Posted in: Games, Movies, Recent Updates, Video Games | Tagged: entertainment, Halo 5, microsoft, Nintendo Wii U, playstation, sony, video games

Battle Lines Are Sketched – The 2015 Console War

By Phil Harris

Some may be surprised to learn that this generations consoles are well over a year old; such has been the dismal lack of initial content caused by early releases in a singular attempt from Sony and Microsoft to prove they could outdo each other, lack of games be damned. Since then all the developers have done their utmost to sell their products to a burgeoning set of players seeking out the "next gen" feeling to freshen their gaming experience and for all the suggestions that the war has already been won, hands down, by Sony's PlayStation 4 (PS4) the fact of the matter is the other two companies involved aren't known for significant failures and will be up for the fight.

If we start by considering the Nintendo WiiU we see a device with technical merits but which seemed to completely fail to understand what made its parent console, the Wii, such a massive success; its accessibility to all. Wii had a superb functionality allowing the elderly and infirm to play alongside the young and fit. By exorcising complex control methods they surprisingly dominated sales but the Wii could have been accused of lacking superior software to fit with its success.

The WiiU seemed to ignore this accessibility for something which was technically very clever but was hardly going to engage everyone as easily. A lack of forthcoming software from major labels also caused some concern and things looked decidedly bad until E3 where, not only did they seem to suddenly understand marketing but they pulled a number of old hats out of the bag, gave them a fresh dusting and waved them in the air – even if they all had 2015 written on them.

Observers will be aware of how often Nintendo uses certain games to engage its players but footage of the new open world Legend of Zelda certainly caught peoples attention: Eiji Aonuma and Shigeru Miyamoto obviously delighted with the product and this delight being reflected in the translation. However Nintendo weren't ready to stop announcements just yet and threw the eponymous title of Star Fox into the mix, not only promising its release prior to Legend of Zelda but also, coyly, making sure that we saw no footage; something you assume they will remedy early in 2015.

Of course how can we have a Nintendo revival without Mario and rather than forcing a brand new plumber out they have created Mario Maker, an opportunity for the fans to create Mario levels in the classic styles of his past; allowing the community a hands on development tool with their most classic of characters. Certainly attracting another string of fans who may be tempted, by the relative price and availability of the WiiU.

Sony have moved from strength to strength since their initial launch of the PS4 and have built on the package they originally started with by adding a large number of popular and titular titles to engage the fans and providing a console which was designed for the type of gamers who had supported the PlayStation 3 whilst ripping out the complex coding principles needed for that machine and making it more accessible to both big studios and the indie market that Microsoft seemed to have ring fenced with the Xbox 360. Apart from this both Sony and Microsoft gave us games, either revamped versions of old titles or new versions of classic series which engaged their player base.

Not sitting on their laurels Sony ended last year with temptation after temptation with steampunk entries from The Order 1886, old classics like Nathan Drake returning for Uncharted 4 with an extended video showing a selection of new gameplay options combined with the usual madness that has kept the series so strong and the potential scene stealer of them all if galactic exploration and combat game No Man's Sky lives up to expectations.

Although this is not the full line-up of what Sony are promoting on their YouTube channel the readiness to produce video after video of footage shows that they are up for the fight and also already makes you wonder what they are going to reveal to the public at E3.

Its not all light and flowers at Sony though as the weight of demand as well as a serious number of hack attempts have certainly caused the PlayStation Network problems and if they have an Achilles heel this just might be the place where they fail. To require people to share online experiences you need to keep them online and whilst not all of the fault lies at Sony's door, where third party servers are involved, it represents a significant hump that needs to be surpassed.

Last but not least is Microsoft, a company who seemed to have decided to dial-in their initial Xbox One press conference for the level it appeared to be relevant to anyone who had played their consoles before. The idea of a media centre was not flawed in any way, the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 had proven that point but to actually go out there and market it as such hardly inspired trust. Added to their problems was an apparent abandonment of the indie development scene, something the company has done a lot to try and fix – but potentially far too late – and their thoughts on costs when sharing software.

For all this terrible launch created it has to be said that Microsoft have done their utmost to resolve the issues. At E3 their press conference was the best, providing us seasoned exclusives and a great bunch of products for Halo fans to gurgle over and whilst this strategy felt akin to some of Nintendo's from the past they produced a weighty number of new titles and games to stamp their foot down and declare the Xbox One a games console first, media centre second.

You would have been forgiven for thinking that this would be a new renaissance for the console but following this launch the Xbox One has passed without note. No longer the butt of peoples jokes but not being praised or sung about either and the parent company seems reticent to change this.

Whilst struggling through this more of ignominy they stated that the next Lara Croft game Rise of the Tomb Raider would be exclusive to Xbox One alone, an announcement which caused a vast amount of media coverage and backlash from social media as long standing supporters of the game on other consoles and PC made their feelings known. Whilst they retracted this statement at the time recently Microsoft have stated they will be publishing the game and so a PS4 version is looking decidedly unlikely.

If this is the case it will give the console a much needed coup as their YouTube channel is still dominated by the Halo franchise – and Halo 5 footage, even obscuring the rather entertaining Sunset Overdrive to the lower selections, with stalwart driving game Forza placed as the layer in between a Halo/Sunset sandwich.

2015 is going to be an interesting year and whilst Microsoft may seem to be polishing a turd there is significant potential for them to improve, gain successes from their own highly sought after franchises and exclusive launches of long standing favourites. Sony need to fix their online problems before something really serious comes along and takes them down for a longer period and both of them should keep a gentle eye on plucky ol' Nintendo, cause they're not out of this fight yet.

Phil Harris (@PhilipGHarris) is a games developer who is currently working with One Thumb Mobile on their MMORPG Celtic Heroes. He also writes for Pixels for Breakfast.

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