I have heard several times the same "Games cant reflect movies or tell a history" scenario this is not correct. For the information of the suits who believe this sort of crap. A good designed Game can tell the history better than a movie, since they allow you to participate in it. Examples at hand: half life, deus ex, (fable), KOTOR, FF(VII-X) they all tell great histories and manage to do it extremely well with great ammounts of drama, tension and suspense.(even GTA vice city manages to tell the history of tommy vercetti traition, deceipt and finally triumph in the mafia)
The reason why movie games are not "hits" is because most of them have no quality/low budgets, lack of originality, etc in a few words: they suck. Mostly they are quickies made to cash in from movie revenues. The worst thing about this is that gamers are aware of it, and they EXPECT this games to be bad.
Example at hand the shreck2 game (I HAVE NOT SEEN this game) Excerpt from a magazine: "You probably are excited about shreck coming back to teathers but not so much about the game, the first game was awful lets expect this one to be better". The same can be said about Van-helsing, cat-woman, batman and just about any other movie game coming out.
A lot of people expected ETM to be a good game (and to some extent it kind of was) and they expected LOTR to be good too and that was reflected in their sales, people were hyped about the games NOT only the movies they are based on.
If hollywood wants to have better sells for their games all they have to do is 3 things:
1.-Stop the neverending flow of crap games cash tie-ins Licensed by themselves by simply hiring profesional reviewers to test the Quality of games before aproving their release. (that would save us so much pain)
2.- Assign more time to the design and implementation of movie-games theres little to no point to release a game simultaneously or before the movie if the game is bad, unoriginal or quality lacking. If the game is good (and is not very delayed) it doesnt need to. example1: KOTOR was released a lot later than episode 1 and 2 and this didnt provided any problem to sales at all. Example 2: A lot of people would have prefered a van helsing game with true DMC quality coming this xmas or early next year than the medium quality movie tie-in being sold now
3.-You should advertise games as an entity and with its own values instead of just a tie -in to some other medium example: spiderman 2 is advertising their GTA style game instead of its movie linkage, as a result people are as hyped about the game as they are about the movie.
Nokia is trying no one can denny that. First they "fixed" the unit in less than a year and now they are trying to sell it at a much lower price. I have to confess at that price a lot of not tech savy people will pick it up rather quickly, I mean, is a color xga cell phone AND a videogame handheld at less than $100 check around thats not pretty common.
Unfortunately as a tech savy person I know 2 things:
1.-If I get any other cell phone I can download free (or very cheap) java based games and applications upload them with a PC interface (usb or infrared) instead of buying cartridges at $40-$50 a pop. Considering the quality is just about the same Im not getting ripped.
2.-Is not a very good phone or handheld, too large to be comfortable as a cell phone and the buttons,screen and processor are still substandard for a handheld. considering the ngage is competing against the GBA, GBA SP, DS and PSP and they are all far superior. I would have to say:no deal.
Better luck next year Nokia. (hint: maybe you should hire someone who actually worked in handheld design for your next model) however like I said Im a tech savy person someone who is not will consider your offer.
What about the RC helicopter mission where you set bombs and then get out before they blow?
Or the place right after you "KILL ALL THE HAITIANS".. you set bombs there and then must get out before they blow (which is tricky because the way you came in is blocked).
So... what would be the point of saying "theres a bomb in the building!" you placed the bomb yourself so you are pretty much aware of it. Also "everyone needs to get out" most of the time you are alone in GTA who exactly is "everybody?".
The guy pulled a prank and now he is blaming "GTA" about it like everyone else.
Headline of the future: "A guy gets cancer in his finger WHILE playing GTA!"
Now, that would have gotten more laughs from me and the guy arrested (sooner) just imagine if he had explained someone how to play manhunt over the phone.
The guy did it on purpose and now he is trying to blame a game. There are no bombs in buildings in GTA (3) or GTA(4 Vice city) and you play alone so "everyone needs to get out" makes no sense. (maybe they were playing rainbow six?).
Anyway (unless he actually shouted it out) that was a private conversation no one needed to eavesdrop to, they could be talking about a movie or anything else. If I was this guy lawyer he wouldnt pay a cent, and I would probably sue whoever DID spread the panic (who is a paranoid idiot by the way).
Interesting idea, but you are missing one point: franchise owners DO have a chance to evaluate products which will use their seal and are completely able to stop the process if something is out of place. It may break your heart but Lucas DID aproved and helped that super Bombad racing game featuring jar jar and friends.
Yes I think game developer should get rewarded (or penalized) over the overall score the game received not just its sales. After all a game with a good score will sooner or later be picked up and score more sales, while a game that got good initial sales but sucks (ussually a franchise) will have great sales the first weeks then be abandoned and ultimately sold at retail. Its a no brainer.
