Livingstone on console wars
Eidos chairman talks about "which of the new hardware platforms ultimately is going to be the most successful"
The console war is once again hotting up, with Sega dropping out of the market while Microsoft and Nintendo prepare for an European show-down with current champions Sony some time next year. But which of them is going to come out on top at the end of the day? As part of his newly launched website "Ian Livingstone's Games Room", the chairman of top British publisher Eidos has posted his own thoughts on the matter.
"Excitement builds for PlayStation 2 despite the paltry numbers that were allocated for its European launch, and PS2 will have second generation titles appearing on it by the time Microsoft's X-Box and Nintendo's Gamecube are launched", Ian ponders. "But nobody can afford to ignore Microsoft. They are putting a huge amount of money into the launch of the X-Box. It [also] promises to be the highest spec machine of them all and of course developers will love it because of its PC ancestry. Last but not least is Nintendo's Gamecube. Nintendo know their consumer and know how to keep them happy and will do things in their own successful way."
For Europeans at least though, there is one slight problem. "UK gamers will not be able to buy the X-Box or the Gamecube until 2002 so leaving the way clear for PlayStation 2 to dominate in 2001". But who is going to win in the long run? "If I was a gambling man I would have to back PlayStation 2", Ian admits. "But the X-Box will be pushing it for top spot all the way, and Microsoft certainly have both the determination and the resourses to overtake should Sony hit any big snags or fail to deliver the BIG title, unlikely though it seems."
Well, a year ago it might have seemed unlikely. After the farce of the PlayStation 2's European launch though, anything seems possible to us...