Last month I gave my thoughts on the upcoming year for all the consoles. I thought the PS3 and 360 could have a strong year. I also wrote that I thought the Wii was on shaky ground. Now we are hearing news and speculation from some of the other media outlets. Was I on the right track? Will the PS3 make a comeback? Can the Wii maintain it’s momentum? Let’s see what the experts are saying.

First up with the big announcements is EA. We all know EA is fond of making grand statements with regards to its competitors and partners. So them coming out with a statement from left field is nothing new. This is what they had to say about the coming year. EA thinks that the Wii will stay on top in 08, not much of a surprise there with the Wii’s current sales figures. What is surprising is EA’s prediction that the PS3 will outsell the 360 in the upcoming year. But, should that really be surprising at all? According to sarcasticgamer.com, the PS3 has already outsold the 360. Check out their article to see how they came up with the numbers.

If what they say is true, the PS3 outsold the 360 by 1.53 million in 07. If that comes as a surprise to you, join the club. All we’ve heard this year is how the 360 is trouncing the PS3. Are we being lied to or is this just something that no one has really paid any attention to? If it’s a case of the first, I get that. Microsoft definitely does not want this to get out. But, if it’s a case of the second, now that’s a problem. We all know the ignorance the mainstream media has in regards to videogames, but what about the typical gaming media outlets? Why is this being reported only by sarcasticgamer.com? Are they way off base, or are they onto a story that has yet to break big? Definitely something to keep an eye on in the coming weeks.

As far as the Wii goes though, EA’s assessment is not the only one out there. Microsoft has it’s own ideas. Jeff Bell of Microsoft has said that the Wii is kinda like a gateway device to the world of gaming. His thoughts are that the Wii is getting people into gaming that may not have thought about owning a console before. Unfortunately for Nintendo, Microsoft doesn’t think people will stick with it for the long haul, and will be looking for a new system when they grow out of the Wii. This is simplifying Jeff’s statements quite a bit. Read the full interview with him here. Does his theory hold water? In a way it does. The theory of the Nintendo bubble bursting has been making its rounds on the internet lately and has been getting a lot of attention and speculation.

What? You haven’t heard of the Nintendo bubble theory? Well here it is: The latest thoughts are that the Wii’s game line-up can’t support the sales the console have achieved as of late. What this means is that the gamers will realize that all there is to play on the Wii are the typical Mario, Zelda, and Metroid games, plus lots of crappy third party games. In the past Nintendo has had the problem of not being able to get consistent third party support. Nintendo doesn’t have that problem this time. The new problem is all the really bad third party games that are on the console now. Aunt Trudy may buy that cool looking game for little Timmy, not realizing it’s a complete disaster and pretty much unplayable. This may lead to a backlash of people not purchasing third party games, even the good ones, and stick to the first party games. That in turn, could lead to the third party developers pulling their support. The result being a drought of good third party games similar to what the N64 and and Gamecube were plagued with. The result will be less game sales, and then less console sales. The bubble, being the currently huge sales numbers, will eventually burst.

Overall, I think my ideas were pretty close to some of those in the industry. I was surprised about the bit of PS3 outselling the 360, but the Nintendo bubble bursting idea didn’t surprise me at all. It just doesn’t seem to have the credentials to hang with it’s competitors. Game-wise, Nintendo doesn’t have the library. Tech-wise, there’s no contest to either platform by its competition. Even if it adds DVD support this year, I don’t think it’ll be able to maintain the top spot past 2008. I may be wrong, after all, I’m just the average gamer.

Beginning with the original Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) this video depicts the evolution of Nintendo’s home video game consoles using a cool transformer type transitions.

Watch this timeline on video games spanning 35 years, from Pong all the way to our current generation of titles - it’s quite apparent that we’ve come a long way. How many of the games featured have you had the opportunity to play?

Matt and Anthony reunite after all these years in the facility.

What 15 games couldn’t you live without? James Mielke shares which 15 titles he would never 1) sell, 2) give away, 3) lend, or 4) or otherwise part with on a meaningfully permanent basis.

