I find myself sitting here today, on the verge of the next console generation. The Wii U was the first to push their next console out the doors. Now with the Xbox One and PS4 arriving supposedly later this year, I feel as though it is most appropriate to actually take a look back and see what I thought of this generation. These are simply my views on things. Nothing more, nothing less.
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We'll start off with Microsoft. Releasing in 2005, the Xbox 360 console was the first to launch us into the next generation at that time. It certainly wasn't the best designed console (on how it was put together, not hardware-wise.), yet it gave us a significant step up in both the graphical quality and scope of games. They started out quite strongly in regards to catering both the Western and Eastern styles of games. I bring this up, because of Japan and Microsoft's Xbox 360's current relationship as it stands today. Microsoft managed to secure some great exclusive Japanese Role-playing games. This in theory should have moved units. It did to a certain extent, but support for the system quickly fell over the years in that region. Why this happened? I can only speculate, which I think would veer off a bit from my initial point of this blog. I have heard people commenting that Japanese simply don't like it because it's made in America. Which is entirely untrue when you look at Apple's case over there. The Japanese love the iPhone, which is certainly not a Japanese product.
America was the biggest leader in sales for the Xbox 360, and things were going very well for Microsoft. Over time however, especially the last couple of years Microsoft seems to have shifted their focus away from what it once was. In the beginning, they released some very interesting and wonderful exclusive games. Coming upon the end of this generation I've seen a drop in indie support which was a very big thing for the Xbox 360. As well as a lack of original IP's being made. They focused a lot of time and effort into Kinect, which by all means is a wise business choice if they want to sell more units. It however left a large hole for gamers in general. One that should have been filled with at least a few original game announcements, but was left to sit as the next generation started to unveil itself.
Then we have Xbox Live Gold. A membership, which at the time was phenomenal. It was certainly worth the money paid, because no other console was unifying the online world like Live was. It justified itself in the early years of this generation. Later on down the road however, we saw the release of the PlayStation 3, as well as the Wii. Granted, at the time neither of their online services were much of a match for Live. Skip ahead to 2013 though, and you'll find that services like Steam and the PlayStation Network are quite refined. These things have caused the justified expense of Gold for Xbox to become rather unnecessary. Microsoft should have at least given gamers the ability to play online without having to pay for a membership. If people wanted the extra benefits that comes with Gold, that is fine. Allow them to pay for those. Being a frequent gamer on both Steam and the PlayStation Network, I simply can't find myself willing to pay Gold anymore when I can get practically the same quality of online experience with these two.
The bottom line being... Microsoft started out extremely well, but let things start to stagnate. They supported their 360 platform early on, if only they'd continued to support it like that throughout its lifespan. Microsoft should take note of this for their next console. Whether they do or not however, remains to be seen.
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Now we'll move to Nintendo. Their console, the Nintendo Wii launched in 2006. There was a lot of hype surrounding it for their bold new direction of motion control gaming. Even I was caught up in that hype, and very excited the day I got my Wii in. The games were fresh and new, a wonderful experience right from the start. I bought six games with my Wii when it launched, and I recall only playing Wii Sports the entire night. It was just so much fun at the time, I didn't even get to try out my copy of Zelda Twilight Princess. There was no doubt that Nintendo's Wii console was a smashing success. Not only with core gamers, but casuals as well. For the first time parents, children, and even grandparents were all playing games together. It drew a lot of attention, and they rode that wave all the way to success, right?
Yes, and no... Financially speaking, Nintendo did extremely well with the Wii. They took this console generation's first place, in terms of sales numbers. Yet, the core games were too far between each other. The Wii was flooded with loads of casual games, for casual gamers and the novelty of motion control wore off rather quickly. These two things caused the core gamers to let the Wii sit and collect dust while they played their 360's, PC's, or PS3's. I loved my Wii the first few months, but after I'd played the main games I wanted to play in its initial launch, the system simply sat there in disuse for too long. There ARE some amazing games out there for the Wii, there's no doubt there, but they were just too few and far between. One thing I will say about Nintendo this generation however... They did "one-up" (Mario joke anyone?) Microsoft in their 'end game'. At the end of the Wii's lifespan, we got to see two amazing RPG's localized. The Last Story and Xenoblade were very well made games, especially the latter. Xenoblade was one of my favorite RPG's in recent memory. I'm glad Nintendo kept their fans tided over nicely coming into the next generation like they did.
