14 DAY TRIAL // No, I'm not completely crazy - I really mean that. The world needs one more console on the market, and not one released by Microsoft, Sony or Nintendo. We need something new, something revolutionary, something to blow everybody's mind and to finally win this never-ending war between the current-gen consoles. We need a new console to be released now and there are tons of reasons to support the idea. However, I don't have tons of time, nor space to tell them all, but I'm sure a few well placed hints would make you agree with me (if you are one of the few who still believe that PS3 or the Xbox 360 are the future).
First of all, we should find the replacement. Ideally, a company should rise out of nowhere and release the best console ever that will send the Xbox 360, the PS3 and even the best selling Wii in the depths of history, but that is very unlikely to happen: a company needs some sort of tradition on the market in order to have a chance, to at least be allowed to try. So, if the possibility for a new company to rise and take the gold is zero, an old one should be revived. And who's sitting in a corner, saying nothing about gaming consoles and getting the big bucks from game development? Sega, of course! Sega, the same company that was one step away from ruling the world forever, with its Dreamcast. But we'll get back to the Dreamcast a bit later because we have to find out why it should return. Why are the current consoles getting it all wrong?
One of the most important reasons is the life cycle. The Xbox 360 is the oldest - almost three years old, then the PS3 and Wii follow, both getting close to their second birthday. This means (and it's not just my intuition that's saying that) at least another 6-7 years until new consoles will be released by the giant companies. The Wii is still selling great and Nintendo is not crazy to stop production, the Xbox 360 is also recording some decent sales and its community keeps growing (and so does the PS3's) and both consoles still have a war going on and neither one will withdraw until a clear winner is found. Not to mention the huge production costs, the investments both Microsoft and Sony made into developing their "next-gen consoles". And all these mean that, by the time the companies decide to release their next consoles, we'll already be completely bored with what they have offered and we probably won't be gamers anymore. Out of boredom. Which is sad.
Another thing that makes me believe that the current consoles would need a kick in the butt is their handling of graphics. Let's start first with the obvious: the Wii: it has lousy graphics (even though The Conduit proved that, if they want to, developers can bring eye candies for the Wii - and Softpedia completely agrees with that). They're not doing it, though, because it's cheaper. Because they're focusing on casual gamers and casual gamers have relatively low graphical preferences. Or they just don't care too much. And, by saying that, we kind of erase the Wii from our list: we're talking about real gamers and games here, not laggy motion-sensitive controllers, repetitive gameplay, childish concepts and no storylines.
Even though many people would disagree, both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 are two times limited from a graphical point of view: limited by a non-upgradeable technology and limited by themselves. The non-upgradeable tech is obvious and I don't feel the need to detail that anymore. But why do these consoles limit themselves, you might wonder? Well... just try to remember how many times you have heard Microsoft or Sony or a game developer saying something like "Oh, the [insert console name here] can bring much better visuals, what you see now is only 50% of what it can do!" Then, my friends, why the hell didn't we get in 2 years a single game to get the best out of one console or another? Are people against progress or something? No, it's just a lousy limitation.
Now these could be considered the most important bits of current-gen failure and, at the same time, the most important reasons why we need a new one to teach them how to do it. But there are lots of small other things that add up and become unbearable at a certain point. Poor customer service, Rrods, exclusive content (yes, these types of content are just ruining the gaming experience - everybody should get the same thing for the same price, at the same time), multiplayer limitations, national/cultural limitations, lack of technical support, bugs, glitches, etc, etc, etc - all these and many more can be found if you start looking closely at the Xbox 360 or the PS3 or both. Thankfully, these things are usually no deal breakers - but, at least conceptually speaking, we could get something much better. And, since we are so completely against PCs (well... except for our Softpedia editor Silviu) the only viable option would be the release of a new gaming console.
Not to mention the fact that, even though sales are constant or maybe even increasing on a global scale, people are slowly getting bored. There are many gamers asking for the next Xbox, there are many rumors surfacing the Internet regarding a new huge upgrade to one console or another - and all these things prove that people are getting bored. Because if everything were perfect, nobody would ask for more, right? And that further means that something's wrong, because nobody ever got bored so quickly with a thing that works good (look at the Nintendo DS for example).
Why would Sega be the best choice? Because it has the experience - even though its previous releases were not financial successes and didn't manage to bring together huge communities of fans, it still knows a thing or two about consoles. The Dreamcast was a success - many people are still asking fore more and even more would gladly give a Dreamcast II a try, if it was released. Sega also has something for the old school gamers: the ability to make them nostalgic, to revive the old times. First, it has Sonic - probably the only game character that is able to fight head to head against Mario. It has Virtua Cop, Crazy Taxi, Zillion and the Bonanza Bros and so many, many more. Titles that could be revived, re-created, branded with the "exclusive" label (even though, as I said before, that's not a good thing) and released out in the wild. Would we have a winner?
No, we wouldn't. Because, if new Dreamcast (or whatever Sega's console would be called) is to succeed, it has to pass some exams. It should have a 24/7 customer support that can REALLY help you and is ready to listen to your problems, it should bring the best graphics ever without "room for improvement", it should have a flawless multiplayer and no internal errors to ruin your game exactly when you're about to finish the most difficult mission ever and it should be that fun that people won't start asking for something else 2 years after the console is launched. Unfortunately, Sega has no plans of getting back into the console business. But how cool would that be! Just imagine what a lesson Microsoft and Sony and even Nintendo would learn if a brand new console popped out of nowhere and got on the throne. Dreams... just dreams...
Please note: Just to be sure nobody gets it wrong, I must say that: NO, we are NOT saying that Sega is working or plans on working on developing a new console (even though they should).