1) Panzer Dragoon Saga (SAT):
An original RPG from Sega that fleshed out the universe sketched out in the previous two on-rails shooters, the Panzer world exploded in this amazing RPG, whose main characters Edge and Azel felt like old friends the moment you saw them together on screen. At first adversaries, and later inseparable, this is RPG-dom’s unsung couple. The tragic fact is that to port this to any other system now is pretty much an impossibility, making those few rare copies of Saga on eBay truly the only way you’ll play it, just short of Sega recreating the entire thing from the ground up. Don’t count on that happening. Despite a limited number of characters (a design choice by Team Andromeda), Saga’s world still felt huge, thanks to the high-flying aerial battles, and your transforming dragon. In one of Sega’s most criminal moves (in a history of eye-rolling blunders), they printed fewer than 15,000 copies of this game, making it impossibly difficult to find on store shelves. Hey, gang. The solution to avoid paying high prices on classic games and the best way to get sequels to games like this is to buy them the first time around. Just sayin’.

2) Ico (PS2):
The U.S. cover art sucks so bad that whoever was responsible for it deserved to be fired for it. But, while the game is relatively short, it is 100% enjoyable, with some of the most unique, innovative game design (as well as graphic design) of the PS2 era. Shadow of The Colossus was slightly more hardcore, and perhaps slightly less accessible for it (despite selling ten times what Ico did), as Ico’s boy-meets-girl near-silent storytelling still brings a tear to the eye by the time Yorda pushes the unconscious Ico out to sea alone in a boat. This is the sensation of solitude on a disc.

3) Radiant Silvergun (SAT):
The cutscenes were terrific, the ship designs are super sweet, and the action is hectic. Featuring a multitude of set weapons, each distinct armament made playing through this game (a shooter with RPG elements) a unique challenge each time, until you leveled your weapons up to the max, of course. Then it became easy. But not so easy that it didn’t make every inventive boss, like The Origin, a sight to behold. Since it’s the only other Saturn title that commands (and deserves to command) Panzer Dragoon Saga-level prices, that’s just another reason not to let go of one of the most evocative shooters of all time.

4) Guardian Heroes (SAT):
Super controls, great soundtrack, cool little voice samples and the most insane side-scrolling 2D butt-kicking action ever, and that’s not counting the multiplayer arena mode in which something like 4 million 2D sprites battle it out at once. Each character has their own move list, and I can remember the days when I played that game over and over and over again, so enchanted I was about it. Plus, the Undead Warrior, an ass-kicking A.I. skeleton who seriously bruised asses on your behalf was just unbelievable. That the GBA sequel sucked so bad was heartbreaking for me.

5) Final Fantasy XII (PS2):
My favorite FF ever, because I am tired of random battles, I’m tired of the ATB system. So flexible, so customizable, this game not only has the amazing character designs of Akihiko Yoshida, but it boasts a level of playability in an offline RPG that only Oblivion can rival, and I think Oblivion is ugly as fuck. FFXII is like FFXI minus the insane customizability (visually). If only Square would bring out the International Zodiac System edition here as the Greatest Hits version, they’d sell a million copies all over again. The amount of side-quests, contextually activated super-side quests, hunts, and collection quests give this so much more depth than the previous ‘main game and a shit mini-game’ formula of like the last 5 Final Fantasy games. Shane Bettenhausen is retarded for giving this game an 8.5. This FF, more than any other since the 32-bit era, deserves a 10.

6) Ninja Gaiden Black (Xbox):
It’s hard not to love this game if you want some serious combat in a fully 3D environment. Featuring all of the original NG plus the Hurricane Packs all in one package, this is Ryu Hayabusa’s shining moment, and the game that turned the tide for Tecmo, giving them a bona fide, triple-A title to put them in the big leagues for real. Ninja Gaiden 2 should be nothing short of spectacular.

7) Starcraft: Brood Wars (PC, Mac):
I can’t really say any more about this game than I already have, but it’s endlessly replayable, even today. The best strategy game I’ve ever played. The map editor alone supplied me with months and months of activity, and the playtesting that followed even more. Starcraft II better be the tits. The TITS I say.

