Consoles Will Rule!

While we were all busy downloading Hot Coffee mods, some of us missed what has been happening with the next generation of consoles - and there is a lot more to it than meets the eye.

High on the list of issues to investigate is the pricing of the PS3 and the Xbox 360. On the one hand, we have Sony saying that they expect the PS3 to last a decade - even though the PS2 seems to have slowed to a crawl after five years - with the price set accordingly. On the other, there is Microsoft claiming a price tag a full $150 or so less than estimated PS3 prices. (Who ever thought we'd see Microsoft actively engaged in a price war?)

People are speculating about a price hike on the 360 to make it seem less like a "cheap" console, though the fact remains that Microsoft has a six month head start on the PS3 to do their damage. Despite the marauding PS fanatics, it seems reasonable to assume that many gamers (being less fussy) will jump for the 360 if only for its early release date. Even if so, the PS3 should still hold its own based purely on the tremendous following that the PlayStation has developed over the years.

It had looked as if the PS3 would, after all was said and done, "win" the current console war - until I read the latest news on Final Fantasy.

Developers Square Enix have broken their long standing alliance with Sony, and seem set to release their next gen games on the 360 as well as the PS3. It's a calculated move considering Square's popularity in Japan, and bearing in mind that the Xbox never really had a chance in a market so firmly indoctrinated in Sony and Nintendo. One can only wonder if Square is seeing things in the 360 that could crack the Japanese home market, something that foreign companies have been trying hard to do for a long time. It goes without saying that Microsoft is practically quivering at the knees to see Square join their camp. What better way to crack into the Japanese market than to be backed by Final Fantasy, the defining title of the PlayStation for so many years?

The odd one out in the new console line-up is Nintendo's much less hyped "Revolution". The makers of the original "famikon" have been hard at work adding something different to the mix. It's been said more than once that the Revolution won't focus as heavily on enhanced specs and perfect graphics as the 360 and the PS3; Nintendo claims to be aiming more at using their cell shaded cartoon classics to cement their current position. Combined with the ability to connect via Wi-Fi to the DS, "Revolution" seems set to be a different breed of console than the graphically high-octane Sony and Microsoft offerings.