It is hard to beat the Wii60 experience.

Mike Bantick
Wednesday, 27 December 2006 07:08

Opinion and Analysis

The combination of Xbox 360 with a Nintendo Wii can become a gaming Nirvana for some, has the Sony crown been dislodged?

With new value packs and the addition of the HD DVD drive for the Xbox 360, coupled with the sheer enjoyment of the Wii experience, it may be that the PlayStation 3 will find it difficult to settle into a market niche.

Sure there is the loyal PlayStation fan base, and those that see the PS3 for its obvious advantage bullet points over the other machines.  

Hard drive capacity. 
Back catalogue of excellent games.
Cutdown Linux capabilities.
Blu-ray drive.
Sheer power, yet to be exploited by game developers.  This will most likely be fully exploited by the development of exclusive PlayStation titles.

In the gaming sphere however, for the bulk of punters the argument will come down to the gaming experience.

As it stands at the moment, Sony are up against two competing consoles that (for the a similar price point) can boast a years head start on high definition gaming, and a unique play mechanism (wii-mote) that is quite simply fun.

Now we hear reports of some of the PlayStation 3 faithful trading in their newly acquired consoles for Nintendo Wii’s, one has to start getting a little concerned for the future of the Sony gaming franchise Behemoth.

I believe the PS3 is a superb piece of technology (not here commercially in Australia until March 2007), yet I find it hard to believe it could replace the smiles I saw on the faces of my family over these recent holidays.

My five year old Daughter was able to pick up and play baseball on Wii sports, after creating her own Mii through the Wii channel specifically available for gamers to create a simple on-screen avatar of themselves. 

In a similar vein I also witnessed my Father, pushing Sixty Five years old and suffering from the debilitating Parkinson’s disease for over a decade, step up to the Wii and give the AI tennis players a run for their money.   I could not get the bugga away from the screen all weekend.  Now, my Mother is being bugged by him to get his own console, just like a big kid.

This of course is Nintendo’s aim, to widen the demographic of gamers.  This vision is materialising fantastically for the big N, even given the problems with snapping controller wrist straps.

Sony will need to pull out all stops to counter the Wii roller coaster.  Teamed with an Xbox 360 for a more hardcore gaming experience, the PS3 will be up against it during the initial rounds of the console war. 

If anybody can emerge on top, it is Sony.  The PS2 will help in this endeavour as it continues to provide solid sales.  The PSP might also play a role in maintaining the PlayStation brand at the top. 

Like Nintendo though, it will require some inspired brain storming sessions at Sony HQ.