NiGHTS Into Dreams (SAT):
The music, the time-attack style speed runs through each level, the A.I. nightopians, the numerous secrets hidden in the game (and by osmosis, the limited-release Christmas Nights, itself practically a standalone game), all make NiGHTS one of the biggest impact games in my 90s gaming life. I have a lot of great memories about this game that are irreplaceable. I could go on and on about this, but it gets better with time, unlike most games. I seriously hope they don’t fuck the sequel up.

9) Sub-Rebellion (PS2):
A lot of people will probably look at this game and say “You’re kidding, right?” But it’s the 3D spiritual successor (called Underwater Unit in Japan) to the classic Irem 2D shooter In The Hunt. It controls so well and the underwater ‘feeling’ is so spot-on, from the sense of speed (or lack thereof) to the sound effects, to the surface battles (which makes the underwater parts seem even more underwatery), to the sense of scale when you fight enormous bosses and submarines in the game, just makes it one of my favorite, most unconventional shooters of all time. If you didn’t play this game, you really, truly missed out. You should be able to find it in bargain bins for under $5.

10) Rez (PS2):
This game is as good today as it was when it first came out back in 2001. The music still kicks ass (especially Joujouka and Fear (The Mind Killer)), the action is still Panzer Dragoon-tastic

11) R-Type Final (PS2):
‘Hardcore’ types will undoubtedly point to the older 2D sprite-based games as the ones they’d put on their lists, but I loved Final’s homage to all of the original games, as this was a labor of love for the producer and the development team. With all of the unlockable ships, this is like a greatest hits of R-Type games. This narrowly edged out R-Type Delta, which is equally fantastic, and even tougher.

12) Wave Race 64 (N64):
So glad the original F-Zero prototypes for N64 turned into this game, which kicks the ass off its GameCube sequel and DOAX2’s jetski action for sheer playability and fun. I just downloaded the shit out of this game on Virtual Console on my Wii. One less reason to plug in my N64, but there’s still…

13) Sin & Punishment (N64, Japan only):
So what if it’s kids with guns. They’re guns with fucking lasers in a futuristic society. The voice-acting is all in English and there’s like virtually no text to localize. Can anyone in Christendom explain to me why this never came to the States? Best 3rd-person shooter you’ve never played.

14) Diablo 2: Lord of Destruction(PC):
Responsible for destroying lives, relationships and years of one’s life, and not necessarily in that order. How the same four fucking levels can be so insanely replayable is beyond me. But I could play this one to death for the next 10 years as well. Just wish they’d toss in a higher rez patch for kicks.

15) Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3):
The best of the VF games, although VF4 Evolution comes really close to this one. Still, more characters, unbelievably flexible and improv-friendly controls make this the most extravagant next-gen fighter around. The features list pales in comparison to DOA4, though, and will hopefully improve with the upcoming Xbox 360 release.

[source]

ScrewAttack compiled this top 10 list of best games and franchises that managed to take a great 2D game and ruin it when making the jump to the third dimension. I think they made some good choices… can you think of any games that should have been included on this list? Let’s hear your opinions in our forum or leave a comment.

PSU has created a selection of montages to illustrate this ‘evolution’ of gaming. Check out the 1st generation up to the the most current generation of your favorite video game franchises.

Click the image below to see a larger version.

[source]

Found this article over at Newsweek.com game section Level Up about how Nintendo fans love the family friendly games that Nintendo produces themselves, but when it comes to 3rd party titles of the same type - they avoid these like the plague. From the article:

Kevin Cassidy (founder of the news, reviews and opinion site GoNintendo.com) regarding a Level Up post about how Sony’s hit games with alternative controllers paved the way for the Wii’s success, when Cassidy wrote:

“Right now people are too busy bitching about Konami’s ‘kiddy’ games. I swear, Nintendo fans are never happy.”

