WHO will win the console wars? Wii, PS3, or Xbox 360?

I am putting my money on the wii. With its inovative controller, virtual console, and the huge number of games out for launch i don't see how it can't win. Nintendo claims playing= believing. I believe this to be totaly true. I can't wait to aim a gun with the controller, or swing a sword with the flick of the wrist. I would love to say PS3 would be my second choice, but 600$? I don't have that kind of money. I've never been that into the xbox, but i can see that xbox360 looks to be a real quality console. Still, i can't say no to red steel, rayman, zelda, metroid, and call of duty all on the same day. The huge library of launch titles for the wii is growing and will fullfill any type of gamers needs. Virtual Console looks to be fun, but i don't know. I'd have to see it and try it out before i fully accept it.  Give me your thoughts on the wii, PS3, and xbox360 and we shall see who will win the war of the consoles!

I have a 360 and think it's pretty awesome. However, I do believe the Wii may be on to something with their innovative control and cool product design. And I guess you can't count out the winner of last gen.

The bottom line is that I think it'll be a tighter race than the last one.

Check out Omar's recent editorials about the 360 and the Wii.

When asking this question we have to be pretty clear about what we actually mean, want or intend out of the outcome.  The reason why we want to know which console will sell the most is so that we can be sure that we make the right choice in our purchase such that our favourite games are released for it.  Outside of that, unless you have stock in the companies, who wins doesn't really matter.  And if you have the money to purchase all three machines, then it doesn't mater anyway.

Now, all that being said it's still fun to talk about and speculate.  I have a very strong feeling that the console market as a whole is going to shrink quite a bit from the current generation to the next.  As I've outlined extensively I don't think the Wii is going to have the same kind of PS2 broad appeal, the 360 is dead in Japan and doing pretty poorly in Europe, and the PS3 is so expensive with a confusing marketing message.

If we look at region by region it makes an analysis a bit easier.  I don't know THAT much about Japan I'll definitely concede that, but looking at the sales data there are a few things that are readily apparent.  Japanese love their RPGs, there's been a steady decline in console sales hardware and software for the past few years now, and the Nintendo DS is the hottest piece of electronics that island has ever seen.  Some people predict that the success of the DS is going to translate into sales for the Wii, and I strongly disagree with that assertion.  If anything it seems like Japan as a whole is migrating towards handheld and mobile games, this trend was beginning a few years ago in the cell-phone world, but just went crazy with the DS.  It seems like the japanese are losing their console interest in general and that's going to affect sales for all 3 platforms very significantly.

Europe is an interesting region, it's now larger than North America in sales, but it's more heterogeneous in its tastes.  One thing to remember is that in the console scene Europe is Sonyland.  They love Sony like a mother.  Microsoft knows that it's a tough battle there, but it's not one that's already been lost.  360 sales have been sluggish in Europe that's for sure, but I think that's due to the status of the PS3.  The PS2 dominated that region, built up a lot of fan-loyalty, and as a result most gamers there are going to wait for the successor to come out before jumping into the next-gen.  So far Microsoft has positioned themselves decently to capitalize on any rejection of the PS3 by the Euro market, but they're definitely leaving a lot on the table.  They need to find some franchises that really tick with the European community, something like SingStar.  We'll see how much of an effect the ambiguous exclusivity of Fifa and Winning Eleven will have.  If the PS3 is accepted as well as the PS2, then Sony will once again take Europe by a large margin and have the overal sales by far.  I don't think success is going to come as easily for them since Blu-Ray playback isn't a priority among Europeans by any stretch of the imagination considering the low penetration of HDTVs.  As for the Wii, it'll probably do better than the Gamecube did, but not by too much, as it will have more party games that appeal to the Euro audience, but won't be able to attract the PS2 gamers to switch.

Then comes North America.  I've already outlined why I think the 360 will win.  But that's not to say the other consoles will do poorly.  The PS3 will still do quite well and be second to the 360.  The Wii will once again see sales similar to the Gamecube, but slightly less, because there's more of a high-technology bias here than anywhere else.

I just want to share some more thoughts on the Wii because so many people have convinced themselves it's going to be the greatest thing since sliced bread.  Outside of Nintendo fans has the Wii shown anything that will get people to pay more than $200 to invest in the system?  People might say it's cool and play it at a friend's, but will it really get them to go out and buy it for themselves?  I just haven't seen anything that will do that.

You no, sliced bread isn't all that great. I believe the wii will do marvelously, especially in japan. I will admit, though i am a firm supporter of wii, that it will probably lose to the sales of the PS3 and mabey the xbox360. i think that the main deciding factors of this race willl be to name a few, the online support, the graphics, the launch titles, the price, and the control sceme.

