Slashdot Mirror
Game Industry Folks Siding With the Wii
Gamasutra's semi-regular feature taking the pulse of folks in the game industry turns its attention this week to the PS3 and Wii launches. From the comments submitted to the site, it seems that many industry vets are generally more excited about the Wii than with Sony's offering. From the article: "'Definitely a Wii (already pwii-ordered). The price point of the PS3 and the lack of enticing launch titles makes me as interested in a PS3 as I am interested in getting a root canal.' — Ryan Conlon, Gearbox Software. 'I am buying a Wii because Sony is too arrogant, from their dev tools to the price point.' — Ed O'Tey, Electronic Arts. 'Wii — pre-ordered. I applaud the attempt to expand and explore game interaction with the Wii. I will not be purchasing a PS3.' — Jim Perkins, EA Canada"
It probably has something to do with Nintendo trying to do things in a new way, while Sony/MS are "just" doing the things they do better. Novelty and originality does count.
Blah blah sig blah blah blah irony blah blah
I'm getting nintendo solely because the effort required to get a PS3 was analagous to a real life game of Dead Rising.
The standard post the people bring up when ever we start drooling over the Wii (and we do drool a bit)is that is is "all about games".
Well, when people that are involved in making the games express prefference on the Wii, I sorta feel compeled to think that the Wii will have more games (and more importantly, a diverse selection).
the anounced titles for the next year (Wii vs PS3) has be interested in 3 games coming out on the PS3, and about 10 games on the Wii.
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
.... I can see that "many game industry experts" also like posting as Annonymous Cowards as well! (Disclaimer: I love the Wii and will be buying one long before a PS3, but if they're saying "here's a list of game industry experts" they should get rid of the ones who won't post their names. Sheesh.)
Literally. Didn't they lose some redonkulous amount of money this year due to PS3 R&D? I mean, overall as a company in previous years the gaming department was the only thing keeping Sony afloat, then they go and spend all that money on a system that the industry doesn't even back. Not to mention that the XBox 360 is poised to take Sony's spot in Japan, due to the insanely low price point of the system. Can I get a netcraft troll to confirm it?
Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
Show the gamers a game that makes good use of HD-DVD or Blu-Ray and they may buy some of the hype. Until then, all glory to Nintendo.
-Now I may be an idiot, but there is one thing I am not sir, and that, sir, is an idiot.
Since there's going to be plenty of Wiis available, there's little incentive to camp out for one to make a quick buck on eBay.
Ita erat quando hic adveni.
Jab at MS: I tried to pre-order but every store I went to said that after the Xbox360 scandal they've ditched pre-orders almost all together.
I believe you'll find your answer here.
Work sucked, until it became unemployment, when it became slightly more tolerable. -Tet
Well, that settles it. We'd better ignore the comments from Ubisoft, Activision, GarageGames, Full Sail, and other reputable shops. EA is there, so they spoil it for everyone.
Javascript + Nintendo DSi = DSiCade
It depends on what you want. If you are looking for certain titles, you will be getting a specific console. If you are looking for the MOST games, you will probably be getting a Nintendo. If you are price-conscious (as virtually all consumers are), you will definitely get a Nintendo.
Nintendo is making the right move at the right time. Assuming they decide to come out with a wiii (i.e. next generation of console) faster than the others do, they will then be able to price is similar to this model and maintain their consumers. Honestly, $700 starter cost for a console is probably out of reach for around 80% of the average gamers. This is a market where you are going to make more money in the middle than at the leading edge.
I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them. Isaac Asimov (1920 - 1992)
Developers also probably like the Wii from a financial sense. I R not a game programmer, but it's got to be easier and cheaper to develop for. Madden on the Wii is going to be a completely new experience with extremely low dev costs. All they do is port the gamecube version, polish it up, and add in the new controls. Madden on the PS3 and 360 is also somewhat new, but mainly on account of spending lots of money to make perty new graphics.
You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
Now excuse me, I need to double over in laughter. (BWHAHAH! HAH!)
Maybe because Nintendo is making enough of them?
OOOHH!!! Burned!
Marky Mark Killed Jason Bourne!
Until now, I thought that PS3 would utterly fail, leaving either the wii or xbox in first position (I assumed xbox would be), but the ps3 coverage in mainstream media is just insane. I guess there's some bribery that has been going on. Well, there is also the (artificial?) riots that the media like to cover in the news at 11... Well, we'll see what the wii's coverage in mainstream media will be.
On my part, it will be none of them. I'll try to buy a used GC at some insanely low price (maybe they'll go at 10-15$?) so I can play wind walker. maybe.
perception is reality
Um.. because the PS3 came out today and the Wii is coming out Sunday?
I tried to pre-order one, unfortunately I was 28th in line and the Toys R Us only had 25 preorders. Pity they didn't mention that on the pre-order sign, it's the first console I've ever stood in line for and I'm never doing that again. Hopefully there are plenty to go around, I'm quite interested in trying the new controllers. 3D graphics are everywhere, but good 3D input has been a long time coming in the console market.
GPL: Free as in will
see, that is sorta the amusing part.
EA has released a DIFFERENT madden for the Wii. Instead of the standard "ooooo look our game is so much purdier then last yeras, BUY IT!", they focused compleatly on the controlls.
No, I will not buy it (I hate sports games with a passion), however I might just rent it for the novelty sake.
So even there, we are seeing some of the worst companies out there (I do dislike EA, especialy with them taking the rehash market to the BF series now), however, they seem to actualy taking the inovation ball and running with it....
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
That's because, in theory, there are plenty of Wiis to go around. Nintendo is manufacturing millions. It shouldn't be hard to get one within the first week or so. At least that's what I'm banking on and from what I've read I don't seem to be alone. With the PS3 everyone knew they didn't make enough to meet demand...
...
Yeah, I pretty much feel the same way as you (and I think most people do aswell)
The fact is that with how many units Nintendo is producing, and how quickly they should be able to restock, there is little chance of a long term shortage; what this leads to is that there is little opportunity for profit so less scalpers are interested in the system. With scalpers not camping out for days (or weeks) to get a system it is more likely that you will be able to get one on launch day without camping out yourself.
Ultimately this means that the Wii will have a (successful) launch that is very orderly; there aren't going to be riots or muggings, all that is going to happen is most people who want a Wii on launch day are going to get one with (potentially) some having to wait a week or two. This means that there is little that is news worthy so it gets less press.
I have wondered for a while what would happen if the press put a different slant on the stories that they release if you would see companies react differently; if the PS3 launch was reported as "Sony was incompetent and released far too few systems which caused massive riots at Best-Buy" rather than "The PS3 is the hot item to have, and its launch caused riots" would Sony try to ensure that the PS4 launch was orderly? If the Wii launch went well and news agencies reported it as "Nintendo had a successful system launch this weekend selling 950,000 systems; that is over twice as many systems as the XBox 360 or PS3 were able to sell in their opening days" would there be a greater focus on producing enough units to meet demand?
It seems to me that because news agencies focus on negative things that a lot of companies will produce negative things (shortages) in order to get coverage on the news; I'm not saying that Sony went out of their way to produce too few systems, just that if they only got news coverage for a good launch they would ensure that production was on schedule.
