Think of a car manufacturer telling you about an upcoming sports car. The automobile will have 8 cylinders in a brand-new type of engine and will be faster than anything else on the road.
A year goes by and the manufacturer is having trouble producing the brand-new engine with 8 working cylinders. Instead, they decide the sports car will only use 7.
Now we find out that the fancy computer controlled car needs power to run the fuel-injectors, radio, On-Star and GPS system. As a result, the car will always occupy one cylinder of power and will have the option to abscond with another cylinder when it deems necessary.
Your 8-cylinder powerhouse is now a 5-cylinder go-kart. Sure, it has a really fancy GPS system and radio, but what about those that wanted the super-car they were promised? The machine isn't focused on delivering the best driving experience possible, it has turned into a Homermobile, with a bluray player, the ability to download music and shows, 7 wireless controllers, cup holders, a coffee machine, and three horns that play "La Cucaracha".
How about a company that focuses on doing something well, instead of trying to be everything to everyone?
In the dawn of the PS3, the system specs were all powerful. The almighty Cell processor has 8 SPEs and would take advantage of other Cell processors on the network, such as those in your TV. It was kind of like Devastator, the processors combining to become even more powerful.
Then we find out that Sony is having trouble making Cell chips with 8 working SPEs. So the PS3 is promised to only have 7 working SPEs for each system.
Today we find out that the OS will always consume an SPE and has the right to abduct another when necessary. This reduces the potential number of SPEs that a developer can reliably count on for a game to use at all times is reduced to 5.
The true power of the PS3 keeps being reduced the closer to launch it becomes. Additional features have already been dropped. How many more will evaporate before the PS3 becomes a real device you can go to the store and buy?
"Cell will create a new extensible computing platform. A set-top box containing a Cell chip could, for example, combine to share processing power with a Cell-powered high-definition television to render the graphics of an animated movie."
"A game console might use a chip with 16 cores, while a less complicated device like a set-top box would have a processor with fewer"
"It will have the ability to do north of 1 trillion mathematical calculations per second, roughly 100 times more than a single Pentium 4 chip running at 2.5GHz."
"Cell will create a new extensible computing platform. A set-top box containing a Cell chip could, for example, combine to share processing power with a Cell-powered high-definition television to render the graphics of an animated movie."
And with Playstation division being the only division of Sony making any money, all of Sony is looking at using the PS3 to be their "Noah's Ark"; to save them from the flood.
Sony has created the Playstation 3 (PS3), not as a game machine, but as a vessel to float the company into new lands. They are burdening the system with a new movie format (BluRay) unheard of levels of digital rights management for music and video, Memory Sticks and more.
The other divisions of Sony are dragging the PS3 down. The Playstation Portable (PSP) suffers from the same illness; too many hands in the basket. The PSP was designed around a slow-loading UMD format for distribution of movies which makes the machine less than ideal for game playing. Compared to ROM cartridges, UMDs are too slow loading and consume too much battery time. They make the machine more fragile and introduce problems with additional moving parts. In short, they are a sacrifice to the movie industry arm of Sony; giving up on the optimal game experience for the opportunity to sell you movies you probably already own on DVD.
The delays brought about by making compromises to the core functions of the system will put a great strain on Sony. Currently, their ark is full of holes and loaded with baggage. The flood waters rise. How many gamers will wait until this time next year in order to pick up a PS3 when Xbox 360 games are available today and are getting excellent review scores? How many will pass up the Revolution this holiday season when it is affordable and fun? How high will the waters rise before Sony can launch the ark?
Nobody cares about the PS3 any more. The PS3 is nothing more than a Bluray trojan horse, a way to get you to buy your movies all over again. Take a look at the PSP. Same thing; a directionless feature-bloated, slow-loading DRM nightmare.
Anyone who is really a gamer will be busy playing on their 360 or Nintendo DS, two machines created specifically for gaming.
I'll be picking up an Xbox 360. The more I read about Sony't PS3, the less and less I want one. Sony is now showing a lot of confidence these days and I'm jumping ship. I cen't believe how nice my friend's Xbox 360 is and I want in on the action NOW!
I say, good for you. If you are currently enjoying your system and don't see a need to upgrade, then rock on. Save your money for games you want to play.
There's no shame or troll-ness in that.
If you want something a little smaller and a lot brighter, just upgrade.
