360 Slim + Nata l...how can Sony counter?...Is GT5 enough?

[Impulsivity]

nightsurge said:

Impulsivity said:
I really have no idea why Natal is such a big deal. I mean Sony has something very similar to Natal (complete with a lot of the ball minigames and other such things that were in the natal tech demo) called the eyetoy. It was gimicky and very few people really used it.

Controllers with buttons (though less buttons) that track movement are a vastly superior solution that is applicable to way more game types. I loved playing Resident Evil 4 on the Wii but couldn't imagine games like that on Natal. What am I going to do, use my finger as a gun?

The preview stuff for Move looks awesome to boot. Especially that fighting game they keep showing. I think the onus really falls more on MS this year to prove theres any compelling reason to own a 360 besides more rehash of the same space marine series. With Heavy Rain, God of War III, Move and soon Gran Turismo all the buzz is on the Sony side of things lately, and I don't really see that changing this year.

I find it highly unlikely that the 360 will be anything better then 4th in Worldwide sales and has a chance of dropping to 5th behind the PSP.

1.  When Move is able to track more than 2 small points in space, let me know.  Natal can track 48 points on a person in 3D space.

2.  Crackdown 2, Halo: Reach, Alan Wake, Splinter Cell, and I'm sure many more games will be plenty to counter any Sony game lineup.  So far this year the buzz has seemed pretty neutral or mostly leaning towards MS side with Mass Effect 2, slim rumors, etc.

3.  360 will have a slim + natal + price cut waiting for it this year.  PS3 will have no price cut at all.  Especially if they want to bundle Move with a console (which may even see the entry prices go higher).

Unlike you, I find it highly unlikely that the 360 will be lower than 3rd worldwide (above PS3 and below the Wii).  That you mentioned it had a chance of slipping below the PSP I hope was surely just a joke, because otherwise it would just make the rest of what you put seem a bit biased and illogical.

  First I said 5th because it would be behind both the DS and PSP.  It will for sure be 4th behind the DS, the PSP really depends on how the rest of the year goes and whether theres a big price drop.  VG chartz dracks mobile devices along with consoles, so it would seem they're fair game (after all if I have 300 dollars to spend on video games and I spend it on a handheld+games it really does take away from dollars spent on consoles does it not?)

 

  As to point 1. something a certain kind of tech fanboy never gets is it is never ever about the specs.  They always were talking about how the Archos had more hard drive space then the ipod, how the Zune HD has much better specs then the ipod touch, how android is so much more customizable and has this and that feature....and then their spec based product falls behind easy to use not as well speced alternatives because what matters is the TOTAL DEVICE not points on a checklist.  That is why the Wii, the ipod, the iphone, the ipod touch and other such easy to use divices have been the big winners.

  It is almost impossible for most people to tell the difference between Natal and something like the eyetoy or webcam games which have been around forever.  You can talk about this or that point in 3D space, but it really looks like more of the same.  I remember playing games like Tekken at Dave and Busters using motion sensors like Natal, it was awful to say the least trying to match eddy's movements and everything that played well you could more or less do with an Eyetoy.

   That is why the Move will almost certainly do better, people know the Wii solution, they like it, the Move is a slightly better version of that which you can do with games that don't look so 2001 as Wii games do, win win.  

  As to 2) Crackdown was an also ran game that only did even remotely well because it came with a Halo Demo, Splinter Cell is coming for PC, and if history is any indication wtih SC games Sony systems as well, Halo...I mean who is interested in more space marine games that hasn't already bought a 360 years ago?  That won't expand the market at all.

   Alan Wake might or might not, I have a hard time imagining it getting the buzz of something like Heavy Rain which I kept running into even on completely non video game related sites (even on the front page of the New York Times).  Something tells me it will be like a better version of Silent Hill more then a revolutionary gameplay experience like Heavy Rain.  All the game buzz has been on the Sony side for a good while now, and it seems like that will continue through the end of the year with a short break for Halo (though I don't remember the ODST spinoff making that big a splash, maybe the ship has sailed post Halo 3?)

 

  As to 3) Exactly 1 Gamestop in the entire LA area has a PS3 at 299 in stock today, and only 1 PS3 at that (out of 50 gamestops).  It's backordered on all the online sites.  I can find a 360 anywhere, hundreds of them sitting there.  I doubt Sony is that worried about demand at this point in time.  I doubt 50 bucks off a no hard drive no wifi no blu ray 360 is going to make a huge difference.