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Gaming Gaffes of 2004

Posted by Zonk on from the just-makes-ya-wanna-spit dept.

jvm writes "It's about time for the "Best Games of 2004" articles to flood the web, and in preparation Curmudgeon Gamer has assembled Gaming Gaffes of 2004 (alternate link), a followup to our 2003 edition. This year we point to the the EA_spouse blog, the Driv3r review scandal, Sony's hardware missteps, and seven other less than impressive moments from the past year."

99 comments

  1. STEAM by satanami69 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    How about the Steam update from two days ago that disabled logins from Linux/Cedega users?

    --
    I really hate Dan Patrick.
    1. Re:STEAM by delus10n0 · · Score: 1, Flamebait

      Who cares. That will affect like, what.. 2 people?

      I'm running it in Windows XP and loving it. Not a complaint.

      Oh, and you might want to check the forums, this isn't some huge conspiracy against Cedega.

      --
      Not All Who Wander Are Lost
    2. Re:STEAM by Time+Doctor · · Score: 1

      It is Valve's fault when the windows emulation software you purchase breaks?

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      Check out ioquake3.org for a great, free, First-Person Shooter engine!
    3. Re:STEAM by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Did WINE break, or did Valve break WINE?

    4. Re:STEAM by delus10n0 · · Score: 1

      No worries, this person is just trolling. The issue is a non-issue.

      --
      Not All Who Wander Are Lost
    5. Re:STEAM by Vr6dub · · Score: 1

      How was this modded flamebait? If anything the parent post should be considered flamebait fo jumping to conclusions about Valve "banning" users.

    6. Re:STEAM by selsine · · Score: 1

      Well now it's 3 Interesting, it was probably modded troll becuase of the "I'm running it on Windows XP and loving it" comment.

      --
      I'm learning python
  2. alternate link by goeken · · Score: 1

    Glad the alternate link is there but it takes longer to load then the "correct" one. I suspose this will change once more people look at it. I would be interesting to see where the tripping point is.

  3. The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    ...the "acceptance" of gaming by the "mainstream". Why oh why did our precious hobby have to be compromised?

    1. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by UWC · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Probably so it could, you know, survive with the ever-increasing production costs of a single game.

      --
      Honor Among Slackers. A veri
    2. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Some of the best games I've ever played this year, like Katamari Damacy, were made on a small budget with very few developers. In fact, with the notable exception of Yu Suzuki's Shenmue, most big budget games have left me extremely cold.

    3. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't forget all those "jocks" lining up outside the "game store" to buy "Madden 2005," the "new" game where you play "football."

      There's no "emoticon" to describe my "anger."

    4. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by UWC · · Score: 1

      Until you have a good way to distribute console games from small developers (including the licensing fees involved for consoles), I think the unfortunate side effect is that better-selling lowest-common-denominator games are needed to support the publishers and keep game sections viable in larger chain stores.

      The problem I see continually lamented, though, is how royally the big publishers, especially US ones, apparently, do exploit the small development teams.

      Also notable is that Katamari Damacy's development, whch involved I think around 20 people (there's a postmortem feature in the current issue of Game Developer written mostly by the lead designer), was funded and supported the whole way through by Namco.

      --
      Honor Among Slackers. A veri
    5. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by UWC · · Score: 1

      I forgot to mention: Katamari Damacy's retail price is $20. Any game with its singular design focus and simplicity and purity of gameplay, which for you or me might be its biggest draw, would in the eyes of most people not be worth the standard $50 initial retail price of most games. I really doubt that even I would have bought it if it was $50, though I don't buy many other games at $50, either.

      --
      Honor Among Slackers. A veri
    6. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And why did production costs rise? To attract new customers from the non-gaming population, impress casual gamers who "expect more," and otherwise justify their own corporate growth.

      It's perfectly understandable, even if lamentable. There are plenty of companies who put out small-scale Japanese-style parallax shooters and s/rpg in Japan who can't survive year after year thanks to the big companies getting bigger and flooding the market with high multi-million FMV-ridden "blockbusters." We just don't know about them because their games never get noticed in the Western mainstream, due to the West's obsession with hype as a measure of game quality. It's to the point where only the enthusiasts of a particular genre even know that such games exist. It's worse than Hollywood, because the gaming industry's means of communicating releases are much smaller in scale than are at moviemakers' disposal.

    7. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, a lot of companies survive by putting out mass-market games and then divert some resources on more niche titles... Namco and Katamari, for one. But there are other developers (EA) who won't take a risk with anything...

      EA could use some of their clout to maybe bring over some obscure Japanese game or publish an innovative new title from a small developer, but they won't do anything that doesn't make them a big profit, which sickens me (along with a whole bunch of other stuff about that company).

