Since Gamespot can no longer be trusted to provide reviews and journalism with integrity, I have cancelled my subscription.
If an administrator would like to remove my account completely, that would be great, as I have no interest in this site any longer.  I didn't necessarily agree with Gerstmann on reviews, but at least I could trust that it was HIS review and not the review of the developer.
Goodbye Gamespot... your place as a premier gaming website will be easily usurped.  Hope it was worth it.

I have officially figured out how to defeat temptation. ... By giving in to it. My tifecta, the PSWii60, is now in place. That brings my currently connected & playing setup to: Pong (yes... it's hooked up to a 46" LCD... don't ask why), PS2, PS3, Gamecube (though it's one component cable away from the box), Wii, Xbox, Xbox 360 Plus handhelds: PSP, DS, GP2X Sigh. Nothing left to buy.

Managed to get my grubby mitts on both new consoles. Still haven't picked up a 360, although it won't be far off now, I'm sure. I was pretty close to cracking down and buying all three the same weekend... just, er, cuz.... but I didn't. So far, the Wii is pretty great... though it's currently in standby mode until I can get some component cables. After looking at Zelda on my LCD TV, and seeing it on a standard TV, I'm refusing to subject myself to the mess that is Wii on HDTV until I can rid myself of those lousy composite cables. Seriously Nintendo... big oversight not having those available. Clearly Nintendo missed the mark on the HD stuff. I don't mind it being inferior graphically, but it should at least look good on a good TV. As for the PS3, I'm pleased with much of it, though it still feels a bit like a beta rather than a full release. The store is stagnant, the backward compatibility is pretty annoying at this point, and much of the potential is only being hinted at currently. I have little doubt that it will grow into it's skin... it just isn't quite there yet. Still, having a blast with Resistance and Riiiiiiidge Racer. Why no 360 yet? Well, I made a promise to myself at it's launch last year that I'd wait until it had 5 games that I really wanted to play, since it's backward compatibility is pretty lousy and I didn't want to have 2 Xboxes hooked up just to play a handful of games on each. So far, my list of 360 games I'm hot to play, that aren't available elsewhere, and are currently released, is 3... though Gears of War should probably count for 2 games by itself. Come on guys... gimme another gem... we're so close. And yes, the PS3 I DID pick up before it had 5 games I'm hot for... the Wii too. But I'm actually quite interested in next-gen DVD, specifically Blu-Ray, so the PS3 is a good fit... and the Wii... well, it's got waggle. All in all, though... both machines are pretty sweet. I think this generation has a lot to offer on all fronts... all three consoles are pretty hot. Now if only the fanboys on every side could relax and just be happy with what they've got. Yeah, I can dream.