Unfortunately we dont live in a perfect world. What would happen is:
Developers of bad games who sold great will state "are you kidding?" and remind the companies they just made millions of bucks in revenue, then reminded them they couldnt have AS much if development time had been stretched and quality had been increased "It would have cost 3 million more! so that would be 3 million less in revenue!" then laugh all the way to the bank.
And come on guys use your head! if developers would get better revenues for getting good reviews they would PAY for good reviews! (supposing magazines and websites arent doing that already)
"IGN: ETM oh incredible! game of the year! a perfect 10! please pay this guys more! I need a new car!"
Is a good theory, but in practice is just a cheap move by warner to get more dough from this guys And knowing a bit about laws, I dont think it would work. This would have to be authorized by both parties at contract sign and NO sleazy game developer would sign this sort of deal.
Re:Is anyone else disturbed by this?
on
E3 Wrapup Documented
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
"America's Army", the game, is a recruiting tool for the U.S. Army, paid for and run by the U.S. Army. Much of the operation is outsourced, but the whole point is to recruit people into the U.S. Army. "Going to the next level" has a special meaning there. Uh sure can I have that X-files dvd when you are done with it? Sorry, I didnt want to be rude but I couldnt help myself, what you are saying actually looks like the truth to many , but if you were a bit more into games and fps in general you'd probably knew that the army actually uses FPS in their training exercises NOT because it teaches them weapon use (like the media has tried to convince us) or because they have some brain washing technology but because it allows them to create realtime battle strategies and ammo conservation (among some other things) actually full spectrum warrior was before a full classified game made for squad leaders so they can understand advance alfa-bravo zulu procedures (team1 do this, team 2 do this, at the order of zulu).
At the last instance the game does work as a recruitment tool of sorts, but the actual reason they are giving it away for free (now that is unclassified) is because YOU paid for it with your tax dollars (you didnt thought they would use it to fix roads or build schools did you?). They SHOULD do the same with full spectrum warrior but somehow they were able to sell it to another publishing company.
I dont know what's most dissapointing: your comment getting modded up just for bashing the xbox or nobody answering, so Im here to at least fix the later.
Its probably news to you, but the xbox is rising as the number 1 most sold console in america Is also the most powerful (technologically speaking) with the best online support and the easier to code with (for American publishers at least) so I have no idea what do you mean by "mistake" or "trying to do" their mistake is not being liked by Nintendo fans, Not featuring Mario or Zelda, uncontempt Ms bashers or what? Second MS has stated at least 1000 times they are just not interested in the portable market (because they are new to console developing) they have their hands full with the developing, maintenance and sales of xbox, xbox live, and the xbox 2 which is strategically being developed for the japanese\european market.
Oh yeah, just so you know, the team of people behind the xbox IS NOT the same people that created the dreaded Windows and Office software is a whole new division inside MS created by american industry professionals most of them from the PC game and device industry (ex nvidia, blizzard, ati, sierra employees to name a few). So if your only reason for hating xbox beyond reason is because you dont like Windows you are just barking at the the wrong tree pal.
IF they would develop a portable xbox they would probably have a large problem on being accepted and developing for that media but then again so is sony.
Mod this down as much as you want, that doesnt make it any less true and you know it.
Hmm.. for not trying to be a troll or flamebait, I think you should check your information at least once before posting.
First of all, your comment waters down to: "Have you ever done bungie jumping? (pun intended) Oh yes its great! I havent done it but I have heard is great!" Bungie jumping the thing everyone has heard is great!
And yes that comment is as pointless as it sounds. Just a thought here: what about if you ask the people who have done bungie jumping? or better yet why dont you try it youself? Bungie jumping aside, Im not going an hour explaining why IMO halo is good (Which I can because Ive played it!) Im just wondering whoever modded your comment up must be really desperate for bashing halo one way or the other.
Anyway the first part of your comment was actually intelligent, people play what they like period. And to answer your comment in a straight manner BUNGIE didnt had a good PR office that convinced everyone their game was great before MS contracted them and MS didnt contracted them because their PR tricked them into it. you do the math.
I was all into the DS until I read the article at gamespy My entire anticipation and thrill for a 3d wi-fi connected gameboy came to a dramatic stop when I read the sentence:
WarioWare DS -- Wow! If you thought the simple micro-games in WarioWare for GBA or GCN were a hoot No, I didnt.
WarioWare. In one game you had to keep rubbing the screen as if you were applying charcoal on paper to reveal an image. One quickie had four objects on screen that required you to draw a line between the matching pairs. Another had you drawing a line between a boy and a girl to bring them together.
Ýes it also took ten full minutes for someone to code each of those games, for some reason Im not terribly excited to rub out the touch screen with those.
OK Im not a Warioware fan, so I thought I should check the rest of the launch titles:
Super Mario 64 X 4 -- This four-player game showed off both the wireless and dual-screen facets of the system.