The Wii's online service is the most cumbersome of the three big console companies. The friend IDs were an okay idea, but it was too troublesome to try and make friends with people online. As a result I only had two friends on my Wii. Whereas I had 10+ on both the PSN and Xbox Live.
Whether you liked the Wii or hated it. There's no doubt it was a financial success. It also did some good in getting families together, and putting gaming in a more positive light than it usually got. It had some wonderful gems amid all the shovelware, and the motion control novelty wore off a little too quickly. However, it was a well made system, and I'm sure it won't soon be forgotten.
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Last but not least, we have Sony. They released their console the PlayStation 3 in 2006 as well. It was considered the most affordable blu-ray player at the time, and was relying on riding the wave of success from their PlayStation 2 console. Sony had become quite full of themselves at this time, telling people to get a second job if they wanted their system. It was extremely pricey, and while it did have some interesting IP's to start off with, the game library at the time was lacking.
The systems were taking money out of Sony's pocket and causing them to fall into financial decline. Their focus however remained on games, and soon enough we got to see some amazing and original IP's that continued to grow and grow. One complaint I continually heard over the first year or two of the PlayStation 3 launch, was that there were no games. It seems as though Sony must have taken that to heart, as they've lately been releasing too many exclusives to count. Everything from tiny little "Mini" games, all the way up to "AAA" quality titles. One can't deny that Sony has invested a lot to keep core gamers happy. It seems to be their main focus, and that's definitely a good thing.
Moving on to the PlayStation Network, it wasn't the most polished network out there, but it worked well enough. It was free, and it was acceptable. However, as time went on, Sony introduced PlayStation Plus. A service which has quickly become a smashing success in the eyes of most gamers who have subscribed to the service. With the promise of your "Instant Game Collection", and getting new games every month, there really wasn't much to dislike about it. You pay your set standard fee, and you get to play all the games you want in your collection. The longer you're subscribed, the more games you'll have to play. It's a win/win for both Sony and the consumer in most cases.
When 2012 rolled around, a man named Kaz Hirai stepped up as the president and CEO of Sony. Under his leadership, the company restructured their services, and made a unified experience. He has been working tirelessly to turn Sony around from the financial pit they'd found themselves in early on with the PlayStation 3 console. Now that they've climbed out of that hole and are starting to make some real profit again, the future of PlayStation is looking brighter than ever.
I consider the PlayStation 3 to be the exact opposite of the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 was shining brilliantly when it launched and a few years after that. The PlayStation 3 came out with nothing to show, and no justification for its price tag other than it being a blu-ray player. Now it seems as though roles have been reversed. The PlayStation 3 is doing amazingly well and churning out lots of new exclusives, whereas the Xbox 360 has hit a rut and has left gamers with nothing to look forward to anymore. Both systems were extremely capable, but Sony's strong support for their platform has gained them the lead this time around it seems.
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There we have it... These are just my thoughts on this generation, and I hope they were at least somewhat entertaining to read through. I made a blog before, and some liked it, so I figured I'd try again. Thanks to anyone who decided to read through my post, I really appreciate it! No matter what system you side with, or what games you like to play... We've all made gaming our hobby and to some of us it's a lifestyle. I'm fortunate to have discovered such a passion for games, and I can't wait to see where the next generation of consoles will take us. Everyone out there keep on gaming!
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omg, who in Sony camp decided to do this should no longer have a job. They almost ruin a really good game sales.
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Great blog, snookies (as usual). It's nice to take a look back at the previous gen. It helps us see what may be coming in the future for these three companies.
I'm saddened that the Wii has the label of "casual machine". I'm not aiming this at you specifically, by the way. That reputation blinded a lot of gamers to the legitimately-good core games on the Wii. I think as the dislike for Wii fades away and people look back to the 7th gen to see what they missed (it happens every single time we move into a new gen), gamers will realize there's a wealth of excellent and unique Wii games they missed out on.
