Xbox 360:
My original stance on the Xbox 360 was solely based on Resident Evil 5. I felt that because of the lackluster launch titles, I wouldn't waste my money on the system until RE5 came out. Originally I also was not impressed with many of the big Xbox 360 titles. I thought Lost Planet looked weak (mainly because of the girly main character guy), and I thought Gears of War could never look as good as the original pics suggested
I was dead wrong. Today I must say that the Xbox 360's lineup is superior to Nintendo's and Sony's...by far. Whereas once I wanted to just wait it out just for RE5, I find myself now wanting the 360 in November for Gears of War. Lost Planet, Blue Dragon, Mass Effect, Splinter Cell, Halo 3, Crackdown, etc all have me excited for next gen.
With respect to XBLA, I remember being extremely cynical and uninterested in it. Now I can't wait to get my hands on multiplayer Gauntlet or Doom or Street Fighter II or...you get the point.
PS3:
My opinion on the PS3 hasn't changed much. I haven't seen anything that justifies the price to me, nor have I seen anything that the Xbox 360 couldn't pull off. Sure White Knight blows away most (if not all) 360 games with its animation, but the gameplay looks extremely boring. Outside of the amazing backgrounds, DMC4 doesn't look great to me. Resistance looks slow and is not graphically impressive (despite the rhetoric the developer throws around), and doesn't look like a system seller to me. MGS4 looks amazing, and is the best looking next gen game graphically, but I don't see myself paying $600 just to play it. Despite this, I'm very curious to see how Killzone looks now.
Blu Ray has absolutely no appeal to me. It offers more space, but do I really need "more space" for movies? Not really. It's going to offer game developers a lot of power though. Sadly, I have yet to see any developer really use the extra space in a way that makes me say wow.
I'll be able to play RE5 on the Xbox 360 for far less money as well, which is also a major point for me. So in the end, I'm not interested in the PS3. I'll get one when the price is signifigantly lowered. I can't help but feel that Sony has already lost Japan, and they're in danger of losing the US as well.
Wii:
My opinion on the Wii has gone from outrage to amazement to somewhat indifference. When I first saw the controller, I laughed; "Nintendo is done," I chuckled as I headed off to bed that September night. When I began to realize the potential of the controller my interest increased. I couldn't wait to see the controller in action, and I counted down the days to E3. E3 has come and gone, and we've seen many Wii games. Yet so far, outside of Mario Galaxy, I haven't seen anything more impressive than a Gamecube port (Zelda) and a game that will use the Gamecube controller exclusively (SSBM).
I remember all the rhetoric, all the hype about the controller.
It will bring PC percision to the console space. Well so far all I've seen is extremely slow FPS titles that all seem flawed control wise; dragging the screen in order to look around looks slow and nothing like PC controls.
Well it's going to introduce a level of control not seen since the analog stick! The analog stick improved gaming. I have yet to see anything on the Wii that looks like a true improvement over regular controls. It looks easy, yes, but certainly not better. Outside of including the emmersing the player more in the control, it doesn't really blow me away. I just see the same old games, with the same old graphics, doing the same old things. And now Sony has a controller that can replicate the controls in many Wii games such as Excite Truck, Sonic, and Tony Hawk, offering similar controls and vastly superior graphics. Which console do you think Johnny Casual Gamer is going to gravitate towards?
To make matters worse, the Wii lacks a lineup that truly impresses me. I can think of so many Xbox 360 games that blow me away; in fact I listed many earlier. I can think of many PS3 games that blow me away. With the Wii, all I can think of is Mario Galaxy. Zelda blows me away,
but on the Gamecube. The Wii controls look tacked on and un-needed to me, and I'd much rather play the game in a traditional way (IE, as it was created to play) considering it's the last Zelda game as we know the series.
I'm still a believer in the Wii, but right now I'm bummed. I want to see some amazing things, yet I just don't see many. I still don't see a kickass FPS that will redefine the genre. I still don't see a lightsaber game. I see a couple great looking games, some decent ones, and a shit load of minigames
The Wii will probably take over Japan, but I just don't see it doing much in the US. Being more successful than the Gamecube is not saying much. And in 2007-8 when we start seeing the MGS4s and FFXIIIs and other games with mindblowing graphics, the Wii's chances of catching the casual gamer's attention will be even smaller.
DS:
I've done a complete 360 on the DS. I originally thought it had a terrible lineup (and it did), and I expected it to get killed by the PSP. Now, I play the DS more than anything else. It's lineup is second only to the 360's imo. Zelda, FFIII, Castlevania, Pokemon, and many other games just look amazing. And the current lineup rocks too.
PSP:
I remember expecting the PSP to dominate the DS. Now, the PSP looks like absolute crap to me. I don't see any games I'm interested in, nor do I see any reason to buy one. Apparently most people agree with me, considering the PSP's lackluster sales recently. Is anyone going to buy a PSP to play MGS? Or GTA? Or any other game that can be played on the PS2 already, but with better graphics and controls? I don't see one killer app.
