I'd have to disagree with the article on one point: I don't think JSRF had better controls than the original. Some of it was improved, they got rid of the horrendous problems that arose from having camera center and spray on the same button (imagine spontaneously stopping to spraypaint while you're trying to run like hell); but a couple new issues arose. They made the phone/power lines "stickier" - if you landed within a fairly wide radius of a power line, you were automatically drawn towards it - which turned out to be a very mixed blessing. If you weren't moving fast enough, it was literally impossible to get off. They also got rid of the "swirl" control scheme for paining tags, which made the game faster, but less involved. Both games are still fantastic, though.
Where's the slot for PS1 or PS2 memory cards on the PS3? What about the Game Link port on the back of the original PlayStation (used for Command & Conquer Red Alert Retaliation as well as several racing games) that was eliminated from later PS1 models (starting when they stopped manufacturing the original form factor in favor of the PSone)?
For that matter, where's the HDD bay on the PSTwo? You can't play FFXI on it. How can you complain about Nintendo's backwards compatability efforts when Sony breaks compatability with the same generation of hardware?
Nintendo is the king of gimmicky and irrelevant consoles, examples being the Virtual Boy and the DS.
Yes, because with over 5 million units sold, the Nintendo DS is completely irrelevant. Oh, and that analog stick thing they introduced with the N64? Irrelevant. The 3D platformer? Total gimmick. Nintendo may have made some mistakes, but it's foolish to chide them for trying different things. They've invented a lot of important elements of console gaming as we know it.
TFA mentions Online Play and High-Definition as the two new features that Nintendo has shunned. But for what? The impression I get is that they are avoiding these features because they don't know how to implement them effectively- not because they have an alternate plan in mind for the future of console gaming.
Wrong again. It has nothing to do with Nintendo's arrogance, and everything to do with economics. Sony's a huge multifaceted company and so is Microsoft. They can afford to do a lot of things Nintendo can't. Sony's got other divisions that can probably produce HD hardware for a fraction of what it'd cost Nintendo to buy the same thing, and Microsoft has the money and the will to bruteforce their way into the market.
As for the online example, I think it's debatable if anyone except Microsoft has anything much of an online presence. Sure there's a couple online games for the PS2, but the Xbox is lightyears ahead of that. And, as you can see from the Microsoft Games division's profits, it hasn't done then a whole lot of good financially: they've had a single profitable quarter since the Xbox launched. Indeed, it's probably cost them a whole lot of money to launch and maintain their network. Sure, it's gotten them a lot of mindshare, but both Sony and Nintendo came into the generation with that in spades. Nintendo can't afford to spend that kind of money if they're not getting a quick return on their investment, and Sony simply didn't need to. Now they've found technology that will allow them to let them enter the market affordably, and they're doing it- in the first generation where it will REALLY matter.
From TFA: "Other companies may talk of game machines, but we've always referred to 'computer entertainment,' even in our press materials. It's entertainment and also a computer. That's what's important."
Hmmm... Computer Entertainmentspot, Computer Entertainmentspy, Computer Entertainmentpro... nope just doesn't work
Unfortunately for OSS, McAfee isn't looking for a serious relationship right now. She's been dumped by her long-term boyfriend, and really just wants a fling. They might have some fun for a night, but she's not going to return OSS' calls.
That's what we call a killer app. Even if the fad dies away, they've still sold a lot of games and, more importantly, A LOT of hardware. If they've got the system, they're that much more likely to try and get their money's worth by buying more games. Furthermore, it makes the DS that much more appealing of a platform, since it's got a massive installed base. Case and point, look at the original Gameboy: they hooked people with Tetris and (much later) Pokemon, and then from there they just kept buying games. It also proves Nintendo's point about grabbing non-traditional gamers. There's a huge untapped market out there that's willing to try games, but just doesn't like stuff like GTA and Doom 3. If you can grab them, you're poised to make a lot of money - more than you could ever make with just the hardcore gamer crowd, which is miniscule compared to, say, the portion of the population that buys CDs, or goes to movies.
The main impression I got from looking at the screenshots is "Wow those weapons look nice. I wish I could see what the actual game looks like, though." None of the images seemed to provide a clear view of what the weapons or environments look like. Not terribly useful for a preview.
From TFA: "Back when Mario Mania was reaching its peak in 1990 and 1991..."
