First off, apologies for dredging up an old thread.
Actually, I initially did a search to see if there were any other Catholic XBox Live members out there, thought we might put together a pool of Catholic/Christian gamers that we can play together without fear of being verbally assaulted. I just got my 360 a little over a week ago, but have been afraid to log into multi-player for all the horror stories I’ve heard. That, and I need to pick up a headset.
However, as I read this thread, it was an interesting perspective given the time that has spanned since it was started. With the announcement just this past week that Toshiba was conceding defeat in the HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray war, the PS3 just gained some new currency in the entertainment arena. Not to be outdone, the corpse of HD-DVD is still warm and rumors abound that Microsoft may already have a Blu-Ray add-on in the works that may see light of day as early as May '08. I’d personally be surprised to see this, as Sony holds the rights to Blu-Ray, but if Bill Gates dangles enough cash in front of them, anything can happen.
The pricepoints on the 360 and the PS3 have continued to slowly go down, and it’s quite possible with the 360 soon reaching the mid-point of its expected six-year cycle, that the popular platform could dip below the $300 mark before the end of this year. The PS3 is gaining momentum, both in terms of exclusive titles and the out-of-the-box Blu-Ray capability, but it will probably still wind up fetching in the ballpark of $400 throughout the rest of the calendar year.
The Wii is the little-engine-that-could of the next-gen gaming world. While not as big a technical leap as its two competition platforms, it basks in the glow of lower price and larger appeal for the “bookends” demographic…the very young and the er… “youth challenged” folks. The cost of the platform makes it very attractive to cash-conscious Americans, and the innovative inertial controllers (“numchuks”) have a way of drawing gamers into the whole experience like few other platforms. As an aside, what to many is the Wii’s biggest draw (the controllers) is the thing that keeps many away from the console. As someone who suffers from arthritis, the notion of spending even an hour with your arms and hands flailing in the air makes me ache just thinking about it. Still, I’m going to miss Zelda and Metroid titles that I’ve enjoyed so much in the past.
I will probably wind up picking up a PS3 before the year is out (I’m an unabashed Final Fantasy and Metal Gear Solid fan), and both the Sony and Microsoft platforms have much going for them. It should be interesting to see how the platform wars progress in the next 6-12 months.
Now, back to the original purpose of this post. If you’re on XBox Live, drop a friend request to gamertag Timmeh31 and we’ll tackle some multi-player stuff together. Thanks and hope to hear from you soon.