      And there are still some developers who release nothing BUT niche games, but still manage to stay in business. I have no idea how Working Designs (Arc the Lad, Growlanser Generations - 2 games with antiquated 2D graphics and oldskool gameplay, small distribution, going at an expensive price, their games come out once every 3 years or so), or Natsume (Harvest Moon, Chulip) can stay alive, either, but by God I'm thankful for it!

    8. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by UWC · · Score: 1

      You've a good point there. Critics and high-prestige awards go very far to raise awareness about more obscure great movies. It's also a more mature industry with its own problems, and it still suffers from the multimillion-dollar blockbuster syndrome. It's amazing when a movie can be made for under $10 million, and that usually involves the actors working pro bono or at least at very reduced pay. Only the very fringe of independent films are made for less than $1 million, and hey, those aren't even guaranteed great (see: Blair Witch Project), though some do stand out, like this year's Primer, a very confusing sci-fi movie shot for $7000, which I assume means that it was a done-in-one's-spare-time type of deal, as equipment alone would have approached that price.

      And being more well-established, movies get much more airtime (as you mentioned) and artistic acceptance. You don't see a Roger Ebert analog every weekend reviewing games on ABC. Instead, we have... G4/TechTV, where the only reasonably palatable game coverage is X-Play. Sure, there are myriad web sites dedicated to gaming, but that's still a small subset of gamers that utilize such sites for recommendations. And as for televised gaming awards? Apparently that thing on SpikeTV is all we can expect for now.

      --
      Honor Among Slackers. A veri
    9. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by generic-man · · Score: 2, Informative

      Strangely, only the American retail price for Katamari Damacy was $20. The Japanese original retailed for about 4000 yen (about $38), a discount from the normal 6980 yen price (about $66) (really) for new games. It's now available in a best sellers edition for about 2400 yen, bringing it closer to the American retail price.

      In fact, Katamari Damacy now costs less in Japan than the Katamari Damacy Soundtrack CD, which amazon.co.jp will sell you for about 2900 yen or $28 American.

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      For more information, click here.
    10. Re:The biggest gaffe of 2004.... by Fred+Or+Alive · · Score: 1

      I somehow think if it gets released in the UK, it'll be at GB£20, which at the current exchange rate would be something like UD$40. Games companies love to screw us with prices. Then again it's been going on for years...

      Then again neither Amazon.co.uk or Play.com seem to have heard of the games, so it probably won't be an issue anyway (although I am safe in the knowledge UK PS2ers can play Metal Slug 3, whilst SCEA rejected it in the US).

      --
      10 PRINT "LOOK AROUND YOU ";
      20 GOTO 10
  4. One of the most important.. by mavi_yelken · · Score: 1, Informative

    Manhunt playing kids getting murdered!

  5. Doom 3 sucked! by supabeast! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nice to see another person pointing out that Doom 3 was a hit sleeper -- it was a huge hit that put us all to sleep. Too bad he didn't also point out all the shining reviews given to id Software's latest over-hyped tech demo.

    And on the topic of FPS games with issues, how could he have forgotten all of the copyright stupidity surrounding Half-Life 2, the game that required online authentication, the CD/DVD to be in the drive, and to top it off, the authentication servers weren't built to handle the number of games that actually shipped at launch! Now THAT is a fiasco!

    1. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by bairy · · Score: 1
      Someone I know made a cracking point about that after I managed to download a fully cracked version of half life 2 - no auth needed, no cd needed. He said "so the ones that go legal get punished AGAIN while the cheap bastards [i.e. me] get it easy".

      Which reminds me of a missing goof.. the sims 2 (and other games) conflict with cd writing software.

      --


      Get paid to search..It's geniune and
    2. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by secolactico · · Score: 1

      I think we should qualify that one as "copy protection stupidity" instead of "copyright stupidity".

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      No sig
    3. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Rainbow Six 3 also goes on that list, or at least I remember reading something like that.

      - [Andrew Nagy]

    4. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by fondue · · Score: 1

      By using the term 'tech demo' you've immediately flagged that you don't know what you're talking about. Presumably you refer to previous Id games as tech demos. So all the millions of people who have played countless hours of their games and penned almost universally positive press about them for the last decade are just bedazzled hardware nerds. Of course.

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    5. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      I liked Doom 3. It's a very basic FPS shooter with state of the art graphics, not the second coming of Christ :) As long as you're fine with that, it's a fun game.

    6. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by SetupWeasel · · Score: 1

      Yes, because they are all the same game. I want Id to make something new and deserve the "accolades" they get from the media.

    7. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm still mystified by all the abuse heaped on Doom 3 on slashdot. It did exactly what it set out to do; it was a scary, immersive shooter, with a better plot (through the PDAs) and longer play-time than most of the other recent major fpses (including Half-Life 2). It never promised to be an all-singing, all-dancing, world-spanning epic with drivable vehicles, full-scale war-zones and the moon on a stick.

