Console War Trials

by John Maguire

What are the defining factors needed for a console to win out over its competition?

The answer is quite simple, and has been proven long before Saturn, Playstation, and the N64 were ever made. User base.

The Sega Genesis was technically superior in every way to the NES. The NES however, had been out longer, and had 300+ games and millions of people around the world. Sega started to catch up right about the time Nintendo brought out the SNES, and thousands of people, for whatever their reason, (Tired of the old games, their NES broke, never had the older system and wanted to get one.) went out to get a SNES because they KNEW Nintendo. They trusted the name "Nintendo" to bring in the kinds of games they liked.

Well times have changed and there are more consoles, and more names. Over the course of the 32/64 bit generation the companies have found new audiences and more variety of games. The undisputed leader of this generation is Sony, with a massive library of games, and a system that is in more homes worldwide then the NES ever was. With that in mind and a presale record-breaking open for the Dreamcast, I believe we, the gamers, are going to have the first true three-horse race, with the PS2 floating on the top.

IMHO, looking the order of release, and the installed user base of the systems, the consoles have the potential to run in this fashion:

Dreamcast is already out, and doing okay. The system had a wonderful release (Phenomenal considering the performance of its predecessor) and also sports a GREAT lineup of incoming games for a system start. The added (albeit delayed) network option that comes with the system is something of boon, and if Phantasy Star OL is a reality, and can compete with standard RPGs as well as being a "realtime" RPG, then Sega has its proverbial foot in the door! Now we have a year to wait for the PS2, during the first six months or so, people are going to jump the gun and buy the DC so they can play the new goodies. So now we have lots of DC owners, who will continue to buy DC games, and as long as Sega's producers keep pumping out quality (uncertain, but hopeful) the Dreamcast can remain on the scene. (Or at least it won't bomb nearly as bad as the Saturn)

The much-awaited PS2 has a system design that borders on artistry, and some great games of its own for release on startup. The lack of games for startup (compared to the ample supply of DC titles) won't matter as much since you can play all your oldies on the new console right out of the box! The pricetag will be a hurdle, but not really a big one. I doubt Sony will let it go for more then $300. Personal opinions aside, even if it does come here at $370, people will buy it. Take for example the Saturn, no one seems to remember that the Saturn came out at $400! People still bought it, many people. Other reasons why people will drop the bones for the PS2 include:

No games need to be bought with the system to use it. No new peripherals NEED to be purchased, all the old ones still work.

The system will also come with a new controller, and upgraded Memcard, so you still make off like a bandit DVD-ready as well, without added hardware!!!

You end up spending about $320-$350 on a new system and the added peripherals anyway. With the PS2, you get it all with one purchase. So now the goldenboy Sony enters the fray slower, perhaps, then Sega this time. But I guarantee they will remain steady with their style of business.

Then there's Nintendo. For the aforementioned reason at the top of this page, there are ALOT of Nintendo fans. (Let's be honest "Loyalists!") The Dolphin will be well received, and will have an amazing chipset for its soul. But is that going to make it great? The Saturn had better overall specifications then the Playstation, but it bombed, mostly due to its utter lack of game library. Sega's flaw was in making the Saturn too hard to program. So while you could get a nicer result then the competition, it took you three times the work to do! From reports I've been hearing, Nintendo has lost some third-party support for the Dolphin because the thing is also a pain to program. Sega learned from Sony with it's new "user-friendly" Dreamcast. Why didn't Nintendo? The only future I can see for Dolphin, is that of the N64's, fewer more-expensive games. Personally, I'm tired of that syndrome. Nintendo does not has the same quality anymore either, when was the last time an N64 game left a mark on your mind? For me, it was Zelda OoT. That's it. Their games are just, well, unremarkable. They don't have the stamina like Metal Gear, or Resident Evil, or any engulfing environments such as Castlevaina SOTN, (I won't even mention the games from Square.) Just pretty polygons, with pastel colors.

To sum up, The Dreamcast has the right stuff, but its success is solely based on how much Sega puts their backs into it. It will probably hold a decent share of the market, and stay at No. 2. The PS2 is going to move slowly but steadily. I do believe, that Sony will have an iron grip on the industry's No.1 spot, and nothings going to threaten them for very long, at least not in this generation of consoles. Nintendo will come out fighting, especially if they can manage a low pricetag, but they will have a tough time of it. Sega's history shows that they will probably match lower prices, as soon as the dolphin announces that it will be lower. They can easily take over Sega with good effort, but I do not think they have the innovation for taking Sony down. Nintendo's release will probably show weather or not they will take No. 2 away for Sega, or fold.

I would now like to apologize to Nintendo fans, or people who thought I was bashing Nintendo. I was, I admit, to a degree. I honestly feel as though they don't have their hearts in the game anymore. The way they jump up the bit ladder, to 64 in a 32bit fight, and now to 256 in a 128bit market, seems as if they have dropped to thinking that "Bigger is Better" and not with maxing out what they have. It is like the execs have "size issues". They already KNOW that raw power isn't needed in a console fight from their own history with the NES we all grew up with! I am in no way saying that they are going to suffer as bad as Sega did with Saturn, but unless they can make EVERYTHING the Dolphin touches gold, they aren't going to retake their former glory, or even dent the industry with something new.

Truthfully, I want all three to do an outstanding job, the resulting competition between three solid companies could result in inovations we never even saw coming. This could take the game industry into a renaissance.