Now couldnt at least changed the title ? Mario 64? x4? the scheme finally was revealed the GBA played a bunch of re-releases from SNES now the DS is set for re-releases from N64!!! (and not even the best ones like mario,banjo and conker)
Metroid Prime: Hunter -- From a technical standpoint, this was the most impressive DS title I saw. This first-person shooter looked incredible. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a Nintendo 64 FPS that looked as good as this game.
Hmm now I have to admit this one sounds yummy, after all the reason why I have my gba is because of metroid prime, if I get convinced to get a DS any day it will probably because of this one (wheres the castlevanias too?) however could the reviewer be a bit less obvious about the n64 nature of the DS?
Oh yeah and the rest:
Pac-Pix (pacman)
Pac 'n Roll (pacman)
Air Hockey(!)
If that amazing list didnt got your heart pounding with excitement! is because no human could care for any of those! the following should interest you a bit more! (I like to use exclamation marks and say wow! for no immediate reason!):
I also got to play demos featuring Sonic, Square characters, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Gundam, Pikachu, and Bomberman. They weren't as memorable as some of the others
Oh man! now that's a memorable moment! the guy at gamespy who literally gets payed to talk wonders about this games prefered not to talk about the later! WOW! now that should give you a small hint at what sort of masterpieces they must be! WOW!
In resume:
there you have it: the DS is basically a portable N64 with wireless networking a stylus (which is EXTREMELY used in wario ware) a touch screen and is going to cost around $150 we still dont know what is final name would be but it wont be "DS".
The launch library is 95% crap and theres not even a mario 64 at sight, however is GBA compatible and some of its launch titles like mario kart (although Mario dash would been much better), warioware (featuring a bunch of games made during lunch break) and metroid look like a lot of fun specially in 4 player wireless connection. Not even the reviewer wanted to talk about the others. (and he is a guy who got excited about rubbing the back of wario with a stylus)
Theres no info about battery consumption and considering nintendo likes to cut corners and they are too quiet about it chances are it will really, really suck. So prepare to play a lot while connected to a power outlet, or carry around a battery charger everywhere.
In my own personal humble opinnion? portable N64 vs portable PS2? sorry nintendo you just lost a costumer. But thats just me, a lot of nintendo fans will be really happy with this one.
I havent noticed but if you check the picture carefully you will notice.
The LCD screen is not lighting the base (I doubt they forgot about backlitting again) so the screen could be in fact in fact turned off.
The perspective of the top LCD screen is slightly moved if you look at it carefully you will notice is an screenshot plastered on top.
Both screens are slightly pixelated on the sides.
Theres a lot of wasted space on the sides of the TOP lcd screen if you notice the GBA design they used all the space they could on the top is unlikely they didnt noticed that. (unless the speakers are there.)
The image is too small is unlikely a press announcement will be followed by an image of such low resolution.
Look at it again. it looks like a medium quality 3d rendered image with 2 screenshots plastered on top.
Maybe the image is a prototype render, definetily is not a real picture.
Thats not YOUR comment but a quote from Gabe from penny-arcade and there are 3 details about it:
1.-He has not played the complete game or even a demo, he's taking conclussions from the screenshots(which he finds pretty amussing) and the history (which to be honest is not very good).
2.-He doesnt like horror games, he gears towards games like zelda, metroid, final fantasy, his horror game was about alice RE and dino crisis they were all negative comments, his latest comment was about RE outbreak and it was (guess!) negative. I dont even know if he ever played silent hill or fatal frame. He mentioned ONCE he didnt finished "Undying" because it was "too scary" Horror is just not his thing.
3.- The guy is smart, sensitive, funny and a great cartoonist and game journalist (yeah Gabe we love you with the heat of a thousand fucking suns) but dont you think you should get your OWN opinion from the damn game? I mean seriously, you dont even know what the thing is like.
I love the design of the new DS (I dont think every game will keep up with the quality of Mario Kart but still this promises to be a great device) However lets start calling it by its name this is the new GBA it has a 3d card and its backwards compatible. If you think nintendo is going to keep pumping games for the GBA OR is workign in another GBA next year, you have another thing coming.
That doesnt make the GBA a doorstep theres hundreds of games for it and is considerably cheaper actually (at least for a while) the biggest library of games for the DS is going to be the GBA games available now.
Have you noticed the phantom has so many announcements it looks like they actually WIN money each time they get their name mentioned? Well curious as it sounds THEY DO make money. Phantom is a public investor company so each time you hear anything about the phantom more investors are attracted and flock to Infinium Labs. Investors dont want to hear about games or exactly why the product is any good (hype). They just want to know when it will be out (aproximately) and how much money will they make. And if you check the announcements every single one mentions those two aspects and not a single one detail that would entice a gamer to buy it (it will have great graphics, X game is coming for it) . Makes you wonder doesn't it?
implies that it's a replacement for the GBA, which I'm pretty sure is not what it is intended to be.
Oh come on, you gotta be kidding, you are also waiting for Bush to find weapons of mass destruction in Irak?