This article fails to mention Matt Stone and Trey Parker. Two weeks was too long to wait for a Wii, so freezing yourself in a Colorado mountain top and hoping to thaw on launch date is the only viable solution. Didn't see them so stoked for a PS3 :)
Every time I hear people talking about the cost of a PS3 they always say "price point." Is "price" or "cost" just too dumb sounding?
Heh, this is actualy one of the few reasonable objections to the Wii (the other is "well, I like prety graphics").
I am a nintendo fanboy, I am gettign a Wii, I am stoked about the controlers. However, there is still that nagging doubt that if they don't pull it off perfectly, where you don't have to think about the controller more then the game, then there will be problems.
Some of my reservations were taken away by the fact that Nintendo announced that not all games will use the WiiMote (Smash Bros will use a clasic controller or a NGC controller). So they are not forcing developers to use it when a standard controller works better.
I also got to play around with a Wii last week (nintendo world store), and the controller DOES seem to work from a functional standpoint. It was responsive, it is not that heavy (It is a lighter then a standard controller, however you are holding it in 1 hand generaly), and it does seem to be acurate.
So, only time will tell, and I still am slightly woried, but I think it will prevail.
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
The only good launch title is Resistance:Fall of Man. The titles that are on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 are better on the Xbox 360. Many of the games that were meant to come out for launch are being pushed back until there is a larger install base. There aren't that many movie titles available for the Blu Ray movie format right now. The PS3 will only get better with age. When there are a larger number of games available and there is a significant price drop, the PS3 may be a worthwhile purchase.
I'm not interested in the Wii, but I understand why people are. After seeing a video of the Wii in action I lost all interest. However a lot of message comments about the same video showed that there were many Wii fans. I think that the Wii will sell very well, I just won't buy one. At $249 with a game, it's a low risk investment in gaming. I may pick one up in a year or two if I see some games that interest me. If I was a Nintendo fan, I would buy one at launch.
It's just a matter of time before I buy an Xbox 360. It's high definition gaming at a much more reasonable price than the PS3. I don't want to watch movies on a console, so Blu Ray isn't very important to me. I am waiting for a significant price drop before I buy one.
Ding ding ding! I would be bold to say that more than HALF of the PS3 campers are all eBay entrepreneurs. That, mixed with most people could get Wii pre-orders and personal statements like Wal-Mart and big-box retailers getting 50 boxes each means there will be less problems getting a copy... even before Xmas.
Cheers,
Fozzy
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
Well, actually the "game industry" opinions DO matter. Consumers will have a hard time playing games on a system if most of the developers don't make games for that system.
I wont buy the PS3 since it doesnt have rumble now...
that combined with lack luster launch titles (ridge racer is the best???).
and the high price...
I'd take a Wii any day over the ps3...
xbox just did everything right this time.
i used to love ps2.
but they just screwed up the controller this time.
music - http://www.subatomicglue.com
Developing a game that uses the PS3 fully will cost a small fortune. It is a big complex machine.
Developing a game for the 360 is going to be a little bit cheaper.
Developing a game for the Wii is a lot cheaper!
It isn't a lot different than the Gamecube. Game makers have got to love it. Your old tools and skills transfer. No need to develop massive amounts of HD content. And best of all. Millions of consoles on the market.
Right now the best a PS3 game can hope to do is what, 100,000 units? That and it does look like a lot of fun!
Now what I hope is all 100,000 PS3s hit EBay today and the price plummets to $50!
Have a nice day.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
I think the wii is going to be badass and I'm personally going to buy one. However, I think the wii will be fighting for the 2nd spot on the big three totem pole and not 1st. I just don't know enough hard core gamers that are excited about the wii. I've noticed that many of the hardcore gamers I know are satisfied with the idea of a system that offers nothing more than better graphics than the old system. The wii is radically different. I don't think they really even want to have to raise their arms to use the wiimote. I love nintendo and I think the wii will be badass, but I just don't see them capturing the hardcore audience.
The best they can hope for is getting the general public that normally don't play video games to play the wii. Most people find xbox and playstation controllers confusing and cumbersome. Maybe the wiimote will deliver a more natural style of play with a lower learning curve, hence a lower barrier to playing games. However, hardcore gamers (and even moderate gamers) are pretty used to xbox and playstation style controllers and will probably find it harder to get used to the wii controller. I don't think they will get much of the hardcore and moderate gamer market. Maybe they can become the ipod of the video game world this generation?
If an officer ever threatens to taze you, say you have a pacemaker.
That the PS3 is going to cry Wii Wii Wii all the way home?
This little 360 went to market,
This would have been camper stayed home
This Launch date we ate Pringels all night,
This for a PS3 but there were none.
This little game system cried Wii Wii Wii all the way home.
A DW original.
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
The fact of the matter is the vast,vast,vast majority of console developers don't post online - it's simply not in our culture to do so. Never have and probably never will.
... how original ...
... ...
An AC pretending to be a vidogame developer
So Mr Game Developer why do you need a 4 dimentional matrix to store transformations in a 3 dimentional game? What size of matrix do you need for a 2 dimentional game?
The vast,vast,vast majority of of console developers are buying PS3s. Especially with the whole Linux development stuff to go with the amazingly powerful hardware
Not to be blunt, why would any developer spend $600 to have a linux system whey you can do (pretty much) exactly the same thing with a $200 PC?
Most of us make very good money and have very good home media equipment and are already starting to pickup BluRay movies.
100% proof that you are not a game developer
I used to be one, now make about three times as much money as a independant contracting web developer; game developers are paid poorly, and have little time to watch movies because they are worked to death
Also, would you honestly think that would fly with a paying audience? I highly doubt it.
Exactly. For example, my local Fred Meyer has 3 PS3 consoles on launch day (hah!) and 70 Wii consoles two days later on launch day.
Waiting in line for the PS3 - waste of time.
Waiting in line for a Wii - lots of fun, friends, and you can pick up the 1GB memory chips while you wait for 12:01 to roll around Saturday night!
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
The only thing Wii related that seems to be in short supply on launch day is the new Zelda game.
Seriously - it's basicaly mouse-based interfaces on a console. That's good stuff.
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
seriously, unless you log in, you are just a paid sony astroturfer.
There are stores that sell consoles. You can buy a Wii. You can buy a PS3. You can buy an Xbox 360. You can buy all three or just buy a discounted PS2. All of these products will still be available in two, three, four or more years time (except maybe the PS2). Why does everyone have this obsession with X being the best or Y being the winner? Just go out and buy what makes you happy. Years ago I bought a Nintendo 64. Everyone said it was a flop. Countless articles today still claim it was a flop. But guess what? I never noticed, I just played Super Mario 64 and Goldeneye and I was happy. I can understand why this all matters if your 401(k) or pension portfolio is dominated by game company stock. But otherwise, just get out there and have fun! I know I will. (Probably on a Wii ;-)
Doesn't it make you feel good to know that our freedoms are protected by politicans, lawyers and journalists.
