you know what escapist, the wii actually is this gens PS2

[MikailCaboose]

I'm not sure the Wii has the dominant third party support that the PS2 had. I don't think we'll ever see support like that every again. Not unless either Sony or Microsoft announces they're pulling out of the video games market.

The Wii has quite a bit of 3rd party support. It's just that 90% of it is just pure shit.

 

[Steppin Razor]

I have no doubt that the PS3 will last long into the lifespan of the PS4. The PS3 took longer to get going than the PS2, but from the beginning the only thing anyone could complain about is that it was too expensive and had too few games. It's now down to the PS2's launch price, is getting a mid-gen boost with Move, has a ton of exclusive games as well as all the multi platform ones and has the greatest longevity thanks to not having hardware failure issues and actually having next gen support.

The Wii is fizzing out, and will need a reboot in the next 1 - 2 years, and that will just be to keep up with where the PS3 is now. The Xbox 360 is slowly but steadily losing people to the PS3 as they're tired of having to replace it for the 4th time. I've bought quite a few accessories and games off ex-360 users. That will only continue, and eventually it'll just fizzle out. When people stop playing 360 and Wii, they'll still be playing the PS3. It's not going to be the same dominating juggernaught from start to finish that the PS2 was, but in the long run it'll be the closest thing, and it'll be something like the PS1.

Also, if Sony gets their shit together the PS4 will be built on the same Cell architecture, just more powerful, and it'll get PS3 backwards compatibility while launching at a lower price than the PS3 did, they'll do another repeat of the PS2.

They're no longer in a position to completely dominate the market like they did with the PlayStation 2. At the end of June, the PS3 was almost up to the level of the 360 with only 3 million units separating them, but that's worldwide figures. The North American market is where the most PS2s have been sold, yet 10 million more 360's have been sold than PS3's. And then we have the Wii which is another 10 million in front of the 360 in NA, putting it just under 10 million consoles short of cracking the total amount of PS2s sold there.

I think it'd be great if Sony could pull another PS2, but I don't think it's possible any longer. Regardless of all the problems and setbacks they have suffered, the Xbox and Wii have gained enough support that it's impossible for any one console to dominate the market again. Microsoft's next console will sell in huge numbers, as will Nintendo's next machine that they release.

 

[Signa]

Everyone, I think the point is that the PS2 was the weakest technically, and got the largest support much like the Wii now.. The point has little to do with the quality of the games on the system. In that regard, there isn't much comparison between the PS2 and Wii. At this point, the Wii is still close to the Gamecube in terms of selection of quality titles.

 

[Zap Rowsdower]

I actually think that the PS2 was the weaker console back then and the PS3 is the weakest now. This may be attributed to the fact that I have an inexplicable inherint grudge against Sony, but I have never had fun playing a Playstation.

 

[pretentiousname01]

I'm not sure the Wii has the dominant third party support that the PS2 had. I don't think we'll ever see support like that every again. Not unless either Sony or Microsoft announces they're pulling out of the video games market.

The major change here is the 3rd party support on the ps2 was good games.

On the wii its steaming pile of casual garbage, after steaming pile.

 

[migo]

I have no doubt that the PS3 will last long into the lifespan of the PS4. The PS3 took longer to get going than the PS2, but from the beginning the only thing anyone could complain about is that it was too expensive and had too few games. It's now down to the PS2's launch price, is getting a mid-gen boost with Move, has a ton of exclusive games as well as all the multi platform ones and has the greatest longevity thanks to not having hardware failure issues and actually having next gen support.

The Wii is fizzing out, and will need a reboot in the next 1 - 2 years, and that will just be to keep up with where the PS3 is now. The Xbox 360 is slowly but steadily losing people to the PS3 as they're tired of having to replace it for the 4th time. I've bought quite a few accessories and games off ex-360 users. That will only continue, and eventually it'll just fizzle out. When people stop playing 360 and Wii, they'll still be playing the PS3. It's not going to be the same dominating juggernaught from start to finish that the PS2 was, but in the long run it'll be the closest thing, and it'll be something like the PS1.

Also, if Sony gets their shit together the PS4 will be built on the same Cell architecture, just more powerful, and it'll get PS3 backwards compatibility while launching at a lower price than the PS3 did, they'll do another repeat of the PS2.

The thing is, the 360 sales figures are artificially inflated because people often bought 2 360s, one for Live and one for pirated games, and then on top of that would buy another one to replace it after hardware failure. If you look at Live accounts vs PSN accounts, they're already about at parity. You also have plenty of people defecting from 360 to PS3 while hardly anyone goes the other way. In the long run the PS3 will win over the 360.

