The big three video game hardware manufacturers this week battled it out to claim victory among press and analysts at the E3 Media & Business Summit in Los Angeles, CA.
Nintendo Co. focused solely on profit-generating casual game experiences for its top-selling Wii, which claimed the leadership position in U.S. sales this week at 10.9 million units sold to date.
Wii Music is likely to be a huge holiday hit with more than 60 virtual instruments in a non-graded playing environment. Music titles are more popular than ever, and a version that caters to all will be well-received by the Wii demographic.
Animal Crossing: City Folk will merge core and casual players into a semi-social networking title that utilizes a new $29.99 WiiSpeak microphone peripheral. The success of previous titles will likely generate positive buzz for the next installment.
Wii Sports Resort will capitalize on the introductory Wii Sports and tie-in the new Wii MotionPlus Wii Remote add-on. Having the peripheral bundled is crucial to install base acceptance, but it’s a crap shoot as to whether audiences will find the device a necessity or a nuisance.
With Nintendo raking in sales on casual products, the core audience was left without a franchise sequel - a notion that will likely have little effect on Nintendo's money-making bottom line. Though a myriad of accessories have a chance of diluting value in current peripherals.
Sony Corp. this week defined the Playstation 3 as an all-in-one entertainment machine, providing new franchise game titles and a full video download service.
Top titles like Resistance 2, LittleBigPlanet, and Killzone 2 looked like prime assets in the PS3 library.
The oft-delayed Home social networking service will debut this fall, providing an integrated online experience for core and casual gamers alike.
A show floor demo looked functionally capable of delivering social mini-games and themed spaces to the virtual online world. A dose of heavy marketing for Home could nab interest from a more casual gaming audience. More importantly, it's free.
The most crucial development for the PS3 was the availability of a new Playstation Store video download service. After years of talking about an all-in-one set top box, the PS3 can finally deliver standard and high-definition movie and TV downloads to the masses.
A smart, synergistic property is the ability to seamlessly transfer any downloads to the PSP, a functionality that the company didn't relay with its failed proprietary UMD movie format.
Microsoft Corp. desperately wants the Xbox 360 to be something for everyone, though, the strategy will be hard to execute.
Core titles remain the hardware's strength, as Gears of War 2 looked blazing hot, along with the creative Fable 2.
The defect of Final Fantasy XIII to the 360 was the mother of all coups to the core audience, though an uncertainty of a Japan release for the title potentially hammers yet another nail into the coffin of the 360 in Japan.
The new Xbox Live interface looks chic and more inviting than the blades system.
Avatars are a definite Mii-too addition to the 360 that is necessary in the market place to make each player's online space more personal.
The new Primetime division has the potential to be a big casual hit, with game shows like 1 vs. 100 and real prizes.
However the biggest obstacle to mass market entry is the Xbox Live subscription. Core players squeeze every last penny out of Xbox Live service, but casual players are unlikely to shell out additional money to play Primetime titles, limiting the experience to existing members.
Products released last year like Scene It? and Viva Pinata: Party Animals failed to connect mass market users to the hardware.
Lips, a casual karaoke singing title, is also likely not to break new ground in the crowd of more established titles like Sony's Singstar and Harmonix Inc.'s Rock Band.
Without a healthy strategy to compete against Wii, the 360 will have to once again focus fire on the PS3, which is slowly but surely gaining ground in the home entertainment hub space.
==> Completely agree.
