What would be hilarious is if this bundle (if true) outsells the Xbox 360 in Japan. That said, I would love for the Dreamcast to come back. It was a highly underrated system. Many of the games were top notch and the graphics are still decent, almost Gamecube quality. One of my favorite games is available for that system, Ikaruga (it's now available on GC).
I just wish they would port these 2D Castlevania games over to the PS2, GC and XBox. Seriously, these are way better than any of their 3D counterparts. The last great Castlevania for non-handheld console was Symphony of the Night. Obviously, there is still a great deal of appeal for quality 2D games.
Whether or not the quality of their DVDs is good or not, the fact that ADV is doing well for themselves is a good sign. The better they do, the more other companies will take notice. That means more anime will be brought to the Western Hemisphere. Just look at Disney/Miramax. They sat on some of the finest anime films (Laputa, Nausicca, Kiki's, Totoro, anything else by Ghibli / Miyazaki) of all time for years because they believed it wouldn't make money. However, due to the popularity of anime / manga AND because of companies like ADV, Disney finally released these films for U.S. consumption in high quality 5.1 surround sound DVDs. You can question these distributors for their high prices but there are places on the net where you can get them for under $20 a pop. You can say their translations suck and the voice-acting is horrible. Just listen to the original tracks and learn Japanese. The point I'm trying to make is, I no longer have to perform surgery on my copy of a copy of a copy VHS tape to watch my favorite anime. I can go to the store and browse titles, rent from Netflix, or lend out DVDs as easy as any other mainstream movie. Sure there is bittorrent and IRC. I love fansubs as much as the next person. They deserve credit for the popularity of anime as well. But I can't reward the creators through them. I can give the creators some inkling of my cash through companies like ADV and end up with a decent quality pressed DVD. Like it or not, ADV is good for anime.
If you've already spent that much on a system, going SLI isn't going to kill you too much. It's just another $300-$400 card. Now if you don't have a compatible motherboard and power supply, that might ramp up another $250-$350. Either way, you KNOW you wanna do it. You can't resist. Alma awaits.
I have to run F.E.A.R. at 640x480 with most of the settings on minimum. Even then I get really low frame rates. I have to make sure I turn off as many processes as possible too. I thought I was running a decent system but I'm feeling that upgrade itch pretty bad right now. I've been researching Nvidia SLI solutions at the moment. Apparently, the F.E.A.R. developers had SLI in mind and it should autodetect it and optimize the settings for it. I figure what I may do is buy a really nice SLI card and then when it's feeling it's age again, drop in another card (which should be cheaper by then) to boost speed. *Sigh* the price of PC gaming sure is high, but what can I say, I'm addicted.
If we look at Spidey 2, we saw hints at the new Goblin and Lizard Man but they didn't have big roles in the movie. Most of the conflict came from Doc Oc. Perhaps in 3, Sandman will be the big opponent while Venom might show up as an introductory role. Venom is a hugely popular villain/hero in the Marvel universe with a complete and interesting back story. It would be nigh impossible to have both villains in the movie without subtracting from the plot/quality. If I were Raimi, I would set it up that Spidey uses the symbiote against Sandman, realizes the suit is bad, gets rid of it (with or without F4's help) and we end with Eddie Brock finding it, setting up the next film (and a possible spinoff).
I'm actually surprised that there has been no mention of the new Goblin or Lizard Man especially after being set up by Spidey 2. In any case, just because it's said that Topher Grace is in the movie, it doesn't mean he will have a huge role (yet).
Well, I was playing Guild Wars back in the Beta Weekend Events and ended up starting a guild with a guy and his brother. I let him become the leader and me just an officer due to fact that I'm off and on all the time. I skipped playing for a month due to school and when I came back, his brother was the new leader. It turns out that he's addicted to WoW and decided to stop playing GW. So I guess you can say there is an overlap between subscribers of GW and WoW but not at the same time;-P.
I remember the first time I paid $79.99 for a game. It was Seventh Saga from Enix for the SNES. I was such an avid fan of Enix from the Dragon Warrior series that I didn't give a second thought to using my entire years worth of savings for this one game (I was 14 at the time). I was sorely disappointed. It took me almost a year of on and off playing to beat it. The music, graphics, story, etc. were all subpar to horrible. I still have the game today to remind me that price does not determine a good game and even the best developers can produce crap. With that in mind, I expect even with the higher priced games coming, alot of it will indeed be crap. Shiny, highly polished crap, but crap nonetheless. Wait till the games hit the bargain bins or buy used. You'll save a ton of money in the long run.
Not necessarily. The iPod is a prime example of an American product doing very well in Japan.
