Commercial Free Zone

The PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii release at retail in the coming days and so far we have the following with regards to television commercials.

Sony: A couple of 15-second spots showing the PS3 hovering in an empty room alongside a baby and a rubik's cube. Nothing about price. No gameplay footage. No details whatsoever.

Nintedo: n/a

I noticed on EBgames.com this morning that EB has stopped taking pre-orders for Nintendo's flagship title "Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess" citing a lack of supply from Nintendo. That's always a good sign. On that same site, they mention that the PS3 will not be sold online until all of the in-store pre-orders have been filled. They expect that to be sometime before Christmas. Nice to see that the folks who camped out overnight for a pre-order might not get one until a month from now. Congratulations.

These new consoles come out this week and for the first time in over a decade, I have no interest in buying either of them. And it's not even that I wouldn't mind having a PS3 eventually, it's just a general overall feeling of disgust with how all players behave during console launches that makes me very happy to cozy up on the couch with my Xbox 360 this fall. Everyone from the console manufacturers to the retailers to other gamers carry themselves in such ridiculous ways during console launches that the fun and excitement has been ripped from the process. Throw in an utterly underwhelming lineup of games for one console and a completely gimmicky control mechanism for the other, and I can't help but sit here in wonder at why so many people seem to care. I really do.

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