True, video game consoles don't last very long. Neither does film. Neither does paper. The only reason we can see Gone With the Wind today is because someone thought it worth the time to preserve and remaster. The only reason we still read Hamlet is because someone thought it worth the time to re-copy when his copy yellowed. If video games are indeed as enduring, we'll think of something. After all, I'm sure the atomic-vortex PS53 will be able to emulate Metal Gear Solid.
As much as I dislike EA, you have to remember that they ARE one of the old-school publoshers, and there was a time when they were the premiere game publisher - not in quantity, but in quality. They really are one of the companies that is responsible for making the game industry as big as it is now.
That being said, their dependency on Madden 25 and Medal of Honor 15 will only hurt them in the end. If they see that before it's too late, more power to them.
I can excuse not disclosing negatives - many of them will be fixed before the game goes gold. But almost every preview I see in almost every print game magazine proudly announces these games as if they're going to change your life when they're released. I don't even read previews anymore. I might skim the pictures but that's about it.
I don't think these bills are even intended to be passed anymore, much less enforced. I think these politicians are merely pandering to the religious fringe by creating these laws so that they can later say, "I tried. Vote for me so I can try again."
There's no way these people can be as stupid as they seem.
I don't think so. The format war isn't going to actually start for quite a while. HD-DVD is going to be prohibitively expensive for the average consumer when it comes out and few people have HDTVs at the moment, making DVDs good enough for the average schmo right now.
Since Sony is going to make the PS3 a loss leader, it might actually be cheaper than comparative HD-DVD players when it comes out. And while many people might wait to see which player comes out on top in the format wars before deciding on a player, you know millions of people are going to instantly start salivating as soon as the preorder slips go out for the PS3. Having a game console push your format is as big of an advantage as Sony says it is. Is it big enough? We'll see, of course, but I don't feel this hurts Sony much, if at all.
It's definitely time for me to start up that business as an analyst. Who's with me?
Electronic Arts will be bankrupt by June.
Nintendo's revolution controller is actually a light-up yo-yo.
Sony drops NVidia as graphics chip developer to go with Mattel, using technology based off the Intellivision.
Now all somebody has to do is submit these as Slashdot stories and get back to me.
Sony is signing a lot of exclusivity contacts for individual games, which is fine. What Nintendo did, if I recall, was tell developers that if they make games for any other system, they would not be allowed to make Nintendo games. That is far different from anything Sony does in this regard.
If Sony's system is so popular that market conditions suggest games be Sony only that is not at all a monopoly. There is still competition, and there is even room for the competition to gain ground, should they think of something really clever.
Nintendo was cited for price fixing back in the N64 days, and they forced many third-party developers to be nintendo-only, which is one of the reasons they don't have very many now.
Nintendo may seem like the underdog now, but when they were on top they were never very nice about it.
Um, well, let's see. First off, the 'best games' will certainly not be out at launch. Launch titles almost all suck. Always have, always will. There was not a PS2 title that interested me for at least 6 months. There isn't a single 360 game that looks good to me, and I doubt there will be for for the PS3.
So, my opinion, is why buy the system now and pay an extraordinary amount of money for a system with a very limited library of full-price games, when in a year the console will probably have a hundred bucks lopped off, more games, and the games that were at launch are probably $20 new.
Perhaps you just have more money to toss around than I do.:)
Not a chance. There WILL be more GTA games. Even if Take-Two goes away, someone will take over, and there will be a new GTA. Even if all the current developers all get eaten by a pack of rabid chickens, there will be a new GTA...
But I don't think this should be atributed to this 'next generation', but rather immaturity. I've known some people who talked(and, god forbid, chatted) this way when I was in HS, and as they got older they got over it and now they talk/type like adults, and relatively competently.
Wow. Who wrote this thing? Ballmer? Anyway, two points:
How does Merryl Lynch know how much components cost Sony? They can know how much a Cell processor would cost you and me, but don't you think IBM would be cutting them some sort of deal? Has this deal been announced to the public so as to allow a specific cost per unit? Maybe. Sounds odd to me, though.