Sony will keep leading on consumers with the PS3 like a carrot dangled in front of an ass. The only reason they keep insisting that the PS3 will be released in Spring is to prevent people from buying a 360.
The pulled the same shenanigans with the PS2, effectively killing the Dreamcast. They are trying it again.
Make the PS3 a Recorder The PS3 will come with the ability to playback DVDs. Why not embed the ability to copy the contents of a DVD to a Memory Stick for viewing on the PSP? Sony could control the fair-rights copyright within the PS3 and PSP since they create the hardware for both. They could enforce that your are only allowed to copy the DVD to a PSP a set number of times, much like iTunes handles digitally rights managed music.
If people could buy a DVD and use the PS3 to watch it on their TV as well as use it to copy the DVD to the PSP, people would see a greater value in both the PSP and the PS3. It would solve the problem consumers have with buying two copies of the same movie, an understandable complaint.
From what I understand, Microsoft won't let 3rd parties make controllers for their system for 1 year. This means you have to pay a premium for their controllers and if you don't like the design, tough. Want to plug in an adapter to let you use the old controllers? Nope. What about those nifty adapters that allow you to use GameCube or Dreamcast controllers on your Xbox? No way.
I ended up wandering by the store at around 9:00 the evening before the event. There was already a large group of people there preparing to camp out for the night. What the hell, I joined them!
I'm glad I did too! The line soon exceeded the 200 people that were guaranteed to get autographs. By morning it went around the block. The entire night people were playing DS and GBA games out on the sidewalk and good gaming discussions flowed like wine.
Others came prepared with lawn chairs and blankets, but my daughter and I had nothing but the clothes on our back and a few games. People brought all kinds of cool stuff to have signed. I saw, an original NES, the original Zelda cartridge, a power glove, even the front piece of monitor glass on a Donkey Kong arcade game. One gentleman from Canada a few spots ahead of me in line brought a photograph of him as a child opening his first NES as a Christmas present to have Miyamoto sign it. I had him sign the NES Bluetooth Handset I had in my pocket.
When all was said and done, the evening was a great success. I was #31 in line but still managed to download Miyamoto's Nintendog he was sharing to the first 10 people. I got my handset signed (I even got a picture of Miymoto talking on it)and my daughter got her DS signed. We got special DS skins. We met Reggie and a bunch of cool gamers in line.
Now imagine you could have played system link Halo using only 1 copy of the game. That'd be damn sweet.
The Metroid demo was nice. I am looking forward to playing the full version when it comes out with friends in the same room. Much easier to talk smack with them anyways.;-)
Even if the content wasn't intended to be accessible, Rockstar developed it and burned it to disc. It failed to disclose that to the ratings board.
This isn't the result of hackers creating porn using the GTA engine. This is actually a locked part of the game.
http://www.gametab.com/news/321173/
Imagine you buy a house and the realtor tells you there are no skeletons in the closet. That shouldn't mean there are lots of skeletons in the closet but the closet is locked. If it is your home, you'll find a way to open that closet door, lock or not.
You could find visualizations on the Saturn too.
Saturn had a star field and spaceship theme.
The Saturn also could shift the pitch of your music without altering the speed and could drop out the voices so you could sing karaoke.
I know it is probably 'teh kiddie' for some of you, but if you are willing to look past the family aspect of the game, you'll find the the Pokémon series of games are wonderfully deep and balanced.
If systems sold include money made for the company, then they should be included. One could argue that they should also include the amount of money Sony is throwing away with each PSP in order to attempt to 'purchase' their way into the handheld sector.
"And even though the announcement at E3 of the Game Boy Micro was greeted with a certain amount of skepticism and curious musing by the game press, from a business strategy standpoint, I expect that it will turn to pure gold.
Without making a significant investment in R&D or manufacturing, Nintendo repackages current technology and resells it at what, I would expect, is a healthy margin. Not only will the Micro put GBA technology in new hands, inevitably large numbers of the units will find their way into the shirt pockets and key chains of many current GBA owners. Not only will Nintendo make money on this new hardware product, it will stimulate additional demand for GBA software.
While Sony and Microsoft spent E3 showing off what billions of dollars of investment can do at their press events, Nintendo was demonstrating how minimal investment can generate cash.
As others have already pointed out, there is no way that Sony has been selling a million a month.