The DS is a 3d capable handheld with rumoured backward compatibility to the GBA if thats not a succesor then exactly how would you call it? Nintendo is just being a bit "discrete" because the DS is pretty much in an "acceptation" phase however if everything goes as planned dont expect nintendo to keep pumping out gba games next year (and maybe this one), they are going to turn all their attention to the DS and DS games wont be GBA compatible.
Oh and Nintendo also said the DS wont be the PSP competitor its just a very big and happy coincidence it was scheduled for release the same year than the PSP (which is now delayed til next year). yeah sure, I'll buy that for a dollar.
p.s. Anyway I dont see why nintendo is so "discrete" about it, the GBA is shock full of games is not like is not a good idea to buy one, specially now that is gamecube compatible, oh well to each their own.
I dont think people "hate" the zodiac, they simply dont consider it a competitor, I mean everybody (who knows it) loves the g32 (the taiwan handheld that can run mame games and its own) however it just doesnt have enough users to be considered a GBA competitor. Another example: Infinium labs can be as loud as they want and start suing people left and right as much as they feel like but still no one in their right mind will label the phantom as a console competitor(even if it had been released) they are (would be in the case of infinium) small guys with a small console and thats just about it. They COULD grow to the scale of a nintendo but that would just be unexpècted.
The One who has an obvious advantage is nintendo since they have the lead with the gameboy but the whole Dual screen idea looks more like a novelty than an actual feature. Even before launch developers have showed themselves a bit esceptic on it taking off. Nintendo had always said that their advantage would be their price, but now that the DS is rumoured to have a 3d chip it would affect it directly. Parents and gamers wont mind buying a GBA at $100 but a DS at $200+? with less than half the battery life?(speculative price) why not just buy a GBA instead?
The PSP is the second most important contender, while many think that is a sure bet as the handheld king, sony has actual little to no experience in the handheld market, and actually had a flop in their past (the pocketstation). The biggest problem according some analists is its price which would range around $200-$300 and that the product will not be targetted at kids-teens but at the teenage-adult market (just like the PS according some) while teens and young adults have always been haldheld consumers the adult market is a niche that has never been touched. In order to achieve this the psp will have MP3, MPG and rumored MiniDVD and TV playing capabilities (plus other apps like a personal agenda and even a digital camera with an add on) it will be advertised as a multi task device instead of a handheld. The problem still persits: will gamers be willing to expend the extra cash in a "multi device" when all they want is a handheld?
The N-Gage 2, with the history of n-gage is easy to discard this one of the list as a contender at all, while N-gage 2 will fix a good part of the designs problems that make the first one a joke, Nokia still has the problem that they dont develop any games and that not many 3rd party companies will be willing to risk to partner with them (again) after their big flop. Technical problems aside, the pricing, useless user packages and complete lack of support were also terrible and none of them seems to have been tackled off for its succesor.
In my opinion this "war" was already over before it started, Sony and Nintendo will each take a section of the market and "share" it somehow. Nintendo will hold most kids, some teens a small group of young adults and their old fanbase. Sony will get a small group of kids a good part of teens, most young adults and their old fanbase. Even if both systems turn out to be flops they will still offer better quality and game libraries than their competition. (ngage2, zodiac and cell phones) So basically (unless something unexpected happens) it is a no brainer.
p.s. About the article: seriously do you think is a good idea to hear handheld predictions from a guy who greenlighted a N-gage game?
Thanks for reading fellow slashdotters, peace!
My new upcoming sig:
Slashdot needs 2 new modifiers: -1:Frantic fanboy and -1: Compulsive whinner. Unfortunately I get the feeling everyone (including me) would get modded -2 practically all the time
I played the demo in the Quakecon last year,
sorry but theres not much I cant tell you to change your opinion about it, you just have to wait until you have your hands on it and the buch of mods that will follow suit when is released.(or the ones you will make if thats your thing)
IMO I had the chance to taste it and I can tell you this much, Doom 3 is to doom What the new ninja Gaiden is to the nes ninja gaiden. Simply the best horror game Ive played.
Hollenshead said that the Xbox version will ship after the PC version, and the PC version will ship when it's done.
Translation: Our xbox version (which is relatively simple) is kind of ready but theirs (which is very complex considering the range of cards it has to work on and internet/modding features) is not, so we wont release any version until they are both ready, the cows come home or armaggedon is here.
There goes another E3 and no Doom 3 yet.
And for sanity's sake someone should ban the term "when it's done" in an interview, gamers are traumatized with Duke Nukem Forever.
