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Read this article. The points made in the article I just linked make a lot of sense.

The PS2 has *the* strongest software library of any current console. In addition, the new slim PS2 is actually profitable! This means they are making money on each system they sell.

If Sony can ride out '06 on the PS2 sales due to a strong software library and now-profitable PS2 units, they will shore up their profits for the year, which is quite enticing for SCE.

I made the claim, in those days, that good working conditions (or, awkwardly, "building the company where the best software developers in the world would want to work") would lead to profits as naturally as chocolate leads to chubbiness or cartoon sex in video games leads to gangland-style shooting sprees.

There isn't much need to buy an actual SNES Chrono Trigger cartridge if you have a PS1 (or PS2); Final Fantasy Chronicles is widely available for much less money.

http://www.gamespot.com/ps/rpg/finalfantasychronic les/index.html

Every body knows Big Rigs: Over The Road Racing is best game of all time. It's winner!

Online haters? Jesus christ get over your self. Please do us a favor and point out all of these online haters? Just because somebody is a Nintendo fan or sympathizes with Nintendo's decision not to support online play on the GameCube does NOT make them an online hater.

Also, online gaming is not unique to the xbox OR the ps2 and you are not special because you have xbox live.

I personally think Nintendo did the right thing as far as business decisions go.

Sony's online gaming isn't exactly taking over the world or anything and XBox live only just recently hit the 2 million mark which is DOUBLE what it had a year ago. (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/20/news_6129 518.html)

It looks to me like Nintendo picked the perfect time to launch an online gaming service.

The fact that it's free is a plus too. That means casual gamers who might not want to pay for online gaming won't be left out.

I'm still confused about the online hater thing though. I read quite a few forums and gaming related sites and I can't honestly say I've seen many people who hate online gaming at least not for any Nintendo related reasons.

Looks like it will do 1080i
PS3 to do 1080p as well.
http://interviews.teamxbox.com/xbox/1190/Xbox-360- Interview-Todd-Holmdahl/p1/
http://hardware.gamespot.com/Story-ST-x-1985-x-x-x

Things could have changed since these articles though.

Did find some info, as well, that says that developers can create content at 780p and the X can scale it up to 1080i...

you mean like this? http://www.gamespot.com/ds/rpg/finalfantasyiii/

Article about CAVE Quake 2

That rumor has already been out there.

i suggest you do some research as well.

early stages of one of the first playable games has already been shown running.
http://ps3.ign.com/articles/635/635525p1.html
[keep in mind that this game is months away from release]

may i add that the new unreal engine was playable and running on actual hardware at e3 as well.
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/16/news_61249 95.html

also, just because many of the trailers at e3 were pre-rendered, that doesnt preclude that there is in fact a very real, and very good looking next generation engine that drives it.
http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/07/09/ 2041203&tid=10

From GameSpot's article on the same subject:

"It also can't be understated that Nintendo saw a profit in its last quarter. By comparison, Sony Computer Entertainment today reported a quarterly loss of 5.9 billion yen ($52.6 million). Last week, Microsoft's Home and Entertainment division, which makes the Xbox, said it lost $179 million during its last quarter."

Why is everyone bothered about 1 year old screenshots. Heres the video trailer for it instead. http://www.gamespot.com/promos/quake4/play.html

More expansive article here If you read the article, it tells you "80% decline," but that's a lie. If you actually do the math, a 3.75 billion yen decline to 13.72 billion yen of operating profit is obviously not an 80% decline, and in fact what actually happened is a decline TO 80%. Likewise, they had a 14% drop in sales, netting 70.7 billion yen.

Now, let's look at Sony and Microsoft's numbers (linked article last paragraph). Microsoft lost more money than Nintendo made in profit. Sony lost about a third as much as Microsoft, but they're still in the red! Where's the front page "Sony's losing money! So's Microsoft!" articles?!

