That's a good call, but like I said. Nickle and Dime. I'd read an interview with a Sony rep who used the example I gave in my original post. A dollar for a new gun. Not a big deal to begin with, but it adds up quick. People have used that scheme for years. Ever buy a car? Well, you can get that cool looking spoiler for another 750 bucks! Only another 20 bucks a month with the financing.
Dell does it on their site too. 2Gigs or RAM for 100 bucks more, but hey, that's only another $3/month, so you can afford it.
A real expantion? I'd say a real expansion should include more than just a few more levels on an FPS. Like with Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. Each faction gets many new units. There are many new ways to play (Generals). And, the standard extra levels that last about as long as the whole game.
A better example would be BG: Tales of the Sword Coast or BGII: Throne of Baal. Each contained more charecters and hours to days of extra content.
You're right. I don't watch TV. If I do, it's a baseball game at a friend's house. I have a TV for my games, but I don't even have an antenna for the thing. For me, TV is a waste of time. One day I got so fed up with commercials (I'd been muting them for years) that I decided I really never wanted to see one again. So I shut off the TV. That was three years ago.
I read, play softball, train in kung fu, play board games and video games, go to a Twins game, jog, clean... What do I do if I need to just wind down and not think? I play some non-thought intensive games, like an FPS for some amount of time, but as opposed to TV, games at least require thought or interation. I play a lot of strategy and puzzle games, but I also like to play Mario Kart or Halo with friends.
And as far as DVDs goes, I have about 20 of them. They gather dust in a pile out of sight. I'll buy a movie used on rare occations, almost never new. I may watch them once or twice with people, but almost never by myself. Except Ronin has a special place in my heart, and I occationally will play it in the background while I'm cleaning my house.
I really don't like the idea of episodic content. I'm not paying any developer, publisher, or hardware maker more money for a game I bought (non subscription, I do play WoW) just so I can get a better gun, or a new level, but I am okay with real expansions.
GS: On that note, can you explain the concept of Storytronics? If there is such a way to give a brief description.
CC: It's interactive storytelling.
Okay, Either I saw this in the movie, Big, or we've been trying for this all along. Anyone who's played an "Open Ended" game such as Chrono Triger knows what mutiple endings try for. Blood Omen:Legacy of Kain had an open ending where you could be good or bad guy.
This guy is huge pessimist (admits it in the article). He just seems like he doesn't have a clue. After reading TFA I'm not clear on what the goal of his "Storytelling" games is, but it sounds an aweful lot like he's trying to create a truely, open ended game, but failing miserably... over and over. It's a noble quest, indeed, but trying to say it's an original idea is really laughable.
It really can't be held against Nintendo if the 3rd parties can't make hit games. Sony doesn't have much in the way of hit 1st party games, and Microsoft has a few, but they wouldn't if they weren't buying up development studios left and right. So what if Nintendo is responsible for most of thier own profits?
Give up cartriges? They did, see the Gamecube. Those are discs. As far as portable goes, mechanical media is a joke. Load times on handhelds are a huge detractor from the product. Think about it, you're on the go. The last thing you want 4 minutes out of your 15 minute brake consumed by load times. Then there's the battery life. I don't know about you, but I really enjoy the fact that I can play my DS for a week or two without worrying about charging it. I just close it and go back to my game later (I know the PSP also has a sleep mode). Size isn't a big deal anymore either. With screens that small, textures don't need to be nearly as detailed, and flash memory keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. Check out Pricewatch. Some formats have 512MB of flash for under 25 bucks.
[GRUFF VOICE] Not with my box of bunnies...[/GRUFF VOICE]
Did you ever steal a second box? You could use them on the engine in the semi. The fan would chew them up with a buzz-saw noise to the William Tell Overture or something like that. Great game! Great memories!
Every other system plays music. I'd be more than happy to hook my iPod up to a Wii if ITMS somehow appears on the system. IIRC it's got a couple USB 2.0 ports and Nintendo said that we'll be able to put most proprietary media on it. Inlcuding external HDD's. I never purchased an external HDD before, but it seems like a good idea seeing as the Wii will come stock with 512MB of internal (expandable).
Being a former D&D junkie
on
DDO Goes Solo
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· Score: 2, Funny
I'm willing to bet, from personal experience, that most D&D players already have at least a few proficiency slots used up in going it "solo."
The other half is Blizzard doubling the price of a WoW subscription. But, hey, at least we can easily travel between contents on the new Arthas-class Yamato cruisers... er.. wait.
