Each month we get a shitstorm of NPD figures. X beat Y, and Z sold more, you get the picture. This is followed by press releases, each gloating about a manipulated statistic, or a vague statement about why their platform actually won.
Well, you know what? For the rest of this generation of consoles this means nothing.
Why? Simple. Disc based games take three to four years to make – so the games you'll be playing for the rest of this generation have already entered production. They have been greenlit and the investment has been made by the publisher.
We're at a point now where a format would have to drop off a sales cliff for publishers to withdraw from projects already committed – and clearly all major systems are putting in a respectable performance. Ergo, platform sales figures have zero impact on existing console owners.
Sure, outside of in-house games, we will get a few platform-exclusive games, usually as a result of the format holder doing a deal, but the combined benefit of selling to both the PS3 and 360's audience far outweighs the additional cost of developing a game for both formats versus one. All things being equal then – and on a global level both HD systems are still pretty much neck and neck, so things are literally equal – it would take a miracle for support for either system to reduce.
So, I ask you: Why should we persist with this nonsense every month…? It's only really of interest at the start of the generation when platforms are establishing themselves.
In 2010 we should really be looking at how platform holders plan to position themselves for the next next-gen – and enjoying the fruits of a mature development pipeline.
The advent of digital distribution and the massive importance of making sure all that content works on the next wave of platforms, means the decisions in that area are far more interesting than seeing how far the Xbox 360 and PS3 are behind the Wii this month.
Any manufacturer that can't ensure people's library of digital games is played on the next system may as well give up... not that I think that is likely, of course.
Anyway, I guess what I'm really saying is: less naval gazing and more looking to the future, please.
