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"What exactly was your point about MS being better?"

Ways in which Microsoft is "better":

-A key point for me, is that Microsoft wasn't trying to push a NEW and UNNECESSARY "standard" on me when I purchased my GAME CONSOLE. That's an abstract thing, but I still appreciate not being someone's media format guinea pig. 2 points MS!

-DVD is CHEAP! It's more than capable of holding enough data for 9 out of 10 games. If it doesn't, then slap another DVD in the box and call it a day. Let's say you actually NEEDED 50GB of storage for a game. A regular DVD holds 9GB (Dual Layer), so you'd need (50 / 9 = 5.555) 6 DVD's. OK fine. How much are the actual discs though?

According to:

http://www.mediasupply.com/bluray.html
TDK DVD 25GB BD-R (Recordable) Single-Layer Blu-ray Disc
$19.90

That's $19.90 PER DISK!

http://www.mediasupply.com/mama.html
MAM-A/Mitsui 4.7GB Gold Archive DVD-R - 50 Ct.
$99.00
(99 \ 50 = 1.98)

That's $1.98 PER DISK!

(6 x $1.98 = $11.88)
So even if you needed 6 DVDs to hold your game, you'd still be paying ALMOST half the price for just the physical media! Granted, I'm sure the prices are much different in bulk, but the principle is the same. Nine times out of 10, cheaper without any real drawbacks is better "Just Because".
Score two more points for Microsoft.

-Screw the movie companies! I didn't want to get caught up in their format pissing contest anyway. By buying a DVD based console, I basically told BOTH sides in the HDDVD v BD pissing match to go screw themselves and sat down to a nice game of Rainbow Six. That's always fun! Score!

-This is more of a subjective thing, but quite honestly, alot of the PS3 library is CRAP! Outside of a handful of shining examples, they've been releasing noting but garbage. And even some of the better titles (Half-Life 2, UT3) are suffering from poor performance problems that, quite frankly shouldn't be there. I personally think they dropped the ball in giving their developers assistance with the hardware early on BECAUSE they were so focused on this Blu-Ray vs. HD-DVD pissing contest. Microsoft! Swish!

-You could title this one "Hardware Bullshit", "Bait and Switch", or even "Playing Catchup". I really don't like Kotaku AT ALL, but I have to give them credit for their PS3 coverage. I'll let former Sony Big-Wig "Ken Kutaragi" and Kotaku do the talking:

http://kotaku.com/gaming/2007-b'c'/scee-explains-ps3-bc-backpedalling-307768.php
"So why, exactly, was backwards compatibility dropped from the PS3? What was once a "core value" and "necessary" according to Sony Computer Entertainment's Phil Harrison--not to mention a boastful talking point when asked about the Xbox 360's BC-- is now clearly not at all necessary, with the company's priorities on "developing innovative new features and services for PS3 and not on backwards compatibility."

http://kotaku.com/gaming/business/dumb-exec-quote-round+up-rodeo-327776.php
(PlayStation Father Ken Kutaragi on the PS3's intial price tag:
"It's probably too cheap... We want consumers to think to themselves, 'I will work more hours to buy one.'")

http://kotaku.com/gaming/tgs06/tgs06-kutaragis-keynote-a-rerun-202907.php
He's even upfront about Sony's media agenda on occasion: "Sony has Sony's agenda. But (I) want a very open platform, equal for every person."

http://kotaku.com/gaming/tgs06/tgs06-liveblogging-kutaragis-keynote-202427.php
Even Ken knows that using a cheap media format is a good idea. That was one of the key factors in their vi

The sad thing is, this isn't out of line for Gizmodo. I'm a regular reader, and they do post some useful gadget information (sometimes sooner, sometimes later than other other places), but they are all about "boobies lol!".

I love me some fart jokes, but I'm not terribly interested in them when I'm reading news (comments are another thing). Humor mixed with news isn't a bad thing, especially considering a blog atmosphere, but it should be reserved. This prank wasn't.

And it's not the first time they've been in hot water. They can't even lay off their own sister site, Kotaku, as they posted a tubgirl image to Kotaku's front page (don't worry, links are tubgirl free) during some build up to a Halo 3 match between the "editors" of the two sites.

