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E3 - PSP Loss-Making, Odama Pinballed, Humans All Destroyed
Thanks to Forbes/Reuters for its article mentioning Sony expects to lose money on its PlayStation Portable hardware, with Sony's Kaz Hirai saying: "So if you're saying 'Day one, are you going to be profitable on the hardware?' then probably not... Hopefully, this will have a 10-year lifecycle, at which point I'll look back and say 'Yes, definitely profitable'." Elsewhere, on the final day of the E3 show, 1UP has a preview of Nintendo's unique-looking Odama, described as "the fast action of pinball mixed with the ancient art of Japanese warfare", GameSpot has more information on Pandemic/THQ's Destroy All Humans!, where you'll "get to probe farmers, slaughter cows, and do all the awesome little things that aliens do", and other sites go hands-on with Star Fox 2, confirm a Disgaea pseudo-sequel for PSP, give some more information on Devil May Cry 3, and show impressions of Treasure's take on the Gradius series.
Whoaaa, ten year lifecycle? Maybe that yearly update to the N-Gage might let it catch up.
"Come on, let's go drink till we can't feel feelings anymore."
Unity and Odama, two games I'll definitely buy. I like companies who try to do something different, instead of just rehashing what's been done hundreds of times before.
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Time to go play some PGR2 on XboxLive. God I love that game
it's in my head
Amidst all this E3 coverage, prior to the show Sega said they had something Earth shattering to announce at E3...
Did I miss it or something? I don't recall seeing one thing about Sega.
on a side note, i'm really hoping to see some quality titles that link with PS2 games, and i'm crossing my fingers on GT4 Mobile being able to transfer cars, Photos, Replays and more with the PS2 Version of GT4
/. is overrun by bed-wetting elitist nerds
let it be known, for anything other than servers, a *nix OS sucks
1: create gaming handheld 2: announce you don't expect to make a Profit 3: ?? 4: Profit
Name a console that didn't lose money on the hardware scale? The games are where all the money is at, I thought eveyone knew this? Logic.
I was a big fan of the original series. I tried to like Star Fox Adventures, but it was hard playing a Zelda-like game when you were expecting, oh, I don't know, Star Fox. Anyway, I'm still looking forward to SF2, even though 1up's review says that the land missions are not good. I never played Rebel Strike, and sadly I never actually had the chance to unlock the "walk around" parts of SF64's deathmatch, so maybe the out-of-vehicle missions will be to my liking. If anything, I just hope this game uses a proper save system and not force you to play through the whole thing in one sitting.
"Why Subscribe?" Good question...
I wonder how long until they sue anyone airing Futurama, since Bender says that exact phrase in numerous episodes.
After all, it is the 200x decade's business-model: Patent/Copyright/Trademark something that's long been in use and sue everyone who still does.
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(for the humor impaired/moderators: it's a joke)
- Preferences: Solaris 10 (servers), Ubuntu (desktops), Solaris 11 (personal servers) -
Considering that Treasure is made up of ex-Konami employees responsible for Castlevania and Contra it wouldn't surprise me that they'd feel right at home making a Gradius game. It wouldn't surprise me if some of them helped create the Gradius franchise.
Slightly OT, but I wonder if Microsoft is making the same mistake in portables that they made in console: entering the game late. I think they're watching to see how the PSP does, but it seems that if it does well they'll be playing catchup all over again in 3-4 years as they are trying to do with the Xbox. Would it have been wiser to pull out an Xbox-Teeny (ha) at the same time as the PSP?
The second time Sony shoulda gotten their asses handed to them, spanked, and then left outside in the cold nude. The PS2 was/is inferior hardware wise, came out a year after the Dreamcast, had AWFUL games for over 6 months (not counting PS1 games), had problems of systems breaking down, and who can forget the 'shortage' problem at launch day. The DVD sized discs were nice but most games barely use half of it, DVD playback was big but didn't make it a 'buy off eBay for $1000' item, and the design was slick but you didn't buy a video game system to look at it. Thanks to Sony's marketing, Sega was run out of the hardware industry and the PS2 is now an aging piece of equipment horribly outdated and unpowered yet still considered to the 'best.'
