Gaming Matters: Top of the Flops
Another hardware company that has experienced its fair share of trials and tribulations is AMD. Having joined with graphics specialists ATI, its first DX10 capable cards proved a distinct let down, singularly failing to compete with nVidia in the high end PC graphics stakes. Meanwhile, Intel has been showing the way in the multi-core generation, with its Core 2 Duo architecture outperforming AMD's efforts comfortably. Things haven't got all that much better either, with AMD's native quad-core Phenom CPU doing little to dissuade PC enthusiasts that AMD is a viable option again. Happily, the Radeon HD3870 has provided some reason for Christmas cheer, though AMD will need to step up in 2008 to end the haemorrhaging of money.
Speaking of haemorrhaging money, the Sony PlayStation 3 has done plenty of that this year. It's difficult to know what to say about the console, which has seen Sony losing its totally dominant position in the console gaming market and falling behind both Microsoft and Nintendo. It's an alarming reversal of fortune, mirroring that of Nintendo back when Sony first entered the market. If there's any consolation for Sony, it seems as though the tide is slowly starting to turn its way.
Having tweaked the console in various ways it seems to have finally struck the jackpot, removing some functionality, such as backwards compatibility, but bringing the price down to a point that's far more palatable to consumers. There have even been a couple of games worth mentioning, with Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction and Uncharted: Drake's Fortune both making our Top 20 Games of the Year. Moreover, the inclusion of a Blu-ray drive in the console does seem to be turning the HD format war in its favour - though to what degree is debatable. As with Crysis and DX10, 2008 may see the PS3 coming into its own, especially since this generation of consoles could well last a little longer than before.
So, we've seen the best and worst of 2007, what of 2008? Omens are good. Resident Evil 5, Alan Wake, Grand Theft Auto 4, Fallout 3, Condemned 2, Devil May Cry 4, Rock Band, Super Smash Brothers Brawl and a whole host of eagerly anticipated titles have either been announced or are expected to be announced for release in 2008. It'll take a lot to match 2007, but until then there's plenty from this year that's worth checking out.