The negative press coverage has the added effect of making gamers in general look like psychotic raving lunatics subservient to evil Japanese overlords in the mind of somebody who doesn't care to tell the difference. Instead of it being about who had a successful launch vs. who had a poorly-coordinated launch, it's about those evil video game companies cleaning our children's bank accounts and driving them to violence in front of Best Buy. I'm glad the console business is doing well, but you'd think that with all the time and effort Sony put into this thing they would have put the system into production way before July to ensure people wouldn't have to step all over each other to get one.
Absolutely the news is focussed on the negative.
The most newsworthy game story this week? A console is being released WITHOUT lineups, WITHOUT ebay madnes, and WITHOUT riots. We haven't seen that in many years now. You'd think someone would be pointing this out. The lineups are just typical videogame news now.
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
I so hope that there are not 100,000 fools that will pay 2000 to 3000 for a $600 console they can buy in six months for $600.
I could be wrong but I can dream.
See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
Nintendo's push for innovation over graphical prowess is exciting for game developers, both because they like innovation and they dislike cutting-edge graphics (which require 8-figure budgets, which leads to more conservative game publishers who don't want to risk such huge investments, which leads to tough times for any developer who doesn't want to spend his or her life updating the facial animations for Madden 20XX).
This doesn't mean ordinary GAMERS should necessarily prefer Wii. A lot of gamers only go for the AAA titles that can afford to have great graphics AND excellent gameplay, plot, etc. For them, it comes down to a much more difficult personal preference between new controller schemes and advanced graphics.
Oh yeah, and a few hundred bucks and a six-day line outside a Gamestop in a gloomy strip mall.
...you got pwiined!
get it? pwiined!! ha ha ha. oh boy.
Do not trust this signature.
Then ship a million of them in December at the regular price. Why is Sony taking a loss on this first shipment when they don't have to? All they're doing is giving away the margin that resellers are making on eBay.
The devs prefer to make games for the system that has the largest install base because they'll have the best chance of selling a lot of copies. Of course, this is also dependent upon dev costs. If the costs of developing for a certain console (*cough*PS3*cough*) are high enough to significantly impact their profit margins, that dev house might look to the next console in line (in terms of install base). Conversely, if the the dev costs for a console are low enough, they may choose to make games for that console instead of or in addition to the console with the largest install base because they stand to make a profit even if they don't sell as many games.
On the consumer side, they (fanboism aside) prefer to buy the console with the most anticipated or existing quality games. And of course the price of the console affects this. The price needs to be mostly in line with the consumer's perceived value (fun/usability/whatever) of owning that console.
So it ends up being a vicious cycle, but either group can theoretically sway the trend the way they want. So if devs like making games for the Wii, more games will be available for the Wii, and in time, the Wii will end up having the largest install base. But if the consumers hate the Wii for whatever reason, and refuse to buy it, the devs will end up making games for another system in order to make a profit.
Just for argument's sake let's assume the following:
So devs decide to mostly make games for the Wii and make a few for the Xbox360, but consumers only buy the PS3. Well both groups are SOL. So what happens? Who gives in? It's a matter of who has the most perceived power. It's a lot easier for the consumers to drop $250 each on a Wii than for the devs to drop a few million per game to start making/porting games for the PS3. So if the devs hold out indefinitely, they can force a switch. If the consumers then decide hold out, they're still at the mercy of the devs (unless the devs give up) because they can only play what the devs are willing to make. Of course, it could go the other way as well. It will never end in a stalemate because then nobody gets anything. It boils down to how resistant each side is to change. The consumers are the least resistant in terms of cost, but can individually be more resistant in terms of personal preference.
In reality, neither group has any more real power, because both will generally react to whatever the current trend is, and once a strong trend is apparent, it will eventually become the prevailing trend (and console). Yes, in theory, each group can enact a significant change, but only if the majority of the group acts together and is willing to hold out for an indefinite amount of time (which as we all know, will never happen).
Everything I say is a lie. Except that... and that... and that, and that, and that, and that... and that.
...so I'm certainly not going to wait until next Summer when I'm allowed to buy one. Kiss any thought of an HDTV sale goodbye, Sony.
The Wii looks very good, but to be honest I think the DS is the better choice for adults, though it's not "next gen", because you can take it to work.
Reduce, reuse, cycle
yup, that is what I am exited about it. And it isn't just a pointer, it is alot more. The ability to point is just one great feature.
However, what if the detection system is not that great?
Or it bugs out like it did on the early tech demos using Metroid Prime?
However, I am relatively confident that they will not fail. Afterall, they can only make so many powergloves and U-Forces can they make before they get it right?
hehehehehe
Do Or Do Not, There Is No Spoon, There Is Only Zuul. Everything in the above post is probably opinion.
Then, when the store opened at 8am, they kept filming the queue, watching the first 14 people get in the store (which had 28 consoles), and then all of those 14 new PS3 owners all headed towards the same truck after leaving the store... obviously giving them to someone who would be reselling them.
Then the reporter also passed a comment saying that some of the people waiting in line and getting a PS3 are not the type you would expect of a gamer, and that we're more used to see those people on street corners asking for change...
It's nice to see some of the media don't buy into the whole PS3 hype and aren't afraid of talking about people that hire bums to wait in line for them and such.
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
I've got three HDTVs in my house and I have absolutely no desire to purchase an X360 or a PS3. YMMV.
+0 Meh
I would be bold to say that more than HALF of the PS3 campers are all eBay entrepreneurs.
Interesting theory, except I drove by that line, and the people I saw sitting by those tents were not exactly the type of people who would have the ambition to be any kind of black-market middle-man, if you know what I mean.
Even if they were speculative buyers, think about it for a minute. They are not going to be allowed to buy 400 units each. They are waiting in line 24 hours to buy a $600 console which the might be able to sell for $800, or might be stuck with owning or perhaps selling at a loss.
If the console is not a big enough hit, if Sony's supply chain catches up, or if eBay gets flooded with too many other such speculators, they end up with nothing.
So why would they wager a full day of sitting out in the cold, their numb little fingers clutching their PSPs and DS-Lites, as they wait for the chance to buy something they don't want, just so they can try to sell it.
If you want to be an eBay seller, just buy shit that is commonly available, and sell it to people who don't live near the retail outlet it comes from with the "Buy it now" button set at a 20% mark-up.
Or buy drugs downtown and sell them in the suburbs. Either way, you'll make a lot more money, a lot more easilly, than trying to eBay a game console or two.
Those guys in line are all typical gamer nerds, and are there because they want PSPs. In spite of all the Sony hate on slashdot, in spite of the absurd price, and in spite of all the obvious astroturfing for the Wii since the day they announced the upcoming announcement of it, lots of people seem to want to own one. Go figure.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Every time we go through a new set of releases the same topics keep coming up. This one is expensive, this one is cheap, this one is innovative, this one has poor launch titles, etc.. And if history has taught us anything it's that the arguments made now won't reflect the reality six months from now.
The PS3 has had a terrible launch and I think it's pretty obvious the project was rushed. There's little there that would attract a casual gamer to the PS3. The people buying right now are scalpers, hard-core gamers, and the moms and dads who buy from the scalpers because junior insists on having the latest and greatest gadget regardless of it's merits.
