During every major product launch, supply seems to outstrip demand, which is merely the way of things in this business. But the difference between the PS3's retail price--$600--and its black-market eBay price--$2000 at its highest--was so stark that, on launch day, people were getting killed trying to get their hands on PS3s. It was a hideous moment in our history because people were dying over videogames. The violence in Mortal Kombat never killed anyone, but the PS3 launch did. I don't blame Sony for the mistake of launching the PS3 so early and so low for its components, but isn't it time we start doing launches differently, either pricing the product at some approximation of its supply-and-demand market value, or delay until the product can be reasonably supplied?
In the days leading up to the PS3 launch, it seemed like Nintendo was taking a stance of figuring out what they could realistically deliver in the given time frame (a steady flow of consoles sold at a profit), while Sony was insisting on billion-dollar Cell chips, Blu-Ray drive, November launch, $600. With huge shortages looming for Sony, it seemed like something had to give for a realistic launch. Because nothing gave, people died. I'm not blaming Sony for these deaths, but I'm wondering when we as an industry can put this harsh lesson behind us and leave this old, outdated model of the ridiculously lowball launch price in the past where it belongs. Will Sony lead the way in realistic product launches, and if not, how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a PlayStation 3?
- They wanted to target gamers. Being marketers, they can only think of anything in traditional demographic terms. Gamers are mostly young men. So, they created a network for young men, about games.
- The problem is, young men already watch other networks, and by focusing only on young men they alienated everyone else who played videogames. They soon found that videogamers, on the whole, would rather be playing videogames or watching TV than watching TV about videogames.
- The doom spiral began. They quickly began unloading everything on G4 that had anything to do with videogames, instead aggressively targeting the young male demographic that is already watching Spike TV.
- Spike TV begins airing videogame shows. Game, set, and match.
I am absolutely convinced that if I were president of G4, I could turn things around in a heartbeat. As it happens, I imagine that ownership of the company will be pretty easy to come by once it ends up in the cable channel scrap heap. G4, we hardly knew ye.
Prince NineOne1 is Ubisoft's ambassador to the IGN Revolution boards, comfirmed by editors Matt and Craig. He answered the question himself:
"OK - maybe I will comment on 1 thing because it so absurd for a next-gen game.
This game is not a rail shooter - that would be 100% NES and not Next-Gen.
-P911"
(A "rail shooter" means a shooting game that is "on rails"--like Duck Hunt, Time Crisis, or any other light-gun game--rather than allowing for full movement as in Quake or Halo.)
http://gameonpause.7.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?p=6 45#645
Zonk, please make this rebuttal at least part of the story; our friend at PointlessWasteofTime jumped the gun, so to speak.
When I read that article, I was sort of expecting it to continue past the complaining about DDR, you know, and provide a little depth or backup. You know, explain why he hates DDR so much. Why would you consider DDR to be the death of arcades rather than its financial savior? How could you hate it when it keeps the money coming for venues that will also house Your Favorite Hardcore Fighting Game Doubleplus XP20? And why, you arrogant bastard, do you seem to have the impression that you and you alone can determine what people's tastes should be in electronic amusement machines?
Slashdot Games has run some great articles, and some unfathomably weak articles. This article, due to its unexplained ranting, general lack of facts, and unfathomable sparseness of content for its three-paragraph length, is the weakest article I've ever seen on Slashdot Games. That's not the writer's fault, though, it was just an off-the-cuff entry for his blog. It's Slashdot Games that ought to be ashamed for wasting our time by running an enraged fluff piece as a legitimate piece of gaming commentary.
If you and your friends ever consider buying Nintendo DSs, there are plenty of fun "quick" games for that... Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt can be played from anywhere to five minutes to over an hour and a half (that was the longest amount of time I ever got to play multiplayer MPH:FH; after that, I had to go to class, but I really wanted to keep playing), as well as fantastic puzzle games like Bomberman, Puyo Pop Fever, and Meteos. Plus, non-competitive multiplayer games like Animal Crossing DS and Nintendogs are coming out, as well as more competitive games like Metroid Prime Hunters, Snowboard Kids, as well as the turn-based strategy game Advance Wars DS (w/real time mode), a turn-based version of Age of Empires II, and the real-time Shogun Warriors: The Lost Army (where you select and command troops with your stylus)... and you can stand outside and look cool while playing games and feeling the breeze.
Sure, it's an extra piece of hardware, but most of these games only need one copy of the game to play multiplayer. And, the DS is super sexy and you can play it outside and has a stellar lineup especially when compared to the Competitor Who Shall Not Be Named.
