'Bout the only thing that would get me to buy a PS3 right now, is if it washes my laundry. Having said that, in two days, Kutaragi will be claiming that it not only washes my laundry, but folds it a puts it away, too.
Re:For those who didn't RTFA...
on
State of the 360
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· Score: 1
Exactly. If MS wants me to throw down $400 for their system, they're gonna have to do a lot more than "whet my appetite" and make me wait six months. Add to that, the most damning thing in that article was the games listed as launch titles. Tony Hawk, Call of Duty, Tiger Woods, Need for Speed, Madden, NBA Live, FIFA, PGR3, Perfect Dark, King Kong. They're all remakes ports and sequels. The only new games are Gears of War and Kameo, but Kameo's been talked about for SO long that I don't think there's that much excitement for it anymore. It's not new anymore.
This is EXTREMELY reminiscent of the PSP launch, which started strong due to adoption by technophiles, early adopters and modders, but has since languished thanks to so many expensive ports of cheap games.
The hard drive's being included, it's just in the $400 package. And as for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, there's talk that Microsoft will release another version of the 360 that has one of those formats in it, which would be tantamount to suicide. They'd piss off the early adopters that didn't hear about the switch, and lose a whole slew of people that think that's an important feature. It's very amazing to me how well Microsoft takes aim at its foot before firing the gun.
I agree wholeheartedly. I own all three current systems and enjoy them all for what they do.
However, most of the discussion here is more about whether or not these systems are worth buying at launch, worth dropping $100-$150 more on the system than if you'd waited 'till the first or second price drop. At least, that's what I've seen.
KOTOR was the deal breaker for the Xbox for me, and I'm sure that eventually there'll be some exclusive that I glom onto and end up buying a PS3 or 360 solely for, at which point I'll start to look back over the titles that looked interesting but just weren't worth the price tag. Let's face it, that first must-have game really costs upwards of $450 if it's a launch title, so the game better be worth the price tag.
Right now, I don't see any games worth that price. The first game I've heard of for any of the next gen systems that I give a damn about is Metroid Prime 3. However, I'm also excited about it because Nintendo has stated they're going to try to come out as inexpensively as possible. I'd be willing to invest $200-$250 in Prime 3, but if the Revolution ends up being $250-$300, I may have to wait for a price drop, despite being a Metroid addict.
The point is, most of what I've read hasn't been about self image, but more about whether or not the new consoles are worth the price of adopting them early.
Kinda like the PSP, with it's one original game and its biggest draw being its hackability.
Re:Just don't care
on
State of the 360
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· Score: 4, Interesting
My family owns a console gaming center, and, by and large, I've heard little to no buzz in the store for either the 360 or the PS3.... I get the same thing from my old co-workers in the Electronics department at Wal-Mart. It seems like there was an excitement with the last generation of consoles that just isn't there right now, something palpable that's missing. I was working for Wal-Mart when the DS and PSP were releasing, and we had people coming into the store on a regular basis, for three to four months in advance, asking about new information, looking for anything that they might not have heard elsewhere, and that just doesn't seem to be present. We're not even certain that we're going to need any 360s when they come out for the center.
So essentially Sony is beating them in the hype war by lying? Sounds like Sony's been adopting some of Microsoft's tactics now.
This is more a failing of the Microsoft PR department than anything else. MS was releasing hyped up and glorious screenshots of what they thought the 360's real graphics might well have been, but now that we're only a couple months from release, we're starting to see real screenshots, instead of "made on computer hardware that has sort of the same specs as the console" screenshots.
Sony, on the other hand, is just starting to enter the "we think they're gonna look like this" stage, and it's only Microsoft's own fault that their real shots end up compared to Sony's assumed shots. Every console, and most games, really (think Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness one... two.... three years prior to release), go through that stage. Most people understand it's just hype, but being Microsoft's stuck with being the proof that it's hype.
The consumer looks at Sony's mock-ups and Microsoft's real shots, and says "Hey, you (MS) promised me those graphics, with this system! I'll wait and see if Sony pulls it off better, before I spend my money on either."
I'm not sure I'd even classify the hype machine as any one company lying anymore. If it's anyone's fault it's the game media for publishing these pictures and gushing about how great it looks, only to bitch about the real game in their reviews that come out a week after the game releases on their own preview reccomendations. I've seen games that EVERYONE knows are going to be crap (Tomb Raider, again) hyped to high heaven by outlets like EGM, PSM and the likes, and then give 50% reviews.
