Well, it was inevitable that the usefulness of multimedia capabilities would plateau after a certain point, and some of us have been publicly expecting it to happen soon. There's not enough return on investment for a game to have high-quality HD graphics when the gameplay is the same or crippled. Look at the backlash against Oblivion. I'm tired of playing games with the exact same gamepad. After getting used to the Wii remote, my hands feel weird being cramped together on a gamepad.
I think this is also an issue being experienced in the PC world, where people just don't see a need to buy new PCs with Windows Vista. Their current 512MB RAM, 2Ghz computers can handle sending email, word processing, running iTunes, and surfing the web. At least Apple has an advantage here in that they can drive new hardware sales with things like built-in cameras, thinner designs, bundled iLife apps, and so forth (i.e., the software sells the hardware and the hardware sells the software).
Those prices can't drop. The expensive consoles are already operating in the red, and Microsoft/Sony can't afford to drop prices and explain to shareholders that net revenues will be dropping even further.
When was the last time Nintendo sold 500,000 consoles per month during a non-holiday season in just North America? Dude, that is a LOT of consoles.
And here's the fact you don't see in the press--combined with the sales of the DS and GBA, that makes Nintendo the #1 console manufacturer in the world.
Yeah, if you want one, my local Wal-mart has a whole display full of them. The Wii display is always bare. I got lucky last week and found one to buy for my sister before they sold out again that day.
Also, they seem weirdly convinced that great graphics and fantastic gameplay are mutually exclusive.
If the PS3 and 360 are any indication, it's true. Development budget gets blown on graphics and the games suffer. I beat the overhyped Gears of War in a single afternoon!
Once the good games start rolling out for the PS3, and people realise that immersive graphics can only improve gaming, then the PS3 will come into its own, and the Wii will look like what it actually is: a great system for kids and people who want the console equivalent of party games. It's an honourable niche to fill.
The PS3 is for drooling techies willing to spend $600 to play another Japanese RPG with anime characters in it. That's a tiny, tiny niche compared to the massive mainstream market that the Wii is targeting. And the sales figures are currently proving it.:) How's Sony doing in Japan? Which Sony console is the next Dragon Quest coming out for again? Why is Nintendo kicking Sony's butt if there's so much untapped potential in the PS3? Devs will just move to the Wii, where all the gamers are.
Bad 2007 release list? With Metroid Prime 3, a new Mario game, a Sonic game that doesn't suck, and 20 years of classic legacy games to sell on the Virtual Console?
I've bookmarked your post for convenient linkage a year from now when the Wii is the #1 in total sales. This is CmdrTaco-esque "less space than an nomad" quoteage just dying to get thrown back in your face.:)
What your post really proves is how badly both Sony and Microsoft have done on their system launches, because the Wii outsold both of them in launch numbers.
As for the 360, yes, it is in dire straits as much as Xbox fans don't want to admit it. The 360 is DEAD in Japan, and that's where most of the developers are. With Sony's failure, that leaves the entire continent of Japan to Nintendo. And we see it kicking ass now in Europe and the U.S. The 360 doesn't actually offer anything new other than graphics. I'm not going to buy an expensive console just because of graphics.
I like Nintendo's approach with the Wii. It's really the same architecture of the Gamecube but with ugpraded specs, much like a PC, so backwards-compatibility is built-in, and a Wii2 would probably just be a faster, more powerful Wii. Microsoft and Sony felt the need to jump architectures and screw up compatibility.
The first Xbox was literally just an Intel PC without a monitor and keyboard. It was almost a straightforward recompile to package a Windows game for the Xbox. This is actually the advantage the Wii now has--cheap development costs.
Except Dragon Quest is about the gameplay, and they clearly think that the DS will offer superior gameplay. Final Fantasy is all about the shiny graphics, and has been since FF6.
Is that why last year's Final Fantasy III remake was moved from the PS2 to the Nintendo DS? Square-Enix goes where the gamers are.