An editor from Gizmodo also posted Tubgirl prominently on the main page of Kotaku. (No, that's not a link to the tubgirl posting, obviously - it was deleted quickly afterward anyway.)

Let's just say I don't read Gizmodo anymore.

Soda companies blamed video games a bit back, and then back peddled on their statement.

http://kotaku.com/335546/soda-companies-blame-videogames-for-fat-kids

As I said on this site:

There's a lot to be said for this, but I think the finger should be pointed past the video games and towards an overprotective and overly litigious society.

When I was growing up we had our Nintendos and Segas and Ataris and Intellivisions and Apple IIe computers, but we only played around with those for a few hours, and then we'd go outside and play baseball or football or street hockey, or merely ride our bikes around the neighborhood for a few more hours.

But nowadays it seems like everyone is scared to get up out of their chair. Are you going to ride a bike? Better wear a helmet, get some reflectors, ride with a friend, attach a siren, etc. Going to play street hockey? Better wear a helmet and a bunch of pads and secure the services of a lawyer so you can sue the first person who body checks you into a parked car. Going for a walk? Better rethink that - you might get abducted by a stranger. Gym class? Recess? Are you mad? You might fall and skin a knee.

We didn't take precautions when we played when I was growing up. And you know what? We survived. We did amazing crazy things. We played tackle football in the street. We threw rocks at each other. And no matter what we did we didn't wear helmets. And the worst that came from all of it is one of my friends got a broken arm once.

I think we need more Nietzsche and less nurture. "That which does not kill me makes me stronger." Because that which does not make me stronger is killing me.

Oh, don't forget their other major blunder from early this morning:

http://kotaku.com/341375/microsoft-360-on-track-for-biggest-game-year-in-history?cpage=2

"Bach says that Microsoft sold 17.7 million consoles this season, surpassing their expectations and putting the 360 on track for the biggest year in video game history."

Suddenly their 17.7mil total is 17.7mil this season. Like, in the last 2-3 months. It's so obviously wrong that I couldn't believe they could write it. Every other source that I saw got it right, including joystiq and engadget. -sigh-

With their subscription rates skyrocketing and their history of rock solid journalism, I wouldn't think the NYT would be capable of mistakes.

Oh, I knew this was coming...

What, because Kotaku (who are linked here) are so much better? That story's been up 12 hours now without a correction. If it's somehow corrected by the time you read this, at the moment the headline reads "Xbox Live: 10 Million Gold Subscribers" which is incorrect according to Major Nelson himself - it's 10 million *total* XBL subscribers, including silver.

Or how about Slashdot, which just parroted the original NY Times story about the DS games without doing any fact checking at all?

I would wager that, even with the short little blurbs that most blogs post, and with a smaller number of stories per day, blogs like Slashdot and Kotaku probably make double the mistakes that a major publication like the NY Times does. I find at least one major mistake on Kotaku every day. And really, that's what you'd expect given that the NY Times is made up of trained and experienced journalists while Slashdot and Kotaku editors are mostly college kids, but the point is people criticize the Times as if there are better sources of news. There aren't. I mean, not unless you lean right, in which case I guess you consider sites like Drudge to be the bellwether - as if he's never posted an inaccurate story either.

So what is Huckabee's policy on video games? I sure can't find one on his site. (Which, to be fair, covers a whole lot of issues that I'd consider to be far more important.)

On the Democrat side, it would appear that Edwards and Obama both want to regulate the industry.

So, some victory for video game's rights, since none of the candidates seem to really be addressing this issue and it would appear that all of them agree that video games need to be federally regulated. (With the presumable exception of Ron Paul.)

Apparently the Virtual Console store in Japan now has two vacant slots on it. http://kotaku.com/335527/two-more-consoles-for-virtual-console Either Sega likes to waste money extending their trademarks, or Dreamcast compatibility is coming soon.

First you must wait for someone to hack the ipod and start doing homebr...oh wait http://www.ipodwizard.net/showthread.php?t=14628 Really, Apple has a nasty habit of holding all of their products with a deathgrip. Only when something has been thoroughly compromised will they....release their own version to kill the competetion. Based on apples unwillingness to share, I don't think you'll be releasing games unless you do it under some ipodlinux release. http://kotaku.com/gaming/apple/ipod-games-homebrew-practically-impossible-200584.php I wouldn't listen much to me though, I have never bought an apple product. I'm more of a Creative Labs: Zen Vision M kind of guy.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/copy/chinas-answer-to-the-nintendo-wii-305311.php

Take a look at Amazon or over at ebay.