Sony is looking to outsource the production of the PSP to cut costs. They already loose an arm and a leg on every unit produced and this is a way to reduce the amount of bleeding.
This pricing is going to have a detrimental effect on the industry as a whole. With higher-priced games and consoles, people will be willing to buy fewer titles. The pressure will be put on game companies to produce the "next big thing" to ensure that their game is the one that gamers purchase. Publishers will only seek to fund development teams that can create tried-and-true games, ones that have a history of financial success or a recognizable tie-in to other media. As a result, there will be fewer innovative and new titles. More games will be rehashes with a new coat of paint or based on movie/comic licenses.
This is a terrible future for gaming. Gaming was once a bastion of creativity. As prices become so high, it is going to be relegated to 2nd hand status with more re-hashes than Hollywood. The evidence of this is already present.
How many games are TRULY worth the $50 we pay for them?
High prices like these also discourage more casual gamers from picking up a console and getting into video gaming. This reduces the potential audience for video gaming, making it even more of an inaccessible niche market. With the proliferation of gaming on mobile phones, and the rabid success of affordable handheld platforms, it should come as no shock that many people like to play games, if it is easy and affordable.
I think they HAVE to say these kinds of things to keep developers from fleeing. Lip Service.
With how different the cell is looking and how stodgy Sony has been with providing development support, is anyone shocked developers are worried?
Costs of development are going up. Nintendo's Gamecube was very easy to develop for. Revolution will be equally friendly. Microsoft's unified development environment is looking very good for dev teams everywhere. Sony better make life VERY easy or developers won't wait around.
Slashdot Mirror
Think of a car manufacturer telling you about an upcoming sports car. The automobile will have 8 cylinders in a brand-new type of engine and will be faster than anything else on the road.
A year goes by and the manufacturer is having trouble producing the brand-new engine with 8 working cylinders. Instead, they decide the sports car will only use 7.
Now we find out that the fancy computer controlled car needs power to run the fuel-injectors, radio, On-Star and GPS system. As a result, the car will always occupy one cylinder of power and will have the option to abscond with another cylinder when it deems necessary.
Your 8-cylinder powerhouse is now a 5-cylinder go-kart. Sure, it has a really fancy GPS system and radio, but what about those that wanted the super-car they were promised? The machine isn't focused on delivering the best driving experience possible, it has turned into a Homermobile, with a bluray player, the ability to download music and shows, 7 wireless controllers, cup holders, a coffee machine, and three horns that play "La Cucaracha".
How about a company that focuses on doing something well, instead of trying to be everything to everyone?
In the dawn of the PS3, the system specs were all powerful. The almighty Cell processor has 8 SPEs and would take advantage of other Cell processors on the network, such as those in your TV. It was kind of like Devastator, the processors combining to become even more powerful.
Then we find out that Sony is having trouble making Cell chips with 8 working SPEs. So the PS3 is promised to only have 7 working SPEs for each system.
Today we find out that the OS will always consume an SPE and has the right to abduct another when necessary. This reduces the potential number of SPEs that a developer can reliably count on for a game to use at all times is reduced to 5.
The true power of the PS3 keeps being reduced the closer to launch it becomes. Additional features have already been dropped. How many more will evaporate before the PS3 becomes a real device you can go to the store and buy?
What went wrong on the way? Why do we now have a processor that isn't half what we were promised but is still a total bitch to program for?Don't you think someone should be asking these questions?
"Cell will create a new extensible computing platform. A set-top box containing a Cell chip could, for example, combine to share processing power with a Cell-powered high-definition television to render the graphics of an animated movie."
http://news.com.com/2100-1001-948493.html
PS3 is being drowned in the boat anchors of DRM and Bluray.
. html
http://kamalot.blogspot.com/2006/03/sonys-ps3-ark
And with Playstation division being the only division of Sony making any money, all of Sony is looking at using the PS3 to be their "Noah's Ark"; to save them from the flood.
Will it float?
Sony has created the Playstation 3 (PS3), not as a game machine, but as a vessel to float the company into new lands. They are burdening the system with a new movie format (BluRay) unheard of levels of digital rights management for music and video, Memory Sticks and more.
