Originality and creativeness in video game design should still be rewarded by the consumer.
I still remember my first time picking up SimCity, or Dune 2 or Wolf3D. Hell, even The Sims was original in its time, not that it was something I personally enjoyed
The problem is nobody seems to want creativity or originality anymore. The gaming market seems to want nothing but FPS's or WoW addons anymore. And quite frankly, its a damn shame.
I have high hopes for Spore, but will the average gamer give 2 shits about it? Probably not....but I REALLY hope I'm wrong about that. Of course, its yet to be shown wether Spore will be fun to play - time will tell.
Although in the grand scheme of things, I believe that the problem isn't that the consumer won't buy originality in gaming. Its that the studios suck at doing anything original.
URM may be great for Grandma since it does bring up an annoying extra layer before Grandma deletes core windows files, or even her recipie folder. Of course, if Grandma just ignores the window and hits Continue, its all irrelavant anyway.
I've Beta'd Vista since Beta 1, and while the software has.....matured....since the initial beta, quite frankly, its still not ready for primetime.
Vista will still peg your processor at around 30% most of the time, mostly for bullshit you don't need or want. User Rights Management may be great for Grandma, but if you know what the fuck you're doing its just obtrusive (although it can be turned off). Driver support is dodgy, even with the big boys (Your video card will probably work, but expect signifigantly lower performance).
Oh, and add in the time during Beta 2 where Windows Update fried my install completely. Thank you for playing, re-install your OS. Yes, it was Beta still, but shit, I can see breaking pieces, or degrading performance, or any other assorted issues I expect. Frying the OS I do not.
All in all, as far as I'm concerned, this is just the next WinME
With the massive console losses already in place, it might be better to realize who the real competition is - Nintendo's Wii console - and fight them on price. Because, frankly, Sony has a better console at the same price point of the Wii, at least on graphics and speed, even if they don't have a full-fledged motion controller.
The Wii is indeed killing them, and if there was sufficient stock, it would probably be killing the 360 as well. But considering the high-end technology used in the PS3, and the cost to manufacture, Sony quite frankly can't afford to fight the Wii on Price. At most likely we're looking at a minimum of 2 years before Sony can even come close.
By that time, nintendo should be able to drop there's to lets say even 2/3 of what the price is now. So you have $300 vs $175-ish. Without some seriously fun exclusives, Sony still can't compete on price, will be dropping hundreds of dollars still per unit sold, and while graphically superior, will probably not be able to compete with the Wii on the fun-factor.
I'm not saying Sony is doomed, but they're humped the dog on the PS3, and it will take some marketing genius AND developers jumping hard on board to save their ass.
And this is of course assuming that the PS3 truely DOES have better graphics. The verdict isn't out yet, but most XBOX360 versions beat the PS3 versions graphically. Of course, the first round of 360 games looked like crap too, so realistically it will be a year before that verdict can be delivered.
If sony actually managed to get a $300 PS3 out, it would change dramatically the number of sold consoles. Without a doubt.
The problem is GETTING to that price point.
Right now, as far as I'm concerned, Sony has completely priced themselves out of this generation of consoles...and that without the fact that Sony's dropping what, $250 per console?
Dont get me wrong, I'm NOT a Sony hater...but Nintendo has got a genuinely fun system to play on the cheap, and Microsoft has a year head start. With the disapointing sales numbers for the PS3 so far, will Sony be able to attract the high-end exclusive games they've had in the past, when the installed base for the Wii is double, or triple, their penetration? I say no, but it is true that only time will tell.
Can they win long-term? Mabye...but it is likely they HAVE to win the HD Format War before they win this console war. If HD-DVD wins, Sony's in for a MAJOR hurt.
Yeah, but thats not Patching in the sence we're talking about here...adding new/upgraded functionality for free is a Good Thing(TM). Fixing something that was broken to begin with isn't.
We all KNOW Vista is being rushed out incomplete. The problem really is twofold: that companies (and not just MicroSoft) rush out product before it is ready, requiring patches/etc, but for some unknown reason we all find the multitude of patches/etc acceptable.
In some ways, the "dark days" of computing (pre-fast-internet) were the golden years. Either a company released a fully working product, and it thrived, or they released garbage, and the companies died in the process.
Of course, there is no way that this process will change until we, the consumers, demand finished products at release. But somehow I dont think the sheeple out there will do that either.
No matter how you look at it, the consumer loses now, and the consumers don't seem to care.
I see the unveiling of a new peripheral that the ignored SO can attach to their genitalia which gives an intense orgasm for every night she goes ignored so that her loser SO can ingrease his XBox Live Gamerscore.
Oh wait, he'd have to have a SO first for this to be useful....