Good lord, no wonder why everyone thinks Nintendo's doomed: the media has it out for them! Why didn't they report on Sony or Microsoft's losses, let alone why didn't they check their numbers/headline/article before posting it?! Seriously, Nintendo has an uphill battle next generation, and it's mostly because the media puts them in a bad light like this.

Twilight Princess.

Let's see who wins this Christmas, shall we? :)

Okay, Xbox360, including PGR3 that has near photorealistic graphics vs the new Zelda game, blurry and blocky.

Twilight Princess.

Let's see who wins this Christmas, shall we? :)

Okay, Xbox360, including PGR3 that has near photorealistic graphics vs the new Zelda game, blurry and blocky.

Since they're not 'losing money' as they actually made a profit, should they still follow Sony and Microsoft's fine example, which made losses of $52.6 million and $179 million respectively?

From a far more informing Gamespot article here
 
  "It also can't be understated that Nintendo saw a profit in its last quarter. By comparison, Sony Computer Entertainment today reported a quarterly loss of 5.9 billion yen ($52.6 million). Last week, Microsoft's Home and Entertainment division, which makes the Xbox, said it lost $179 million during its last quarter.
I'd take a profit over a loss any day of the week. It's also the first time Sony has ever had two back-to-back losses.

Actually, there is a new Pokemon release set for October. It's coming out on the Gamecube and looks really good. It's what I've been waiting for, a true 3D Pokemon adventure. Get more info here

Oh CRIPES! First we got the people that are so serious that you can cut the tension with a knife in the Politics section, and now I got people who are pretty laid back and easy going here in YRO area.

First of all, while yes I am making assumptions regarding the stance of the grandmother, would you say they are radical assumptions? I would think they are pretty down to earth myself. And as for the ESRB, I am NOT assuming that! That is TRUTH!

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/21/news_61295 57.html

This is a direct interview with the President of the ESRB, and she puts it loud and clear here that they were unaware of the Hot Coffee content, and YES it was hidden, YES it requires a patch or a cheat code to unlock... ...BUT it is on the disc to BEGIN with, and the entire FACT that it is there is why Rockstar is in the wrong here! That content should NEVER... EVER have made it onto the final product! It is STUPID and naieve to think that locked content won't be cracked open, and the only sure fire way to make sure that you have an airtight alibi should something like this arise is to make DAMN sure that the content is not on the disc to begin with!

Rockstar FAILED to do that, and instead of admitting to it to begin with, they tried to COVER IT UP by putting the blame on the person who modded the game. And then when the truth came to light that the content WAS in fact made by Rockstar, then Rockstar took actions, but not until the game industry and politicians came down on them.

ESRB policy is that EVERYTHING, locked or not, that is on the disc MUST be reviewed by a board to determine the rating. If they had revealed this at the ESRB review, they could have easily fixed the problem, and resubmitted it instead of making more than 6 MILLION COPIES that had the content on them!

Yes the porn industry is a large industry, and whether or not it's comparable to games, I have no idea what the numbers are! But that's besides the point! If you're going to get porn, get porn! If you're going to get a game that has porn on it, one way or another, then at least let people KNOW its there.

Rockstar SHOULD care about ratings since the self-imposed ratings are what keeps the government from doing it themselves and that would be MUCH worse!

~Otaku-Man

The Wind Waker is the first, and likely only, 3D Zelda I will ever appreciate... yet it's the least boring of the bunch thus far

Let me get this straight: you're calling Ocarina of Time boring, even though you've never played it? You're entitled to your opinion, of course, but that comes across as a pretty shallow statment, especially for a game a lot of people would agree was the best game ever made.

2D or 3D is presentation. The kinds of exploration, rewards, and psychology that guide and encourage your actions are the game. But if you really are hung up on the 2D Zelda on a modern console thing, you're in luck. Nintendo actually did that: it's called Zelda 4 Swords Adventure. (Or get a GameBoy.)