I know I'm being something of a crazed DS evangelist but... hey, it's what I do!
"Blunt, a Republican who took office two weeks ago, called video games 'a luxury that inmates should not be allowed to enjoy.'"
Remember kids -- shoot somebody and it's no more Tetris!
A class-action suit is unreasonable, as Microsoft has quite a history listening to consumer demands.
Also, the common swine has special, winged appendages to assist in aviation.
(I'm not saying the polite request isn't a good idea; I'm just not saying it's worth taking the class-action suit off the table as the author advises.)
Lani Minella once got into an argument with Sonic creator Yuji Naka (through a translator!) over who should be Knuckles's English voice... Minella wanted Ryan Drummond, the voice of Sonic, to do Knuckles as well, and Naka did not think one person should do two roles. So they got (sort of) movie star Michael McGaharn to do the part in Sonic Adventure... who made Knuckles sound like he was hitting the valium pretty hard. For future Sonic games the voice was changed to somebody who didn't constantly sound so... bored.
(Minella is also the voice of Omochao, which is a pretty impressive, if slightly annoying, voice.)
I really hate that kind of snottiness. We could stroke our chins and try to come up with an intellectual analysis of EverQuest; and I'm sure if we were all Super Smart Game Designers like him, we might enjoy different games than as casual riffraff. But the truth is, if it ain't fun, we ain't gonna play it; and if he thinks we're un-cultured, well... sorry. You gotta play by our rules.
They had them at my mall. That booth was pretty popular until it dissappeared without a trace...
(they mostly hired immigrants who boasted to me about how it had "Nintendo, Sega, Atari..." It ranked a 105 on the Shade-o-meter.)
Kamalot's summary of this is an enormous logical leap... all the evidence suggests that this is an independent Warp Pipe project, as we have heard not a peep from Nintendo.
That, and can you imagine playing games over a P2P network? Okay, I'm playing Metroid Prime: Hunters. I am facing off against my mortal enemy. We each have one bullet left, taking cover behind the tattered remains of the arena in which we fought. (Yes I know Samus doesn't use bullets but bear with me.) Suddenly, she takes a flying leap from behind a pillar! No! I shrink into a Morph Ball and dodge, then rise back up and pray that I can hit her first...
But, I neglected to mention that she is in Montana, and we are connected by a kid playing DS over his lunch break who is thirty feet away from somebody who is lollygagging on a park bench who is thirty feet away from somebody who is playing the DS on the can... and just as I emerge from my Morph Ball to stare my enemy in the face, the guy finishes washing his hands and walks out of the bathroom, DS in hand, and the connection is broken.
WHAAAAT?! Uuuuuaaarggghhh! I'll stick with hotspots, thank you very much.
So anyway, I'm sure whatever Warp Pipe has cooking is super ultra mega exciting; but there is nothing to suggest that Nintendo is in on it, nor that it is a P2P network, which are the two main points of the article. I hope Slashdot sees it fit to update the article with a retraction; they're busy people and I don't blame them for being duped by the hype, but, you know, they were still duped.
That areticle is a load of hokey. He could have used one sentence to explain his point rather than wax poetic about sunsets.
2.5 out of ten. At most.
(That said, if you don't like game ratings... got a better idea, mister? Maybe we'll rate games based using words: for some, Firebrand is a higher score than Petunia, but if your game is Donut, it really breaks free of the mold established by low-class Tanktank games.)
(I got it! We'll rate games based on the Sunsets in Hyrule score. For instance, I think Halo merits five sunsets in Hyrule, but Grand Theft Auto only three. That way, we can open up the true enigmatic corbonatory flommoxing of the explanatory potential inherent in Metal Gear Solid's twice-removed data streams of love...)
Slashdot Mirror
A if you hear the h, an if you don't, arrgggghhhhhh...
During every major product launch, supply seems to outstrip demand, which is merely the way of things in this business. But the difference between the PS3's retail price--$600--and its black-market eBay price--$2000 at its highest--was so stark that, on launch day, people were getting killed trying to get their hands on PS3s. It was a hideous moment in our history because people were dying over videogames. The violence in Mortal Kombat never killed anyone, but the PS3 launch did. I don't blame Sony for the mistake of launching the PS3 so early and so low for its components, but isn't it time we start doing launches differently, either pricing the product at some approximation of its supply-and-demand market value, or delay until the product can be reasonably supplied?