      I guess "Doom 3 sucks" has just become part of the (usually erroneous) slashdot-games horde-mentality along with "OMG NINTENTO R0CKS!", "GOOD GAMES DON'T HAVE GOOD GRAPHICS" and "REAL RPGS ARE TEXT ONLY!!!!!"

    8. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by Minna+Kirai · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Yes, because they are all the same game.

      No they're not. Generously, I could agree that Wolfenstein to Quake2 were the same (in singleplay), and that Quake to Quake3 were the same (multiplay)... but Doom3 is different (and worse!) from any of their previous games.

      It contains far less entertaining gameplay, so in this case the tech-demo accusation is almost accurate (except that it's a bad demo too, of course... no one can watch a demonstration in pitch darkness)

    9. Re:Doom 3 sucked! by Pxtl · · Score: 1

      Well, while Doom, Q1, and Q2 were complete games, Q3 didn't really feel *finished*. It was pretty much a skeleton of a game. After all, it was Q2 DM, but with more maps and models, a smaller and less versatile weaponspread, and the entire SP game just *poof* gone. I think my reaction to it was the same as most: "is this all there is?". If you're gonna release a multiplayer-oriented game like that, at least give the players good bang for their buck - hell, I'm still playing UT '99.

      So yeah, Q3 did feel like a tech demo.

  6. It's still 2004... by hal2814 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ...so I'm going to have to vote for the NFL and NFLPA giving Madden an exclusive license. I don't think that gaffe will be realized this year, but it will in years to come.

    1. Re:It's still 2004... by evilmousse · · Score: 1


      I agree, this, though its' impact isn't felt yet, will have the most impact, of all I've read here. I'm eagerly anticipating sega's reaction, and I hope its' as good as midway's.

    2. Re:It's still 2004... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Korea, only old people are tired of Soviet Russia and Korea jokes. you.

    3. Re:It's still 2004... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The worst gaffe *has* to be the Madden 2005 bug where by shifting offense formations, you tire out the defense. Shame on the NFL for giving EA an exclusive license!!!

  7. #3 on the list... by Psmylie · · Score: 1
    The Sony HDD thing really did do a lot to piss off a lot of Square fans... The only thing preventing the launch of FFXI in the US was that damned hard drive, which Sony kept delaying. Considering that getting Square on board in the early days was such a huge boost to the original Playstation's success, you'd think that Sony would be a little more thoughtful of the fans that gave them that success, and mindful of what happens when a content developer with a huge following gets annoyed enough to jump platforms (like Square did with Nintendo... over hardware issues, amongst other things, IIRC).

    And now, their "new and improved" PS2 (sorry, PStwo, or as I like to call it, PoS Too) doesn't even support the damned drive. If you play FFXI on the PS2, you'd better pray your old console never dies, or you're out of luck.

    --

    psmylie's dictionary: Godzillion (noun) Any number large enough to destroy Tokyo

    1. Re:#3 on the list... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Oooo, you know what? You could always just buy a fucking PC and shut up about the damned PS2 hard drive!

      The PS2 has had what, 70 million sales worldwide? FFXI has what, 550,000 subscribers total? That means that out of all PS2 owners, a total of 0.78% - less than 1% - actually wanted the hard drive to play Final Fantasy XI.

      Except, of course, that there's the PC port, so some number of the 0.25 million figure don't care about the PS2. So the actual figure is even less.

      The hard drive was never a success. Yes, it sucks if you play Final Fantasy XI, but Sony shouldn't be expected to bend over backwards for a game made by Square-Enix. The move makes sense for Sony. Sorry, Square-Enix, but that's the price you pay for being the only one using an accessory.

    2. Re:#3 on the list... by delus10n0 · · Score: 1

      Square needs to just ditch the console world completely and code for the PC. Better graphics, more storage and wide internet support can only be _good_ things.

      --
      Not All Who Wander Are Lost
    3. Re:#3 on the list... by falcon5768 · · Score: 1
      Unfortunatly you fail to see the point that the game was coded FOR THE PS2.

      In FFXI its the PC players who are the tack on at the end. The PS2 version was released months ahead of the PC version in Japan where PC gaming is not nearly as big as it is in the US. They only have the numbers now because more PS2 users play than PC users, which personally I think is much more inovative than they get credit for. Not everyone has the money to blow on a 600 PC with the requirements to play it, but 250 for a PS2 and the game is a lot easier to swallow, and while maybe isnt as detailed actually suffers from less lag due to detail than its PC version.

      --

      "Slashdot, where telling the truth is overrated but lying is insightful."

