The PS3 and Wii: What Happened?

I remember back when the seventh generation of video gaming began, everyone was so hyped up for the Wii and praised its motion controls and user-friendliness, while the PS3 was criticized for being incredibly overpriced and not having enough original games on it (there was even a hit rap song on YouTube about it).

Half a decade, give or take, later and the Wii has been criticized for trying to appeal to not just hardcore gamers but non-gamers and failing at both, while the PS3 seems to be doing fine. The X-Box 360 seems to have had an even perception except during the height of the Red Ring of Death chaos.

Personally, I never had the impression that the PS3 offered much in the way of original content. Wii has the family-friendly games and all the Nintendo licences, X-Box 360 has the mature games and successful Live Arcade downloadables, while the PS3 has many of the same mature games as the 360 and... A Blu-ray player.

I think we've all grown up enough by now to not turn this into a console flame thread, so let's just discuss it. What happened? Am I gathering biased sources or misinterpreting them? When this generation began, I was sure that Sony was going to have to drop out of console gaming and that the Wii would continue to exceed expectations. It's just weird is all. Hopefully someone can give me a little history lesson. =]

I think the problem with the Wii was it got too big for its own good. Nameless game companies began to sprout up all over and put out horrible, horrible games for the console...And they still are. It was very similar to the Atari VCS system back in the early 80's. It got so popular that eventually garbage games were just being pumped out in hopes that they could make some money at the height of the fad. Eventually, poor games led to folks not caring, and the ol' video game crash happened.

Luckily, video games aren't in their infancy anymore, so there was never really a concern for a crash these days, but in my eyes it looks like the same situation. Nintendo had a hot product, the Wii, a lot of very poorly-done games were made for it...an overwhelming amount, actually...And there weren't enough stellar games to counter-balance it. For a casual gamer, or someone new to video games, I think it was probably confusing to sort out the good from the bad...And after enough bad experiences, they might just give up.

As for Sony, they were arrogant and they paid for it. But, they've really stepped it up. Their quarterly sales numbers for the PS3, last I checked (which was like a year ago), are actually better than the 360 numbers. Overall, more 360's have been sold to date, but Sony has really done a good marketing job to close that gap as much as they have. On top of that, the Sony-exclusive line up also really stepped it up over the past few years, where I feel like Microsoft's must-play, exclusive games have decreased in number in that same time frame.

I personally enjoy the PS3 more...But that's largely due to the fact that I own one of the launch PS3's, that are fully backwards compatible (PS2 and PS1), unlike the current PS3's out there that lack PS2 compatibility. With the PS3 hooked up, I can play games from three systems without having to change plugs or cords around.

I enjoy the 360, and until PS3 games got trophies, I actually preferred the 360 over the PS3 simply because of the achievement system. But, I'm not much of an online gamer, which would be the type of person that might prefer the 360 over the PS3, as the 360 has a superior online store and experience to Sony. The only downside there is that you've got to pay for it, where as Sony's online service is free. The 360's also lost support due to the fact that the systems seemed so glitchy. I never got a red ring, but I knew many folks who have and had to buy a whole new console (or multiple consoles, in a few cases) because of it. I heard the new 360 model isn't nearly as buggy, but my guess is that there are still plenty of former customers hesitant to trust Microsoft again...Which is probably another reason that Sony was able to close the gap as much as it has in regards to console sales.

As for the Wii, it's similar to the Gamecube (and even the N64) in my eyes...If you're patient enough, Nintendo will probably supply you with a really good game once or twice a year. Aside from that, it's anyone's guess if anything worthwhile will be published for it. I don't hate the Wii, and I still feel like it has plenty of untapped potential, but my doubts continue to grow if the Wii's full potential will ever be seen. But, while I wait to see if that prediction comes true, Nintendo will release a Mario or Zelda game to make me remember why I bought this system in the first place.

I just wrote way too much and I'm too lazy to go back and proof-read it. If something in it doesn't make sense, let me know and I'll try to explain it better.

Also, note that the above is just my opinion on the matter. I ain't no expert, regardless of what a few of you folks have kindly labeled me as. That's it.

What a good read - makes sense to me. Thanks for that, as I was beginning to think I was making too much out of the situation. I'm glad to see this reversal is noticed by at least one other person.

Well, I never got into this generation due to hard times but I really wanted to and at one point I resolved to get a Wii but couldn't find it. The stupid game of finding a Wii went on too long and turned off some people and now that it is easy to find and has been for a while I have heard of its successor in the works and this too turns one off.

Aside from this PS3 really had the better chances because of Bluray, the battle of HDDVD and Bluray also put me off either console here as the format war was in question. My thoughts sided with bluray, I figured it would win.

The whole backward compatibility issue, about them no longer being backward compatible has been a complete turnoff for me in both Xbox360 and PS3.

I think all 3 major consoles stepped off on the wrong foot this time around:

The PS3 said "I'm here, but wait about 5 years for games..."
The Wii said "I'm here and I only love kids!"
The Xbox360 said "Error: Call customer support."

To echo some of the general complaints:
Just in terms of game support, take a look at the PSone catalog (1995-2000) and compare it with the PS3 catalog (2006-2011, roughly). Actually, there is no comparison. The first two Playstations gave us all an enema of games we'll never forget in their first 5 years. The fact alone that you can still go on a "hidden gem" hunt for games on the PSone, PS2 and other "legacy" systems speaks to the sheer volume of games that were made in the past generations. Not just the volume, but the variety. There were so many that you couldn't play all the ones you wanted. And there were probably tons you never even heard of.

For me, it's all about the games. I could care less if the PS4 has the ability to surf the Internet in 3D, stream Netflix, and do quantum physics all while shining my knob. If it doesn't have a big game selection, then it's basically just a DVD/Blu-ray player that occasionally remembers it's a game system.

As for your point, Pumpkinate, I have noticed that the selection of PS3 games has grown, while more and more the Wii seems like yesterday's news. The DS, however, is still full of win.

Oh yeah, the DS is great! Apparently at first it didn't do as well financially as the 3DS has done so far. Maybe the 3DS's comparative success is because the DS left a good taste in people's mouths? It certainly isn't because video gaming websites have praised its roster to bits.

Anyway, I'm hoping the 3DS has as many great games as the DS did. (C'mon, Castlevania!) On that note, neither one seemed to have had a strong start financially or game selection-wise.