I'm not sure if I'd say 1990 was the peak of Mario's popularity. I clearly remember chomping down on a big, mouth-lacerating bowl of Mario Cereal (why is it that so many childrens' cereals are scientifically designed to cut the crap out of the roof of your mouth?)- and I didn't even own an NES. Mario had enough clout that, without even playing the games, I was willing to rush home from school and watch the Super Mario Bros. Super Show while eating a bowl of cereal that turned my mouth into a bleeding mess. That, to me, is the peak of "Mario Mania".
He is right to some extent; even as someone who simply follows the games industry from an outisder's perspective, I feel like I get less and less real information from E3 as the years go by. We get specs that may or may not have been created in an alternate universe where teraflops are something wholly different than they are here, dummied up tech demos that aren't even close to realistic, and game demos that are more smoke and mirrors than they are gameplay. That being said, he doesn't really get to any of these issues. The whole thing reads like self-important whining. He complains "the assholes in the Best Buy, or EB Games, or CompUSA badges, retail monkeys who are the industry equivalent of burger flippers, are as thick as flies." What, exactly, makes him so much better than these so-called "burger flippers"? His electronic soapbox? Rather than get to the actual meat of the issue- dishonesty, hype, and a general lack of a critical voice from the gaming media (none of which he seems to mind, he seems more interestred in professionalism than the facts)- he whines and complains like a child about not getting what he wants.
The Palm hardware isn't sold at a loss. Sony plans of making its money off of licensing fees and royalties. First off they can't get that kind of money out of homebrew devs, secondly it acts as competition for the companies who HAVE paid. They're not going to encourage that.
The concept of "juvenile" vs. "adult" games really drives me nuts. What, exactly, makes running over a guy in GTA so much better than hopping on a goomba in Mario Bros.? If it's fun, it's fun. Oh, and if you want to see juvenile, check out God of War. Great game, I know. But did it really need to have you mash buttons to have sex with polygon women? If this is what "mature" gaming means, why don't I just eschew the expensive hardware and games, and just borrow some middle schooler's notebook. The doodles of big breasted women therein should be effectively the same thing, and I won't even tire out my thumb.
The activity will ALWAYS go on. Why NOT make it legit, and make a percentage?
Well, like TFA says, it opens you up to numerous legal issues. Once they have real world value it becomes much harder to argue that they're the property of SOE (or any other publisher/developer). Whenever you do something that weakens the value of an item, you open yourself up to lawsuits. Here are just a few I thought of off to the top of my head:
1) Server goes down? They get sued for potential earnings lost during the outage (similar to someone suing a webhost for downtime).
2) The designers rebalance a weapon? Well, they just negatively affected its value.
3) A crash loses someone's items? Destruction of property and/or negligence.
4) They shut down the game? Take a wild guess.
Legal issues aside, it encourages them to make weapons that are unbalanced. Why cut back the power of that weapon that makes the game no fun for anyone else in the area? It's going to fetch a ton of money at auction. And the more it makes, the bigger Sony's cut is.
Indeed. Their question "Which company makes the most money?", for example, was really ambiguous? Are we talking the whole company, or just the gaming divisions? In what time period? If you can't make it clear in a single sentence, then it shouldn't be a question. Oh, and I thought their history quiz was a joke. Games like Devil May Cry are far too new for a history quiz.
It's a pity they can't use all that processing power to make the commentary decent. If I have to hear "It's like there's a bee in his helmet!" one more time, I'm going to kill someone.
Oh and making the players look nice is all well and good, but I hope to hell that they did something about the crowd. Low-res sprites just look awful. Oh and the cheerleaders need a ton of work too. The ones in Madden 2005... yeesh.
Oh and another great live music Mario arrangement: SuperBuck Jazz by Estradasphere. Great jazz arrangement of the Mario 2 theme. The bassist is especially impressive.
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I'd have to disagree with the article on one point: I don't think JSRF had better controls than the original. Some of it was improved, they got rid of the horrendous problems that arose from having camera center and spray on the same button (imagine spontaneously stopping to spraypaint while you're trying to run like hell); but a couple new issues arose. They made the phone/power lines "stickier" - if you landed within a fairly wide radius of a power line, you were automatically drawn towards it - which turned out to be a very mixed blessing. If you weren't moving fast enough, it was literally impossible to get off. They also got rid of the "swirl" control scheme for paining tags, which made the game faster, but less involved. Both games are still fantastic, though.
