Wii U launched in the United States on November 18th, 2012 and brought with it, a decently more powerful machine than the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, with a fun online community via Miiverse, complete backwards compatibility with Wii software, multi-screen console gaming, and Off-TV play altogether with the GamePad. In the last year, Nintendo has struggled to gain ground with the Wii U, due in large part to a lack of compelling software for the first several months following its launch. Since then however, high profile, exclusive titles have come out like Pikmin 3, The Wonderful 101, and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD. The remainder of 2013 is strong with Super Mario 3D World leading the pack and 2014 already has a healthy number of quality titles that will see release. There will definitely be more surprises from Nintendo next year (possibly including the reUmagined titles), but what do you really want to see the Wii U deliver?
PlayStation 4 is less than 24 hours away from hitting North America and two weeks later will launch in quite a number of other countries in the world. The console has been on a hype train of sorts ever since E3. Sony nailed an attractive price of $400 for the unit, provided its controller with a much needed upgrade, and has promised a nonstop barrage of games coming for the next year…many of which to be exclusive. What will set the PS4 apart for you though, from its two competitors? Is what’s good enough for you as a PlayStation 4 owner, the thought of enjoying the brand’s first party offerings seeing new updates or do you hope that PS4 will be the key machine to attract third parties throughout the whole generation?
Xbox One comes out in several European countries, North America, Australia, and Brazil on November 22nd and will be Microsoft’s 3rd time entering the home video game console market. The leap that the company has made in terms of quality and name recognition/approval from Xbox to Xbox 360 is terrific and bodes well for Xbox One. That’s of course, after Microsoft “fixed” some of their original plans that the vast majority of the gaming community were very against. Coming in at $100 more than PlayStation 4 and $200 more than Wii U, Microsoft’s offering is the most expensive, but also has the most “all-in-one” appeal which may help it pick up some gamers on the fence. Add to that, the inclusion of Kinect 2.0 and long-term, despite the higher price now, the fact that every Xbox One owner will have that device will prove useful for developers that want to take advantage of the device. What do you personally want to see Xbox One bring to the table, though? Partnerships with 3rd party companies to get more exclusives, more of Rare’s past games like what we saw with Killer Instinct, getting updates, or what?
It’s going to be a great new generation of gaming, that’s for sure. Thanks for your opinions in advance!