Though some Japanese might follow the "buy Japanese" principal, the same as Americans try to push the "buy American" agenda, many more do not follow that thinking. If you go to an electronics store in Japan, many of the electronics are labeled in English to appear more expensive and of higher quality. The Japanese also frequently purchase merchandise from other nations such as Korea, Germany, France, etc. Foreign products are a sign of status in Japan.
It's too expensive compared to GBA, GBA-SP and even the DS. Seriously, most of the people who would actually own a hand held are children. Most adults would rather sit at a home console than carry that around. Not that I wouldn't mind having one but I'm too busy to carry a portable system. By the time I want to play games, I'm at home where I can play my home console/pc.
I see the hacking appeal but that's a huge minority right there.
So making the assumption that kids are the primary users, who buys these for the kids? Parents obviously. Why would they spend +$250 on something the kid would carry around as opposed to something that is $80~$150? Of course, there is also the game library. PSP has only about 30 or so games right now. DS has hundreds due to backwards compatibility.
It was an uphill battle for Sony to begin with and even though it seems they haven't been doing great, I think they seriously put a dent into Nintendo's hold on the handheld market.
Obviously, since he perished after quiting the game, it was the "lack" of gaming that killed him.
Let that be a lesson to you parents. When your kid says "5 more minutes Mom!", that might be the only thing keeping them alive.
Hmmm... could it be that Square has fallen prey to the Western idea that 13 is an unlucky number? They stopped right at 12 and then started back up with 7 again.
Anyways, I think it would be fun to see 7 remade with better graphics, there are all sorts of other things they should try out first. One, an FF in the same vein as FF4 and FF6, i.e. one that is good.
They need to make more non-FF games as well. Hell, many of their best titles were way better than FF games. To name a few, Chrono Trigger (perfect), Xenogears (without the novel at the end) and Vagrant Story (with a better battle engine). If they could make more non-FF titles with the same caliber as those, that'd be awesome.
The biggest reason I can see for remaking FF7 is the fact that it is their best selling game and they are trying to recapture that money.
Oh well, I still hope that it will be good.
FF music in general is pretty cool. If you haven't heard of Celtic Moon, you might want to give it a listen.
Secret of Mana had some really good music as well. Same as Castlevania: Symphony of Night.
I second on Chrono Trigger (my fav SNES game). Schala's theme was one of the most incredible theme's I've ever heard.
FF6's Opera was incredible too.
I think the point is that ctrl+c and ctrl+v are not intuitive for novice users, however, moving the mouse like a finger and leafing through things easily parallels with real-world activities. I mean seriously, whens the last time you used ctrl+c and ctrl+v to move and deposit physical objects (rhetorical)?
I was in Japan about 2 weeks ago and they were playing it everywhere. In the elevators, in the department stores. It was blaring in the streets of Akihabara. We even heard it out in the country in some old samurai town called Takayama, in a traditional restaurant.
Apple is moving to Intel which has traditionally been Microsoft's domain for desktop CPUs. Microsoft is changing their XBox from Intel to IBM PowerPC. What the heck is going on? Cats and dogs, living together! Mass hysteria!
Unless you work for a game company, I don't think you'll be able to pass off a game console as a work machine.
As long as people use PCs at work, there will be a place for PC games (and big red boss buttons).
The new XBox 360/P3 will have online capabilities, support USB peripherals such as webcams, keyboards, etc. You'll be able to browse the internet, chat online with friends, store music and maybe video content on it's "removable/upgradable" harddrive. Transport data using memory cards. It will support ethernet connections or wifi, outputs HD and 5.1 surround sound.
That sounds pretty much like a pc to me. Heck, I'm sure someone will break it open and load linux onto it. Then you'll be able to run all your office applications on it as well.
I guess I can see the point of the article though. Consoles have consistent hardware so they will be easier to develop and test for. But then again, developers have to develop for consoles with different architecture, I'm thinking throwing PCs in there won't skyrocket there budget too much.
Lowered Expectations...
You make three interesting movies, with one being exceptional (Empire). Then a few decades later say it was incomplete and release a crappy prequel. Then follow it up with another crappy prequel, getting your fans all desensitized and wanting something remotely good. Expectations get lowered enough that the next prequel you put out is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Slashdot Mirror
And it probably still can't run F.E.A.R. at full speed with all the options maxed out.
What would be hilarious is if this bundle (if true) outsells the Xbox 360 in Japan. That said, I would love for the Dreamcast to come back. It was a highly underrated system. Many of the games were top notch and the graphics are still decent, almost Gamecube quality. One of my favorite games is available for that system, Ikaruga (it's now available on GC).