    4. Re:#3 on the list... by Qrlx · · Score: 1

      and one tenth the customers. Sounds like a solid business plan to me.

    5. Re:#3 on the list... by Rico_Suave · · Score: 1

      They never gave the hard drive a chance to be a success... how long was it out before Sony chopped it's legs off by announcing the PSTwo?

    6. Re:#3 on the list... by SetupWeasel · · Score: 4, Informative

      Sony promised customers and Square that they would support the HDD with a "Virtual Jukebox" at the very least. You know... so people wouldn't spend the extra $50 for the PS2 version for nothing. Sony didn't make any games for it, didn't keep any of their promises for it, and decided it wasn't worth supporting.

      Square stepped up to the plate for the HDD. Sony kicked them in the nuts and ran away. That's enough to make a "gaffe of 2004" without even considering the consumer.

      If you ever wonder why Square can't seem to complete Final Fantasy XII and are buddies with Nintendo again, this may be the reason, at least in part.

    7. Re:#3 on the list... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I was just going to ignore this, but someone modded it up. According to your link, no, Sony did not promise those features. At one point they said they expected them to be available, but they never actually promised them.

      No one I talked to really wanted the hard drive. When they found out that Final Fantasy XI, a game that no one I know wanted to play on the PS2 was bundled with a $100 accessory, that sealed the deal. The "jukebox" features were never compelling enough to justify a $100 accessory. Now if they hadn't bundled FFXI and sold it for $70 or whatever, then I may have been more willing to pay for it. But the absurd price (an 80GB drive costs like $80 these days, I'm not paying $100 for a 40GB drive) kept most people from buying it, especially when there was no compelling reason to.

      But it doesn't matter. None of this actually matters. All that above? Doesn't matter.

      YOU CAN STILL GET THE OLD PS2 AND USE THE HARD DRIVE WITH IT.

      If you want the hard drive, get an old-style PS2 and a PS2 hard drive. You're all set.

      If you want a smaller form factor and a bundled network adapter but don't care about the hard drive, then get the new PStwo.

      There's no reason to complain about the hard drive being incompatible with the new-style PS2 unless you're only looking for another thing to bitch about how evil Sony is.

    8. Re:#3 on the list... by SetupWeasel · · Score: 1

      Read my post. It is about Square, Sony, and the fact one kicked the other in the nuts. Since you obviously didn't read my post, I won't spoil the surprise by telling you who kicked who.

    9. Re:#3 on the list... by unclethursday · · Score: 1
      YOU CAN STILL GET THE OLD PS2 AND USE THE HARD DRIVE WITH IT.

      For now. Sony has already, or soon will switch to just production of the PSTwo. After all, it's cheaper to produce, and they're charging the same amount of money for it.

      So, fairly soon, the old PS2 model will only be found on shelves when they haven't sold because the new one is selling more.

      The lack of compatibility with the HDD doesn't phase me, since I don't have it, but for my friends who do... well, if their PS2 dies for any reason (not hard to imagine), they may not be able to get a replacement that will work with the HDD.

    10. Re:#3 on the list... by SetupWeasel · · Score: 1

      The point I was trying to make is not that it phases you too much, but Square, one of the companies that built this PlayStation empire for Sony, should be fucking LIVID.

      and probably are.

  8. How about the fact... by Alkaiser · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That it's still 2004 and there's a X of 2004 List already coming out.

    If you want to make a list that truly encompasses the Best/Worst of a Year, wait until the following year.

    --
    Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
    1. Re:How about the fact... by Quinn · · Score: 1

      Yeah, wtf?? Only 96% of the year is over. Who do they think they are??

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      #19845
    2. Re:How about the fact... by Alkaiser · · Score: 1

      Have you ever seen the results for the IDSA awards? Every year they end up giving the majority of the awards to games that were released the week before. Why? Becuase it's fresh on your mind. When people are writing this stuf up, they need to wait a couplt weeks into the new year...breathe, and then see what they can honestly remember about the year past...not the 10 most important things that happened 2 seconds ago. That's the true test of historical significance, right? How important it proved to be over time. So take a small amount of time before whatever period you're reporting on is over, and THEN go over what truly stands out.

      --
      Netjak.com independent reviews of domestic & import video ga
  9. Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    I'm sick and tired about how people keep on complaining that the new PStwo doesn't support the hard drive. Who cares? Apparently a vocal few care, but I have yet to hear of anyone who wanted both the hard drive and the PStwo, only people who already have a PS2 and hard drive complain.

    The hard drive was used in how many games? Best count I got was 3: the always-mentioned Final Fantasy XI, Resident Evil Outbreak, and SOCOM II. There is a total of one game that requires it: Final Fantasy XI.

