In which MetalJim joins everyone else in raggin’ on the PS3…

About a year ago, lots of folks from all over the internet were handicapping the looming clash between the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3.  A year later, most of us know that the PS3 has been a bit of a disappointment in the United States (though PS3 continues to own the X360 in Japan).  In America, the Xbox360 is outselling the PS3 by about 2 to 1, and the lead is much wider if you consider total game unit sales.  Apparently, people are using their Xboxes to play games, while the PS3 isn’t good for much besides playing Blu-Ray movies.

Let’s look at the upcoming holiday season.  Microsoft has already had a successful rollout of Halo3.  Really, they don’t need to do much of anything else to say that it’s been a pretty good fall season for the X360.  The should also do pretty well with the new Project Gotham Racing4, and you’re going to be just as happy playing newer EA Sports games on the 360 as on the PS3.

Now then, where is the system selling killer app for the PS3?  Umm, Bueller?… Anyone?…

There are some potential titles out there that should help to revive the PS3.  There are lots of folks who would buy a PS3 just to play a next-generation Final Fantasy game,  FFXIII may see retail sometime next year, but it’s a no-show as far as this holiday season is concerned.  This could be viewed as a colossal failure for Sony.

I bought myself a PS2 to play the Gran Turismo race driving games.  Gran Turismo 3 was a system seller as far as I’m concerned, and I got more than 100 hours of playing time out of Gran Turismo 4, which also induced me into buying a force feedback steering wheel.  I enjoyed playing the game so much that I performed manual repairs on my wonky brake pedals on at least 3 occasions.  Now then, PS3 fans are looking ahead to playing a fully next-gen Gran Turismo 5.  That should allow more than 6 cars on the track at once, and it should allow for some sort of damage modelling and animated pit stops.  Oh yeah, and internet mutliplayer, as well.  Turns out that 2007 won’t even get us some gimped “Prologue” version of the game.  I’m really not sure if we’ll see a full version of GT5 before Xmas 2008.  Since this game is pretty much in-house at Sony, there is no excuse for this series to be MIA.  The folks who have been developing this game have had access to development kits and final PS3 hardware longer than anyone else. 

Then, there’s a little known game series called Grand Theft Auto.  Teenagers all across America are waxing nostalgically about the good old days when they could sit on the couch all day and break every law known to man, including vehicular homicide against prostitutes.  Turns out there is a new GTA game coming early next year, but not in time for Christmas.  Oh, wait, IT’S NOT A PS3 EXCLUSIVE.  If they can’t use GTA to sell PS3 hardware, Sony might as well just pack it in now.

I also happen to like consoles for melee smashup fighting games.  We will get a brand new Soul Calibur 4 sometime early next year.  That might interest me in a console, but the game will ship for BOTH the PS3 and X360 – no exclusive there.  The PS3 did get a short-term exclusive with Virtua Fighter 5, which came out last February.  Xbox360 owners get Virtua Fighter 5 at the end of this month WITH ONLINE MULTIPLAYER.  Yet again this is making the PS3 gaming lineup look weak. 

This just in — the PS3 was supposed to get a console exclusive version of Unreal Tournament 3 in time for Christmas.  Apparently the PS3 is so gosh darn hard to program for, that the PS3 version of UT3 has slipped into next year, while the PC version might still see the light before Christmas.

Speaking of the PC version, there’s a good argument to make for upgrading your PC in time for the Christmas Holidays.  Unreal Tournament 3 is a must-have as far as I’m concerned.  I am hearing a lot of good buzz about a little game called Hellgate: London.  Right now you can play Bioshock on either the PC or the Xbox360, but I imagine the game looks nicer on the PC if you’ve got the video card and the monitor to run at high resolution.

I will go along with anyone who says that the PC, as a gaming platform, will continue to struggle at retail stores.  Stores don’t make money with second-hand PC games in the same way that they do with console games.  There just aren’t many good ways to get first-tier console games without buying a physical game disc, and brick and mortar retail is still a good venue for that.  However, when you consider all of the monthly subscription fees that World of Warcraft is generating, along with all of the digital download niche games that you can find on the PC, along with a huge market for casual games like Bejeweled and Peggle, well, the PC is at least capable of holding its own, if not dominating the market.  Anyone who thinks that the PC is dead as a gaming platform is smoking crack.  ‘Nuff said.

If I had to choose one major gaming platform upgrade this Christmas, I would prefer to buy a new PC box over an Xbox 360.  The PS3 isn’t even in the running, and I’m a gamer who consciously chose the PS2 over the original Xbox because of the wider selection of available games. 

So, how about those Blu-Ray movies?  Well, that’s turned out to be a bit of a mess.  Blu-Ray movies are apparently outselling HD-DVD movies, but Blu-Ray players that aren’t the PS3 aren’t selling very well.  There is still a pretty large divide over which formats will feature certain movies.  If you want to watch the Transformers movie this Christmas in super-high definition, you will need an HD-DVD player.  If, on the other hand, you want to watch Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, well, that’s a Blu-Ray exclusive.  The reality is that no one is winning this high-def format war, and most folks are still perfectly happy with regular ‘ol DVDs, even if we are watching them on newer, shinier flat screen TV sets.

Folks should feel free to sound off in the comment fields.  Obviously, this rant has completely ignored Nintendo.  I think that the big N has done a fine job of carving out a market for itself with the Wii.  If the Nintendo folks can deliver some quality Mario titles in the next year, then the Wii may prove to be more than a passing fad.  Also, Nintendo still owns the handheld space, as far as I’m concerned.  I just don’t think that Nintendo is as competitive in the “adult” gaming market in the U.S., or at least isn’t competing for quite the same dollars as the ones that are at stake in the Xbox360 vs PS3 battle.

Are there any PS3 defenders out there?  Any good reasons to own a PS3?

Smite, of course, will see my happy forecast for the Xbox360 as good news for someone hoping to develop games for the Xbox Live marketplace.