Where's the slot for PS1 or PS2 memory cards on the PS3? What about the Game Link port on the back of the original PlayStation (used for Command & Conquer Red Alert Retaliation as well as several racing games) that was eliminated from later PS1 models (starting when they stopped manufacturing the original form factor in favor of the PSone)?
For that matter, where's the HDD bay on the PSTwo? You can't play FFXI on it. How can you complain about Nintendo's backwards compatability efforts when Sony breaks compatability with the same generation of hardware?
Nintendo is the king of gimmicky and irrelevant consoles, examples being the Virtual Boy and the DS.
Yes, because with over 5 million units sold, the Nintendo DS is completely irrelevant. Oh, and that analog stick thing they introduced with the N64? Irrelevant. The 3D platformer? Total gimmick. Nintendo may have made some mistakes, but it's foolish to chide them for trying different things. They've invented a lot of important elements of console gaming as we know it.
TFA mentions Online Play and High-Definition as the two new features that Nintendo has shunned. But for what? The impression I get is that they are avoiding these features because they don't know how to implement them effectively- not because they have an alternate plan in mind for the future of console gaming.
Wrong again. It has nothing to do with Nintendo's arrogance, and everything to do with economics. Sony's a huge multifaceted company and so is Microsoft. They can afford to do a lot of things Nintendo can't. Sony's got other divisions that can probably produce HD hardware for a fraction of what it'd cost Nintendo to buy the same thing, and Microsoft has the money and the will to bruteforce their way into the market.
As for the online example, I think it's debatable if anyone except Microsoft has anything much of an online presence. Sure there's a couple online games for the PS2, but the Xbox is lightyears ahead of that. And, as you can see from the Microsoft Games division's profits, it hasn't done then a whole lot of good financially: they've had a single profitable quarter since the Xbox launched. Indeed, it's probably cost them a whole lot of money to launch and maintain their network. Sure, it's gotten them a lot of mindshare, but both Sony and Nintendo came into the generation with that in spades. Nintendo can't afford to spend that kind of money if they're not getting a quick return on their investment, and Sony simply didn't need to. Now they've found technology that will allow them to let them enter the market affordably, and they're doing it- in the first generation where it will REALLY matter.
From TFA: "Other companies may talk of game machines, but we've always referred to 'computer entertainment,' even in our press materials. It's entertainment and also a computer. That's what's important."
Hmmm... Computer Entertainmentspot, Computer Entertainmentspy, Computer Entertainmentpro... nope just doesn't work
Unfortunately for OSS, McAfee isn't looking for a serious relationship right now. She's been dumped by her long-term boyfriend, and really just wants a fling. They might have some fun for a night, but she's not going to return OSS' calls.
That's what we call a killer app. Even if the fad dies away, they've still sold a lot of games and, more importantly, A LOT of hardware. If they've got the system, they're that much more likely to try and get their money's worth by buying more games. Furthermore, it makes the DS that much more appealing of a platform, since it's got a massive installed base. Case and point, look at the original Gameboy: they hooked people with Tetris and (much later) Pokemon, and then from there they just kept buying games. It also proves Nintendo's point about grabbing non-traditional gamers. There's a huge untapped market out there that's willing to try games, but just doesn't like stuff like GTA and Doom 3. If you can grab them, you're poised to make a lot of money - more than you could ever make with just the hardcore gamer crowd, which is miniscule compared to, say, the portion of the population that buys CDs, or goes to movies.
The main impression I got from looking at the screenshots is "Wow those weapons look nice. I wish I could see what the actual game looks like, though." None of the images seemed to provide a clear view of what the weapons or environments look like. Not terribly useful for a preview.
I can't wait to put a bigass aluminum wing on my case. Oh, and stickers! It'll overclock three times as much that way!
From TFA: "Back when Mario Mania was reaching its peak in 1990 and 1991..."
I'm not sure if I'd say 1990 was the peak of Mario's popularity. I clearly remember chomping down on a big, mouth-lacerating bowl of Mario Cereal (why is it that so many childrens' cereals are scientifically designed to cut the crap out of the roof of your mouth?)- and I didn't even own an NES. Mario had enough clout that, without even playing the games, I was willing to rush home from school and watch the Super Mario Bros. Super Show while eating a bowl of cereal that turned my mouth into a bleeding mess. That, to me, is the peak of "Mario Mania".
