If there is one thing to be thankful for it is the opinions of developers and their ability to express them on forums and blogs. Ten years ago we would look towards a magazine publication to find the "truth" behind the process, knowing full well it was a staged truth. Now, we learn the real meat of the industry...
"Last year, the prediction was that Sony would win the next-gen war, that the PS3 would be the dominant console, just like the PS2 was.
That is no longer the case. The extremely strong performance of the Wii, combined with the miserable performance of Sony has revised pretty much everyone's expectations. Right now, most of us here think the 360 will be on top for this generation, with the battle for second place between Sony and Nintendo (and that's a major shock, as we'd nearly written Nintendo off for the non-handheld market.) Most of us still think Sony will beat off Nintendo, simply due to the older graphics on the Wii, but it's not a sure thing.
My opinion - get the 360 and/or the Wii. Skip the PS3 unless there's a big change in the near future."
Miserable performance? Don't hold back Mr. Garett, speak the truth and tell it like it is! Game developers should be hyped and pumped to work on a new powerful console system. Lack of excitement and enthusiasm will reflect in the titles quality and schedule. Game developers are gamers too, and they want to create the next awesome title for the next awesome system.
Sure, PlayStation 3 isn't dead by a long shot, but where will all the developers creativity and enthusiasm go? Perhaps into the innovative Nintendo branding given all the neat features they can implement, minus the graphics?
Developers that are pushing the envelope of graphic power may lean towards the Microsoft Xbox 360 if the PlayStation 3 doesn't build momentum and sales numbers. In a way, it's a catch-22, developers want to develop for the hot system in order to make money but a system doesn't get "hot" until games are released.
So who is paving the way for the PlayStation 3? Not Sony's publishing yet - notice God of War II is being released on the PlayStation 2 not the PlayStation 3! What tone does that set for the development community? Are they not confident in their sales or did the early development of God of War II make it impossible for them to port it to the PS3 branding?
In our opinion, when looking for future hit titles like God of War II, wouldn't you think they'd "look ahead" at their PlayStation 3 console and hold off on initial development until they had the green light to start a PS3 title? Just seems odd.
source: ps3.qj.net