Too often, though, these "side quests" becomes necessary to beat the game it seems. I don't want to spend hours level grinding - I want to *play*, so if you have "extras" that I can work for - fine. Just don't *make* me do them if I don't want to.
Final Fantasy, we're looking at you here.
I like the games, but the sidequests take 100's of hours of devotion each. If you want to use sidequests to increase available "completion" hours for your PR guys to throw around, fine. But at least make it fun. By the way, dodging 200 lightning bolts for Lulu's ultimate weapon was... just... I don't have words to describe my hatred for this task. It's a flippin' RPG. If I wanted to play a twitch-relex game, I'd play DOA or some other fighter... (No, I didn't get it...). But, I'd rather grind levels 1-60 on WoW than deal with FFX's monster arena.
Anyone remember "Legend of Mana" on the PS1? I do... you could get the ultimate weapons, but powering them required 20hours+ each. FAQs for this game are about as extensive as Kingdom Hearts 2.
Reread my comment. RE4 was on GC first and ported to PS2. Capcom actually did their 'direct port' and then fine tuned it for about six months prior to release. The game looks great for a PS2 game, but that doesn't mean anything when compared to GC or XBox games. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 was given to seperate teams for porting. One to XBox and PS2, the other team did the GC version. The GC version was utter crap.
Another good comparison is Spiderman 2. Xbox and GC versions were virtually indistiguishable. XBox just had a some more polygons and a generally increased draw-distance. PS2 was just as jaggy as ever. About half the polys, and textures were simplified.
The GC made a lot of use out of each process. I know my terms aren't correct, because I'm not a developer, but long ago I read that the Gekko could do 8 effects on a polygon every clock. It also sported S3 compression (IIRC). Which was 6:1 compression with hardware decoding on textures. That's why a lot of the bigger games could fit on the mini-DVD's.
Agreed. PS2 is quite underpowered. I remember having a conversation with a PS2 zealot. The guy is fluent in Japanese and, thus, imports most, if not all of his games. Really a cool guy. Anyway, I was discussing Resident Evil 4's port to PS2. It's lack of polygons (PS2 version) and such. He exploded, claiming (rightfully) that Silent Hill 3 used 20,000 polygons on the protagonist's face, thus the PS2 could push all the polygons neccessary for RE4 to look just as good. Well, SH3 has tiny environments compared to RE4. That's why they can use so many polys.
Not long ago I finaly got RE4 for my GC. As most people will tell you, amazing. Simply amazing looking game. (I'd say better than Halo, maybe even Halo 2). Well, by brother loved it, so he picked it up for his PS2. Not joking here, the PS2 version is crap, in comparison. The controls are slower (might have something to do with the full anologe Dual Shock). There are almost no textures. The protagonist looks like he's wearing a helmet (in GC version, his hair sways as you run). PS2 is severly undpowered.
Funny Games Metal Arms - Glitch in the System Conker's Bad Fur Day The Bard's Tale (PS2, XBox, PC) Metal Gear 3 - Snake Eater (very comical commentary, involving a box)
Sorry, but your analogy seems lacking. Being that there is a significantly larger group of "non-gamers" I would say that Sony and Microsoft are going after the berries, and Nintendo is hitting the skies for the bats. Maybe the Phantom is going deep sea fishing or something like that. Well, that doesn't work either, according to Nintendo's "Blue Ocean" campainge. There's a much greater market to grab if you can appeal to the non-gamers.
and we're happy that Blizzard have always supported macs
I remember playing Warcraft II on a Mac 7168 (or something like that). What a blessing that was. My dad had picked up a game pack that had a few (pretty bad) games. But the fact that I could play Warcraft I & II was awesome. Both were great games.
Blizzard would have got a lot of people (like me) from their other RTS games
Now if only we could play some sort of 'cross-genre' Starcraft game. Like, what if you were a Ghost and... Seriously, though. I'm sure there's enough ingenuity for a Starcraft II in the Blizzard brainpool. I'd buy a new computer for that game, if it was required. Heck, I'd play it if it was sprite based!
When you consider how small most of these games are (barely a megabyte or two for the largest)
Unless Nintendo chooses to compress all their games (I'm pretty sure they will, but haven't hear dabout it), they're going to run anywhere between 1MB and 64MB (or more) for some of the N64 games. Not that it matters too much (normal read off a flash card is still pretty fast). But I hate waiting for my games to load. Thus the reason I bought a 64 over the PS1 back in the day. I remember playing Blood Omen at a friends house. It took almost a minute to access the in game menus... Every time you needed to switch weapon's armor, spells... No way I was putting up with that no matter how good the game was/is.