However, in a six months to a year we'll see some amazing games come out for the platform that make use of Cell's full potential. That is when the PS3 will make it's real run. Stock supplies will be up, the price of the console will be down, and a lot more people will have HD-capable televisions that will benefit from the PS3's Blu-ray drive and HD output. There will probably be a better general understanding of HD as well, with many more HD-DVD/Blu-ray drives on the market, perhaps convincing people that PS3 price tag is worth it after all (when they see the cost of a standalone player).
Of course these "industry insiders" say they're going the way of the Wii at launch, but I'll bet anything they all have a PS3 within a year.
After 3 days without programming, life becomes meaningless
- The Tao of Programming
Those guys in line are all typical gamer nerds, and are there because they want PS3s.
Sorry about the typo.
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Reading through the reasons given I noticed one person saying "I'm a pretty loyal Sony consumer, but as I did with the 360, I'll probably wait a while for them to work out the kinks." This was right after saying they'd pre-ordered a Wii.
This type of thing is something a number of people are saying; ' you should wait to get a 2nd gen PS3, because like the 360 it'll have problems'. Yet I've not heard anyone say anything like that about the Wii.
Is there a reason for this or just because of the PS3's has had manufacturing issues/delays. Assuming the PS3 might have problems might make some sense but why not assume the Wii might too? Is it because the Wii doesn't have all the HD chips and new processors bound to go wrong or because Nintendo have a better track record or something? Or is it simply that people care less about a $250 device breaking then a $600 one?
(NB - if I get anything it'll be a Wii.)
Judging from what I saw on the news the other day, it seems that making new games for the PS3 will be very difficult if the designers intend to make use of all that the console can do anyway. (what I heard on the news was that on the PS3's new basketball game the designers spent a lot of time getting the players' sweat just right, using a combination of algorithms that take into account the amount of work a player is doing as well as the shape and contours of the player's face)
If detail like that is going into every bit of the game, then, as a developer, I think I'd much prefer to be on the Nintendo Wii team, rather than the PS3 team, if I ever want to see my game make it to market (I'm not a developer, but I mean, if I were...).
[cue mental image of game industry folks hand in had singing "Wii are the World"]
Good, One more PS3 for me! "Go play with your Wii!"
Yeah, but they think they're going to scalp it on eBay for more like $3000 than $800, buy a Wii, buy other stuff, then pick up another PS3 after Christmas. What the reality will be we'll know in a few days if there are a lot of unbought PS3's on eBay (or if they're selling at right around MSRP + minimal markup).
-- stream of did I lock the front door consciousness
I know exactly one person who has an HDTV. It's just not that important to most people. When they replace their TV's when they eventually break, and HDTV is the norm, then we'll start to care.
I am hoping that the Wii will bring some nice RTS to the console world. I see the the Wii's controller as a couch-mouse. Before I Got a DVR, I was thinking about building a media center PC for my living room and I found a mouse that works much like the Wii's remote. Company of Heroes from the comfort of your couch!
Our corperate internal 'buy' pool for consoles:
16 people want PS3s.
47 people want Wiis.
300 person console development company.
"Old man yells at systemd"
However, IBM has made no bones about the fact that the Cell is difficult to develop for (from the article on the Cell processor):
Recall though that developers had the same complaints about the PS2 and its "emotion engine". It will take time to truly take advantage of the cell processor. I will be buying my Wii and waiting a year or two to see what churns out for the PS3. The potential is there, yes, but whether or not anyone exploits it remains to be seen.
How long will it take Sony to catch up with demand for the PS3? They seem to be having more problems than Microsoft and I've only recently seen xbox 360s available on the shelves of local stores.
Mea navis aericumbens anguillis abundat
I got a pre-order for my Wii. I was in Toronto for a concert and I got up at 5 AM, took the earliest bus home, went straight to EB, and got the 11th of 12 preorders 2 minutes before it would have been gone. There were 2 PS3 preorders available for half an hour after that, and there was only 5 available. If I was smart, I would have bought and sold it.
A few minutes after I arrived, two kids came in homemade t-shirts and were told they were too late. They very nearly broke down into tears.
The reaction of the people too late for a PS3 was: "Oh, damn." and then they just left.
They aren't selling them for $800, they're selling for $99,999,999, which makes standing in line for 24 hours quite worth it!
On a more serious note, does anyone know what happened with this? At first glance it doesn't seem to just be one or two people with new accounts putting in false bids.
Sony rushed everything and anything about this console, and now people are literally getting shot for one. With the 360 already entrenched, and the Wii taking the rest of the gamer population (and many more outside it), there is no reason at present to develop for, or purchase this console. Maybe in time that will change, but you only have so long before the fickle mob moves on.
Great little comic. I think that is exactly what is going to happen, that is of course if Nintendo does in fact deliver on the supply end. It reminds me of a simulation I took part in in my business policy course back in college:
The idea was that our class was split into five different "shoe companies". Each week we would enter information on how much to produce, how much they cost, and other business decisions that go into selling a shoe. At the end of the week, the simulation runs and we see who sold the most. The intersting part for my team was that we ended up selling the most shoes most weeks, but we were not necessarily the most demanded. The most demanded company stocked out at a fairly low number. Everyone who wanted that shoe, then bought our shoe because it was relatively close in value to their number one choice. As this happened week after week, we then started stocking out because our demand started increasing beyond our capacity. In the end, we were able to have the largest production capacity, while still holding on to our demand and sold two times the amount of our nearest competitor. We got an A on the project and I think Nintendo is setting themselves up for an A as well.
For every lunitic that endured horrible weather and violence to get a PS3, there is at least 30 people that decided to wait it out. At least half of those 30 will probably not really care if they get a PS3 or a Wii, and go with the one that is available right now for them to buy.
"It's not whether you win or lose, it's how drunk you get." -- H. J. Simpson
Notice how most of those buyers don't have much of a bid history?
You are not looking at what the consoles are selling for. You are looking at what scam artists trying to create a market are making it look like they are selling for.
The top bidder has only existed since May, and is "no longer a registered user."
The #2 and #3 purchases are from the same person. Are you telling me there's somebody out there who wants to spend almost $20,000 on two $600 game consoles? Do you think anybody actually believes that's what's going on here?
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
Oops. I stand corrected. The fake bids are in the tens of Millions, not tens of thousands.
Yeah, I'm sure that's fooling everybody. *rolls eyes*
Information wants to be anthropomorphized.
In my opinion, Sony is repeating history here. Anyone remember a $700 system that came out about 10 years ago called 3DO? No? That's because they tried to sell a base unit for $700 as well. Yeah, it looked good, but still flopped. And I don't care how many tax cuts you're getting from W, $700 is still a lot of money. I'll take my Wii and 6 or so new games for that much cash.
As I understand PS3's are a little harder to come by than the Wii. Personally I like Nintendo, I hate the Xbox controller and there is no way I am paying over 400 bucks for a console for the ability to spend 50+ dollars per game. Wii seems like a great console designed for many different types of people, not just the elite gamers of the group looking for the hottest new graphics.
