Record Video Games Sales in 2001

night_flyer noted an article running @ ZD talking about how 2001 was a record year for video games with doing 9.4B and PCs getting almost to 6B. Mentions Grand Theft Auto 3's huge sales, as well as The Sims. Also the X-Box, and Game Boy Advanced contributing to the big numbers.

Comments

And according to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo

[Anonymous Coward]

They all sold more games than any other manufacturer.

When everyone sells more than everyone else, how can you not have a banner year?

Re:And according to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo

[IAgreeWithThisPost]

one reply under threshold...hmm..I wonder if it's Cmdertaco's PWP or klerck's PLP..oh well, who cares! haha

Re:And according to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo

[real_b0fh]

I saw that and i found it a pretty impressive fp. congratz

Re:And according to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo

[MindStalker]

Well you have to also consider that all they had to go by was probably the other companies last year figures, and could only assume they stomped the compitition.

Re:And according to Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo

[Steveftoth]

Depending on what numbers they are all right too. The sad thing about statistics is they are useless in the wrong hands, even bad.

Sony probably got the most volume, Nintendo probably had the most profit and MS probably had the largest game per system ratio ( or whatever ).

Used?

[InfinityWpi]

I wonder i this takes into account used game sales. I know I racked up a bit of debt buying used Dreamcast games while they're a) cheap and b) easy-to-find.

Re:Used?

[PowerTroll 5000]

Probably not, much in the same way the auto industry includes only new car sales in their figures. BTW - they had a banner year too, thanks largely to the incentives in place after 9/11.

As far as used games, I've gone retro and have snapped up some old SNES games of late.

Re:Used?

[HMC CS Major]

In my dorm, there's a suite with a PS2, and a suite with an xbox, both of which are used somewhat regularly....

There's also a suite with an n64, a sega genesis, and an old 8bit Nintendo console. Oddly enough, the old nintendo gets played more than the new ps2 and xbox.... and they regularly buy games for that for less than $5.

Re:Used?

[Bastard Jim]

What? And no SNES with Mario Kart? Bummer.

Re:Used?

[t_allardyce]

Easily explained:

When your completly pissed or stoned to the hills, an 8-bit console with a little mario-sprite looks _amazing_ (or the expression "RAD DUDE!" may apply) while a PS2 or $Box will make you feel like your just watching real lfe.

Re:Used?

[HMC CS Major]

n64 has mario kart, just as good. sure, there's no feather so you cant jump, but it's still pretty cool.

Re:Used?

[CrazyClimber]

Amen brother,

I bought my first new console in over 20 years this year because I could buy a Dreamcast for 50 bucks.

Re:Used?

[Frizzle Fry]

I know many people who would disagree with the "just as good" claim.

Big year for games... Loki?

[Marx_Mrvelous]

It's interesting that in a $9 Billion industry, there's so little money going to Linux gaming. I was disappointed with the bad news this year for Linux game companies. I hope that 2002 will bring good news.

Tux racer, by the way, is awesome! I can't believe how easy ti was to install and run on my Slack box.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[ekrout]

It's interesting that in a $9 Billion industry, there's so little money going to Linux gaming.

What's not to understand? If you're comfortable with open source and free software and these packages are all that you use, why would you go out and actually pay for programs when you haven't spent money on software in two, five, or even ten years?

As good of a "service" as it was to have Loki allowing folks to only install one operating system on their machines and be able to play games, their business model just wasn't feasible. Perhaps if they truly understood the mindset of their target consumers and that they just simply weren't going to be paying any money for software, then they would have avoided starting a company and failing soon thereafter.

I realize this will probabyl get modded down to tarnation, but I'm hoping that someone appreciates my opinion as it is and doesn't take it personally. I'm right, people.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[DrEldarion]

Why is it so interesting? How many people do you think use Linux on the desktop? I'll be EXTREMELY generous, and give it 5%.

Out of $6 billion, that leaves a $300 million POTENTIAL market (which, keep in mind, is a very generous figure). That's *not* that much, considering some companies make more than that on one game alone.

Plus, that is the POTENTIAL market. Keep in mind that a lot of people don't want to wait for Linux ports of the games or just don't want to play games period... or (gasp) actually prefer to use Windows for their gaming needs.

Linux gaming is NOT a viable market at this point in time.

-- Dr. Eldarion --

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Silver222]

How is this interesting? We already know that not many people use Linux on the desktop, right? So why would all the people using Windows buy Linux games?

Nothing to see here, move along.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Archie Steel]

Well, I'm as sad as anybody else about the state of gaming on Linux, but I can't see the trend changing anytime soon. It's a real Catch-22: companies won't make game that support Linux because there aren't enough Linux gamers out there, and there aren't enought Linux gamers out there because companies don't publish games for the OS. This is why I really like what Transgaming is doing: enabling Linux users to play DirectX games on their machine - this is bound to help Linux make it on the desktop, even if only in a small way (don't underestimate the power of video games to make or break a PC architecture!). Id software are also Linux-friendly, with most of their games playable on the penguin...I suspect that there are a few Linux users in there.

Now, if only some great hacker would succeed in bringing Linux to my Xbox...

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[topside420]

I think alot more people would be using Linux on the desktop if there WERE more games on it.

I currently don't use Linux on the desktop because I have to use Windows to play all the games I want. That is the sole reason I *need* Windows, I can do everything else just as good in Linux as I can in Windows (if not better)

Not trying to be anti-MS here..MS is great for playing games, which is one area which would help Linux grow onto the desktop. I know many people who rather have MS on their workstation because of the ability to play games.

So, I think that while your figures may be close, the POTENTIAL market is alot higher. Many potential linux gamers are running Windows for the time being, but would rather play their games if Linux supported them.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Osty]

Id software are also Linux-friendly, with most of their games playable on the penguin...I suspect that there are a few Linux users in there.

Maybe, but not enough linux-only zealots to justify selling separate linux binaries. theCarmack basically said after Quake 3 Arena that sales of the linux port were so dismal that they wouldn't bother in the future. Oh, sure, there'll still be linux ports. Witness RTCW. They'll just be done in spare time, and take a little longer, and they won't be sold in a commercial box (like Zoid doing the ports for Q1 and Q2, they'll probably only have one or two guys on the ports for post-Q3 games, rather than hiring a whole company like Loki).

Lots of game servers run on linux, however, and id as well as others have typically been prompt about getting the servers ported over to linux quickly.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[genkael]

The real problem with Linux games is the user base. Many Linux users refuse to pay for software, so they'll copy it from their friends, thus the software company loses money. There is also the small user base that won't buy or use anything that isn't Open Source. And, there aren't any artists on the Linux platform willing to help with animation and graphics for games.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Anonymous Coward]

But of course!

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[real_b0fh]

bzzzt. thanks for playing.

companies do not make linux games because games sell well amongst brain-dead teenagers, who ofcourse runs windoze in their computers. die-hard unix geeks have better things to do besides wasting their time palying games (i mean REAL geeks)

myself, i'd prefer goold old sex, drugs and rock&roll, along with some trolling.

and for games, chess is enough for me.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Archie Steel]

You know what would be great? If someone somehow managed to hack together a PlayStation or Dreamcast emulator for Linux - perhaps it would even be possible to get official permission for it (at least for the Dreamcast one, since Sega doesn't make the console anymore). Then, when people say there aren't any games for Linux, you could snap back and say that there are tons...

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[topside420]

Well, wake up. Linux isn't just for the die-hard unix geek anymore. Also, many Linux users love to play games. I mean -- what else is a home computer for? =P

Sorry, but for Linux to grow, it must appeal to more than just the tech geek. Thats a very small market. Most who switch to Linux from Windows are ussually pretty cool, except those l33t ones who do get on many peoples nerves.

I think you should rethink your
games sell well amongst brain-dead teenagers, who ofcourse runs windoze in their computers.
comment. While some are brain-dead teenagers, some are just people who want to kill time and have fun? Whats wrong with that?

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Anonymous Coward]

Tux racer, by the way, is awesome! I can't believe how easy ti was to install

There is your Linux gaming problem... Tux racer is a good game because you managed to get it installed on your system. Congrats. It's a sad state of affairs indeed when a piece of software is praised strictly because it installed. Well, duh. It's supposed to. I've yet to find any game I had problems installing (on Windows of course). They all install without a hitch. They should. Because of all the software a regular person will install, games probably comprise 90%, tax software the rest. No regular user installs tons of software. It just has to work. Notice that the products giving people the most trouble installing are NOT installed by regular users.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[real_b0fh]

> some are just people who want to kill time and have fun

yeah, but in the braindead teenegers is where the real beef is ($$$)

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Anonymous Coward]

Um, who the hell makes more than 300 million one game?

let's see, 3 million copies at 50 bucks a piece = 150 million. that's consider a phenominal seller. now, take out the publisher's cut, the distributers cut, you're looking more like 50 million depending on the deal.

I just wanted to dismiss the myth that there a lot of rich people in the game industry. Most games operate at a loss.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Osty]

You know what would be great? If someone somehow managed to hack together a PlayStation or Dreamcast emulator for Linux - perhaps it would even be possible to get official permission for it (at least for the Dreamcast one, since Sega doesn't make the console anymore). Then, when people say there aren't any games for Linux, you could snap back and say that there are tons...

Several problems, there. First off, by your rationale, Windows machines already have thousands more titles than you'd expect, because they have emulators for everything from the old 2600 to the N64 and PSX, and everything in between. That said, I've never used an emulator that was 100% perfect. Even if it was only that the input method left something to be desired (using the keyboard, or even a PC gamepad, is rarely as good as using the original pad the game was designed for), I still consider it a problem. And emulation of later systems has problems in other areas, as well. N64 and PSX emulators have plenty of problems (look at Bleem!, for example), and don't work on many games. Finally, you're offering up a library of games that is slowly becoming unavailable. Within the year, I'd expect it to be quite difficult to find any of the good older PSX games (most of the newer games tend to be hacked-together kiddies games), or any Dreamcast games at all. The used market is not very reliable, and the games will be going for upwards of $100USD or more on ebay. Not a very reassuring thought, especially when you're dealing with people that are notorious for not wanting to spend money on software.

No, most likely what would happen is your average linux kiddie would go to the local blockbuster, rent a couple games, burn them off onto CDRs, and just play the copies ("official" emulators like Bleem! would likely incorporate copy protections (don't know for sure), but I doubt any community, grassroots emulator would bother). That'd get Sony and Sega on your backs very quickly, to be sure.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[Anonymous Coward]

If people want more games for Linux they should support game development for Java and .NET/Mono. Developing games especially for Linux or performing expensive ports of games written in C++ just does not make financial sense.

Re:Big year for games... Loki?

[DrEldarion]

Well, I misphrased that, as the 6 billion figure is talking about sales profits, not necessarily profits to the game company.

Diablo 2 sold an INSANE amount of copies.

Final Fantasy X has sold over 4 million copies already, and it hasn't even been out for a year. Other FFs have sold around 6 million, IIRC.

No, it's not a common occurrance, but it happens.

-- Dr. Eldarion --

RIAA watch out

[gorilla]

I wonder how much of the RIAA's decrease ended up increasing the game industry? People have limited funds, and if they're spending more money on one form of entertainment, they're going to be spending less on another.

Re:RIAA watch out

[leviramsey]

I wonder how much of the RIAA's decrease ended up increasing the game industry? People have limited funds, and if they're spending more money on one form of entertainment, they're going to be spending less on another.

No, you fool! The RIAA's decreased sales are solely due to KaZaA et al. The crap that is being put out, and the fact that it sucks compared to video games has nothing to do with it. It's P2P all the way!

Maybe the re-education camps are where you belong.

Sheesh!

Re:RIAA watch out

[rbruels]

Who trolled this guy? I swear, sometimes the moderators are taking their Fridays and doing some serious mind-altering drugs.

It's a valid point. It's not WHY the RIAA is down, but it's true... you spend less on music, you'll spend more on games, or vice versa. Personally I think I'll spend less on music and games and buy more schwag from ThinkGeek. ;)

Ryan

Re:RIAA watch out

[Anonymous Coward]

If people are spending less money on music because of Kazaa then they're going to have more money to spend on other media such as games.

Maybe games companies should be thinking about putting some money into P2P filesharing software ;)

Record video game sales.

[Anonymous Coward]

And Loki still went out of business.

It's too bad really..

What really drives the consoles!

[Pov]

Let's not forget other great franchise games like Final Fantasy X that led to the PS2 sales so people could buy other games. At least that's why I have one and now I've got two or three other games just cuz.

Instead of the Killer App, it's the Killer Game that drives the market and there are more serial games now than ever.

Re:What really drives the consoles!

[TheGreatGraySkwid]

I think you're underestimating the appeal of GTA3. This game is hugely popular. It's very close to being the "killer game" you refer to.

FFX has been widely successful, yes; but GTA3 buries it, despite limited marketing in comparison (I wish they had as many TV ads for GTA3 as they did for FFX. They'd have to be fun.).

Personally, I don't own a console, and if GTA3 ever comes out for PC I probably won't own a console in the near future; but when my wife and I first saw this game in action at a friend's place, SHE says to me "When are we getting a PS2?" My WIFE!

Re:What really drives the consoles!

[chewbca]

GTA3 -- ebgames.com lists the release date as 04/16/2002, only a couple more months (hopefully).. had my copy pre-ordered in January :P http://www.ebgames.com/ebx/categories/products/pro duct.asp?pf_id=215166&mscssid=GE0KEWXHNVL28P2AG6G5 DES1F359DGG9&ref=1&PromoCode=&site=&siteID=

Re:What really drives the consoles!

[joshsisk]

The day after Christmas, I was in the store, pondering over what to buy: xbox, ps2 or gamecube.

The gamecube and ps2 both had tony hawk 3, so there's a tie there. The xbox did not have tony hawk 3. bsszt, disqualified.

The Gamecube was cheaper, but the PS2 had GTA3. I bought the PS2.

I think a lot of people bought a PS2 for MGS2, also.

Re:What really drives the consoles!

[kawlyn]

My wife bought me a PS2 for my birthday just to get me out of the back room where the PC is. Now we spend quality time together in the living room. Me playing FFX and her reading the guide book, identifying fiends and giving me tips.

