My living room console summary for 2007...
2007 started off with some great fireworks. The Wii was (and still is) selling out, 360 maintained a slightly below status quo in sales, and PS3 maintained a slightly better then 360 pace (from launch) throughout its first year.
For the Wii, 2007 was a perfect year. Exclusive games like Super Mario Galaxy, Resident Evil 4 - Wii Edition, Metroid Prime 3, Zack & Wiki - Quest for Barbaros' Treasure, and Super Paper Mario all got good ratings. Of which, only Zack & Wiki has had lower then expectation sales. All-in-all Nintendo has to feel like they had a perfect year. The Wii sold out, games sales were strong, and they are currently sitting #1 for this generation of consoles. The only questions will be whether 3rd parties flocking to the Wii will bring their quality bar up to meet Nintendo's standard and whether a probable new Zelda and Mario game can hold its own against pending competition from the other consoles.
For, the PS3, 2007 was somewhat disappointing but ended on a high note during November and December. There were many early predictions in 2006 that PS3 would be #1 by year's end, but it was not to be. Exclusive highlights for 2007 included Unchartered: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet & Clank, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and Warhawk with Motorstorm and Resistance: Fall of Man holding over from the 2006 launch releases. Motorstorm and Resistance would go on to become one million sellers with the 2007 release not there yet. The big questions for PS3 in '08 will be whether the price will stay consistent with other consoles (if they drop) and whether the big releases for '08 will pick the sales pace up for the PS3.
For, the 360, 2007 was a rollcoaster ride. There were many predictions that 360 would be in third by year's end but it managed to stay in second. The RRoD issue was a huge problem for the 360 in the first 3/4 of the year but Microsoft managed to fend it off by announcing a $1 billion fix and with exclusives like BioShock, Halo 3, Mass Effect, Forza Motorsports 2, Project Gotham Racing 4, and Crackdown. Of which, Project Gotham Racing 4 was the only game with disappointing sales. Microsoft has to be happy with 2007 given the hardware quality issues. The games really pulled 360 out of the fire and has the 360 in decent shape entering '08. The big questions for 360 will be whether the games lineup can continue in '08 and whether Microsoft can continue to compete against the other consoles on both price and quality of releases.
Next up, 3rd party multi-platform... There were a lot of 3rd party multi-platform games in '07. The highlights being The Orange Box, Call of Duty 4, Oblivion IV, Guitar Hero II / III, Skate, Rock Band, and Ghost Recon Advanced Warrior 2. All of which have had good ratings overall. Only the Orange Box on the PS3 had lousy sales as speculation was rampant that it was a poor port by EA. Call of Duty 4 is looking to be the leader with BioShock (ironically a 3rd party exclusive) for GOTY, and Super Mario Galaxy not far behind.
Finally, merger and separation mania has finally really entered the gaming industry. Bungie left Microsoft to get more control over its destiny, EA scooped up Bioware and Pandemic, Activision scooped Bizzare then merged with Vivendi. We can expect much the same in '08 as EA, Ubisoft, and Activision/Vivendi compete to grow and new studios continue to pop up everywhere.
Looking forward to '08 I think we can expect a lot of the same. Wii, will dominate for the forseeable timeframe in early '08, 360 should have many exclusive games rating above 80% in the first quarter, and PS3 will start to release some of its well hyped exclusive games starting in the second quarter with a big first quarter release of Haze. 3rd parties will see the multiplatform release of a little game called GTA IV. And Christmas '08 looks to be interesting as none of the big three have revealed exactly what will be out to woo Christmas shoppers. There are only rumours and the rumours are getting louder each passing day. Only time will tell.
