The last time many of us experienced the thrill of new generation game machines making their first appearances on the scene was during the years of 2000 and 2001. During this wonderful time, the PS2, GameCube and Xbox were unleashed upon an expecting gaming public.
No matter which game machine you were interested in; there was an overall excitement about the new game consoles.
My friends had already made up their minds on which gaming machines they would be purchasing. Several of them took the day off from work in order to stand in line at the local Best Buy store to have a chance at purchasing a PS2. Others went for the Xbox, while I decided to buy a PS2 and a GameCube.
Now, several years later, we find the gaming community in the same situation again with the next gen consoles being released. Each manufacturer is lauding their machine as superior to their competition. This is expected, but the vehemence of the remarks between the competitors is unsettling, if not sometimes mean spirited.
Microsoft has labeled the PS3 as a contender for failure because of its high price and commitment to the Blu-ray DVD format. Nintendo has accused Sony of stealing ideas and technology from them, while Sony maintains that the other two game consoles aren’t nearly as powerful or feature packed as the PS3.
All of this is beginning to sound like political campaigns where politicians, instead of centering on the issues and their qualifications for office, prefer to slam their rivals with sound bites and insults. In the same way, while it is understandable how badly the manufacturers want to convince the public to buy their particular machines, it is also beginning to wear thin on the gaming community as well.
The issue of which machine is superior is not necessarily the point, as much as it is the preference of which machine people feel comfortable with. When my friends purchased their game machines back in 2000/2001, the look on their faces provided the answer as to why they bought an Xbox, PS2 or a GameCube. They bought these machines because they thought they would bring them the most fun.
At this stage of the game, (pun intended), it really makes no difference as to which machine is more powerful than the other. It is a given that all next-gen machines will offer a substantial improvement over the present gen machines (except the Wii, some will argue). But what all of us are after is a fun gaming experience and in the end, that’s all that matters.