[Off topic] To the 400 guys who answered "graphics are not important X are more important!" the article was about GAME GRAPHICS only. Thats like a discussion where someone announced "lets discuss about the best books of our era" and answering "TV sitcoms are more important than books!". Try to stay on the actual topic please. [/off topic]
IMO one of the biggest problems with today graphics is that new "features" are always treated as "only available in the newest most expensive 3d cards" per example effects like ambient "glow" (I cant remember the actual name right now) realtime shadowing and even normal mapping can only be done if you have certain version of a GPU to do it. This is in fact not correct, some of this effects are possible (even at a good framerate) without such hardware, the new hardware only makes easier to pull the effects thanks to it becoming a feature or due to some exploit. Per example the ps2 does not feature antialiasing, yet several developers have found how to "emulate" the effect with several methods, some of them very apropiate. John Carmack's "realtime shadowing" in doom 3, does not necesarily use vertex shaders(although it is vastly improved using pixel shaders) , but a very ingenuitive and optimized algorithm wich requires the stencil buffer (available since the riva tnt2) and prince of persia SOT "glow" effect (which has a pc version that wont run with anything below a ATI 9200) can even be done without any vertex or pixel shading at all by using bitmap overlays. (is slower but a good processor can help to keep the framerate) It seems sometimes that card/hardware manufacturers can be a bit intrusive in deciding which features are to be used and which ones are not in game developing. or perhaps game developers should ask themselves if having a certain feature in hardware means theres no way to implement it without it.
Kudos to ID who are developing doom3 with a geforce 1 minimum spec, and to the Ut 2004 team, which needs a riva tnt2 as a minimum spec, we know that wasnt easy and we apreciate it.
Additionally you have to remember theres no "look good" button in max3d or photoshop, a great artist can create stunning visuals even with lesser hardware and smaller poly count, while a crappy one can make a single cube use up to 6000 polies and still manage to make it look awful. Good artists are more important to graphics that any hardware feature (even one as impressive as HDRI)
It would be interesting to hear Carmacks Opinion on this topic. Unfortunately I think he's rather busy adding doom 3 finnishing touches.
This is the equivalent of making a site called "best movie ever" and then making a movie each week. No matter how original it may seem, you simply have no time to create something above average, what you get a long string of "could be better" to "lame" products, besides lets just face it, with the aid of modern tools (like flash and gamemaker) anyone with average (to no) coding skills can create a micro game in a week. (just like anyone with a handcam can create a movie in a week) I usually encourage indie game developers but Definetily I dont think this is a good idea.
You may want to check graal online http://www.graalonline.com
is basically zelda online in the style of an mmorpg of sorts is cool and to certain extent is free.
A comment about the game, Im sorry but I really cant vouche for nintendo on their decision to require 4 gbas to play a 4 player game, it sounds more like a scare tactic than a product feature. And come on? 4 friends with 4 gba'S? I have 2 brothers a neighbor and between all of us we have 4 friends with one gba and one gamecube. In which alternate reality every brother in the same household and every neighbor friend has a gba? (well at least it doesnt require 4 cubes)
You may want to check graal online http://www.graalonline.com
is basically zelda online in the style of an mmorpg of sorts is cool and to certain extent is free.
A comment about the game, Im sorry but I really cant vouche for nintendo on their decision to require 4 gbas to play a 4 player game, it sounds more like a scare tactic than a product feature. And come on? 4 friends with 4 gba'S? I have 2 brothers a neighbor and between all of us we have 4 friends one gba and one gamecube. In which alternate reality every brother in the same household and every neighbor friend has a gba?
This makes it more obvious than the entire move was just a political ad. Im afraid money has won moral today, vote for me anyway! yeah right
Ok muddy issues aside, if you are an actual conscerned parent heres a fact for you:
The M rating is the equivalent of the R rating in movies and just like in movies There are a lot of titles that dont really desserve the rating and they are quite a few that actually desserve an stronger rating like A (Nc-18 X Adult only) rating (manhunt, gta3 in some cases , the suffering, doom 3) want to know which one is which? Easy! stick around and watch your kids playing! stablish as a rule that all games must be watched by the entire family (or at least by you), before you decide if is ok for them to play or buy. (if possible rent before you buy) problem solved! Read the manual, watch the game for at least half an hour, if after that theres something you find suspicious (the manual mentions hookers but you havent seen any) ask the store clerk they ussually know which games are really violent and which ones are not. EASY as that! You are the one who provides your kids money for buying games and therefore you are in charge of what they have, not CNN not the government YOU!
The psx is a great system (hmm yes I still associate that acronym with the ps but lets skip that) just the dvd recorder is enough for anyone to consider the purchase add to that the fact that is also a full ps2 and you have a deal, unfortunately the price is definetily a problem ($700 bucks) with a price like that lets just face it, everybody who was able to buy it, has already bought one.
Besides a real tech savy guy only needs to do the math, they can upgrade their computer to have a video-in card ($50) a half decent dvd-recorder($150) and buy a brand new ps2 ($150) all for ($350) half the price, and enjoy the same features of the psx in the living room. (not under the same case though).