Now for the Wii, it hardly gets played. A lot of people bought them, or were given them as gifts, but they just don't get played, and nobody's excited about the Wii anymore, I've seen Wiis on the shelves of local drugstores where they used to be unable to keep them in stock just sitting there for months with nobody buying them. People have largely stopped buying the Wii, and at some point since Nintendo makes money off hardware sales, they'll need to release a Wii HD, giving the PS3 the potential to outsell the Wii thanks to being on the market twice as long (after all, part of the reason for the PS2's dominance is it was on the market from 2000 and is still running, while the GameCube was on from 2001 to 2006 and the Xbox from 2001 to 2005 and the DreamCast from 1999 to 2001, it's easy to sell so much more when you've been around so much longer). It won't be the same as the PS2, yeah, but the PS3 can pull another PS1.

They're no longer in a position to completely dominate the market like they did with the PlayStation 2. At the end of June, the PS3 was almost up to the level of the 360 with only 3 million units separating them, but that's worldwide figures. The North American market is where the most PS2s have been sold, yet 10 million more 360's have been sold than PS3's. And then we have the Wii which is another 10 million in front of the 360 in NA, putting it just under 10 million consoles short of cracking the total amount of PS2s sold there.

I think it'd be great if Sony could pull another PS2, but I don't think it's possible any longer. Regardless of all the problems and setbacks they have suffered, the Xbox and Wii have gained enough support that it's impossible for any one console to dominate the market again. Microsoft's next console will sell in huge numbers, as will Nintendo's next machine that they release.

 

[Pinstar]

In popularity, maybe. But in terms of quality of games and broad first and third party support, I still play my PS2 more than my Wii if you don't count watching Netflix.

 

[CobraX]

Meh Not really as The Wii is made by Nintendo, while PS2 was made by the greedy demons that are called Sony

 

[Steppin Razor]

The thing is, the 360 sales figures are artificially inflated because people often bought 2 360s, one for Live and one for pirated games, and then on top of that would buy another one to replace it after hardware failure. If you look at Live accounts vs PSN accounts, they're already about at parity. You also have plenty of people defecting from 360 to PS3 while hardly anyone goes the other way. In the long run the PS3 will win over the 360.

As would the PS2 figures due to people having a second PS2 that they had modded to run imported games.
As for the online accounts, that is rather interesting. Apparently they cracked 25 million PSN accounts last year, while Xbox Live accounts hit 25 million around the end of June this year.

Now for the Wii, it hardly gets played. A lot of people bought them, or were given them as gifts, but they just don't get played, and nobody's excited about the Wii anymore, I've seen Wiis on the shelves of local drugstores where they used to be unable to keep them in stock just sitting there for months with nobody buying them. People have largely stopped buying the Wii,

In the first 6 months of this year the Wii sold almost three times as many units as the PS3. The PS3 is catching up, people are still buying the Wii in massive amounts.
[sup]And people are still buying copies of Wii Play.... *sigh*[/sup]

and at some point since Nintendo makes money off hardware sales, they'll need to release a Wii HD, giving the PS3 the potential to outsell the Wii thanks to being on the market twice as long (after all, part of the reason for the PS2's dominance is it was on the market from 2000 and is still running, while the GameCube was on from 2001 to 2006 and the Xbox from 2001 to 2005 and the DreamCast from 1999 to 2001, it's easy to sell so much more when you've been around so much longer). It won't be the same as the PS2, yeah, but the PS3 can pull another PS1.

Wii sales figures are still going strong, as are sales of its games. And peripherals. And Wii Play.
Nintendo don't have to change anything up. As long as there are people out there that find the games available on it fun, it will keep selling. I know some 60-70 year olds that have never played a game in their lives that bought a Wii. My younger cousins that don't like gaming in general have a Wii that they play on. Nintendo will almost certainly release a new console, but their current one has targeted a market that is infinitely bigger than the "core" gaming audience.

As for the PS2, it hit 100 million units sold in 2005. Since then it's sold somewhere in the range of 45-50 million. The main contributing factor to its sales in that period was off the strength of the original PlayStation as people started to change over to the new machine and word of mouth made former Nintendo and Sega gamers change over. Some people tired of 360 errors will change over to PS3, others that can finally afford the PS3 will buy it, but at the end of the day, the 360 is still selling well and now has enough support to sell large numbers of whatever console Microsoft decides to release next. Especially when you factor in the fanboys.

 

[migo]

As would the PS2 figures due to people having a second PS2 that they had modded to run imported games.

Not really, since you don't need a second one for that.

