Getting off the Bandwagon

Bandwagon is a term from turn of the century American Jazz. A band would go around town playing music. People would follow the Bandwagon in a parade-like event to draw people to the club they were playing. The more people showed up the better the take for the band. This folks is where the term bandwagon comes from (Social History of Jazz, you were indeed not wasted). All kidding aside I say this because I am trying to make a point, I’m buying a PS4.

Okay so I phrased that last sentence as if it was a big deal, now here is why. I think a lot of hardcore gamers are buying the PS4 for all the wrong reasons, what is more I think long term, Sony’s decision to remove the Eye from the base SKU will harm it. This next generation is going to be a big deal I believe. Console gaming is at a crossroad. If we follow Sony’s path we’re likely to see incremental changes in hardware but a clear focus on games, and not likely to see any big change in how we play games. If we follow Microsoft’s path we are likely to see huge changes in how we play games, but a lesser focus on strictly gaming on our consoles.

The Informed Gamer

The big three have put forth their best foot forward in the new generation and mounting evidence suggests Microsoft stumbled again, Sony soared and Nintendo was ignored. Sony dominated on the PR battle, and rightly so. Although many of the same features derided on the Xbox One were present in the PS4, including but not limited to publisher-driven DRM and subscription-based online play, Sony managed to come out of its conference virtually unscathed. Add to the fact that many games that appeared to be exclusives, but were later shown to be multiplatform, were announced during Sony’s conference and you have a clear winner.

Sony managed to cut the Xbox One of at the knees with a $399 price point, but that doesn’t include the $60 PS Eye. In the short term, failure to include the webcam-esque device with every console works in Sony’s favor, but in the long-term the Xbox One is the smarter move. Not only does it remove doubt about Kinect from the developers mind it also maintains the promise of smart Kinect use. Like the dual sticks use from Halo on the original Xbox, all the Kinect 2.0 needs is that one brilliant game that uses the Kinect in a way that others will copy. Attach rates of peripherals are deemed high when they are around 33%, yet the Kinect is guaranteed to be owned by every Xbox One owner.

Countdown to the Thunder Dome

It’s about that time of the year again, the Electronic Entertainment Expo, more commonly known as E3 is just a stone’s throw away. E3 is the gaming world’s version of the Super Bowl, with Titans battling it out for all the glory under the sun. Greatness at E3 doesn’t necessarily mean success down the road but the gaming industry doesn’t have many stories of dark horses. A game that wows at E3 usually brings dividends both critically and commercially, though there are always pitfalls to success.

E3 has lost some of its shine the last few years; this year will see Nintendo not attend in any real capacity. The Wii U is struggling and is seen by most as the lesser cousin to the PS4 and Xbox One. Nintendo is seeking to cut out the middleman to its consumers directly with Nintendo Direct. Nintendo Direct is the new online home for all news Nintendo, almost like the Nintendo Power days of old, whether this strategy works out for them in the short or long-term remains to be seen.