Amid all the speculation (read: pulling nothing but opinions out of thin air) from all over about which system will win and which one is better, I figured I'd put together a little piece with some numbers to put things in perspective. Here are total unit sales for most major entries into the gaming console market since the early days, in order of highest to least relevant (numbers gathered from Wikipedia, most recent numbers at the time of this writing): Sony PlayStation 2 - 111.25 million Sony PlayStation - 102.49 million Nintendo NES - 60 million Nintendo SNES - 49 million Sega Mega Drive / Genesis - 35 million Nintendo 64 - 32.93 million Atari 2600 - 25 million Microsoft Xbox - 24 million Nintendo Gamecube - 21.20 million Sega Master System - 13 million Sega Dreamcast - 10.6 million Sega Saturn - 10 million Colecovision - 6 million Intellivision - 6 milliion Panasonic 3DO - 6 million Microsoft Xbox 360 - 6 million PC Engine / TurboGrafx-16 - 5 million Atari Jaguar - 4.41 million SNK Neo Geo - 1 million Total Sales by Manufacturer of the current console manufacturers: Nintendo NES - 60 million Nintendo SNES - 49 million Nintendo 64 - 32.93 million Nintendo GameCube - 21.20 million ------------------------------------------------------- 163.13 million since 1983 (introduction of the Famicom in Japan) averaging 7.09 million units per year during their time. Microsoft Xbox - 24 million Microsoft Xbox 360 - 6 million ------------------------------------------------------- 30 million since 2001 (introduction of the Xbox) averaging 6 million units per year during their time. Sony PlayStation - 102.49 million Sony PlayStation 2 - 111.25 million ------------------------------------------------------- 213.74 million since 1994 (introduction of PlayStation in Japan) averaging 17.81 million units per year during their time. Here is a breakdown of major players by generation: 1st Gen - (total = ??) pong consoles and the like, many manufacturers... I'm not even gonna try. 2nd Gen - (total = 32 million + minor players) Atari 2600 (25 million) Intellivision (6 million) Colecovision (6 million) 3rd Gen - (total = 73 million + minor players) NES (60 million) Master System (13 million) 4th Gen - (total = 90 million) SNES (49 million) Mega Drive (35 million) TurboGrafx-16 (5 million) Neo Geo (1 million) 5th Gen - (total = 155.83 million) PlayStation (102.49 million) N64 (32.93 million) Saturn (10 million) 3DO (6 million) Atari Jaguar (4.41 million) 6th Gen - (total = 159.25 million) PlayStation 2 (111.25 million) Xbox (24 million) GameCube (21.20 million) 7th Gen - (total thus far = 6 million) Xbox 360 (6 million) What does this mean? Well, for starters, it's a pretty clear indication that the battle hasn't even started yet. Considering the total numbers sold in a generation and how this number has always grown, we've probably only seen less than 4% of the total sales for this generation go by so far. In other words... it's a long road and a lot can happen. Certainly one can speculate given the direction companies seem to be leaning at the moment: Sony isn't exactly winning points in many ways with the PS3, whereas the 360 and the Wii are definitely turning heads. Here's my take... PS3 haters: if you think Sony cutting it's numbers for launch day is the death-knell of Sony, you're completely nuts. If you look at the numbers: if Nintendo or Microsoft doubled their market share AND Sony cut theirs in half, Sony would still win in total units. Certainly this is a possibility, though I wouldn't exactly call it very likely considering the length of time involved in a full generation. Sony would have to make a LOT of mistakes over 6 years for this to happen. Price point is a doozy... but it isn't likely to have as big an impact as you might think. Wii haters: The Wii is very likely to increase Nintendo marketshare considerably. It steps outside the box in a lot of ways and has gathered a ton of attention in unlikely circles. It is poised to become a phenomenon in much the same way the iPod is. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see the Wii double the sales numbers of the GameCube, given it's current momentum and Nintendo's marketing plans. 360 haters: Like it or not, Microsoft is making a LOT of smart choices this time around. Though the original Xbox is anything but a market success (sorry guys... but the original was a huge money pit for MS as a company... just look at their financials), the 360 is taking into account many of the downsides and trying to fix them. They've got a head-start and compelling games with a cheaper system and little noticeable visual difference to the more powerful PS3. Don't forget: consumers go where the content is... Atari 2600 had dreadful graphics compared to a Collecovision or even an Intellivision... but still beat both handily because they had cornered the market on the content side. Either way you look at it, more developers are embracing the 360, even Japanese developers, making the 360 much more of a player. My personal thoughts are that too many kids here look at the console wars through the scope of their individual experiences and trips to EB Games. The reality is: the war is long... and global... and includes a lot of people unlike you personally. Another bummer is that kids tend to get too drawn into the console wars with a more cognitive dissonance approach than a logical one. Let's face it... these are corporations, not your friends. They're here to make money, not to (necessarily) make you happy. Throwing hate around forums because you own a 360 and not a PS3 is not a logical approach (look up cognitive dissonance... and then re-read the Gamespot forums... or any forums for that matter). When it comes down to it, the three current players are all here to stay in this generation: 360 will sell well, offering compelling content at a more competitive price, with little visual difference to common consumers. The Wii will likely grow the industry in new ways, cutting out it's own corner rather than competing with the other two, and offering new experiences in an industry sorely lacking. The PS3 will also likely continue to be a force to be reckoned with, not likely selling as many units as it's predecessors, and possibly losing a bit of face with 3rd parties, but bringing very compelling content from 1st and 3rd parties as well. My projection for sales this gen, when all is said and done (probably 2012 or so): total units = 190 million (i figure that though the PS3 and 360 may scare a few people away, the Wii will pull a lot of people in, growing the industry in a pretty good spurt overall) PlayStation 3 = 65 million (this includes Sony losing over a third of their current market... but over a longer period of time. Considering the 6 year span here, I think it's fairly safe to believe they can retain nearly 2/3 of their current base. I don't, however, see this as a loss for Sony or consumers. In the full generation, Sony will be competing more with MS than Nintendo as they continue to target the "high end". In the final days, Sony will still lead for hard-core gamers with their high-power system, and consumers will reap the benefits of stiffer competition overall.) Xbox 360 - 40 million (Microsoft will likely sell a lot more 360s than they did original Xbox... enough to make the game division not such a money pit for the company. Compelling titles beyond Halo, competitive graphics with a cheaper price tag will go a long way, nearly doubling their market share. That said, their time to win Japan is all but past with very low results, meaning they're more likely to steal western market share from Sony than truly compete on Sony + Nintendo's home turf. All in all, a much more compelling experience for users.) Wii = 85 million (I can see the Wii being an immediate hit, making great numbers early on. Over time, however, I can see the other consoles capitalizing on Wii pulling in new market by standing out visually far above the Wii. Though the Wii will likely outsell all previous Nintendo consoles, it doesn't have the superiority that the other two bring to the table, making it's edge shorter lived than Wii fanboys might believe. Still... a very solid system and one of the top 3 systems of all time.) In the end, I think everyone has an opportunity to be a winner here... Microsoft will become a real threat to Sony in the console market by seriously increasing their share, Nintendo will sell more units than anyone else for a change, and Sony will still beat the company they are targeting the most (MicroSoft). In the end, all three are poised to meet their primary goals... and I think that's pretty win-win for gamers in general.

