The Battle of the Consoles, and its effect on Role-playing Gamers.

by Jake Fiveash 

You know, I've been thinking about the battle of consoles that has ensued as of late; and, there is one thing that has been ever-prevalent in my mind, "What does this battle of consoles mean for the RPG market?". Will companies in favor of putting out mainstream games for casual gamers ignore the RPG market? Will the RPG market become more popular and flourish even more then it has in the past?

First, one must look at the companies out there, and what third party developers are with whom. Lets start with Sony. Sony has produced two quality systems, and has had the support of some of the gaming market's most famous developers, such as Squaresoft, Capcom, and Namco. But as of late, Sony has seen some major problems in development and other areas. Their PlayStation 2, which has been hailed as the greatest console of all time, sold out on its release day, yet Sony could not release any more shipments because of an error in their factories. Now, this may seem like some common mistake and not any fault to Sony, but the fact is, they were still releasing and making PlayStation 2's for the Japanese market. Sometimes even going over quota to supply the demand, but did they show that dedication with the U.S. market, hardly. Getting back to our original topic, what does this mean for RPG Gamers in the U.S.? Mainly, if Sony does not get their act together, and start shipping to the U.S. as much as they can; then, the PlayStation 2 will be seeing a rapid decrease in the number of developers who are willing to program for the system. Which in turn, could mean less games and less Role-playing games in general on a console that could really boost the RPG market.

Next on the list would be Sega, over the years, Sega has made some horrid consoles, which may be the reason why Sega has ducked out of the fight, and stopped manufacturing their Dreamcast. In a stunning turn of events, Sega announced that they would stop making hardware, and start focusing solely on software. Some may think this a shock and tragedy, but in my eyes, this is great news. Sega has been known for making lackluster consoles, but their games have always been top-notch, rewarding gamers with fun game play, and fond memories. An example of this would be the recently released Phantasy Star Online, which is truly a classic game. Now, Sega can develop for other consoles, more powerful then their own, is this a good thing? My answer would be yes, now Sega has the chance to develop for good consoles, it should mean even more classic games from a great company. And what will this mean for the RPG market? Well, Sega has been known for making some of the greatest RPGs ever played, so it should be a great boost for Role-players everywhere. Last but not least, there would be Nintendo, now this is one that's really up in the air. Nintendo has made some truly superb consoles in the past, and even more, sported some of the greatest RPGs known to man.

But lately, Nintendo has had some trouble, their Nintendo64 sold well enough, and they really did what they could do to appeal to the casual gamer. But what of the hardcore gamers, the role-players, the people who stay up for three days to play through a game, then stay up for another week to go back through and get every secret? In my opinion, Nintendo will merely repeat their last console with stronger graphics. This is what I predict to happen, Nintendo will release Gamecube, and some great titles with it. But as soon as they have suckered plenty of people into buying the system, it will see a lack of good games, only seeing a new Pokemon title, or some other Nintendo trademark game sequel. This in turn, could lead to gamers not trusting Nintendo, which may lead to their grim demise in the U.S. market. What does this mean for RPG gamers? Not much, Nintendo has released little quality RPGs on next generation systems, and I see no plans for them changing their ethic in the future.

Well, that about wraps things up, hopefully you'll all make the right decision in what next generation console you want to buy. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.