A $600 pricetag is not going to light the world on fire immediately. This is a marathon, not a sprint. The Cell was chosen because it has deep potential to last for a long time, well into 2010. The PS3 and 360 will be relevant and not outdated both gameplay wise and visually even if they are surrounded by HDTVs and HD movies and digital media downloads. They have that all covered. Nintendo has none of that covered. It's relying on one controller to save them and last for five years. The hardware sure won't last when the specs reveal it is pretty much tapped out already like the original Xbox.
You look at the success of the Wii now and think it will continue that way for five years. I'm saying, the PS3 has every reason to bounce back -- it will be cheaper, have more games, will provide media features that will only become more popular in five years, and finally just name recognition alone and install base is still worth a lot in this industry. This is not Nokia or Panasonic, this is SONY
PhoebusFlows
The PS3 has top-notch hardware, there's no arguing that. If success and longevity in the gaming industry were decided on that factor alone, Sony would have already conqured this gen. In practice however, the factor that makes or breaks a console is (not surprisingly) games. Despite how advanced (or inferior) the PS1&2 were relative to their competition, they were successful because of their exclusive titles. Specifically, the exclusive titles produced by Grade A 3rd party developers that Sony happened to have a stranglehold on. As that stranglehold dissolves, you really start to get an idea just how viable and competent Sony's gaming division is on it's own merits. Nobody's going to buy a PS3 just to play the latest Daxter, but how many times have you heard "I want a PS3 so I can play MGS4 and FFXIII". Imagine if those titles were offically announced multiplat with no delayed release dates. Although the PS3 has amazing specs, Sony simply can't support their own consoles without considerable assitance from others. It's a completely different story with Nintendo.
You write off the Wii remote and suggest Nintendo will fail in the long run because of the Wii'scomparatively weaker specs. But again, you ignore the most important part of the equation; games. When you think about long-lived and successful franchises, what developer comes to mind first? Even without 3rd party support, Nintendo will be able to strongly support themselves. The Wii can't rightly rely soley on the Wii remote to succeed, just as Sony can't expect the PS3's power or Blu-Ray to do all the heavy lifting. The bottom line is that Nintendo will surely endure this generation regardless of HD or inferior graphics. Sony's success depends not on their own abilities to make powerful consoles, but 3rd party developers' abilities to make great exclusives (the biggest of which's exclusivity is rather ambiguous at the moment).
That really is hilarious how you think Little Big Planet was inspired by Nintendo. You can import personal jpgs and designs on the fly, play online multiplayer and actually *gasp* chat with three other players, create your own levels, upload it for anyone in the world to try. This is like a virtual video game Myspace community.
Name one Nintendo game that does that? No voice chat, no online (except for two games), can't upload or download much of anything. Just because Little Big Planet has a "cute" look does not mean Nintendo has the monopoly on "cute looks." Otherwise I'd give that honor to Disney for inventing it, and even then he got it from somewhere else. Forget the looks of the game, look at the LittleBigPlanet can do -- things even the big budget Wii titles can't do.
PhoebusFlows
I wasn't saying the game mechanics were inspired by Nintendo, simply the aesthetics. When I first saw the game, the character designs and emphasis on cooperation seemed instantly reminiscent of Animal Crossing. I'm not saying Nintendo owns the trademark for cute games, simply that they've reduced some of the scrutiny cute games tend to face. Nonetheless, the LittleBigPlanet bit was a very minor part of my arguement and a strange thing to pick out. I'd be more interested in hearing you elaborate on what you think Nintendo has or will copy from other companies.
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