jchenx's Journal: E3 Impressions

Overall E3 impressions so far ...

Sony: Ugh. Expensive! $600 for the premium is just crazy. I know Kutaragi said the PS3 would be costly, but still, it hurts just to see that number. The two SKU model is pretty stupid too. The $500 model is missing too many options. It'd be silly to buy that model, since any one upgrade (upgraded HD, WiFi adaptor, etc.) is probably going to be close to $100 anyway. Why not future-proof yourself for a $100 more?

As for the games, as suspected, they don't look 2x better than 360 titles, as many Sony fanbois were declaring. In fact, they look to be on the same level (just much more expensive). FFXIII certainly looks nice, but that's CG! We're still at least a year or two before that title finally ships. I know I'll be getting a PS3 just because I'm a Square-Enix whore, so hopefully the PS3 will be relatively "cheap" by the time FFXIII comes out.

Oh, and don't get me started on that copycat controller of theirs ...

Nintendo: Wow, what a difference a week makes. Last week, Nintendo was everyone's whipping boy for having such an awful name for the new system. But now that everyone's gotten a chance to see the Wii in action, damn does it look fun. Sure, the graphics aren't all that hot, but as long as it's fun, I don't care all too much. I skipped the GameCube, but I can definately say I'm getting a Wii. Maybe even at launch, if it turns out to be $200-$250 as everyone is speculating.

Microsoft: Yeah, I'm biased, but I honestly think MS did a good job this year. Gears of War looks hot. The GTA4 announcement was killer. Sure, if MS were able to score it as a 360 exclusive, you could essentially call the PS3 DOA, but I'm sure Sony made that pretty much impossible. Still, having it on day one is going to be huge, since GTA3 alone sold millions of PS2s. Anyway, another game I'm psyched about is Mass Effect from Bioware. That, and CONTRA FOR XBLA!!! I can't wait to get on some U-U-D-D-L-R-L-R co-op action with friends. Hmm, and I'm willing to be there'll be the following achievement for the game: NOT-A-CHEATER - Beat the game *without* the Konami code. :)

Summary
In summary, I can't believe Sony has shot themselves in the foot this badly. I think trying to bundle with Blu-ray has really killed them this round. A year ago, if you had told me that Sony was NOT going to be the #1 player in next-gen, I would have said you were crazy. Now that's not so obvious anymore, with Nintendo zooming way up, Sony plummeting heavily, and MS maintaining a healthy position.

I'll be conservative and say that Sony will still be market leader for next-gen, simply because they still have so many exclusives with developers. But it's not going to be the 80/10/10 split like it was last time, and there will be a lot more parity. That will mean more multi-platform games and fewer exclusives. That should be good for many gamers, who can't afford every single console on the market.