360 vs. PS3 vs. Wii - The Designer's Perspective

[wraggster]

Gamasutra is running a piece today written by Ernest Adams, a frequent contributor to the site and an amusingly opinionated game designer. He writes to weigh in on the console war debate from the perspective of a game designer. He runs down the usual list of pros and cons for each machine, and then digs into the most creative aspects of each machine. Finally, lays out what he sees as the end result of this hardware generation:

"So who, at the end of the day, will be the also-ran in this generation of consoles? On the global scale, I'd say it could well be neither the PS3 or the Wii, but the Xbox 360. The PS3 will win over the hardcore gamers who have to have the fastest, most amazing machine available. The Wii will skim off the younger players and those who don't have as much money to spend. Both have the advantage of being made in Japan, so they'll crowd the Xbox right out of that market. In the US and Europe, it's harder to say, but I see the Xbox's early start as more of a liability than a benefit."

via slashdot (http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/12/22/1754252)

[MaxSMoke]

Wow, is that guy way off. Right now the Xbox 360 has the best lineup of games possible. Not only are there amazing launch titles now hitting the bargain price level, but there are many newer top-notch games like Gears of War and Dead Rising that are just just bursting on to the scene. The Wii seems to have it's nitch in the non-gamer crowd, but for the hardcore gamers, the Xbox360 is where it's at.

And, btw, the Japanese market isn't really that important. I don't know why people focus on it so much, when it only accounts for like %10 of total global game sales. Well some gaming trends like Pokemon have started in the land of the rising sun, Japan has also spawned hordes of Fast Food and Horse Racing sims that have never left their shores with any success. They are not a reliable barometer of the gaming market.