Well according to your favorite and mine, Jack Thompson, the Sims is the new bad guy http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/22/news_61296 09.html
Wow, now that EA peddles porn, you would think that matel and all the other makers of dolls would jump on that bandwagon. Who needs real nudity when you have a barbie.

the xbox has had what... a four year life cycle? MS has stated that they released the first xbox as a simple test of the gaming industry. i think that their significant losses have prompted them to rework their strategy.

supposedly the first xbox supported HD output up to 1080i. http://hardware.gamespot.com/Microsoft-Xbox-9399-O -4-4 thats one of the more highly touted features of their next gen system; its nothing new... i think that they saw the rise of the mod community and the media center capabilities http://www.xboxmediacenter.com/ of the xbox being used and realized this was their chance to turn the tides on their debt problems. they are playing their hand. feeding us back what we originally wanted from them in the first place. great marketing!

what this has done is cause the other companies to jump onto the next generation. i wouldnt be surprised if the ps3 and revolution where not originally supposed to be released until 2007-2008 or so. sony and nintendo have to play their next gen card earlier now in order to compete.

i think this is a prime example of how MS entering the industry is diminishing it. sure we get next generation graphics and performance sooner, but we are going to take the hit on our pockets earlier and more often too.

Who remembers the old Rings of Power cheat that showed you the boobies on startup.

For the good of /. and the public in general, I won't admit how much those boobies meant to me when I was 10, but I hope todays kids, all grown up, will think back and fondly remember the illicit gaming provided boobies, like I do rings of power.

If anything, I say rockstar deserves a medal!

This gamespot article has the details. PC version in Q1 2006, everything else coming later:

EA also said "a next-generation console version" of The Godfather "will appear later," meaning after March 31, 2006. So far, only an Xbox 360 version of the game has been announced.

According to http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/metalgearsolid3 /news_6119725.html
the rumor is that Halo3 will be released around the same time as the PS3. Seems a likely strategy, if they can get a sequel done that fast.

1. Firefox
2. Open Office, MythTV, etc...
3. Blue-Ray HD-Movies
4. No built-in Bluetooth/WiFi on the 360, both are in the PS3.
   • The 360 will require either a USB keyboard or a "special" wireless keyboard.(bluetooth is much nicer)
   • WiFi makes running a home network much easier.(I know you can add optional WiFi to the 360)

And we all know that going out of your way to download a modification doesn't qualify as being part of the game. Oh, wait...

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/22/news_61296 09.html

So there you have it. This isn't ending any time soon.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/22/news_61296 09.html

Not likely. eh?

Apparently It's not different:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/22/news_61296 09.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6129609

I think you mean Gamestop, not Gamespot

Results 1 - 10 of about 433 for metroid claustrophobic

Results 1 - 10 of about 22,000 for metroid lonely.

Results 1 - 10 of about 80 for metroid lonely claustrophobic

Metroid was dark, you played it underground, most of the time in small caves. The music was haunting, and there were not many enemies. Those that were there were mostly slow and silent. Gameplay was rather slow, too, compared to frantic games like Contra.

You've just described world 1-2 from Super Mario Bros. Was that claustrophobic and lonely?

Basically being underground means you have a black background and gray floor instead of a blue background and green floor.

Compare:
Metroid

SMB

Lonely, Claustrophobic!

Please don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing Metroid and Super Metroid, but if Samus hadn't turned out to be a half-nekkid lady at the end of the first one, I don't think it would be a huge franchise today. Mario launched the NES. Half-nekked man-Samus would have doomed Metroid to this fate.

My opinion only, of course.

GameSpot has a news item that indicates the ESRB has officially slapped the AO rating on GTA San Andreas. Looks like a lot of retails are starting to pull it.

The concept of Innovation was a pervasive shadow lurking beneath all of the interesting discourse. "Oh innovation, where hast thou gone?" "Oh woe and woe, the big media have spit us out!" And its no less true in cyberspace, where people are clamouring for more risk and innovation, decrying the PC as dead, a place with no innovation.

