Monday, 20 July 2009

  • The Console War



    SNES or Genesis?  N64 or PS1?  PS3 or XBox360? 

    The Console War is eternal.  We as gamers have grown up playing one system and envying our neighbor for owning the other.  I fondly remember my outrage at how cool the Genesis version of Aladdin was compared to the red-headed stepchild iteration on the SNES.  I mean, come on, in the Genesis version Aladdin actually had a sword!  As a kid it just doesn't get any cooler than watching your favorite Disney hero hack people to bits with a razor sharp blade.

     
    SNES and Genesis versions of Aladdin.  Notice the sword and added cool factor on the latter.

    The problem was that my friend owned the Genesis and I was stuck with the SNES and forever doomed to simply hop on my opponents until they got bored of being abused in such a strange fashion.

    And thus The Console War raged on in our childhoods and still continues today.  Microsoft and Sony are certainly at each other's throats over things such as exclusive titles, exclusive online content, and even exclusive levels and characters in many anticipated games.  Take, for example, the re-make of TMNT: Turtles in Time (as featured by us here).  The game looks awesome and I'm having a tough time finding any of my friends who aren't looking forward to playing it.  But guess what.  You better be an Xbox 360 owner or you won't be seeing this puppy until a little bit later, and in the gaming world "a little bit later" can feel like an eternity.

    Why?  The Console War, that's why.  Microsoft shelled out the big bucks to make the new TMNT game an Xbox Live exclusive (at least for a little while).  They also slapped down the cash to bring Final Fantasy XIII to the Xbox 360, and now we even have confirmation of Metal Gear making an appearance in Microsoft's camp.

    This vicious battle for the triple A games and exclusive downloadable content are just getting started.  With Sony still denying any sort of failure in their strategy with the PS3, Microsoft gaining some momentum now that the Red Ring of Death fiasco is in the rear view mirror, and Nintendo keeping the casual gamers in its death-grip, I believe we are on the verge of competition amongst game companies unlike any we have seen before.

    Obviously I cannot even begin to delve into the complexities of The Console War in one simple post, so let's all throw our cards in on this one and get this discussion rolling.  Which console do you tend to side with (if any) and why?  How do you feel about this race for the exclusives in our games and what would you like to see me focus more on concerning all this craziness?

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