The Wii is awesome. Sadly, it's also an overpriced gamecube with a modified processor and bluetooth wireless capabilities. There are a few awesome Wii titles out there, and the rest are absolute (and this is a fact) garbage. The Wii actually sells more consoles than it does games. From a purely economic standpoint, the Wii is the winner.
The Xbox 360 is awesome, and Microsoft has refined Xbox Live to the point that it's THE online service for multiplayer gaming. Sadly, the 360 hardware itself is more problematic than any other video game console in history. What's worse is that Microsoft knew about a 68% failure rate for it's consoles in November of 2005, and while that number is said to have gone down I don't know a single person who hasn't had their 360 die on them for one reason or another. EVEN WORSE is that Microsoft initially denied any knowledge of console defects, until some of the customers they had dicked over took them to court. We may never know what the failure rate of the current line of 360's in America is but it's safe to say that Microsoft did as much as it could to prevent people from knowing that they were buying a defective product. Microsoft wins because it's online service is outstanding.
The PlayStation 3 is a hugely under-rated piece of hardware. More powerful than the Wii or the 360, the PS3 high price tag led to it's downfall in the 7th generation console wars. People simply said, "I'm not paying 600 dollars for a fucking video game system". Understandable logic, except that the PS3 is like the Ferrari of video game consoles. It's an extremely powerful computer, that just so happens to also be a powerful Blu-Ray/game console system. Unfortunately, what Sony exec's didn't take into consideration is that all Americans wanted was a console to play games on. The PS3 is the most expensive contestant in the 7th generation of video games, but one could argue that unlike the the Wii or the 360, when you buy a PS3, you're actually getting what you paid for.
So why does Microsoft piss me off? Because of this shit...
The downloadable content for GTA IV and Fallout 3 looks awesome. Except if you own a PS3, because for no good Goddamn reason, downloadable content for these games are going to be Games for Windows and Xbox 360 exclusive. And apparently although Bethesda has been hush-hush about the details, it would appear that Microsoft paid them big money to make Fallout 3 downloadable content Microsoft exclusive.
Listen, when Bethesda makes Fallout 4, if they want to release it only for the 360 or the 720, then thats fine. But it's something else altogether to produce Fallout 3 for both the 360 and the PS3, and then not release the downloadable content for both systems. That's fucked up. That's alienating an entire group of gamers for absolutely no other reason other than filling your coffers with more money. And so I wrote an email to Todd Howard at Bethesda, and here it is.
To Mr. Howard,
I've been a loyal fan and consumer of Bethesda Software for several years, ever since I first played TES: Morrowind. In 2004, when I first learned about Oblivion being on the Xbox 360, I saved every penny I could towards the future purchase of the console. In fact, as I've told many people, the sole reason I got an xbox 360 was because of Oblivion.
In late October of this year, my Xbox 360 RRODed for the fourth time in two years. Microsoft's refusal to fix the system, coupled with Fallout 3's upcoming release (which I had on pre-order) left me with with few choices. So what I ended up doing, was trading in my Xbox 360 towards the purchase of a PS3. Like oblivion, Fallout 3 was the only reason I went to drastic measures and bought a PS3.
I've learned that Bethesda has made a deal with Microsoft, and that there will be no Fallout downloadable content for the ps3, while 360 owners will get what sound like three sweet missions. How could you do this to the fans? If you go ahead and release a game for both consoles, why would you alienate all the people who bought the game for PS3, and cock-block us from getting any downloadable content?
I'm not naive; the chances of this email swaying your opinion are none. I'm not going to boycott your products. But I had to let you know that I feel you made a wrong decision. When I eventually find the money to buy another 360, I will buy it just for the downloadable content. You're a rich man now so why should you care? As 3Dog at GNR Radio might say, "Nice going scumbag."
Thanks for nothing,
Jeremy Onorato