In the first 6 months of this year the Wii sold almost three times as many units as the PS3. The PS3 is catching up, people are still buying the Wii in massive amounts.
[sup]And people are still buying copies of Wii Play.... *sigh*[/sup]

Who is buying them? I don't know anyone who's bought a Wii in years, but I know people buying both 360s and PS3s. I also don't see stock changing. It's always the same # of Wiis at Futureshop, while PS3s and 360s are going up and down.

Wii sales figures are still going strong, as are sales of its games. And peripherals. And Wii Play.
Nintendo don't have to change anything up. As long as there are people out there that find the games available on it fun, it will keep selling. I know some 60-70 year olds that have never played a game in their lives that bought a Wii. My younger cousins that don't like gaming in general have a Wii that they play on. Nintendo will almost certainly release a new console, but their current one has targeted a market that is infinitely bigger than the "core" gaming audience.

Now I realise some people will have bought a Wii because they thought it was interesting, but it doesn't really get played.

 

[Steppin Razor]

Not really, since you don't need a second one for that.

People that still wanted a PS2 that was covered under warranty bought a second one.

Who is buying them? I don't know anyone who's bought a Wii in years, but I know people buying both 360s and PS3s. I also don't see stock changing. It's always the same # of Wiis at Futureshop, while PS3s and 360s are going up and down.

I don't know who's buying them, they just are:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/wii-and-ds-thrash-competition-in-us

Now I realise some people will have bought a Wii because they thought it was interesting, but it doesn't really get played.

As for who plays them, it depends on the demographic. The people that aren't into gaming all that much still play games like Wii Play and the other casual games on it, not to mention the strange, deluded people that bought Wii Music and think it's good.

As for regular gamers, I still play it, as do a number of users on this very site. No More Heroes, New Super Mario Bros Wii, Metal Slug Anthology, Twilight Princess, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Monster Hunter Tri and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All-Stars are just some of the games I've bought for mine.

 

[MMETEORAGA1994]

...are you serious? The Playstation 2 had an amazing line up of games, it didn't rely on gimmicky controls and marketing to sell (I like the Wii also btw) It sold because it STILL has the strongest library of games of any system IMO. I'd name the great exclusives but I'd be here all day.

On a side note, I find your style of writing nearly impossible to read. I try not to be grammar Nazi and such but seriously, periods are on the keyboard for a reason

 

[Judgement101]

The PS2 was the weakest of all the consoles? That's hard to argue for.. Considering it had Ico, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Final Fantasy X and XII, Shadow of the Colossus.. And that's from someone who got a PS2 very, very late on. The list is almost endless for classic PS2 games.

FargoDog you speak the truth PS2 is strong!

 

[Corven]

This generations PS2 is the PS2, it's the only "last gen" console that still comes out with new games and still has a shelf spot in most stores. Also what made the ps2 great was awesome 3rd party support something which Nintendo lacks, they rely almost solely on their in-house games.

 

[Sanguinius- The Angel]

The PS2 is still better than the Wii. Can display better graphics too.

What was your point, again?

 

[squid5580]

The PS2 was the weakest of all the consoles? That's hard to argue for.. Considering it had Ico, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Final Fantasy X and XII, Shadow of the Colossus.. And that's from someone who got a PS2 very, very late on. The list is almost endless for classic PS2 games.

I think he means under the hood. The Xbox was more powerful. I don't know about the GC though. I do know the GC was the toughest to destroy (thanks X-Play).

 

[Jfswift]

I can see where you're going with this, in that, alot of people that normally wouldn't buy a game system are buying a Wii. It is a good value, and quietly invading everyone's homes much like the PS2 did.

At the same time i'm inclined to disagree with you though because not only did the PS2 have better graphic capabilities, it also could play dvds. It was, overall a better system. In short, I don't think the Wii has the same kind of impact on this generation that it's predecessor had. (I do own a Wii btw but I'd still take the PS2 over it)

 

[NickCaligo42]

The PS2 was the weakest of all the consoles? That's hard to argue for.. Considering it had Ico, Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3, Final Fantasy X and XII, Shadow of the Colossus.. And that's from someone who got a PS2 very, very late on. The list is almost endless for classic PS2 games.

Hardware, not game library. The Wii's game library is crap even compared with the PSP.

The PS2 is still better than the Wii. Can display better graphics too.

What was your point, again?

No it can't, Wii developers are just stupid lazy.

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Don't confuse a 'wide variety of games' with a 'wide variety of great games.'

 

[Nomanslander]

Umm...the PS2 had some of the best third party support I've ever seen in consoles, the Wii has tons and tons of shovelware and big name developers who don't want to get any where near the system.....how is this again?