Xbox, PlayStation, Nintendo: The new console wars

Nathan Taylor | Feb 20, 2009 11:24 AM
Anyone else get the sense that this generation of consoles is played out? Xbox is in trouble, PlayStation 3 is coming into its own with Killzone 2, and meanwhile there's talk about the future. Although it has only been a little over three years since the launch of the Xbox 360 kicked off this ...
Anyone else get the sense that this generation of consoles is played out? Xbox is in trouble, PlayStation 3 is coming into its own with Killzone 2, and meanwhile there's talk about the future.

Although it has only been a little over three years since the launch of the Xbox 360 kicked off this generation, speculation is already rife about the next generation of products.

Nintendo Wii


The Wii continues to sell very well, in spite of the fact that there hasn’t been much going on in terms of titles for the platform. It has a few games coming that should give it a boost, including new Mario and Zelda titles, as well as other titles designed to take advantage of the new MotionPlus controller, but by and large Nintendo continues to enjoy the success of its early titles.

My guess is that Nintendo will probably be the first out with a new console model in 2011, and in terms of processing hardware it will be about equivalent to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. It will support HD, of course, and will actually include a lot of similar features to the PS3 and Xbox 360, including local storage for downloadable content.

Nintendo, however, will continue to focus on family-friendly gaming, a strategy that has worked wonders for it in this generation.

Xbox 360


As I’ve mentioned before, the Xbox 360 looks to be in trouble. In terms of its game library I’m not sure there’s much left to be excited about.

Gears of War 2 did very well, having sold well over four million copies, and the multi-platform Fallout 3 also sold very well (and the Xbox version of the latter has downloadable expansions, unlike the PS3 version), but its future library looks a little sparse.

Halo Wars is coming, but having played the demo I’m not convinced it will be a massive success – sure, it’s got the Halo brand going for it, but playing a conventional RTS on a console just doesn’t work well. There’s also Resident Evil 5, but it’s multi-platform.

The Xbox 360 has been given something of a new lease on life in the US at least, thanks to Microsoft’s deal with movie rental company Netflix. Through Xbox Live, US owners can download movies directly to their Xbox 360 – which, quite frankly, is a service that should have been available since the Xbox 360 launched back in 2005.

Instead, Xbox Live has laid fallow, never realising its potential until now. Of course, for those of us not in the US, Xbox Live’s downloadable content is still lame, restricted to pretty much games and game demos.

This infusion, as well as a balance sheet that’s finally in the black, may convince Microsoft to hold off on the next generation of its console – which could be a big mistake.

We haven’t heard much about its plans, except that it’s likely to use an integrated processor incorporating an advanced Xenon design and an ATI GPU. There’s also talk about the inclusion of 3D motion-sensing camera technology that might even obviate the need for a controller.

A 2011 launch is possible, but several industry analysts have predicted that it might not be until 2013 that we see the third generation Xbox.

PlayStation 3


The PlayStation 3 is turning out to be the real late bloomer in this generation. After a very rocky start, thanks to its high prices and anaemic catalogue, it’s the console for which there seems to be the most interesting new stuff coming along.

Resistance 2 and Killzone 2 are set to become massive hits, and are as good as anything on the Xbox 360. But it’s actually in some of the lesser titles that I’ve been most impressed: Flower, Everyday Shooter, Trials of Topoq and other games have innovated on the platform in ways that we haven’t really seen since the launch of the Wii.

Unfortunately for Sony, its original plan for a 10-year lifecycle for the PS3 seems unlikely. The Xbox 360 got the early start and the Wii has all the momentum, leaving the PS3 as an also-ran that’s been costing Sony a good deal of money. There has even been speculation that it might quit consoles altogether, but I think that’s improbable.

More likely is that it will introduce a low-cost version of the PS3 this year or next, and will announce a new console in the same timeframe as Microsoft – perhaps 2012.

The specs of that console are unknown, but recent reports suggest that the GPU will be Intel’s Larrabee, which would be an interesting choice for Sony, and might be enough for Sony to get some of its mojo back.

I think it's unlikely to move away from the Cell processor as the main CPU, however.