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The backwards compatibility story with the Revolution is very interesting, but we need more details to know what it entails. Here's my guess as to what it will be: all Gamecube games are backwards compatible, no matter who the published (just stick in the disc). However, for the N64/SNES/NES, only Nintendo-published titles will be available for purchase via download. I highly doubt it's the "every N64/SNES/NES game ever made!" scenario that a lot of folks think it'll be, because of all the re-licensing that would need to be done. Still, that's a LOT of games, and would instantly bring a lot of attention to the console for old-time Nintendo fanbois (like myself).

As for console innovation, a lot of folks seem to forget all of the added Live functionality that the 360 brings to the table. You know the thing about being able to play old games on new consoles? The 360 is doing that NOW, thanks to the Live Arcade. At CES, they just announced that Street Fighter II will be on its way. The arcade is already home to many indie games (Wik: Fable of Souls, Mutant Storm, etc.) and retro titles (Gauntlet, Joust, Smash TV). Heck, IGN had a poll of users clamoring for what they want to see next: http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/681/681415p1.html/ .

It's good to see two out of the three console companies realizing that there's a growing demand for retro gaming. One wonders if there's some Sony exec running around like his head's cut off because there's nothing like that in mind for the PS3, and it's a bit too late to get started on it.

However, I'd be surprised if Revolution games would be able to use the Gamecube controller connectors.

You apparently have not seen this photo.

It's not 100% confirmation of anything, but Nintendo took this photo themselves and they didn't do it for nothing. They're showing you something here - and what else would it be than that you can use your regular old GameCube controllers with the Revolution?

It's really useful if you reference your sources, BTW, so here's some I found for you:

http://www.engadget.com/2005/12/06/ign-digs-up-som e-new-info-on-the-nintendo-revolution/
http://revolution.ign.com/articles/673/673578p1.ht ml
http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=62 491

Graphics: Nothing I've seen gives me any indication of how powerful this will actually be, only that it's designed by ATi, and designed as a completely different architecture to everything else. Having said that, I think we're at the point where it's fairly trivial to stuff as many polygons into a 480i/p display as you want, and unless it's missing some funky technology such as the lighting/shader stuff the XBox 360 and PS3 (will) have, there shouldn't be any real difference.

By which I mean, I think you're right. Pity it's not R5xx based though, it looked like XBox 360/Revolution dual format releases were going to be more or less trivial...

Memory: Yikes, that's not much at all. I'm suprised; memory is fairly cheap stuff, putting 256mb in would probably have made life a lot easier on devs, but nevermind...

CPU: Yup, agree.

Plus they only published that game as well, in fact the most recent game they developed was Texas Hold 'Em for the Nintendo DS. Here's they're development history as well as the link to their entire portfolio.

Per IGN.com:

Games Developed

• Game Boy Advance

• Game Boy Color

• Nintendo DS

• PC

• Xbox

Full Company Profile and Games Published/Developed

January 4, 2006 - Nintendo President Satoru Iwata has all but confirmed that the Nintendo Revolution will be the least costly of the three competing next-generation game systems by stating that the console will retail for less than the Xbox 360 core system which currently retails for $299 in the United States.
 
By revealing this information in an interview with Yahoo! Japan, Iwata fulfilled the expectations of many industry analysts who believe that the Revolution's focus on its innnovative control system rather than cutting-edge graphics and processing power would lead to a lower price point than its Sony and Microsoft competitors.
 
We will certainly be paying close attention to this interesting development in the Revolution's evolution.

The PS3 will be released at a minimum of twice the price of the 360 ($250 vs >$500) and will be going against Halo 3.

I'm starting to notice a trend with the computer guy nex spewing misinformation. If we look at the actual facts, and again, we already see that Sony---despite veiled references to the "value" of the PS3---is actually planning on releasing at the same prices they always have. Notice the price actually going down over time.

The result will be Sony fanbois buy a few of them up, but most Middle-America families on a budget will go with the 360 that has a larger selection of games, online play, and half the price.

Don't make me laugh. The PSP already has a larger lineup than the 360, and just as much online play. And everyone considers the PSP to be lacking.

The PS3 will be released at a minimum of twice the price of the 360 ($250 vs >$500) and will be going against Halo 3.

I'm starting to notice a trend with the computer guy nex spewing misinformation. If we look at the actual facts, and again, we already see that Sony---despite veiled references to the "value" of the PS3---is actually planning on releasing at the same prices they always have. Notice the price actually going down over time.

The result will be Sony fanbois buy a few of them up, but most Middle-America families on a budget will go with the 360 that has a larger selection of games, online play, and half the price.