Re:What really drives the consoles!

[Pov]

No, I love GTA3. Notice that I said "other" great franchise games. My post was to point out that it's these sequel games that are driving sales and add-on sales are generated from people owning the consoles they "must have" to play their favorite franchise games. I think GTA3 IS a "killer game", I was simply pointing out that it was the "killer game" driving sales just like the "killer app" paradigm in computer sales.

Good.

[sketerpot]

It's nice to see that there are some constants in life. Economies may falter, nations may fall, but people will tll want to blast aliens as realistically as possible.

Besides that, I'm glad that this will fuel the creation of more cool video games. More video games!

Thank God

[Anonymous Coward]

Until I read this I was afraid the terrorists had already won.

Re:Thank God

[americanFatCat]

God appreciates the patronage. He also likes it when you scribble things like "Pray Harder" on your jansport book bag. viva la _______

Glad to hear it...

[UsonianAutomatic]

Or as one of my Sims likes to Say,

"This graa es fredushay!"

Re:Glad to hear it...

[ZaMoose]

I'm frightfully glad I wasn't drinking a beverage when I read your post, or all of it would have summarily exited through my nasal passage. Bravo! That's the first open guffaw I've had on /. all week.

Now if only I had mod points to give...

Portables

[PowerTroll 5000]

Nintendo continued to dominate the portable game console market. Its Game Boy Advance saw unit sales increase 22 percent from 2000.

This is because, for the most part, the GBA is the only portable game system available now. When was the last time Nintendo had a true competitor in the portable game market?

I'm surprised that Sony hasn't pushed their PSone more as a portable of late, especially since you can attach a screen to it.

Re:Portables

[Anonymous Coward]

The PSOne wouldn't make a good competitor to the GBA. It's small, but not really portable, since you need a TV (unless you want to pay $100 for the screen), battery/AC, and the controller's still external. It's much closer to a Gamecube (which is small and also can have a detachable screen, IIRC) than a Gameboy Advance.

Re:Portables

[Anonymous Coward]

Sega Gamegear was AWESOME.. There was an awesome Atari color one that played Lynx games I think. There is a pocket Neogeo which is killer too.. There have been dozens and dozens of competitors for the Gameboy (moreso than in the normal console world) and the Gameboy has destroyed them ALL.

It will only get bigger.

[Anonymous Coward]

Gamecube and XBox still dont have all the "killer apps" to REALLY get their systems going yet. Some arent even released in other countries yet, either. Once Mario, Zelda, Sonic, and Metroid hit for Gamecube you'll see Nintendo sales go through the fookin' ROOF. Im not sure what Microsoft has lined up. Maybe Close Combat 4 or something. Who knows.

I'm in the wrong line of work...

[Bedouin X]

NPD added that 2002 could be the year that interactive, Internet-based games become more widely played.

And how much do these guys get paid?

*Hoping that they're talking about console games*

And yet...

[garagekubrick]

This year may also have been penultimate proof that the gaming industry is in a really stagnant rut when it comes to the culture of development. My buddies working in games bitched more, got paid less, were laid off more often or had to leave due to disputes with moronic producers and overfunded designers than ever before, and every word I heard pushed one simple fact (with the exception of coders who always seem to be allright). Creating games has become a true massmarket medium - unfortunately it is also almost entirely about money now and for most in the industry has nothing to do with vision or fun.

I expect with this news for that trend to continue further - more middle management and inflated budgets or ship dates that are unrealistic. Because gaming is becoming all about the Benjamins...

And speaking of $6.9 billion dollars of PC gaming software sales - considering that the best games hardly sold at all, that means a shitload of Deer Hunter and Sims games were sold last year.

Re:And yet...

[Anonymous Coward]

"This year may also have been penultimate ..."

I do not think that means what you think it means.

Inigo Montoya

Re:And yet...

[Anonymous Coward]

Wouldn't this open up the field a bit for smaller, more visionary companies to produce games that rock?

Of course if the small companies are making the same swill as the big media conglomerates, then they will get trounced.

Re:And yet...

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps he does know what it means... If so, that doesn't bode well for the game industry. I'd also like to know next week's lottery numbers if he can cough them up.

Re:And yet...

[Pyrosz]

Creating games has become a true massmarket medium - unfortunately it is also almost entirely about money now and for most in the industry has nothing to do with vision or fun.


Check out Garage Games for a good assortment of games being produced mostly for fun and maybe a little profit in the end (its possible!), but mostly for fun. Some of the games being made would be classified as "different" and would cater to a niche market... check out the listed projects and maybe get involved in something. Most projects are looking for poeple to help out.

FFX Not mentioned?

[Deltan]

I believe Final Fantasy X has shipped more than all of those titles. Maybe?

http://ps2.ign.com/news/41328.html

Re:FFX Not mentioned?

[Pov]

Yes, it's shipped more now, but the report is for last year and FFX sales didn't get fully off the ground until January. GTA3 was out in October.

Re:FFX Not mentioned?

[Bedouin X]

Sold more worldwide maybe... this article is about domestic sales. I think that FFX is in at a little over 1 mil in the U.S.

Re:FFX Not mentioned?

[kawlyn]

Add to that hardware. I bought a PS2 just for FFX, that and I needed a new DVD player. Which creates an interesting question. Are PS2's and XBoxen driving DVD sales?

The full press release

[bigmouth_strikes]

Here's the full press release from NPD that triggered the article on ZDnet.

2 million copies of GTA3?

[MalcalypseTheYounger]

Proof that gamers secretly want to slap bitches, kill pigs, and jack cars, awwwww yeah.

Re:2 million copies of GTA3?

[MalcalypseTheYounger]

Making a joke about GTA3 is off topic when the story mentions an article about the sales of video games and specifically GTA3? Hooray for moderators with no concept of reality.

Bigger sales but still gamecompanys are backrupt?

[rasjani]

Wow, publishers are making more money than ever and gamehouses are on tighter budgets and even tighter deadlines "because we have to make money with your product"..

Tell me, who's gettin' screwd in this picture ?

GTA3

[laserjet]

Speaking of Grand Theft Auto 3, does anyone know when the PC version will be coming out?

Re:GTA3

[IAgreeWithThisPost]

around the same timea s the PC version of Halo...3 months..what? you bought an xbox just because of Halo? so sorry, maybe you should have paid more attention to the fact that xbox is basically a pc and 95% of the games will be ported to pc.

Re:GTA3

[Jonny Ringo]

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00005YTYJ/ qid=1013201247/sr=1-2/ref=sr_1_2/

[ot] How many of these games turned a profit?

[wrinkledshirt]

Sorry, this is a totally offtopic issue. Just wondering what sorts of games out there are turning a profit, what kind of sales the average game might need to break even, that sort of thing.

All done without Mario!

[qurob]

Surprising....They'd have sold at least 50 million Mario worlds if they had it on game cube

imagine.

[raindog151]

oh boy i can't wait, GTA3 movie, GTA3 tv series, GTA3 lunchboxes, GTA3 cereal..

it's good to see that interactive entertainment is finally becoming mainstream in the eyes of the suits though.

then again, maybe we're just headed for a video game boom/bust just like atari had back in the 80s. arcades are dying slowly, consoles are going to have shorter and shorter lifespans with higher pricetags.

Re:imagine.

[jfsather]

Yeah, GTA3 the cerial would rock. This cerial is rated M for Mature. That would be an interesting section of the grocery store to hang out in. Just like the pr0n sections of video stores. Plus maybe I can start my pimp and ho action figure collection with the prizes.

-J

It was a record year because...

[Anonymous Coward]

games are at a record price. Somehow it doesn't seem right to pay $60 for a game. When the whole PSX vs N64 thing was going on, everybody bitched about how much N64 carts cost. So now, thanks to PS2 and cheap hard drives, we get to pay more money for more lame cut scenes that intterupt the game. If I wanted to watch a movie I'd buy a DVD for $20. Games would be better if they ditched the eye candy and saved some cg costs to make a better, cheaper game.

Re:It was a record year because...

[Frizzle Fry]

I know how much fun it is to complain about how much worse everything is getting, but you're just around. New games used to cost about $70-$80 at Toys R Us when I was younger. Now they rarely cost more than, and sometimes much less (mainly since dvd's/ cd's are cheaper to make than cartriages, but also due to competition). And besdides, that seems like a perfectly reasonable price. The number of hours of entertainment I've gotten from GTA3 is many times more than one could get from a movie, and yet DVD's still cost $20 (or however much; I don't buy movies). These prices seem right in line.

Impressive...

[joshjs]

This is especially impressive considering just how many pirated games I've seen floating around.

Re:Impressive...

[IAgreeWithThisPost]

except the gamecube cant claim pirated games are making costs of software go up. The disc's are nonstandard, and are read backwards from normal cd's/dvd's(not spin backwards, like some people ahve said..they are read outside to in..or is it inside to out..regardless, it's opposite the cd/dvd standards)

Re:Impressive...

[Anonymous Coward]

And regardless of all that, their games have already been pirated anyways. Needs a bit of extra hardware, but the price of it more than makes up for the outrageous cost of each game.

Doesn't suprise me

[Suicide]

Any year that has the release of a new portable (Game Boy Advance), followed by the near simultaneous releases of 2 home consoles, (Game Cube and X Box) is bound to spark a large number of software sales.

The Game Boy has been basically the only portable on the market for years and I'm sure that there were plenty of people who ready to upgrade to a newer technology.

And I would think that Microsoft's gigantic marketing campaign, following September where we are all looking to stay home more caused a few consoles to be sold.

the reason for good sales in a recession...

[night_flyer]

people dont have as much disposable income, and tend to purchase entertainment that can be "reused". Books & Boards Games are always big sellers in bad economies, video games just follow the logical progression.

what falters in bad economies are "night on the town" style entertainment like movies and fine dining (with the notable exception of bars)

Re:the reason for good sales in a recession...

[sirPaul]

My wife and I spent around $100 on two copies of Diablo 2 and the expansion pack. I think it's saved us hundreds of dollars that would have been blown on weekend jaunts to Monterey, boozing in some dive bar, or otherwise blown.

It also keeps me somewhat sane after being unemployed for 6 months.

Re:the reason for good sales in a recession...

[Anonymous Coward]

with the notable exception of bars

Of course, irrelevant of the economy, people still wanna get laid.

Re:the reason for good sales in a recession...

[/dev/trash]

hmmmm, stop playing games and get a job?

Unless you like being unemployed....

Re:the reason for good sales in a recession...

[sirPaul]

Yeah, it would be nice if it were that easy. I spend at least an hour a day posting resumes and scanning job listings. The other 18 hours I'm awake have to be spent doing something.

Re:the reason for good sales in a recession...

[/dev/trash]

just an hour?

Re:the reason for good sales in a recession...

[sirPaul]

Yeah, after the dot bomb crash around here (SF Bay Area) there's not many postings per day for network admin type geeks.

I'm really close to moving to San Diego, more of a market for my type, with the defense contractors getting so much money lately. I guess war is good for some things.

Xbox lineup

[azizlumiere]

