It was clear when the first volleys were fired at GDC that Microsoft, Sony, and the arrayed forces would clash in a brutal, blood drenched E3. They’re sort of circling each other at the moment, like in the music video for Bad. We know where it all ends up, because we can fling our awareness forward in time.
Occasional internal bombast notwithstanding, I don’t know where Nintendo’s Revolution fits into this grim Main Event. Because the machine has features which are either unripe or outside the ordinary continuum of expectation, I have no mental scheme which can position it against their competitors. As a result, and you’ve no doubt seen this as well in other forms of media, a brawl that is between three parties is almost always depicted as one between only two, and Nintendo is marginalized further in this generation. There is a kind of narrative in place and the players can largely be presumed.
It’s clear to us that Microsoft aims to create a kind of electronic wrecking ball with the vigor to simulate each hair follicle, even on an extraterrestrial hair beast. We don’t actually know it’s true, but it is the general presumption that it is Sony’s aim is to subjugate mankind, presumably beginning with their business competitors - so we at least have a starting position, estimated momentum, and the direction their force is projected.
Whenever Nintendo says anything, the only impression you get is that they want to make good games and they don’t think that better hardware is necessarily the optimal route. That’s actually fairly subversive, given the known trajectory of the industry. Comparatively, it’s a nuanced position - but you and I are perfectly capable of understanding it because have had these conversations ourselves. I don’t know how far such a notion can be propelled into the viscous expanse of media consciousness.
There are four things what needs mentionin’:
(CW)TB out.
you don’t even know what the half is