Don't make me laugh. The PSP already has a larger lineup than the 360, and just as much online play. And everyone considers the PSP to be lacking.

It's too bad many companies still don't understand that more important to know how to find ad affiliaties and where to show the ads is where to not show the ads, and which style of ads to pick. I can imagine them needing ads, sure, but although both these sites cover e.g. Computer RPG news and reviews, there's a difference between using IGN.com and RPGDot to get them. I couldn't even see much but ads on the entire front page of IGN.

Yes because Sony is so anti linux :| Thats why they are probably installing linux standard on the PS3 hard drive. http://ps3.ign.com/articles/624/624046p1.html .

IGN did an interview a week or so ago about Age of Empires for the DS: http://ds.ign.com/articles/679/679458p1.html Still listed in the RTS genre, though from the read it's less real-time and more turn-based.

I was thinking of picking one up when Tetris DS comes out, and if the rumor of a redesign is true, it will only sweeten the deal. By the way, the redesign has been neither confirmed or denied by Nintendo. If it is true we'll find out next week.

This shouldn't come as a surprise really. In many Asian nations there have been adult themed games for years. (Look up H-Games on wiki) Making an organization and conference determining ways tat the American market can do a similar thing seems logical.

Those games have a tiny little problem, thought: someone has to draw (or photograph or 3D-model) the content for them.

A typical hentai game is basically a choose-your-own-adventure thing, which shows text and some pictures about what is happening. Since someone needs to draw all those pictures, and since the amount needed goes up exponentially as the amount of choices increases, they tend to be extremly linear. Because the gameplay consists of simply choosing the correct menu option, there is no replay value; such a game is, for all intents and purposes, a poor cousin for a hentai film.

There is exceptions to the rule, games like Brave Soul that have some actual gameplay, but they tend to have the sex scenes glued to the top and completely irrelevant to either gameplay or plot.

The best effort to make sex an integral part of the game I've ever seen is in Kunoichi 2, a Neverwinter Nights module where sex is simply another tool in the (female) ninjas arsenal. Of course the main character having sex with three samurais in order to distract them so she can slip poison to their tea is not likely to help the reputation of sex in games any ;)...

Oh, and here's the link to Kunoichi 1, since they have a continuous plot.

In short, I think that trying to make an interactive graphic sex scene that will not come out as unintentionally funny simply isn't doable with todays technology, nor even tomorrows; maybe the day after that ? On the other hand, using sex as a plot device is certainly possible, as are non-graphic scenes or graphic non-interactive cutscenes (made with game engine or prerendered). Limited interaction is also certainly possible (like choosing between "Try to move the diamond necklace on the nightstand to your bag while the countess is distracted" and "Don't risk it" while doing the nasty with said countess).

This shouldn't come as a surprise really. In many Asian nations there have been adult themed games for years. (Look up H-Games on wiki) Making an organization and conference determining ways tat the American market can do a similar thing seems logical.

Those games have a tiny little problem, thought: someone has to draw (or photograph or 3D-model) the content for them.

A typical hentai game is basically a choose-your-own-adventure thing, which shows text and some pictures about what is happening. Since someone needs to draw all those pictures, and since the amount needed goes up exponentially as the amount of choices increases, they tend to be extremly linear. Because the gameplay consists of simply choosing the correct menu option, there is no replay value; such a game is, for all intents and purposes, a poor cousin for a hentai film.

There is exceptions to the rule, games like Brave Soul that have some actual gameplay, but they tend to have the sex scenes glued to the top and completely irrelevant to either gameplay or plot.

The best effort to make sex an integral part of the game I've ever seen is in Kunoichi 2, a Neverwinter Nights module where sex is simply another tool in the (female) ninjas arsenal. Of course the main character having sex with three samurais in order to distract them so she can slip poison to their tea is not likely to help the reputation of sex in games any ;)...

Oh, and here's the link to Kunoichi 1, since they have a continuous plot.

In short, I think that trying to make an interactive graphic sex scene that will not come out as unintentionally funny simply isn't doable with todays technology, nor even tomorrows; maybe the day after that ? On the other hand, using sex as a plot device is certainly possible, as are non-graphic scenes or graphic non-interactive cutscenes (made with game engine or prerendered). Limited interaction is also certainly possible (like choosing between "Try to move the diamond necklace on the nightstand to your bag while the countess is distracted" and "Don't risk it" while doing the nasty with said countess).

And if you look at history, pretty much all systems launch at about 400 dollars, adjusted for inflation.

