VCO3, so according to your 3 points (specifically point number 2), if I as a gamer (though I wouldn’t classify myself as a nerd) said that the difference between PS2 and PS3 are not as you claimed (menial and and upgrade at best, if I understood correctly), then I’m in denial? Have you been sleeping for the past year or so? You do understand how much more of a machine the PS3 is than it’s predecessor? If you ever had a PS2 back in the day, you must have bought it for a reason. It was better than anything else on the market. I can’t stress enough how much better its successor is. And what I saw was merely a glimpse of it’s actual potential. I will say this again: the price IS a major setback. Had they halved the retail prices of the units, I don’t think Wii’s success would have been so apparent, regardless of it’s revolutionary controller system. There is another positive side to gettting the PS3, as I’m sure you all know: Blu-ray. Many of you do say that you wouldn’t use a console to watch movies. Ok, I can understand. I’ve only done it a few times myself. But for me it was basically because it was easier to have a standalone dvd-player on the side which didn’t cost as much. Regardless of that fact, the PS2 was (and maybe still is) the most sold DVD-player on the planet (though I don’t remember if it was used at home as a dvd player or that the mere fact that it had the capability of playing dvds). I’m thinking that this might happen again with the PS3 (the jury’s still out on the blu-ray/HDDVD dispute). It is by far the cheapest player of it’s kind.
Just read an article where Sony’s European vice-CEO said that we can expect a “Wii” like controller for PS3 in the near future. I guess there is something to the Wii-mote, huh? 
I own a 360, but I feel pretty impartial.
I think that the price of the PS3 is crippling it. Now, your definition of what that may entail may be different, be it that it never sells up to its projections, dominates the market, never matches the PS2, whatever.
The price also helps the Wii. It’s the lowest priced machine of the next-gen machines, and it’s got the most value. Forget the HD capability. I don’t have a HDTV and I play my 360 on it. Oh, I will eventually, but it’s not a sticking point either way.
HDDVD vs. BluRay is overhyped. They BOTH lose this battle, I say. There are better formats out there and enough people that are impatient enough to tell both formats they’re not wanted.
I broke down and bought a Wii a few weeks ago. Since then, I’ve bought Ray Man, Wario Ware, and Zelda… however, I find myself playing the bundled Wii Sports more than anything else. The games (other than Wii Sports, of course) just don’t seem to grab me. I’m not really sure why not.
I’m ready for more serious games, I guess. Yes, we get it- the Wii can do cute. Can it do serious, though?
I’m also a little irritated that I haven’t really found a use for the wi-fi connection, yet. If I’m going to check the weather, I’ll do that on my PC. If I’m going to send email, I’ll do that on my PC as well. Gimme some multiplayer games, dammit.
Objection, yeronner!
The PS2 did not sell as well as it did because of its computational power. It was actually rather inferior to the Gamecube and X-Box in that respect. (Exhibit A: Dynasty Warriors 3 from Koei can sometimes have hundreds of characters in your field of vision at one time. The PS2 could not handle displaying greater than a certain number, so some of those characters would completely vanish off the screen until the body count went down. This carried over to the X-Box port, despite the X-Box being able to handle that sort of intensity. Very annoying on my end.)
The PS2 sold because it had a fantastic, fantastic library. Many of the best games for that generation are on the PS2 - GTA, the Final Fantasy series, Kingdom Hearts, and a ton of one-off but good games - and many of them were ONLY on the PS2.
If the third-party developers that had exclusive relationships with Sony like Rockstar and Squeenix jump ship, and there’s indications they have been doing so, you’re going to see better libraries for the 360 and the Wii, and what made the PS2 successful won’t work so well for the PS3. Add in the fact that it is a technologically inferior system (granted, I’m taking the word of reviewers and beta testers on this), and the PS3 just isn’t going to have the punch the PS2 did.
I’m not sure on your definition of serious, but Trauma Center: Second Opinion is a medical game where you operate on patients. They’re anime style patients, but it’s a good game that uses the remote well. Also there is a Resident Evil game coming out in the summer iirc and a survival horror game called Sadness (also iirc) due out in the next couple of months.
May as well post my opinion since I’m here and all. I think the Wii definitely has a chance at sustaining it’s success. It’s a lot of fun. It’s affordable (at least compared to the PS3). It’s getting the good press. If this keeps up, more game companies will start sending games the Wiis way. That will keep the success coming. I’m not going to sound the trumpets heralding a new age of Nintendo supremacy, but I don’t think this is a flash in the pan.
And dear god I can’t wait for the first NHL game to use the wiimote. 
Sustained.
The only things that Playstaion had of any consequence to me, not being a Playstation owner, were Final Fantasy and Metal Gear. Those are big games, but they will be coming over to Xbox as well as Playstaion relatively soon (okay, probably not Metal Gear).
Square/Enix won’t stay married to Sony if the PS3 languishes. That just doesn’t make good business sense.