And so I listened, and nodded, and said, "Yes, oh yes" at the appropriate times. And then I'd ask the dire purveyors, "So what about Doom?".

"Oh. Doom. Yeah, the days of Doom are over."

And by Doom, I mean, that upstart, brilliant, independant developer that came up, and changed the course of the industry.

Sure. Those days are over, and the big media have taken over. Catering their watered, weighed and shellacked offerrings to audiences that obviously "don't know any better". You are so right - Warcraft isn't innovation - its distillation. A product of archaic online phenomenon that found its roots in Moira (with its central town shoppes instead of Nethack's inline dungeon vendors), then Diablo, then EQ and perhaps a host of nods and bows to countless other carefully researched RPGs before it... all of it composed while pouring huge buckets of money all over it.

Yep, you are so right. It is a bit of a wash isn't it? WoW is exremely successful (at least today), but remember that WoW was designed and executed less with savvy PC MMORPG gamers in mind, and more for relative neophytes, and as essentially an answer to the mosnter that is EQ. And it did it sparklingly and staringly well. 100% on execution, there is no doubt about that.

But there are glimmers for the smaller and fainter among us. Look at the GTA.

"Oh GTA? Yeah. Oh well, that was a somewhat special case."

Were they particularly safe? I think the first thing in game design and particularly MMORPGs is to know your audience. Bake your game to your niche. Perhaps, if done right, that niche boils over into the mainstream. Rockstar knew that there were no games that catered to a "hiphop/eighties/mobster" sensibility. Their execution was nearly flawless. In other words, they innovated.

And for innumerable more reasons I'm convinced that this mysterious beast, the upstart developer, still exists. I think audience and execution are important pieces of the puzzle (surely not the only pieces, but you catch my drift). You say safe? I say audience. You say money? I say innovation. You say publisher? I say march in and show them what you can do. Put a veritable gun to their head and march them to signing that cheque. In essence they'd have to when faced with the prospect that you'd take your creation to their competitors.

/K

Please see the ESRB ratings definitions.

First off, the SIMS has a rating of Teen. Not Everyone/Teen. No such rating exists. You can see the gamespot Sims site for confirmation of the rating: Gamespot SIMS info

The SIMS, under normal conditions, does not display nudity. If it did, it would likely have received an M rating, although the inclusion of this one "offensive" item may not have been enough to move it into that category.

The SIMS merely displays naked people when hacked. GTA: SA depicts an actual sex act. This, under the guidelines, clearly would put GTA: SA in the AO category, especially when coupled with the violence already depicted in the game.

The matter is further inflamed by the fact GTA is a game that legislators would just as soon rather had never been created in the first place, already having spawned talk of banning the game due to violence, criminal acts, and general disdain for the law. (though that didn't get far).

I'm sure a similar uproar would have occurred if there were an actual sex act explictly displayed in the SIMS, or if a sex act were "unlockable", even through a hack such as the one in GTA: SA.

I don't necessarily disagree with you that rating of the SIMS, and its sequels and expansion packs might be changed - but it seems unlikely. Even if it did, Walmart and other mainstream stores would still sell the games anyway, as they'd only have M ratings.

The fact that some material was on the disk is totally beside the point. If the user plays the game without hacking it, no such content is available.

That is not correct. The proof is that the PS2 version contains the Hot Coffee content, and it is virtually impossible to execute a third-party patch on the PS2. However, using a GameShark (which is popular enough to be sold at WalMart), it is possible to enter cheat codes which unlock the content, which must have been already present on the disk. This is too simple and accessible to count as hacking, and not a reasonably forseeable scenario for a busy parent.

Gamespot coverage

There was also the Playboy: The Mansion game which was rated "M." And in fairness, there were plenty of people outraged that GTA got away with an "M" rating in the first place.