This may sound odd, but Blu-Ray isn't that expensive once manufacturing is set up. Basically if Sony is willing to take a one-time hit to setup the manufacturing lines, and ignore sunk development costs, Blu-Ray shouldn't cost them much more than a standard DVD drive. However, those were costs Sony was planning on eating anyway to get Blu-Ray to be a popular standard, so it is really costing them nothing extra. Of course, Sony also plans to ship the PS3 will ship sans a HDD, which would be an extra 50 or so in material costs to put towards any special Blu-Ray manufacturing. (the article incorrectly claims the PS3 ships with a HDD, unless they know something we don't).

Chip fabs are also a sunk cost: it costs a stupid amount of money to setup a chip plant, but once you do the new ones cost about the same as the old ones. As Sony has been planning on making this chip standard in all of their electronics, that cost can also be counted against all of Sony's product lines once, and as such shouldn't cost the gaming division a bundle.

Sony has the advantage over Microsoft in this case in that they do a lot of consumer electronics manufacturing, and don't need to contract that out... they eat tooling costs once and can churn these things out cheaply. Microsoft has to pay for someone else to manufacture their stuff, and as such has tooling cost and profit added to each and every one of these that gets made for them.

In the article's defense it does say that analysts really don't know, and poses the theory that Sony may be faking everyone out and ship at a much lower price. Again, history has shown that the price will probably be about 400. Irrespective of manufacturing costs, Sony will find a way to make it about the same. Even if it were cheaper, Sony would probably sell it for about the same. That's the nature of console sales. Only Nintendo lowballs, and it doesn't seem to pay off for them anywhere but handhelds, as it destroys the illusion of value.

As a side note, I do wish that people would stop relying upon "analysts," as for the past few years analysts has been synnonymous with idiots. Those who can, do. Those who can't, analyze.

I'm sorry, but how are these two even close?

http://media.dreamcast.ign.com/media/010/010953/im g_1326128.html
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/545/545798/img_ 2796682.html

Yeah, the character models in DOA4 are only a little bit smoother than the models in SC1, but the DOA characters were always slightly anime-like rather than realistic. But the hair is much more detailed, and I never played SC for the Dreamcast but I'm betting most of the hair moved very little if at all. And the differences in the enviroment is enormous! The textures are much shaper and more detailed, you have a blurred backround effect to simulate depth of field.

I'm sorry, but how are these two even close?

http://media.dreamcast.ign.com/media/010/010953/im g_1326128.html
http://media.xbox360.ign.com/media/545/545798/img_ 2796682.html

Yeah, the character models in DOA4 are only a little bit smoother than the models in SC1, but the DOA characters were always slightly anime-like rather than realistic. But the hair is much more detailed, and I never played SC for the Dreamcast but I'm betting most of the hair moved very little if at all. And the differences in the enviroment is enormous! The textures are much shaper and more detailed, you have a blurred backround effect to simulate depth of field.

What you're asking for is a RPG where the battles are fighting game style. They actually have that already:

Namco X Capcom

Here's some english reviews:
http://www.gamestats.com/objects/726/726493/
http://ps2.gamespy.com/playstation-2/namco-x-capco m/
http://ps2.ign.com/objects/726/726493.html

Here is half of your requirements

After long dismissing online play as not being central to gaming, Nintendo is fast becoming one of Web-enabled multiplayer's biggest boosters

Over Christmas I learned and then taught my nephews about the flypen I got them. It was both fascinating and discouraging, and I think on topic too.

First, let me say that I was already familiar with the principle since I worked with Anoto a little (I ran a show in Toyko where we showed the Anoto pen), they make the underlying technology. This may have contributed to unfulfilled expectations.

In case you don't know what it is, the Flypen (very heavy flash site!)is a pen-shaped device based on Anoto's technology. It is a ballpoint pen with a scanner in the tip that can detect where it is writing on specially patterned paper, and includes some gesture recognition, a sound synthesizer and speaker, and application memory.

Anyway take a look at the heavy flash site (even the light side is heavy) in particular Fly Tunes. You start that app by drawing an FT in a circle. You must follow its directions absolutely but it leads you to draw a 10 or 12 key piano which you can then play, a timbre changer for the keyboard (draw a K in a square), circles for drums, etc.

Okay here's the thing. The idea is nice, and startling even for someone who already knows the technology! Kids want to try it. You can see differences in different learning approaches even between brothers, it is quite interesting.