The results are already starting to show. A year ago, Sony promised to launch the PS3 in Spring 2006. Instead, they waited till Spring 2006 to announce that they won't be launching the system until November 2006, in Japan , with other regions perhaps as soon as Spring 2007. Why? Digital Rights Management issues with the upcoming BluRay format.
The other divisions of Sony are dragging the PS3 down. The Playstation Portable (PSP) suffers from the same illness; too many hands in the basket. The PSP was designed around a slow-loading UMD format for distribution of movies which makes the machine less than ideal for game playing. Compared to ROM cartridges, UMDs are too slow loading and consume too much battery time. They make the machine more fragile and introduce problems with additional moving parts. In short, they are a sacrifice to the movie industry arm of Sony; giving up on the optimal game experience for the opportunity to sell you movies you probably already own on DVD.
The delays brought about by making compromises to the core functions of the system will put a great strain on Sony. Currently, their ark is full of holes and loaded with baggage. The flood waters rise. How many gamers will wait until this time next year in order to pick up a PS3 when Xbox 360 games are available today and are getting excellent review scores? How many will pass up the Revolution this holiday season when it is affordable and fun? How high will the waters rise before Sony can launch the ark?
Will it float?
More can be found here: Kamalot Blog
Nobody cares about the PS3 any more. The PS3 is nothing more than a Bluray trojan horse, a way to get you to buy your movies all over again. Take a look at the PSP. Same thing; a directionless feature-bloated, slow-loading DRM nightmare.
Anyone who is really a gamer will be busy playing on their 360 or Nintendo DS, two machines created specifically for gaming.
My Mom's not getting a PS3 either. ;-)
I'll be picking up an Xbox 360. The more I read about Sony't PS3, the less and less I want one. Sony is now showing a lot of confidence these days and I'm jumping ship. I cen't believe how nice my friend's Xbox 360 is and I want in on the action NOW!
See you on Live.
I say, good for you. If you are currently enjoying your system and don't see a need to upgrade, then rock on. Save your money for games you want to play.
There's no shame or troll-ness in that.
If you want something a little smaller and a lot brighter, just upgrade.
Sony will keep leading on consumers with the PS3 like a carrot dangled in front of an ass. The only reason they keep insisting that the PS3 will be released in Spring is to prevent people from buying a 360.
The pulled the same shenanigans with the PS2, effectively killing the Dreamcast. They are trying it again.
Don't be a tool. Don't listen to Sony.
I have a little writeup of this situation and some keys to the success of portable movies.
e -sales-dry-up.html
http://kamalot.blogspot.com/2006/02/portable-movi
Sony does not seem to think of the big picture.
Make the PS3 a Recorder
The PS3 will come with the ability to playback DVDs. Why not embed the ability to copy the contents of a DVD to a Memory Stick for viewing on the PSP? Sony could control the fair-rights copyright within the PS3 and PSP since they create the hardware for both. They could enforce that your are only allowed to copy the DVD to a PSP a set number of times, much like iTunes handles digitally rights managed music.
If people could buy a DVD and use the PS3 to watch it on their TV as well as use it to copy the DVD to the PSP, people would see a greater value in both the PSP and the PS3. It would solve the problem consumers have with buying two copies of the same movie, an understandable complaint.
From what I understand, Microsoft won't let 3rd parties make controllers for their system for 1 year. This means you have to pay a premium for their controllers and if you don't like the design, tough. Want to plug in an adapter to let you use the old controllers? Nope. What about those nifty adapters that allow you to use GameCube or Dreamcast controllers on your Xbox? No way.
Must be for the good of the consumers, right?
I'm glad I did too! The line soon exceeded the 200 people that were guaranteed to get autographs. By morning it went around the block. The entire night people were playing DS and GBA games out on the sidewalk and good gaming discussions flowed like wine.
Others came prepared with lawn chairs and blankets, but my daughter and I had nothing but the clothes on our back and a few games. People brought all kinds of cool stuff to have signed. I saw, an original NES, the original Zelda cartridge, a power glove, even the front piece of monitor glass on a Donkey Kong arcade game. One gentleman from Canada a few spots ahead of me in line brought a photograph of him as a child opening his first NES as a Christmas present to have Miyamoto sign it. I had him sign the NES Bluetooth Handset I had in my pocket.