Actually you can get this content on the PS2 version according to this article. It seems likely that it is available on all version, originally Rockstar said that it was just a PC mod, now it appears that it was in the code all along and you just needed to hack the game a bit to get it to show you the "Hot Coffee" scene.

It is possible to access it on the PS2, however it requires a Action Replay cheating device: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/15/news_61293 01.html

According to GameSpot, Valve is self-publishing the title. EA is only distributing the game (i.e. using their contacts to get their games into stores like Toys R Us and Target). That's it. Nothing to freak out about.

For those mods who clearly don't have a f*cking clue, Hillary (clearly not a conservative) is actively pursuing the current GTA3 situation and Tipper was one of the main activists who was responsible for the Senate hearings regarding language/violence/drugs in music several years back.

And don't forget Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) who's railing against the upcoming game "25 to Life".

As far as I can tell, though, the problem comes when politicians from either side of the aisle try to pander to conservative "values voters". Republicans do it when those folks are their main base of support (as opposed to big business or libertarian voters); Democrats do it when they're trying to expand their base.

Hillary has been doing that a lot lately, and it's one reason why I, a liberal libertarian Democrat (wrap your brain around that one!), won't be voting for her if she ever makes a Presidential primary bid. This morality crusade does not represent what I, or most other liberals, believe in.

That's interesting, but you didn't say who actually agreed to give it a high score in exchange for an early review. It's probably some no-name. Gamespot gave Driver a 7.7, so it's not them. IGN gave it a 9.7, but the review came out after the game's release, so it doesn't look like they took the deal.

Also, what is your source?

"Game Boy Micro represents the latest evolution in the image of the Game Boy Advance line, but it is not a successor to any current system."

Right now, the DS is outselling the PS2 in Japan. Sure it's not a "GameBoy" in the purest sense, but it still plays GBA games and has a fairly similar design aside from the extra, touch-sensative screen.

A new online publication, The Escapist, has a column about the downfall of Nintendo. It seems like everyone is always jumping on Nintendo's back dispite that they're remaining profitable dispite losing market share.

Personally, I don't think the Gameboy is dead, it's just waiting for a while before a new version comes out. Because the DS is capable of displaying graphics on par with an N64, what would any gameboy released now have to offer? The same N64 graphics without the extra screen? Nintendo could probably produce something with the same kind of power as the PSP, but why bother? It would be more expensive (because Nintendo can't afford to sell at a loss) and wouldn't improve the quality of games any.

A while ago I read an article that theorized Nintendo's next handheld would be a portable GameCube. I think this was in a magazine so you'll have to forgive me for not being able to link it. If Nintendo waits 2 or 3 years until the price to produce the hardware at a reasonable price and with a small enouch size to allow it to be portable, then this could work out really well. Add in the fact that the chip companies are starting to focus more on lowering power consumption instead of ramping up the the clock speed, and such a unit might have a decent battery life.

My main question is, why is the media so obsessed with the graphical capabilities of consoles? Sure pretty graphics can make a game that's wonderful to look at, but if it's not fun to play, what's the point of buying it? As this article points out, 3D isn't always better.

I still play a lot of GB and GBA games because they're fun and give me something to do on road trips. Not to mention that the batteries last quite a bit longer than either the PSP (4-6 hours) or the DS (6-10 hours). Not to mention the fact that a GBA game will cost anywhere from $20-$35, while DS games usually cost $30-$35 and PSP games cost $45-$50. I think the GameBoy offers a fun, affordable, and long-lasting experience that no other console or handheld will ever be able to match.

Right now, the DS is outselling the PS2 in Japan. Sure it's not a "GameBoy" in the purest sense, but it still plays GBA games and has a fairly similar design aside from the extra, touch-sensative screen.

A new online publication, The Escapist, has a column about the downfall of Nintendo. It seems like everyone is always jumping on Nintendo's back dispite that they're remaining profitable dispite losing market share.

