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Playstation 2: Hype or Fiction?               Note: This column was posted on August 23, 2000

    When the Playstation 2 hits the North American shores on Oct.26, many people who had either pre-ordered the system or plan to buy it on that day will believe that the PS2 will the one of the biggest events in gaming history.  One thing is clear, however, that the Playstation 2 launch will have its share of problems like in Japan they had buggy memory cards.  Not enough PS2's may be able to go around which means not everyone who pre-ordered it will receive their PS2's come Oct.26.  In my opinion, there is definitely way too much hype on the PS2 and I think most gamers should realize what impact online gaming on the Dreamcast will have on gamers and how will future next-generation systems like Microsoft's X-Box and Nintendo's Game Cube will impact the gaming world.  While the PS2 is going to be an amazing system, most people probably can't really tell the difference in graphics between the Dreamcast and the Playstation 2, even though the PS2 technically has better graphics than the Dreamcast.  Even the Playstation 2's Japanese launch titles like Street Fighter EX3 and Ridge Racer suffer from jaggy graphics and some significant slowdown, which means developers still have a long way to go in terms of releasing games which offers anti-aliasing and make use of the PS2's DVD capabilities.  In this column, I will discuss about the potential of each next-gen system and how it has the ability to compete against the PS2 and how any one of these systems can be the leader of the gaming industry.  Then, later I will compare them to the PS2 and discuss on how these systems will fare against the PS2 in my opinion.  Now, lets go onto looking at each next-gen system one-by-one.

Sega Dreamcast:

    Probably one of the most underrated systems in the gaming industry and to some people, it's future is rather uncertain at this point but come this holiday season, the Dreamcast has one of the stronger Christmas release titles out there and with Sega's online network coming into play soon, the Dreamcast has the potential to compete against the PS2 come this holiday season.  With strong first party titles such as Virtua Tennis, Ecco the Dolphin and World Series Baseball 2K1, I think the Dreamcast is doing quite well in sales and if the Dreamcast had stronger 3rd party support, then it would probably give the PS2 a run for its money.  Although the Dreamcast is doing well here in North America, the DC is doing poorly in Japan in terms of sales and Sega of Japan is in some severe financial trouble, which is kind of sad, considering the fact that Sega makes some of the best games in the gaming industry.  In my opinion, I hope Sega will survive which they can if they had stronger 3rd party support and they release some killer titles for the future.  But for now, Sega is listed as the underdog in the console wars and can very well compete against the PS2 with online gaming and some promising titles coming out later this year.

Nintendo Game Cube:

    One of the biggest question marks in the gaming industry, Nintendo unveiled the Game Cube at Space World near the end of August and thus so far, little information has been received about the Cube's 3rd party support and whether or not the Cube will launch with a modem or not (This column was posted on August 23rd, just a few days before Space World so we don't know exactly what happens.)  I expect the system to launch in the U.S. around Fall 2001 as most people know by now and if Nintendo manages to put all the pieces of the puzzle in the right place, the Nintendo Cube could very well take the gaming industry by storm and would give the PS2 all it can handle.  So far, Nintendo has made the right moves like moving to a mini-DVD format (a special 1.5GB disc format) which can have lesser load time than the PS2 and the Cube is also a  system capable of higher graphic qualities than the Playstation 2 and some possible killer launch games.  One of Nintendo's downfalls is however, way too many kiddie games released on the Nintendo 64 and hopefully Nintendo will learn from this mistake and put more mature games for gamers alike.  Where Nintendo really excels is in the first-party category with such established franchises such as Mario, Zelda and of course Pokemon.  Other than Sega, Nintendo has one of the best first-party software in the marketplace and most of their first-party titles could easily sell millions and millions of copies worldwide and with possible strong 3rd party support, the Cube could have a lethal combination of first and third-party games that could create a line-up with more firepower than the PS2.  Overall, if Nintendo pulls off all the right moves, then I think the PS2 will have some real competition and I think the Cube has the ability to outsell the PS2 in both hardware and software sales in the near future.

Microsoft X-Box:

    Probably one of the biggest threats to the Playstation 2, the Microsoft X-Box has the edge in terms of graphics and hardware than the other systems: Cube, Dreamcast and the PS2.  Also, Microsoft has the financial strength to heavily market its new system sometime next year and can easily convince gamers that the X-Box is superior to the PS2 and that the X-Box will soon be the market leader in the gaming industry.  Based on what we've seen, Microsoft is no joke and Bill Gates seems to be serious about not just breaking into the gaming world but to be successful and to be the leader in the console industry in the near future.  We have yet to see the X-Box in action and its graphics power is still uncertain although, early system specs say that it is significantly more powerful than the PS2 and games will look more smooth and beautiful than the Playstation 2.  In my opinion, the only real problem about the X-Box is about the 3rd party support and what franchises might we see on the X-Box.  As far as I know, this is the one area where the X-Box might really suffer, although Microsoft has yet to say exactly which developers are on board prior to launch and this might cause gamers to turn away from the system.  While most of the developers for the X-Box only make PC games, Microsoft can very well have a library of games exclusive to the system which creates a well-balanced line-up of games in which Microsoft can work with.  I believe that the X-Box has the graphics and hardware edge in the console wars although, in terms of games I think the X-Box could suffer and Microsoft's line-up doesn't have what it takes to compete against the strong first-party software of Nintendo and Sega.  Overall, the X-Box definitely has the graphics and hardware edge over the PS2 although, Microsoft doesn't have the deep software line-ups of the PS2, Dreamcast and the Nintendo Cube and most people will have to wait till next year to find out whether or not Microsoft has enough killer titles to be a direct threat to the PS2.  X-Box is expected to launch around the same time as Nintendo's Game Cube and if you want more up-to-date news about the X-Box, visit X-Box's site.

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Dreamcast VS. PS2

    Kind of a mismatch here although the Dreamcast has a couple of potential weapons against the PS2 like online gaming and some quality titles coming out late this year.  A lack of strong 3rd party support will really hurt the Dreamcast in the long run and besides online gaming and quality titles coming out late this year, the Dreamcast will need some quality titles over the next couples of years to compete against the PS2.  While online gaming will no doubt help sell a lot of systems, most of the key 3rd party developers have left the Dreamcast to develop for the PS2 and this could spell some trouble for Sega although over the course of the next couple of years, Sega has the potential to release some quality first-party titles and some first-party developers, like Visual Concepts has created some surprisingly good and quality games for the system.  But in my opinion, Sega needs much more than just strong first-party titles to stay alive in the soon to be competitive console market and the future of the Dreamcast is still in question.

Cube VS. PS2

    In my mind, both systems can easily win the console wars and both Nintendo and Sony are the real favourites to be the leader in the gaming industry.  While the Cube is slightly more powerful than the Playstation 2, most people won't really care so much about graphics instead they would care more about the games for the systems.  So between the Cube and the PS2, I believe its up to the developers and games that determines which console would come out on top: Cube or PS2?  If Nintendo keeps coming out with great first-party titles like Mario, Zelda and Pokemon and has strong 3rd party support, then Nintendo could easily regain the top spot in the console industry which Sony currently holds now with the Playstation.  The Playstation 2 does have the firepower to keep the Cube from outselling it by having some possible revolutionary titles such as Final Fantasy XI and with 3rd party giants such as Electronic Arts and Square really supporting the PS2, the battle between Nintendo and Sony would get really interesting.  I think its up to what Nintendo does in terms of learning from past mistakes and what kind of 3rd party support Nintendo has to really determine which system would come out on top.

X-Box VS. PS2

    While the X-Box has a significant edge in terms of graphics and hardware, the PS2 has stronger 3rd party support than the X-Box with such companies like EA and Square developing games for the PS2.  What Microsoft really needs to be a direct threat the the PS2 is some strong 3rd party support, instead of having a bunch of PC developers who don't know too much about the console industry developing for Microsoft.  While Microsoft has the money to help promote its upcoming system and can easily convince gamers to buy their system, its the lack of established franchises that hurt this system's chances to directly compete against the Cube and the PS2.  But there is still a lot of unknown information regarding the X-Box so we'll have to wait and see what happens next year.

Conclusion

    I believe the PS2 is both hype and fiction because Sony is trying to advertise their upcoming Playstation 2 system as "revolutionary", but really it isn't as revolutionary as some might think.  While the PS2 is a remarkable system, the Japanese launch wasn't near as successful as Sony would have liked with plenty of complaints from Japanese gamers about faulty memory cards and some buggy software as well.  I think this would continue when the U.S. PS2 launches on Oct. 26 because no launch is perfect and these problems would carry over from the Japanese launch over to the U.S. launch.  Most early PS2 games aren't as great as many gamers would have liked with some noticeable slowdown and the promised feature of anti-aliasing isn't always present in most games.  With other systems coming along the way like the Cube and X-Box, the PS2 would have a couple of direct threats to deal with and if everything goes either Nintendo's or Microsoft's way, the Cube or X-Box has a real good chance to outsell the PS2 in terms of hardware and software sales.  Not to mention the Dreamcast, in which Sega Net, their online gaming network could attract a significant number of gamers to the Dreamcast as well.  So the future of the console industry is still yet to be decided and Sony has not won the console wars yet, there is still the Cube and X-Box to come out and either system could win the console wars.  Just wait a year and I guarantee you the PS2 will NOT dominate the console industry.  You'll see.

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