I just wish they would port these 2D Castlevania games over to the PS2, GC and XBox. Seriously, these are way better than any of their 3D counterparts. The last great Castlevania for non-handheld console was Symphony of the Night. Obviously, there is still a great deal of appeal for quality 2D games.
Whether or not the quality of their DVDs is good or not, the fact that ADV is doing well for themselves is a good sign. The better they do, the more other companies will take notice. That means more anime will be brought to the Western Hemisphere. Just look at Disney/Miramax. They sat on some of the finest anime films (Laputa, Nausicca, Kiki's, Totoro, anything else by Ghibli / Miyazaki) of all time for years because they believed it wouldn't make money. However, due to the popularity of anime / manga AND because of companies like ADV, Disney finally released these films for U.S. consumption in high quality 5.1 surround sound DVDs. You can question these distributors for their high prices but there are places on the net where you can get them for under $20 a pop. You can say their translations suck and the voice-acting is horrible. Just listen to the original tracks and learn Japanese. The point I'm trying to make is, I no longer have to perform surgery on my copy of a copy of a copy VHS tape to watch my favorite anime. I can go to the store and browse titles, rent from Netflix, or lend out DVDs as easy as any other mainstream movie. Sure there is bittorrent and IRC. I love fansubs as much as the next person. They deserve credit for the popularity of anime as well. But I can't reward the creators through them. I can give the creators some inkling of my cash through companies like ADV and end up with a decent quality pressed DVD. Like it or not, ADV is good for anime.
It would be awesome if the title was System Shock 3 via Source engine. One can only hope...
If you've already spent that much on a system, going SLI isn't going to kill you too much. It's just another $300-$400 card. Now if you don't have a compatible motherboard and power supply, that might ramp up another $250-$350. Either way, you KNOW you wanna do it. You can't resist. Alma awaits.
Hmmm... your system is similar to mine.
P4 2.6Ghz w/ HT
1 GB RAM pc3200
Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB
I have to run F.E.A.R. at 640x480 with most of the settings on minimum. Even then I get really low frame rates. I have to make sure I turn off as many processes as possible too. I thought I was running a decent system but I'm feeling that upgrade itch pretty bad right now. I've been researching Nvidia SLI solutions at the moment. Apparently, the F.E.A.R. developers had SLI in mind and it should autodetect it and optimize the settings for it. I figure what I may do is buy a really nice SLI card and then when it's feeling it's age again, drop in another card (which should be cheaper by then) to boost speed. *Sigh* the price of PC gaming sure is high, but what can I say, I'm addicted.
If we look at Spidey 2, we saw hints at the new Goblin and Lizard Man but they didn't have big roles in the movie. Most of the conflict came from Doc Oc. Perhaps in 3, Sandman will be the big opponent while Venom might show up as an introductory role. Venom is a hugely popular villain/hero in the Marvel universe with a complete and interesting back story. It would be nigh impossible to have both villains in the movie without subtracting from the plot/quality. If I were Raimi, I would set it up that Spidey uses the symbiote against Sandman, realizes the suit is bad, gets rid of it (with or without F4's help) and we end with Eddie Brock finding it, setting up the next film (and a possible spinoff).
I'm actually surprised that there has been no mention of the new Goblin or Lizard Man especially after being set up by Spidey 2. In any case, just because it's said that Topher Grace is in the movie, it doesn't mean he will have a huge role (yet).
Well, I was playing Guild Wars back in the Beta Weekend Events and ended up starting a guild with a guy and his brother. I let him become the leader and me just an officer due to fact that I'm off and on all the time. I skipped playing for a month due to school and when I came back, his brother was the new leader. It turns out that he's addicted to WoW and decided to stop playing GW. So I guess you can say there is an overlap between subscribers of GW and WoW but not at the same time ;-P.
I remember the first time I paid $79.99 for a game. It was Seventh Saga from Enix for the SNES. I was such an avid fan of Enix from the Dragon Warrior series that I didn't give a second thought to using my entire years worth of savings for this one game (I was 14 at the time). I was sorely disappointed. It took me almost a year of on and off playing to beat it. The music, graphics, story, etc. were all subpar to horrible. I still have the game today to remind me that price does not determine a good game and even the best developers can produce crap. With that in mind, I expect even with the higher priced games coming, alot of it will indeed be crap. Shiny, highly polished crap, but crap nonetheless. Wait till the games hit the bargain bins or buy used. You'll save a ton of money in the long run.
"It's American. Duh."
Not necessarily. The iPod is a prime example of an American product doing very well in Japan.