BUT! Kids are constantly penalized for things that should earn rewards. They can have an ah-hah! moment and rush ahead to use it, but it will silently refuse to work unless they exercise dull patience and listen to the announcer's instructions and follow them exactly. You can't draw a longer keyboard to get more notes. Young kids draw big letters, sometimes redraw them in different stroke order or draw letters on top of each other, anyway a big problem for recognition. And so on. The show-off nephew liked recording his songs and the quiet younger one (well both) were hysterical with the ability to make the piano keys produce disgusting burps, chilling screams, laughter, etc. But it just seemed like a demo for some tech and not really something educational. It might have some interest for older kids, if it had some software, but it strikes me that nobody must ever have tested this with real live children, they weren't interested in teaching them anything, they didn't really care about what happens after Christmas day, and if anything it seemed to hurt creativity. The best moment (initiated by my own idea not the kids' unfortunately) was rolling the pen up and down the keyboard and drums geometrically to make some neat tunes.

In contrast I'd much rather recommend Electroplankton for the Nintendo DS (caveat, a friend made it). Which is not only very enjoyable but also you learn to be creative with music and it has (like many of Toshio Iwai's works) hidden music composition in it. I was at an event where the head of Nintendo said they made it at a spec based on music synthesis and interactive requirements of Cyberplankton. This dual screened system (if it could be connected to the net) would seem like a better platform for education.

Anyway it just seems to me that kids who spend hours and hours on a PC with Harry Potter and Spongebob have expectations about interaction, but also they have no immune system to tell them when to stop. They learn about a mythical world and build up their British accents but these games are made by entertainers not educators. You need to have a useability check and see if it educates. To me the flypen was a waste of money and next time I'd try to spend the same money on either books or some educational software. One interesting thing is that a book on dragons (fictional of course) was hugely popular, and it seemed like it might be a neat jumpoff point to software about any kinds of animals. Maybe software that gives children a picturebook style experience, with more info they have to read in a book is more what they need? Maybe the next Harry Potter game should make them jump to the book and read a passage for a clue? etc.

If there has been one constant in gaming, it is that analysts (especially Forrester analysts) constantly get it wrong. They don't always get it wrong the way people expect them to get it wrong, but they never get it right.

Let's pick this apart, shall we?

Although gaming is a huge industry, the report warned that turning a profit will become increasingly difficult... For players such as Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo the fact that the market is reaching saturation point coupled with the increasing costs of producing both games and consoles means profit margins may not be a big as they would like.

The report then goes on to claim that the market is reaching saturation point because almost half of everyone in the western world plays games. Honestly, for anyone making any product, that's a pretty good problem to have.

Likewise, consoles are the same price as always adjusted for inflation. The Genesis launched at 390, the Nes at 350, the Playstation at 370. Same Same.

Games are getting more expensive to produce, but only because people want better and better games, and capacity is making that possible. But it isn't required. The best game on the Xbox 360 is a downloadable vector-graphics game called Geometry Wars, and it is probably the most successful game of the 360 launch, despite being small enough to be made in a month with a team of three. Likewise, there is a lot of room for consolidation on teams... the proliferation of sub-quality clones was (and remains) a problem for many years, but consolidating those teams down to fewer bigger projects should produce better games overall, while letting smaller houses focus on the smaller, more experimental games.

Anyone who thinks there isn't any room for profit in gaming needs to expand their revenue streams a bit. Any team can keep their costs in line while still providing an amazing experience to the player and being rewarded with sales.

The report also warned that mobile phones and portable media players could supersede portable games consoles such as the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP.

Analysts who believe the PSP and the DS will be replaced by mobile phones any time soon have obviously never used both the PSP and their mobile phone to play games. It is possible to play games on your phone, and it is even possible that someone will release a successful phone / game hybrid. But besides a shared battery there isn't a lot of point to a single, dedicated device. Heck, Phone PDA combos and phone MP3 combos have been in the works for years, and they're still terrible in a way that would be unacceptable in the console realm. Consoles require lots of dedicated single-use processing devices that don't make any sense for phones, and phones have all sorts of broadcast equipment that don't help out consoles at all. They're both small candy-bar shaped electronic devices, but there the similarities end.

"While gamers will increasingly use their new consoles for non-gaming activities, this functionality will not be enough to convince non-gamers that buying a console is the answer to their digital convergence dreams," he said.