I’ve yet to play a PS3 or a Wii. I’ve got access to play a Wii at a buddy’s house, but I don’t even know anyone that has a PS3 (outside the Dope, of course).
What’s going to happen is the same as the LAST format war. Someone will release a dual-format player that will beat the price of the single-format units. LG already has one for, what, about $1K?
-Joe
I’m not really sure if gambling on Blu-ray is such a great idea though. DVD is still the dominant media format right now, and it’ll be awhile before Blu-ray or HD-DVD catches on (if they ever catch on, that is). I don’t really see a reason for me to watch stuff in better definition if I don’t have an HDTV, and I don’t really see a reason to get an HDTV because the TV programming offered is so poor right now (personal pet peeve - I hate people who watch normal programs on an HDTV with the image all stretched out, it drives me nuts).
As far as the console war is concerned, I personally think that the Wii and the PS3 are taking off in completely different directions - the Wii is, by and large, a platform for casual gamers and those who don’t play games. It’s novel, it’s intuitive, it’s a hoot if you get a party going, but it’s not for you if all you want to do on it is to play serious games. It could just be because everyone is learning how to master the wiimote, but I am having a hard time doing anything on the Wii that requires precise control. I cannot imagine playing a serious 8-hour session game on a Wii. The imprecision would drive me nuts.
And to answer the OP, the Wii can easily sustain itself - at the very least, it is able to carve out a niche market all for its own and at the same time attract people from the hardcore fanbase over. Along with the well treated Nitendo fanbase that would continue to play their Marios and Zelda and Metroids with glee, the Wii wins by default.
That leaves Sony and Microsoft to carve out the hardcore gamer pie. And right now, the XB360 is doing a much better job - getting the console out, providing superior online service, and getting a good lineup of games… not to mention that while the hardware is suppose to be inferior, the X360 is churning out games with better graphics right now - just look at Gears of War!
This leaves the PS3 in a very bad position - all it has right now is a loyal fanbase, a high price tag, some inferior ports (compared to the 360), and a video player of a contested format. Whether the PS3 deserves a second look from me depends entirely on the quality of their future releases. It’s their only saving grace right now.
It’s an aside, but I can’t offhand think of a company in a directly competitive contest, as Nintendo was in the release of the Three Big Consoles in 2006, that deserves its success MORE than Nintendo does here.
Whatever your thoughts on the 360 and PS3 are, there’s no doubt that there is nothing innovative about them. The 360 and PS3 are essentially just XBoxs and PS2s with more power, the way my current PC is just a more powerful version of my previous PC. The addition of various HD format supports is simply a straight-up upgrade of the DVD support of the preceding systems. They are the same machines as their predecessors in every way that matters.
The Wii is innovative. Nintendo took honest stock of their position and, knowing they needed a home run, rethought the video game system and provided something that normal human beings would actually enjoy, something that made the systems more fun. For that the deserve every penny they make off it.
Jamus_se, you have some very valid points there that I can’t argue with.
On a side note, some people are already speculating that one might as well just skip buying the PS3 and wait for the PS4 release around 2010. Hopefully by then they’ll have their shit together. Plus, I might end up switching camps anyways; I just haven’t had a chance to try out the Wii yet, though I’ve read alot about it.
Just a note on the Tiger Woods game, there’s a trailer for it at IGN giving a release date of March 13. It also shows a bit of the control scheme with the remote, such as turning the remote as you swing to generate a draw or fade.
Mark my words; you’ll see Square/Enix fully jumping ship within the year. They’ve just released two Final Fantasy remakes on the Gameboy Advance, “Final Fantasy III” for the DS, announced that the sequel to PS2-only Final Fantasy XII (“Revenant Wings”) is going to be a DS-exclusive, are working on an “untitled Final Fantasy game” for the Wii, and also just announced that they’re going to be releasing older games on the Wii’s Virtual Console (starting with cult classic “Actraiser”). I think we can all see where this is going.
I’ll lay my stakes here and predict that the Wii will be this generation’s winner, with the XBox 360 taking second and the PS3 being relegated to the dustbin of history.
Die-hard gamers may sneer at the Wii’s “underpowered” specs, but remember that from the perspective of the casual gamers and non-gamers – the biggest chunk of the audience Nintendo is reaching for – the Wii’s graphics are already good enough, delivering full-color 3D graphics at a fast pace. By the time people care enough about high-definition televisions to matter, Nintendo will doubtlessly release a Wii 2 with backwards compatibility and even prettier pictures.
And yes, the motion-sensing controller is a big part of the appeal. While not all games require motion-sensing capabilities, the Wii remote makes it possible for developers to create easy-to-play games that can appeal to folks who are intimidated by existing controllers. It’s all up to what the developers can do, of course, but if Nintendo sells enough boxes (all signs point to yes), enough folks will be making Wii games that increases the odds that an original genre-breaking hit will be created.
(I’ve got my Wii since Christmas, and have been playing it almost every day since, with no signs of being bored with it. I also just picked up and reviewed Sonic and the Secret Rings, for whoever cares.)