Conjunction
Junction...What's Your Function?
Both
Sony and Microsoft are playing the "But it
does more than play games!" angle with their
new systems. Yeah we know that it will play DVDs
and the USB ports will allow other devices to hook
up to it, but how many gamers are going to really
get into that aspect? The world is filled with people
who don't know how to e-mail properly, which leads
me to believe the average joe who buys an Xbox 360
to play Madden 2006 doesn't care that he can hook
up his iPod to the system or wireless network it
to his new Windows XP Media Center OS so he can
stream movies to his TV from the PC or vice versa.
Sony
released the PSX in Japan last year, which is a
PS2 / TV recorder in one system. By all accounts
it didn't sell very well but that could have been
due to the hefty price tag which was clearly aimed
at the high end consumer electronics market. They'll
be trying round 2 with the recording functions of
the PS3 and so will Microsoft with the X360. This
has the biggest chance of exciting people who are
only know thinking about recording and pausing live
TV while they watch and perhaps this could be as
big a selling feature as the DVD players were for
the PS2 and Xbox.
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"But
it does more than play games!"
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The
one area where all of this extracurricular functionality
can backfire concerns the general consumer who is
looking for a new game machine. Chances are the
slick salesdude at Best Buy is going to bust out
his presentation and toss out everything these babies
can do, potentially scaring off customers who were
just wanting to let their 5 year old play the latest
Spider-Man game.
Extra!
Extra! I'd Buy That For A Dollar
High
Res Dreaming
Every
PS3 and Xbox 360 game will support that shiny new
big ass High Def TV you fought about with your wife
to buy. But now all of that yelling about you being
a selfish dimwit who only wants what's best for
him while the rest of the house falls apart around
you, will have been worth it when you slap in Madden
2006 and play it in 1080i or 1080p.
Yes
the games of tomorrow will look sweet, so much so
in fact that you'll probably NEVER be able to go
back and play the old games. Once you see them in
action you'll wonder how you ever managed to stomach
playing that horribly looking Halo 2.
Old
Classics
Of
course both systems will be backward compatible
with their predecessors. The PS3 will play PS2 and
PSone games and the 360 will support Xbox titles.
I can count on one hand the number of PSone titles
I loaded up on the PS2 and it remains to be seen
if the same will be true for the PS3. Everyone's
different though and while backward compatibility
is a big issue for overconcerned parents who think
that they're getting a great deal because they don't
have to get rid of all of those games you never
play, it really doesn't mean all that much in the
long run.
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"It's
just a conceptual design!"
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Control
Freaks
Sony
got it right the second time around when they released
their Dual Shock Analog controller for the PSone
with the release of the first Gran Turismo game.
Further refinements such as analog buttons advanced
the design. Their boomerang shaped wireless controller
for the PS3 instantly drew boos and hisses from
gamers everywhere, which quickly had Sony retaliating
with "It's just a conceptual design!".
Yeah, it had better be. If it ain't broke, don't
fix it. You've already got the greatest controller
ever made, don't blow it. That's like giving Terri
Hatcher another breast. Not needed!
Microsoft
on the other hand started out ridiculous with thier
oversized behemoth known as the original Xbox controller
and actually got closer to perfection with the S-Controller.
Their wireless Xbox 360 controller which will integrate
seamlessly with Windows PC games is a step in the
right direction, even though the controller still
looks a little large. Small is good fellas!
Hard
Drivin'
What
about that Hard Drive? Sony says the PS3 will ship
with a 2.5 inch removable hard drive of undetermined
size. The Xbox 360 will come loaded with a 20 GB
removable drive. Will it be possible to upgrade
the drive? Not sure, but we speculate that it will
be, if even by more "outlaw hacker" means.
What role with the hard drive play in next gen gaming?
Will it be more than a glorified memory card? Most
definitely. Gamers will be able to rip music tracks
(let's hope ALL games support custom soundtracks
which was an awesome yet underdeveloped feature
of this generation), save games, download content,
record TV and more that we have yet to learn. Why
removable? Obviously to interface with other devices
such as your PC.
