The next gen consoles then and now – Revisited

I wrote this little ditty sometime last summer, analyzing all three consoles and how they had changed since launch. Since then the market has seen more major shifts, so I want to take yet another look at the Wii, 360 and PS3, and see what we might expect from them in 2009.

Microsoft
Then: I claimed before that Microsoft looked to be getting wishy washy, constantly tweaking the policies and features behind the 360, leaving early adopters in the cold and not focusing on the important issues that need fixing.

Now: Microsoft embarrassed my predictions through and through. The Red Rings of Death have waned, and whether or not it is a good thing, the community has mostly gotten used to dealing with them when they do occasionally pop up, much like we got used to replacing old PS2s. My worry about HDMI-less old model 360’s was hyperbole at best, after realizing that the games look good enough for me on a good HDTV via component cables. The scare about old Arcade games being delisted turned out not to be a trend, and my hope that Microsoft would define the “Xbox brand” is slowly becoming a reality thanks to the New Xbox Experience.

Personally, I think the NXE is a slightly prettier piece of junk, still plagued with ads and confusingly organized. I’m also bothered by the fact that the interface and new Avatars are made with the sole intention of getting you to buy MS Points (and to copy Mii’s). Ultimately, the NXE is still a success because it is friendlier to navigate for basic tasks and the Avatars mostly capture the charm of Mii’s, which makes the 360 a viable option for casual gamers and families.

For your power users, the features under the hood are what shine. We can now rip games to the hard disk, and anyone with a Netflix subscription can now access their growing library of streaming movies from the 360. These two features aren’t perfect, mostly because the 360 has no standard storage medium, meaning that folks jumping for that $200 Arcade model will miss out (and the rest of us will deal with paltry 20gig drives). They are still remarkable because they are an example of how Microsoft defies our expectations. Sony bragged forever about how the PS3 has a harddrive standard, and that the power of Blu Ray makes it the entertainment center of your dreams. You would think that these two features would hit PS3 first, but they haven’t. If MS can get more users to sign up for bigger 360 drives, then they’ve just made a console that is as good for media as the PS3, and about as intuitive.

MS is getting smarter with the 360. They know when to innovate and when to follow the lead of their competition, allowing them to create a console that has few shortcomings and a few unique features that have transformed it from the lowest common denominator to perhaps the strongest console pound for pound. I still am wary about what NXE’s obsession with micro transactions may mean for the future of the Xbox line, but with the 360 I see Microsoft controlling their own destiny. They simply cannot reach number one, but perhaps they can steer the entire Xbox project into profitability and definitely win their “we’re only competing with Sony” grudge match.

Sony
Then: I claimed Sony was getting a softer, fan friendlier side, and that they were on pace to iron out the kinks in the Playstation Family. They wouldn’t win, but they would stay strong.

Now: What the hell was I thinking? I swear I wasn’t sipping Sony Kool Aid (I have proof!). In just a few short months, Sony put the brakes on their improvements, and have returned to their previous way of either screwing up or doing nothing. The big in-game XMB patch from the summer is still groovy, and I haven’t had problems with online lag. We also got the once non-free PSP Media Manager for PC, with access to the Playstation Store and everything. Yet I still feel empty.

I’m wondering why I can’t harddrive install all my games, why it took so long to mandate in-game support for Trophies (which have the potential to work better than 360 achievements at tracking your overall skills). I look at the PSP offerings on PSN and find myself unable to download a 1.1 gig game to a 2 gig Memory Stick because Sony downloads require installation (which means that secretly, they need double the space). Also, while there are a few really great games for download, it only reminds me that the Japanese PSN has a stupid amount of classic PS1 games that we’ll never see. The PSP is dying, if not already dead. As the handheld’s games eventually vanish from shelves, the smartest thing to do would be to work with publishers and get as many UMD Legacy games as possible on PSN. I have no confidence that this will happen.

The company also got beat up by the market. Blu Ray actually hasn’t won. It beat HD-DVD, but is currently losing to the recession. It isn’t picking up, not only because DVDs are still useful, but because streaming services and digital downloads are becoming more popular. What would you rather have – the crisp viewing experience of a $30 Blu Ray, or the crisp viewing experience of a streaming movie from a Netflix subscription you probably already have? 15 – love for Microsoft. Will Sony make it deuce?

Sony’s community blogs are still decent at telling us about cool stuff coming out, but they won’t ever tell us why the more important features are ignored. The company appears to be sitting on its hands doing nothing. Is it money? Lack of direction? Lack of insight as to what they should be doing? I don’t know, but today the Playstation line looks like the mopey kid in the corner who is crying and won’t stand up for itself. Of course, most of us won’t stand up for him either, because we haven’t forgotten that he put Sega in an eight year coma and turned the school against Nintendo. I used to hate Sony with a passion; now I don’t really care if they get their just desserts. I’m deep into the Playstation family, and I’d like to see a good product out of them, not squandered potential (though if that is what I get, all ten of my fingers will be pointing at them).

Oh, and Home is miserable. Lifeless avatars with nothing to do make NXE look amazing. How do you work on this for well over a year and release it with bugs? Because it wasn’t finished. Why wasn’t it finished? The world may never know. Stay away from Playstation. I can’t say I feel like either console was a waste (I use their media features a lot), but I don’t like the future at all.

Nintendo
Then: Nintendo was selling like mad, but they were unable to make enticing first party games or convince others to steer away from minigame hell.

Now: You could mostly cut and paste the last entry here. The most enticing Wii software won’t be found on a disc. The Virtual Console and WiiWare have been nice, but after blowing its load with sequels for every major franchise, Nintendo seems stuck with nothing new to work on. I appreciate how they are willing to experiment with something like Wii Music, but I’d also rather see that same effort go towards a sequel to Excite Truck or some work on Kid Icarus. At this point Nintendo doesn’t have to care, but I want them to. Not because I need justification for buying a Wii, but because I remember what happened the first time Nintendo’s head got big and they started getting lazy. Until the Wii, every Nintendo console dropped in overall sales. Have they forgotten this? They need to stay on top of the game.

At the very least, we know that Dragon Quest X is heading to the Wii. This could be the game that jumps starts the Wii library, as more hesitant Japanese developers jump onto the console with more quality efforts, but it is a bit too early to know for sure.