Looking back at one of the biggest years for gamers in history!

What a wild and wacky year 2006 has been for gamers.  While it will best be remembered as the year that the "Next Generation" really got into full swing with all three major game companies having new consoles on the market for the holiday season, much more than this happened in 2006.  We saw some long-awaited games finally see release, some ill-advised companies went belly-up, and Jack Thompson became so delusional that he actually thought his likeness was included in a video game.  All of it adds up to the games and events that defined 2006 in terms of gaming.

The Next Generation

Without a doubt the single biggest event (or events, if you will) of 2006 was the launch of not one, but two new video game consoles.  The quirky Nintendo Wii and the long-awaited Sony Playstation 3 were finally released on an unsuspecting world, with wildly different results.

Sony, failing to meet its originally projected release date or its launch numbers, found itself short on units at the PS3 launch.  Of course, when you only release a fraction of the units that you originally said you would, you’ve got to expect fanboys to be fighting over them and clamoring for more.  The jury is really still out on the success of the PS3 and time will tell if the significantly higher price point (roughly $200 more than the most expensive Xbox 360 and nearly $400 more costly than the Wii) will frighten too many gamers away for Sony to maintain its strangle-hold on the number one spot.



Sony’s launch was also marred by reports of injuries, crimes, and other occurrences attributed to those awaiting the launch of the expensive new system.  One Wal-Mart manager exercised sublime judgment when he decided to let some two hundred people fight it out for fifty chairs, each of which represented the chance to buy a PS3.  In another well publicized incident a man was shot for his new console.  It’s a crazy world.

The launch of the Nintendo Wii went far more smoothly by comparison.  With many more units available at the release there were, in most cases, enough Wiis for everyone.  There were no reports of crimes or injuries; no events had to be cancelled; and overall everyone was happy.

Just as with any new system launch, most of the new games for PS3 and Wii are less than stellar, but with The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess for Wii and Resistance: Fall of Man for PS3, there are already a couple of “must play” titles for both genres.