The Final Words from IGN

[kabacha]

Playstation Brand: http://ps3.ign.com/articles/709/709973p1.html

The PSP's future is very bright with a large library of great-looking titles headed our way. Developers are finally creating content developed specifically for the system, utilizing its strengths, and that's a great thing. We're starting to see really robust multiplayer functionality included in many of the upcoming games, and that too is great. Sony will continue to bolster the devices already high-end functionality with additions like GPS and EyeToy, and being able to emulate PSOne games on the handheld will woo old-school PlayStation fans. In other words, it's a good time to be a PSP owner.

The PlayStation 2's future doesn't look quite as bright as it used to, but a handful of games headed to the system later this year or early next year will likely be the best the console's ever seen. There's not as much content headed its way, but what's coming looks better than ever.

As for the PlayStation 3, our Magic 8-Ball says to check back later. One major question mark surrounding the system is how well the PlayStation name brand will carry when it has a $500 or $600 price tag hanging from it. On the positive side of things, many developers are saying that the system may in fact be as powerful as Sony has been hyping all along and the first batch of games are all taking advantage of the system's strengths in one way or another, like Assassin's Creed with its absolutely fantastic visuals or Warhawk with its tilt control.

Sony may not have had the best or flashiest showing overall at this year's E3, but the future of the PlayStation family looks extremely bright. The PS2 is going out with a bang, the PSP is rapidly maturing and the PS3 holds a lot of promise. The next year is very likely to be an amazing time for PlayStation gamers.

Nintendo Brand: http://revolution.ign.com/articles/710/710033p1.html

As E3 2006 closed, fans across the world took a collective sigh of relief. Nintendo needed to take the world by storm, and it succeeded. The Wii was the talk of the show, but whether that has anything to do with the final sales that we'll see later this year is still unknown. There's still a great deal of mystery around the console, such as final launch date and official price, but with the amount of awesome information and playable games at E3 it is hard to complain about the final details just yet. The controller is still going over a few minor changes as Nintendo prepares for the system launch, and once again the company has gone dark.
We've yet to see online support for the system and are awaiting more details on online-enabled games as well as details on Nintendo's partnership with Opera in creating a Wii web browser. We were given a taste of what Wii will offer with WiiConnect24, a new feature that allows companies to download new game content to players even when Wii is in "sleep mode," as well as a few rumors that we'd be seeing a price point as low as $199.99, but until Nintendo decides to share more launch details we're left counting the days until the Wii hits U.S. shelves.

There may be more to learn, but E3 2006 gave us more than we could ask for. Mario, Zelda and Metroid made an appearance. We learned about new console features such as an in-controller speaker (possibly microphone?), Opera web browser and WiiConnect24, and witnessed some awesome third party support. Add in the new zapper and Virtual Console controllers, the amazing Wednesday surprise of Super Smash Bros. Brawl and 27 playable E3 games (17 of them already confirmed for launch) and you've got what has been without a doubt the best E3 presentation in Nintendo's history. Once again the future is looking bright for Nintendo, and the once again the success or failure of the system relies on the unique controller. We've just begun to see if innovation can truly bring Nintendo back to the top of the gaming world, but one thing is for certain: Playing truly is believing.

Microsoft Brand: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/710/710038p1.html

Microsoft's future looks tuned, shiny, and raring to go for 2006 for Xbox 360, but not for Xbox. Going into E3, I wouldn't have said that, but Microsoft really came through with tangible, substantial stuff on X360. The company is leading with great first-party software, it's made great partnerships with all of the major third-party publishers, including a substantial effort to get Japanese publishers onboard, and it's forging ahead with innovations in Xbox Live on Xbox 360, and Live Anywhere on PCs and mobile devices.

The range of games we saw at E3 didn't show totally new genres being forged out of the ether and bold new innovations were hard to single out, but rather, we saw highly evolved game designs in traditional genres -- from Gears of War to Mass Effect to Too Human and BioShock. On Xbox, third parties have shown some interest in supporting the game (particularly in sports, shooters and action games), but an equal amount has simply decided to support Xbox 360 alone and skip Xbox altogether.

Given the price points established by Microsoft last year, and Sony's addition this year ($499 and $599), Xbox 360 looks like a very reasonable price for a system, especially given that Blu-Ray technology is still a relatively unknown to most consumers. While Sony's and Nintendo's launches this fall will grab much of the press spotlight, Microsoft future fall lineup will be impossible to ignore. Whether more people will buy a PS3, Wii, or Xbox 360, well, it's still too early to tell. If the case were just to be made by software and online options alone, Microsoft will be the one to beat, not Sony. Microsoft's chances at challenging Sony for marketshare dominance have been realized. By heading out early, taking the lead in several areas specifically online, and investing heavily in first party games while corralling solid third-party support, Microsoft has shown true leadership, intelligence and real guts. Now, all they have to do is keep the hardware supply going and to ensure that when you buy an Xbox 360, you won't have to buy another one to replace it. On the Xbox side, no price drop was announced, but we expect one later this summer or early fall. While the future looks bright for Xbox 360, the sun is setting on the first Xbox. Its days are numbered.