From a graphical standpoint, the PS3 will dominate, followed by xbox360, and then wii. I don't believe that graphics will be what everybody buys the sytem for, but many find them important ( i say so what , i really don't care if the main characters hair looks blocky as long as the game is fun).

I think online support will be a very close and bloody competition. To my knowledge all three systems have online capabilities (correct me if i'm wrong). I think there is no way to decide who will win. Nintendo fans will love the virtual console, and multiplayer gaming on all three systems should be up to the standard people expect from the next gen. i admit i don't know anything about the PS3 or xbox 360 online, but i expect they will be about the same as the current gen online. PLease give me more info on this topic.

With launch titles, wii to me looks to have the strongest lineup. Xbox360 is already out there, so there is not much to be said about it. Wii will have launch games to fit everyone, be you a fan of call of duty or are curious about those cute little critters called elebits. Nintendo will certainly be faithful to its fans ( Legend of Zelda: Twighlight Princess, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption) and ubisoft is offering up its fair share of games ( Rayman Raving Rabbids, Far Cry). PS3 has such games as Lair and many dark and gritty games that seem to be geared mainly toward the more mature audience. I think this may scare away the potentail customers.

For the issue on price, i believe wii will be the only choice for families with a limited supply of money. Wii will be afordable enough that you wont have to sell your car to afford it. I don't know the exact  price of the 360, but i'm pretty sure its around 300 bucks. PS3 will be around 500 bucks. Wii will be 250 or less. I for one don't have the money to spend on more than one console. i'm getting the wii because its cheap, offers something new, and has some pretty sweet launch titles.

For the control scheme, wii will dominate with a power never before seen. The 360's controller is almost exact (if not exact) to the xbox's. This offers nothing new to sink your teeth into. PS3 has the same control scheme, except for the tilt sensitivity ( dosen't that sound familiar to a certain other controller). I've also heard that the PS3 will not have rumble. Wats up with that! We've become so used to rumble that it is almost a crime to not include it. Wii will have the motion sensing, rumble, and the built in speaker for that added element of depth.

Indeed, this console war will be the closest we've ever witnessed. I still have my mind firmly set on Wii, but the PS3 and Xbox360 will be serious contenders. And plz, stop ascociating the Wii with the gamecube or the DS. Yes, ill admit the gamecube fell way short of expectations. The DS however, offers a new type of gameplay with its touchscreen. I believe that this will be the key selling point of the wii, just as it has been a huge help to the DS.

O, and sliced bread was pretty cool.  

 

 

I suggest watching this video: click here.  It's IGN's weekly show, episode 23 where they run through a bunch of games they played at the Liepzig Game Convention.  Fran Mirabella goes through a bunch of games videotaping the game and his hands at the same time while he plays so you get a good idea of how to play the game.

All I have to say is wow: that's some of the most complicated gaming I've seen in a long time.  At least the first couple of games.  The orchestra and sports games are obviously very intuitive and where the Wii really shines, but right now I'd like to focus on the more traditional video games.

Battalion Wars 2

you can tell he's having quite a bit of trouble here.  It's extremely interesting that the developers implemented an auto-aim system.  You'd figure a machine whose main control mechanic involved pointing would not require the software to aim for you!  And yet here we are.  It's obvious why they have an auto-aim system, and that's due to the ability to strafe and shoot at the same time.  Strafe-shooting with normal controllers is a piece of cake, but with the Wii, and you can also see this in Red Steel, there's a fundamental problem that you can't turn and shoot at the same time.  In RS you turn by pointing the cursor to the edge of the screen which (slowly) turns your character, but since the cursor is at the edge of the screen, you can't move it and shoot something because then you'll stop turning.  So no turning and shooting at the same time.  Then you look at how he's handling the helicopter and tank controls, and it's just awful.  Of course you'll get better with time, but for a console that revolves around quick pick up and plays, this solution is WORSE than normal controllers.

Mario Super Strikers

Ok, using the Wii here is complete overkill.  It's a friggin soccer game!  You only need one direction device to play it well, so combining the nunchuck with the pointer is just adding to the overall control complexity needlessly.  There's only one area where the controller adds something, and that's in the goaltender saving mini-game.  And this is exactly what I predicted.  Mini-game hell.  All that being said, it's definitely gonna be a lot of fun in the same way that Mario Kart and Mario Tennis are.  The main point though, the Wii controller is actually worse here than a traditional one.

