2010 Console Wars
2010 has been another great year for Video Games. With the release of the Kinect and PS Move, now all three consoles have some sort of motion controlled games. When all is said and done though, it's the quality of the games that truely counts. Which system do you think performed the best in 2010? See our choice and more inside.
A busy schedule has lead me astray from my prime days of video gaming. I still try my hardest to play all the games I can, but some just don't get the attention they deserve. It seems my knowledge of video games has remained yet my skill has greatly declined. This fact was made very evident when my younger cousin(13) was able to beat me, no destroy me in every video game we played this Christmas Eve.
Anyway, you came here to find out what console won the war this year and not about my lack of gaming skills. Because I alone could not possibly make a decision that would be conclusive of all evidence, I turned to ign.com and their wonderful year-end writeup of the three man royal rumble that is the console wars.
First, they judged the quantity and quality of exclusive games on each system.
All three systems had some great exclusives this year, but if we had to choose one winner – and we do – this category goes to the Wii. This year the system really came through for core gamers, with games like Monster Hunter Tri and No More Heroes 2 leading the charge, backed ably by GoldenEye, Tatsunoko vs. Capcom, Sakura Wars, Red Steel 2, Metroid: Other M and Lost in Shadow. And on top of those titles you have the return of Donkey Kong Country and a second lesson in peerless platform game design in the form of Super Mario Galaxy 2. Bravo, Wii!
I would like to share that I am the recent owner of two of those Wii games on that list. I would like to thank my Grandparents who had no idea where that Christmas money was going.
The second criteria for the decision was to compare the diversity of the games on each system. To do this, IGN grouped all games of 2010 into notable categories and then determined who had the most quality titles in each group. It gets pretty convoluted with categories like dance, retro inspired, action/adventure, 3rd person action, plat-former, etc., so I'll keep it short. Xbox wins!
The third criteria was the overall amount of top ranked games on each console.
Compared to last year, it's clear that the 360's definitive victory is more about the PS3 failing to convert good games into brilliant games than it is about the 360 having more triple A games than normal. In 2009, the 360 had 17 9.0 or higher games, which is pretty similar to this year's 19. The Wii actually improved on last year's performance, with 8, as compared to 6. It's a really sorry story for the PS3, however. In 2009, IGN gave 23 PS3 games 9.0 or higher. In 2010 it was only 13, which is a huge drop.
And the over all winner is...the Xbox 360
So there you have it. The Xbox 360 was the system to own this last year. For me it's all about finding that one game or maybe two games that you really like and have fun with those. With the advancement in games' technology and depth, it seems almost unrealistic to divide your time amongst them all. My solution is to collect all the great games that I can't find the time to play now and when it comes time for my retirement, I'll be winning Xbox achievements, PS Trophies and Wii Bootii's at an alarming rate! (I made that last one up by the way, but Nintendo, feel free to steal it!)
Thanks everyone and keep gaming. Happy New Year!
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