Without resorting to fanboy-isms, I'd like to posit this question for intelligent, level-headed discussion.
Lots of gaming magazines/websites were proclaiming that 2008 would be the "Year of the PS3" at the beginning of the year, and now, we're very near the end, with only a handful of noteworthy games still to come out for the console before the year is up, and most of those are multi-platform. So, agree or disagree with the title question, and reasons why or why not.
Personally, I still think it's a bit too early to tell. From a distance of the next year and a half to two years, I think I'd be able to make a more accurate determination. As it stands for me right now, it's head and shoulders better than last year, but lacking in a few regards....
First, Home is STILL not out yet...not even in public beta form.
LBP is aparently still having the kinks worked out.
MGS4 (I've barely played into it so I'm not the most accurate judge) seems to have been HIGHLY overrated upon release, in the same way GTAIV was. Meaning, every reviewer seemed to have fed into the hype, and given it (them) perfect 10s, when in retrospect, both should have probably received somewhere in the 8.0-9.0 range. You would not believe how many used copies of MGS4 are sitting at my local Gamestop.
And.....well, those were pretty much the three exclusives that the titular question was based on. Granted, it got a bunch more (mostly equivalent or superior versions of) multiplatform titles, but as we all know by the GTAIV release, multiplatform is not what makes or breaks a console.
And then, there's the MAJOR decrease in JRPGs from the PS2 to the PS3. Last gen, if you wanted to play JRPGs, you bought a PS2. This gen, Microsoft seems to have put their money where their mouth is by courting Japanese developers for the system, and giving it a HUGE amount of exclusive and timed exclusive JRPGs. This gen, so far, the Xbox 360 is the system of choice for JRPGs.
In the PS3's defense, though, their online interface has progressed in leaps and bounds, and might even surpass the 360's after this utterly stupid, dumbed-down "New Xbox Experience." As for online gameplay, again, I'm not a good judge, as I rarely play retail games online.
And even though Xbox had the vaunted "Summer of Live," granting that Braid, Galaga Legions, Geometry Wars 2, Bionic Commando, and Castle Crashers all came out in that period, and Mega Man 9 came out soon after (multiplatform, though, so it doesn't really count), I still maintain that I prefer Sony's approach to downloadable games moreso than Microsoft's. See my Jeroak-esque defense of the PS3 in my, "I'm respecting Sony more and more each day" thread for my reasoning behind this.
So, is/was 2008 the year of the PS3? Meh. All I know is, I enjoyed the hell out of what was there.
And Valk or whoever, I'm NOT purposely excluding the Wii in my above reasonings....I'm just not as familiar with the software, interface, online, etc, so go ahead and make a case for the Wii if you wish.
Lots of gaming magazines/websites were proclaiming that 2008 would be the "Year of the PS3" at the beginning of the year, and now, we're very near the end, with only a handful of noteworthy games still to come out for the console before the year is up, and most of those are multi-platform. So, agree or disagree with the title question, and reasons why or why not.
Personally, I still think it's a bit too early to tell. From a distance of the next year and a half to two years, I think I'd be able to make a more accurate determination. As it stands for me right now, it's head and shoulders better than last year, but lacking in a few regards....
First, Home is STILL not out yet...not even in public beta form.
LBP is aparently still having the kinks worked out.
MGS4 (I've barely played into it so I'm not the most accurate judge) seems to have been HIGHLY overrated upon release, in the same way GTAIV was. Meaning, every reviewer seemed to have fed into the hype, and given it (them) perfect 10s, when in retrospect, both should have probably received somewhere in the 8.0-9.0 range. You would not believe how many used copies of MGS4 are sitting at my local Gamestop.
And.....well, those were pretty much the three exclusives that the titular question was based on. Granted, it got a bunch more (mostly equivalent or superior versions of) multiplatform titles, but as we all know by the GTAIV release, multiplatform is not what makes or breaks a console.
And then, there's the MAJOR decrease in JRPGs from the PS2 to the PS3. Last gen, if you wanted to play JRPGs, you bought a PS2. This gen, Microsoft seems to have put their money where their mouth is by courting Japanese developers for the system, and giving it a HUGE amount of exclusive and timed exclusive JRPGs. This gen, so far, the Xbox 360 is the system of choice for JRPGs.
In the PS3's defense, though, their online interface has progressed in leaps and bounds, and might even surpass the 360's after this utterly stupid, dumbed-down "New Xbox Experience." As for online gameplay, again, I'm not a good judge, as I rarely play retail games online.
And even though Xbox had the vaunted "Summer of Live," granting that Braid, Galaga Legions, Geometry Wars 2, Bionic Commando, and Castle Crashers all came out in that period, and Mega Man 9 came out soon after (multiplatform, though, so it doesn't really count), I still maintain that I prefer Sony's approach to downloadable games moreso than Microsoft's. See my Jeroak-esque defense of the PS3 in my, "I'm respecting Sony more and more each day" thread for my reasoning behind this.
So, is/was 2008 the year of the PS3? Meh. All I know is, I enjoyed the hell out of what was there.
And Valk or whoever, I'm NOT purposely excluding the Wii in my above reasonings....I'm just not as familiar with the software, interface, online, etc, so go ahead and make a case for the Wii if you wish.








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