He is right to some extent; even as someone who simply follows the games industry from an outisder's perspective, I feel like I get less and less real information from E3 as the years go by. We get specs that may or may not have been created in an alternate universe where teraflops are something wholly different than they are here, dummied up tech demos that aren't even close to realistic, and game demos that are more smoke and mirrors than they are gameplay. That being said, he doesn't really get to any of these issues. The whole thing reads like self-important whining. He complains "the assholes in the Best Buy, or EB Games, or CompUSA badges, retail monkeys who are the industry equivalent of burger flippers, are as thick as flies." What, exactly, makes him so much better than these so-called "burger flippers"? His electronic soapbox? Rather than get to the actual meat of the issue- dishonesty, hype, and a general lack of a critical voice from the gaming media (none of which he seems to mind, he seems more interestred in professionalism than the facts)- he whines and complains like a child about not getting what he wants.
Or perhaps he has some delusions of grandeur. Xbox Live is cool, but it's no metaverse.
So they can eat right, and then sit on their asses when they get their new Xbox. That's not self-defeating at all.
playing videogames with their friends.
You had friends?! Er, uh. I mean, yeah! I played video games with my friends all the time!
The Palm hardware isn't sold at a loss. Sony plans of making its money off of licensing fees and royalties. First off they can't get that kind of money out of homebrew devs, secondly it acts as competition for the companies who HAVE paid. They're not going to encourage that.
You could buy a hell of a gaming rig (pre-made, not even bargain hunting for components) for the cot of an HDTV at today's prices.
Is this an example of why reverse engineering is illegal in the USA?
Only if small children are involved.
Better: In Soviet Russia, Nintendo DS touches YOU!
The concept of "juvenile" vs. "adult" games really drives me nuts. What, exactly, makes running over a guy in GTA so much better than hopping on a goomba in Mario Bros.? If it's fun, it's fun. Oh, and if you want to see juvenile, check out God of War. Great game, I know. But did it really need to have you mash buttons to have sex with polygon women? If this is what "mature" gaming means, why don't I just eschew the expensive hardware and games, and just borrow some middle schooler's notebook. The doodles of big breasted women therein should be effectively the same thing, and I won't even tire out my thumb.
The activity will ALWAYS go on. Why NOT make it legit, and make a percentage?
Well, like TFA says, it opens you up to numerous legal issues. Once they have real world value it becomes much harder to argue that they're the property of SOE (or any other publisher/developer). Whenever you do something that weakens the value of an item, you open yourself up to lawsuits. Here are just a few I thought of off to the top of my head:
1) Server goes down? They get sued for potential earnings lost during the outage (similar to someone suing a webhost for downtime).
2) The designers rebalance a weapon? Well, they just negatively affected its value.
3) A crash loses someone's items? Destruction of property and/or negligence.
4) They shut down the game? Take a wild guess.
Legal issues aside, it encourages them to make weapons that are unbalanced. Why cut back the power of that weapon that makes the game no fun for anyone else in the area? It's going to fetch a ton of money at auction. And the more it makes, the bigger Sony's cut is.
Indeed. Their question "Which company makes the most money?", for example, was really ambiguous? Are we talking the whole company, or just the gaming divisions? In what time period? If you can't make it clear in a single sentence, then it shouldn't be a question. Oh, and I thought their history quiz was a joke. Games like Devil May Cry are far too new for a history quiz.
You asked for it: http://media.xbox.ign.com/media/620/620935/img_224 2979.html
Actually a more apt description would be a novelty blow-up doll (the kind you give as a gag gift) with downs syndrome.
It's a pity they can't use all that processing power to make the commentary decent. If I have to hear "It's like there's a bee in his helmet!" one more time, I'm going to kill someone.
Oh and making the players look nice is all well and good, but I hope to hell that they did something about the crowd. Low-res sprites just look awful. Oh and the cheerleaders need a ton of work too. The ones in Madden 2005... yeesh.
Oh and another great live music Mario arrangement: SuperBuck Jazz by Estradasphere. Great jazz arrangement of the Mario 2 theme. The bassist is especially impressive.
How bout a piano, cello and violin arrangement. It's really well done.