    So, you have a $100 accessory that's only required by one game, and that has had less than stellar sales in the marketplace. Other games that use it don't require it and few people feel like spending $100 on a totally optional feature. (Especially because in the SOCOM II case, it was only useful if everyone else you played with also had it.)

    Ultimately, this leaves Square and Final Fantasy XI fans out in the cold. Except, not really, because 1) anyone who wanted to play the game should already have gotten it by now, 2) you can still get the old PS2 and hard drives, and, of course, 3) you can still play it on the PC.

    So I'm left with "who cares?" It's not that big a deal. The hard drive was never that popular anyway and it really doesn't make any sense for Sony to waste space on a new version of a console for an accessory few people want.

    1. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Rico_Suave · · Score: 2

      "The hard drive was used in how many games? Best count I got was 3: the always-mentioned Final Fantasy XI, Resident Evil Outbreak, and SOCOM II. There is a total of one game that requires it: Final Fantasy XI."

      And Sony has insured that no more games will take advantage of it, either. Maybe if they weren't so short-sighted, more developers would have been willing to make the HD a must-have accessory.

    2. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      How many games on the XBox took advantage of the hard drive that came standard? How many of them could work without a hard drive? Ever consider that the hard drive was never a compelling feature anyway? The (standard) XBox 2 won't be containing one, after all...

    3. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by hunterx11 · · Score: 1
      Actually, Halo took pretty good advantage of the hard drive. Saved SP games in Halo record the entire game state. You can load a saved game in seconds (faster than you can load a new game), but each saved game takes up about a fourth of a memory card. Halo 2 is going to have downloadable maps, and already they've discreetly released a minor bugfix. Sure, that's just two games, but face it, that's all a lot of people play on Xbox. I literally bought Xbox soley for those two games.

      Mainly I think the XBox 2 won't have a hard drive so there's less incentive to mod it.

      --
      English is easier said than done.
    4. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      And Sony has insured that no more games will take advantage of it, either.

      What about RPG Maker 3 then?
    5. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by MasterOfMagic · · Score: 1

      The hard drive was used in how many games? Best count I got was 3: the always-mentioned Final Fantasy XI, Resident Evil Outbreak, and SOCOM II. There is a total of one game that requires it: Final Fantasy XI.

      While technically not a game, don't forget the Linux kit for the PlayStation 2. Perhaps the best accessory that I have for the machine. It comes with a hard drive, network adapter, but it's sold out in North America and Japan, AND it doesn't work in the new PStwo. Damn shame, in my opinion.

    6. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by generic-man · · Score: 1

      Every game that supports saving supports the hard drive.

      If nothing else, it makes the Xbox ($150) slightly cheaper than the PS2 ($150 + $20 memory card) if you're interested in saving your progress in games.

      --
      For more information, click here.
    7. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Since reading is apparently not people's strong suite on Slashdot, I'm going to repeat this:

      How many of them could work without a hard drive?

      The point being that you could easily save without a hard drive. Most of the features people have brought up could work without a hard drive using a memory card, or could be redesigned to work with the limitations of a memory card vs a hard drive without loss of gameplay features.

      Also, don't forget that the XBox is sold at a loss. So it being cheaper is mostly an illusion, made possible by Microsoft's large coffers.

    8. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by generic-man · · Score: 1

      Don't insult my English comprehension and then misspell "suit." It's four letters long.

      I'd rather have an eight gigabyte hard drive bundled with the console instead of paying $20 or more for eight megabytes of PlayStation 2 storage. I don't care if it's Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, or whoever that makes the console; the point is that the Xbox is cheaper (if you want to save games) than the PlayStation, and cheaper is better.

      The GameCube is cheaper still, but its memory cards are laughably small. Wasn't the first GameCube memory card something like $15 for 512 kilobytes?

      --
      For more information, click here.
    9. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Golias · · Score: 1

      How many games on the XBox took advantage of the hard drive that came standard?

      Damn near all of them. Next question.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

    10. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Context not your cup of tea, then?

      We're talking about the PS2 hard drive, and how almost no game in existance, including those made of the XBox, really require a hard drive. The PS2 already has a way to save games. That's not a compelling reason to get a hard drive.

      In other words, there's no reason to bitch about how Sony stopped supporting a hard drive that almost no one wanted. There's really only one game that requires it: Final Fantasy XI.

      The PS2 hard drive was never a compelling enough feature for that console to make it worth the cost ($100). It makes sense not to bother supporting something that some insanely small fraction of PS2 users actually use when supporting it would completely destroy the form factor they're trying for in the PStwo.

      Not to mention that it's not like people can't still get an older-style PS2 and slap a PS2 hard drive into that. There's no real reason to complain about dropping support for an under-utilized accessory, especially when you can still use it.