Heh, if you want a real load-time nightmare, play Turok: Evolution for ANY of the current gen systems. Even the Cube version takes over a minute for every level.
Well, seeing as Nintendo has repeatedly stated they want to creat an affordble machine, I'm thinking that 200 is the maximum price point. And even then they're sitting uncomfortably close to a stripped down 360 if there's a price drop.
What I think would make a massive difference is if they included a second controller. I know it hasn't been done since the days of the NES when all you got was one color, but I think it would make a lot of sense. They want to sell a fun system, and games are rarely as fun by yourself as when you're playing with friends or family. I mean, even if you could (or have) networked Mario Kart over the net, it's just not the same when you tell your brother to prepare for a "Big, Spikey Blue-Shell Enima!" unless it's in person... But that's what the punk gets for taking first place from me!
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Dell does it on their site too. 2Gigs or RAM for 100 bucks more, but hey, that's only another $3/month, so you can afford it.
A real expantion? I'd say a real expansion should include more than just a few more levels on an FPS. Like with Command and Conquer Generals: Zero Hour. Each faction gets many new units. There are many new ways to play (Generals). And, the standard extra levels that last about as long as the whole game.
A better example would be BG: Tales of the Sword Coast or BGII: Throne of Baal. Each contained more charecters and hours to days of extra content.
"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
I read, play softball, train in kung fu, play board games and video games, go to a Twins game, jog, clean... What do I do if I need to just wind down and not think? I play some non-thought intensive games, like an FPS for some amount of time, but as opposed to TV, games at least require thought or interation. I play a lot of strategy and puzzle games, but I also like to play Mario Kart or Halo with friends.
And as far as DVDs goes, I have about 20 of them. They gather dust in a pile out of sight. I'll buy a movie used on rare occations, almost never new. I may watch them once or twice with people, but almost never by myself. Except Ronin has a special place in my heart, and I occationally will play it in the background while I'm cleaning my house.
Sony to nickel and dime gamers to stay afloat
I really don't like the idea of episodic content. I'm not paying any developer, publisher, or hardware maker more money for a game I bought (non subscription, I do play WoW) just so I can get a better gun, or a new level, but I am okay with real expansions.
GS: On that note, can you explain the concept of Storytronics? If there is such a way to give a brief description.
CC: It's interactive storytelling.
Okay, Either I saw this in the movie, Big, or we've been trying for this all along. Anyone who's played an "Open Ended" game such as Chrono Triger knows what mutiple endings try for. Blood Omen:Legacy of Kain had an open ending where you could be good or bad guy.
This guy is huge pessimist (admits it in the article). He just seems like he doesn't have a clue. After reading TFA I'm not clear on what the goal of his "Storytelling" games is, but it sounds an aweful lot like he's trying to create a truely, open ended game, but failing miserably... over and over. It's a noble quest, indeed, but trying to say it's an original idea is really laughable.
Give up cartriges? They did, see the Gamecube. Those are discs. As far as portable goes, mechanical media is a joke. Load times on handhelds are a huge detractor from the product. Think about it, you're on the go. The last thing you want 4 minutes out of your 15 minute brake consumed by load times. Then there's the battery life. I don't know about you, but I really enjoy the fact that I can play my DS for a week or two without worrying about charging it. I just close it and go back to my game later (I know the PSP also has a sleep mode). Size isn't a big deal anymore either. With screens that small, textures don't need to be nearly as detailed, and flash memory keeps getting cheaper and cheaper. Check out Pricewatch. Some formats have 512MB of flash for under 25 bucks.
[GRUFF VOICE] Not with my box of bunnies...[/GRUFF VOICE]
Did you ever steal a second box? You could use them on the engine in the semi. The fan would chew them up with a buzz-saw noise to the William Tell Overture or something like that. Great game! Great memories!
Every other system plays music. I'd be more than happy to hook my iPod up to a Wii if ITMS somehow appears on the system. IIRC it's got a couple USB 2.0 ports and Nintendo said that we'll be able to put most proprietary media on it. Inlcuding external HDD's. I never purchased an external HDD before, but it seems like a good idea seeing as the Wii will come stock with 512MB of internal (expandable).
I'm willing to bet, from personal experience, that most D&D players already have at least a few proficiency slots used up in going it "solo."
