Here are my opinions of the PS3 and Wii launches, as an external observer (did not buy any of the two yet). I still think Nintendo should have done whatever's necessary to launch before Sony, and definitely not on a Sunday. Out here, the mainstream media covered the PS3's launch quite a bit, much more than they covered the Wii's launch. To the mainstream media, covering video games news is annoying. It is a field that covers a lot of people that requires a lot of inside knowledge to understand (to us gamers, it doesn't seem that hard to grasp, but to "normal" people, it is). With two launches that close to one another, covering both extensively would have required of them to explain the differences between the two systems, something bothersome to them. And since nothing significant happened during the Wii launch... So they covered the PS3 launch. In a bad way, the PS3 launch was definitely spectacular. With shootings, muggings, wild speculating. The Wii launch was mostly uneventful, with most news I heard of camping lines being of random acts of kindness and caring. Touching stuff indeed. I talked to my local video game pusher, and while the mainstream media has made the public much more aware of the PS3, it has failed to convey probably the most important information about it: its monster price. According to him, he had many clients come to inquire about the PS3, only to reel back in shock upon hearing of its price. He expects a lot of people initially interested in a PS3 will cave in and buy a Wii or Xbox360 instead because of the lack of supplies. Personally, I think he underestimates brand loyalty, but hey, he's the one selling games, so he's probably the expert on that one. About launch games... If I am to believe the reviews (and indeed, I will), definitely, the PS3 had a terrible line-up, rivalling the PS2's launch in its mediocrity. With one good scoring exclusive. On the other hand, I must say the Wii launch lineup hasn't impressed me that much either. Except from Zelda (quite a big exception indeed), none of the games seem to be must own. Trauma Center: Second Opinion being the second rated game on Metacritics... I like it a lot on my DS, but I just can't imagine it being a system seller. And Red Steel getting boringly average reviews... Conclusion: considering the less than optimal circumstances, I must say the PS3 launch went a bit better than I expected, securing them public awareness at a crucial time. Unfortunately for Sony, they haven't pushed enough units to the market to cash-in on that awareness. Nintendo will most likely more than catch up to them in that regard by the time they are able to get into mass production mode. Both systems had somewhat weaker launch lineups than I expected, though the Wii at least has one defining game out there. Right now is a good time to be a 360 owner, with late 2nd gen and early 3rd gen games out and coming. How quickly the other will catch up to that in order to compete is anyone's guess.
