Left Out in the Cold: A look at the console race and what it means

by Dan Highwind 

During the last few news has been trickling out from every source about the new game consoles. E3 was held in Los Angeles no more than two weeks ago. During E3 Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft showcased their offerings to the next console race. While Sony already had the head start, Nintendo and Microsoft worked hard to show what the GameCube and the X-Box could do, respectively. What will become of these three new consoles? What will happen to Dreamcast? I'm going to give my outlook on the whole situation, and tell you why I think one console will be left out in the cold.

Sony as everyone already knows, has the head start in this console race. While receiving both a lukewarm and a hot reception in America upon its launch, it still is the best selling console in the world. With a user install base of over 10 million people and still growing due to the PS2 shortage in the fall, Sony may have some easy sailing for the next six months. That is, if people had better games to play. If E3 was any indication however, Sony has some great new titles arriving on the PS2 later this year. Some of the key PS2 titles include Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty which some say could be the PS2's Final Fantasy VII since it will most likely cause everyone and their grandmother to buy the system just to play MGS2. Another key title, probably more so than MGS2 is SquareSoft's Final Fantasy X, this game quite possibly showcases the best PS2 graphics of any game that will be released in the second generation of titles. A third title that will bring people to the PS2 is Naughty Dog's Jak and Daxter, a fully 3D exploration adventure game quite along the lines of the company's former Crash Bandicoot series. Including several more titles on the way in Japan such as Onimusha 2 and more, the PS2's future looks pretty good, it may not win the console wars but it will most definitely give Nintendo a run for its money!

Outlook: Very Good

NINTENDO GAMECUBE

Nintendo on the other hand is working from the ground up. They have seemingly given up the Nintendo 64 and have begun the production of the GameCube. At E3 Nintendo showcased some their first games for the GameCube. Most everyone who made the journey to Nintendo's booth felt that Nintendo had the best showing out of all the major companies. With key titles like Metroid and Luigi's Mansion shown, people felt that Nintendo's future looks great. Not to mention the development of the Game Boy Advance and its release in June and you've got some great news for Nintendo. However, while Nintendo's showing at E3 was excellent in every respect, there were a couple titles missing which everyone wanted to see those being the new Mario and Zelda games. But rest assured, Nintendo says that the titles will be shown at its annual Space World convention in August.

Outlook: Excellent

MICROSOFT X-BOX

Probably the biggest underdog of the next generation of console wars, Microsoft's X-Box gave what everyone believes to be the weakest showing at this year's E3. Many people who were looking forward to what Microsoft had in store for them were disappointed by the poor showing Microsoft had. The titles shown were hardly anything to write home to mommy about. Probably the best title that was displayed was THQ's WWF Raw is War wrestling game. Not to mention the games they had running at their booth were running on partly finished X-Box hardware, and they kept crashing. Microsoft should be worried. In Japan the X-Box will most likely not get a very good reception from the general gaming public. If Microsoft hopes for people to buy their system they're gonna have to work over time to produce a great system and great games that people will actually play, not just PC ports like Halo. The future looks rather grim.

Outlook: Left out in the cold

SEGA DREAMCAST

While not officially in the console race any more, Sega's Dreamcast is still going strong. The console may be dead but the games are selling like hotcakes! If E3 was any indication, Sega isn't ready to let go of its final gaming console quite yet. The third showing of the Dreamcast was probably the second best to the Dreamcast's showing last year at E3. This year it was all about the games, and Sega's software plans for the other consoles. Some of the best titles shown at Sega's booth included Sonic Adventure 2, Shenmue 2and Phantasy Star Online Version 2. Even though the console is dead, the games keep rolling out in the next year or so Sega hopes to send an old school franchise to new school success with Toejam and Earl 3. The future while not so good for the console, looks great for the games.

Outlook: While Dreamcast is dead, the games live on and will always live on!

In conclusion I would like to make my prediction of the console race. In first place we have Nintendo's GameCube followed closely by Sony's PlayStation 2. In a distant last place we will have Microsoft's X-Box. This is my view right now and by no means shows any system bias, I own the PS2 for crying out loud! Anyway, if you feel the same way, or think differently or just plain wanna' say something to me drop me a line at LinkZ1@aol.com and let me know. I'll be back and you can quote me on that!