And secondly, I refuse to take seriously any video game article that call this next round the fifth generation of consoles. I guess Meryll Lynch thinks video games started when the NES did.
I beleive you are right. IANAL(Gee, I say that a lot), but I know there are very few questions a prospective employer can ask of your current/previous one, and I don't think "How much did he make?" is one of them.
Perhaps a software solution like TOR or Freenet could help you sleep better at night?
Well, not quite. ISPs are already throttling/blocking BitTorrent, so it wouldn't be that hard to block Freenet too. What the original poster asked for was an alternative to the current Internet. FN is build on the Internet we have now, and thus subject to many of the same problems as anything else on the 'net.
I do see another video game market crash, but this isn't it. Either this next generation of consoles, or the one after, will make video games so expensive to make that most companies will drop off or consolidate. We've been seeing this happen already. This will leave only a few very large video game companies that will not need or want to take any risks. We'll see a slew of bad sequels and movie tie-ins worse than that which we see now. This will cause gamers to lose interest in video games, thus a market crash.
This is only my prediction, of course, but I don't think I'm the only one that sees it. Nintendo, for example, seems desperate to innovate or die.
Actually, Infogrames has been around for many years. They published Alone on the Dark for example. They passed their peak a while ago, but I, for one, actually will be sad to see them go.
Slashdot Mirror
Games will survive.
True, video game consoles don't last very long. Neither does film. Neither does paper. The only reason we can see Gone With the Wind today is because someone thought it worth the time to preserve and remaster. The only reason we still read Hamlet is because someone thought it worth the time to re-copy when his copy yellowed. If video games are indeed as enduring, we'll think of something. After all, I'm sure the atomic-vortex PS53 will be able to emulate Metal Gear Solid.
As much as I dislike EA, you have to remember that they ARE one of the old-school publoshers, and there was a time when they were the premiere game publisher - not in quantity, but in quality. They really are one of the companies that is responsible for making the game industry as big as it is now.
That being said, their dependency on Madden 25 and Medal of Honor 15 will only hurt them in the end. If they see that before it's too late, more power to them.
I can excuse not disclosing negatives - many of them will be fixed before the game goes gold. But almost every preview I see in almost every print game magazine proudly announces these games as if they're going to change your life when they're released. I don't even read previews anymore. I might skim the pictures but that's about it.
I don't think these bills are even intended to be passed anymore, much less enforced. I think these politicians are merely pandering to the religious fringe by creating these laws so that they can later say, "I tried. Vote for me so I can try again."
There's no way these people can be as stupid as they seem.
Daemon Tools, unless something has changed VERY recently, still does not support StarForce.
Man, at first I thought that said "I wonder if my 4 year old is now patented."
I wouldn't be surprised...
I don't think so. The format war isn't going to actually start for quite a while. HD-DVD is going to be prohibitively expensive for the average consumer when it comes out and few people have HDTVs at the moment, making DVDs good enough for the average schmo right now.
Since Sony is going to make the PS3 a loss leader, it might actually be cheaper than comparative HD-DVD players when it comes out. And while many people might wait to see which player comes out on top in the format wars before deciding on a player, you know millions of people are going to instantly start salivating as soon as the preorder slips go out for the PS3. Having a game console push your format is as big of an advantage as Sony says it is. Is it big enough? We'll see, of course, but I don't feel this hurts Sony much, if at all.
Who the hell is this guy? And why is he writing for IGN? Trolls get paid now? Does that mean Anonymous Coward should apply as a columnist for IGN?
The last innovative game from EA that I can think of off hand was probably MULE. And that was, what, twenty years ago?
It's definitely time for me to start up that business as an analyst. Who's with me?
Electronic Arts will be bankrupt by June.
Nintendo's revolution controller is actually a light-up yo-yo.
