Musler: PS3 will catch up to, if not surpass, 360

[Shrygue]

via Games Industry


Sega's director of artists and repertoire agrees with analysts who think that the PS3 is going to catch up to, if not surpass, the Xbox 360.

It isn't just the recent PS3 price cuts which will certainly help bridge the gap, but the availability of big titles, Noah Musler told GamesIndustry.biz.

"Microsoft has done a good job of closing the gap between the platforms. I don't think they are in the situation they were in with the PS2 and Xbox 1, but it is still too soon to say," Musler remarked.

He notes that analysts think the PS2 could remain viable through 2009.

Having a variety of PS3 prices for consumers is certainly not going to hurt the PS3. "I think it has still got a little bit of time to grow," he said.

"Fortunately, there are a lot of videogame consumers out there, and the market continues to grow.

"People want to play games, and the games keep getting better. The development community is really driving that by making great product."

The second part of our interview with Noah Musler can be viewed here.

[mcdougall57]

whats the point of this claim? the xbox 360 is already a success

[Shadowblind]

whats the point of this claim? the xbox 360 is already a success

That brings up something I've been thinking about...Gates says he created the Xbox to bring gamers together, eventually through both PC and console... I guess the 360 can be viewed as a succes then.

[ketchup]

What? The huge number of big titles? Or "Exclusive" big titles? What a Muppet type comment.
There's only so many "Hidden Solid Ninja Fantasy Wonder Sword Gear XXII's" I can take! My comment on par or more relevant than his? You decide!

[F9zDark]

The truth is, the known franchises have, almost always, been the big hitters. Final Fantasy is a prime example of this, with what, 13 games and still going strong? If FF was getting old, then certainly there would not be 13 games.

In my personal opinion, I stick to games I know are good, from their predecessors. COD4, MGS4, MOH series, etc. Because countless times have I gotten new franchises for the PC and have been completely disappointed...

Sure new franchises are needed and new franchises on consoles usually show a decent amount of care taken with them (as opposed to PC which a developer with a 1000 dollar budget can make a game...)

However, I believe most analysts look at how many people worldwide have a PS2, which is about 170 million. Wii has 12 million sold as does the 360 and the PS3 has 5 million, which only accounts 29 million consoles total.

Just taking the PS2 number, there are another 141 million people that could adopt a next generation console.

Granted I don't think the PS3 will surpass the other consoles; not unless Sony really does something completely new, unique and wanted by fans everywhere. But I do believe the numbers will balance out eventually, with a small gap between the "winner" and the "losers" of this war.

[DPyro]

My question is, what games does 360 have coming up that are big hitters? I can't think of one game that I've heard of for 360 that hasn't already been released. PS3 on the other hand has a $#@!load of good games coming out within the next 4 months.

[Shadowblind]

The truth is, the known franchises have, almost always, been the big hitters. Final Fantasy is a prime example of this, with what, 13 games and still going strong? If FF was getting old, then certainly there would not be 13 games.

In my personal opinion, I stick to games I know are good, from their predecessors. COD4, MGS4, MOH series, etc. Because countless times have I gotten new franchises for the PC and have been completely disappointed...

Same here. I tried Timeshift, Jericho, even Quake Wars. Its not that they were bad, its just...they weren't GOOD. Of course there are new franchises that just blow away competition (i.e. Bioshock, Mass Effect, Little Big Planet, Too human...)

I guess in some ways I can't really stand the same game remade again. Call of Duty 2 and 3 to me were horrible, just remakes of CoD1 with better graphics. FF1 and FF2 for PSP could hardly be called remakes, they practically just threw the original NES game on with no additions of anything but sprites. Even now Mario has gotten too boring for me, having played the last 12 Mario games with the same ideas of combat and objective.

But in the long run, I'll tend to stick to games like God of War III, Kingdom hearts III, Bioshock 2, and game sequals using a tried and true system of gameplay.


EDIT: :rofl: ketchup! You speak the embodiment of truth!

$niper...thats the beauty of it. The 360 already has so many big hitters out, the fans won't NEED anymore for a while. MS actually thought AHEAD, something Sony needs practice at. But while we're on the concept, I believe Too Human is coming out Jan 02, a game that has been in the works since the PS1. Yes, I did do the research. Fable 2, Postal 3, what have you. Not to mention for the less fortunate, many original Xbox titles being released over live. And I doubt its just coincidence, but 360 and PS3 games generally play better on 360. Not all games do, as sometimes they play equally on both 360 and PS3. but because of the PS3's seeming rejection of the U3 engine, many games have been delayed for both PS3 and 360. Some just for PS3, see Stranglehold, UT3 , and a bit of others. Blacksite being pushed back as an example.

[DPyro]

Microsoft planned ahead? They released their console a year early, so of course their big titles are already out. Frankly, I won't be surprised if Microsoft was working on Xbox 720 and release it in 2009, just like they did with the original Xbox and cut off the head and not continue to support it (only available for 4 years).

[Shadowblind]

What a helluva 4 years that was!

Thats sorta proving my point-- I'm more then glad they released it in 2005, although they're blockbuster games didn't come till late '06. My 360 rotted for half a year, and now I've got it on a throne!

But even if they did release an Xbox 720 or whatevertheheck they're gonna call it, They've already got blockbuster games coming out for it in '09, such as prototype, Timesplitters 4 (FINALLY!!!! You have no idea how long I've wanted the quadqual! ) and Postal 3 dated for late/early '09.