Yes around 50% of them are TBA (To-Be-Announced) but it's still a big list

NFL 2K2 Sport TBA 08-Jan-2002 Released US
NBA Inside Drive 2002 Sport TBA 22-Jan-2002 Released US
ESPN NFL PrimeTime 2002 Sport TBA 23-Jan-2002 Released US
Nightcaster RPG 01-Apr-2002 25-Jan-2002 Released US
Genma Onimusha Action 21-Mar-2002 29-Jan-2002 Released US
Wreckless Racing 22-Mar-2002 05-Feb-2002 Released US
TransWorld Snowboarding Sport TBA 12-Feb-2002
WWF Raw is War Sport 01-Apr-2002 12-Feb-2002
Jet Set Radio Future Action 14-Mar-2002 19-Feb-2002
New Legends Action 26-Apr-2002 19-Feb-2002
UFC: Tapout Fighting 01-Apr-2002 19-Feb-2002
Circus Maximus Action 01-Apr-2002 26-Feb-2002
All Star Baseball 2003 Sport 26-Apr-2002 26-Feb-2002
Tony Hawks Pro Skater 3 Sport 14-Mar-2002 05-Mar-2002
ESPN Winter Sports 2002 Sport TBA 05-Mar-2002
Knockout Kings 2002 Sport 29-Mar-2002 05-Mar-2002
NBA 2K2 Sport TBA 05-Mar-2002
ESPN Snowboarding 2002 Sport TBA 05-Mar-2002
Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat Action TBA 12-Mar-2002
NFL Blitz 20-02 Sport TBA 12-Mar-2002
Spy Hunter Racing TBA 12-Mar-2002
Brute Force Action 14-Mar-2002 14-Mar-2002
Hunter: The Reckoning Action 28-Jun-2002 15-Mar-2002
ESPN NBA 2Night 2002 Sport TBA 16-Mar-2002
GunValkyrie Action TBA 22-Mar-2002
Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen 2 Action 14-Mar-2002 26-Mar-2002
Triple Play 2002 Sport TBA 26-Mar-2002
007: Agent Under Fire Action 01-Jun-2002 29-Mar-2002
Crash Bandicoot Action 15-Mar-2002 29-Mar-2002
The Matrix Action 01-Apr-2002 01-Apr-2002
Race of Champions Racing 01-Apr-2002 01-Apr-2002
Crash Racing 12-Apr-2002 12-Apr-2002
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Action 19-Apr-2002 23-Apr-2002
Conflict: Desert Storm Action 26-Apr-2002 26-Apr-2002
PRO Race Driver (TOCA) Racing 26-Apr-2002 26-Apr-2002
Mike Tyson HW Boxing Sport 26-Apr-2002 26-Apr-2002
Legends of Wrestling Sport 26-Apr-2002 26-Apr-2002
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind RPG 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Outlaw Golf Sport 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
The Thing Action 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Loons: The Fight for Fame Action 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Spyro the Dragon 4 Action 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
David Beckham Soccer Sport 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Zan-Kabuki Fighting 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon Action 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Colin McRae Rally 3 Racing 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Hitman 2: Silent Assassin Tactical 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Rallisport Challenge Racing 14-Mar-2002 01-May-2002
Red Card Soccer Sport 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Spider-Man: The Movie Action 03-May-2002 03-May-2002
Test Drive Racing 22-Mar-2002 12-May-2002
Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Tactical 01-May-2002 19-May-2002
Rayman M Action TBA 26-May-2002
Yager Action 31-May-2002 31-May-2002
Taz Wanted Action 31-May-2002 31-May-2002
Heaven and Hell Strategy 01-Jun-2002 01-Jun-2002
Phantom Crash Action 01-Jun-2002 01-Jun-2002
Sega GT 2002 Racing TBA 15-Jun-2002
House of the Dead 3 Action 15-Jun-2002 15-Jun-2002
Commandos 2 Strategy 15-Jun-2002 15-Jun-2002
Terminator: Dawn of Fate Action TBA 25-Jun-2002
Mat Hoffmanns Pro BMX 2 Sport 28-Jun-2002 28-Jun-2002
Moto GP Racing 28-Jun-2002 28-Jun-2002
Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance RPG 28-Jun-2002 28-Jun-2002
Minority Report Adventure 01-Jul-2002 01-Jul-2002
Shining Lore MMORPG 01-Jul-2002 01-Jul-2002
College Basketball 2K2 Sport 01-Jul-2002 01-Jul-2002
Armada 2: Exodus Adventure 15-Jul-2002 15-Jul-2002
Street Hoops Sport TBA 15-Jul-2002
Kelly Slaters Pro Surfer Sport TBA 15-Jul-2002
Good Cop Bad Cop Action 01-Aug-2002 01-Aug-2002
Nomads Strategy 01-Aug-2002 01-Aug-2002
Curse: The Eye of Isis Adventure 01-Aug-2002 01-Aug-2002
X-MEN: Next Dimension Action TBA 15-Aug-2002
Chris Edwards Aggressive Inline Sport 07-Aug-2002 15-Aug-2002
Breed FPS 01-Sep-2002 01-Sep-2002
Project Ego Action 01-Sep-2002 01-Sep-2002
Turok Evolution FPS 09-Aug-2002 27-Sep-2002
Burnout Racing 27-Sep-2002 27-Sep-2002
Giants Action 30-Sep-2002 30-Sep-2002
Mortal Kombat 5 Fighting 30-Sep-2002 30-Sep-2002
NFL Blitz 20-03 Sport 30-Sep-2002 30-Sep-2002
NHL Hitz 20-03 Sport 30-Sep-2002 30-Sep-2002
Malice Action 01-Oct-2002 01-Oct-2002
Freaky Flyers Racing 01-Oct-2002 01-Oct-2002
SWAT: Global Strike Team Tactical 01-Oct-2002 01-Oct-2002
Comanche Simulator 01-Oct-2002 01-Oct-2002
Unreal Championship FPS TBA 15-Oct-2002
Shayde FPS TBA 31-Oct-2002
Vexx Action 31-Oct-2002 31-Oct-2002
Rocky Sport 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Goblin Quest Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Strident Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Duality Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Loose Cannon Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Strategy 29-Nov-2002 29-Nov-2002
Fate RPG 01-Dec-2002 01-Dec-2002
Battle Engine Aquila Action 01-Dec-2002 01-Dec-2002
Sgt. Cruise Action 01-Jul-2003 01-Jul-2003
Championship Manager 01/02 Sport 14-Mar-2002 N/A
Enclave RPG 14-Mar-2002 TBA
Return to Castle Wolfenstein FPS TBA TBA
Heli Heroes Action TBA TBA
Battlefield: 1942 Action TBA TBA
Bounty Hunter FPS TBA TBA
Dragons Lair 3D Action TBA TBA
DroneZ Action TBA TBA
E-Racer Racing TBA TBA
Fellowship of the Ring RPG TBA TBA
Galleon Action TBA TBA
Jonny Drama Action TBA TBA
Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Action TBA TBA
Savage Skies Action TBA TBA
Thunderstrike: Operation Phoenix Action TBA TBA
Title Defense Sport TBA TBA
TransWorld Skateboarding Sport TBA TBA
9 Worlds Action TBA TBA
Call of the Dragonfly Action TBA TBA
Chase Racing TBA TBA
Crimson Sea Adventure TBA TBA
Downforce Racing TBA TBA
Farnation MMORPG TBA TBA
Gaia Blade RPG TBA TBA
Grand Theft Auto 3 Action 31-May-2002 TBA
Gun Metal Simulator 29-Mar-2002 TBA
Magides Fight Action TBA TBA
Metal Dungeon RPG TBA TBA
Mission Impossible 2 Action TBA TBA
Murakumo Action TBA TBA
Neverland Saga Puzzle TBA TBA
Infiltrator: Shadow Wars RPG TBA TBA
The Unholy Action TBA TBA
Ultimate blade of Darkness Action TBA TBA
Rally Trophy Racing 29-Mar-2002 TBA
X-Isle FPS TBA TBA
Broken Sword 3: The Sleeping Dragon Adventure 26-Jul-2002 TBA
Falcone: Enter the Maelstrom Action TBA TBA
Internal Pain Action TBA TBA
Silent Space Strategy TBA TBA
Xavier Fox Action TBA TBA
Seraphim Action TBA TBA
Dead to Rights Action TBA TBA
Soul Calibur 2 Fighting TBA TBA
ESPN National Hockey Night 2002 Sport TBA TBA
Rolling Sport TBA TBA
Jimmy Whites Cueball World Sport TBA TBA
Crazy Car Championship Racing TBA TBA
Wrath Fighting TBA TBA
Dreadnoughts FPS TBA TBA
Jockeys Road Simulator TBA TBA
Kakuto Chojin Fighting TBA TBA
Kingdom Under Fire Strategy TBA TBA
Conseal Action TBA TBA
Gothic 2 RPG TBA TBA
Sam and Max Adventure TBA TBA
Kehl: Fury Unbound Action TBA TBA
Legend of the Sun RPG TBA TBA
Maximum Chase Racing TBA TBA
Nezmik Puzzle TBA TBA
Driven Racing TBA TBA
Largo Winch Adventure TBA TBA
Stung! Action TBA TBA
Master Rallye Racing TBA TBA
Reign of Fire Action TBA TBA
BC Action TBA TBA
Shenmue II RPG TBA TBA
Dominion Action TBA TBA
Apprentice Knight Action TBA TBA
Marakumo Action TBA TBA
The Unseen Action TBA TBA
Universe Strategy TBA TBA
Blade 2 Action TBA TBA
Vultures Action TBA TBA
BloodRayne Action TBA TBA
TD Overdrive Racing 22-Mar-2002 TBA
Robotech Action TBA TBA
Shrapnel FPS TBA TBA
SeaBlade Action TBA TBA
Smashing Drive Racing TBA TBA
ESPN Winter X-Games Snocross Sport TBA TBA
Serious Sam FPS TBA TBA
Orchid Action TBA TBA
Grand Prix 4 Racing 07-Jun-2002 TBA
Piledriver Action TBA TBA
Black & White Simulator TBA TBA
Toxic Grind Sport TBA TBA
MX 2003 Racing TBA TBA
F1 2002 Racing TBA TBA
Crazy Taxi 3 Action TBA TBA
Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX 3 Sport TBA TBA
Mafia Action TBA TBA
Nightmare Creatures 3 Action TBA TBA
Bruce Lee: Quest of the Dragon Action TBC TBC
Metal Gear Solid X Action TBC TBC

Re:Xbox lineup

[Anonymous Coward]

first lets take out the sports games, because sports games suck. now lets take out videogames based on movies and tv shows, cuz those suck too. gotta remove FPS also, because fps doesnt play well on consoles. (sorry all you halo freaks, but the controls suck compared to pc) lets take out games that will be released for other systems also. i took out mk5, because thats gaurenteed to suck. and the TBAs dont count, as they arnt announced. anything left in this list that you care about?

Nightcaster RPG 01-Apr-2002 25-Jan-2002 Released US
Genma Onimusha Action 21-Mar-2002 29-Jan-2002 Released US
Wreckless Racing 22-Mar-2002 05-Feb-2002 Released US
New Legends Action 26-Apr-2002 19-Feb-2002
Circus Maximus Action 01-Apr-2002 26-Feb-2002
Pirates: The Legend of Black Kat Action TBA 12-Mar-2002
Brute Force Action 14-Mar-2002 14-Mar-2002
Hunter: The Reckoning Action 28-Jun-2002 15-Mar-2002
GunValkyrie Action TBA 22-Mar-2002
007: Agent Under Fire Action 01-Jun-2002 29-Mar-2002
Race of Champions Racing 01-Apr-2002 01-Apr-2002
Crash Racing 12-Apr-2002 12-Apr-2002
Conflict: Desert Storm Action 26-Apr-2002 26-Apr-2002
Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind RPG 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Loons: The Fight for Fame Action 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Zan-Kabuki Fighting 01-May-2002 01-May-2002
Tom Clancys Ghost Recon Tactical 01-May-2002 19-May-2002
Taz Wanted Action 31-May-2002 31-May-2002
Heaven and Hell Strategy 01-Jun-2002 01-Jun-2002
Phantom Crash Action 01-Jun-2002 01-Jun-2002
Commandos 2 Strategy 15-Jun-2002 15-Jun-2002
Minority Report Adventure 01-Jul-2002 01-Jul-2002
Shining Lore MMORPG 01-Jul-2002 01-Jul-2002
Armada 2: Exodus Adventure 15-Jul-2002 15-Jul-2002
Good Cop Bad Cop Action 01-Aug-2002 01-Aug-2002
Nomads Strategy 01-Aug-2002 01-Aug-2002
Curse: The Eye of Isis Adventure 01-Aug-2002 01-Aug-2002
Chris Edwards Aggressive Inline Sport 07-Aug-2002 15-Aug-2002
Project Ego Action 01-Sep-2002 01-Sep-2002
Burnout Racing 27-Sep-2002 27-Sep-2002
Giants Action 30-Sep-2002 30-Sep-2002
Malice Action 01-Oct-2002 01-Oct-2002
SWAT: Global Strike Team Tactical 01-Oct-2002 01-Oct-2002
Comanche Simulator 01-Oct-2002 01-Oct-2002
Vexx Action 31-Oct-2002 31-Oct-2002
Rocky Sport 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Goblin Quest Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Strident Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Duality Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Loose Cannon Action 01-Nov-2002 01-Nov-2002
Robin Hood: Defender of the Crown Strategy 29-Nov-2002 29-Nov-2002
Fate RPG 01-Dec-2002 01-Dec-2002
Battle Engine Aquila Action 01-Dec-2002 01-Dec-2002
Sgt. Cruise Action 01-Jul-2003 01-Jul-2003

Re:Xbox lineup

[Anonymous Coward]

sorry, nothing left. all the listed games are
pure shit. ;) killer games, yes, they will kill
xbox...

Re:Xbox lineup

[Anonymous Coward]

Please stop. Slashdot has enough page lengthening posts as it is.

Re:Xbox lineup

[heideggier]

I lot of those are just playstation ports, dude.

Zap Aliens?

[t_allardyce]

I got GTA-3 so i could Zap (shoot/beatup) Americans. lol

No but seriously, they charge why to much. Yes, i know entertainment is a non essential item, but all that money for a bit of plastic that costs nothing to press? And don't try to tell me that [production cost]/[expected no. of sales] = the retail price of most new games. People are making profit here that makes the drug market look cheap. I and many others get addicted to games with serious side-effects - joint problems, fatigue, eye problems, social problems, moral issues, not to mention the cost. Kinda makes snorting coke look like an easy ride

Re:Zap Aliens?

[karnal]

"I and many others get addicted to games with serious side-effects - joint problems, fatigue, eye problems, social problems, moral issues, not to mention the cost."

Try telling that to your local drug dealer when you think his drugs are "too expensive". He/She'll tell you to go pound sand...

Someone's paying the high prices, and until that someone stops, you get to pay them too.

Re:Zap Aliens?

[joshsisk]

No but seriously, they charge why to much. Yes, i know entertainment is a non essential item, but all that money for a bit of plastic that costs nothing to press?

1. Games take a long time, years sometimes, to develop. You aren't just paying for the CD duplication costs.

2. Run the movie test on them. A movie is about $8 for two hours (yes, some places it's less, but many movies are shorter than that, too). That's $4 an hour for entertainment. Compare that to a game and you'll see it's not too bad. As long as you play it for more than 12 hours, you're doing good. If you end up logging hundreds of hours into the game, it's an amazing bargain.

Re:Zap Aliens?

[t_allardyce]

I don't want to sound analy retentive, but i explaned that in the post:

And don't try to tell me that [production cost]/[expected no. of sales] = the retail price of most new games

Let me explain:

A standard simple model for pricing things is as follows:

[The TOTAL Cost of Production] divided by [How many units you plan to sell] plus [Some resonable profit]

ie. You figure out how much it costs to higher programmers, actors, writers, directors, sets, cameras etc. etc.

You figure out how many people are going to buy it.

Thus you know how much to charge in order to pay the programmers, etc.

This works for films, games, software and real world things like cars, computers and palm pilots. In the case of intellectual property it is special, because the actual production cost is near zero. When you divide the production cost of a game by the number of people that buy it, you see that each person doesn't need to pay anywhere near what they pay now in order for the company to make a profit

Re:Zap Aliens?

[Anonymous Coward]

To quote: "When you divide the production cost of a game by the number of people that buy it, you see that each person doesn't need to pay anywhere near what they pay now in order for the company to make a profit "

Are you retarded? Not only did you blindly assume that production costs are small compared to the number of people who buy a game (are you not including DEVELOPMENT costs in that category??), but you fail to understand that all that money that is invested in development and production is at high RISK of being completely lost because no sales are guaranteed, and in order to attract that investment capital to what is clearly a risky venture, they have to offset the risks with potential gains. No one is going to invest millions of dollars to develop a game when they could just put that money in the bank and let it safely earn interest... I don't think many of us on this post are qualified to question the profit margins of game companies, but you seem less qualified than most. And your statements in your first post comparing drugs more favorably to games... very classy... Just light that pipe up and another hit.

Re:Zap Aliens?

[joshsisk]

You forget that the company that makes the game generally has to pay a rather large licensing fee to the console company off each game sold, as well.