From the perspective of an atypical slashdot-college student (very very casual gamer). The only system I ever really hear talked about on campus was Playstation 2 and now Playstation 3. I know you all hate Sony and are convinced that Wii will be a better system (and I have no idea, it'll probably be a long while before I ever play it). You'd be amazed at how many people use PS2 only in order to play Madden. These kids don't want innovative new controls, they like to challenge each other where they don't have a learning curve. They want to have the cool system, and that's been Playstation. Nintendo has a stigma I'd say as being nerdy and childish. No one even cares really about xBox or Wii around here, they just accept that "playing videogames" probably means sports games Playstation. You guys may focus on the casual gamers, but the real focus should be on the ultra-casual gamer, the Madden/Jock crowd of college students and young graduates. Most of these people just buy the next PS and don't even question it. Little kids will ask for PS3 because their older pbrothers say they should. In short, you guys vastly underestimate Sony's branding I think. That's really the most important aspect of a consoles success. People griped about PS2 being difficult to devolop for in the begining, and look how it did- it just rode PS1's coatails. Look at Corona, the beer sucks...but people buy it because of the branding and how it is marketed as exotic. It's gained a reputation for being good and now people treat it like it is good.
"I go to a council for a distinctly different experience then a PC"
Would that be the Council of Console Gamers? I hear they have a pretty good counseling center that can help console you if your pre-order was cancelled.
Portable versions of Firefox, GIMP, LibreOffice, etc
Actually, speaking as someone with a few (tentative) connections with some very high-profile game developers, and therefore some small insight into the strange ways their minds work, I think the following axiom will explain things a little better:
When developers are excited about the Wii, they will be more interested in what they can do with that, and will therefore come up with more/better ideas of how to use it.
Therefore, we are likely to see a number of fairly exciting things happening on the Wii, purely because it sparks the imagination of those who are making the games for it. It's actually interesting and novel, so the problem-solving types who develop the games are going to have a field day playing around and seeing what they can do with the Wiimote & so on.
That's a large part of why I (as a developer who will hopefully be working at a huge game studio some time in the next 12 months, if my wife agrees to the move) am planning on buying one on Sunday, when I'm just not interested enough in the Xbox 360 or the PS3. The allure of the Wii is in its novelty, meaning it will be intriguing and exciting. The lure of the Xbox360 and PS3 are the prettier graphics and the fact that new games won't be released for the preceding generation any more.
-Q
Dos 6.22?
Windows?
Linux?
or PS3 OS 2 ?
How much is your data worth? Back it up now.
I'm sure it has nothing at all to do with the wii promo video
People who think that the Wii and the PS3 are aimed at wildly different markets should get their heads checked. The whole "we're not competative" thing was started by Nintendo to make themselves look like the "nice guys", but they're competing head to head with the PS3 in the same demographics. Both are aiming at hardcore gamers (no matter what anyone says about the Wiimotes being "kiddy", most of their fans are long time, dyed-in-the-wool classic gamers), with the Wii simply being more successful at being able to reach more casual gamers. But let's not fool ourselves, people who have never played games before are just as unlikely to buy a Wii as a PS3. They're like sports teams, everyone has their favorite, and are gunning for it to whoop the other... regardless of their age, gender, sexual orientation, or otherwise. The PS3 is going to be more attractive to younger gamers due to Sony's meathead, testosterone-laced design philosophy, where-as the Wii is going to be more favorable to the 23+ crowd who grew up with classic games. But these differences are subtle, and mostly they're gunning toward the exact same people.
It's the "other" November election: Sony vs. Nintendo, Republican vs. Democrat. Who's philosophy will dominate the game industry? Who's philosophy will dominate the government? I've taken sides, have you?
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
I'm not arguing that you don't have those things and I do. I'm arguing that the sales of those other things far surpass the sales of the things you and I might prefer, even though virtually every person "in the know" would proclaim our choices superior. Similarly, it doesn't necessarily matter if the Wii is superior or not. The winner will be the one people actually buy.
TW
I say more than half for the following reasons (and it is pure speculation on my part)...
hehe, I know what you mean, but I also know that doesn't mean much. Those are likely groups of friends who are doing it together. Each will buy a PS3, only one will keep it. The friends will then share the one system between them while they profit on the other consoles sold and buy it when the next round comes out and still profit, if they can sell them for the $2,000 they're states as going for. (that's debatable).
So, I stick by my guns and still say there's plenty of people, around that half mark, that are doing it for the sole purpose of selling them, thinking, it's a get rich quick scheme. Of course, some will work, while others won't. I think there will be plenty of disappointed people... to a degree. Those who cannot sell it will probably be happy to just open it up and use it. I feel sorry for those who are stock-piling them.
Cheers,
Fozzy
"The past was erased, the erasure was forgotten, the lie became truth." ~1984 George Orwell
"All they do is port the gamecube version, polish it up, and add in the new controls."
;)
That's how Madden games have been made for years... Take what they have, make a few adjustments, slap the current year on it and then set it loose.
/* No Comment */
Yoo r meen! I donet liik yor poynts ether.
Haptic feedback FTW
It's about the brand stupid.
e nt&task=view&id=4220&Itemid=2
When 100 plus million people buy into a logo - you get headlines like this:
"Study: PlayStation Brand Strong as Ever"
http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_cont
60 percent retention rate kind of puts a crimp on niddling things like "crossover-forecasting".
Here in Ontario, there will be campers.
29 available at the local Walmart, EB-games will have "some" for walk-ins.
Other stores have either just enough to cover pre-orders, or one or two.
I will probably be camping out at walmart, and hoping they hand out vouchers early enough that I can go get some sleep for a few hours before the store opens.
I cannot for the life of me remember where I saw this, or what it was for, but I saw a commercial for some gadget (or something) recently, and the tagline at the end of the ad, on screen below the product image, in what looked like the Helvetica-style type Nintendo is using, read "dare to be wiild", or "born to be wiild," or something like that. Has anyone else seen that? It made me think that Nintendo might be doing some subtle cross-promoting.
Save Maine's economy: write stuff down. All comments are exclusively my own, not my employer.
Today on launch day, the new PS3 demo station sat unused while the Wii was being crowded around. A few folks picked up the controller and most of us made a comment that the graphics looked nice, but all in all, it's just a shiny, higher res version of something we have all seen before.
The Wii, on the other hand, looked pretty crummy graphics-wise, sitting next to the PS3; but playing Excite Truck with no cables attached and using tilt to steer was one of the most refreshing things I have seen in a long time (as far as games are concerned). I came out of EBGames wanting a Wii and not even looking at the PS3 game wall.
My point is that the in-store Wii really stole the PS3's glory, on launch day even!
EA actually announced this year that it has increased its support for the Wii based on the surprise positive response to the system at E3 2006.
"Sufferin' succotash."
The only probable bugs with the Wii, will be with the new controller. Mainly because the console architecture has had all of the last generation to work out whatever bugs may have been there, which were remarkably few for the 'Cube, in comparison to the competition. I've owned all three of the last generation consoles, the only the works as good as the day I bought it (Used!), is the Gamecube. Peronally I thought the 'Cube was the winner as of the last go 'round because of this, although I am a big GTA fan.
Just because you can, does not mean you should.
Game companies all start with texture work that is massively overdetailed today - they don't care what the end resolution may be. That's more a worry of the engine designers - but then that's why you have things like the UT engine.