Excellent point. There are few consumer goods, toys if you will, that this applies to. This "ticket scalping" like attitude is pretty new to a lot of consumers and of course they're going to blame the company directly. However, it's not the case. Besides the unprecedented demand (it's been practically sold out for over a year in a lot of places) and the fact that hot toys, even when not in demand in the off season, can see sold-out status during the holidays, Nintendo has actually increased factory output for the holidays. Of course, I think 1.8 million consoles a month is nothing to shake a stick at.

I do feel sorry for a little sorry for those who cannot get one, but I also write it off as them not trying hard enough. With a little effort, it wasn't hard to get a Wii back in Oct. They would sit on the shelf for about 2 days before going sold out (according to GameStop and WalMart employees in my local area, YMMV). If you called every day, you'd have gotten one in a week. Of course, your best bet now is to wait until after Xmas, when the Wii bubble pops, and all those hording Wii's for premium re-sales during Xmas will flood the market at standard costs. Otherwise, good luck and keep trying!

Cheers,
Fozzy

If you think that's crazy, you obviously haven't seen this: http://kotaku.com/gaming/wow/2-people-47-pcs-46-wow-accounts-no-life-275830.php

Surveys have shown time and time again that teenagers prefer games and consoles ostensibly targeted at adults. This is the first one I found, after a bit of googling:

Survey: Children Prefer PS3 Most, Wii Least

It's not surprising, either. When I was young, Mortal Kombat was the shit because it had blood and decapitation and stuff. Nowadays, I play the games I actually like, not the ones that are most likely to impress my pals.

If there is no such thing as a perfect game, when why the hell are you scoring out of 100? It's not just PC Gamer that thinks this way--most publications, even those who do give out "perfect" scores, do so begrudgingly. It's as if the developer has somehow cheated and broken their system.
The movie reviewers solved this problem a long time ago. That's why most adopted a simpler rating system in which a 4-star movie didn't imply "perfection" but supreme excellence. In most cases, games are penalized through being divided by a sum that they can never possibly reach. What does that make a 94 or a 9.5 then...is that our mortal interpretation of perfection? Is that the closest we can fly to the sun before our wings melt and we're doomed to playing Spongebob Squarepants XVI for eternity?
But even more so, what does this scoring system say to developers? What are they aiming for when they hand over that review disc? Because essentially, they're taking a test with 5 points docked for signing their name.

We all know all those added titles was just a cloud around the real title, The Guy Game. Some developer wanted his child porn.

Agreed, also Capcom would be forced to cancel their next DS game.

That's what Infinity Ward actually said: They had their top programmers working on the PS3 version.

The best part, of course, is that the 360 version still looks better than the PS3 version.

Frankly, I don't quite understand why cross-platform games look worse on the PS3. I own both consoles, and I do think that the new R&C and Uncharted look better than anything I've seen on the 360. Yet all developers who create games also running on the 360 screw up their PS3 versions, even if they have "the best devs" working on the PS3 version. Why is this?

Won't it potentially drive some more sales for their other stuff from people who learn about them through the game? Or perhaps it's because it's so close people won't bother going to buy the original or other Romantics tunes?

Guitar Hero III is actually driving online sales of songs in the game, though the effect is not so clear on physical album sales. I would expect that even cover songs drive sales, with better covers driving even more sales. Assuming the Romantics have songs available on various online music sites (iTunes, Zune, Rhapsody, etc), and assuming that they still see some royalties from the sale of their songs, this seems like a very stupid move.

Then again, we are talking about GH: Rock the 80s, a lack-luster stand-alone GH game that's only available on the PS2 and has been on the market for a while. It may not longer be driving online sales, so this is a final effort to squeeze a little bit more money out of the license.

What's more, Nintendo has increased Wii production to currently 1.8 million per month.

