Slashdot Mirror
Sony vs. Microsoft, Tortoise vs. Hare
Carl Bialik from WSJ writes "Was Microsoft smart to rush out the Xbox 360 or is Sony smarter to wait and load PlayStation 3 with the latest technology? The Wall Street Journal analyzes the opposing camps' strategies; the stakes are high, as 'the Xbox group has lost billions of dollars since its start five years ago and will continue to lose money if Sony trounces Microsoft.' Several expected Microsoft announcements today, besides 'Halo 3', are meant to deliver the message that the Xbox's head-start was an advantage: 'Microsoft will also demonstrate ways for mobile phones to link with its Xbox Live service, which allows Xbox 360 users to play games with each other over the Internet. Executives will also announce new games for the Xbox Live service and are negotiating a partnership to build a "massively multiplayer" game for Live that allows thousands of people to play each other over the Internet, say people familiar with the company's plans.'"
GNAA Announces Full Cybermilitary Support of the German Government
Mikhail Borovsky (GNAP) - Moscow, Russia - GNAA President timecop and Vice-President jesuitx held a press conference live via satellite from GNAA US HQ in Tarzana, CA where they announced full cybermilitary support of the German government following the German injunction against Wikipedia. From the German Wikipedia site at www.wikipedia.de,
This roughly translates as, "Dear friends and comrades, Wikipedia has been shut down as of January 17th, 2006 due to a court injunction by the government of Germany, due to extensive support by Wikipedia for the Jews and the state of Israel".
This type of support was made illegal in Germany in 1939 by the Berlin Pact, signed by Adolf Hitler and Josef Stalin. Angela Merkel, chancellor of Germany has announced that this injunction will not be lifted until Wikipedia stops supporting "Die Juden".
"We also feel this injunction came in due time, as Wikipedia is being overrun by articles pertaining to non-notable blogs with completely useless information (or "blogs"), which are also illegal in the Great Republic of Germany. We are pleased to receive the support of the Gay Niggers, as they have already declared war on the blogs, and know how to defeat this communist ideal before it can become a threat to freedom," said Mrs. Merkel.
About Germany
"Bundesrepublik Deutschland" was founded before the middle ages by the Visigoths. The government was non-notable per above until the late 1930's, when Germany underwent an extremely positive and successful cultural revolution. Today, Germany is a beacon for free economy and a land without Jews.
About GNAA:
GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) is the first organization which gathers GAY NIGGERS from all over America and abroad for one common goal - being GAY NIGGERS.
Are you GAY ?
Are you a NIGGER ?
Are you a GAY NIGGER ?
If you answered "Yes" to all of the above questions, then GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) might be exactly what you've been looking for!
Join GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) today, and enjoy all the benefits of being a full-time GNAA member.
GNAA (GAY NIGGER ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA) is the fastest-growing GAY NIGGER community with THOUSANDS of members all over United States of America and the World! You, too, can be a part of GNAA if you join today!
Why not? It's quick and easy - only 3 simple steps!
Talk to one of the ops or any of the other members in the cha
...Zonk only posts the pro-Xbox part in summary.
Did Microsoft give him free hardware to earn his loyalty, or does he just not want to have blown his cash on the second place finisher?
"build a "massively multiplayer" game for Live that allows thousands of people to play each other over the Internet,"
In other news, the Xbox 360 version of Final Fantasy XI has been on store shelves for several weeks now...
Sony vs. Microsoft , Tortoise vs. Snail... In a gunfight.
:)
There, I fixed it for you
I'm a fiscal conservative, it's a pity we don't have a political party anymore
"Microsoft will also demonstrate ways for mobile phones to link with its Xbox Live service, which allows Xbox 360 users to play games with each other over the Internet."
Playing games on cell phones with friends?
Sounds... N-GAGE'ing. Can't wait.
Never count them out. They've such a huge time lead and enormous resources, they'll eventually get it. And I think XBox 360 is when they do finally get.
...two hares having a fistfight on the starting line, while a friendly, unassuming tortoise toddles happily across the finish line.
While the race could go to either the tortoise or the hare, there is another animal in the contest: a dark horse. Nintendo Co. is rolling out its console, dubbed Wii, about the same time as PlayStation 3. The Japanese game maker has deliberately tried to stay out of the Microsoft-Sony battle by focusing on a younger audience than the others, forgoing the flash of cutting-edge graphics for easier-to-play games.
Frankly, the author fundamentally fails to understand what Nintendo is trying to accomplish with the Wii. While the young market is still decidedly one of Nintendo's target audiences, they're far more interested in tapping into the (possibly huge) mature non-gamer market. Virtually every piece of marketing we've seen for the Wii has showcased a primarily adult audience, including couples, the elderly, and other demographics that aren't generally associated with gaming.
If the author doesn't get this very, very fundamental aspect of what Nintendo is trying to do, you have to wonder just how deep his knowledge of the current next-gen fight is...