Also, I think they price them based on a curve. So that, even if the game isn't a successful as they hope, they still at least break even.

I don't think games are too expensive... They've always been around 40-50 bucks, at least since I've been buying them. This works out for me, since I avoid buying crappy games. If I bought a game I didnt even want to play for a few hours, or I could beat in a few hours, yeah, I'd feel ripped off.

Me and my roomates have already put 50 hours into Tony Hawk 3, that means I paid a dollar an hour for my entertainment(not counting the cost of the PS2 itself). Not a bad deal.

Of course it was a big year...

[powerlinekid]

Think about it, the growing power of the pc and its cheapness is allowing more and more people to run the best games on it, at $50 a piece. Along with that you have the ps2 which has sold some insane number like 18 million units (including one to me last week). I bought it for final fantasy X but decided I wanted to play it with my little brothers so went out and bought 3 more games. This is probably the first year that we've had 3 consoles that are all roughly equal in the minds of users so maybe the more of a choice has lead some people to check out details alittle more which I know once I got into hardware specs I couldn't help but buy one. Just wish the ps2 and xbox were alittle cheaper, but theres always the gamecube and computer games to cover that market. I suppose thats the biggest thing, its no longer you buy a system at $200 (the original consoles, nes, genesis, sega cd, saturn, ps1, 3do, super nes, etc) and thats it. Now you've got your super systems (xbox, ps2), your less pricey but still nice systems (gamecube, gameboy advance, psone combo) and with everyone owning a computer, your very low cost games (darkvault of camalot, soldier of fortune, wolfenstein, sims, etc). Definitly looks like a good time to be in the gaming industry with so many options.

Re:Of course it was a big year...

[carpboy]

as far as home consoles go, IIRC, the N64 & Dreamcast are the only ones in the last... 15 or so years to debut at $200. The fact that the Gamecube did as well is still just the exception, not the rule.

Multiple Platforms

[DeadBugs]

I have noticed an increasing trend towards people having and using multiple platfors for gaming. In the past it seemed that most people had either a nintendo or a sega for example. Now it's common to use several. Am I the only freak running at least 5? (Atari 2600,N64,PS2,GBA,PC).

Re:Multiple Platforms

[Anonymous Coward]

No, I have a lot more systems hooked to one TV, three switch boxes.

gamecube (x2)
dreamcast (x2)
playstation 2 (x2)
nintendo 64
super nintendo
NES
3DO
TurboDuo
SegaCDX
Neo Geo
Neo Geo CD
Saturn

The x2's are Japanese and USA models, too lazy to et them mod'd or use boot discs. =p

Re:Multiple Platforms

[bludstone]

nope.

right now ive got my sega genesis w/ segacd, snes, psx and dreamcast hooked up. currently, both of the atari 2600s are in the closet.

Re:Multiple Platforms

[Suicide]

Atari 2600, Intellivision, N64, Dreamcast, PC here.

Re:Multiple Platforms

[Anonymous Coward]

Genesis, Sega CD, Snes, Saturn (x2), Dreamcast, Gamecube, Game Gear, Gameboy Advance, PC...

I want a Job a ZDnet

[KingKire64]

PC game was Electronic Arts' " href"/2008-1082-254218.html">The Sims,"

I want to be an editor at Zdnet it doesnt look like the job requires much work.

But I thought...

[gsfprez]

that everyone was losing money because of piracy? How the hell can they be making money when everyone is copying the software?

Seriously. This is as lame as bitching about Napster, while CD sales exploded.

Natural value rules work, even in the midst of artificial IP rules. ha!

Yet another nail in the IP coffin. if you give people something that they WANT to pay for.. they will.

Until fantasy StarTrek transporters/replicators are developed, then the rules will not change.

People will pay for tangible things and supportive service and that which provides them convenience or entertainment. Period. They will not pay for anything else and to force people to do so is artificial.

Re:But I thought...

[Steveftoth]

You're forgetting that the Console had 9B while the PC had 6B. You can pirate the PC games, but it's much harder to pirate a console game. I mean I can give a friend a warez copy of Diablo 2 or the sims, but unless I go over to his house and solder a chip into his PSX/PS2, there is no way I can give him a copy of GTA3.

Also notice that top selling pc game is a game that requires little Hardware. The sims doesn't support accelerated 3-d at ALL. Which is one reason that it always looks the same on every platform.

Re:But I thought...

[ivan256]

Time between first successful test of a replicator and entry of a bullet in the back of the creator's head? I estimate 5 minutes. No capitalist government in the world can allow such a device to exist. If information gets out on how to create such a device a war that will end our present civilization will break out. Replicators are a fantasy, and will remain a fantasy. No advance in technology will prevent you from dying before you get to try one.

Re:But I thought...

[Dave_bsr]

1. Scientist creates replicator.
2. Scientist gets shot.
Repeat until:
3. Scientist thinks about it - replicates himself some cash, guns, and a tank or two, and protects himself.

For my money, the time between 2 and 3 is about 0 scientists - given un unlimited supply of _anything_, would you not hook yourself up, first?

Still, the tech is fantasy. But if it were in some way possible, i wouldn't worry about joe scientist getting popped unless he was very stupid about it.

Re:But I thought...

[joshsisk]

You're forgetting that the Console had 9B while the PC had 6B.

Piracy is a factor, but not as big as people think. The console market is no doubt bigger than the PC market, even including piracy.

Re:But I thought...

[Anonymous Coward]

I really wish more people would *make* games that don't require tons of hardware.

Frankly, you don't need a GF4 to make a good game, and you expand your market a hellova lot.

Re:But I thought...

[duren686]

"PS2 Isos: NEW RELEASE!!! Pre-modded 31001 Console: Click here!"

Re:But I thought...

[rtechie]

You comment about console piracy is simply uninformed.

I would argue that console piracy is MUCH more common than PC piracy for any number of reasons. Examples would be that console gaming is much more popularin general and that many of the best-selling PC games (Diablo II, Everquest, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, etc.) are online or have an online component that effectively kills piracy. There are very few online console games of any significance (Phantasy Star Online is basically it).

The #1 PS2 accessory is a "mod chip" and hundreds of hackers are busy trying to find out how to hack the XBox/GameCube. I personally won't invest in any console unless I can get it modded, I want to play imports. This is especially true of the PS2, which has lots of Japan-only games.

Interesting...

[pb]

Apparently piracy isn't hurting the video game market, then, even though there IS rampant piracy, especially with the consoles.

This might be due to the popularity of online gaming and MMORPGs, and the fact that there are three huge new consoles that people are working on cracking more fully.

However, I just hope that the trend towards moving everything online doesn't go too far; I still like to buy and own things, and not have to pay for extra services when I don't have to.

If the movie and music industry ever do catch on to how the gaming industry operates, we could all be in trouble, and end up paying for our media without having our own copy! But that day should be a couple of years away for now, just due to basic bandwidth considerations.

That's still a bit too near for 1984 for my comfort, though.

You are a moron

[Anonymous Coward]

And offtopic, to boot.

of course

[Em Emalb]

It's a combination of several factors, imo.

1st, you have the launch of several different consoles. This in turn makes people want games to play on them, so they buy titles that maybe they wouldn't normally, if a large group of titles were out there.

2nd, the economy is in the sh!tter, so people tend to stay at home more, and it's easier to justify a $50 video game you can play for a long time as opposed to a dinner out at some fancy place.

3rd, PCs are cheap as hell, fast, and getting cheaper/faster by the day. That gaming market exploded as well I expect.

lastly, There are a lot of really cool games out there. Online games, pc games, console games, it's all good.

that should just about sum up everything in one post.

5%?

[ManualCrank Angst]

Remember that 90% of that $6B is being spent by "computer gamers", not the general public. Among *that* crowd I'd guess that Linux desktop usage is closer to 10-15%. Although that usage is probably not exclusive--meaning they have a Windows machine around to "play games on". Still, presumably they'd buy a Linux game if it was marketed well.

Which to me was the big problem with Loki. They ported CivCTP (which I bought) and then AFAICT fell off the face of the earth. I didn't know they had done dozens of games in addition.

$300M is a *lot* of money if you aren't paying for engine development and original art--which Loki wasn't.

BTW, I really like the idea of CaptionContest but it wasn't ever updated. Now I see your sig proclaims it has been, but the link doesn't work. What up?

Re:5%?

[Anonymous Coward]

I updated it, but it seems that my host has been having problems the past couple days. =(

(I just checked. It's back.)

Re:5%?

[joshsisk]

Remember that 90% of that $6B is being spent by "computer gamers", not the general public.

I'd disagree. A lot of the best sellers are games like the Sims and Roller Coaster Tycoon, which appeal to the mainstream demographic more than the hardcore gamer demographic.

The fact that the gamer demographic has shrunk to a smaller percentage of the marketplace was the reason why everyone was saying "PC Games are dead" a while ago.

USA centric

[Thakandar2]

Someone double check me, but arn't these figures just based in the USofA, and are not world figures? So saying FFX was the killer game for PS2 in 2001 might be premature because it has sold 2 million plus from Dec 18, till February. THe article didnt mention, which would of been nice for comparison's sake, how much the Sims made this year alone, after the first year of sales. Just some thoughts of mine.

Re:USA centric

[kawlyn]

Standing by and watching it happen.

Re:USA centric

[Anonymous Coward]

FFX has sold under 1 million in the US to this point; it's sold 2.4 million worldwide. GTA 3 has sold over 2 million copies in the US alone and continues to be the #1 selling game here.

Grammar lesson for today!

[Anonymous Coward]

night_flyer noted an article running @ ZD talking about how 2001 was a record year for video games with doing 9.4B and PCs getting almost to 6B. Mentions Grand Theft Auto 3's huge sales, as well as The Sims. Also the X-Box, and Game Boy Advanced contributing to the big numbers.

In normal English, one might have said the following:

night_flyer noted an article on ZDNet that claims 2001 was a record year for video games, with the industry topping US$9.4B, and the PC game market approaching US$6B. The article mentions Grand Theft Auto 3's huge sales, as well as those of The Sims. The X-Box and Game Boy Advance both contributed to the big numbers.

Of course, since when does grammar matter on Slashdot? Actually, maybe CmdrTaco should take a look at this, it seems former high-tech employees are finding the job market so dismal that EEs with MBAs are working for $13/hour at the post office, and some are working at Starbucks. So maybe time for you to work on your grammar Rob: the odds of you finding another job that will let you post news to a website is infinitesimal. And if you fix your grammar and don't get laid off, then the Slashdot readership still benefits because we don't have to suffer through your ignorance of the English language! Hooray for all. Now please return to school and get some smarts. In the Slashdot FAQ you claim to have a copy editor, but I really find that difficult to believe since the same feces continues to dribble out of Slashdot on a daily basis!

Zapping aliens?

[mshomphe]

From the article:

A sluggish economy and terrorist attacks did little to satiate Americans' urge to zap aliens, according to a study released Thursday.

Man, I thought zapping aliens was what we're doing in Guantanamo!

(I'm getting modded into the basement for that one)

Re:Zapping aliens?

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

"I thought zapping aliens was what we're doing in Guantanamo!"

Camp X-Ray!!!!!

Fun Video Game Trivia

[x mani x]

Here's some random video game trivia I picked up for the incredible book The Ultimate History of Video Games to celebrate this good news!

- The PacMan character shape was derived from the game designer looking at a pizza he ordered after eating one slice of it.

- Pac Man was originally called "Puck Man" in Japan, but worried that american adolescents would deface the cabinets, replacing the 'P' with an 'F' to spell "Fuck Man", they changed the name.

- Both Steve Jobs and The Woz used to work at Atari in its early years. Atari founder Nolan Buschnell (also the founder of Chuck E Cheese) was hesitant about hiring Steve Jobs because he literally smelled bad and looked like a "20 year old ho chi minh". It turned out that almost everything Jobs took credit for at Atari was stuff that Woz actually did, which leads me to ...

- Atari gave Jobs the task of changing the design of one of their games (I forget which) to use less chips. Jobs then handed this task over to Woz. Jobs was promised a substantial bonus for every chip removed from the design, and he promised Woz half of this bonus. Woz's design was brilliant and removed something like 75 chips, which led to a bonus of something like 50 grand. Jobs gave Woz 500 bucks and told him that was half the total bonus. By fucking over his best friend, Jobs now had some capital to go and start Apple.

-The name "Donkey Kong" came from the Japanese designer (Miyamoto? I forget) trying to translate "Stubborn Gorrilla". He looked up "Stubborn" and saw "Donkey" as part of the translation and went with it.

-Magnavox designed the first video game console, the "Odyssey".

-"Atari" means "check" in the context of the japanese game Go.

-The company Namco got its big start by the illegal bootlegging of Atari arcade machines for the Japanese market.

-Space Invaders was such a hit in Japan that it caused a national coin shortage.

-The company name "COLECO" stands for "Colorado Leather Company". They also invented Cabbage Patch Kids.

Now, it is possible there's some factual errors above (don't have the book on me right now so I'm working on memory), so feel free to correct me!

(RANT)All that said, people, please go and support your local arcades. The arcade industry is DYING and it seems that nothing is being done because home video games are being so damn successful. I truly miss the days when arcade developers had significant R&D budgets and were capable of releasing arcade games that looked and played far better than anything you could play at home. I miss the days when I'd think how great it would be to be able to play those games at home. It just saddens me that 2d arcade style games are dying as a genre, and people keep unfairly comparing them to their 3d counterparts. and I don't care what you say, games like Metal Slug, Street Fighter 3, and Last Blade 2 have _FAR_ better graphics than any 3d first person shooter!!!!(/RANT)

And one more thing ... MAME on a fast PC with an X-Arcade = the best video game console out there!

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

"Atari" means "win" in Japanese. It doesn't have to do with the game Go at all, except that they use the word in the game.

arcade industry is DYING and it seems that nothing is being done because home video games are being so damn successful.