Here's my take: Until this little "debate" popped up centering around Sony's decision to remove it... I had almost assumed no one cared. I still think it's half manufactured. In all the years that rumble has been around I have never once seen a game review where the reviewer talked about how the "rumble was dead on" or something similar. If no one cared enough about it to include it as a critical part of the game review (in which every other aspect of the experience is always covered), then I don't see why so many people are suddenly up in arms about its removal. From a personal side, I simply don't find that having my "hands vibrate" is immersive... just annoying. Plus, it reduces battery life significantly on my wireless controllers (Logitech). It was cute at first, sure, but it's hardly the beginning and end of the gaming experience... more like a "nice try". Take a driving game. Go out driving. Come back. Now drive on a console game and tell me again that "hand shake" is "immersive". I suppose if you can get past the start where it's just distracting to the point where you are so used to it that you just expect it... THEN it might be "slightly" more immersive than not having it there. Immersive would be feeling gravitational force, feeling wind rush past you, smelling rubber, a full 360 degree visual and auditory experience, and rumble that shakes your whole body. Then again... I game on PC and Mac too. Having rumble on my desktop would be like trying to play an FPS and having my mouse try to get out of my hands. Not happening. The latest news is that Immersion (the rumble patent holders) paid some company to survey 1000 people... and the results say that the people want rumble. Who knows... maybe Sony previously paid some company to survey 1000 people and THOSE people didn't use it. Either way, it is hardly a sticking point. I'd much rather see Sony (or anyone for that matter) putting money into developing more and different immersive experiences than paying millions of dollars to license "vibrating hands technology". Strange... I feel like Nintendo and Sony did just that. Hell, BOTH of them have ALWAYS been doing that (dance pads, cameras, touch screens, guitar controllers, on and on and on) Additionally, it's crazy for anyone that hasn't actually held and used a Wiimote or SIXAXIS controller to discuss motion sensing technology vs rumble when it comes to immersion. I think everyone just needs to go touch the things, play with them, THEN decide for themselves (and not let all the other fanboys on their friend's list decide for them) how they feel about the experience in total. But by all means... to all the folks out there who are dead set in their ways, preaching the gospel of "rumble is required"... not having you in line ahead of me for a PS3 is a welcome thing. (Actually... now that I think about it.... hmmmm...) Who is with me in my boycott of PS3 because of no rumble!?!?!? (fingers crossed behind my back)

Apparently I decided to start this little union on the exact wrong day. The Gamespot system is currently reporting a failure to start the union the exact second anyone agrees to be a charter member. In other words... the first time someone says "yes"... Gamespot assumes everyone said "no". I think there's a bug in there somewhere. Sigh. Hopefully this can get sorted out quickly.

In case you care, yes... I have been gaming since Pong. My first console was an Atari 2600... and I still have it. For the most part anymore, I'm a PlayStation 2 gamer (I play a lot of RPGs). Here's my platform history: Atari 2600 Coleco Adam (the Colecovision "computer"... hehe) Pong (an early Pong-only console... still hooked to the TV) A bunch of old handhelds (like the old Mattel Football) Sega Gamegear Macintosh (I'm a web designer... get over it) PC (for some gaming) GameCube Nintendo DS Lite PlayStation PlayStation 2 PlayStation Portable Xbox As for next gen... my plans are to pick up all three. I'm pretty excited about getting my hands on the Wii, thought the timing of my purchase of the PS3 and 360 will depend on when all the "must play" games arrive. My 360 list of "must plays" is building, but I've still got a back-catalog to finish up so no big rush (that and most of my "must play" list isn't released yet).