by Rhian Hibner
Daily Lobo
Every year, the president of the United States gives a State of the Union address. In this tradition, "Console Wars" brings its trusty readers the state of gaming as of January 2007.
So, what exactly is going on? The PC gaming world is still alive and kicking despite another year of predictions of its impending demise. Blizzard Entertainment is about to release the Burning Crusade, the expansion to the most popular online role-playing game of all time, World of Warcraft. The next generation console race is finally in full swing, now that all three systems have been released. Surprisingly enough, the Nintendo Wii is taking the PlayStation 3 to the cleaners, while the Xbox 360 continues to show strong sales.
2006 was a good year for gamers. 2007 is looking to be even better.
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Nintendo had a particularly good 2006, and it's looking to have an even better one this year. The Wii is outselling the PlayStation 3 at a phenomenal rate. Despite its release in October, the Wii was still generating launch-day lines as recent as Christmas Eve. Even so, Nintendo's real success last year was not the Wii. It was the DS. The dual screen portable is not only the best-selling portable in the United States, but the best-selling game system overall in Japan for the first 10 months of the year. The Wii took over that title upon its release, and with manufacturing expected to hit its stride in the first quarter of 2007, it should keep that title through much of the new year.
The other console manufacturers have not done quite so well. Sony's PSP is doing poorly. Last year has shown it as a poor competitor for the DS. The PlayStation 3 is selling decently, though limited supply prevents anyone from getting an accurate assessment of how much demand there is for it. Microsoft is doing much better, but one has to wonder how it expects to have a successful movie download service when the installed base of Xbox 360s have only a 20-gigabyte hard drive to store them, especially since the average high-definition film is going to eat about half of that storage space in one gulp. However, a move to cheaper manufacturing processes may finally make Microsoft's console profitable - something that's still a ways off for Sony.
Computer gaming continues to thrive, due mostly to seven million people subscribing to World of Warcraft. Those numbers should get a healthy boost on Jan. 16 with the release of The Burning Crusade, Blizzard Entertainment's first expansion pack for its 800-pound gorilla. With several strong competitors on the horizon, such as Mythics' Warhammer Online and Funcom's Age of Conan, Blizzard is going to have to work hard to keep its No. 1 position.
The first person shooter genre is getting a nice shot in the arm with the anticipated release of Unreal Tournament 2007, as well as Valve's Half-Life 2: Episode 2, which will include the long-awaited Team Fortress 2. The PC gaming industry's vitals still look good, despite dreary predictions of its demise from competition with the console systems.
2007 is a good year to be a gamer. Computer games are in full swing, and with three new consoles to play with, there will be plenty of new games to play. The only downside is, with the high price of the new generation, most gamers are going to choose only one new console. Pick carefully.
