Nothing relieves stress like chasing down a car that cut you off, running it off the road, dragging the driver onto the pavement and beating him to a bloody pulp, and then absconding with his cash and vehicle. In Grand Theft Auto, that is. In real life i usually just mutter a few naughty words under my breath and drive on, hence the beauty of having a video alter-ego. I'm a firm proponent of more violence in video games. My predilection for this type of games has planted me firmly in the Sony/Microsoft console camp, as they've both built systems largely on the back of first-person shooters and other action titles. I've meanwhile mostly ignored Nintendo's offerings, as to overgeneralize they draw from a small stable of established characters (Mario, Zelda, Donkey Kong, etc) and pander to children. Nintendo has been able to become a gaming giant with this philosophy but i, like many of my gen X brethren, enjoy our video games of the more mature variety.

So when Sony and Nintendo went head-to-head with the release of the Playstation 3 and Wii, i was firmly behind Sony. Given that the five year-old PS2 has one of the best video game libraries ever (going backwards ... Guitar Hero, God of War, Shadow of the Colossus, Gran Turismo, the aforementioned Grand Theft Auto series, Metal Gear Solid, SSX, to name a few), the sheer computing power and video options of the PS3, and the widespread popularity of the Playstation in gaming ground zero Japan, i fully expected the Sony system to trounce its Nintendo competitor. By all reports Nintendo was basically releasing the Gamecube under a silly new label ... no significant computing upgrades, no HD support, just this gimmicky motion-sensitive controller that everyone and their mother hailed as the next wave in gaming. No contest, right?

Never underestimate the power of marketing. That buzz about the Wii's controller only accelerated in the days leading up to launch. Meanwhile Sony was busy addressing a million concerns about the PS3, ranging from industry acceptance of its new Blu-Ray standard to just how many of these things were going to be available come November 17. And when launch day arrived, the consumers voted not on computing power or game libraries, but on marketing and availability. The Wii roundly trounced the PS3 out of the gates, both because stores actually had a few of them (the Toys 'R Us had about 50 Wiis on launch day, compared to 4 (4?!?!) PS3s). Whether they intended to or not, Sony duplicated and expanded upon the PS2 launch, where chronic shortages plagued stores and consumers. For the PS2, that (coupled with a good launch lineup) created a buzz about the system. In the case of the PS3, it seems to have annoyed people more than anything, causing their attentions to veer over to the more available and much less expensive Wii.

This really pissed me off. Sony seems to be trying to sell systems on future promises than the current situation. I want to see the Playstation once again muscle out Nintendo and their camp of plumbers and teddy bears. I don't want to see the PS3 die and be forced to play my watered-down shooters by pointing a remote control at the screen. For all i know the Wii might be lots of fun, but i simply don't WANT it to replace the tried-and-true two-stick controller. But i can't refute the majority of reviewers who've decided that the Wii was the clearcut winner of the pre-holiday release. I can't see myself hunting down a PS3 anytime before spring. To be honest, i can't see stores having regular stock of the system much before June 2007. Dagnabit. Hopefully Microsoft will lose a little less money with this incarnation of the Xbox, possibly ensuring its survival as the über-gamer alternative to the Wii for the masses.