This time Sony's going for their third time with the PSP. Connectivity? I heard the same thing from Nintendo, yet all I hear is bitching from gamers about having to buy multiple systems to play a game. Ten year life-cycle? Last time I checked the SNES, NES, and Genesis aren't being supported any more despite being considered to be the best systems ever made. Watch movies on a handheld? Guess what, there have been portable DVD players on the market for nearly 5 years now yet theres little demand for them.
Sony may have the console market by its balls right now but this is Nintendo's turf, Nokia is preparing a second attack with their remade N-Gage, and Sony is trying to play a Microsoft-like card by going all out tech in this game. Nothing short of pulling a Microsoft and throwing money into a hole where you can't see the bottom, Sony can't win this.
Odama looked like a great deal of fun. I did not get around to actually playing it (I did not want to wait quite that lng for it). But I passed through Nintendo's floor venue several times, and that machine was busy every time I walked by it.
Basically, your slamming a huge pinball into the soldiers of an opposing army, and you have your own soldiers in on the field moving towards an opponent. You need to keep the enemy soldiers from killing you, and you need to somehow kill the opposing general.
It looked like a great deal of fun, and is on my 'buy' list when it comes out.
END COMMUNICATION
The way things are looking, they very well might subsidize the price to make expensive hardware more palatable to consumers (especially in light of the cheap and fun offering from Nintendo), then sell the handheld on awesome graphics, a few killer games, and video capability.
Problem is, the way the specs read, this thing is still going to be expensive, 100s of dollars expensive, and it's going to suck juice like an electronic hooker. 2-10 hours, WTF? 10h on "standby" or "idle" mode maybe, but they wouldn't have included 2h unless it's easy to drain it that fast, be it video or games.
<Flashback to the early 90s>
Sega GameGear is RADICAL! The graphics are way better than Nintendo's 'Lameboy'. Plus it plays TV!! I don't care that it eats batteries like popcorn.
</Flashback>
We all remember what happend before right? I fully expect the PSP to be a tech wet-dream, but with (I'm guessing) average play time close to 3-4h, a huge price tag, and gimicky "movie" features, I can't see the PSP gaining more than a devoted nich market, like the GG did. Granted, it will have considerably more resources behind it, but it really doesn't seem poised to become a market-saturating force like the GBA
"Cheeze it!" - Bender
I'll agree what I saw (I wasn't at E3, though) looked pretty cool, but I need to make this joke:
"the fast action of pinball mixed with the ancient art of Japanese warfare"
"Garcon! More genres!"
I have read from press statements that Sony intends the new PSP to be the "Walkman" for a new generation. Yet, from its specs it only stats to be able to play Sony atrac format. IMO not a good market strategy. The Walkman was succesful due to its ease of use and portability. Not being able to play music because of some obsure data incompatability will be hurtful for the PSP's music capabilities.
If Sony does not achieve its design goals for long battery life, music, movies, and lastly (and in their minds maybe least) game functionality. They might be able to tweak the components over time to extend the life of the system. The key will be whether it will be as easy to use and portable as the classic Walkman.
Based on the current specs (ie. no MP3), I don't see that happening.
Go Gusties
I dont know what's most dissapointing: your comment getting modded up just for bashing the xbox or nobody answering, so Im here to at least fix the later.
Its probably news to you, but the xbox is rising as the number 1 most sold console in america Is also the most powerful (technologically speaking) with the best online support and the easier to code with (for American publishers at least) so I have no idea what do you mean by "mistake" or "trying to do" their mistake is not being liked by Nintendo fans, Not featuring Mario or Zelda, uncontempt Ms bashers or what? Second MS has stated at least 1000 times they are just not interested in the portable market (because they are new to console developing) they have their hands full with the developing, maintenance and sales of xbox, xbox live, and the xbox 2 which is strategically being developed for the japanese\european market.
Oh yeah, just so you know, the team of people behind the xbox IS NOT the same people that created the dreaded Windows and Office software is a whole new division inside MS created by american industry professionals most of them from the PC game and device industry (ex nvidia, blizzard, ati, sierra employees to name a few). So if your only reason for hating xbox beyond reason is because you dont like Windows you are just barking at the the wrong tree pal. IF they would develop a portable xbox they would probably have a large problem on being accepted and developing for that media but then again so is sony. Mod this down as much as you want, that doesnt make it any less true and you know it.
Go ahead MOD my day!
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