The console wars are all set to enter a new phase. Consider the evidence: Microsoft has revealed the Xbox 360 Elite and is readying a much more radical device for late 2010, complete with the player-as-a-controller Project Natal. Sony has come out with a slimmer PS3 and is looking to come out with UMD-less PSP Go in a month or two, even while working on bringing out a motion-sensing edition of the PS3 a bit later (yep, with the PS3 wand).
There is a name missing out there, right? Well, yes, it is that of the company that is actually been leading both Microsoft and Sony by the nose in the console business over the last year and a half – Nintendo. The Wii made fair mincemeat of the PS3 and Xbox 360, while the Nintendo DS has pretty much buried the Sony PSP.
But will that state of affairs continue? Both Sony and Microsoft are working hard to neutralise the Wii’s motion-sensing edge and the iPod touch and iPhone have more than successfully replicated the touchscreen goodness that the DS had served up – and with multi-touch too.
And what has been Nintendo’s response to these moves by its rivals? So far all that we have seen is the DSi – a sort of remade DS with a camera – and rumours of a Wii HD. At the cost of sounding a trifle pompous, we must confess that neither seems path-breaking. The PS3 and Xbox 360, for all their faults, have a formidable library of games and the iPod touch/iPhone combo has the App Store with its thousands of apps and games. The Xbox 360 has even stolen a march over both the PS3 and the Wii in the online gaming department with the Xbox Live service.
All of which is a pretty formidable lot to be up against. Mind you, it would be pretty premature to write off Nintendo – the company made the world realise that high specs could be made to kneel before innovative gameplay with the DS and the Wii. What will it come up with to meet the next generation of Xbox and PS devices, not to mention the iPhone and iPod touch?
We do not really know. What we do know is that the gaming console ball is squarely in the court of the big N. Nintendo has to pull something out of its wondrous hat in the coming days or see its gaming lead fade away.Similar Posts:
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