Tuesday, January 03, 2006

What lies ahead....

Well, my Retirement 11 day demo ran out so it's back to work time. (Excellent program, btw. Can't wait for the full version!)

Much FFXI gaming over the break, but only a little console time. I did play some of Obscure (aka Resident Evil 90210) and it was both entertaining and dissapointing. Good graphics and decent control scheme, but there were a couple of times where not being able to move the camera made finding things almost impossible - like the gate out of the first area! I liked the partner style of gameplay, but to say this is a co-op play game is a ripoff. All they did was allow another player to drive around a slave character. No fun at all. However, as a single player game it worked out quite well. I also liked that when a character died, he (or she) stayed dead. You never know who's going to make it through. And the other characters would mourn at the places where their friends fell in battle. Sort of like Sims grief.

This is going to be an interesting year, videogame-wise. The old guard will be replaced with new systems. Microsoft has already stopped production of any MS games for the Xbox, and one has to wonder about the Cube. With the release of the Revolution, will Nin keep making games for a platform that is already struggling? I don't expect PS2 games to go away anytime soon - too many consoles out there to cater to. And eventually stores have to cut back on one platform or another or run out of display space. Target's have expanded their game area, but it's still only a couple of aisles. Walmart will have to make the most changes and as they are #1 in retail sales, that means alot.

And what will I end up buying? At this point, I have no interest in a 360 (too buggy, not any games I can't play on the PC, no interest in the online features, etc). The Revolution will probably be fairly cheap and if they have good backwards support that will be a plus. I am looking forward to a PS3 as I think it will be the powerhouse of the three. I have a feeling that in the end MS will regret having gone first in the console wars.

Time will tell and 2006 has begun.

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