The other half is Blizzard doubling the price of a WoW subscription. But, hey, at least we can easily travel between contents on the new Arthas-class Yamato cruisers... er.. wait.
My plan exactly. That'll give me the time to save up for a nice 40+ inch widescreen hi-def. You know, so I can get the full experience.
Yeah, that must be using the frosty power plant keep the CPU and all those HDDs cool at the same time. er... yeah...
Final Fantasy, we're looking at you here.
I like the games, but the sidequests take 100's of hours of devotion each. If you want to use sidequests to increase available "completion" hours for your PR guys to throw around, fine. But at least make it fun. By the way, dodging 200 lightning bolts for Lulu's ultimate weapon was... just... I don't have words to describe my hatred for this task. It's a flippin' RPG. If I wanted to play a twitch-relex game, I'd play DOA or some other fighter... (No, I didn't get it...). But, I'd rather grind levels 1-60 on WoW than deal with FFX's monster arena.
Anyone remember "Legend of Mana" on the PS1? I do... you could get the ultimate weapons, but powering them required 20hours+ each. FAQs for this game are about as extensive as Kingdom Hearts 2.
The PS2's processor was just there for 'emotional' support anyway (that pun was SO intended).
Another good comparison is Spiderman 2. Xbox and GC versions were virtually indistiguishable. XBox just had a some more polygons and a generally increased draw-distance. PS2 was just as jaggy as ever. About half the polys, and textures were simplified.
The GC made a lot of use out of each process. I know my terms aren't correct, because I'm not a developer, but long ago I read that the Gekko could do 8 effects on a polygon every clock. It also sported S3 compression (IIRC). Which was 6:1 compression with hardware decoding on textures. That's why a lot of the bigger games could fit on the mini-DVD's.
Not long ago I finaly got RE4 for my GC. As most people will tell you, amazing. Simply amazing looking game. (I'd say better than Halo, maybe even Halo 2). Well, by brother loved it, so he picked it up for his PS2. Not joking here, the PS2 version is crap, in comparison. The controls are slower (might have something to do with the full anologe Dual Shock). There are almost no textures. The protagonist looks like he's wearing a helmet (in GC version, his hair sways as you run). PS2 is severly undpowered.
But it still has a LOT of great games.
That's some fast-ass-molasses....
Funny Games
Metal Arms - Glitch in the System
Conker's Bad Fur Day
The Bard's Tale (PS2, XBox, PC)
Metal Gear 3 - Snake Eater (very comical commentary, involving a box)
These are just off the top of my head.
Time for a new analogy, no?
Of course, Resident Evil games will use two discs anyway. Strictly out of princeple, though.
I remember playing Warcraft II on a Mac 7168 (or something like that). What a blessing that was. My dad had picked up a game pack that had a few (pretty bad) games. But the fact that I could play Warcraft I & II was awesome. Both were great games.
Blizzard would have got a lot of people (like me) from their other RTS games
Now if only we could play some sort of 'cross-genre' Starcraft game. Like, what if you were a Ghost and...
Seriously, though. I'm sure there's enough ingenuity for a Starcraft II in the Blizzard brainpool. I'd buy a new computer for that game, if it was required. Heck, I'd play it if it was sprite based!
Unless Nintendo chooses to compress all their games (I'm pretty sure they will, but haven't hear dabout it), they're going to run anywhere between 1MB and 64MB (or more) for some of the N64 games. Not that it matters too much (normal read off a flash card is still pretty fast). But I hate waiting for my games to load. Thus the reason I bought a 64 over the PS1 back in the day. I remember playing Blood Omen at a friends house. It took almost a minute to access the in game menus... Every time you needed to switch weapon's armor, spells... No way I was putting up with that no matter how good the game was/is.
Heh, if you want a real load-time nightmare, play Turok: Evolution for ANY of the current gen systems. Even the Cube version takes over a minute for every level.
If Sony were nice, they'd hand out Vasaline while they raped your wallet...
So is the website, after a thourough slash-throttling...
What I think would make a massive difference is if they included a second controller. I know it hasn't been done since the days of the NES when all you got was one color, but I think it would make a lot of sense. They want to sell a fun system, and games are rarely as fun by yourself as when you're playing with friends or family. I mean, even if you could (or have) networked Mario Kart over the net, it's just not the same when you tell your brother to prepare for a "Big, Spikey Blue-Shell Enima!" unless it's in person... But that's what the punk gets for taking first place from me!