Quote:
Zanarkand, G4TV:
Another thing that sells systems is graphics, and I don't care what some people may want to believe this game will not be even close on the PS2 graphically to the X-box version. And once people start seeing things clearly then everything will fall into place. I don't know about you guys but alot of PS2 owners are already starting to talk about PS3, and what I get from that is that some PS2 owners are finally with these new X-box and PS2 games are finally starting to show the difference graphically between to two systems. I think this holiday season you will definitly start seeing the difference with Blinx: The Time Sweeper, for X-box, vs. Rachet and Clank for PS2. Also Id software saying Doom 3 will be a reality on X-box really put a lot of confidence back in it. Another game where you will definitely see the difference is Wreckless for PS2. For the love of christ this game looks god awful for PS2. |
I think you're making the mistake of assuming that the priorities of hardcore gamers are the same as the priorities of mainstream gamers. I firmly believe that most gamers couldn't tell the difference between a PS2 and Xbox game unless it was pointed out to them. There
are differences, we know that, and we know what to look for. Your average casual gamer doesn't give a fuck for framerates and polygon counts, and faced with a blind choice (ie just seeing the game, not the console it's running on) would just choose the game that looked most fun - regardless of platform or graphical trickery. To use your example, I don't think we'll see kids throwing out their PS2's just because Blinx has a smoother display than Ratchet & Clank. Both are superb platform games, PS2 owners will buy Ratchet, Xbox owners will buy Blinx. Slightly nicer graphics don't justify another $200 purchase (console and game) for most people.
For that mainstream audience (and this is the audience that the console companies are trying to woo now) graphics
do have to look good, but to them PS2 looks good and so does Xbox. Some games look better on one system or the other, but the difference is negligible. As far as the general public are concerned, graphics have reached a plateau. To use a movie analogy, it's the same as how most people don't see a difference between the special effects in Attack Of The Clones and Dungeons & Dragons. We do, but they just see a special effect and only care that it does it's job - they're not interested in looking for the join.
There'll always be games that are awful to look at, or equally spectacular, but in general the difference between Xbox and PS2 graphics can only be measured on a scale so small that your average games shopper won't be able to spot the difference.
Talk of people "wanting PS3" is anecdotal, and can't really be used to prove anything about the shifts in the current console market. Again, just because it's discussed on videogame message boards or games magazines doesn't mean that there's a PS2 revolt on the horizon. These people are early adopters, and they'll always be looking for the next big thing three years down the road. Until Mom & Pop are queuing in K-Mart to ask about the PS3, it's not a reliable litmus test for the systems popularity.