I saw your point, I just wanted to make it a little clearer, if only for my own benefit. I think, though, that politicians just like to exert their authority and police any behavior that their constituents allow them to police. They may even understand that self-policing is the best choice, but if their voters want regulation, then they get regulation.
I admit, twelve year olds still get their hands on GTA. In fact, once I saw a ten year old trying to buy Conker's Bad Fur Day. The cashier told the kid he had to have his parent buy it for him. The mother was seething when she came back to get it because she just didn't understand why she had to be the one to buy it. The cashier kept telling her it was because the came had incredibly adult content in it. That mother was the only one I've heard use the line "He plays it at his friend's houses." That was just stupid.
I think, though, that there's a big difference between that and parents feeling their kids are mature enough to handle a game. "He knows better" and "he can handle it" are, in my eyes, very different from "he'll just play it anyway." The first two show the parent at least pretends to understand what they're buying and understands they're kid, whereas the latter conveys a total lack of caring.
While I know there are parents out there that don't care, I think that phrase gets brought up in media far too often. It's a lot easier to villify the ratings and the industry by assuming all parents think they have no control.
Did I just hear you discourage someone from spending money in my store?
You're fired.
While I appreciate the humor, it actually works out in the retailers favor to be up front with them. It makes them more likely to come back to me for their kid's next purchase, since they know they can trust me to be honest with them.
And to any customer that asks me why I'd not want to make a $50 sale, I just tell 'em I don't want Jack Thompson suing me. They may not know who he is, but they understand lawsuits.
but it's always disheartening to see a mother buying GTA for her 10-year-old saying 'he'll just play it at his friend's house anyway.
This idea is really starting to annoy me. Having worked in retail, I rarely had anyone purchase GTA for a minor. A simple phrase like "You do know that this game is rated M for extreme violence and sexual content?" worked just about every time. And the only times parents would buy the game for kids is with the line "We've talked about it, and I think he can handle it." I've never, in 3 years, heard "He'll just play it at a friend's."
Nintendo is betting their entire next-gen hopes on this controller. This isn't a funky looking peripheral that'll make a brief movie appearance and then be ignored for the rest of time, this is a technology that will make or break Nintendo's console business. If the technology isn't damn tight, they're going to be joining Sega in the software only game. They've got to have devoted everything to making this as perfect an implementation as humanly and corporately possible.
The author did say that control was a lot easier when he stopped flinging his arm around and made smaller movement with just his hand. Seems like the closest thing consoles are going to get to a mouse, and it provides more options than a mouse, as well.
This is one thing that has always made sense about Nintendo's decision not to include DVD players. It was a good inclusion on the PS2, back when DVD players were prohibitively expensive and VHS movies outnumbered DVD movies on the shelves, three to one. But now you can get a player for $30, VHS tapes are even being phased out by Wal-Mart (I think audio cassettes stuck around longer), and (most telling reason of all that DVD is mainstream now) my grandmother owns one.
The last time one of my game consoles was used to watch a movie? When I had to rewire my A/V system and I hadn't had time to finish plugging the DVD player back into the TV before work. My wife used the PS2, and then I came home and fixed it. It had been years (probably four) before that.
Add to that, a lot of people that are going to buy a Revolution are going to have owned a Cube. I know Nintendo wants to attract new gamers, and, consequently, they may be stuck buying seperate controllers, but primarily, they're aiming to add casual gamers to their ranks as well as the hardcore. The hardcore either despise Nintendo, or already own a Cube, and there is no better casual console out there at the moment than a Cube, the games are just better suited to it. Add to that, GameCube controllers are less expensive than PS2 and Xbox controllers, and as time goes by, they'll get cheaper. PS1 controllers are $5 for third party, and $10 for first party. Not a huge investment, really.
How 'bout we call it a combination of both? The gun feature is certainly an addition that wasn't in the Power Glove, but the glove was supposed to allow you to punch in fighting games, steer cars in racers, move around the screen in platformers, and it required sensors set up by the TV. I could never get mine to work, though, so I ended up chopping off the cord and using it as a costume piece.
With a six button attachment, I think this would make a fighting game easier than is currently allowed. Soul Calibur is fun, but the game doesn't always know when I push up whether I mean to move that direction or jump. This controller has 3D perception, meaning, I move it towards the screen to move that way, and I flick the controller up to jump. It provides a true 3D interface. I have no idea how well companies will pull it off, but it's entirely possible.