In the days leading up to the PS3 launch, it seemed like Nintendo was taking a stance of figuring out what they could realistically deliver in the given time frame (a steady flow of consoles sold at a profit), while Sony was insisting on billion-dollar Cell chips, Blu-Ray drive, November launch, $600. With huge shortages looming for Sony, it seemed like something had to give for a realistic launch. Because nothing gave, people died. I'm not blaming Sony for these deaths, but I'm wondering when we as an industry can put this harsh lesson behind us and leave this old, outdated model of the ridiculously lowball launch price in the past where it belongs. Will Sony lead the way in realistic product launches, and if not, how do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a PlayStation 3?
Hmmm... I think G4 has a problem, and here it is:
- They wanted to target gamers. Being marketers, they can only think of anything in traditional demographic terms. Gamers are mostly young men. So, they created a network for young men, about games.
- The problem is, young men already watch other networks, and by focusing only on young men they alienated everyone else who played videogames. They soon found that videogamers, on the whole, would rather be playing videogames or watching TV than watching TV about videogames.
- The doom spiral began. They quickly began unloading everything on G4 that had anything to do with videogames, instead aggressively targeting the young male demographic that is already watching Spike TV.
- Spike TV begins airing videogame shows. Game, set, and match.
I am absolutely convinced that if I were president of G4, I could turn things around in a heartbeat. As it happens, I imagine that ownership of the company will be pretty easy to come by once it ends up in the cable channel scrap heap. G4, we hardly knew ye.
Prince NineOne1 is Ubisoft's ambassador to the IGN Revolution boards, comfirmed by editors Matt and Craig. He answered the question himself: "OK - maybe I will comment on 1 thing because it so absurd for a next-gen game. This game is not a rail shooter - that would be 100% NES and not Next-Gen. -P911" (A "rail shooter" means a shooting game that is "on rails"--like Duck Hunt, Time Crisis, or any other light-gun game--rather than allowing for full movement as in Quake or Halo.) http://gameonpause.7.forumer.com/viewtopic.php?p=6 45#645
Zonk, please make this rebuttal at least part of the story; our friend at PointlessWasteofTime jumped the gun, so to speak.
When I read that article, I was sort of expecting it to continue past the complaining about DDR, you know, and provide a little depth or backup. You know, explain why he hates DDR so much. Why would you consider DDR to be the death of arcades rather than its financial savior? How could you hate it when it keeps the money coming for venues that will also house Your Favorite Hardcore Fighting Game Doubleplus XP20? And why, you arrogant bastard, do you seem to have the impression that you and you alone can determine what people's tastes should be in electronic amusement machines?
Slashdot Games has run some great articles, and some unfathomably weak articles. This article, due to its unexplained ranting, general lack of facts, and unfathomable sparseness of content for its three-paragraph length, is the weakest article I've ever seen on Slashdot Games. That's not the writer's fault, though, it was just an off-the-cuff entry for his blog. It's Slashdot Games that ought to be ashamed for wasting our time by running an enraged fluff piece as a legitimate piece of gaming commentary.
If you and your friends ever consider buying Nintendo DSs, there are plenty of fun "quick" games for that... Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt can be played from anywhere to five minutes to over an hour and a half (that was the longest amount of time I ever got to play multiplayer MPH:FH; after that, I had to go to class, but I really wanted to keep playing), as well as fantastic puzzle games like Bomberman, Puyo Pop Fever, and Meteos. Plus, non-competitive multiplayer games like Animal Crossing DS and Nintendogs are coming out, as well as more competitive games like Metroid Prime Hunters, Snowboard Kids, as well as the turn-based strategy game Advance Wars DS (w/real time mode), a turn-based version of Age of Empires II, and the real-time Shogun Warriors: The Lost Army (where you select and command troops with your stylus)... and you can stand outside and look cool while playing games and feeling the breeze.
Sure, it's an extra piece of hardware, but most of these games only need one copy of the game to play multiplayer. And, the DS is super sexy and you can play it outside and has a stellar lineup especially when compared to the Competitor Who Shall Not Be Named.
I know I'm being something of a crazed DS evangelist but... hey, it's what I do!
"Blunt, a Republican who took office two weeks ago, called video games 'a luxury that inmates should not be allowed to enjoy.'" Remember kids -- shoot somebody and it's no more Tetris!
A class-action suit is unreasonable, as Microsoft has quite a history listening to consumer demands.
Also, the common swine has special, winged appendages to assist in aviation.