 

[mckmas8808]

Pretty evenly footed articles. I hope when 2007 comes Sony ditches the PS2. It's OVER Sony, PS3 is the future.

 

[Bad_Boy]

I hope when 2007 comes Sony ditches the PS2.

Only after GOW2.(feb 07)

 

[mckmas8808]

Only after GOW2.(feb 07)

Oh yeah that of course. But after GOW2, it'd be stupid for Sony to work hard on the PS2 with the 360 game lineup and Wii's low entry price.

 

[standing ovation]

I dunno. The PlayStation 2 user base isn't something to scoff at.

 

[zed]

sony will keep ps2 around for at least 3or4 years, why on earth would they kill off a profitable console.

i dont know if this is indicative of all publishers but it looks like theres gonna be ps2 titles for some time to come (gc + xbox seem to be dead)

- Sega Sammy announced its game release plans worldwide for the fiscal year of 2006, which ends on March 31, 2007:

* PSP - 29 titles
* PS2 - 28 titles
* PS3 - 17 titles
* NDS - 17 titles
* Xbox 360 - 14 titles
* Wii - 7 titles
* GC - 2 titles
* GBA - 2 titles
* Xbox - 1 title

 

[Jov]

With 100M+ PS2/PSTwo, it'll be a while until there is no support for it. I remember when I initially got my PS2, I was looking for the best PSOne games.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Pretty evenly footed articles. I hope when 2007 comes Sony ditches the PS2. It's OVER Sony, PS3 is the future.

What do you mean by ditch it? Stop producing PS2s? When they make a profit on the hardware now? That makes no sense. As long as the hardware sells and it's profitable, unless the margins are miniscule, you keep manufacturing.

 

[TheChefO]

What do you mean by ditch it? Stop producing PS2s? When they make a profit on the hardware now? That makes no sense. As long as the hardware sells and it's profitable, unless the margins are miniscule, you keep manufacturing.

Slowly ramping down the hardware production over the next year and a half sounds resonable. At that time they should have enough supply of ps3 for the demand. Regarding ps2 software - it would be in Sony's best interest to get everyone into a ps3 asap, but this will be a delicate process of not abandoning the 100+mil ps2 users and forcing them to shell out a big chunk to jump into the ps3 bandwagon. This could also be a big internal reason for approving the higher priced ps3 for release. It makes a transition from an unprecedented userbase that much smoother. A sort of "if you want a new playstation THAT BADLY then here is the price". Which goes along with their other br agenda. Makes sense to me.

 

[Arwin]

As the PS1 has shown it's very likely that demands for a low-cost console will remain for a while yet, and the PS2 quite simply has a lot of great games. There's life in the console yet. And there really isn't much of a reason why Sony would need to push developers to ditch it, as developing for the PS2 won't limit PS3 development one bit.

Also, it will show that the Playstation brand really represents a lot of long-term value, something which should only have a positive effect on the acceptance of the Playstation 3. The Xbox was one year younger, and probably dies at least one year earlier also. It's good though for everyone if all three systems do well, there's a market for all of them.

 

[mckmas8808]

What do you mean by ditch it? Stop producing PS2s? When they make a profit on the hardware now? That makes no sense. As long as the hardware sells and it's profitable, unless the margins are miniscule, you keep manufacturing.

No I meant stop making big blockbuster titles for it. And I also meant not giving it show floor time at events like E3, TGS, etc. Of course I what them to keep making the units though.:smile:

 

[TheChefO]

It's good though for everyone if all three systems do well, there's a market for all of them.

yes indeed! power to the people!

with the way the market is shaping up so far I'd say this could be the closest console war (yes it is a war for control of the market) since the snes genesis days.

MS - a year headstart = 10mil which is what? have the installed base of xbox1? And thats in the first year! could grow quite well in the years to come with the games library and franchises they've got lined up.

N - a very cheap console at launch (in comparison to their competition specificly) and a much better support position this gen and a spectacular launch/post launch lineup spells instant success. The only limiting factor at this point is supply. Even with a vastly underpowered system I think they will still do well based on price/performance.

Sony - the uncontested leader of the past two generations will come through with a gang of industry support and a top notch machine. Only question really is how many people are willing to pay to play.

At this time last e3 Everyone was predicting a repeat of last gen. Based on what was shown I was highly sceptical of what Sony promised but literally everywhere you looked, you saw Sony being touted as the undisputed champ. fast forward a year later and you've got the sky is falling sentiment which isn't entirely unfounded.

This xmas should be a pretty good kickoff so to speak but the real guns come out fall 2007!
Exciting times people.