Sony drops NVidia as graphics chip developer to go with Mattel, using technology based off the Intellivision.
Now all somebody has to do is submit these as Slashdot stories and get back to me.
Maybe if this goes over well, we'll get that Turok MMORPG we've been waiting for. Or maybe some deathmatch BMX XXX.
Sorry, no offense to Acclaim, but...wait a minute, what am I saying?
Sony is signing a lot of exclusivity contacts for individual games, which is fine. What Nintendo did, if I recall, was tell developers that if they make games for any other system, they would not be allowed to make Nintendo games. That is far different from anything Sony does in this regard.
If Sony's system is so popular that market conditions suggest games be Sony only that is not at all a monopoly. There is still competition, and there is even room for the competition to gain ground, should they think of something really clever.
Nintendo was cited for price fixing back in the N64 days, and they forced many third-party developers to be nintendo-only, which is one of the reasons they don't have very many now.
Nintendo may seem like the underdog now, but when they were on top they were never very nice about it.
20 years? Isn't that how long Twilight Princess has been delayed now?
Um, well, let's see. First off, the 'best games' will certainly not be out at launch. Launch titles almost all suck. Always have, always will. There was not a PS2 title that interested me for at least 6 months. There isn't a single 360 game that looks good to me, and I doubt there will be for for the PS3.
:)
So, my opinion, is why buy the system now and pay an extraordinary amount of money for a system with a very limited library of full-price games, when in a year the console will probably have a hundred bucks lopped off, more games, and the games that were at launch are probably $20 new.
Perhaps you just have more money to toss around than I do.
Not a chance. There WILL be more GTA games. Even if Take-Two goes away, someone will take over, and there will be a new GTA. Even if all the current developers all get eaten by a pack of rabid chickens, there will be a new GTA...
But I don't think this should be atributed to this 'next generation', but rather immaturity. I've known some people who talked(and, god forbid, chatted) this way when I was in HS, and as they got older they got over it and now they talk/type like adults, and relatively competently.
Wow. Who wrote this thing? Ballmer? Anyway, two points:
How does Merryl Lynch know how much components cost Sony? They can know how much a Cell processor would cost you and me, but don't you think IBM would be cutting them some sort of deal? Has this deal been announced to the public so as to allow a specific cost per unit? Maybe. Sounds odd to me, though.
And secondly, I refuse to take seriously any video game article that call this next round the fifth generation of consoles. I guess Meryll Lynch thinks video games started when the NES did.
I beleive you are right. IANAL(Gee, I say that a lot), but I know there are very few questions a prospective employer can ask of your current/previous one, and I don't think "How much did he make?" is one of them.
Perhaps a software solution like TOR or Freenet could help you sleep better at night?
Well, not quite. ISPs are already throttling/blocking BitTorrent, so it wouldn't be that hard to block Freenet too. What the original poster asked for was an alternative to the current Internet. FN is build on the Internet we have now, and thus subject to many of the same problems as anything else on the 'net.
I do see another video game market crash, but this isn't it. Either this next generation of consoles, or the one after, will make video games so expensive to make that most companies will drop off or consolidate. We've been seeing this happen already. This will leave only a few very large video game companies that will not need or want to take any risks. We'll see a slew of bad sequels and movie tie-ins worse than that which we see now. This will cause gamers to lose interest in video games, thus a market crash.
This is only my prediction, of course, but I don't think I'm the only one that sees it. Nintendo, for example, seems desperate to innovate or die.
Hasn't this happened before? Someone wake me when they actually see it in a store...
Infogrames officially changed their name to Atari a while back, so, by saying Atari is in trouble, they mean the whole company.
Actually, Infogrames has been around for many years. They published Alone on the Dark for example. They passed their peak a while ago, but I, for one, actually will be sad to see them go.
PS1: Compare Kileak to Chrono Cross
PS2: Compare Evergrace to God of War
The increase in graphical quality over the lifespan of both systems is so amazing it's hard to beleive they're the same hardware.