This isn't based off the concept of the EyeToy, it's based off the concept of the Power Glove. Only there's no glove. And this thing'll work. (It has to, or the system's dead in the water.)
Careful now. Draw too much attention to this post and Jack Thompson may sue/., you, me, and everybody else involved in the proliferation of this AO post. I mean, to use cunnilingus and video games in the same post, that's gotta be against the ESRB's classification for a rated M post. Who knows, it might prompt young, highly impressionable and unable-to-care-for-themselves children (read: 16 year olds) to go on a search for orgasms, and we all know that's downright EVIL.
Had TFA bothered to link to the real press release, as Gabe did on PA's site, you'd've seen that there is new art of the Merch in Fleshreaper form. Very frightening. Too bad we got a link to a cut-and-paste of a press release, instead of anything interesting.
Here's the actual press release, if you'd like to see the art.
Slashdot Mirror
'Bout the only thing that would get me to buy a PS3 right now, is if it washes my laundry. Having said that, in two days, Kutaragi will be claiming that it not only washes my laundry, but folds it a puts it away, too.
This is EXTREMELY reminiscent of the PSP launch, which started strong due to adoption by technophiles, early adopters and modders, but has since languished thanks to so many expensive ports of cheap games.
Metal Gear is one of the few games that I'd actually trust to live up to the hype. But it is definitely the exception, and not the rule.
The hard drive's being included, it's just in the $400 package. And as for HD-DVD or Blu-Ray, there's talk that Microsoft will release another version of the 360 that has one of those formats in it, which would be tantamount to suicide. They'd piss off the early adopters that didn't hear about the switch, and lose a whole slew of people that think that's an important feature. It's very amazing to me how well Microsoft takes aim at its foot before firing the gun.
However, most of the discussion here is more about whether or not these systems are worth buying at launch, worth dropping $100-$150 more on the system than if you'd waited 'till the first or second price drop. At least, that's what I've seen.
KOTOR was the deal breaker for the Xbox for me, and I'm sure that eventually there'll be some exclusive that I glom onto and end up buying a PS3 or 360 solely for, at which point I'll start to look back over the titles that looked interesting but just weren't worth the price tag. Let's face it, that first must-have game really costs upwards of $450 if it's a launch title, so the game better be worth the price tag.
Right now, I don't see any games worth that price. The first game I've heard of for any of the next gen systems that I give a damn about is Metroid Prime 3. However, I'm also excited about it because Nintendo has stated they're going to try to come out as inexpensively as possible. I'd be willing to invest $200-$250 in Prime 3, but if the Revolution ends up being $250-$300, I may have to wait for a price drop, despite being a Metroid addict.
The point is, most of what I've read hasn't been about self image, but more about whether or not the new consoles are worth the price of adopting them early.
Kinda like the PSP, with it's one original game and its biggest draw being its hackability.
My family owns a console gaming center, and, by and large, I've heard little to no buzz in the store for either the 360 or the PS3.... I get the same thing from my old co-workers in the Electronics department at Wal-Mart. It seems like there was an excitement with the last generation of consoles that just isn't there right now, something palpable that's missing. I was working for Wal-Mart when the DS and PSP were releasing, and we had people coming into the store on a regular basis, for three to four months in advance, asking about new information, looking for anything that they might not have heard elsewhere, and that just doesn't seem to be present. We're not even certain that we're going to need any 360s when they come out for the center.
This is more a failing of the Microsoft PR department than anything else. MS was releasing hyped up and glorious screenshots of what they thought the 360's real graphics might well have been, but now that we're only a couple months from release, we're starting to see real screenshots, instead of "made on computer hardware that has sort of the same specs as the console" screenshots.
Sony, on the other hand, is just starting to enter the "we think they're gonna look like this" stage, and it's only Microsoft's own fault that their real shots end up compared to Sony's assumed shots. Every console, and most games, really (think Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness one... two.... three years prior to release), go through that stage. Most people understand it's just hype, but being Microsoft's stuck with being the proof that it's hype.
The consumer looks at Sony's mock-ups and Microsoft's real shots, and says "Hey, you (MS) promised me those graphics, with this system! I'll wait and see if Sony pulls it off better, before I spend my money on either."
I'm not sure I'd even classify the hype machine as any one company lying anymore. If it's anyone's fault it's the game media for publishing these pictures and gushing about how great it looks, only to bitch about the real game in their reviews that come out a week after the game releases on their own preview reccomendations. I've seen games that EVERYONE knows are going to be crap (Tomb Raider, again) hyped to high heaven by outlets like EGM, PSM and the likes, and then give 50% reviews.