Let me straighten this out for analysts: consoles play games and there is nothing wrong with that. Consoles sometimes play DVD's also, and that's cool too (though their interfaces are pretty bad). But in the same way that DVD players play DVDs, and televisions display television, consoles play videogames. That's what they do. They don't need to be digital Swiss Army Knives to justify their existence. In fact, pretty much every digital Swiss Army Knife console to come along has been terrible. They don't need to be PVR's. They just need to play the games that people desire to play, and that is it. Anything else is cream, and historically nothing else has been helpful. The

And, after Googling for a good half-hour and finding NOTHING, I can't help but think that YOUR statistics are about as valid as nex's, although it is fairly difficult to link to nothing for proof.

Not very good at googling are we? Here's a couple sources for ps2 numbers that back the 500/510k numbers besides Wikipedia. Also from NPD directly a story that cites $168m PS2 sales for the first weekend, which is in line with the numbers in the IGN story which say $149m PS2 sales first day. Here's a quick hit that mentions around a million in first weekend sales in Japan, which matches up with the 980k Japan weekend number, which already has a cited source article on Wikipedia you can check out.

A source for 360 sales numbers, for good measure, both Japan (2) and US. Although the US numbers after restating by NPD were a slightly lower 326k, rather than the 332k I mentioned that were in the initial report. Thanks for playing.

By the way, this post took me longer to fomat and type than to google up these links, I'm sure I could find more than just these few if I used a good half-hour for just googling. I'd ask my fifth grade teacher, but after 20-some-odd years, I wonder if he's still even alive?

Shit.. at least post the good picture from that gallery:
      http://media.babes.entertainment.ign.com/articles/ 622/622426/img_2838386.html

6. They include URL's like this: http://www.joystiq.com/2005/12/12/psp-licker-vows- to-rub-games-on-her-butt/ (from TFA)

dude, she's cute (http://media.babes.entertainment.ign.com/articles /622/622426/img_2838400.html) and by definition that makes everything alright [nods]

I've been waiting/hoping for this to come out since 2000. The first version - Stars! - was a Civ-type game played in space, and is still played by fans 10 years later; the sequel would be more of the same but with awesome graphics, better combat system, spys/diplomacy, less micromanagement, and fully extendable. Also with an end-of-turn newspaper created to help you track events.

I'd check back to the official website and the fans sites every few months, drool over the screenshots, and read the beta testers game reports.. Sadly, sometime last year the websites have gone away. http://www.crisium.com/ and http://www.starbasedelta.com/ (fan faq)

I've only been able to find this review left with some great screenshots..

http://pc.ign.com/objects/015/015220.html#previews

R.I.P.

I've been waiting/hoping for this to come out since 2000. The first version - Stars! - was a Civ-type game played in space, and is still played by fans 10 years later; the sequel would be more of the same but with awesome graphics, better combat system, spys/diplomacy, less micromanagement, and fully extendable. Also with an end-of-turn newspaper created to help you track events.

I'd check back to the official website and the fans sites every few months, drool over the screenshots, and read the beta testers game reports.. Sadly, sometime last year the websites have gone away. http://www.crisium.com/ and http://www.starbasedelta.com/ (fan faq)

I've only been able to find this review left with some great screenshots..

http://pc.ign.com/objects/015/015220.html#previews

R.I.P.

I'm tired of the dual monitor thing, I want one display device on my desk, just make it a very large device.

Everyone knows the real display technology of the day is Toshiba's Surface-conduction electron-emitter display.

It's 100,000:1 contrast ratio, 1ms response time, and you can get it in 55".

Then again, maybe review sites should be rating things as they are even if their readers disagree. I'm not sure how long the readers would continue reading if that was the case though.

Yeah, but Blu-ray discs comes in a shiny blue box!

(Seriously, as much as I despise this "format war" and especially Sony, I think Blu-Ray has a much better marketing catch.

Mario64, while definitely setting historical precedent in terms of 3D, is not the only way to do 3D. It's great for some games, but after replaying Symphony of the Night, I'm quickly missing the sidescrollers of yore. Things that don't necessarily require even one analog stick.

As for actual games... contrary to popular opinion, there are already a lot of solid games. They may not be AAA titles, but what was the first AAA title for the PS2? Or the PS1? There are solid A and B titles in every genre, most of them support wifi, and there are very few times that you could say "gee, I wish there was a good XYZ game" and not actually have a good to excellent XYZ game available.

Looking as technology moves from the desktop to the appliance I see MS having a LOT of problems in the future. It's not that they don't have smart people in the company, it's that they need a new company mindset. So far they've not doing that well. In the appliance space people DON'T want everything and the kitchen sink. For appliances, Less is More!! Contrast this with the idea of Windows, a huge monolith of intertwined programs where more programs are added on like garbage getting dumped into a landfill.