Slashdot Mirror
30 seconds in and Godwin's law already invoked. :)
Originality and creativeness in video game design should still be rewarded by the consumer.
I still remember my first time picking up SimCity, or Dune 2 or Wolf3D. Hell, even The Sims was original in its time, not that it was something I personally enjoyed
The problem is nobody seems to want creativity or originality anymore. The gaming market seems to want nothing but FPS's or WoW addons anymore. And quite frankly, its a damn shame.
I have high hopes for Spore, but will the average gamer give 2 shits about it? Probably not....but I REALLY hope I'm wrong about that. Of course, its yet to be shown wether Spore will be fun to play - time will tell.
Although in the grand scheme of things, I believe that the problem isn't that the consumer won't buy originality in gaming. Its that the studios suck at doing anything original.
URM may be great for Grandma since it does bring up an annoying extra layer before Grandma deletes core windows files, or even her recipie folder. Of course, if Grandma just ignores the window and hits Continue, its all irrelavant anyway.
I've Beta'd Vista since Beta 1, and while the software has.....matured....since the initial beta, quite frankly, its still not ready for primetime.
Vista will still peg your processor at around 30% most of the time, mostly for bullshit you don't need or want. User Rights Management may be great for Grandma, but if you know what the fuck you're doing its just obtrusive (although it can be turned off). Driver support is dodgy, even with the big boys (Your video card will probably work, but expect signifigantly lower performance).
Oh, and add in the time during Beta 2 where Windows Update fried my install completely. Thank you for playing, re-install your OS. Yes, it was Beta still, but shit, I can see breaking pieces, or degrading performance, or any other assorted issues I expect. Frying the OS I do not.
All in all, as far as I'm concerned, this is just the next WinME
With the massive console losses already in place, it might be better to realize who the real competition is - Nintendo's Wii console - and fight them on price. Because, frankly, Sony has a better console at the same price point of the Wii, at least on graphics and speed, even if they don't have a full-fledged motion controller.
The Wii is indeed killing them, and if there was sufficient stock, it would probably be killing the 360 as well. But considering the high-end technology used in the PS3, and the cost to manufacture, Sony quite frankly can't afford to fight the Wii on Price. At most likely we're looking at a minimum of 2 years before Sony can even come close.
By that time, nintendo should be able to drop there's to lets say even 2/3 of what the price is now. So you have $300 vs $175-ish. Without some seriously fun exclusives, Sony still can't compete on price, will be dropping hundreds of dollars still per unit sold, and while graphically superior, will probably not be able to compete with the Wii on the fun-factor.
I'm not saying Sony is doomed, but they're humped the dog on the PS3, and it will take some marketing genius AND developers jumping hard on board to save their ass.
And this is of course assuming that the PS3 truely DOES have better graphics. The verdict isn't out yet, but most XBOX360 versions beat the PS3 versions graphically. Of course, the first round of 360 games looked like crap too, so realistically it will be a year before that verdict can be delivered.
If sony actually managed to get a $300 PS3 out, it would change dramatically the number of sold consoles. Without a doubt. The problem is GETTING to that price point. Right now, as far as I'm concerned, Sony has completely priced themselves out of this generation of consoles...and that without the fact that Sony's dropping what, $250 per console? Dont get me wrong, I'm NOT a Sony hater...but Nintendo has got a genuinely fun system to play on the cheap, and Microsoft has a year head start. With the disapointing sales numbers for the PS3 so far, will Sony be able to attract the high-end exclusive games they've had in the past, when the installed base for the Wii is double, or triple, their penetration? I say no, but it is true that only time will tell. Can they win long-term? Mabye...but it is likely they HAVE to win the HD Format War before they win this console war. If HD-DVD wins, Sony's in for a MAJOR hurt.
Yeah, but thats not Patching in the sence we're talking about here...adding new/upgraded functionality for free is a Good Thing(TM). Fixing something that was broken to begin with isn't.
We all KNOW Vista is being rushed out incomplete. The problem really is twofold: that companies (and not just MicroSoft) rush out product before it is ready, requiring patches/etc, but for some unknown reason we all find the multitude of patches/etc acceptable. In some ways, the "dark days" of computing (pre-fast-internet) were the golden years. Either a company released a fully working product, and it thrived, or they released garbage, and the companies died in the process. Of course, there is no way that this process will change until we, the consumers, demand finished products at release. But somehow I dont think the sheeple out there will do that either. No matter how you look at it, the consumer loses now, and the consumers don't seem to care.
I see the unveiling of a new peripheral that the ignored SO can attach to their genitalia which gives an intense orgasm for every night she goes ignored so that her loser SO can ingrease his XBox Live Gamerscore. Oh wait, he'd have to have a SO first for this to be useful....