When all was said and done, the evening was a great success. I was #31 in line but still managed to download Miyamoto's Nintendog he was sharing to the first 10 people. I got my handset signed (I even got a picture of Miymoto talking on it)and my daughter got her DS signed. We got special DS skins. We met Reggie and a bunch of cool gamers in line.
I have a bunch of pics up from the evening. Check them out.
http://kamalot.blogspot.com/
Halo 1 did the same thing.
Now imagine you could have played system link Halo using only 1 copy of the game. That'd be damn sweet.
The Metroid demo was nice. I am looking forward to playing the full version when it comes out with friends in the same room. Much easier to talk smack with them anyways. ;-)
Even if the content wasn't intended to be accessible, Rockstar developed it and burned it to disc. It failed to disclose that to the ratings board. This isn't the result of hackers creating porn using the GTA engine. This is actually a locked part of the game. http://www.gametab.com/news/321173/ Imagine you buy a house and the realtor tells you there are no skeletons in the closet. That shouldn't mean there are lots of skeletons in the closet but the closet is locked. If it is your home, you'll find a way to open that closet door, lock or not.
You could find visualizations on the Saturn too. Saturn had a star field and spaceship theme. The Saturn also could shift the pitch of your music without altering the speed and could drop out the voices so you could sing karaoke.
I know it is probably 'teh kiddie' for some of you, but if you are willing to look past the family aspect of the game, you'll find the the Pokémon series of games are wonderfully deep and balanced.
If systems sold include money made for the company, then they should be included. One could argue that they should also include the amount of money Sony is throwing away with each PSP in order to attempt to 'purchase' their way into the handheld sector.
"And even though the announcement at E3 of the Game Boy Micro was greeted with a certain amount of skepticism and curious musing by the game press, from a business strategy standpoint, I expect that it will turn to pure gold.
Without making a significant investment in R&D or manufacturing, Nintendo repackages current technology and resells it at what, I would expect, is a healthy margin. Not only will the Micro put GBA technology in new hands, inevitably large numbers of the units will find their way into the shirt pockets and key chains of many current GBA owners. Not only will Nintendo make money on this new hardware product, it will stimulate additional demand for GBA software.
While Sony and Microsoft spent E3 showing off what billions of dollars of investment can do at their press events, Nintendo was demonstrating how minimal investment can generate cash.
That folks, is called smart business."
The whole article is worth a read.
As others have already pointed out, there is no way that Sony has been selling a million a month.
Sony is looking to outsource the production of the PSP to cut costs. They already loose an arm and a leg on every unit produced and this is a way to reduce the amount of bleeding.
I can't help but wonder how many units were returned with dead pixels. Anyone have figured for the return rate yet?
First Weak PSP Sales Results
I recently blogged about this...
http://www.kamalot.com/
This pricing is going to have a detrimental effect on the industry as a whole. With higher-priced games and consoles, people will be willing to buy fewer titles. The pressure will be put on game companies to produce the "next big thing" to ensure that their game is the one that gamers purchase. Publishers will only seek to fund development teams that can create tried-and-true games, ones that have a history of financial success or a recognizable tie-in to other media. As a result, there will be fewer innovative and new titles. More games will be rehashes with a new coat of paint or based on movie/comic licenses.
This is a terrible future for gaming. Gaming was once a bastion of creativity. As prices become so high, it is going to be relegated to 2nd hand status with more re-hashes than Hollywood. The evidence of this is already present.
How many games are TRULY worth the $50 we pay for them?
High prices like these also discourage more casual gamers from picking up a console and getting into video gaming. This reduces the potential audience for video gaming, making it even more of an inaccessible niche market. With the proliferation of gaming on mobile phones, and the rabid success of affordable handheld platforms, it should come as no shock that many people like to play games, if it is easy and affordable.
I think they HAVE to say these kinds of things to keep developers from fleeing. Lip Service. With how different the cell is looking and how stodgy Sony has been with providing development support, is anyone shocked developers are worried? Costs of development are going up. Nintendo's Gamecube was very easy to develop for. Revolution will be equally friendly. Microsoft's unified development environment is looking very good for dev teams everywhere. Sony better make life VERY easy or developers won't wait around.
http://www.4colorrebellion.com/index.php?p=294#mor e-294
8 /news_61188 68.html
"The game, happily, plays closest to the original Mario Kart on the Snes of any in the series that have been released since."
Also. GameSpot has movies...
http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/02/1