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Sony
Sony found itself in a position of having a nice picnic in Yellowstone Park when suddenly A BEAR STEALS THE PICNIC BASKET! Sony then talked to Ranger Playstation 2, who said he would get the basket back without harming the bear. The ranger then went out into the woods and beat the bear over the head with hype and a promise of what could be. Sadly, the bear died and went to heaven to make games for all platforms and all the children of the world. Sony got their picnic basket back, but unfortunately Ranger Playstation had the albatross around its neck of not delivering what was promised. The moral of this story is to not release a system with only a large number of mostly disappointing titles. Or that crime doesn’t pay.
Or that giant Japanese conglomerates shouldn’t beat up bears. Whatever.
Sony had everything going into this generation of consoles. They had millions of gamers eagerly awaiting the Playstation 2, to the point of not buying the critically acclaimed Dreamcast. Independent analysts were absolutely sure that Sony would increase their market share. Then in brilliant move, Sony forgot they had to actually manufacture these things. This must have come to a complete shock to the executives at Sony when they were told that hype only creates the potential for more money, not the actual dollars they enjoy lighting their cigars with. Another bombshell was dropped when Sony realized they needed games for this video game system. The combination of a lack of systems and a lack of a ‘killer app’ has deeply impacted Sony’s chances of being number one in this generation of systems, especially if either the Gamecube or X-Box make a strong showing at their release later this year.
This year at E3 Sony must show the industry that the Playstation 2 can deliver what was promised prior to its release. They must prove their console is as powerful as they say it is, and that games released for it will contain innovative fun gaming experiences. They are off to a good start with games such as Gran Turismo 3, Final Fantasy 10, and Metal Gear Solid 2. Each of these games are graphically impressive additions to popular franchises that will undoubtedly sell in large numbers. The ball is not really in Sony’s court however, and the continued popularity of the system is reliant on how well competing systems are received.
Microsoft
The newcomer to the console arena, Microsoft is not a company to be taken lightly. They are doing a great job of buying their way into the market as shown by the acquisition of Bungie and the recent contracts with Interplay and Tecmo. Microsoft is grasping everywhere it can to gain some much-needed credibility in this industry. In the US they are succeeding, as it seems developers and retailers have accepted the X-Box. However, the opposite is true in Japan where Microsoft is facing much more resistance in its quest for another market to dominate. One possible reason for this is that so far Microsoft has only promoted games that would appeal more towards the American market, such as Halo. Microsoft does not have a Final Fantasy, or a Pokemon, that would appeal to the Japanese market.
There must be something in the water in Redmond, Washington that causes companies to be secretive because Microsoft is following Nintendo’s lead and not letting their engineers go to the bathroom without 2 armed guards and a flying security camera. Microsoft has at least shown some games, but their plans for the system are still very much up in the air. Price, release date, the use of the hard drive and networking plans are all unknown to the general public. These factors will strongly influence the success of the X-Box.
While no one doubts the X-Box’s power, there is some doubt that it will be a significant leap over the Playstation 2. From the released pictures from games such as Amped it does not show anything the PS2 couldn’t do. Microsoft needs to show games that cause people’s eyes to fall out of their head and roll around on the ground into a giant vat of eyes that Microsoft will sell on the black market and make even more money than the games alone would make.
End of the Beginning
Although the actual capabilities of the systems in respect to one another will probably be debated until a meteor hits the moon causing flooding in all our costal areas which allows Godzilla easier access to the mainland thus causing the destruction of us all, in the end games will be the deciding factor of market leadership. All three companies have a variety of talent working on their systems, so it is imaginable that there will be three dominant systems this time around. E3 will be the first place where all three systems exist side by side, and will give an indication of how the Console Wars will shake out.