Really this whole thread is stupid anyway as the future will really be smaller games sold online that will be far cheaper to produce.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
One thing I found sort of interesting in the TFA: Quite a few of the responders indicated that they weren't going to pick up a PS3 because it doesn't really bring anything to the table that their Xbox 360 doesn't already do.
So it looks like MS's gambit of bringing their next gen console out a year early -- considered risky by many because most people would presumably wait and see what Sony had up their sleeve -- might have paid off after all.
Ceci n'est pas une sig.
I'm not arguing that you don't have those things and I do. I'm arguing that the sales of those other things far surpass the sales of the things you and I might prefer, even though virtually every person "in the know" would proclaim our choices superior. Similarly, it doesn't necessarily matter if the Wii is superior or not. The winner will be the one people actually buy.
Which is why the Wii is winning. In reality, Sony can't ship more than 80,000 units (some flown in, so really loss leaders) to the US, while Nintendo has shipped more than 400,000 by release date.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
Was this story predictable or what? Poor Zonk could not bear some positive press about the PS3 having tremendous demand at launch.
Tremendous Demand?
Tremendous Demand would be selling more than 1 Million units in a day because so many people want to play your system they rush out and buy it; when you ship 400,000 (or less) units and the vast majority of people are buying it because they assume there will be a long term (supply based) shortage and they can make a decent profit selling it on eBay. If the rumors are right (which I'm not saying they are) Sony shipped about half of the 400,000 units they planned on shipping so this can not be associated with demand.
All we saw today was a company that had months to prepare for a launch and didn't come even close to producing a decent number of systems for it.
I also got to play around with a Wii last week (nintendo world store), and the controller DOES seem to work from a functional standpoint.
As actual reviews of the final hardware and software are starting to come in, I'm quite releaved to find out that this is the general consensus. In fact, with the exception of some of the mini-game grappling-with-Nazis from Call of Duty, all the reviewers have been saying "I like many of you was skeptical about how the controls would turn out in practice, but rest assured it works great".
However, granting that I'm still in "imagine what it will be like" mode, I still have a concern, which is the camera.
In your basic Dual Shock setup, you have one analog stick for motion, one for your camera, and then a bunch of buttons to perform actions.
With the wiimote+nunchuck, you have an analog stick for motion, and a combination of buttons and three-dimensional motion of the wiimote to perform actions. Where does this leave the camera? A couple mention tilting the nunchuck as your camera control, and that sounds precarious to me. Cameras and camera control has always been the achiles heel of 3rd-person 3D gaming, and I have to admit I'm concerned how well it works.
The enemies of Democracy are
Tremendous demand is better reflected in eBay prices than in it being sold out (which means nothing because they are so few in number).
Also I would say the extent of lines are an indicator as well - when you have 1000+ people lined up at a Sony store, that indicates a greater demand among the general populace as you take those numbers as a percentage of interest.
Basically you are focusing on the one number that means nothing in seeing true demand - you have to "See Beyond" as it were.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
>> They are waiting in line 24 hours to buy a $600 console which the might be able to sell for $800, or might be stuck with owning or perhaps selling at a loss.
UHM, NO.
#1. They are going for ~ $3,500 USD on eBay right now.
#2. If for some reason you couldn't sell yours, there is a nice little thing called a store return policy. Usually being 30 days.
Thank you very much.
Modesty is one of life's greatest attributes
If you want to see where the gaming industry is going, take a look in the arcades. All of the games I can think of are somehow immersive with simple controls: you dance on light pads, you drive a car with a steering wheel, you shoot zombies with a shotgun, you paddle a raft down a gulley, etc. You won't find joystick controlled games in your local Dave and Buster's anymore.
I think that's more a case of the consoles pushing the arcades out. There's no reason to go to the arcade to play something that uses a simple joystick and buttons because you can duplicate the experience on your game console, only with couch, fridge, and friends. So the arcades only option is to provide an experience you can't get at home. This is also why pinball machines, skeeball, and basketball games sit side-by-side with House of the Dead and what have you.
This is probably where arcades will continue to go. The wii enables more immersive control options, sure, but you still aren't going to get the same sensation as you would, say, sitting on a hydraulic seat shaped like a motorcycle.
Arcades used to be the forefront of video game design, now they're a side show. It's okay, as far as i'm concerned.
The enemies of Democracy are
Perhaps you should take your own advice. A quaternion is simply another representation of a subclass of 4x4 real matricies.
The way I see it, quite simply:
1) XBox360 $399
- Best graphics for HDTV gaming
- Best online experience
- Best media support with online movie/video purchases.
- Secondary HDTV movie because of HDTV addon and missing DVI/HDMI connection.
2) PS3 $599
- Second to the 360's graphics with launch titles.
- Unproven online gaming experience.
- In theory, we are lead to believe that the system won't be used to full potential until developers figure out how.
- Best HDTV movie support from integrated Blu-Ray player and full HDMI support.
3) Wii $249
- Most original user controller design giving a hopefully useful and non-gimiky method to playing todays games and designing new games that will only be available on the Wii
- Unproven online gaming experience.
- Only about twice as graphically capable as a Gamecube, most likely being about equivalent to the original XBox, perhaps a bit better.
- No HDTV movie experience, or even DVD experience.
So, if you agree with me (god I doubt that will happen), then it should be obvious the PS3 is the worst choice to make here if you absolutely had to run out on Sunday to buy a gaming system. It is absolutely the most financial risk, with no to-date benefits versus the Xbox 360 to the gamer. Note, the keyword is GAMER, not a movie watcher.
It's clear to me the winner is the Xbox 360 for HDTV online gaming experience. If you want a new way to play games, it's the Wii. In my book, the PS3 doesn't qualify for anything, Blu-Ray is too cutting edge, no movies to watch, no idea who will win the format war. The PS3 is too expensive. It's been shown in multiple games now that it suffers frame-rate and online play issues versus the 360's version of the same game.
Personally, at $250 and a way I can get my Wife to play some games, and have fun parties when people come over, I am absolutely picking up one of these little bad boys.
I'll wait a bit to give the PS3 a chance to redeem itself, and if it can't within the next half a year or a year, then I'm picking up a 360 for some HDTV online action. Heck the premium system will probably be $299 by then and maybe even come with a bigger hard disk.
The only thing the PS3's good for to me is to resell on ebay, which I won't do.
Modesty is one of life's greatest attributes
-I love Belgium beers. The U.S. buys Budweiser.
I know I know, off topic, I'll get modded down and all that, but they're Belgian beers. Not Belgium beers. Never Belgium beers. Unless you also enjoy Germany beers, England beers, America beers, etc., which seems unlikely.
I just came back from Yonge & Dundas Square in Toronto where Best Buy setup a tent with xbox360, PS3, and Wii stations amongst other older consoles. I'm not really a hardcore gamer but I just went there to see what the hype was all about (only a few seconds walk from my school).
During my stay I have to admit that I spent most of my time "looking" at the PS3 games. The graphics and animation really caught my eye. The graphics offering by the wii looked pretty much like a previous generation console. However, rather than "looking" at the wii games, I jumped in and tried the wiimote. I can see how that little device is going to invite a whole new generation of gamers. It was fun and easy to use.
