Matters of Perspective

Two stories emerged this week that prove there are still some battles yet to fight in this mostly finished next-gen console war. The first one revolves around an even-tempered look at some of the stats and figures available while the second decides to base itself on something other than reality.

The NPD group, a marketing research firm that tracks how much of stuff is sold, has been keeping records of all console hardware and software sales for some time now. They release the information on a monthly basis and usually some kind soul over at Next-Gen.biz (though now it’s Edge Magazine) sifts through the data and compiles an analysis. Web site Venture Beat recently posted an analysis of their own spanning the last 26 months for all three systems and came to some pretty unsurprising conclusions.

The current all-time leader in terms of number of units sold is the venerable Playstation 2, but Nintendo’s strategy of developing a family-friendly console with a funny name has the Wii on track to pass up the PS2 in the near future. Meanwhile, during this same 26 month period, the Playstation 3 sold 6.79 million in the U.S., which puts it slightly above last-gen loser Gamecube, which shipped 6.75 units in its initial 26 months. Difference is, according to the report, Nintendo actually made money while Sony currently sells every PS3 at a loss. Oh, how the mighty hath fallen.

The trends for all three consoles seems pretty well established at this point and I would, without fear or hesitation, proclaim Nintendo the winner and Sony the loser. But wait, this story just took a surprising turn! What’s that you say, Sony Computer Entertainment Chairman Kazuo Hirai in a recent interview with the “Official Playstation Magazine? “You say you intentionally made the Playstation 3 a challenging platform to develop games, as to ensure its touted 10-year life cycle?

Of course, what a brilliant plan! While your competitors harnassed the energy and passion of developers and helped them create superior products, you frustated them, stymied their efforts and disillusioned the public with an underperforming, overpriced system. Sony’s PR has taken the lilt of a seasoned, but losing gambler who keeps justify his return to trips to the casino by saying “This time guys, just trust me, this time I’m on a hot streak.” It’s also remeniscent of begging the mafia not to break your kneecaps cause even though you don’t have the money now, you promise you’ll have it soon. Well, Sony you’ve had years to show consumers the money and now they’ve responded to your faulty advances by not giving you the money.

The justification mentioned in the interview for this intentional thwarting was that it would prevent developers from unlocking all the capabalities at once and ensure that the games got better over time. Here’s my question. If your machine is capable of creating games with superior graphics and gameplay, one not just do it immediately? Why not follow the shock and awe approach, release successful games early and build up an insurmountable lead over your competitors? Because that’s what Nintendo and Microsoft did and it seems to have worked out pretty well for them. Perhaps because your just attempting to cover up your consoles lack of success with lame excuses?

Nah, couldn’t be. I trust you Hirai. Also, Home is a completely useful addition to the gaming exeprience and not an unecessary hindrance at all.

More collatoral damage might be headed for Xbox 360 owners as reports of hardware failures are cropping up once again. This time the culprit is something called “Error E 74″ and can occur due to a faulty AV cable or a scaler chip problem. Concerned Xbox owners can read more here

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