      But that hasn't stopped people from complaining about the hard drive or the iLink port support being removed, despite the fact that almost no one used them.

    11. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      God, I'm going to burn through all my posts today responding to idiots.

      The next question was: How many of them could work without a hard drive?

      It was right there in the freaking post. Care to answer it? The implied alternative is the use of the existing PS2 memory card, in case you can't figure that out on your own.

      The final question was "Ever consider that the hard drive was never a compelling feature anyway?" keeping in mind that this question is referring to the hard drive in the context of the PS2 and not the XBox.

    12. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Golias · · Score: 1

      The next question was: How many of them could work without a hard drive?

      It was right there in the freaking post. Care to answer it?

      Would work? Most of them. Would match the feature set? None of them.

      The final question was "Ever consider that the hard drive was never a compelling feature anyway?" keeping in mind that this question is referring to the hard drive in the context of the PS2 and not the XBox.

      The Sony Hard Drive would have been a compelling feature had it ever been properly implemented. It's certainly a compelling feature of the X-Box, where it was.

      Since it was not, PS2 game designers built their games around this shortcoming of the platform, resulting in it not being a compelling feature (because most PS2 games do not take advantage of it.)

      The point which most people complain about is that the PS2 HD fiasco represented a missed opportunity. There's a lot of cool things which game designers could have done with a Sony PS2 HD.

      --

      Information wants to be anthropomorphized.

    13. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by generic-man · · Score: 1

      Have you ever used a program that needs to save more than eight megabytes of data at once? Do you consider a 2 MB file to be "large"?

      Some games, such as sports games and even Halo 2, can benefit from using a hard drive for prebuffering or saving large amounts of intermediate data. Sony did not allow developers this luxury when they abandoned their hard drive plans. Microsoft did, and many games took advantage.

      Or perhaps you'd like to return to the idea of storing binary patches (as for SOCOM II / PS2) on an extraordinarily expensive memory card.

      I'm sorry, but that's the last I'll say on this topic. You can Paypal me $20 to continue so I can buy another memory card.

      --
      For more information, click here.
    14. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wait, you'd be willing to spend $100 on a hard drive, but you're too cheap to spend $20 on a memory card? (Or less, if you don't care about the Sony logo.)

      One of the other points here was that the PS2 hard drive was overpriced, too. (Possibly because it came bundled with a $50 game. If the hard drive cost $50, people might have actually bought them.)

      Besides, I don't know about you, but I don't really like the concept of having to drag my console over to my friend's house to play my saves on his console. See, I rather like grabbing a game, dumping the memory card into the convient slot in the game case, and taking just that over. Lugging the entire console over seems kind of... pointless.

    15. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you for your reply. Please send me $20 to continue this discussion.

    16. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by unclethursday · · Score: 1
      Some games, such as sports games and even Halo 2, can benefit from using a hard drive for prebuffering or saving large amounts of intermediate data. Sony did not allow developers this luxury when they abandoned their hard drive plans. Microsoft did, and many games took advantage.

      Many took advantage of it on the Xbox? Like what games? I can think of a handfull that do, and the vast majority do not... or are those 10-30 second load screens on most games for the Xbox actually shorter than they should be?

      Most games on the Xbox, INCLUDING Microsoft first party games do not support the hard drive in the Xbox in the way that Microsoft hyped up, mainly caching to reduce load times. More games in the past year or so have, than before... but, overall, it isn't "many games" that support the caching. I can think of maybe 10 that do, out of-- what?-- a couple hundred games?

      Granted, Sony allowed even less opportunity for developers to utilize the HDD, but when Microsoft doesn't even support the hard drive in the Xbox in the way they hyped up, I think that maybe people over-estimate what developers are willing to do with something like a hard drive in a console.

    17. Re:Enough about the stupid PS2 Harddrive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thank you for your reply. Please send me $20 to continue this discussion.

  10. I Nominate... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Battlefield Vietnam for it's patches that left every player in complete bewilderment, (Still no fixes for the most obivious of bugs, heavy machine guns with sniper rifle accuracy, no flight ceilings, no practical AA, etc...)

  11. Deus Ex Invisible War by CryptoKiller · · Score: 3, Insightful

    A stunning first game and a buggy, glitchy, bastardized, neutered sequel.

    Please someone let Warren Spector make the Deus Ex sequel he actually wished to make!

    Stop ruining potentially good games to make them run on consoles...

    1. Re:Deus Ex Invisible War by Luigi30 · · Score: 1

      Uh... didn't you know? That WAS the game he wanted to make. He himself said that console shooters were the wave of the future or something.

      --
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    2. Re:Deus Ex Invisible War by Txiasaeia · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Metroid Prime 1 & 2 proved that console shooters *work* (this coming from a PC gamer since Wolfenstein and Blake Stone 3D ;) ), but Deus Ex 2 is an atrocity. If he let Retro handle Deus Ex 3, I'm sure it would be *much* better.