After some back and forth discussion of his statement, we realized that Cassidy’s thoughts had the makings of an insightful rant, so we asked him to answer the following question “Are Nintendo fans too hard on third-party games?”

Here’s his response:

For many years, Nintendo had a rough time securing truly robust third party support. But back during the 8-bit and 16-bit wars, things were quite different: Sega and Nintendo were the big players, and their respective systems were cartridge-based. As time moved on, things changed drastically on all fronts, from storage, to competitors, and even subject matter. Nintendo decided to stay with the more expensive cartridges for their Nintendo 64 platform, while newcomer Sony went with much cheaper CD-based media. That change, combined with the scary prospect of competing against Nintendo’s first party powerhouse franchises, produced the perfect recipe for third party disaster, resulting in ever-decreasing third party support until very recently.

Enter the Wii, Nintendo’s new platform full of fresh ideas: Two motion-based controllers, a Virtual Console system which lets you download classic titles from a number of platforms, and Nintendo’s pledge to actively pursue third party development. The first few months for the Wii have been outstanding. Consumers seem to understand and enjoy what Nintendo is striving to do, and third parties see the Wii as a viable platform for their work. Nintendo is doing what they said they would all along, getting the third party support that fans wanted. The only problem is that these same fans don’t seem to want what third parties have to offer.

Konami, Ubisoft, THQ, EA, and many other big name third party developers have announced that they have a number of games in the works for the Wii. You have ports of last generation games, original IPs exclusive to the Wii, huge titles from EA’s lineup, and more. Yet from what I have seen, Wii owners are complaining about almost everything the Wii has heading its way. Take for example Dewy’s Adventure, a recently announced puzzle/platformer game that makes use of everything unique to the Wii’s control scheme. An alarming number of fans have branded the game as “kiddie” and not worth a second look. This not-worth-my-time message board buzz seems to be afflicting an alarming number of titles coming to the Wii. Prince of Persia: Rival Swords; The Godfather: Blackhand Edition; Scarface; Mortal Kombat: Armageddon—fans lambaste them all because they appeared on last-generation platforms. Nintendo die hards want third party support, but they don’t want the original titles, enhanced ports, or “kiddy” games that they accuse third parties of dumping on the Wii.

Well, what do Wii owners want then?

From what I can see, Wii owners want more “mature” titles. I put this term in quotes because I simply don’t believe that the gameplay examples fans are citing qualify as mature. The general outcry seems to be for titles that offer up violence in one way or another. So while many Wii owners do not want ports, they do want original IPs that are grittier than the traditional Nintendo fare. This desire is definitely a byproduct of the popularity of franchises such as Grand Theft Auto, Halo and their many imitators. Those games are both wonderful examples of pulling people into game worlds, but they don’t have to be the end all, be all of software support.

Going back to the unjustly maligned Dewy’s Adventure, what Nintendo fans deride as “kiddie” is more fairly described as whimsical. Still, they write on message boards that the game doesn’t appeal to them at all because it lacks “mature” themes, yet many of the people leaving these comments aren’t even old enough to purchase Mature-rated games. All the while, Nintendo’s own family friendly titles somehow seem to be exempt from these “kiddie” accusations, most likely owing to the company’s well-established heritage.

So when it comes to third party games, Nintendo fans are almost impossible to please. They seem to want everything and nothing at the same time. They want massive third party support, but when they get it they turn their backs. They have no problem with the rated-E for Everyone titles when Nintendo makes them, but the same designation is unacceptable when coming from third parties.

Over the past several weeks we have seen a huge amount of external support for the Wii in all categories, and I can’t think of one title in particular that fans are really excited about. Is this the product of a mentality that says games aren’t fun unless they are violent? Or are Nintendo fans being too picky for their own good? If their current opinion of these games carries over to the final sales tally, it looks like Nintendo will once again lose the third party support they have been working so hard to regain. Here I thought things were finally going the Big N’s way, and now, because of the fickle tastes of my fellow Wii-philes, I am left worrying that Mario and friends will once again be left to carry the console end of Nintendo on their shoulders, all by their lonesome.

[source Level Up]