That's 21.6 million per year, or over 100 million in just 5 years. If they keep this up, they might even catch up with the PS2!

http://cache.kotaku.com/assets/resources/2007/11/gbstaypuft.jpg

http://kotaku.com/gaming/ghostbusters/ghostbusters-screen-co+op--mp-info-322990.php

They've said the game is set in the early 90's after Ghostbusters II so either the Stay Puft Marshmellow Man makes a comeback or there is a flashback. Im voting he gets ressurected, or they are taking some license with the flashback since last I checked they never did and scaling of walls ;-)

link. Didn't see that one coming!

August 17th, 2007

• Warhawk. Great game, although a bit expensive for online-only
• Motorstorm. Not too many tracks, but fun while it lasts. No split screen is a major letdown, though
• Resistance. Awesome FPS

• R&C: Looking good, but if you've played an earlier R&C, you've already played this one
• Heavenly Sword: Pretty, but way too short
• Ninja Gaiden: Basically the same game as the Xbox version
• skate: Fun, but has serious framerate issues, and online is gimped; if you can, get the 360 version instead
• Calling all Cars: Fun little online game for those who like local multiplayer gaming
• Stardust HD, Everyday Shooter: Two of the better dual analog shooters

Charity
Game

Quantifying "best" is a difficult task, but being as the PS3 has more Triple A titles available than the other 2 systems

Except that it does not. The newer PS3 versions do not even feature backwards compatibility anymore.

If people chose the system they had a large library for, Atari would rule the console market.

Yeah, the PS2 had a bad library for its first year, but it had developer support, and the PS3 does not.

I know it hurts to accept that you've basically wasted 600 bucks. Get over it like the rest of us.

My iPhone took 55 seconds. EDGE is good enough on sites that don't have a lot of big images... it really seems to choke on those. Sites like Kotaku bring my iPhone to its knees. But I mostly use the EDGE to do web-based MSN chat and email, and EDGE works well for those applications.

One thing that's missing TFA is that online play can feature 12 players at the same time.

Words simply cannot express how badly I want this. Instead of making 3 people hate me I'll make 11 people hate me. >:)

This is not entirely true of The Sims. Will Wright had to develop a lot of The Sims off the clock and in secret just to get a demo going to convince the then EA management that it was an idea worth pursuing. He had to fight a lot to get that game greenlighted:

"Don Mattrick, a former top Electronic Arts executive who was involved in the company's 1997 acquisition of Maxis, said the company's then-management didn't know how to deal with Mr. Wright. "They had a hard time communicating with Will," Mr. Mattrick recalls.

Electronic Arts, an increasingly powerful developer and publisher of games, acquired Maxis for $125 million. At the time, Mr. Wright's stake in the company was valued at about $17 million, according to regulatory filings. The company declines to discuss Mr. Wright's compensation.

Even though Mr. Mattrick encouraged Mr. Wright to continue the project, there remained considerable skepticism among sales and marketing types. In the past, "people games" had bombed because players were unforgiving of the graphical flaws in human characters imposed by computers' limitations.

In December 1999, just months before "The Sims" was scheduled to ship to retailers, the sales and marketing department at Electronic Arts forecast it would reap only 400,000 sales over its entire life."

(from http://kotaku.com/gaming/journalism/will-wright-in-the-wsj-177200.php)

However, once The Sims became the best selling game of all time, EA's management lightened up a bit and decided to let Will have the freedom he does now.

You are being explicitly rewarded for the growing sadism of your kills.

Reports indicate that in Manhunt 2 players are not rewarded for the kind of thing you describe. As a matter of fact, players are penalized for engaging the most gruesome scenarios.*

"The version of Manhunt 2 that was supposed to hit shelves next week featured multiple endings depending on your actions throughout the game."

"Through the publication it has been confirmed that the version they played came complete with alternate endings and also completely different final levels depending on how the game was played."

"A game which punishes people for being violent and rewards them for not being violent has been deemed unsuitable and unacceptable?"

* These reports are based on what we will politely call "previews" of the version of Manhunt 2 that was originally submitted for ratings. There is telling whether this structure will remain in the game, should it eventually be released.

It's true, this level of control on the part of the audience makes playing this video game somewhat different from reading a book. On the other hand, this is exactly the kind of deeper introspection in which we might expect an adult audience to express an interest. A lot of people are clearly fixated on the horror in this game. They should be excited to learn that the game gives people who are so fascinated an opportunity to further explore that subject in the context of this work, either by engaging the macabre or attempting to find some other response to the situation.

