With all the recent news surrounding the upcoming PS4 and Xbox One, people are still having the same ‘ol debates. Gamers will speculate which machine has the raw processing power or the better launch titles or these ease/difficulty of development for the platform. Hell, my buddies and I used to go through the same routine back at the lunch table in junior high during the height of the SNES/Genesis war. Much like the cafeteria tacos, these discussions leave a bad taste in my mouth (yep, I’m proud of that pun…suck it).
That said, I refuse to participate. In fact, this time around I will do my best to remain positive in the hopes that both machines can co-exist and find their own niche because I think these could be the last consoles…ever. After all, I own a PS3 and an Xbox 360 like many of you, so I’m more than willing to buy both machines if they each fill a certain gap. I refuse to believe that there will be a clear winner here and it’s better for the industry and gaming fans alike if Sony and Microsoft both succeed this holiday season. Oh, and when I say “gaming fans,” I mean those of us who will spend the cash on a console rather than straying from home based gaming in favor of the expanding mobile game market. If the next gen machines are that good, maybe they can convert the casual mobile gamers into avid gamers.
See? Now I’M getting sucked into the vortex and losing my perspective! One other piece of information worth mentioning is how social media will play a role (if any) in the battle for market share. Remember, back in 2005 and 2006, social media was in its infancy. We all used Friendster as our at-work time waster and companies hadn’t yet jumped aboard to reach us. These days, most consumer electronic makers have social media teams or “web intelligence” employees whose sole job is to have their finger on the pulse of how people view their products and their corporate image. Again, the impact here is not really quantifiable, but it’s a big variable nonetheless.
With any hope, the new consoles will blow us away! I haven’t seen much in the way of Gran Turismo 6, but “Race Club” looks promising and Forza 5 has me ready to make a pricey pre-order, but I will resist the urge…for now!
Pedal to the Plastic 