What's inaccurate about the ad? It's clear you're an Apple-hater (must suck for you that Vista is a clone of an old version of OS X), but you don't offer any examples beyond a vague implication that endless security prompts also appear in OS X, which isn't true.
As for the difference between Apple's ads and Vista's ads, Apple's ads correctly point out the difficulties and hassles of using PCs compared to Macs. I love them. Microsoft's are goofy marketing drivel about "Wow" and other goofiness. No wonder Vista is a flop sales-wise.
Since the beginning of recorded history, people have skirted the law to get ahead without having to work. Check out corporate crime during the Industrial Revolution, for instance. It's no higher a percentage today; you just percieve that it's higher because the media is covering today's crimes and not yesteryear's.
My point was that every generation idealizes the past and looks down on future generations for some reason. You just did it again by portraying the world a few generations ago as made up almost entirely of farmers and blue collar workers, corrupted by the 1980s. People seem to think whichever decade they grew up in corrupted the world.
Environmental groups wil never be happy, because it's core to their agenda that everyone feel ashamed over something. They need to have a reason for a gigantic nanny government that regulates everything, down to prescriptions for light bulbs. They believe they are so smart and enlightened that if only the government would force everyone to live to the precise ideals pictured in their heads, the world would be a better place, and they would feel all emotionally fulfilled as self-loathing humans.
A lot of people, not just in the states mind you, have wholesale departed from any sense of honour and character, and been attracted to the bright lights of the easy buck. Wear that suit, speak the lingo, lie and hope not to get caught. Apparently the paycheque is all that matters!
People of every generation say this. They latch onto the idea of some pristine, moral past that is being corrupted by their sleazy peers, as though we're all headed toward some apocalypse of immorality. Then they get old and a new generation comes, and these same critics reincarnate to repeat themselves.
What do Slashdotters propose to protect the interests of artists in an age of digital distribution? The abolishment of intellectual property rights entirely? Better be careful since the GPL relies on intellectual property rights.
Apple shouldn't have to license FairPlay any more than Microsoft should have to license the Win32 API to Apple so I can run my DirectX games on any computer.
Slashdot Mirror
So buy Zelda, or get Metroid later this year.
Well, it was inevitable that the usefulness of multimedia capabilities would plateau after a certain point, and some of us have been publicly expecting it to happen soon. There's not enough return on investment for a game to have high-quality HD graphics when the gameplay is the same or crippled. Look at the backlash against Oblivion. I'm tired of playing games with the exact same gamepad. After getting used to the Wii remote, my hands feel weird being cramped together on a gamepad.
I think this is also an issue being experienced in the PC world, where people just don't see a need to buy new PCs with Windows Vista. Their current 512MB RAM, 2Ghz computers can handle sending email, word processing, running iTunes, and surfing the web. At least Apple has an advantage here in that they can drive new hardware sales with things like built-in cameras, thinner designs, bundled iLife apps, and so forth (i.e., the software sells the hardware and the hardware sells the software).
Those prices can't drop. The expensive consoles are already operating in the red, and Microsoft/Sony can't afford to drop prices and explain to shareholders that net revenues will be dropping even further.
And here's the fact you don't see in the press--combined with the sales of the DS and GBA, that makes Nintendo the #1 console manufacturer in the world.
Yeah, if you want one, my local Wal-mart has a whole display full of them. The Wii display is always bare. I got lucky last week and found one to buy for my sister before they sold out again that day.
If the PS3 and 360 are any indication, it's true. Development budget gets blown on graphics and the games suffer. I beat the overhyped Gears of War in a single afternoon!
The PS3 is for drooling techies willing to spend $600 to play another Japanese RPG with anime characters in it. That's a tiny, tiny niche compared to the massive mainstream market that the Wii is targeting. And the sales figures are currently proving it.