Why this doesnt look like (and actually isn't) terrible news for sony? well for starters they are heading the "console wars" for what? 20 million sales? also the PSX is just a "bundle product" not their main console? and the ps2 is selling at almost the same rate? AND they are also a huge company who gets money from just about everywhere (movies,tv,electronics,evercrack addicts)? I mean seriously feelings aside at what point Nintendo was in the same position when they had to stop producing the cube? we were worried for nintendo back then. (fortunately we now realize they have never been in trouble since they are actually getting a profit for each console, contrary to other companies. So they will still be around for a while. thankfully for their fans)
However back at the PSX maybe sony should consider a price drop. I will definetily pick one up, if they put it around $350 or $300. I will ran to the mall if its on $250 Hell would be unleashed if its $200-$150 (but thats daydreaming).
Slashdot Mirror
I have heard several times the same "Games cant reflect movies or tell a history" scenario this is not correct. For the information of the suits who believe this sort of crap. A good designed Game can tell the history better than a movie, since they allow you to participate in it. Examples at hand: half life, deus ex, (fable), KOTOR, FF(VII-X) they all tell great histories and manage to do it extremely well with great ammounts of drama, tension and suspense.(even GTA vice city manages to tell the history of tommy vercetti traition, deceipt and finally triumph in the mafia)
The reason why movie games are not "hits" is because most of them have no quality/low budgets, lack of originality, etc in a few words: they suck. Mostly they are quickies made to cash in from movie revenues. The worst thing about this is that gamers are aware of it, and they EXPECT this games to be bad.
Example at hand the shreck2 game (I HAVE NOT SEEN this game) Excerpt from a magazine: "You probably are excited about shreck coming back to teathers but not so much about the game, the first game was awful lets expect this one to be better". The same can be said about Van-helsing, cat-woman, batman and just about any other movie game coming out.
A lot of people expected ETM to be a good game (and to some extent it kind of was) and they expected LOTR to be good too and that was reflected in their sales, people were hyped about the games NOT only the movies they are based on.
If hollywood wants to have better sells for their games all they have to do is 3 things:
1.-Stop the neverending flow of crap games cash tie-ins Licensed by themselves by simply hiring profesional reviewers to test the Quality of games before aproving their release. (that would save us so much pain)
2.- Assign more time to the design and implementation of movie-games theres little to no point to release a game simultaneously or before the movie if the game is bad, unoriginal or quality lacking. If the game is good (and is not very delayed) it doesnt need to. example1: KOTOR was released a lot later than episode 1 and 2 and this didnt provided any problem to sales at all. Example 2: A lot of people would have prefered a van helsing game with true DMC quality coming this xmas or early next year than the medium quality movie tie-in being sold now
3.-You should advertise games as an entity and with its own values instead of just a tie -in to some other medium example: spiderman 2 is advertising their GTA style game instead of its movie linkage, as a result people are as hyped about the game as they are about the movie.
I rest my case.
Nokia is trying no one can denny that. First they "fixed" the unit in less than a year and now they are trying to sell it at a much lower price. I have to confess at that price a lot of not tech savy people will pick it up rather quickly, I mean, is a color xga cell phone AND a videogame handheld at less than $100 check around thats not pretty common.
,screen and processor are still substandard for a handheld. considering the ngage is competing against the GBA, GBA SP, DS and PSP and they are all far superior. I would have to say :no deal.
Unfortunately as a tech savy person I know 2 things:
1.-If I get any other cell phone I can download free (or very cheap) java based games and applications upload them with a PC interface (usb or infrared) instead of buying cartridges at $40-$50 a pop. Considering the quality is just about the same Im not getting ripped.
2.-Is not a very good phone or handheld, too large to be comfortable as a cell phone and the buttons
Better luck next year Nokia. (hint: maybe you should hire someone who actually worked in handheld design for your next model) however like I said Im a tech savy person someone who is not will consider your offer.
What about the RC helicopter mission where you set bombs and then get out before they blow? Or the place right after you "KILL ALL THE HAITIANS".. you set bombs there and then must get out before they blow (which is tricky because the way you came in is blocked).
So... what would be the point of saying "theres a bomb in the building!" you placed the bomb yourself so you are pretty much aware of it. Also "everyone needs to get out" most of the time you are alone in GTA who exactly is "everybody?".
The guy pulled a prank and now he is blaming "GTA" about it like everyone else.
Headline of the future: "A guy gets cancer in his finger WHILE playing GTA!"
Now, that would have gotten more laughs from me and the guy arrested (sooner) just imagine if he had explained someone how to play manhunt over the phone.
The guy did it on purpose and now he is trying to blame a game. There are no bombs in buildings in GTA (3) or GTA(4 Vice city) and you play alone so "everyone needs to get out" makes no sense. (maybe they were playing rainbow six?).
Anyway (unless he actually shouted it out) that was a private conversation no one needed to eavesdrop to, they could be talking about a movie or anything else. If I was this guy lawyer he wouldnt pay a cent, and I would probably sue whoever DID spread the panic (who is a paranoid idiot by the way).
Interesting idea, but you are missing one point: franchise owners DO have a chance to evaluate products which will use their seal and are completely able to stop the process if something is out of place. It may break your heart but Lucas DID aproved and helped that super Bombad racing game featuring jar jar and friends.