(and yes I'm still quite bitter that a great machine like the dreamcast was killed from nothing more than Sony hype but thats another story) Any devs have input on why a tile based render isnt being pushed today by anyone?

 

[mckmas8808]

yes indeed! power to the people!

with the way the market is shaping up so far I'd say this could be the closest console war (yes it is a war for control of the market) since the snes genesis days.

MS - a year headstart = 10mil which is what? have the installed base of xbox1? And thats in the first year! could grow quite well in the years to come with the games library and franchises they've got lined up.

N - a very cheap console at launch (in comparison to their competition specificly) and a much better support position this gen and a spectacular launch/post launch lineup spells instant success. The only limiting factor at this point is supply. Even with a vastly underpowered system I think they will still do well based on price/performance.

Sony - the uncontested leader of the past two generations will come through with a gang of industry support and a top notch machine. Only question really is how many people are willing to pay to play.

At this time last e3 Everyone was predicting a repeat of last gen. Based on what was shown I was highly sceptical of what Sony promised but literally everywhere you looked, you saw Sony being touted as the undisputed champ. fast forward a year later and you've got the sky is falling sentiment which isn't entirely unfounded.

This xmas should be a pretty good kickoff so to speak but the real guns come out fall 2007!
Exciting times people.

(and yes I'm still quite bitter that a great machine like the dreamcast was killed from nothing more than Sony hype but thats another story) Any devs have input on why a tile based render isnt being pushed today by anyone?

I agree with you whole entire post until I read that bolded and underlined sentence. Actually it is entirely unfounded. Just as people expect Sony to breeze next-gen through (which was wrong), they are now expecting Sony to almost completely drop the ball and give up about half the marketshare that they currently have today (which yes is unfounded).

 

[TheChefO]

I agree with you whole entire post until I read that bolded and underlined sentence. Actually it is entirely unfounded. Just as people expect Sony to breeze next-gen through (which was wrong), they are now expecting Sony to almost completely drop the ball and give up about half the marketshare that they currently have today (which yes is unfounded).

factually yes it is unfounded because it hasnt released yet - I'm talking about the sentiment. The sentiment itself is that this is not the ps3 that was presented last e3. This ps3 while yes a fine machine, is not the be all end all next gen monster that the vast majority thought it would be after last years e3. The point is nothing is a given this gen and honestly I wouldnt be surprised if it sold out at $600 a year from launch. Then again I wouldn't be surprised to see them sell through only 6 million a year from launch either. The point is nobody knows yet how people will actually respond when they are asked to take $600 out of their pocket at the store for a ps3 because it has never been done. The industry has never been in this situation so nothing is a given. I'm betting we will see a balance yet unseen by this industry this gen.

 

[standing ovation]

What we do know is that prestige pricing guarantees that PlayStation 3 won't be as mainstream as PS2.

For lack of a better term, let's call this the 'NeoGeo' effect.

 

[TheChefO]

What we do know is that prestige pricing guarantees that PlayStation 3 won't be as mainstream as PS2.

For lack of a better term, let's call this the 'NeoGeo' effect.

true at least not as quickly - but damn the thing that killed neo geo for me wasnt the console cost but the GAMES! Anyone remember? THEY WERE $200 EACH!

 

[standing ovation]

Not as quickly?! Uh, don't you really mean never? :smile:

Inarguably, BMW's M-series is a more capable (and pricier) brand than, say, Honda's affordable Civic line. But while the former may be the most revered, it will never be as prolific as the latter ... ditto for the equally exotic PlayStation 3.

 

[TheChefO]

Not as quickly?! Uh, don't you really mean never? :smile:

Inarguably, BMW's M-series is a more capable (and pricier) brand than, say, Honda's affordable Civic line. But while the former may be the most revered, it will never be as prolific as the latter ... ditto for the equally exotic PlayStation 3.

potentially - but don't underestimate the ability of Sony to market this thing. They have hands down the BEST marketing in the games industry. As someone once said "they could wrap a turd in a box and print 'playstation' on it and it would still sell".

 

[mckmas8808]

Not as quickly?! Uh, don't you really mean never? :smile:

Inarguably, BMW's M-series is a more capable (and pricier) brand than, say, Honda's affordable Civic line. But while the former may be the most revered, it will never be as prolific as the latter ... ditto for the equally exotic PlayStation 3.

You really can't say that because isn't the M-series triple the price of the Civic? Do you expect the Xbox 360 to be $150, while the cheapest PS3 is $400?

 

[TheChefO]

You really can't say that because isn't the M-series triple the price of the Civic? Do you expect the Xbox 360 to be $150, while the cheapest PS3 is $400?

Not to mention a car is a neccessary thing to have in many peoples lives. While there is a bit of status symbol associated with it which guides purchase decisions, there is a fundamental need for basic transportation that leads many to shop with their wallet taking as minimal a hit as possible.