My opinion: meh.
I’m a huge video game player. Tried nearly everything.
I’m a big fan of the PC for in-depth games. I can play some games that take weeks to finish – with 4 other people who have to re-join the saved game. Awesome.
I’m very impressed with the Nintendo Wii. As a single player platform it is really good. As a multi-player platform, it is unmatched. The graphics aren’t fantastic, but I believe game play trumps pretty pictures. It’s a quasi-religious realm, so no point in debating that.
The Microsoft XBox 360? I think it is a good platform. But I think it would have been better titled as “XBox version 1.5″. It just doesn’t knock me over with new and better features that justify another $500 purchase, plus $60 per game. Wireless controllers and HD video do not a equal a 360 (whatever) improvement. Better gaming physics? No. Faster response time? Nope. Smoother single-console game play? nah. In fact, good luck using it as a party platform. Microsoft has pushed their “$10+ per month” online service named “XBox Live” so hard that some games have actually removed single-console multiplayer from their games. For example, Need For Speed: Carbon on the XBox allows split screen racing for two people on the same console to race against each other. On the XBox 360 version of the same game, no split screen – the only multi-player is via XBox Live. Imagine that – if I put the XBox disc in the XBox 360, I can play split screen. But if I put the more expensive 360 version of the game in the console, no split screen. They’ve taken away features and increased the price. Not a positive direction, IMO.
Here’s the thing – shared experiences create bonds amongst people. Doing things together makes them different. Sit in your living room and read a book to yourself. Sit in your living room with 3 friends and each take turns reading from the same book. Which one will probably stick with you for a longer time? Play solitaire on your dining room table by yourself. Compare that to playing cards with 3 friends. Which one makes your day special? These are simple examples of how shared experiences are much better than solo. (fun and difficult) Yet here we have a huge hardware and software company that is pushing in the other direction. Given what I’ve seen of the 360 over the past month, it isn’t a wonder that the Wii is kicking the crap out of the other consoles in sales. People love to share and bond. The Wii helps with that. The 360 fights against it.
I searched the internet for a game for the 360 that allowed 4 simultaneous players in cooperative play. There’s actually a Wiki page for the topic. It has one game. (Halo 3 does not allow coop for all 4 players.) Compare that with the catalog for the Wii. Heck, a lot of the games on the Wii are multiplayer coop.
It isn’t just about the hardware being able to handle the other three inputs. It is about the software being designed in that direction. Microsoft has obviously pushed the game developers to embrace Live at the expense of the single-console, shared experience. But, given human nature, we want to go the other way. The net result is that 360 developers and Microsoft are leaving a lot of money on the table. Their console and game sales could be even higher if they would provide games that satisfied this basic human desire. But they see the subscription to Live as more valuable than selling more games and consoles. That is their choice. But if I were a stock-holder in Microsoft, I’d be unhappy with the company ignoring a huge segment of the market. It would be like making a console that only displayed black and white. Pretty short sighted.
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What about Sony’s Playstation 2 / 3? Fuck Sony. Their corporate decisions tell me that they do not treat their customers with respect and I won’t do business with a company like that. They put virus software in their music players, stupid DRM on the CD’s, make horrible anti-American movies, produce questionable-quality electronics, and they make the same gaming direction mistakes as Microsoft. Not worth my time. (See, this is a great feature of the Internet. I can make all kinds of personal opinions and I don’t have to back any of them up! yay!)
First off: Well said with regards to Sony. I really think they missed the mark on the PS3.
I own both the 360 & Wii. One advantage to the 360 is, at least for me, the online play. I have a brother in S Carolina & it lets us do things like play chess online & talk while we do so. It’s definitely cheaper for $50/year online service to play/talk than do try & do the same thing over the phone.
As for the local multi-player, you’re definitely right – it’s just not impressive on that console. There are some good single-player games but you either have great single-player orgreat online multi-player: there’s no middle ground.
Wii I like for the interaction. For example, I have Tiger Woods golf for Wii. There’s zero chance I’d play that on PC or another console. Besides, you can compete with friends in a very interactive way.
Online is getting better. The only game you can play against onthers online is Sper Smash Brothers, but 1) it’s a great game; and 2) it’s a start.
We have had the Wii for a while now – as a non video game player (hell – I don’t “play” very well at all) I think it’s awesome!! Love the family and friends interaction!!
Nothing like having a system so fun that grownups are asking for a turn!
We don’t have any game stuff. I think my husband would enjoy it every once in a while (when he gets the time to sit down) but I can’t decide if it’s worth the money or not – considering his small amount of free time available. But after you and Rich have said such excellent things – I may have to look into a Wii. I’m not sure what games he’d like (hell I don’t even know what’s available) but it might be worth considering. Thanks.
(oh and thanks for a blogworthy example – I linked – showing what happens when a corporation pisses off its customers. I wonder how hard Sony was hit by this – I still haven’t forgiven them)
We love our Wii. We play co-op on Trauma Center and Guitar Hero, and I collect the star bits for him on Mario Galaxy. I’m not a big video game person, but we have fun playing together. Oh, plus the bowling is just so much fun when we have friends over.
Well said on Sony. That piece of crap VAIO was good for about five seconds. Shoddily made.
I play a lot with my son (he’s 8). Several of the PS2 games that we used to play together are now single player only on the PS3. Really bad decision – my son and I can no longer play one of our favorite games together.
So we then go online to gamefly, start searching through the PS3 games for ones that will let us play together. Hardly any.
Where are we playing most of our games together? On the WII.
Oh by the way, Jon, we also are now playing starcraft and Unreal Tournament on the home computer network, running on Win XP (none of that Vista crap for us).
From the other post about programmers – Yes, I am that good (heh).