(I'm not saying the polite request isn't a good idea; I'm just not saying it's worth taking the class-action suit off the table as the author advises.)
Remember: if you make a stumpy guy with green skin and purple shorts, you are breaking the law.
God bless America.
(I could, concievably, draw Pac-Man in Nintendo's PictoChat and Namco would get no royalties. What are you waiting for, Namco? Sue the bastards!)
"What you say? I'm too busy setting you up the bomb."
Lani Minella once got into an argument with Sonic creator Yuji Naka (through a translator!) over who should be Knuckles's English voice... Minella wanted Ryan Drummond, the voice of Sonic, to do Knuckles as well, and Naka did not think one person should do two roles. So they got (sort of) movie star Michael McGaharn to do the part in Sonic Adventure... who made Knuckles sound like he was hitting the valium pretty hard. For future Sonic games the voice was changed to somebody who didn't constantly sound so... bored.
(Minella is also the voice of Omochao, which is a pretty impressive, if slightly annoying, voice.)
"Supply and demand?"
I thought a lot of demand brings a product's price _up._
Who, exactly, are the "Sony devoted?" Wasn't the PlayStation's success based in its appeal to the casual gamer?
As I said to my friend in class today: "LET'S STROM THE BLACK GAooooooo...."
I really hate that kind of snottiness. We could stroke our chins and try to come up with an intellectual analysis of EverQuest; and I'm sure if we were all Super Smart Game Designers like him, we might enjoy different games than as casual riffraff. But the truth is, if it ain't fun, we ain't gonna play it; and if he thinks we're un-cultured, well... sorry. You gotta play by our rules.
They had them at my mall. That booth was pretty popular until it dissappeared without a trace... (they mostly hired immigrants who boasted to me about how it had "Nintendo, Sega, Atari..." It ranked a 105 on the Shade-o-meter.)
PS3 will be different... It'll be slightly faster... TO THE MAX!
Kamalot's summary of this is an enormous logical leap... all the evidence suggests that this is an independent Warp Pipe project, as we have heard not a peep from Nintendo.
That, and can you imagine playing games over a P2P network? Okay, I'm playing Metroid Prime: Hunters. I am facing off against my mortal enemy. We each have one bullet left, taking cover behind the tattered remains of the arena in which we fought. (Yes I know Samus doesn't use bullets but bear with me.) Suddenly, she takes a flying leap from behind a pillar! No! I shrink into a Morph Ball and dodge, then rise back up and pray that I can hit her first...
But, I neglected to mention that she is in Montana, and we are connected by a kid playing DS over his lunch break who is thirty feet away from somebody who is lollygagging on a park bench who is thirty feet away from somebody who is playing the DS on the can... and just as I emerge from my Morph Ball to stare my enemy in the face, the guy finishes washing his hands and walks out of the bathroom, DS in hand, and the connection is broken.
WHAAAAT?! Uuuuuaaarggghhh! I'll stick with hotspots, thank you very much.
So anyway, I'm sure whatever Warp Pipe has cooking is super ultra mega exciting; but there is nothing to suggest that Nintendo is in on it, nor that it is a P2P network, which are the two main points of the article. I hope Slashdot sees it fit to update the article with a retraction; they're busy people and I don't blame them for being duped by the hype, but, you know, they were still duped.
...Perhaps because GTA games are historically... good?
After all, everybody knows what happened to the book market when people started selling used books.
And stuff and stuff.
That areticle is a load of hokey. He could have used one sentence to explain his point rather than wax poetic about sunsets. 2.5 out of ten. At most. (That said, if you don't like game ratings... got a better idea, mister? Maybe we'll rate games based using words: for some, Firebrand is a higher score than Petunia, but if your game is Donut, it really breaks free of the mold established by low-class Tanktank games.) (I got it! We'll rate games based on the Sunsets in Hyrule score. For instance, I think Halo merits five sunsets in Hyrule, but Grand Theft Auto only three. That way, we can open up the true enigmatic corbonatory flommoxing of the explanatory potential inherent in Metal Gear Solid's twice-removed data streams of love...)
Impossible Mission for the Atari 2600, according to EGM, was the impossible mission.
Sometimes I play Puyo Puyo so much that when I close my eyes, I see little colored blobs, matching up and dissappearing for all eternity...
Any Pokémon movie sequel that tanked.
An embassy?! Why on Earth would you want to nuke an embassy? Did you get beaten up by a diplomat when you were a kid, or something?