(The large abbreviation at the top means "This Is Bad News For Sony, To Be Quite Honest", for those not familiar with NGG-isms.)

Welcome to my first ever blog. I hope to use this to convey my thoughts on the ongoing changes of the gaming industry...so long as I remember to update when a new thought crosses my mind.

Anyway, let's get going.

So...Capcom decided to let DMC4, the title I'VE been jealous about not getting as a future-360 owner, go multiplatform despite their claims it never would. Well, this is certainly a surprise...a pleasant surprise. Now all the Playstation 3 has to hold my interest is Metal Gear Solid 4. I look forward to the eventual release of the game on the Xbox 360.

Enough about my interest in the game, let's talk politics. Sony's grasp on the industry (starting with the original Playstation back in 1995 and most definitely continuing through the Playstation 2 in 2000) is slipping. I'll be totally honest; I was intent on buying a Playstation 3 when the system was first announced. It mostly stemmed from the lack of 3rd party support I saw as a Gamecube owner back in the last gen. I ended up breaking down and buying a Playstation 2 once it was announced that Burnout 3: Takedown wouldn't be coming out for the Gamecube. After that, I managed to swipe a good number of 3rd-party titles that would have otherwise missed the Gamecube (Street Fighter Anniversary Collection, Burnout Revenge, and Metal Gear Solid 3 come to mind). Once I modded my PS2 and made it import-ready, I got to play even more titles that included a deluge of awesome 2D fighters that the US would have missed out on altogether.

Bearing all this in mind, I wasn't entirely confident Nintendo would manage to pull out of its 3rd party slump going into the next generation. The Revolution (as it was known as at the time) was definitely showing promise but its unique control mechanics made me wonder if 3rd-parties would end up creating "side games" for the system, reserving their big guns for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. That was enough to sell me on the idea of getting a PS3. Why not a 360, you ask? Well, I personally saw Microsoft's first swing at console gaming last generation as a total blunder. Through the system's entire 5-year lifespan leading up to the Xbox 360, the system saw a total of 4 games that I ever wanted to play. I was a total anti-Xbox fanboy and saw no reason to think the 360 would somehow reverse that.

But time makes fools of us all. Turns out the tables have completely turned on Microsoft in the here and now. The Xbox 360 (coupled with its revolutionary online service, Xbox LIVE) is now the dominant system in the market and seeing a wave of games that completely reverse my stance on the Xbox line. With all this fanfare, what happened to Sony; the company I had put so much faith into? Well, the PSP is a flop (unless you're willing to walk on the "other" side of the line) with its useless movie format and games that don't hit the highs as often as the DS' library. The PS3 is overpriced (even if it is the cheapest Blu-Ray on the market) and lacks the quality software that could ever justify such a cost. Because of that, their hold as the dominant company in the industry is firmly shifted to Microsoft. As the 3rd parties keep falling from their lineup, I am left to wonder if there will be anything that will make me want a PS3.

Well, I've written enough. I'll come up with some new blogs later down the road, as the industry rolls forward.