Ben-DutkaI suppose we could sit here talking about Grand Theft Auto IV all day, but as great as that game is, we already covered it last week. I also wrote up an editorial on it, so I figure it's time to move on.
GT has sold 50 million…WOW
So it seems that the Gran Turismo franchise has officially topped the 50 million mark in sales, and I find that to be incredibly impressive, for several reasons. First of all, it's easy to say something like, "oh, it's a sports/racing title, which is by far the most popular genre." Yes, it is, but consider this- GT has always been a simulator , which does not cater to the casual gamer. Hence, that eliminates a great many sports fans right off the bat. Furthermore, how many racing games have there been in the past decade? How many has GT been forced to compete with since 1998? Ten gajillion? No matter what anybody else does – I'm looking at you, Forza Motorsport – the big-time car enthusiasts and avid gamers will always return to the best of the best: Gran Turismo . Sure, it's not entirely realistic, but then again, nothing is in the virtual world. And with the onset of vehicle damage and all those Italian supercars we've been missing for 10 years, GT5 is going to rock our socks.
And yes, it's a guarantee. Any series that sells 50 million copies on only a half-dozen entries (counting the two Prologue s) is doing extremely well, and is revered by many, many, many gamers. It is, and will continue to be, a true phenomenon. Plain and simple.
Er…I'd rather not have to buy more consoles in two years
I'm a little worried that what Evan Wilson had to say might become true, which means I'll once again have to shell out the cash for another Microsoft and/or Nintendo console in 2010. He didn't mention the PlayStation 4 – that thing really isn't coming out in two years, not with Sony continually talking about a 10-year life cycle for the PS3 – but new systems from Ninty and MS are bad enough. Of course, I haven't bought a Nintendo system since the SNES and I doubt I'd be interested in something like the Wii2, but I have had both the Xbox and Xbox 360, which means I will most likely want the Xbox 720 (or whatever). I really only have the Microsoft consoles for the exclusives, although I admit to buying many multiplat titles in the last generation for the Xbox instead of the PS2, for obvious reasons. This time around, though, I'd rather have the PS3 version for most any multiplat title, and I have the 360 for the likes of Halo , Bioshock , the upcoming Ninja Gaiden II and Splinter Cell: Conviction (both mysteriously exclusive to the 360), etc.
But I'd much rather just have the PS3 and 360 for several more years; at least until 2012. Wilson did say the next MS console wouldn't be around until 2011, and I guess that's okay…but I still think that's pushing it. Can't we just let things be for a while? Let's try to get absolutely everything out of the systems we have, okay? …video game consoles aren't so cheap, remember, and I get the sneaking suspicion that backwards compatibility is gonna disappear the next time 'round. 'cry'
Personal gaming update
More GTAIV, obviously, but I'm splitting my time between that, Prologue and Hot Shots . This will probably be the case until Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots comes out in a month, but I don't have to rush. Arnold is handling the review for that one, so I don't have to drop everything and play it (even though I might be so inclined). See, I took GTAIV and he took MGS4, so that's plenty fair. It's just tough work having to get the game ASAP and play as much of it as humanly possible ASAP to get a high-profile review up…yeah, I know it sounds like I'm complaining about a dream job to some of you, but trust me. It's work. I promise. It's FUN, yes, but it's still WORK. And yes, I do love it. 🙂
P.S. Happy Mother's Day to all!
Ben, I feel similarly, the world still needs to see and experience what next gen promises to be. Looking at recent videos of Killzone 2 gameply sequences and experiencing the graphic beauty of GT5 a next gen experience may be materialising. I was worried that Sony have overhyped its machine and it would never deliver what was promised, saying this, deep down, I always new that further on in the PS3 life cycle the world would experience what it is truely capable of. The PS2 and God Of War proved this. If MS and Nintendo release new consoles respectively it will surely mix up the pot yet again. My only fear is this, firstly does the PS3 under the hood, have enough grunt left to give any new console construct a run for its money, and if not, would the take up of yet another hardware next gen release cycle be popular or not amongst consumers. If yes, MS and Nintendo would have to revisit the backward compatibility issue, as thier hardcore followers would want to retain access to their owned titles. If not it may be the case that these users will simply purchase another piece of equipment and keep the old one. For developers, it makes it then difficult to produce software for the new gen next gen consoles and keep plugging away at the PS3 as a standalone entity, seemingly one cycle behind its competitors. I really do home MS and Nintendo do not release more hardware soon… Then again, if they do, Nintendo, this time around, my surprise as all and come out with a stonker…
Q!
Haha Ben, Work is work. And I did do the same or the MS consoles, I do buy them for the exclusives but… I returned my X360 about 2 days after I bought it. I bought it when Halo 3 came out, and Halo 3 didn't really impress me too much… And then I also needed that money for some GTA IV, GT:5 Prologue, MGS4 Ps3 bundle pack etc… But, If it wasnt for the tight budget I would have probably kept X360, No telling what other exclusive might pop up O.O
Amen on the GT5 part of this editorial, GT will likely always stand tall even though it caters to a refined sort of racer at least in the long term(beyond a couple weeks life in players hands).
As for the Next generation consoles, i heard the same as you. This is the problem with Nintendo and Microsoft although Nintendo is the owrs of the 2. They build systems that are good , very good to a fair amount of people, but in the way they build them they dont build them into a machine that has INCREDIBLE limits like the PS3. The PS3s limits are still being tested and tried by developers. I cant be sure about Microsoft but it can be guaranteed that they will need a new system to compete at least a few years before Sony does. As for Wii, its physical type of gaming trait aside, is an inferior system, its also quite cheaper but due to that fact cannot totally be considered in the same league as the 360 or PS3 in my oipinion so basecally they'll need a tech upgrade much worse than MS. It seems like although MS occupies the top-tech spot for a couple years, they then play second fiddle for many years when Sony drops their state-of-the-art system. MS might want to think about spending more time and more money building up the next one so that it can comepet e better against PS4
I agree with what you guys are saying.
For me, the SNES will always be one of the greatest consoles of all time – if not THE greatest – and the N64 was like a slap in the face to me. I know it helped to usher in the world of 3D gaming, and I know games like Mario 64 and Zelda: OoT were revolutionary, but to be perfectly honest, I will ALWAYS prefer the 2D Marios and Zeldas. Furthermore, in the 6-year span of the N64, it had, by my estimation, no more than a small handful of "AAA" titles, and that's just unacceptable. This is in stark contrast to the PS1, which had so many greats, especially when it came to RPGs.
The GC was basically the same thing, and while I certainly give props to Nintendo for the Wii, it still doesn't interest me. If I owned it, I'd only play it in passing every once in a while when the likes of GTAIV, MGS4, GT5, FFXIII, etc. didn't take up my time. And while I will always despise Microsoft for making the least reliable consoles in history, I will freely admit that there are a few games on both the Xbox and Xbox 360 that I really didn't want to live without. Last year's Bioshock was a good example of that.
But the bottom line is this- every new generation, I find that a Sony console is the one that delivers the best overall experience for its life cycle. It's just my personal preference, of course, but that's just the way I see it, which is why I certainly prefer the PS3 and would likely prefer the PS4. Even so, I never discount the other two competitors just because, above all else, I want to play GOOD GAMES. I'm a gamer. I really don't care if they have to be played on a toaster. LOL
PS4? That would be dumb as hell… as high as it's price, why would people want to buy another stronger (supposed) system which will probably cost even MORE than that the PS3?
Even more of a reason… why would they create another system when they still haven't even fully utilized or discovered the true max potential of the one already out?
Can you say… dig your own grave?