      --
      Condemnant quod non intellegunt.
    3. Re:Deus Ex Invisible War by Lisandro · · Score: 1

      I don't know... i remember some early DX:IW screenshots that looked incredible and NOTHING like the final product; it made my mouth salivate (perhaps someone has the link; it had a couple of aliens and persons in what semeed a basement with stone walls). The interface looked the same of DX, with minor diferences.

      Thing is, the game, despite some technical flaws, was dumbed down just for consoles, and the same interface was kept in the PC version. I don't know, like console players get headaches when they think or something. Unified ammo? Please. I seriously doubt Warren Spector had much saying in the final form of the game.

      Oh well, it's all water under the bridge now; i'm waiting for BioShock to be published.

    4. Re:Deus Ex Invisible War by TheLoneDanger · · Score: 2, Informative

      Absolutely Deus Ex Invisible War was a HUGE fuckup. They had what could've been a hugely profitable franchise with more sequels. They showed off some screenshots that were stunningly pretty. Fans (myself included) were rabid for this game.

      And then... the demo released. It ran so incredibly poorly and with settings geared towards the Xbox version (which seems to have been the project lead) that entire forums were filled with tips on getting just the DEMO to run properly. Instead of gamers clamouring for more (ala Battlefield 1942), they had die-hard fans of the original swearing to never go near the game and new players wondering what the fuss was about in the first place. Xbox owners never cared in the first place and it showed in the sales figures. Harvey Smith (lead designer) eventually quit Ion Storm Austin, and so did Warren Spector. Ion Storm Austin is now just a hollow shell. Most of this can be attributed to the decision to design the game around the limitations of the Xbox. One decision may have cost millions of dollars from future games and gutted an entire dev studio, as well as tarnishing the names of 2 respected game designers (Smith and Spector). That definitely deserves to be on the list.

      --

      "But I trust in the people's capacity for reflection, rage and rebellion." -Oscar Olivera
  12. GRAN TURISMO 4 Where are you?!?! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I don't play very many games, but one of the games I love is Gran Turismo. I have been salivating over GT 4 for years now. If they would have never told me it was going to be out in 2003, I would never have had to be disappointed over and over again. Why promise the game, even saying it had gone GOLD, if you are only going to let down the most die hard fans? I love GT 3, but I stopped playing it in 2003 to get ready for GT 4... doah!

    I don't care if it has an online mode, honestly! I just want the new tracks and cars!! I don't even care if the graphics and sound are better than 3! Honestly, just update the tracks and cars and I will buy this game over and over again!

    Sweet jesus, I need another GT to come out!

  13. No DDR for Gamecube by Qrlx · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The biggest failing is no Dance Dance Revolution for GameCube.

    Come on, GameCube is supposedly the "kid's choice" but we're not gonna provide kids with the one video game that has the redeeming quality of making you get your fat ass off the freakin' couch.

    Ooh, Thet get Donkey Kong Bongos instead. What a joke.

    1. Re:No DDR for Gamecube by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Mad Catz has "MC Groovz", a DDR-styled game with a pad for the GCN...

    2. Re:No DDR for Gamecube by Headcase88 · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yeah, the only reason I bought a PS2 was so I could play DDR. No joke.

      I haven't played Donkey Konga yet. I don't think any rental store bothers with special controller games.

      --
      "When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
    3. Re:No DDR for Gamecube by Derkec · · Score: 1

      Yeah, for my wife and I DDR was the killer app for the PS2. I would have been happy and stayed with only a cube if DDR came out for it.

    4. Re:No DDR for Gamecube by InfinityWpi · · Score: 1

      Don't diss the bongos. Great fun in groups, and even my 13-month-old can play. Not -well-... but he can pretend he is!

    5. Re:No DDR for Gamecube by Qrlx · · Score: 1

      Okay, I won't dis the bongos, but may I dis you for getting your year-old son addicted to Nintendo?

  14. Re:Just a test by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Told you so, you should have ignored the message!

  15. Re:Just a test by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    But I did!

  16. Re:Just a test by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

  17. Cheapskates too by CsiDano · · Score: 1

    One more thing to add to the list, what is up with game CDs comming in envelopes now? WTF? I fork out an average of $59 per game and they take away the cases and replace them with cheap assed envelopes. I can appreciate that they were cheaping out on boxes because smaller boxes are much better than those old skool monstrosities but the new cost cutting measure just pisses me off.

    --
    piss off
    1. Re:Cheapskates too by Trepalium · · Score: 1

      I suppose we should be thankful that most games still ship with a basic instruction manual. It's only a matter of time before they decide to skimp on that, too, and make it a crummy PDF on the CD/DVD instead.