Apple definitely understands this idea on a corporate level, not just a individual level. Look at all of it's products very elegant and consumer friendly. Nintendo is another company I see understanding this idea very well. Look at the new revolution controller.

With a ton of X360 articles about every little detail before, during, and after launch, I have to wonder. Especially when it wasn't even mentioned as a side note that over 4000 devkits have shipped so far. Even IGN got this one. Not a large piece of news, perhaps, but it demonstrates lots of stuff is going on behind the scenes.

IGN has further proof.

Hell, I'm still pissed about Steel Battalion: Line of Contact. Talk about screwing the loyal customers. At least I can still play the original...

My opinion is the stylus. I think - just like the Nintendo Revolution is aimed at non-gamers by giving them a more familiar control (the remote control thingy) the stylus allows non-gamers a more simple interface (a pen in this case). The funny thing is when the DS first came out it was the stylus that made me overlook the device for many months - I had dismissed it as gimmicky. Well, between train your brain and the kick-ass game "under the knife" I am a firm believer that the stylus has allowed totally new genres of games to be created.

The final result, both my sister and my girlfriend kicked my ass in the math and memory games. My all time best score for 20 math problems was 17 seconds, where my sister had 15 seconds, and my girlfriend had 14 seconds. My mom came in with a respectable 28 seconds. So for all those years the three constantly derided me for being a gamer they finally got a taste of the addictive nature of games. :)

I won't be getting a 360 til the end of it's lifecycle. It's clearly been rushed out for release to get a perceived edge over Sony (and to a lesser extent, Ninendo).

Not to mention, if you buy one later, it will come with an HD-DVD drive (so you don't have to buy that extra, or as an external unit, or whatever-other-bullshit-bandaid-way they'd offer to the launch purchasers). Also, you'll be able to get one in black, like god intended.

The N-Gage was the bust of 2003, perhaps 2004, but NOT 2005! http://ngage.ign.com/articles/453/453629p1.html

IGN: Dead or Alive 4 Review

Mistake #3: No HDMI support
-Not needed. Microsoft has tested HDMI with the 360 and found there was no improvement in quality.

Quality? The point isn't quality, the point is that that MS passed on the "latest and greatest" connector design. Sure, maybe YOU like wrastling with three component cables and however many audio cables you need. Or... you could have just plugged in an HDMI cable and been done with it.

Mistake #4: 20GB is too small
-What? The hard drive was designed for XBOX Live Arcade games and MP3's (to play during games). Anything larger should be streamed from a media center.

The FFXI beta takes 5GB of that drive. How long before you're swapping out that drive like most players swap memory cards?

Mistake #9: No System-Wide Video Calibration
-This is just false. There is a universal option to change from Full/Wide screen and -420p/720p/1080i.

Glad thats all you ever have to change on your TV.

I can't count the number of games on other consoles that I could only wish had overscan adjustment because some important UI feature was off the top of my TV. A global brightness/contrast control might be a nice touch too, unless you've got one of those fancy TVs that can save profiles for movie, tv, and game watching.

I see the same quality on mine as any other DVD player that doesn't upconvert.

And that's somehow "Probably representative of your TV"? Well, being a (relatively) lousy dvd player doesn't matter so much so it's no big deal. I doubt we'll see any "Compatible with xbox 360!" stickers on DVDs, anyway. It would have mattered more if it came down to HD-DVD vs. Blu-Ray, if HD-DVD looked like shit on the 360, it wouldn't have mattered how long a lead time the format had if the PS3 could do Blu-Ray better.

Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest coming to PS3 and 360?
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6139901.html

remember that sony screwed square enix when they released the small form factor ps2

Fun arcade style racing game
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/fullauto/

The first of two epic RPG projects for Microsoft by Mistwalker, the studio founded by Square-Enix's Hironobu Sakaguchi. Blue Dragon features characters by designer Akira Toriyama, and tells the story of a young boy named Shu who has special adventure with hs two friends and a mythical blue dragon.
http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/728/728023.html

http://xbox360.ign.com/ for previews of xbox 360 games

well i hope whichever system you choose has your lame FF army of clone games to keep you busy for the 600 boring hours itll take to play them

make me some pie

Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest coming to PS3 and 360?
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6139901.html

remember that sony screwed square enix when they released the small form factor ps2

Fun arcade style racing game
http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/fullauto/

The first of two epic RPG projects for Microsoft by Mistwalker, the studio founded by Square-Enix's Hironobu Sakaguchi. Blue Dragon features characters by designer Akira Toriyama, and tells the story of a young boy named Shu who has special adventure with hs two friends and a mythical blue dragon.
http://xbox360.ign.com/objects/728/728023.html

http://xbox360.ign.com/ for previews of xbox 360 games

well i hope whichever system you choose has your lame FF army of clone games to keep you busy for the 600 boring hours itll take to play them

make me some pie

I collect games, so console and computer compilations tend not to interest me - I'd much rather have the original version (or, in the case of arcade games, a port from the timeframe of the original game) than a re-release.

