Ben-DutkaNow, I'm old enough to remember all the way back to the earliest video game consoles, but for the life of me, I can't recall a system that has received so much enduring discussion and debate as the PlayStation 3.
At first, it was relatively normal. Despite the early gloom and doom – and I will refer you to my earlier article if you think any of it still applies in 2009 – the amount of discussion articles dedicated to Sony's new machine didn't seem abnormally high. It really only reminded me of the PS2, and maybe the original Xbox. In all honesty, I do vividly remember the amount of excitement generated by the Super Nintendo after the original NES took the blossoming gaming world by storm, but that was well before the time when the media had become…well, the media for this industry. So perhaps the last generation had the most amount of long-running hype and argument, but that may have all changed: well over two years after the system's launch, the PS3 continues to demand a large portion of the industry's scrutiny, and an almost equally large portion of forum conversations around the Internet. Obviously, I don't have any hard-and-fast statistics; I can only go by what I see. Anecdotal evidence, I know. But I think everyone will agree that PS3-related topics still get a ton of attention, and they're topics that typically die out after the first year.
A lot of the discussion certainly centers on ignorance, but I'm simply talking about general attention. For whatever reason, the PS3 continues to turn many, many heads on a continual basis, and the subjects range from power to software to Sony-oriented business topics. At this time, with the generation in full swing, one would've expected an evening out of sorts, but that doesn't appear to be in the cards for this machine. I haven't decided yet whether or not this will turn out to be a benefit in terms of sales…probably not, considering the ignorance level of some of the articles I'm talking about is through the effing roof. But I do know that anything with "PlayStation 3" in the headline demands attention at all times, and I'm starting to think that it may be – or will become – the most talked about console in video game history. Does anyone else agree with this, or do they remember more elongated discussion for another system in the past? Maybe my memory is just on the blink, but it seems unlikely. I've got one of the best memories on earth. 😉
I suppose the key now is to insure that things don't spiral out of control, because that could lead to many mainstream consumers facing a deluge of confusing and conflicting information when they set out to purchase a game console. Well…that's why we're here.