Yes I think game developer should get rewarded (or penalized) over the overall score the game received not just its sales. After all a game with a good score will sooner or later be picked up and score more sales, while a game that got good initial sales but sucks (ussually a franchise) will have great sales the first weeks then be abandoned and ultimately sold at retail. Its a no brainer.
Unfortunately we dont live in a perfect world. What would happen is:
Developers of bad games who sold great will state "are you kidding?" and remind the companies they just made millions of bucks in revenue, then reminded them they couldnt have AS much if development time had been stretched and quality had been increased "It would have cost 3 million more! so that would be 3 million less in revenue!" then laugh all the way to the bank.
And come on guys use your head! if developers would get better revenues for getting good reviews they would PAY for good reviews! (supposing magazines and websites arent doing that already) "IGN: ETM oh incredible! game of the year! a perfect 10! please pay this guys more! I need a new car!"
Is a good theory, but in practice is just a cheap move by warner to get more dough from this guys And knowing a bit about laws, I dont think it would work. This would have to be authorized by both parties at contract sign and NO sleazy game developer would sign this sort of deal.
"America's Army", the game, is a recruiting tool for the U.S. Army, paid for and run by the U.S. Army. Much of the operation is outsourced, but the whole point is to recruit people into the U.S. Army. "Going to the next level" has a special meaning there.
Uh sure can I have that X-files dvd when you are done with it?
Sorry, I didnt want to be rude but I couldnt help myself, what you are saying actually looks like the truth to many , but if you were a bit more into games and fps in general you'd probably knew that the army actually uses FPS in their training exercises NOT because it teaches them weapon use (like the media has tried to convince us) or because they have some brain washing technology but because it allows them to create realtime battle strategies and ammo conservation (among some other things) actually full spectrum warrior was before a full classified game made for squad leaders so they can understand advance alfa-bravo zulu procedures (team1 do this, team 2 do this, at the order of zulu).
At the last instance the game does work as a recruitment tool of sorts, but the actual reason they are giving it away for free (now that is unclassified) is because YOU paid for it with your tax dollars (you didnt thought they would use it to fix roads or build schools did you?). They SHOULD do the same with full spectrum warrior but somehow they were able to sell it to another publishing company.
I dont know what's most dissapointing: your comment getting modded up just for bashing the xbox or nobody answering, so Im here to at least fix the later.
Its probably news to you, but the xbox is rising as the number 1 most sold console in america Is also the most powerful (technologically speaking) with the best online support and the easier to code with (for American publishers at least) so I have no idea what do you mean by "mistake" or "trying to do" their mistake is not being liked by Nintendo fans, Not featuring Mario or Zelda, uncontempt Ms bashers or what? Second MS has stated at least 1000 times they are just not interested in the portable market (because they are new to console developing) they have their hands full with the developing, maintenance and sales of xbox, xbox live, and the xbox 2 which is strategically being developed for the japanese\european market.
Oh yeah, just so you know, the team of people behind the xbox IS NOT the same people that created the dreaded Windows and Office software is a whole new division inside MS created by american industry professionals most of them from the PC game and device industry (ex nvidia, blizzard, ati, sierra employees to name a few). So if your only reason for hating xbox beyond reason is because you dont like Windows you are just barking at the the wrong tree pal. IF they would develop a portable xbox they would probably have a large problem on being accepted and developing for that media but then again so is sony. Mod this down as much as you want, that doesnt make it any less true and you know it.
Hmm.. for not trying to be a troll or flamebait, I think you should check your information at least once before posting.
First of all, your comment waters down to: "Have you ever done bungie jumping? (pun intended) Oh yes its great! I havent done it but I have heard is great!" Bungie jumping the thing everyone has heard is great!
And yes that comment is as pointless as it sounds. Just a thought here: what about if you ask the people who have done bungie jumping? or better yet why dont you try it youself? Bungie jumping aside, Im not going an hour explaining why IMO halo is good (Which I can because Ive played it!) Im just wondering whoever modded your comment up must be really desperate for bashing halo one way or the other.
Anyway the first part of your comment was actually intelligent, people play what they like period. And to answer your comment in a straight manner BUNGIE didnt had a good PR office that convinced everyone their game was great before MS contracted them and MS didnt contracted them because their PR tricked them into it. you do the math.
WarioWare. In one game you had to keep rubbing the screen as if you were applying charcoal on paper to reveal an image. One quickie had four objects on screen that required you to draw a line between the matching pairs. Another had you drawing a line between a boy and a girl to bring them together.
Ýes it also took ten full minutes for someone to code each of those games, for some reason Im not terribly excited to rub out the touch screen with those.
OK Im not a Warioware fan, so I thought I should check the rest of the launch titles:
Super Mario 64 X 4 -- This four-player game showed off both the wireless and dual-screen facets of the system.