Bad 2007 release list? With Metroid Prime 3, a new Mario game, a Sonic game that doesn't suck, and 20 years of classic legacy games to sell on the Virtual Console?
:)
I've bookmarked your post for convenient linkage a year from now when the Wii is the #1 in total sales. This is CmdrTaco-esque "less space than an nomad" quoteage just dying to get thrown back in your face.
Twilight Princess is a ported Gamecube game. Wait until Metroid Prime 3 comes out this year.
What your post really proves is how badly both Sony and Microsoft have done on their system launches, because the Wii outsold both of them in launch numbers.
As for the 360, yes, it is in dire straits as much as Xbox fans don't want to admit it. The 360 is DEAD in Japan, and that's where most of the developers are. With Sony's failure, that leaves the entire continent of Japan to Nintendo. And we see it kicking ass now in Europe and the U.S. The 360 doesn't actually offer anything new other than graphics. I'm not going to buy an expensive console just because of graphics.
I like Nintendo's approach with the Wii. It's really the same architecture of the Gamecube but with ugpraded specs, much like a PC, so backwards-compatibility is built-in, and a Wii2 would probably just be a faster, more powerful Wii. Microsoft and Sony felt the need to jump architectures and screw up compatibility.
The first Xbox was literally just an Intel PC without a monitor and keyboard. It was almost a straightforward recompile to package a Windows game for the Xbox. This is actually the advantage the Wii now has--cheap development costs.
Oblivion? Tell me you're kidding.
Is that why last year's Final Fantasy III remake was moved from the PS2 to the Nintendo DS? Square-Enix goes where the gamers are.
What's inaccurate about the ad? It's clear you're an Apple-hater (must suck for you that Vista is a clone of an old version of OS X), but you don't offer any examples beyond a vague implication that endless security prompts also appear in OS X, which isn't true.
As for the difference between Apple's ads and Vista's ads, Apple's ads correctly point out the difficulties and hassles of using PCs compared to Macs. I love them. Microsoft's are goofy marketing drivel about "Wow" and other goofiness. No wonder Vista is a flop sales-wise.
Pitch and timing has been corrected in music albums for years. This is indeed not new or surprising.
Since the beginning of recorded history, people have skirted the law to get ahead without having to work. Check out corporate crime during the Industrial Revolution, for instance. It's no higher a percentage today; you just percieve that it's higher because the media is covering today's crimes and not yesteryear's.
My point was that every generation idealizes the past and looks down on future generations for some reason. You just did it again by portraying the world a few generations ago as made up almost entirely of farmers and blue collar workers, corrupted by the 1980s. People seem to think whichever decade they grew up in corrupted the world.
My point was that if Apple has to license FairPlay, then Microsoft should have to license Win32. Nobody would have to reverse-engineer anything.
Environmental groups wil never be happy, because it's core to their agenda that everyone feel ashamed over something. They need to have a reason for a gigantic nanny government that regulates everything, down to prescriptions for light bulbs. They believe they are so smart and enlightened that if only the government would force everyone to live to the precise ideals pictured in their heads, the world would be a better place, and they would feel all emotionally fulfilled as self-loathing humans.
People of every generation say this. They latch onto the idea of some pristine, moral past that is being corrupted by their sleazy peers, as though we're all headed toward some apocalypse of immorality. Then they get old and a new generation comes, and these same critics reincarnate to repeat themselves.
Licensing and reverse-engineering are different things.
What do Slashdotters propose to protect the interests of artists in an age of digital distribution? The abolishment of intellectual property rights entirely? Better be careful since the GPL relies on intellectual property rights.
Creating an API for your operating system is now a "proprietary trick?" Admit it, even you are getting tired of your anti-Apple schtick.
Yes, but using that logic, you can't bash America to appear intellectual and witty. Therefore, your logic fails.
Apple shouldn't have to license FairPlay any more than Microsoft should have to license the Win32 API to Apple so I can run my DirectX games on any computer.