      --
      I used up all my sick days, so I'm calling in dead.
    2. Re:Cheapskates too by CsiDano · · Score: 1

      That is exactly what happened with HalfLife 2. There is no manual that came with it. Just a card for the main keys and 5 CDs in envelopes.

      --
      piss off
    3. Re:Cheapskates too by Yer+Mom · · Score: 1
      Just about everything in the UK is in a standard DVD case now. I'd forgotten how much I hated those envelopes until a friend got me Doom 3 for my birthday.

      My addition to the list is software that gets in a snit because it doesn't like what else you've got installed on your machine (which is, after all, your property).

      "Oh, I don't like that DVD emulation software, so I'm not going to run. Waah, waah." Up yours, bucko. Especially when what you're calling DVD emulation software is just a region code remover for video DVDs.

      So, now you have all the legit purchasers searching for no-CD cracks - and how many of them are just going to head straight for the warez copy next time, rather than put up with the hassle?

      Foot. Gun. Bangbangbang.

      --
      Never mind Spamassassin. When's Spammerassassin coming out?
  18. Come on... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    What about Steam/HL2? There are plenty of graffes with this scheme, the release, and the game.

    For one thing you have to register just to play single player, even if you legally purchased the CD/DVD. Just one more step from us not really owning our software purchases, and giving profit hungry companies even more power and control.

    The day they were suppose to unlock the game was a mess, lots of people not being able to play the games they purchased. Also these problems lasted beyond the initial unlocking date. While understandable for an MMORPG, it isn't for a single player game, especially if you bought it retail.

    Then there is Valve's decision of requiring users to register Steam. Wouldn't be surprised if Value did this with money on their mind, what better way to get people to be registered with your distribution scheme then to force them register?

    And then there is HL2, with people having problems with stuttering sound, graphical glitches, a map not loading, and people getting motion sickness apparently due to the frames per second greatly dropping in places. And these problems such as the audio and FPS affected even those with high end systems, a lot of them were something you would think they would have found when testing and corrected before relase. While I can understand the obscure bug on a rare video card that hardly anyone has, this wasn't the case.

  19. Doom 3 didnt suck!!! by Seraphim_72 · · Score: 1

    It was just an overpriced Demo for your hardware.

    Sera

    --
    Slashdot, where armchair scientists get shouted down and armchair theologians get modded up.
  20. Lucky you by koi88 · · Score: 1


    It was just an overpriced Demo for your hardware.

    For many people it was an overpriced memo that says they need new hardware...

    --

    I don't need a signature.
  21. Re:Are the levels going to be the same? by jonwil · · Score: 1

    I dont understand why the PC game companies dont just put everything into DVD type cases (like they have for the XBOX and Playstation 2 and GameCube).
    For things that have too much stuff (e.g. multiple disks) to fit into the DVD case, do what they do with DVD box sets for TV and put them into cases like that.
    Get rid of the !@##!@@#! waste of space boxes.

  22. Re:Are the levels going to be the same? by scotta451 · · Score: 1

    that's exactly what they do here in Europe. even the PC stuff is in a DVD case. Purrrrfect.

  23. WoW jab at the end wasn't really fair by DigitalDemon617 · · Score: 1

    Nor really a gaffe. Did they underestimate the demand? Yes. Did they double their server count on the first day? Yes. And then they game people extra free time to compensate for it. Hardly one of the biggest gaffes of the year. It wasn't even like the Half Life 2/Steam server issue, the game was still playable, and I never had to wait for long in a queue line, and even those were gone after like 2 days, and only existed during prime time.

    1. Re:WoW jab at the end wasn't really fair by DigitalDemon617 · · Score: 1

      *gave people extra time /. needs a post edit feature.

  24. Aziz! Light! by ColonBlow · · Score: 1

    One of the biggests gaffes this year has to be the inability to hold a friggin flashlight and a gun at the same time. Doom 3 doesn't show it, but aparently your crack marine only has one arm.

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    1. Re:Aziz! Light! by Dizzle · · Score: 1

      Depending on his weapon, realistically he'd only have 0 free arms.

      --
      -Dizzle
      "I most likely AM so interested in myself."
    2. Re:Aziz! Light! by ColonBlow · · Score: 1

      if only in the distant future they had some way of attaching a penlight to a gun. I guess they got sidetracked by teleportation.

      --
      free online diet tracking.
  25. Re:Are the levels going to be the same? by chrish · · Score: 1

    Not exactly "hard-core" games, but the Nancy Drew adventure games my wife loves have been coming in standard DVD cases for the past couple of games.

    She's been ordering them off eBay though, since they're released about six months earlier in the US than in Canada for no apparent reason.

    --
    - chrish