My favourite compilations tend to be portable versions. I like being able to take several different games along with me without having to carry multiple cartridges.

By far, the best portable compilation I've ever seen is Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced for GBA. It contains six arcade games that aren't emulated, but reprogrammed specifically for GBA. You'd be hard-pressed to find the difference. Also, each game is of a different genre (unlike compilations such as Pac-Man Museum). And finally, you can use the 'Konami Code' to unlock hidden features and updated graphics in each game.

Another fine compilation for GBA is Atari Anniversary Advance. It contains, like the Konami one, six arcade games. Unlike the Konami compilation, the games are emulated. There are some problems like slowdown and sound issues, but it really feels like you're playing MAME on the go. Another issue is that nearly all of the games used nonstandard controls (like a spinner for Tempest, trackball for Missile Command, dual sticks for Battlezone, etc) so that the GBA controls don't quite match the arcade ones. Still, it is an excellent compilation with several true classics.

Bridging the gap between handhelds and consoles, the recent trend of dedicated direct-to-tv devices is interesting, and has resulted in several that definitely count as compilations.

In particular, the Commodore 64 DTV stands above all others. It has 30 C64 games ranging from merely tolerable filler to true classics. But what makes it absolutely incredible is the dedication and love poured into it. It has lots of hidden secrets, and can be hacked to add real C64 hardware like disk drives so that you can play (or code) original games on it!

The Atari Flashback 2.0 is also great for similar reasons. It has a larger and better library than the C64 DTV, but also less hacking potential. You can add a cartridge port from an original Atari 2600, allowing it to play real 2600 games, but it has no major secrets and the homebrew possibilities are limited by the cartridge medium of the original system. It is as much a labour of love as the C64 stick, though, as is made obvious by the newly manufactured 2600 joysticks that have the proper connectors, allowing them to be used on the original system!

The Namco II 5-in-1 joystick is also worth a look. It has less games and no additional potential, but the games themselves are great. The joystick feels a little loose, making the controls a tad difficult on some of the games. This is (almost) made up for by an innovation that results in the best home version of Pole Position ever: the knob on the joystick twists and acts as a steering wheel, which gives the game absolutely FLAWLESS control. This is a must-buy if you love Pole Position, and well worth looking into if you like any of the other games on the stick.

Despite what I said at the beginning, there are some compilations available for PC and consoles that are worth investigating.

On PC, the Ultima Collection

I collect games, so console and computer compilations tend not to interest me - I'd much rather have the original version (or, in the case of arcade games, a port from the timeframe of the original game) than a re-release.

My favourite compilations tend to be portable versions. I like being able to take several different games along with me without having to carry multiple cartridges.

By far, the best portable compilation I've ever seen is Konami Collector's Series: Arcade Advanced for GBA. It contains six arcade games that aren't emulated, but reprogrammed specifically for GBA. You'd be hard-pressed to find the difference. Also, each game is of a different genre (unlike compilations such as Pac-Man Museum). And finally, you can use the 'Konami Code' to unlock hidden features and updated graphics in each game.

Another fine compilation for GBA is Atari Anniversary Advance. It contains, like the Konami one, six arcade games. Unlike the Konami compilation, the games are emulated. There are some problems like slowdown and sound issues, but it really feels like you're playing MAME on the go. Another issue is that nearly all of the games used nonstandard controls (like a spinner for Tempest, trackball for Missile Command, dual sticks for Battlezone, etc) so that the GBA controls don't quite match the arcade ones. Still, it is an excellent compilation with several true classics.

Bridging the gap between handhelds and consoles, the recent trend of dedicated direct-to-tv devices is interesting, and has resulted in several that definitely count as compilations.

In particular, the Commodore 64 DTV stands above all others. It has 30 C64 games ranging from merely tolerable filler to true classics. But what makes it absolutely incredible is the dedication and love poured into it. It has lots of hidden secrets, and can be hacked to add real C64 hardware like disk drives so that you can play (or code) original games on it!

