next-gen platform that pushes currently available hardware to the limit. It’s all about wow factor and trying to get developers excited about creating levels of gaming experience not previously possible. The PS3 will have a removable hard drive and also have some home entertainment functionality, but that’s not really a focus. Same with online play. Sony thinks that online play isn’t nearly as important as MS thinks it is and they’ll offer more of it as the demand is there. It’s really telling that, as MS spent 20 minutes talking about Striker and VelocityGirl using all of the services on 360, Sony was showing jaw-dropping videos demonstrating the raw processing/real-time rendering power of PS3.
And then there’s Nintendo. So Japanese. Understated. Humble. Holding tight to their long-standing tradition of not overhyping what’s not ready to show (“understate and over deliver” is their motto). They showed scant little of the Revolution and premiered the weird GameBoy Micro, a cellphone-sized machine (with a teeny-tiny screen to match). But they seemed completely unphased by the bravado of the big 2. For them, it’s not about selling services or bleeding-edge hardware, it’s about creating the electronic equivalent of crack, games that are so good, so addictive, people will even buy the hardware just to play them. A lot of people bought the GameCube just to play Legend of Zelda, and Nintendogs, a pet sim, has made the Nintendo DS the biggest selling handheld in Japan by a wide margin.
So, Street Techies, time for a straw poll. In your opinion, which of these visions of the near future will win out (and yes, I understand that Nintendo is sort of in a category by itself and has no expectations of “winning” the console war)? Is the NEAR future about moving beyond the gaming experience into a wider entertainment field via the console? Or is it about creating mind-bogglingly immersive gaming worlds that are ever-closer to reality? Or does it really come down to something as “simple” as making really fun, addictive games without all of the smoke and mirrors that the other two players seem distracted by?
Discuss.