Obliteracy: Words with explosions
Classically, the mentions of good games in this article have to do with the manufacturers trying to reach thresholds at which game manufacturers will develop "their best games" and with Halo driving Xbox sales. The WSJ also manages this amazingly lame description of the Wii controller:
Yeah, it works just like a remote control. That's why it's a big deal. Gotta buy me one o' them fancy ree-motes.
(The WSJ is always an interestingly mannered read even in stylistic terms, isn't it? Phrases:
Arsy-versy sentences like that read like the "News... On the March!" half-parody newsreel at the beginning of Citizen Kane.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
The Sega Dreamcast was about as powerful in practice as the PS2, but got killed by hype. Microsoft realized that Sony can kill a good system simply through hype and is trying to build up mindshare and marketshare before the PS3 can come out. The fact that they are shooting for solid backward compatibility is a good thing, and Sega could no doubt have done better if they'd worked on providing a download service for old Sega games or at least had backward compatibility with Saturn and SegaCD.
As a fan of the DC, I hope Microsoft succeeds and whips the shit out of Sony this round.
Doesn't matter what either of these two overbloated behemoths do. Nintendo has already stolen the show at E3 and with its reported launch price of $250 and 27 available games on launch day it will trounce the PS3 and Xbox in both innovation, marketing and an all-around great and FUN system.
As long as I get my Tony Hawk and Final Fantasy games on the Wii I could really care less what these other two consoles do with themselves. I mean, the PS3 isn't even going to support HDMI (unless you wanna fork over $600 which I am definitely not doing).
And honestly, what in the hell is so great about Halo in the first place? I played Halo 1 on the PC and it was a "meh" game. It was fun for a little while but got incredibly repetitive and boring. Halo 2? Same story but with prettier graphics. Halo 3? OMGWTFBBQ graphics but those don't sell me. I demand gameplay.
I prefer talking about this generation as the Tortiose vs. the Hare vs. the Alien (as was used in another article). Personally I'm rooting for Alien (Nintendo) and so are most of my gamer friends even though we're skeptical about all of the companies chances.
Microsoft: It has little to no chance to make an impact in Japan and has yet to make that big of an impact in North America or Europe (and don't say this is because of shortages, if there were serious shortages you'd see sustained $1000 systems on eBay and you wouldn't find them in stores anywhere).
Sony: Sony is producing a multimedia powerhouse with some (stolen) unconventional input; as I've argued before (when people complained about the Wii's one handed controller) you can't do much with 6 axis control when your hands are together (try it, hold a book and rotate it in as many ways as you can, now try with a remote control) so I doubt the added features will be of much use. The big problem with the PS3 (in my opinion) is the Price; at $500 and $600 you're looking at 3 price cuts, and three years (if you average a price cut of $100 per year, which is pretty typical) before your average "casual" gamer is willing to buy your system.
Nintendo: Nintendo's biggest hurdle is whether the public will 'get-it'. Gamers in general understand what Nintendo is trying to do, and are either excited or at least happy that someone is trying something; I'm not so sure the Madden playing public will understand though. If you play 2-4 hours a week, and buy a game every couple of months are you going to be tired of the same crap that is being produced year after year? You can ask the same question of movies, are you better of making movies with greater acting/plot/direction or should you pack in as much special effects?
The article says the Wii controller "functions like a remote control." That alone should tell us exactly how seriously the WSJ took this one.
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
The Genesis came out years before the SNES but only amounted to a fraction of Nintendo's sales.
Poor journalism there, really.
Now, for the wider "console wars" struggle: Sony failed to show much of anything particularly impressive from their extra year of development. Graphically, things seem to have regressed since last year - perhaps since last year they were showing mocked-up CG rather than real footage. Gameplay-wise, they showed absolutely nothing new - an (admittedly pretty) God of War clone, a WWII shooter (with aliens!), and several racers do not make for exciting next-generation play. With their obscene price tag and the fact that they've no longer got a timed-exclusive hold on some big series, like GTA, they seem to be setting themselves up for a fall. They seem to be flailing for new ideas - the motion-sensing function of the controller was apparently tacked on only two or three weeks before E3.
I suspect that the 360 may begin to gain the upper hand, at least in the US, and possibly in Europe (where they're getting shafted even worse on the PS3 price - 599 Euros translates to some $760). I'm not sure how Japan will fare; from the sales to date, it seems that the 360 has little hope of taking a lead there, but the Wii may see significant success, bolstered by the DS' mindshare and popularity. There's also the classic "big console" issue - the PS3 is some 2 inches bigger than the original XBox, making it less attractive to Japanese consumers. Japan is generally very brand-loyal, but shifts have occured in the past - that is, after all, how Sony came to power. On a personal note, I find Sony's arrogance about the system's price (their executives have been quoted as saying that it's probably too cheap) to be faintly disgusting, too.
Apologies for the rambling.
--- Bwah?