Konami is killing in the arcade business because of its line of Bemani games. Most notable of these is Dance Dance Revolution. Games where you only have to wiggle a joystick translate well to the console. Games where you have to move around a lot stay in the arcade.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[bludstone]

incarnations of Metal Slug, Street Fighter 3, and Last Blade 2 are all available on home consoles.

where arcades are really picking up is the bemani games. beatmania, dance dance revolution, para para paradise and other such games. these games rely heavily on the "public" aspect. people put on shows, they dance, they move, when you get off the stage, people applaud. thats how arcades are pulling people in these days, as no home console mirrors the effect of arcade bemani.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[British]

How do you expect us to support arcades when they are virtually extinct, just like roller rinks? It's sad to see such great things from the early 1980s totally gone now.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Brownstar]

I don't know Japanese but according to the gamespot article on the history of video games, Atari in Japanese, in reference to the game Go, has an equivalent meaning to the word check, in chess.

I've also seen this reference to the origins of Atari's name in other places also. So when Bushnell started Atari, it probably what he meant.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

Perhaps. It may also be second-hand lore from an errant source. Who knows anymore?

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[x mani x]

One good hint about the word Atari is what Nolan Buschnell called his newer video game company after leaving Atari. He called it "Sente", which in Japanese means "checkmate" in Go.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[darthaya]

Go is NOT a Japanese game. If you want to resort to is origin, it is a Chinese game. Very complicated and very fun too. :)

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[KelsoLundeen]

And if you were actually born in the late 60's and actually lived through the 80's, you probably remember:

- That Sears (!) sold their own version of the Atari 2600. I remember hanging out with my buddies in the Sears hardware department, playing the 2600 for hours on end on Saturday afternoons.

- That the malls (having become quite popular) were the best places for playing the 2600 or Intellivisions when you didn't actually have one of your own. I remember walking down to Carsons (or Bergners as it was known in the small, Illinois town where I grew up) from Sears and playing Intellivision when we were sick of the Atari.

- And when we were sick of the Atari and Intellivision, we'd head on down to the Aladdin's Castle arcade, where we'd line the Donkey Kong and Pac Man machines with our tokens and pretty stay there into the evening drinking Orange Julius' and playing pattern after pattern of Pac-Man. (We'd of course memorized all the patterns for all the screens.)

- And when we'd tire of Pac-Man and Donkey, we'd play Tron and Wizard of Wor. I don't know why, but I think of all games from that time, Tron was my favorite. We become so enamored of the light-cycles in tron that we'd go home and code up (in Z80 assembly language, no less) our own version of the light cycle game on the TRS-80's we had.

- And yeah: that was the other cool thing at the mall in our town: Radio Shack. With the TRS-80 Model II (using the 8 inch floppies) and the TRS-80 Model III (with 48K ram!) we'd use the little acoustic modem to call to couple cool BBS systems.

Looking back, I can't believe how much (a) money I spent in arcades in the early 80's and (b) how much time my buddies and I spent at the local mall, going from the Ataris to the Intellvisions to the Aladdin's Castle and then back again. Unbelievable!

And the Sears in our mall, actually had an mini-arcade in the back of the store. Had about 10 stand up games like Scramble and Sinistar and Berzerk -- sort of grade-B games, I guess, but I thought they all kicked ass. We'd shove slugs up the coin return on the machines and give ourselves endless credits. LOL.

Damn, whatever happened to Orange Julius? There was nothing better then a big Orange Julius and one of their yummy-licious hot-dogs! (And the pretzels covered in chocolate.)

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

Konami is also a sports club company (though under a different name). They get a lot of their ideas for Bemani games from the trainers at their gyms.

DDR is designed to be a workout machine. If you've played it, you already know.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Malic]

In regards to the coin-op that Steve Jobs did some re-design work for, Alex that would be "What is 'Breakout'?"

From what I have read, Atari did not completely use Steve's design because it was just too complicated.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

> "Sente", which in Japanese means "checkmate" in Go

This is incorrect. "Sente" means roughly "initiative" A sente move retains the initiative because the opponent is forced to respond to it. In contrast, a "gote" move allows the opponent to take the initiative, because it does not create any threat that requires an immediate response.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Gehenna_Gehenna]

I actially have a working sears -ataris console in my attic alomg w- 15 or so games. The games were "sears" lable also.. mostly different names for the same game ie TANK PLUS was really COMBAT.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

All that said, people, please go and support your local arcades.
...
And one more thing ... MAME on a fast PC with an X-Arcade = the best video game console out there!

Uh huh...

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

Here is a link to Konami's sports network.

And here's a nice listing of the largest sports club companies in the world for year 1999.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[borzwazie]

It's no wonder arcades are dying. The days of being able to enter an arcade, pop in your credits, and beat the game are over.

Look at most of the racing or shooting games...you gives yer money, you play one race, you place whereever, and then the game is over. It's usually 30-60 seconds of entertainment...and it's often a dollar a game. Nobody I know can afford to just go dropping 60 bucks an HOUR on a game, no matter how fun it is.

Arcades are killing themselves.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Pfhreakaz0id]

Wanna save your roller rink? Start playing in your local roller hockey league. Fun, fun, fun.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Pfhreakaz0id]

Ahhh.. did this bring back memories. Wizard of Wor! I can still hear that f*cker after he killed you "I am the Wizard of Wor. HA. HA. HA. HA...." This while the bastards kept running over your corpse (repsented by little deteriorating dots). I had a lot of fun last year playing this with my son on MAME.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

In addition to the previous reply, I'd also like to add that there is no checkmate in Go. You always check, and the opposing player can concede the game.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

Arcades are dying? Perhaps the classic dark corners of suburban malls. Newer adult video game palaces are thriving - check out Dave and Buster's, Jillians, and Media Play. D&B has huge warehouses full of racing games (linked for up to 8 people), fighting, dance, shooters, etc. And they have skiball, basketball, and other carnival type places. And they kick out the under 21 crowd at 10. All based on a credit card type system (no more quarters). Classic games may be dying (there is no more Frogger/Pac-man/Space Invaders/Double Dragon that you can play for an hour on one credit), but the arcade industry is having a rebirth.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

Any Dairy Queen should serve up Orange Juliuses (not Julius'!!! that's a posessive).

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Orii]

Actually, no, 'sente' in go generally refers to the ability to make a play that your opponent should respond to, thus leaving yourself in the position of making the next move. Its opposite is 'gote', which means a play that your opponent doesn't have to respond to. Sente lets you press your agenda and often makes your opponent play more passively. There's no "checkmate" in go because there's nothing of comparable value to a king in go. You can lose any number of stones (pieces) and still win. Lose your king in chess, you've lost the game by definition.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Walob]

I've read the apple biography, and i think Woz never actively worked for Atari, he was at HP at the time although he did write the code for the game (was it pong?), that Jobs laid claim to, in true geek style he completed the coding in one night when jobs challenged him to do it, i could be wrong but i think Woz moved form old el paso safe-job HP directly to Apple and jobs bummed around taking on Woz's work with him.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[geekoid]

Actually, Jobs got 5 grand(not 50). He gae Woz,250(I think, maybe 350) for his "half". Woz's design was so complex, they didn't understand how it worked, so they need to redesign it anyways!
come to thi of it,
sounds like every contractor I've ever worked with!

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Zico]

Any Dairy Queen should serve up Orange Juliuses (not Julius'!!! that's a posessive).

Careful, being that we're at Slashdot, some bastard is probably going to start referring to the plural as "Orange Juliii." ;)

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Upsilon]

If you've ever actually played Go you'd know that there is no equivalent to "checkmate" in it.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[nomadic]

All that said, people, please go and support your local arcades.

Too many teenage punks.

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[thelenm]

Coleco stands for Connecticut Leather Company, not Colorado. I'm reading the same book :-)

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

atari's meaning is closer to "hit!", "got it", or "bingo!" (as in atari/hazure (hit/miss)).

Can also mean "place" "area" (as in "sono atari" ("around there").... too tired to think of more..just got out of a midterm

Re:Fun Video Game Trivia

[Anonymous Coward]

About your arcade rant..

Most arcade games are developed by companies who play both fields, such as Konami, Sega, Capcom, and the late SNK. In fact, all three of those games that you've mentioned have been brought to home consoles or portable systems at one time or another; Metal Slug for the NeoGeo Pocket, and Last Blade 2 and Street Fighter 3 for Dreamcast.

Unfortunately, both of those systems have now gone under due to lack of sales, but therein lies another argument for supporting console systems, I guess.

Point is, though, there's not many arcade games that can't be released on console systems, nor are there many arcade ideas that can't be developed for console systems. Unless we're talking about on-rail FPSers, or Ultra-Pressure-Sensitive-Skate Boarding Sim 3.

But even then, accessory-based gimmick games can still be replicated on console systems. Look at DDR.

Mike
MagusCrono@aol.com

Increase in wrecked cars as well?

[sunhou]

Are there any statistics about corresponding increases in car wrecks? I bought a PS2 just for Grand Theft Auto 3 (and also bought a bunch of other games); so I definitely spent way more on games in 2001 than I have in years.

But now when I'm driving around (I'm in a somewhat rural area), when I see a good pile of dirt by the side of the road, I feel a little tempted to floor it and see if I can complete a Unique Jump, preferably without landing upside down, so my car doesn't burst into flames and explode. Thank god there aren't any rocket launchers lying around on the side of the road.

Re:Increase in wrecked cars as well?

[Keith Russell]

But now when I'm driving around (I'm in a somewhat rural area), when I see a good pile of dirt by the side of the road, I feel a little tempted to floor it and see if I can complete a Unique Jump, preferably without landing upside down, so my car doesn't burst into flames and explode. Thank god there aren't any rocket launchers lying around on the side of the road.

This is why I stick to Gran Tursimo 3. No urge to blow things up, run over hookers, or recreate stunts from Smokey and the Bandit.

Since I just moved, my commute has become more interesting, though. The closest mile to my house is a gloriously twisty hill, and I spend every day trying to find the best line through that stretch. Problem is, there's no good upgrades for an Oldsmobile, so I have to save my credits for a used Skyline GT-R or Lancer Evo. :-)

Re:Increase in wrecked cars as well?

[buysse]

I'm glad you haven't been playing Crazy Taxi or (the one I'm having fun with) Simpsons Road Rage. They're basically the same game, but the Simpsons game, despite some ugly rendering bugs, just rocks.

What other game can you play and hear Ralph Wiggum say "My pee came out!" when you hit another person? Or the old man saying "Thanks for the ride, I think you knocked loose that kidney stone..." I will admit that I was disturbed when Abe asked me to take him to something called "Grandma's Place" ... because he was horny. I've only heard that once, wonder if it was supposed to be in the final version.

Re:Increase in wrecked cars as well?

[ehiris]

This isn't really funny since I have crashed my car after playing Driver 2 for 3 days straight.

Re:Increase in wrecked cars as well?

[DemiKnute]

Being as I just spent $1500 on my computer, I'm not really into dropping some money on a PS2. BUT, I think that GTA3 is a really spiffy game, so I was wondering if someone would happen to know if and when it's coming out for the PC?

Re:Increase in wrecked cars as well?

[Zico]

Heh, you got that right. Thankfully winter here has been a mild one, because everytime the road ices up, I find it hard to resist drifting around the corners like I was doing a Kudos challenge in Project Gotham Racing. I can practically see the meter racking up Kudos as I slide through the corner just barely in control.

When my father was in town visiting for my birthday, I asked him if he ever had the same urges, especially because he used to be a race car driver and he also plays some racing games on his PC. He looked at me like I was nuts and threatened (jokingly, but still!) to call up my insurance agent.

Re:Increase in wrecked cars as well?

[GregGardner]

I heard it is supposed to come out on April 16. This was listed on some Grand Theft Auto 3 site. Don't know how reliable it is.

Software Piracy

[butch812]

With all this piracy going on, and yet they still make money.

How is that possible?
Video game industry should stop bitching about piracy

Re:Software Piracy

[Razzious]

/sarcasm on
Yeah just because people steal a dollar or few million in piracy and they are making money they should stop complaining.

Nevermind the fact that piracy is stealing and stealing is wrong. To hell with the greedy people that want to make money from the work and effort!

COMMUNISM FOR ALL!
/sarcasm off

Numbers are good.

[Pedro Picasso]

$9.4 billion is a far nicer figure than the already fun $8.1 billion that was purported earlier (beating the domestic US motion picture gross by $100 million).

The figure isn't surprising at all, actually.

[advtech]

$9.4 Billion isn't a shocking number, especially when you consider the major things that have happened this year. You, of course, have Xbox, PS2, and Gamecube driving huge sales dollars.

On the PC side, you have crazy things happening, like Wolfenstein Shipping over 1 Million Copies. Then you think about the gross dollars being generated on SINGLE games, it's staggering. Consider now a published like Activision has dozens in its portfolio.

Look also at the franchise opportunites these games present. The Sims and its add-ons held spots 1, 2, 8, and 9 on the Top Selling U.S. PC Games for the week of January 5th.

In Korea, there's a $300 Million market for cybercafes. What are we spending our money on? Games, apparently.

And consider this: now that Xbox is in the livingroom, there's an entertainment platform ready for expansion in many MANY households now. The industry is only going to grow.

--

Escapism also contributes.

[Pedro Picasso]

When people are in bad times, they want to divert their attention. (Hence, I write this from work.) They also want to blow things up. ...and not just infatable things.

Oh, that's easy.

[lowe0]

CowboyNeal.

Give us a hard one....

Piracy

[zaqattack911]

Excluding consoles in this comment. One of the major problems for regular computer games was obviously piracy.
Since more and more games these days are online multiplayer only, Game companies can now do unique CDKEY checking online if you are connecting to an internet server.

Yes you can still play on a lan.. but if you plan on every playing Quake3 with buddies around the world it's virtually impossible to pirate it.
I'd say that would make vid games sales a bit better for the spoiled kids who can't download everything they want anymore.:) (nobody I know of course).

Not a penny of it is mine

[Mr. Sketch]

I'm not sure if international sales count in this, but the only game I've bought this year was Uplink that was featured on Slashdot. Other than that, nothing else has really caught my attention in the gaming market. Maybe if they came out with something new and interesting I might buy it.

What the game companies need to do is figure out innovative ways to break out of standard genres like FPS or RTS, which is probably why I liked Uplink and probably why The Sims did so well, because they aren't standard genres that have been rehashed over and over again and are just getting old now.

