So What’s New

Well, even with all the fuss going around these days, I am still pretty much bored! I can't think of anything to do, even though a lot has happened in the past week. Some important events include that my 4^th semester results were out and there was the trimmed down E3 Media and Business Summit 2007, which quite frankly the name puts me to sleep for a couple of hours. Sure its E3 and a lot of news came around but there was nothing revealed that intrigued me, other than the fact that this may be a boring year for gaming if Grand Theft Auto IV fails to deliver on its promise. Plus it turns out the Resident Evil 5 will also not be available this year so its another bummer to the summer event.

There may be a $100 price cut to the PS3 but there is still no strong reason to go out and buy one, and from all the rumors I have heard, it turns out that Microsoft may unveil the 3^rd Generation XBOX in two years placing the life expectancy of the X360 in question. The increase to a full 3 year after sales warranty tells a different story however that, Microsoft believe the X360 could go on for another 3 to 4 years. What would really bring a revolution now would be a an announcement from Microsoft in one or two months regarding the price of the X360, like a $100 price cut for all the three SKUs. The new Zapper from Mario factory looked good, but I don't quite fancy the Wii Fit idea. I think it would not make a big impact. Who ever would want a video game that would require them to 'work-out'?

In terms of next generation, I think the PC is easily comparable to the consoles now and if equally supported by the developers, would be overtaking them by the end of the year. The Intel Core 2 line is looking more promising with the new chips that would soon join the block. And who knows, maybe AMD do pump out a true Quad-Core solution to challenge Intel's Core 2 line. As for the graphics chips, the GeForce 8 series is far superior to the RSX in the PlayStation 3, with capabilities like Full Screen 16x Anti Aliasing and High Dynamic Range Lighting simultaneously. On top of that we may get triple or quad SLI out of the 8800 chips to really boost the amount of juice we get from them. And Vista backed by DirectX 10, Games For Windows and LIVE Anywhere seem to be the real future, which is pretty much going to dominate the gaming industry in the coming years, so I wouldn't bet on the consoles right now. The only advantage they have left is the fact that they get exclusive game titles, like Grand Theft Auto IV and Halo 3 for the XBOX 360 and Metal Gear Solid 4 and Killzone 2 for the PlayStation 3. And since now, at least for 2007, PlayStation 3 has stole Unreal Tournament 3 from the PC, which was going to be a DirectX 10 title. But we still have a Crysis to prepare for and I think it would be a tough competition between Grand Theft Auto IV, Halo 3 and Crysis for 2007 Game of the Year.