Skyward Fire

Until a year ago, I never understood the success of Nintendo Wii. I always thought it was the best selling console with the worst line up of the videogames history, and so did many others across the world. I refused to agree with NPD numbers, and so did many PS360 owners everywhere. But then again, I’m not a kid, I’m no mother with a child, I’m no grandparent with grandkids, I’m no aunt or uncle with nieces or nephews, and neither am I a casual gamer. And quite a marginal number of gamers who might be reading this article won’t consider themselves casual gamers either, so it’s safe for me to make that statement.

For the gift giving crowd, the Wii is by far the best console amongst the basic three to choose from. Especially with it’s line-up of fitness games, it’s also by far the best console for the holiday season with many women looking to work off all that food they eat during the holiday season. January’s NPD very much reflects what the sales figures were like for the Nintendo Wii and the games lined up for the same over the stretch of the holiday season in 2009. We’re talking about games that are family and party friendly, unlike what we usually have for the PC, the PS3, and the Xbox 360.

The lack of games that more gamer oriented (‘hardcore’, as some might put it as) people would find attractive is also a reason for the kind of stereotype that the Wii has become. Wii is no longer a fad, and is going to continue to sell more units inline with X360 and PS3 going forward. One month out of the year doesn’t diminish in anyway the trend that was established over the course of the whole year.

That said, this isn’t to say it won’t continue to outsell the HD consoles month to month, but it probably won’t dominate sales month to month as it did in past years. And it will also continue to dominate December sales figures until we move onto the next generation of videogame consoles.

Take a minute off your busy schedules and ask yourselves this “What is the future of Gaming Industry?” Although being an extremely clichéd topic, it is one question that comes a begging. People constantly rant about “Old is Gold” and “retro gaming rules” and what not. Although I support the idea of respecting older games, I stand here to honestly admit that I am a realist. If one wants to catch up even a fraction of the action, one has to constantly update his PC or get a console. People who don’t agree with me are invited to jump out of the window, from a great height. Just saying “I am satisfied with the past” will not cut it anymore. The gaming era and the industry itself have changed. Wake up. And welcome to the place we call “reality”.

A look at Microsoft E3 Conference will give you a better idea why exactly I am writing this down here. People are too satisfied with what was made 6-7 years ago. I am being specific about the gaming condition in India which is seriously a big let down. Why is CS: Source the most popular game here when games like GRAW and Fallout Tactics are superior in every way? Or is it bad marketing? No. The answer to this ridiculous behavior in all Game Cafes is the simple fact that everyone thinks buying anything above an nVidia GeForce 6200GS would make them bankrupt. This is far from the reality I must say.

A decent 8600 GT can be purchased in less than Rs 5000 and the 8800 GT for Rs 9000. They still won’t put any cards simply because there is no demand. And why there is no demand? Because 70% of the gamers in India have no idea that games like Fallout Tactics or MGS 4 or Killzone 2 even exists. For them, NFS Underground, Cricket 2007, CS: Source and Warcraft 3 is the crème ‘la crème of the gaming realm. Being a hardcore fan and player of Warcraft 3, I must say, it is a great game but, it is not a reason for never trying out Command and Conquer 3 or Supreme Commander or Dawn of War!

I did say I am a realist and will stick to it forever. Therefore I accept that most of the time, Internet gaming for Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Gears of War PC are difficult. But it isn’t difficult on LAN! Who on earth stopped Game Cafes from installing these games instead of the 7 year old crap that we are served? I say MGS 4 multiplayer kicks Godzilla ass. Who thinks otherwise? Not because people agree with me. It is because no one has a damn opinion in the fist place. I can go and rant about how I scored 50 Takedowns in Burnout Paradise and people just nod saying “uh huh”. I never got an “Oh really? Wait till I have something to say about that!”

Although the newer games are given very high attention in USA and Europe, in India, the competition is just absent! It may exist on an individual level in a sporadic pattern, but it is not yet a trend which is very sad. The fact that people just shut their eyes and ears whenever something new turns up saying “I am happy with the retro!” is truly annoying. An average Indian would buy a stock PC for Rs 25,000. I agree it doesn’t come with a high end card but such a commodity can be purchased without any trouble and the falling prices only add to the ease of purchase. Too costly you say? No, that’s not the case.

You could get a console. Yes, Consoles provide tremendous gaming potential, if purchased at the right time. I said this just so that some fool doesn’t go buy a PS2 tomorrow and say “What the hell there are no new games on it!” Only a dumb and desperate gamer would go for a PS2 at this time. Although sadly, this is the time when most PS2 consoles are being sold in India because of the convenient price of Rs 6990/- and even as low as 5000 bucks in the grey market. Why exactly do people frown at the PS3 just because it is priced at 20 to 25 K is beyond me. People, this is your wake up call. THIS is the time to get a next-gen console. When a console is launched, it is ridiculously over-priced. The Xbox 360 was priced at Rs 30,000 and PS3 at Rs 40,000 at the time of their launch. Even the games were too expensive. Only after a year, do the prices become reasonable. The X360 is available for about 15,550 bucks and the PS3 for around 25000 bucks. What are you waiting for? This is the best time and price combo you will get. Anything below this would be too late and the console would be obsolete. By “below” I mean next year. There are some great games scheduled for launch on both Platforms. So go and treat yourselves to a shiny console soon.

After saying all this, HOW on earth will I forgive myself for not mentioning the Nintendo Wii? I didn’t mention it because,

1) Getting an original Wii is difficult. You must order it from EBay etc and pay the shipping charges which are quiet high.

2) Poor collection of games in India. Why on earth will someone buy Cricket 2007 and NBA 2008 on Wii? Ever heard of a Low End PC with 256 MB of Ram and a CRT screen? That will run these games. No need to buy a Wii for that. As far as great games on Nintendo are concerned, they are not available here easily. You need to get to EBay again.

3) The English version of the Wii costs double the Japanese version. Why on earth is this rule implied, I have no clue. Even in the grey market! Why would I buy a Wii for 22,550 Rupees when I can get a PS3 for that amount? Clearly the both PS3 and X360 have superior GPUs and faster processors. Unless there is a solid price gap, the future of Nintendo’s new console is pretty slim and mediocre in India.

Allow me to conclude. Unless there is an astonishingly fast change of gaming attitude, the current lineup of games will be poorly accepted or not accepted at all in India. Cybercafés need to start upgrading their game Engines in order to enable gamers to play games like Command and Conquer 3 and Unreal Tournament III. People, graphic cards are not costly. So get a hold of one. Consoles must be bought at the right time to enjoy their great potential. Nintendo hates India and we want Wii (If that was unintentionally funny, please forgive me).