Re:Not a penny of it is mine

[Quinn]

If you like CRPG, then Arcanum is definitely worth the cash. IMO, it's one of the best (and most original) computer role-playing games ever, right up there with Wasteland and Fallout.

If you don't like RPG, well, what the fuck.

Re:Not a penny of it is mine

[Anonymous Coward]

But then, how can you find something like that if you don't even bother to look?

Unless you're talking about JUST PC gaming, but even then, there's probably a lot of originality and creativity beneath the service there, too. But that I don't know much about, I'm mostly a console gamer.

If you are talking about console game as well, though, allow me to suggest a few games:

Jet Grind Radio(Dreamcast) or Jet Set Radio Future(XBox):

Inline skating and graffiti-painting game(s) that use a new, interesting graphic technique called "cel-shading" which basically makes 3D look hand-drawn. You can read about the differences between both games online easily.

Mega Man: Battle Network(GBA):

A roleplaying game set in the future, featuring an offbeat story, offbeat, humorous characters and an EXTREMELY original battle engine. In the future, everyone relies on devices called PETs, which are a mixture of virtual pets, net navigators, and cyber warriors. The battle engine would take too long to explain, so I suggest reading a review at:
http://www.thegia.com

Silent Hill 1(PSX) or 2(PS2, Xbox):

If the Resident Evil series is Friday the 13th, then the Silent Hill series is The Exorcist, The Shining and Jacob's Ladder combined. While games like Resident Evil rely on shock horror, Silent Hill's game is psycological horror. In Silent Hill 1, you play struggling author Harry Mason, who is on a trip to Silent Hill with his daughter, Cheryl. However, once he arrives in Silent Hill due to a car wreck, he awakes to find the town abandoned, snow and fog out of season, and his daughter missing. Further investigation brings about a reason for the town's abandonment: creatures that look like something out of an H.P. Lovecraft novel terrorize the town under the guise of the fog, and all you have to protect yourself as you set out to find your daughter is a handgun given to you by a cop from the next town over, and a broken radio that seems to react to the creatures in some way.

Silent Hill 2, however, is a different story.
James Sunderland, after recieving a letter from his wife requesting his presence in their favorite vacation spot, heads off to Silent Hill to visit her. However, things aren't entirely different from what they were when Harry Mason visited. Features all new monsters, all new characters, and in the XBox version, the game's story from the perspective of another character in the game.

Those are just a few of some of the greatest gems of consel gaming. Reviews for all of the games mentioned should be at:
http://www.thegia.com

Mike,
MagusCrono@aol.com

Hang on!

[Sj0]

This is strange...People a few weeks back were talking about how much money is in the console market, but judging from the numbers(correct me if I'm misinterpeting them), the PC industry made up almost 2/3 of the games market total!

Methinks MS just wants a bigger slice of the pie with the X-BOX, considering they control the PC market, but aren't guaranteed a piece of the profits games companies are making.

Re:Hang on!

[Anonymous Coward]

I think the $6B of PC sales is in addition to the $9B console sales...

Re:Hang on!

[Sj0]

It could be, but I've only seen 9 billion 'video games sales'.
My interpetation could be true, considering there seems to be more space in the PC games industry(just from casual observation).

PC market made more money?

[bwalling]

The article mentions that the number for the console market ($9.4B) includes hardware, which in the console industry is sold at a loss.

The PC number ($6B) did not include hardware. I have no idea how much hardware was sold, but there are some pieces of hardware that were sold solely for the purpose of gaming (I know you didn't purchase that GeForce 3 Ti 500 to browse the Net). Is it possible that the PC market is actually bigger than the console market? Of course, it would be very difficult to ever nail down PC hardware figures.

GameCube

[TiggerPac]

Nintendo GameCube was mentioned in the same breath as XBox and GameBoy Advanced in that article... give credit where credit is due.

Re:GameCube

[DoomPlague]

Are you saying the Cube doesn't deserve mention?

If so, the GCN sold nearly as many units as Xbox and SSBM sold more copies than any Xbox game in 2001. Nintendo was the the number one publisher, just like the previous year which was at least in small part thanks to the Cube.

Re:GameCube

[TiggerPac]

No, I was giving the Cube credit... whoever originally posted wasn't. All he takled about was XBox and GBA. I have my Cube, I love it, and I'm just patiently awaiting some kick-ass games for it. Initial game release has been a little weak, but so was the PS2's initial offerings. Cube is going to be a force in the months to come.

Linux PSX Emulators

[Archie Steel]

Actually, after doing a little research (which I should always do before posting here...*sigh*), I found out that there are a few projects already underway for the PlayStation. If you're interested, this website seems like a good starting point.

TI calculators and Palm devices

[yerricde]

for the most part, the GBA is the only portable game system available now. When was the last time Nintendo had a true competitor in the portable game market?

Texas Instruments graphing calculators pose serious competition to Nintendo products. They have the advantage that a large portion of Nintendo's target audience (students aged 12-18) can bring calculators to school, but most school systems have non-negotiable regulations banning all products produced by Nintendo of America Inc. from the premises.

Palm OS and WinCE devices also pose a threat because they pretty much own the market for cheap games for traveling businesspeople.

I'm surprised that Sony hasn't pushed their PSone more as a portable of late, especially since you can attach a screen to it.

PSone can't be made handheld because a 12cm disc is just too clunky for a handheld unless you either make a two-piece system (controller and screen connected to a Discman-looking device) or expose the CD (done in the PlayStation Portable) which might incur action from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Re:TI calculators and Palm devices

[joshsisk]

PSone can't be made handheld because a 12cm disc is just too clunky for a handheld

Anyone else think Nintendo might make (down the road a ways of course) a handheld Gamecube? The discs are small enough.

I'm sure the guy that makes all those portable conversions is already working on one...

Re:TI calculators and Palm devices

[psxndc]

Not a handheld, but Nintendo's Gamecube is meant to be portable: It even has a handle. It also has a screen attachement and is small enough to be carried over to your friend's house. Gamecube (and nintendo in general) is about social game playing. That's why 90% of their first party titles are all about pick up and play (not to mention that the N64 was the first (modern) system to come with 4 controller ports standard). It would be key if nintendo could just reuse the discs on a portable. They're recycling (yay!) some of the SNES games, but they have to port them for the GBA. If they could just create a handheld that used the Cube discs, I think they'd continue to dominate the handheld market for years

psxndc

headchimp

[Anonymous Coward]

http://www.angelfire.com/ut2/foxtrotters/Wildcat .j pg

The mare looks Like that.

And the game, Oh, I don't know ...how about the new Xbox release HALO ? or Mario Kart 64 ? Any video game. Just a generic video game :)

You're a bit nitpicky, but so far your answer has been the only intelligent one, so it's the only one I am directly responding to.

As for the guy who responded with Cowboyneal, well, Wouldn't you rather have sex with a mare than with Cowboyneal?? I seriously hope so. Otherwise you'd be insane. :)

No snow = Game console sales

[ehiris]

There hasn't been much snow this year so we spend money on digital entertainment such as SSX tricky and Amped. Of course you need to get the platform to run them on so there you go.

Any more reasons? Oh yeah, Global Warming.

Re:No snow = Game console sales

[kawlyn]

This remindes me of a Dilbert Cartoon where the PHB is noting that games sales are down. his proposed solution is that the company creates more pollution thus keeping kids indoors.

Corrections

[Zorbo]

Don't you mean COnnecticut LEather COmpany?
And it's Nolan Bushnell, not "Buschnell".

Can small pubs pay console licensing fees?

[yerricde]

Wouldn't this open up the field a bit for smaller, more visionary companies to produce games that rock?

Not if the small publisher can't pay the entry fees that the console makers charge to make up for the losses they take on marketing the console. The big pubs generally won't take projects from smaller developers unless the project clearly appeals to the lowest-$-common-$-denominator.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

[yerricde]

Surprising....They'd have sold at least 50 million Mario worlds if they had it on game cube

There was a Mario game, and it was called Super Smash Bros. Melee. I consider it a Mario game because it has a one-player side-scrolling adventure mode.

Re:Super Smash Bros. Melee

[TRACK-YOUR-POSITION]

SSBM was seriously awesome, but, geez, you must not like/understand the virtues of mario games to call that one stage of side-scrolling mode a Mario game--Mario games are more than just games with Mario, after all.

Re:Super Smash Bros. Melee

[Anonymous Coward]

"Virtues of mario games"??? yep, it's not a mario game without the "virtues" of coins, irritating music, and bottomless pits to fall into.

yep, sooooo much depth and virtue in that game it just hurts my brain.

Re:Super Smash Bros. Melee

[qurob]

Mario has sold more video games than....

He's more recognizable to children than Mickey Mouse!

What about piracy?

[Anonymous Coward]

With the way all the **AA groups are whining about intellectual "property" and the like, it's amazing that sales of games are so high. I mean, it's never been easier to pirate games what with CD-burners and a fast internet connection. In the old days before the internet, you could only trade games with people you knew.

Also, here's an interesting thought: With games so easy to pirate, and video game piracy leading to higher sales (well, that's the case for me personally), coupled with the fact that if people can copy games they won't steal them (i.e. *real* theft of property resulting in loss - like stealing a game box from a store), it would almost seem that piracy, as a whole, is good for an industry.

Piracy lowers theft (why risk stealing a game when I can simply copy it from someone on the internet?) and increases sales (hey! I just downloaded this really cool game! I'm definately buying the expansion packs/next version/breakfast ceral/etc.)

I know in my own situation, piracy has majorly benefitted the video game industry (just off the top of my head):

Games Pirated leading to Games Purchased:
Starflight (pirated) -> Starflight II
Civ (pirated) -> Civ (yes, I bought it after getting a pirated version), Civ2, Civ3, Master of Orion II (Civ in space!)
X-COM (pirated) -> X-COM (same deal as above), X-COM2, X-COM3, Email X-COM
Carmageddon (cracked demo) -> Carmageddon 1, 2, and 3
Dune II (pirated) -> Command & Conquer, Command & Conquer Red Alert

Games Purchased with no piracy involved
Atomic Bomberman (regretted it)

This is all just off the top of my head. Sure I still pirate some games that I don't pay for, but, on average, piracy exposes me to a LOT more games than I would normally be exposed to. In my case, piracy has increased video game sales by over a thousand dollars at least.

When I pirate games, I buy games. When I don't pirate, I don't buy. Of course, that's just me, personally.

Uhhhhh....wha??

[Sarcasmooo!]

Just off the top of my head, Max Payne and Black & White.

Both blew my mind, and were a lot better than one more half-life expansion.

Game Boy's competition

[yerricde]

The Game Boy has been basically the only portable on the market for years

Wonder Swan? Palm? Windows CE? Graphing calculators (especially among junior high and high school kids)? Sure there hasn't been a direct competitor in the vein of Cube vs. Xbox, but competition doesn't require exact substitutes.

Re:Game Boy's competition

[joshsisk]

Wonder Swan?

Overseas, maybe. In the US these were very hard to find and now not for sale here, I believe.

Palm? Windows CE?

These are in a whole different catagory, IMHO. Just like PC games and Console games are in a different catagory.

Graphing calculators (especially among junior high and high school kids)?

This is a REALLY different catagory!

I don't think you can really count calculators and palmtop software as direct competitors until you see it on Toys R Us and Funcoland racks- and you start to see crossover software. (Tony Hawk for TI, yes!) Until then, and maybe even then, they are only indirectly related- I don't think the fact that a kid has a badass calculator would keep him from asking his parents for a GBA for christmas.

Re:Game Boy's competition

[Frizzle Fry]

Go to Toys R Us and tell us how many GBA games they're selling. Then tell us how many Palm, WinCE and TI-89 games.

Log plans on Freenet

[yerricde]

Time between first successful test of a replicator and entry of a bullet in the back of the creator's head? I estimate 5 minutes. No capitalist government in the world can allow such a device to exist.

But if you log all your plans on Freenet, you might be able to circumvent that. Unless capitalist governments start killing all people who know anything about technology in some sort of Butlerian Jihad, once the plans are out there, they're out there.

Re:Log plans on Freenet

[ivan256]

Sweet, I get to fabricate a hypothetical conspiracy theory!

Governments kill the first few people that have one because they're not clued in to the "it's already out there" concept.

People who build replicators start replicating weapons to defend themselves when their government comes knocking

Government doesn't figure out the "it's already out there" concept until after a few bloody shootouts with prowd owners of replicated arsenals become highly publicized.

Governments try to openly ban replicator technology to prevent a loss of power

Black market opens up for replicator technology. Terrorist types create weapons. People start to realize that society has to change because of replicator technology

Global revolution breaks out between citizens and the established government. Nearly everything is obliterated

Grim outlook, huh? Many, many people would have to die for capitalism to end. The existance of a device that threatens the viability of capitalism will cause a very bloody war.

You keep using that word, ...

[Inoshiro]

I do not think you know what it means:

Penultimate Pe*nul"ti*mate, a.
Last but one; as, the penultimate syllable, the last syllable but one of a word; second to last.

The Reason The Sims is so popular

[Rayonic]

Is because it appeals to women. Not to say men don't like it, but it appeals to women in a BIG WAY. It's like a virtual dollhouse, except much more advanced and you don't lose any of the pieces.

Really, I've seen them do all sorts of imaginative/mentally-unhealthy things with the game. From spending hours creating their virtual dreamhouse to throwing the perfect party to hooking up their virtual persona with a virtual Justin Timberlake.

I mean, can you really think of any better, more efficient way to foster unrealistic expectations of life than The Sims? God bless innovation! ;)

Re:The Reason The Sims is so popular

[SimHacker]

The way the number of males and females registering The Sims changed over time was interesting.

First mostly males were registering The Sims, as with most computer games. Then after a little while, there was a sudden jump in the number of females registering, which steadily grew more steeply than the number of males, for a long time.

One theory is that males are the early adoptors, who go out and buy games based on commercial advertising. The females see the males playing it, and try it themselves. Then they spread the word about it by recommendation person to person, instead of instantly responding to mass media advertising like the males.