In all, like most people,I found that while the PS3 looks way better, the wii is more fun to play with. Now, don't get me wrong, they were given away free PS3s this afternoon every two hours when your name was selected in a raffle and I would have most likely screamed and jumped with excitement had my name been called for one of those PS3s.
[alk]
There just was a news spot on Channel 10 News in San Diego. In the back of the store they had a PS3 and a Wii set up They brought in a bunch of self-confessed gamer kids as testers.
The kids were impressed by the PS3 graphics and detail (they had it on a 100 inch HDTV) but 3 out of 4 chose the Wii on the basis of the controller.
Additionally, I don't like the way either Sony or Microsoft do business and would consider myself a hypocrite if I bought any more of their products - yes, I've bought MS branded mice and joysticks in the past, I've paid MS for occasional OEM pre-installed products and there's probably a few CDs in my music collection that are ultimately distributed by Sony. But that's as far as I ever intend going with either company.
On the other hand, my Gameboy Advance, together with a handful of game carts like Scrabble, Ultimate Card Games and Tetris is fantastic for plane journeys and my Gamecube gives me access to some great non-PC titles like Metroid Prime, Legend Of Zelda and a few wonderful party games like Super Monkey Ball which are a refreshing break from LAN gaming with a few drunk friends.
I probably won't buy a Wii immediately - especially as I'm currently revelling in a whole host of cheap used games for my Gamecube. But if Nintendo continue the tradition of releasing a few choice Wii-exclusive titles, I will definitely be buying one when they've come down in price.
I don't for one minute doubt that Nintendo have exactly the same aims as Microsoft and Sony in making as much money from games as possible - but the fact is, I "like" dealing with Nintendo because they just want to make money from good games without trying to constantly screw over the customer in the process. As long as they continue in that fashion, I will buy their products.
Gentoo Linux - another day, another USE flag.
As you increase the graphics capability of the target platform, the required art assets increase as well. However, while the pixels only increase by a factor of 4, the amount of graphics resources, and the difficulty of creating them, increases by much more than a factor of 4.
To put it simply, it takes longer to model and animate a character with 100 000 polygons than it does to do the same to a character with only 1000 polygons.
Lets start with the basic geometry. A faster machine can draw more triangles. Animating a low polygon character is easier than a high polygon character (fewer verticies to account for). What might have looked good enough on a low end machine will need alot more work on a high end machine. You also start having to worry about level of detail. With a faster machine, you will have to draw objects that are farther away. You still dont want to draw it at full detail though, so you make a low poly version of the same object, and decide which set of geometry and textures to use to render it at run time. So instead of making 100 enemies, your essentially making 200 (albeit half are simpler).
And lets say you add physics and destructible objects to a game that did not have them before. So now when you shoot that crate, it shatters and its bits fly around and bounce. Ok, now in addition to modeling the intact object, you have to figure out how your going to render its shattered parts, and you have to add information for things like friction and mass, and take the time to fine tune those values.
On top of that, the more game assets you have to create, the longer it takes to process all those goddamn polygons and textures when compiling the level data into a playable level file. At the start of each new console generation, it takes a while before your working on machines that can process all those disparate files. When the artists are making the levels, to test them they have to export them, play them and then tweak them. More detail means it takes longer to iterate on the game assets.
More Art means More Artists means more money.
And of course, the PS3 is nothing like the PS2, so you have to throw out or retool a great deal of tech.
Want to know why the Wii will do well? Its meant to handle geometry about on par with a standard XBox, so there its easier to generate art assets. Its api's are nearly identical to the gamecube, so about 90% of the old tech and tool chains are still viable. And the dev kits are cheap. The Wii is getting alot of developer support because its much easier to make a profit on its launch titles than it will be for a PS3 launch title.
END COMMUNICATION
I finally got to touch a Wii at Game Crazy and I played a round of Excite Truck. Friggin fantastic game. Even had a panic fast button press ala Excitebike. The controller worked flawlessly.
Gorkman
But doesn't it cost at least an order of magnitude more than $2,000, $10,000, or $20,000, to get the game console companies to even look at your company and grant it a license?
A lot of games will make limited use of the Wii controller. Specifically, Excite Truck with its mechanic of holding the Wii Remote sideways looks like it was designed more for a SIXAXIS than for a Wii Remote. Then route the rumble signal through the subwoofer and the in-controller speaker through the rear speakers.
Not necessarily. I know some guys developing an XBox live arcade game on the cheap after work, and the part where MS said OK already happened.
But you can cut down on the number of polygons that the artist needs to actually touch by using Bezier triangular patches.
Which can be created from the same Beziers used to make the high-poly version, with bump mapping filling in some of the details. In traditional cel animation, there are two kinds of animators: leads and in-betweeners. Leads make the keyframes; in-betweeners pad it out to 12 fps. Likewise, in 7th generation video games, lead modelers make the high-poly models, and in-betweeners operate polygon reducer software and make tweaks to keep reduced models from looking like utter crap.
Will Nintendo sell dev kits to just anyone? Or does a company requesting a Wii development license first have to have completed a commercially published PC title?
Check it out. I'm in Atlanta, and the supply here, according to that database is going to be totally bananas. The one Toys R Us on North Point Pkwy. in Roswell, GA is going to have 80 to sell for its launch event, and then 80 more on Monday, according to the two helpful employees that I talked to. And there's a Walmart, a Best Buy, a Target, and two EB Games' within 3 miles of that store, each with 25-60 of their own. And then, there's a Walmart, two Targets, a Best Buy, and two more EB Games stores within 3 miles of my house. This, honestly, isn't going to be difficult, and I fully expect to buy one at midnight, Sunday morning.
If I were the seller I would (A) sue the people to hold them to the amount they agreed upon, and (b) cancel all those bigs and take the last, most reasonable one.
If eBay can't so something to stop unreasonable bidding like that it could threaten the whole service.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
the PS3 is probably a wonderful machine but I won't be getting one, because as many others have said its not really doing anything NEW. I have to give hats off to Nintendo for going in a new direction with its controller. Many companies would shy away from such an edgy move like this, because you make something that sucks and sometimes you don't get a chance to learn from your mistakes. If the Wii takes off and becomes a hit, how long before MS and Sony make their own variations of the Wii controller? If the Wii isn't a hit, do you think Nintendo will be able to come out with another machine or will it throw in the towel? Im hoping for the former, but the consumer will be the final arbiter of this.
No offense to your overall comment, but AI is as smart on consoles as it needs to be... which is to say, not very. A dumb AI will bounce back and forth in front of your line of fire. A smart AI would sneak around you and shoot you in the back of the head before you saw them. A dumb AI will fire randomly in your general direction. A smart AI will draw a bead and get repeated headshots and bodyshots.
Which sounds like more fun to play against?
The ______ Agenda
DMC4 could end up on the 360 as Capcom has become very multi-console as of late. Personally can't come up with 1 compelling reason to buy a PS3 before holiday 2007.
You forgot the Xbox360 though.
It is a more obvious substitution for the $500-$600 PS3 than the $250 Wii.
Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
I own an HDTV, and will be getting a Wii at launch. The only games that look exclusive & worth playing on the PS3 will be arriving second half of 2007 anyway, so why buy one now? The Wii has a strong launch lineup, and solid titles for all of next year. I don't expect it will be over shadowed anytime in 2007.