I saw your point, I just wanted to make it a little clearer, if only for my own benefit. I think, though, that politicians just like to exert their authority and police any behavior that their constituents allow them to police. They may even understand that self-policing is the best choice, but if their voters want regulation, then they get regulation.
Well, it's a natural progression of course. Donkey Kong -> GTA -> sex orgies in school bathrooms. Who couldn't have seen that coming?
But.... hunting and driving games are usually rated T.... :-)
Or is it Here! Here!
Either way, well said!
I think, though, that there's a big difference between that and parents feeling their kids are mature enough to handle a game. "He knows better" and "he can handle it" are, in my eyes, very different from "he'll just play it anyway." The first two show the parent at least pretends to understand what they're buying and understands they're kid, whereas the latter conveys a total lack of caring.
While I know there are parents out there that don't care, I think that phrase gets brought up in media far too often. It's a lot easier to villify the ratings and the industry by assuming all parents think they have no control.
You're fired.
While I appreciate the humor, it actually works out in the retailers favor to be up front with them. It makes them more likely to come back to me for their kid's next purchase, since they know they can trust me to be honest with them.
And to any customer that asks me why I'd not want to make a $50 sale, I just tell 'em I don't want Jack Thompson suing me. They may not know who he is, but they understand lawsuits.
This idea is really starting to annoy me. Having worked in retail, I rarely had anyone purchase GTA for a minor. A simple phrase like "You do know that this game is rated M for extreme violence and sexual content?" worked just about every time. And the only times parents would buy the game for kids is with the line "We've talked about it, and I think he can handle it." I've never, in 3 years, heard "He'll just play it at a friend's."
Nintendo is betting their entire next-gen hopes on this controller. This isn't a funky looking peripheral that'll make a brief movie appearance and then be ignored for the rest of time, this is a technology that will make or break Nintendo's console business. If the technology isn't damn tight, they're going to be joining Sega in the software only game. They've got to have devoted everything to making this as perfect an implementation as humanly and corporately possible.
The author did say that control was a lot easier when he stopped flinging his arm around and made smaller movement with just his hand. Seems like the closest thing consoles are going to get to a mouse, and it provides more options than a mouse, as well.
The last time one of my game consoles was used to watch a movie? When I had to rewire my A/V system and I hadn't had time to finish plugging the DVD player back into the TV before work. My wife used the PS2, and then I came home and fixed it. It had been years (probably four) before that.
Add to that, a lot of people that are going to buy a Revolution are going to have owned a Cube. I know Nintendo wants to attract new gamers, and, consequently, they may be stuck buying seperate controllers, but primarily, they're aiming to add casual gamers to their ranks as well as the hardcore. The hardcore either despise Nintendo, or already own a Cube, and there is no better casual console out there at the moment than a Cube, the games are just better suited to it. Add to that, GameCube controllers are less expensive than PS2 and Xbox controllers, and as time goes by, they'll get cheaper. PS1 controllers are $5 for third party, and $10 for first party. Not a huge investment, really.
How 'bout we call it a combination of both? The gun feature is certainly an addition that wasn't in the Power Glove, but the glove was supposed to allow you to punch in fighting games, steer cars in racers, move around the screen in platformers, and it required sensors set up by the TV. I could never get mine to work, though, so I ended up chopping off the cord and using it as a costume piece.
With a six button attachment, I think this would make a fighting game easier than is currently allowed. Soul Calibur is fun, but the game doesn't always know when I push up whether I mean to move that direction or jump. This controller has 3D perception, meaning, I move it towards the screen to move that way, and I flick the controller up to jump. It provides a true 3D interface. I have no idea how well companies will pull it off, but it's entirely possible.
This isn't based off the concept of the EyeToy, it's based off the concept of the Power Glove. Only there's no glove. And this thing'll work. (It has to, or the system's dead in the water.)
Careful now. Draw too much attention to this post and Jack Thompson may sue /., you, me, and everybody else involved in the proliferation of this AO post. I mean, to use cunnilingus and video games in the same post, that's gotta be against the ESRB's classification for a rated M post. Who knows, it might prompt young, highly impressionable and unable-to-care-for-themselves children (read: 16 year olds) to go on a search for orgasms, and we all know that's downright EVIL.
Here's the actual press release, if you'd like to see the art.
http://www.sabertoothgames.com/stg/pa_press_releas e.asp
Microsoft has already denied this is going to happen.