The legal issues worked out nicely about the character skins like Justin Timberlake and Spiderman. It turns out that Maxis is not legally responsible for any of the fans making and distributing their own images of celebrities and copyrighted characters. Maxis keeps their hands clean by creating their own original characters (which is much healthier for the franchise anyway, than shilling out product placements), and they always get permission for everything they distribute with the game.

The "celebrity visitor" skin in House Party was made with Drew Carey's permission and cooperation, but you have to go to the fan sites to find Justin Timberlake or Spider Man.

If you really want to know the underlying hidden agenda of The Sims, read Philip K Dick's short story "The Life and Times of Perky Pat", and novel "The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch".

-Don

Re:The Reason The Sims is so popular

[geekoid]

excellent observation!
The Sims doesn't interest me, but now that I think of it, my wife has stopped to look at it in the store, and actually read a srticle or 2 about it.
Both those are important when you relize my wife has never done either before. She is one of those people that is interested, she would do really well in the IT industry. But computer don't really interest her. As a computer guy, that can be really frustrating. I mean she'll have an error that would have most users in a panic, she just solves it. And if she can't she know exactlyy what she did, so when I show up I can undo something she may have done.

And stolen ambulances, cop cars, and firetrucks

[c0rtez]

It requires SO MUCH restraint on my part to keep mysefl from stealing the fire engine from the firehouse around the corner. I walk by it almost every day, and almost every time i walk by its just sitting there half out of the garage, beckoning me closer...

"STEAL ME, CORTEZ!! I HAVE A HOSE THAT SHOOTS OUT IN FRONT!! I HAVE A SIREN!! CHICKS DIG ME!!"

Its getting pretty bad now, I look for the triangle button so it will yank the firefighters out of the drivers seat...

But what about the piracy?

[Anonymous Coward]

Next the RIAA will tell us that 2001 was also a record year for software piracy... vendors lost more than in all previous years combined... ad nauseum....

Gameboy Advance 22% increase over 2000?

[bdevlin]

This article is bogus in my opinion. How can the Gameboy Advance have a 22% increase over 2000 when it was just released in 2001? Also, the GameCube was not mentioned and it is very close to XBOX in sales.

No, I will not support my local arcades

[drsquare]

Until they stop charging a quid or more for 30 seconds of playing. What an absolute fucking rip-off. At prices like that, they deserve to die.

But which console system won?

[nexusone]

I have not seen anything on who was the biggest seller for the 2001 year.

don't foget...

[Pfhreakaz0id]

that for the last 10 years the industry has been telling us it is fixing to fall off the face of the planet due to massive pirating, thus mandating the use of annoying, but (not) highly effective copy-protection measures like SafeDisk (TM).

GTA3 Top Dog

[Geekwad]

I doubt anyone's suprised. I mean .. Who DOESN'T like fuckin' shit up and killing cops? No one!

Oh for. . . You're using the 'Communism' argument?

[Fantastic Lad]

Yeah just because people steal a dollar or few million in piracy and they are making money they should stop complaining.

Nevermind the fact that piracy is stealing and stealing is wrong. To hell with the greedy people that want to make money from the work and effort!

COMMUNISM FOR ALL!

Sigh.

Communism had both good and bad features, (and most of the bad ones can be directly blamed on Stalin.) And believe it or not, the U.S. has adopted nearly all of the bad Communist features despite it's bullshit, "Capitalist America Is Great" rhetoric.

Let's take an example which is common on Slashdot. . .

Patents and Copyrights.

A patent (awarded by the central government) which allows, say, Disney, to be the sole manufacturer of Mickey Mouse products, flies in the face of so-called Capitalism. A truly capitalist system would allow pure economic evolutionary forces to bestow success upon whichever company is able to produce the best Mickey Mouse products with the greatest efficiency.

Awarding arbitrary monopolies because they make sense or seem fair is one of the cornerstones of Socialism!

As such, patents and copyrights are anything BUT capitalist! --Which I don't necessarily mind, so long as they are used responsibly and fairly, (which they are most certainly not.) Basically, what we have is corporate American crying, "Rah Rah Capitalism!" from one side of their mouth, while from the other, they beg the state to protect their 'right' to maintain artificial, state-ordained monopolies.

In other words, you need to do more learning on this subject, (as do many). I suggest you take in as much unbiased history about Russia as you have done American nationalistic propaganda.

Fairness is the whole point of Socialism. The only reason most people don't want a fair system is that they hope to be a beneficiary of unfair practices.

-Fantastic Lad

Game systems boosting numbers...

[DanCracker]

The fact that their were new game systems such as Gamecube and the MircoBox boosted these sales figures, I'm sure. Not only are the systems more expensive than an ordinary game, but with a new system comes new games to be played on them (since the days of Mario Bros. / Duck Hunt being included with a system are long gone).

With that being said, is it worthwhile to have game and hardware sales tracked separatly? Or maybe thats only a novelty durring new system seasons such as 2001.

Danny!

P.S. - Most importantly, I'm excited to see video games getting so huge. Now if we could just get Panasonic's Japanese release of the Gamecube in the states!

Re:Game systems boosting numbers...

[duren686]

MircoBox

This is one time where the Micro in Microsoft really doesn't apply.

Re:Oh for. . . You're using the 'Communism' argume

[Anonymous Coward]

The only reason most people don't want a fair system is that they hope to be a beneficiary of unfair practices.

I doubt that's the only reason. One reason that comes to mind is that many people see the cry of "fairness" to mean "rob the workers to pay the bums". And there isn't much incorrect with that perspective.

GTA3 is a horrifying game.

[Fantastic Lad]

How many copies of that heinous crap have been sold?

To all you imbeciles who think fucking and then murdering prostitutes even in a virtual reality environment is acceptable behavior. . .

Thanks guys.

You just helped to radically increase the chances of a camera appearing on every lamp post.

Sigh. As opposed to censorship as I am, there is a balance to the whole affair. This stuff goes in, kids. The brain is a soup pot. Yes, it may be deep and rich, and a little salt may not make that big a difference. But there has been a whole lot of nasty spice being added over the last few years, and if you don't think it is affecting culture. . .

You may be able to control your immediate impulses and actions, but the color and shape of culture is changed by its media. The world is a darker, meaner place as a result.

So, thanks again, for being stupid and morally bankrupt.

It'll be hard to care when they come to cart your sorry asses off the death camps.

-Fantastic Lad

Re:GTA3 is a horrifying game.

[MalcalypseTheYounger]

Why not just demand that parents do their jobs and actually teach their children the difference between reality and fantasy. At the very least they could put the PS2 in the living room and monitor little johnny's playing habits if actually teaching him about life is unacceptable.

If you truely think video games are the cause of a violent society then I feel sorry for you. Art and media are reflections of a society, not their determiners. Take a look around at all the other things that are wrong in the world before you point fingers at a video game and scream "It's all your fault."

Re:GTA3 is a horrifying game.

[Anonymous Coward]

On the one hand, I agree with you. GTA3 is quite distasteful, and I didn't enjoy playing it, so I don't. The solution for you is not to let your kids play it. If I had kids, I wouldn't.

On the other hand, I have young nephews and nieces (8-15) that have played this game, and some of them (the males) enjoy it. I don't know why their parents allow them to do this, but hey, I'm not their father, so I'm not going to stick my nose where it doesn't belong. However, I've also noticed something: These kids are very upstanding, kind-hearted, and intelligent young people. Some are very musically talented, while others do well in school, and others are great sports[wo]men. I am proud of all of them, since I've had the pleasure of being their role model, due to my own relative youth. (The brightest among them has actually said to me, "You're my role model," whereas the others have merely implied it. :)

So, when one of them asks, "Hey Uncle ********, wanna see me run down some hoes?" my response is typically, "Sure, why not?"

Re:GTA3 is a horrifying game.

[Vegan Pagan]

I know you mean well, but unfortunately your opinion is effectively as bad as approving of censorship in principle. The guys who cart people off to death camps use the same excuse: "I don't approve of censorship, I'm just killing users of free speech who incite censorship."

IF you support Linux, don't touch xbox

[Anonymous Coward]

no matter how passionate a gamer
you must not buy the Xbox.
Do not support MS.
never .ever.
remember not a penny to MS
not a penny.

Diablo 2

[WereRaven]

What's interesting to me is these two figures:

2001 Top 10 PC Games, By Units Sold

4. Diablo 2 Expansion Set: Lord of Destruction (Vivendi Universal)
...
8. Diablo 2 (Vivendi Universal)

The expansion set outsold the original??? This says to me that there are a heck of a lot of pirated copies of D2 out there. But wait a minute.. why buy the expansion when you've already not paid for the original game?

Re:Diablo 2

[Zico]

Diablo II came out in the middle of 2000, so that's a ton of sales that don't count toward the 2001 figures.

Re:Oh for. . . You're using the 'Communism' argume

[Fantastic Lad]

I doubt that's the only reason. One reason that comes to mind is that many people see the cry of "fairness" to mean "rob the workers to pay the bums". And there isn't much incorrect with that perspective.

Think about that one for a second, though.

Emotions of hate, greed, envy and moral outrage are the key 'hot' buttons to push if you want to win a seat as an elected rep.

I've met a LOT of people in my day, and very, very few of them would choose a parasitic existence when they could feel useful. Feeling parasitic leads to low self-esteem and bad health, and those who end up there have entirely different issues at work within them which are going to play out regardless of the economic realities surrounding them.

Basically, the perception that the "Bums will take over the world" is waaaay out of proportion to the reality of the situation. But it remains a very effective button to push if you want to inflame somebody's sense of justice in order to gain their support for a really bad, and usually completely unrelated idea. Unfortunately, you're not a bad example of this.

Communism didn't fail because people weren't motivated to work hard because they, "were assured a government check regardless of their effort." Not only is this complete bullshit, but the perception of it being 'truth' is one of the key lies upon which the American anti-socialist propaganda is based.

Nobody can do propaganda like the Americans! Everybody but the Americans realizes this. Leave your country for a year and you'll begin to look at your culture through very new eyes, and you'll understand why everybody else on the planet shakes their head and says, "Americans!"

Interesting, no? Like I said to the other fellow. Do some reading. It'll help free you from the puppet strings they tie to us all at birth. Difficult, though it may be, nobody can make a fool of you if you choose not to allow it.

Best of luck.

-Fantastic Lad

Video Games

[Walob]

I use to work for a big american game company and everyone there agreed that it is the games that sell the console, playstation 2 has brought some great games in the past year like metal gear solid and gran turismo , or james bond, i mean these are just sequels but the graphics are so amazing and the cost of the console so cheap that people were tempted to get the console to play this games, granted that sony makes all the money from games' licenses, but gaming is now seen as mainstream entertainment, the piracy issue is bullshit, it's like music they make tons of money and whinge about piracy, however having worked in the business I hate the sequel-mentality of these companies, just don't believe the hype of magazines, they all play ball

Re:Oh for. . . You're using the 'Communism' argume

[Anonymous Coward]

Communism didn't fail because people weren't motivated to work hard because they, "were assured a government check regardless of their effort."

Perhaps not. But then tell us why it failed. You don't need to list anything but the major factors.

Anyone Surprised?

[DarkProphet]

Okay, lets intelligently look at why they're claiming that the gaming industry is doing so well (in terms of dollars):

Three new consoles came out within the last 6 quarters. They obviously make up a good percentage of the money made (gross, not net, if we're to assume the units were sold at a loss). And with new consoles come new games, ergo another percentage.

Also, you have to take into account that consoles, games, perhipherals, etc cost WAY more than they used to. That in itself is why its a 'good year' for gaming, because companies made a lot of money. But how about the numbers of units sold, not the total sales figure? It could be that there really isn't as large an interest in gaming this year than normal (whatever that is), but since the stuff costs so much, the gaming companies made more this year than ever.

If I was a marketing exec for one of these gaming companies, I'd be paying more attention to the number of units sold than anything else. Profits are not an accurate gauge of how well you are doing in pushing your product, believe it or not. Thats how you ensure your survival, by increasing unit sales, not unit price. Blah.

I sure wouldn't invest in a company that is bragging about this year's profits, but rather would go with a company that is able to show where its at, and where it expects to be, and how so. $9B in sales is no good if you're only $2B clear and you haven't paid anyone yet.

Ahhh. Carefully now. . .

[Fantastic Lad]

If you truely think video games are the cause of a violent society then I feel sorry for you. Art and media are reflections of a society, not their determiners.

That very line, a variation of which I once used often myself, is fast becoming dangerous rhetoric.

Art may mirror society, but it's a two-way mirror! They each affect the other equally!

Take the whole 9-11 thing for example. . .

Crashing airplanes into sky scrapers was the ultimate in media expression. Emotional response was the sole purpose behind the act. That's why they call it 'Terrorism'.

Now, would you say that this act has lightened or darkened your world?

Art can most definitely affect behavior! The whole point of art is to affect behavior! I smile at a beautiful painting, and I have been changed from what I was only a moment earlier. I wasn't smiling before.

We're talking about a deep and fascinating jungle of perceptions. Humans are beautiful and complicated events. Don't let the prevailing winds of rhetoric and ignorance rob you of this understanding!

-Fantastic Lad

Re:Ahhh. Carefully now. . .

[Anonymous Coward]

I would rather judge people by their actions than pre-packaged misconceptions about their game playing habits. Perhaps that's just the Freedom-loving American in me.

Here's why it happened...

[OneFix]

Just look at the console market in the past year. Last year you had the N64 (proabably weaker seller than the DC), Dreamcast, and PS2 (though not as strong).

This year you have X-Box, GameQube and a much stronger PS2. Now, realize that the average price for a game has risen from ~$29-$39 for a decent PSX/Dreamcast game to ~$50. However, cost of development has went up as well...

It happens in the Movie industry too. It's partly the economy (inflation) and it's partly the cost of developing for that technology.

As has been mentioned before, it's also because of our poor economy. And I won't rehash that aspect...

No joke: My gaming bill for the last six months

[Anonymous Coward]

$17,000 on console/handheld games and less than $200 on PC games and gaming hardware. No lie. And I don't pirate PC games -- I just don't like many of them much.