For my money -- literally, for my money -- there is a price threshold beyond which brand loyalty will not win the consumer over. Between MS and Sony, I'm not sure who's proving this point with more determination right now. The sales figures for the 360 are maybe not as anemic as sometimes gets suggested, but this is a next-generation machine with a year's head start that is about to face competition for the first time; it'd be surprising if it suddenly became the "It" option. That wave broke last Christmas. Their time to gain marketshare without competition is almost over, and the PS2 is still outselling them. In Japan the dang Gamecube is beating the 360. Sony's attempt to "leverage" its console dominance into a Blu-ray DVD standards win is possibly going to sink the company.
(Meanwhile Nintendo has all the buzz in the world with a machine that's going to be significantly cheaper, still profitable [unlike the others' loss leaders], watchable on people's existing TVs without another $1500 expense, and actually a little bit different and kind of fun looking. Gee. How hard is this choice? For me, not at all.)
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
I have to hand it to MS this time around. While the initial Xbox was 'meh', the 360, launched almost a full year ahead of Sony, seems to me to be on equal footing with them this time around. Sure, the PS3 will have built in Blu-Ray (which IMO Sony has made a HUGE gamble on it being the proprietary format for next gen DVD), and a few other bells and whistles, it really has nothing a full year later then what you can't get with the 360. (Well, besides some half ass motion sensor controller thing...which, I can honestly say, I really am not that excited about).
Why I really think that the 360 will take this round in the console wars is going to be the Live service. Playing a game on the computer, see a bud come online on his 360, invite him to play with you? That is cool.
I was planning on buying the other 2 systems when they come out(my guilty pleasure, gaming. I own/ed pretty much all the consoles at one point or another), as my son and wife will love to play the Nintendo, and I am intrigued by the controller. But, with the outrageous price point of the PS3, and not alot of exclusive games that are must plays on the PS3 (actually... I can't think of one that I would want to play), there will be one more system on the shelves this holiday for someone else.
The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel...
consoles do not sell games... games sell consoles Whoever comes up with the next exclusive-to-particular-console-only GTA:SA or any other blockbuster seller will dominate the market.
...what matters is what you like, not what you are like...
I have a ps2. I had a ps one, so the ps2 was the obvious choice as it played the ps one games. It was also my first dvd player.
Now, next generation. I will probably choose the ps3, because it will play the older games.
MS basically is starting from scratch with most older games not working well.
Combine that and fact the old xbox costs more than it used to (forced bundle) as well as monthly fees to get the most out the xbox (xbox live). I don't think being first out will matter so much.
Dude, I got to say, I love your sig! I want to start my own party called, "the former republicans" or "the lonely moderates".
Microsoft has sold about five million consoles in eight months.
Citation please so I can tell whether that's "sold" to retailers or "sold" to end users.
Anyone who thinks "Playstation" was not by far the biggest name in consoles when the PS2 came out is confused. By comparison the Dreamcast came from a known name that had fallen on hard, hard times, and it never had anything like the name recognition of "Playstation."
"Fundamentalism" isn't about divine morality. It's about human authority.
Unless Sony is winning the hype war and 360 sales are in the toilet, Microsoft won't have any incentive to lower price.
So what happens if Nintendo wins the hype war? Is Microsoft counting on people having enough money to buy Xbox 360 in addition to Wii?
"...or is Sony smarter to wait and load..."
With Sony, someone's always waiting and loading.
The slate is always clean when you're the one holding the eraser -Newton Tenderfoot
mid-90s Flops: Laseractive (1993, $970/1268), 3DO (1993, $700/915), Atari Jaguar (1993, $250/327, company went under)
It's not an absolute rule, but releasing early was WILDLY successful for Sega's Genesis and Sony's Playstation, giving them access to an industry that they were previously all but unknown in. Dreamcast's failure was due to Sega falling apart, kind of like what happened to Atari's delayed and corporately ruined 7800.
Use my userscript to add story images to Slashdot. There's no going back.
Right now I can say why I'm looking forward to a 360 (right in time for the Christmas price drop) and eventually a Wii. Both MS and Nintendo seem to have a point, or a reason for doing what they're doing, whereas the PS3 seems very much like a case of 'I'll have what they're having'.
The Wii is clearly trying to try something completely new in terms of controllers. I mean, the thing is weird. New gameplay, new options, new styles. All good.
The 360 seems predicated on networking. Live is the best thing MS has going for that thing. They're getting a new influx of tiny designers coming up with weird and different things, possibly entering the market under the threshold of price. I blanch at coughing up $50 for a game, but hey, $5 isn't too bad. It's a heck of a lot easier to rationalize, that's for sure.
Sony doesn't seem to have a reason, other than Blue Ray, and that's not compelling to me. I admit I may not be their target audience, so hey. The controller seems like a pale imitation of the Wii and their networking setup isn't Live, not yet and perhaps not ever.
I know if I get a Wii, I'll have new game play. I know if I get a 360 I'll get new networking options on my console. I know if I get a 360, I'll have to buy a whole bunch of movies over again. Eh.
Sorry, I was just stating my opinion. Sorry that it didn't meet with you Halo fans. Trust me, if I were trolling I would at least make it funny.
Jesus. Speak your opinion and get blasted. Oh well, I should have expected as much.