Mike Bantick
Saturday, 22 December 2007 11:17
Opinion and Analysis
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2007 has been one to place a gold star next to in our gaming diary. A new generation of consoles has arrived, the PC platform has continued to push the technological platform and hand-held gaming devices are more popular than ever. On the software front we were blessed with many new IP’s, and the Wii and party games widened the gaming demographic more than ever.
What a year in gaming! Let us trawl through the highs and lows of electronic gaming. These are my recollections about the 2007 gaming arena.
The most obvious arrival on the gaming scene this year was the full board of Next-Gen console hardware. Sure you could argue that technologically the Nintendo Wii struggles to match up to its competitors, but the fact is that for the fun bang for buck, the Wii is tops.
This is of course played out in the consumer realm, as the Wii and hot cakes battled it out for top spot for 2007 sales. Nintendo expanded the gaming demographic, bringing 5 year olds and 70 year olds alike swinging the Wii-mote at the screen, with the common denominator of a smile on their faces.
Looking at the top wish-list gifts for Christmas this year, the Wii tops out the kids list, and comes second only to the ubiquitous “gift vouchers”.
Sony had a most interesting year, derided by many for PR gaffs, releasing a technical marvel that lost the gaming focus in order to get an entertainment hub into households. At AU$1000 on first release, it was a major, and unproven gamble for the Sony faithful to take.
With a somewhat lack-lustre list of exclusive game titles, the uncertainty of the High Definition disc war between the Sony backed Blu-Ray and competing HD-DVD on top of consistent price drop rumours throughout the year, it was understandable that many potential PS3 owners took a wait and see stance.
Then the various PS3 redesigns hit the market, finally we have the mixed blessing (in this country at least) of the cheaper 40GB PS3 without PS2 backwards compatibility, and sales have accordingly blossomed.
PS3 exclusives are still struggling to find the must-have tag, but recent releases Rachet & Clank: Tools of Destruction and Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune are paving the way for others to come, Little Big Planet and KillZone 2 spring to mind.
As we always suspected, the PS3 is here for the long haul, it will be outsold by papa PS2 for a long time to come, but Sony have not dropped the gaming crown yet.
