Who Will Win The Console Wars

by Ben Jer

My name is Ben, and I am a 14 year old Freshman at Northview High School. Although I may be younger than most writing in, I have a valid reason to believe who will win the console wars, and it's not going to be who you all think it is. I am not a system loyalist, I have my SNES, Saturn, Playstation, and Dreamcast all connected in my room, so I still enjoy a rousing round of Super Mario RPG as much as I do some Power Stone on my Dreamcast. Here is my following opinion, on what's gonna go down in the console wars.

Sega Dreamcast:
Projected Japanese Kill: Mid 2002
Projected American Kill: Early 2003

Sega came out swinging first, which was a bold move, however, they will be behind technogically compared to what I've seen. Each console seems to have one company behind it, and in the Dreamcast's corner, we have Bill Gates and his Windows CE operating system. If the rumored to be X-Box isn't released, maybe Microsoft will develop some games for the Dreamcast, I know I'd love to see a Microsoft Golf or Flight Sim for the Dreamcast in the future, that would certainly give the system some staying power.

This system's saving grace will be the multiplayer network. It has been stated that Sony will not include a modem with the PS2, and that will hurt it. I know I still play Duke Nukem 3D online, and that's a couple of years old, as far as the PC port goes. The reason why I say that the Dreamcast will last longer in the US than in Japan is because if you check the recent sales records, the Dreamcast is I believe fourth in the console wars in Japan, including the hand held systems, which can't help SoJ sleep well at night. The Dreamcast shattered all presale records here, and I doubt the PS2 will do that, due to its speculated pricepoint. Focus on quality multiplayer games with the network, and the Dreamcast will get the shelf life it deserves. Can anybody say Everquest 2?

Sony Playstation 2:
Japanese Kill: Early 2005
US Kill: Mid 2003

I think that the new Sony system will be the least sucessful, despite having Square in their corner. In the end, it won't surprize me if Square develops for Nintendo, but if Nintendo censors their art, I'll be mad beyond belief. The idea of reusing perphrials and backwards compatability is a great idea, but in the end isn't worth it. The Japanese will eat this up, because they take their gaming more serious in general than people here, but at 370 bucks, the Dreamcast will be tough competition. Sega was the deciding factor, I beliveve in this, for if Sega had the Dreamcast at about 350 bucks, the Playstation 2 wouldn't seem that expensive. I'll be getting one, but I don't think America is ready in general for what the PSX has to offer. I also really hope it doesn't take the advertizing approach the 3DO did, as the all purpose set top box. Gack.

Nintendo: Code Name Dolphin
Projected Japanese Kill: Early 2008
Projected American Kill: Early 2008

Yes, I project Nintendo will come out smelling like a rose on the console wars. If the PSX2 has poor sales, and people who own Dreamcasts see the power of the Dolphin, I'm sure they'll eat it up and get a system. Coming out last, you'll almost have the better technology, and if the PSX2 flops, and there's a good chance of that happening, the Dolphin could pick up some incredibly valuable developers in the process, such as Square, Namco, and Capcom. It's been a while since Capcom produced a fighter for a Nintendo system, I'm waiting for a Street Fighter Dolphin title. Even without third party support, Nintendo has the best first party support among the consoles, plus with Rare, two companies can basically support a system. Nintendo also needs to focus on more mature games, such as that of Parasite Eve type titles. If Nintendo's average Dolphin title is ranked Teen instead of Everyone, you're gonna attract a new age group that is a totally different beast. Nintendo needs to seriously adjust here, let's pray they learn from the flop of the N64, and the eventual flop of the 64DD.