Red Steel

Now this game looks pretty brutal.  First let me say that it's absolutely ridiculous that you have to use the nunchuk part to aid in the control of the sword.  The nunchuk is used for parrying by twisting the nunchuk.  Does this sound crazy to anyone else?  Look at the darn Wiimote, it's just a shortened sword!  It should be used to control all sword movements with the nunchuk being used to control your "feet" i.e. sidestepping, moving forward and backward.  The fact that they're not doing this shows that they're having difficulty working with the Wiimote.  Either because of the Wiimote itself, or because of their development expertise.  It's going to take a couple more games to come out to see what it is, but seeing that this and Battalion Wars 2 are having issues has to make you wonder.

Wii Sports

Like I said before, this is where the Wii really shines.  The Wiimote is great at swinging your arm games, and it's something that anybody can get into as long as they're able to stand and use one appendage.  Again I mentioned this in my article, but I'll say it again, what is the lasting appeal of these games?  And how many concepts can they really generate with the swinging arm motion?

Past the Launch

You can see it in the way the media is talking when they actually play the games.  They're not impressed.  IGN is diplomatic and positive of course, but if you watch this week's 1up show (not linked due to some mature content), you'll see they're definitely not sold on the Wii.  Considering that Nintendo's showing at the conference was "Now Wii Prove Ourselves" all the 1up editors were very disappointed because they felt Nintendo didn't prove anything.

To be honest, watching that video really solidified a lot of feelings I had regarding the Wii.  And I feel more confidently than ever that it's not going to do very well.  There's definitely some cool stuff there, and the golf especially looks pretty sweet, but I just don't think that's going to be enough for people to spend $200.

I honestly won't be surprised if the best selling console in the next 5 years is the PS2.

Oh, and I'd just like to add Silence Omo, that if you're happy with the Wii, then more power to you man.  I totally agree with you that Nintendo fans are just going to eat up the Virtual Console.  And the fact that there's going to be a full fledged Zelda game at the launch of the console is just too sweet for words and Nintendo fans are going to love it.  Twilight Princess is shaping up to be the kind of immortal classic that Ocarina of Time is.

Now I have to disagree with some of your remarks about online though.  You should definitely check out a connected Xbox 360, because what Microsoft has accomplished with Live is something that is truly amazing.  The entire experience is so seamless, well constructed, polished and useful.  It really takes the whole online gaming thing to another level.  Add onto that the Marketplace with free demos and trailers.  And the Xbox Live Arcade, it's really really sweet.  Hopefully Sony and Nintendo both copy what MS has done because it'll be a shame for anyone to miss out on this kind of online experience.

I found your response very interesting omar. I do agree with you that the ports of gamecube games looked like they had some control issues. Personaly, i'm not really that interested in playing the updated gamecube games (though twighlight princess is an exception).  I did find, however, that the controls for red steel looked enjoyable and the guy said he would have prefered to be farther away from the screen to have better control over aiming. I liked the way the sword contols played themselves out. it looked very natural to doge, parry, and swipe your sword at the enemy. i will say that wii sports and wii music looked like they were fun little diversions. the controls seemed to work very well with the wii mote, but i don't think these games can be anything more than fun diversions. You can say for so many games that the conrtol looked like it had issues, but you can say for so many more games that the controler is an extension of the game worl itself. i find that people who have doubts about the wii have had a bad experience with the gamecube. that little box caused more problems than any console before it. the gamecube has left a bad taste in all of our mouths. all i can say is "nintendo, plz don't let ur fans down." And i agree with omar when he says the PS2 will still be the top selling console. and sliced bread is still pretty cool.  

i agree with you that the online for all three consoles should be a fullfilling experience. i don't do much online gaming, but from what i've experienced with the DS and it's wi fi connection i have high hopes for console gaming online. i still have my doubts about wii and all the other next gens, ill have to play them before i'm totally won over by any of them. i am still a huge fan of sony ( i love the ratchet and clank games) and microsoft ( i love me some fable in the mornin) but nintendo is what i grew up with. and if the wii is as bad as gamecube, i will be a very unhappy camper =(.

you are totally right about the controller omar. I hope it dosen't suck, but there are some issues. i believe these can be worked out before launch, and i think it is mainly lack of developer experience. but they will get better with time, just as a wine does.

Silence, I just have to say that if you're disappointed with the Gamecube then I suggest holding off on buying the Wii this year.  Personally, I don't think the Gamecube was a bad system, there were a lot of fantastic games released for it, so I don't really know why you were disappointed.  However, I think the Wii is going to follow pretty closely in the footsteps that the N64 and Gamecube have tread before, so if you were dissatisfied with those offerings, I have a sneaking suspicion you'll be dissasisfied with the Wii.  And vice versa, if you're happy with the GC then pick up a Wii on launch because it'll only enforce those positive aspects that the Gamecube had even more: innovative Nintendo titles.