The reason apple does really well in japan is that it's not really a very american product. It's small, appealing looking and very quiet. It would be very easy to mistake it being designed in Japan or south korea or another asian country.
However though with the xbox it is a very american product. It's big, bulky, loud and a bit tacky. Not saying that all american products are like this of course
I think both sides had their ups and downs as well as a ridiculous amount of fanboy BS and the next gen will build upon this for better or worse
I like this blog now allow me to opinion on my reflection of this generation. Frankly speaking it has been a let down for me as console gamer vet. Well I lost a lot of options and choices like map editors which only like two or three console games offer, meaningless alternate endings which is just red and blue, no free unlockables, no alternate paths, or mini games plus cheat codes are non existent. My original plan for this generation was to use the PS3 as an OEM computer and a gaming console.
I know everyone is laughing right now but I was tired of Microsoft Windows joke of a security system, blue screens, the computer rebooting itself every 15 minutes. Since OEM were at the same price as the PS3 at that time it made more sense for me to get the PS3 due to it offered Linux and a gaming console together one machine to do it all. No need to have a PC and a console well it didn't work due to it was hellish to implement Linux onto PS3 never mind the lack of support from the Linux community since in their eyes the PS3 is a gaming console. Guess what reluctantly I bought a new computer. Since the original plan failed miserably and sadly Windows still a joke were it works well with steam and crunchy roll plus office but outside of that it falls apart. Now I have a computer with Ubuntu plus Windows (most mainstreaming titles are for Windows besides Wine it works but it requires the user to make the Windows game compatible for Linux meaning the game that runs well on Windows runs with issues on Linux like crashing no sound or looking like a PS2 game.) I turned an OEM into a Gaming PC.
Okay I had a terrible PC gaming experience back in the early 2000 for one CD keys, two installing a game on to the hard drive will take an hour or more plus I was not able to do anything but wait for the game to install three go through eight digital pages or so in regards to license agreements Eula, direct x, etc. Game crashing all the time and finally my antivirus program kept telling me that my games were viruses or mal ware which slowed my OEM to turtle speed blue screens and reboots. Must have been the Snes9x, Nester, or Gens that ruined my OEM I don't know. Anyhow why would I returned to this nightmare you may ask well because it no longer was a nightmare.
STEAM is a online gaming service sent from heaven. Cheap extremely cheap games no longer I needed to spend $60.00 plus tax for games , deal with on line passes or with the PS3 constant useless game updates or being shoved to the side due to Playstation Qore members were ignored and thrown down the gutter for Playstation Plus service. To us Qore members we were promised early beta access for all PS3 games, I assumed I was going to get free games because I received through Qore spyro the dragon and a bowling game, lots of themes and some demos. Anyhow, Steam made it easier for me to buy and play games. Now I can download a game while I play another game or watch a movie. I can use mods through the steam workshop or suggest Valve what gems are out there via steam green light. The online gaming portion is similar to PS3 minus messaging to steam friends offline or able to create sub accounts is a neat feature for the PS3 basically you create a main account for the system then a sub account for your brother /sister. Is neat in the sense each one keeps their own trophy collection and game progress along with your own friends independently from the main account. It also let's sub account gamers to play all the games the main account holder bought. Which this feature was on Steam Damn it. At least there is private servers which allow gamers to play online games that the game developer shut off the servers of say game. Don't forget the many amazing indie games like "To the Moon". Now everyone knows my stance on the xbox 360 is garbage and I already posted how this system is garbage the only redeeming quality is the party system, true skill system and zones. For every thing else you have to pay and pay and pay some more. The wii was targeted at the casual gaming audience since the NES gamers abandoned Nintendo. Nintendo showed it's new audience how gaming was like before the wii through the virtual store, the few hardcore games were there to move the new audience from playing simple easy to play and master games into a more in depth complex gaming experience. All of this offered at bargain prices. For those reasons it makes the wii not only a retail success but also the system that brought a new audience new competition (Apple Google). It also showed how to make a console cheap efficient and fun for its intended audience (casuals and family), is a great system but I was not the targeted audience to begin with and besides I went through that wii experience back in the late eighties. But for this new audience it was their first time playing games and understanding gaming culture and history. That is what made the wii a success and a hallmark for this generation.