Perhaps interestingly, I don't own a Jaguar, a 3DO, a CD-i, a Virtual Boy, or an MS xbox. Of those, I'd probably want the 3DO most of all, because of Super Street Fighter IIX (but then, the Dreamcast and Saturn versions of this ultimate 2-D fighter are already available and are great).

Re:Oh for. . . You're using the 'Communism' argume

[geekoid]

They are not communistic at all. If it was pure communism, there would be no patents or copyright, bacause it would be owned by all the people. Communism,is about all people getting the same thing, regardless what they do for a living, you drive a bus, or your a doctor, you get the same thing.
the federation in old school star trek is an example of a perfect communistic society.

Of course democracy and communism forms of government needs to have people who are moral, an ethical to survive and be truly open. Once people begin taking advantge of other people, more laws need to be created.

Duh.

[Anonymous Coward]

With all due respect, DUH. 2001 has also seen more consoles introduced, with the Cube and the Box (and technically, the PS2...). If I didn't know better, I would think the delayed availability of the PS2 was to drive up video game sales in a year of a slowly declining economy, but I'm not into conspiracies.

I already did my homework. Time to do yours.

[Fantastic Lad]

Perhaps not. But then tell us why it failed. You don't need to list anything but the major factors.

Ahh! Ho ho!

Sorry. That's another of the nasty lies perpetuated by the current regime.

The whole, "The burden of proof," thing.

If you walk away stupid and mis-informed, I don't lose. By demanding proof, and by setting yourself up in a defensive position, as instructed by every court room drama ever broadcast on television, then all you are doing is fortifying yourself against the possibility of learning. Nobody loses out but you.

As such, the learning won't mean a thing if I do it for you, especially in an ego-driven debate where nobody ever fesses up to 'losing'. (Another nasty term.)

The information is all down at your local library.

If it's any consolation, I was driven towards certain types of knowledge in exactly the same manner. It's a tested formula, and by the end of it, you are MUCH stronger. Depend on your own faculties, and avoid indulging in obsession. Learn that facing the pain of being wrong is far, far better than coming up with elaborate schemes to lie to yourself and thus uphold delusions. Once you overcome this fear and the illusion of self-importance, and you will have won a very great battle which may allow you to become a warrior.

I'm not a teacher. I'm a trickster. Or an asshole, as some prefer.

-Fantastic Lad Learning is fun!

Re:Oh for. . . You're using the 'Communism' argume

[Anonymous Coward]

Hmm...

As purely a whimsical theory...

Could a pure democracy, republic, commune be simply the starting point for a solid government? The "perfect" government would be the set of laws that are derived after obstacles appear in the 'pure' government.

Aha! A "living Constitution". Bah, that's not where I wanted to wind up...

Re:I already did my homework. Time to do yours.

[Anonymous Coward]

You admit that Communism is a failure.

Now it's time for you to explain why you would still adhere to an system that has failed.

Toys R Us in the Amazon.com e-mall

[yerricde]

Go to Toys R Us and tell us how many GBA games they're selling. Then tell us how many Palm, WinCE and TI-89 games.

OK... I go to Amazon ToysUs.com. Right next door in the same Amazon e-mall are Amazon Electronics, which carries the popular TI-89 advanced graphing calculator, which unlike a Game Boy can be brought to class, and Amazon Computers, which carries PCs that you can use to download games from ticalc.org. Besides, TI has some exclusive titles such as Drug War (a text adventure) that exists for TI calculators but not for the GBA (that is, unless I write a clone and release the ROM as free software).

Re:Toys R Us in the Amazon.com e-mall

[Anonymous Coward]

This is still a stupid comparison. Amazon sells GBAs and TI calculators, so they are direct competition with each other? That is the most flawed argument ever. Amazon also sells garden furinture. Is that competing with the GBA also?

TI calcs are not a gaming platform. "Exclusive titles" (a text adventure! Wow!) does not make it a gaming platform. TI does not market it as or even sugest that it can be used as a gaming platform. They are low powered computers that someone happened to develop some games for.

In the real gaming world, GBA is the only real portable gaming system. Any company that ever tried to directly compete with Gameboy systems has failed. I think companies have just stopped trying at this point.

Re:Ahhh. Carefully now. . .

[MalcalypseTheYounger]

Now, would you say that this act has lightened or darkened your world?

Neither. With all the deepest respect to those that lost people in the attack, the events on september 11th changed my live very little other then the fact that I have to wait longer in line at the airport.

The danger of such an attack happening has been there for years and the incompetence of the security staff at the majority of airports will ensure that something similar will be possible in the future.

Living ones life in constant terror of the possibilities of the uncontrollable is foolish. The economy, which was generally in decline before Sept. 11th, has darkened my world more then said events ever could. But that's just because my options are underwater.

My point is, allowing art to effect your reality in a negative light is one of the worse things you can do with your life. Art and media are the expressions of individuals or groups and unless they directly effect you, can be shrugged off with just a little effort that can lead to a happier life.

Regardless, art isn't, nor will it ever be the problem with society. The problem lies within its people and their ability to comprehend and function in reality.

TI-89's library

[yerricde]

Just like PC games and Console games are in a different catagory.

Not anymore, thanks to the Flash Advance Linker which lets you copy binaries from legitimately purchased games into a computer, and VisualBoyAdvance which lets you play them.

I don't think you can really count calculators and palmtop software as direct competitors until you see it on Toys R Us and Funcoland racks

Why would TU need to carry TI-89 calculators? Students probably already have them.

and you start to see crossover software.

On this page alone I see clones of Mario, Zelda, T*tr*s, Asteroids, Beetle Mania (from SMRPG), Breakout, Bomberman, Boulder Dash, Bust-A-Move (Puzzle Bobble), Command & Conquer, Doom, Final Fantasy, Mario Kart, Memory, Minesweeper, Pong, SameGame, Simon, Sokoban, Streets of Rage, Taipei, Worms, Yahtzee, baseball, blackjack, checkers, chess, light cycle, labyrinth, poker, reversi, snake, solitaire, and more. Is this not an extensive library?

(Tony Hawk for TI, yes!)

And yes, there is a skateboard game; it just doesn't have Tony Hawk®'s name on it.

The point is that you can carry these into class with you, which can't be said of a Game Boy.

I don't think the fact that a kid has a badass calculator would keep him from asking his parents for a GBA for christmas.

Likewise, I don't think the fact that a kid has a badass PS2 would keep him from asking his parents for a GameCube for christmas.

Re:TI-89's library

[joshsisk]

Just like PC games and Console games are in a different catagory.

Not anymore, thanks to the Flash Advance Linker [visoly.com] which lets you copy binaries from legitimately purchased games into a computer, and VisualBoyAdvance [emuhq.com] which lets you play them.

Awesome, so the software also let's me carry my PC in my pocket and take it on the metro? Sweet! I guess they are in the same category, then.

Seriously, that's something maybe 2% of gameboy owners are going to do. Be realistic.

Why would TáU need to carry TI-89 calculators? Students probably already have them.

I think they do carry the calculators, or they used to at least- I meant the games. If you go to an electronics store and see a rack of calculator games next to gameboy games, then it's direct competition. It's not though, right now.

I teach computer classes for kids, and I've seen only one kid or two kids playing games on his calculator. And one of those had written the game he was playing from scratch. Almost every kid has a GB, though. Lately I've noticed more kids with those "Cybiko" things, as well. We banned Gameboy's and Cybiko's from the classroom area, even between classes, but did not notice an upswing of kids playing games on their calculators.

Most were crap...

[yunfat]

What really amazes me is that most video games published were complete crap. Some games should never have been made, i.e. The Mummy for PS2. It's clear to this gamer the quality control of the major gaming houses now plays second fiddle to "getting the game to market". There were hundreds of video games made last year, the ratio of bad to good was about 10 to 1 at best. The industry is shooting itself in the foot because it realizes there are a glut of gaming systems (xbox, ps2, DC, cube, pc) hungry for games of any quality. Why? Because parents do much of the shopping for video games and they don't know shit about the quality, nor do they care, all that matters to them is that junior got the system he wants, so now he is willing to play any game under the sun, just so he can get some use out of the new hardware. Not only that, but all of the Japanese games I played with significant "plots", if you could call it that (i.e. Metal Gear Solid 2), still suffer from poor translation, or a storyline that is geared towards morons. How about originality... almost none of the games were original in any way. FFX has proven this... its a terrible game, in no way better than FF2 except graphically, it suffers from a completely linear storyline (with terrible voice acting and a plot that rivaled FF The Spirits Within for stupidity) where you couldnt get lost if you tried. I ask you: what is an RPG if you can't get lost? Its crap.

What is patently obvious from the last year is that people will buy anything that is a big franchise... GTA3, MGS2, FFX were all sequels, and none was better than the original, they just had better graphics. Pretty soon this formula is gonna wear thin... but what do I know, I like games like Pikmin, Rez, and Super Monkey Ball.

Socialism doesn't equal fascism

[Fantastic Lad]

You admit that Communism is a failure.

Now it's time for you to explain why you would still adhere to an system that has failed.

Sigh. Oh, alright. I'll offer a few hints, since it seems you missed my point:

I don't adhere to fascism. I doubt many of the Russian people did either. The Big Secret is this: Russia was not a Socialist state.

1) Corruption. --Rich got richer, poor got poorer.

2) Military Rule. --True socialism allows for an equal say in politics. This means democracy, of which Communist Russia had little.

3) Centralized Government. --Cell based structures always work better. When power is disassociated from community, problems always follow.

4) Industrial competition. --Too little in areas of distribution. Socialism doesn't mean that competition is not allowed!

The problem is that the first three of these items are alive and well in America today, while the fourth, competition, is completely out of control, resulting in an excaberation of the first three, and a deterioration of the whole.

As a friend of mine likes to say: "The ideological structure of the U.S.S.R. only failed first. The American system is not far behind. The main problem is that both systems started out trying to treat the problem of government in a fair way, and both were derailed by corruption and greed."

I would add that the main difference between Russia and the U.S. is that the corrupt assholes in the Soviet Union used Fear and Violence to get their way. Whereas in the U.S., the corrupt assholes use highly sophisticated propaganda which aims at the heart rather than the mind.

-Fantastic Lad

Re:Socialism doesn't equal fascism

[Anonymous Coward]

So you are actually an anarchist?

Without centralized government, communism would fail to work for any sort of society larger than a few tens of people. You are advocating a non-centralized government, which (considering your other points) is only achievable through anarchy.

Do you consider people with money corrupt?

Hear hear

[Document]

I agree, the reason for the increase in market is the amount of new consoles that have been released. I also believe that just like the movies, people care not about the plot, but the computer graphics. And with some of the neato gaming 3D engines that have been released this year I can see why sales are up.

Very true, however. . .

[Fantastic Lad]

My point is, allowing art to effect your reality in a negative light is one of the worse things you can do with your life. Art and media are the expressions of individuals or groups and unless they directly effect you, can be shrugged off with just a little effort that can lead to a happier life.

This is only true for the enlightened. Clearly, my comments were not directed at people who are powerful enough to understand this. But that's not the point I was making.

For instance, take your comment:


"The danger of such an attack happening has been there for years and the incompetence of the security staff at the majority of airports will ensure that something similar will be possible in the future."

This very thought demonstrates that your thinking was directly affected by the display. Look at how the U.S. has followed up: Civil liberties revoked. Privacy diminished. General war-mongering.

You may not, but I call this a darkening of culture.

And if you consider that there is every possibility that the events of 9-11 were engineered in part by the U.S. secret services, then an enlightened person might begin to see just how media and reality are in fact intertwined to the point where society can be played like a musical instrument.

Now I am not saying that GTA3 is the cause of society's downfall, (though it contributes). And I'm not even saying that it should be pulled from the shelves. (People MUST be allowed to choose.) What I AM saying is that people should know that indulging in darkness WILL affect them, and to be enlightened means one recognizes this and chooses not to diminish oneself by indulging.

How many digital depictions of girls have you set on fire with a flame thrower for the sake of entertainment? If more than 1, then why? What associations do you think your subconscious mind made, particularly in regard to pleasure associations? Please review.

-Fantastic Lad

Re:Duel with the Man in the Red Hat

[Anonymous Coward]

Applause. Bravo....

I live in fear now, knowing the BankofAmerica_ATM is walking amongst us in human form.

Stop my fear - Continue the story

Wait for the WinCE port

[yerricde]

Awesome, so the software also let's me carry my PC in my pocket

If somebody ports the emulator to Pocket PC, that's correct. You can (hire somebody to) port one of the Free console emulators to Windows CE, and then you can take it with you.

I meant the games [for calculators]. If you go to an electronics store and see a rack of calculator games next to gameboy games, then it's direct competition.

Dozens of games come on the CD that comes with the TI-GRAPH LINK cable, and dozens more are available on the Internet. I find it difficult not to infer that you and others in this thread believe that only proprietary commercial software can compete directly with proprietary commercial software.

We banned Gameboy's and Cybiko's from the classroom area, even between classes, but did not notice an upswing of kids playing games on their calculators.

We banned Napster's and Scour's from the internet area, even for exchanging authorized live recordings, but did not notice an immediate upswing of Internet users pirating music on KaZaA. In other words, it takes a while for an alternative to catch on. Besides, you've probably never seen the calculator gaming epidemic at FWCS high schools. The kids in study hall have had LAN parties on their calculators.

Microsoft's plan to take over the .net top-level domain

Re:Wait for the WinCE port

[joshsisk]

If somebody ports the emulator to Pocket PC [microsoft.com], that's correct. You can (hire somebody to) port one of the Free console emulators to Windows CE, and then you can take it with you.

So, let me get this straight- middle school kids are going to hire someone to port an obscure emulator to their PDAs to play games, and this is somehow threatening Nintendo's massive market share?

I find it difficult not to infer that you and others in this thread believe that only proprietary commercial software can compete directly with proprietary commercial software.

Kids (and adults, to a somewhat lesser extent) want things that are popular, and new. Kids want certain games (or other items) simply because their friends have them and they are "cool". That's why there are phenomenon like Pokemon.

I agree, kids play games on calculators. But considering that Nintendo's sales went UP last year, I don't think it's keeping them from playing games on their Gameboys, buying new gameboys, etc. They play games on their calculators when they can't bring their game systems along with them.