Personally, I don't think the Gameboy is dead, it's just waiting for a while before a new version comes out. Because the DS is capable of displaying graphics on par with an N64, what would any gameboy released now have to offer? The same N64 graphics without the extra screen? Nintendo could probably produce something with the same kind of power as the PSP, but why bother? It would be more expensive (because Nintendo can't afford to sell at a loss) and wouldn't improve the quality of games any.

A while ago I read an article that theorized Nintendo's next handheld would be a portable GameCube. I think this was in a magazine so you'll have to forgive me for not being able to link it. If Nintendo waits 2 or 3 years until the price to produce the hardware at a reasonable price and with a small enouch size to allow it to be portable, then this could work out really well. Add in the fact that the chip companies are starting to focus more on lowering power consumption instead of ramping up the the clock speed, and such a unit might have a decent battery life.

My main question is, why is the media so obsessed with the graphical capabilities of consoles? Sure pretty graphics can make a game that's wonderful to look at, but if it's not fun to play, what's the point of buying it? As this article points out, 3D isn't always better.

I still play a lot of GB and GBA games because they're fun and give me something to do on road trips. Not to mention that the batteries last quite a bit longer than either the PSP (4-6 hours) or the DS (6-10 hours). Not to mention the fact that a GBA game will cost anywhere from $20-$35, while DS games usually cost $30-$35 and PSP games cost $45-$50. I think the GameBoy offers a fun, affordable, and long-lasting experience that no other console or handheld will ever be able to match.

The problem isn't your opinion.

It's all the other straight up wrong BULL SHIT.

First of all you said nothing about "here in the States" in your first post.

Second: The games you listed for the DS aren't even fucking out in the US yet and I bet my life you haven't played any of them yet.

What do think makes a killer app? Sales? Or just anything you deem worthy of being called killer?

I bet you think GT4 is killer. It's the #1 best selling game in Japan so far this year. It's sold 1 million copies (the first and only game to do so this year)..

Well guess what? Nintendogs has only been out for 2 months in Japan and it's already the 4th best selling game at almost 500,000 copies sold.

Is that killer enough for you? Nah, because it's probably not your cup of tea. No big deal. To each their own.

Also the DS is only ~50k units sold from beating the PS2 in sales for this year in Japan. The PSP is doing pretty good too. Pretty amazing considering how well the PS2 is still selling.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/12/news_61288 89.html

"It truly is bleak right now with these two lack-luster offerings (I'm not even dignifying the Ngage) The PSP and DS are flops in my eyes,"

opinion

"and aparently a lot of others' because the GBA is still outselling them."

false

"No one wants an expensive, delicate portable game system... "

opinion (DS isn't delicate or all that expensive, can't speak for the PSP)

"especially one with so few games available of any quality or substance as the PSP and DS."

Some what true. Depends if you live in Japan or not. Tell me what system DID have tons of high quality games with substance at this point in the systems life?

"Lumines, Nintendogs, Electroplankton, etc. are just not killer apps."

opinion, sales numbers say otherwise.

"Honestly, these two systems have been out for some time now"

Honestly, no they haven't.

"with no major titles to carry them"

Nintendogs = 4th best selling game in japan this year after only 2 months? The many DS games topping Japan's charts every week?

"and none in the foreseeable future. A true shame."

What a load of crap. Both systems have awesome games in the foreseeable future. I guess you're just blind.

oooh, that's nice. I may have to get a new video card. I can't wait til Holiday 2005 ;)

Here's a link for the lazy.

Ah, it's Hillary CLinton at her best: http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/13/news_61290 21.html

The modder says this: "All the contents of this mod was already available on the original disks. Therefor the scriptcode, the models, the animations and the dialogs by the original voice-actors were all created by RockStar. The only thing I had to do to enable the mini-games was toggling a single bit in the main.scm file." (from PatrickW)

Can some savvy person out there verify either of these claims?

forgot to post the gamespot link which was the source for the story.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/07/12/news_61288 89.html