Shaun, just to let you know before you sound dumb, there is no such thing as 720i.
SDTV -- 480i.
EDTV -- 480p.
HDTV -- 720p, 1080i (and later 1080p was added).
Some betacams had video that could be upscaled to 720i so that it could be reinterlaced to 480p, but that's it.
--
Internet Explorer (n): Another bug -- that is, a feature that can't be turned off -- in Windows.
And I can't get one, because apparently, Nintendo isn't shipping enough. The local market is getting about 10x-15x the number of PS3s they had. So, instead of being sewn up by the day before, they're just all sold out now.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
I just checked; every 24-hour wal*mart I called has 20 units, and a line of at least 20 people waiting for them. There's tents in front of Best Buy.
Controllers? Component cables? Already sold out.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
and character back to a ho-hum console gaming scene.
IMO the last console with any real character was the Dreamcast. Unfortunately, the planets weren't in line for that system but it has proven to have made a lasting impression on users of that system. There was a real breath of fresh air there. It turned into a gasp but it was there.
Where is the fun now? Playstations have always been rather ugly, as have other systems from all brands. Yes the guts matter and of course the games, but I have never felt "attached" to either flavor of my PS2s like other systems with more of a unique experience. In the flurry and often the drudgery of individual game ad compaigns, what ties everything together as a branded experience. A big ugly brick with no character. Black and white ads with crows for god's sake? I for one am tired of the "serious gamer" image and platform meaning that a system has to have the charisma of a bi-polar dictator.
I've had great experiences with many PS2 games and somewhere down the line I will of course play PS3 games, but the thing is ugly (I know I know...internal power supply, tech advances, etc.), somehow intimidating-looking, too damn expensive (3DO?), overhyped, ugly logo'd, and unsupported at launch.
Look at the Wii campaign. It's bright (gasp...yet N still managed to get a goth kid in the early promo pieces). People might look silly playing it. It's cheaper. Yes yes...but not as powerful. Maybe it's time to look a little silly. And it's all tied together with a cool fresh look and a cast of characters and titles that have proven to be fun over and over. Maybe the current political climate and so forth has the public wanting something lighter for consumption. It's a philosophy and launch "campaign" to get excited about.
The Nintendo DS is huge because of game variety and word of mouth. The Wii promises the same type of experience on a bigger level. The PS3 just unfortunately looks like Gloom and Doom and with the game reviews I've seen, again unfortunately, it appears to actually be so for a while. So, blood and guts on the Wii might not look as realistic as that on the PS3. What I see here with the Wii is something like that little indy film that conquers the box office because it touches a nerve. People are excited and Nintendo ain't paying them.
Perhaps the Dreamcast was, alas, destined for failure during the time it was release. It's looking like the Wii is destined to give semi-bored gamers and new players something to feel warm and fuzzy about. A charming console and enjoyable games.
With unit quaternions you can sort of kind of get away with just storing 3 values and calculating the fourth, although you have to be careful with interpolation (some sort of gimbal problem might turn up). Still, that is nicer than interpolating euler angles, and saves space in your animations.
Ah, perhaps you are in marketing or HR and they wouldn't let you in :-)
OK that might be a bit harsh of me...
I take it you are not a fan of Mr Larry Giddon then; however you have undermined your point about game developers never commenting by your admission of various chat groups' existance. I find thechaosengine to be entertaining anyway, although I thought some of the fatbabies email list messages were... unprofessional... so I never got into that.
And the point is, you as an AC are deprecating gamasutra/game developer. When I wrote a couple of articles for them many years ago it was mostly fanboy/amateur orientated. But it is much more serious now; they have a large mindshare amongst real developers.
As for PS3; if I work on a PS3 game I won't mind at all. I will get a Wii myself for updates of zelda/mario, but then I bought a PS2 well after a gamecube, when it started to get good (third party) games on it. OK, I bought it for Kingdom Hearts.
"Poor Zonk could not bear some positive press about the PS3 having tremendous demand at launch."
;)
Heh. I'm sorry, I just find it amusing that you're STILL insisting that this is strictly Zonk bias here. Maybe he does, but it's hard to tell since Sony's PR has tumbled like Homer Simpson crashing down Springfield Gorge. There just plain hasn't been any real good news from Sony's camp. The price sucks. Supply sucks. The launch games suck. The controllers suck. Etc. None of this is of Zonk's invention. What's he supposed to do? Post a headline story about how the battery indicator on the PS3 controller works perfectly?
Speaking of battery indicators, you might find this interesting: Jostiq's own Vladimir Cole says the PS3 controller is flimsy. Sorry I couldn't get Zonk to rewrite the headline to say "The PS3 controller is structurally weak".
Have a good weekend.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
Good advice.
I'm reminded of the Simpsons where the marketing woman said she wouldn't be happy until she saw some face stomping as everyone tried to buy Funzo.
Maybe I'm getting old but I can quite happly wait until supplys are up to get it at a reasonable price.
Of the two machines even though the PS3 has the better graphics it offers up nothing new in regards to gameplay. The Wii on the other hand looks like it could be interesting to play. I can (imho) see the Wii of a more party console where as the PS3 is more for solo players (at home I mean).
didn't wake up until 10:00 AM but managed to snag a wii after 4 hrs waiting in line. i'm utterly pleased with the wiimote concept. terrific system. blows its competition out of the water. shame on slashdot for not covering wii launch day. --RR
Did anyone play Resident Evil 4 on gamecube? Frickin gorgeous! If the Wii is 'only' twice as powerful as the GC then I'm already blown away. Can we put this whole argument to rest now? How many people have a HD Tv? And who REALLY puts that much stock on graphics these days? Pffft- you want reflections on the belt buckles of the enemy? Play PC games. Otherwise just shut up about the whole 'only twice as powerful as the GC' crap.
:)
There, I've said my peace.
I've heard all kinds of numbers from all kinds of people, but 80k is the smallest yet. It's super small. Please show some sources. Pretty please. You wouldn't take that number from me either if the situation was reversed.
Sorry, it's after release day, but when I think I gave that number it was based on the print edition of the Wall Street Journal.
I'm assuming you've seen the news since then. I think the last numbers I saw recently seem to say that Nintendo is shipping 1 million by year end, but Sony says they shipped 400,000 (including the ones they brought in by air freight and the ones they have on ships right now).
I for one only think the retail sales numbers are the actual ones we should pay attention to, and they won't be out until January 15, although we should get some preliminary numbers around Dec. 15 for the Close of Day After Thanksgiving sales totals.
Hope this helps.
-- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
That does help quite a lot. Thanks!
Actually, I did see full lines at the Wii launch. Admittedly, the Wii lines only started around Friday and there was a conspicuous lack of muggings, shootings, and tramplings. But at the Target I got my Wii at there were 120 units sold with at least a hundred people turned away.
As for those "legendary" ebay prices: $999,999,999.00 bids? pwned.
Completed ebay listings for PS3s today: ~$1200. Wii completed listings: ~$500.
Both going for around 200%. Given that there was a whole lot more Wii demand slaked by the launch, I'm confident to say that the Wii is winning.
---k--
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