2008: Every puzzle has an answer.
Of all my frivolous end of year reviews, this may be the least meaningful.
I just barely bought an XBOX 360 (expect some reviews in the future). I don't (plan to) own a Playstation 3. And I think the Wii is still a couple of years off from capitalizing on its potential (the Dragon Quest X announcement should act as a nice catalyst).
In the meantime, another system is quietly winning the seventh generation war.
If your name is Mark, which I hope it is because why else would you be reading this post, you already know the system I am talking about. The Nintendo DS.
When you look at the sales figures, the matchup isn't even close:
Nintendo DS: 94.40 million
Nintendo Wii: 43.61 million
XBOX 360: 26.48 million
Playstation 3: 18.78 million
Quite a flip in one generation. We will have to wait and see if Sony even survives the year.
Nintendo has grown so confident in its marketing prowess - it, quite rightfully, uses the success of Brain Age as a benchmark - it even offered to fully market Dragon Quest IX in America. No hard feelings $quareEnix!
The DS Lite is still selling so well, Nintendo has claimed that it has no plans on releasing the DSi stateside any time soon (I think they have since backed away from that statement).
And with good cause.
While third party publishers are releasing 100 hour juggernauts for the XBOX and the Playstation, and not developing games for the Wii, there seems to be a new breezy, eye-catching game released on the DS every month. I mean there is even a KORG DS-10 synthesizer available for the system. How cool is that?
One of my favorite games of the year, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, is not exactly novel, but it resurrects a genre that has all but disappeared in the FPS dominated landscape of gaming: the point and click adventure game (although perhaps I should lay that crown atop Phoenix Wright?). Eschewing the absurd dream logic of Roberta Williams for classical puzzles, Professor Layton typifies the DS in my mind: old school gaming style with a twee sensibility that is sure to repulse the 1337est of gamers.
Looking ahead, the DSi points to the future of gaming: eliminating physical cartridges in favor of flash memory. Although the path is fraught with piracy, I think the fact that it virtually eliminates the second-hand market should compensate for the risk.
Plus it sets up the new fleecing of the modern gamer: additional downloadable content.
For a fee, of course.
I just barely bought an XBOX 360 (expect some reviews in the future). I don't (plan to) own a Playstation 3. And I think the Wii is still a couple of years off from capitalizing on its potential (the Dragon Quest X announcement should act as a nice catalyst).
In the meantime, another system is quietly winning the seventh generation war.
If your name is Mark, which I hope it is because why else would you be reading this post, you already know the system I am talking about. The Nintendo DS.
When you look at the sales figures, the matchup isn't even close:
Nintendo DS: 94.40 million
Nintendo Wii: 43.61 million
XBOX 360: 26.48 million
Playstation 3: 18.78 million
Quite a flip in one generation. We will have to wait and see if Sony even survives the year.
Nintendo has grown so confident in its marketing prowess - it, quite rightfully, uses the success of Brain Age as a benchmark - it even offered to fully market Dragon Quest IX in America. No hard feelings $quareEnix!
The DS Lite is still selling so well, Nintendo has claimed that it has no plans on releasing the DSi stateside any time soon (I think they have since backed away from that statement).
And with good cause.
While third party publishers are releasing 100 hour juggernauts for the XBOX and the Playstation, and not developing games for the Wii, there seems to be a new breezy, eye-catching game released on the DS every month. I mean there is even a KORG DS-10 synthesizer available for the system. How cool is that?
One of my favorite games of the year, Professor Layton and the Curious Village, is not exactly novel, but it resurrects a genre that has all but disappeared in the FPS dominated landscape of gaming: the point and click adventure game (although perhaps I should lay that crown atop Phoenix Wright?). Eschewing the absurd dream logic of Roberta Williams for classical puzzles, Professor Layton typifies the DS in my mind: old school gaming style with a twee sensibility that is sure to repulse the 1337est of gamers.
Looking ahead, the DSi points to the future of gaming: eliminating physical cartridges in favor of flash memory. Although the path is fraught with piracy, I think the fact that it virtually eliminates the second-hand market should compensate for the risk.
Plus it sets up the new fleecing of the modern gamer: additional downloadable content.
For a fee, of course.
posted by d l wright at 1/26/2009 03:57:00 PM
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