Though some Japanese might follow the "buy Japanese" principal, the same as Americans try to push the "buy American" agenda, many more do not follow that thinking. If you go to an electronics store in Japan, many of the electronics are labeled in English to appear more expensive and of higher quality. The Japanese also frequently purchase merchandise from other nations such as Korea, Germany, France, etc. Foreign products are a sign of status in Japan.
It's too expensive compared to GBA, GBA-SP and even the DS. Seriously, most of the people who would actually own a hand held are children. Most adults would rather sit at a home console than carry that around. Not that I wouldn't mind having one but I'm too busy to carry a portable system. By the time I want to play games, I'm at home where I can play my home console/pc.
I see the hacking appeal but that's a huge minority right there.
So making the assumption that kids are the primary users, who buys these for the kids? Parents obviously. Why would they spend +$250 on something the kid would carry around as opposed to something that is $80~$150? Of course, there is also the game library. PSP has only about 30 or so games right now. DS has hundreds due to backwards compatibility.
It was an uphill battle for Sony to begin with and even though it seems they haven't been doing great, I think they seriously put a dent into Nintendo's hold on the handheld market.
Parents ignore articles where parents are accused of being ignorant. Details at 11.
Really, when's the last time a parent outright admitted they don't pay attention to what their children watch, listen to, play, etc.
Obviously, since he perished after quiting the game, it was the "lack" of gaming that killed him. Let that be a lesson to you parents. When your kid says "5 more minutes Mom!", that might be the only thing keeping them alive.
Just wait till Sony releases another Holiday Demo Disk that erases all your PS2 memory cards. That should take care of all your worries of getting PS2 saves onto the PS3.
Now if only the PS3 and a new game came out to $3...
Maybe then we can inject comments like these to drivers:
"Get off the phone and drive!"
"Pay attention!"
or my favorite
"Put down the beer!"
Hmmm... could it be that Square has fallen prey to the Western idea that 13 is an unlucky number? They stopped right at 12 and then started back up with 7 again. Anyways, I think it would be fun to see 7 remade with better graphics, there are all sorts of other things they should try out first. One, an FF in the same vein as FF4 and FF6, i.e. one that is good. They need to make more non-FF games as well. Hell, many of their best titles were way better than FF games. To name a few, Chrono Trigger (perfect), Xenogears (without the novel at the end) and Vagrant Story (with a better battle engine). If they could make more non-FF titles with the same caliber as those, that'd be awesome. The biggest reason I can see for remaking FF7 is the fact that it is their best selling game and they are trying to recapture that money. Oh well, I still hope that it will be good.
FF music in general is pretty cool. If you haven't heard of Celtic Moon, you might want to give it a listen. Secret of Mana had some really good music as well. Same as Castlevania: Symphony of Night. I second on Chrono Trigger (my fav SNES game). Schala's theme was one of the most incredible theme's I've ever heard. FF6's Opera was incredible too.
I think the point is that ctrl+c and ctrl+v are not intuitive for novice users, however, moving the mouse like a finger and leafing through things easily parallels with real-world activities. I mean seriously, whens the last time you used ctrl+c and ctrl+v to move and deposit physical objects (rhetorical)?
I was in Japan about 2 weeks ago and they were playing it everywhere. In the elevators, in the department stores. It was blaring in the streets of Akihabara. We even heard it out in the country in some old samurai town called Takayama, in a traditional restaurant.
Apple is moving to Intel which has traditionally been Microsoft's domain for desktop CPUs. Microsoft is changing their XBox from Intel to IBM PowerPC. What the heck is going on? Cats and dogs, living together! Mass hysteria!
Unless you work for a game company, I don't think you'll be able to pass off a game console as a work machine. As long as people use PCs at work, there will be a place for PC games (and big red boss buttons).
Lets see...
The new XBox 360/P3 will have online capabilities, support USB peripherals such as webcams, keyboards, etc. You'll be able to browse the internet, chat online with friends, store music and maybe video content on it's "removable/upgradable" harddrive. Transport data using memory cards. It will support ethernet connections or wifi, outputs HD and 5.1 surround sound.
That sounds pretty much like a pc to me. Heck, I'm sure someone will break it open and load linux onto it. Then you'll be able to run all your office applications on it as well.
I guess I can see the point of the article though. Consoles have consistent hardware so they will be easier to develop and test for. But then again, developers have to develop for consoles with different architecture, I'm thinking throwing PCs in there won't skyrocket there budget too much.
Lowered Expectations... You make three interesting movies, with one being exceptional (Empire). Then a few decades later say it was incomplete and release a crappy prequel. Then follow it up with another crappy prequel, getting your fans all desensitized and wanting something remotely good. Expectations get lowered enough that the next prequel you put out is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.