Additionally, it's worth pointing out that if you find yourself drawn into video games for "days or even weeks, at a stretch," your behavior isn't normal and you would probably benefit from psychiatric assistance. I don't care if you're playing Manhunt 2, Mazes and Monsters or Barbie Horse Adventures -- please seek help!

> There's what, more than 7 different version of the thing to this date?

There have been four, not counting color variations.

20GB - 4 USB, no card slots, full hardware BC, $499 40GB - 2 USB, no card slots, no BC, $399 60GB - 4 USB, card slots, full hardware BC, $599 (later $499) 80GB - 4 USB, card slots, hybrid hardware/software BC, $599

First, the "(later $499)" on the 80 gig, is possible but it has neither happened, nor been announced yet.

Second, there was a different 60 gig version available in Europe than shipped to the US/ Japan. Not only did they get it LATE, they were the first to contend with the "hybrid hardware/software BC", so that would be #5.

I know you said adding a different color (White 40 gig) doesn't count, but that would make #6

Honestly not sure what the #7 is. I wouldn't count the "We're Not selling shit at £425, so we might as well thrown in another controller and 2 games bundle" but some might.

360
fail
rate
and
here
and
here.

This anecdote
An Over view.
another article

As well Microsoft has announced about 100$ for each xbox 360 sold thus far($1 billion dollars). Which would be warranty repair costs and replacements costs for 1/3 of it's units if each replacement costs the same price as a new one in product costs and handling costs. Some say they may just be overly cautious but no manufacturer would announce such a huge warranty budget and risk extremely bad PR if there wasn't a problem. Given the next revision (falcon) will utilize the 65nm chip fab for the CPU it's less likely those will fail thus that billion is likely for machines already sold. Those new boxes aren't in the retail channels yet either.

360
fail
rate
and
here
and
here.

This anecdote
An Over view.
another article

As well Microsoft has announced about 100$ for each xbox 360 sold thus far($1 billion dollars). Which would be warranty repair costs and replacements costs for 1/3 of it's units if each replacement costs the same price as a new one in product costs and handling costs. Some say they may just be overly cautious but no manufacturer would announce such a huge warranty budget and risk extremely bad PR if there wasn't a problem. Given the next revision (falcon) will utilize the 65nm chip fab for the CPU it's less likely those will fail thus that billion is likely for machines already sold. Those new boxes aren't in the retail channels yet either.

And how would you play games without Blu-Ray drive? Oh, and Blu-Ray drive is not needed for games. http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/la-noire-details-leaked-308162.php

The 60GB Starter pack will remain on sale until stocks run out (a number of months, depending on territory.) Thereafter, the 40GB model will be the only SKU in the SCEE region.

According to kotaku, someone from Bioware on the official forum has denied these details. http://kotaku.com/gaming/biowhat/mass-effect-limited-edition-details-emerge-306764.php

Kotaku broke this story way back on August 20.

There will be 1 new SKUs with 3 new packages:

XBox Arcade ("Go play!"), no HD, 256MB memory card, wireless controller, and 5 arcade games
XBox Pro ("Go Pro!"), former premium (20GB HD, 30-day Live Gold trial, headset)
XBox Elite (Go Big!"), with 120GB HD and HDMI cable in black.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/rumor/new-360-core-coming-to-us-this-holiday-291506.php

Try looking at the side-by-sides with the PSP, Slim, DS, and DS Lite before you try and make a joke. Slightly smaller than the PSP, but definitely thinner than the DS Lite. And everything beats the original DS.

...that PS3 UT3 players are not limited to the SIXAXIS controller. So there will still be keyboard-over-controller domination.

http://kotaku.com/gaming/gamespy/ps3-ut3-supports-keyboard-mouse-sixaxis-243125.php

Agreed. In fact, so does the game's creator: http://kotaku.com/gaming/microsoft/lost-odyssey-lights-out-301746.php/

Anyone else slightly disturbed how how closely the copy in TFS follows the write up at Kotaku?

I mean, it links to Next-Gen which is fine, but if your summary lifts more than 50% of the phrases word-for-word, maybe you should be linking that, too.

The idiocy comes in whatever thought process he had that allowed him to think that he had any right to continue being employed by GameStop.