The Atari Flashback 2.0 is also great for similar reasons. It has a larger and better library than the C64 DTV, but also less hacking potential. You can add a cartridge port from an original Atari 2600, allowing it to play real 2600 games, but it has no major secrets and the homebrew possibilities are limited by the cartridge medium of the original system. It is as much a labour of love as the C64 stick, though, as is made obvious by the newly manufactured 2600 joysticks that have the proper connectors, allowing them to be used on the original system!

The Namco II 5-in-1 joystick is also worth a look. It has less games and no additional potential, but the games themselves are great. The joystick feels a little loose, making the controls a tad difficult on some of the games. This is (almost) made up for by an innovation that results in the best home version of Pole Position ever: the knob on the joystick twists and acts as a steering wheel, which gives the game absolutely FLAWLESS control. This is a must-buy if you love Pole Position, and well worth looking into if you like any of the other games on the stick.

Despite what I said at the beginning, there are some compilations available for PC and consoles that are worth investigating.

On PC, the Ultima Collection

OK this is just sad. This is, perhaps, the main reason Microsoft fails in this market. They do something and declare it's the best ever: and they believe their own propaganda. That's just sad. It would be one thing if it was, "well, we had fairly strong launch, and we have a lot of games lined up in the future". But no, this sheer stubborn arrogance.

Let's look at a few things: The PSP sold 500k units in 2 days and many people consider it to have had a weak launch. (Possibly because it didn't entirely sell out.) It also had a more diverse launch title list Exclude Ren Goku and Smart Bomb as they weren't available for a couple weeks (and sucked anyway). The remaining games were solid titles available the day of launch.

And again, many people consider this a weak launch.

The PS2 had a more sizeable list at launch than the X360---also more diverse. (Yeah, so the graphics weren't good; gee, it was 2000. Compare it to the PSX or N64.)

The N64 launched with Mario64, which is widely considered to be one of the best games ever. The SNES was launched with Super Mario World; the NES with Super Mario Bros. All of these are AAA titles, and a single AAA title outweighs any number of B titles.

So in conclusion: Microsoft's claim is laughable at best---but mostly, sad and pathetic.

From IGN:

Q: Is 'Revolution' the final name of Nintendo's new console?
A: No. Nintendo confirmed at E3 2005 that the title 'Revolution' is a codename. A final name for the new console has not yet been selected. It should be noted, however, that the company said the same thing of Nintendo DS, which ultimately proved to be the handheld's official name.

> You seriously need to read news from another source besides slashdot, which is right now the
> only site reporting frequently on the supposed "disaster" of the 360 release.

You need to learn how to use a search engine:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4525318.stm
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3146387
http://www.forbes.com/2005/12/14/gates-jackson-xbo x-cx_cn_1214autofacescan02.html
http://news.com.com/2061-10797_3-5995807.html
http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/675/675720p1.html

That's an interesting take on it, cosidering the Gamecube version of SCII outsoled the PS2 version of SCII. I've seen later sales which would suggest that the Gamecube version was only a few thousand copies ahead of The PS2, but the only link I could find (most of that data is illegal) is here. Now, a few Japanese developers are known to make incredibly stupid decisions regarding what platform their games appear on, but Namoc are smarter than that. To me, this feels like a contract with Sony.

I thought this was a slam on the 360's reduced hard drive space.

Could we maybe not reuse acronyms?

absolutely right. no games FOR Japanese gamers = no console sales TO Japanese gamers. but WHY aren't there any killer titles for 360 by Capcom, Namco, Square Enix, etc.? because MS has not cultivated relationships with those publishers the way Sony has. now, I'm no expert on Japanese business culture, and maybe it's not even possible for M$ to do so, but trash-talking Sony, flashing a ton of American money and bravado around -- maybe that's NOT what the Japanese respond to. just a hunch.

The link (and I presume the computer guy nex) only seem to discuss PS3 footage from E3 2005. All the footage from that was rather suspect especially killzone 2 which has since been revealed by guerilla as "basically a representation of the look and feel of the game we're trying to make" not the actual game itself or what it'll look like at the end of the day (http://ps3.ign.com/articles/616/616591p1.html). The MGS4 trailer from TGS 2005 might not be such a great example of the PS3's power as you think: http://www.joystiq.com/entry/1234000883068264/, http://www.games-digest.com/2005/11/kojima_says_me t.html, http://www.gamersreports.com/news/101/, where hideo kojima says that MGS4 could run on a 360. There doesn't seem to be any elaboration on what he means by "run" so you can argue about lower frame rates/graphics or whatever you'd like. I don't know what the PS3 is capable of and neither do you. Just please don't fall victim to the hype, you'll only be disappointed.