Now couldnt at least changed the title ? Mario 64? x4? the scheme finally was revealed the GBA played a bunch of re-releases from SNES now the DS is set for re-releases from N64!!! (and not even the best ones like mario,banjo and conker)
Metroid Prime: Hunter -- From a technical standpoint, this was the most impressive DS title I saw. This first-person shooter looked incredible. Off the top of my head, I can't think of a Nintendo 64 FPS that looked as good as this game.
Hmm now I have to admit this one sounds yummy, after all the reason why I have my gba is because of metroid prime, if I get convinced to get a DS any day it will probably because of this one (wheres the castlevanias too?) however could the reviewer be a bit less obvious about the n64 nature of the DS?
Oh yeah and the rest:
Pac-Pix (pacman)
Pac 'n Roll (pacman)
Air Hockey(!)
If that amazing list didnt got your heart pounding with excitement! is because no human could care for any of those! the following should interest you a bit more! (I like to use exclamation marks and say wow! for no immediate reason!):
I also got to play demos featuring Sonic, Square characters, Yu-Gi-Oh!, Gundam, Pikachu, and Bomberman. They weren't as memorable as some of the others
Oh man! now that's a memorable moment! the guy at gamespy who literally gets payed to talk wonders about this games prefered not to talk about the later! WOW! now that should give you a small hint at what sort of masterpieces they must be! WOW!
In resume:
there you have it: the DS is basically a portable N64 with wireless networking a stylus (which is EXTREMELY used in wario ware) a touch screen and is going to cost around $150 we still dont know what is final name would be but it wont be "DS".
The launch library is 95% crap and theres not even a mario 64 at sight, however is GBA compatible and some of its launch titles like mario kart (although Mario dash would been much better), warioware (featuring a bunch of games made during lunch break) and metroid look like a lot of fun specially in 4 player wireless connection. Not even the reviewer wanted to talk about the others. (and he is a guy who got excited about rubbing the back of wario with a stylus)
Theres no info about battery consumption and considering nintendo likes to cut corners and they are too quiet about it chances are it will really, really suck. So prepare to play a lot while connected to a power outlet, or carry around a battery charger everywhere.
In my own personal humble opinnion? portable N64 vs portable PS2? sorry nintendo you just lost a costumer. But thats just me, a lot of nintendo fans will be really happy with this one.
The LCD screen is not lighting the base (I doubt they forgot about backlitting again) so the screen could be in fact in fact turned off.
The perspective of the top LCD screen is slightly moved if you look at it carefully you will notice is an screenshot plastered on top.
Both screens are slightly pixelated on the sides.
Theres a lot of wasted space on the sides of the TOP lcd screen if you notice the GBA design they used all the space they could on the top is unlikely they didnt noticed that. (unless the speakers are there.)
The image is too small is unlikely a press announcement will be followed by an image of such low resolution.
Look at it again. it looks like a medium quality 3d rendered image with 2 screenshots plastered on top.
Maybe the image is a prototype render, definetily is not a real picture.
1.-He has not played the complete game or even a demo, he's taking conclussions from the screenshots(which he finds pretty amussing) and the history (which to be honest is not very good).
2.-He doesnt like horror games, he gears towards games like zelda, metroid, final fantasy, his horror game was about alice RE and dino crisis they were all negative comments, his latest comment was about RE outbreak and it was (guess!) negative. I dont even know if he ever played silent hill or fatal frame. He mentioned ONCE he didnt finished "Undying" because it was "too scary" Horror is just not his thing.
3.- The guy is smart, sensitive, funny and a great cartoonist and game journalist (yeah Gabe we love you with the heat of a thousand fucking suns) but dont you think you should get your OWN opinion from the damn game? I mean seriously, you dont even know what the thing is like.
I love the design of the new DS (I dont think every game will keep up with the quality of Mario Kart but still this promises to be a great device) However lets start calling it by its name this is the new GBA it has a 3d card and its backwards compatible. If you think nintendo is going to keep pumping games for the GBA OR is workign in another GBA next year, you have another thing coming.
That doesnt make the GBA a doorstep theres hundreds of games for it and is considerably cheaper actually (at least for a while) the biggest library of games for the DS is going to be the GBA games available now.
Have you noticed the phantom has so many announcements it looks like they actually WIN money each time they get their name mentioned? Well curious as it sounds THEY DO make money. Phantom is a public investor company so each time you hear anything about the phantom more investors are attracted and flock to Infinium Labs. Investors dont want to hear about games or exactly why the product is any good (hype). They just want to know when it will be out (aproximately) and how much money will they make. And if you check the announcements every single one mentions those two aspects and not a single one detail that would entice a gamer to buy it (it will have great graphics, X game is coming for it) . Makes you wonder doesn't it?
implies that it's a replacement for the GBA, which I'm pretty sure is not what it is intended to be. Oh come on, you gotta be kidding, you are also waiting for Bush to find weapons of mass destruction in Irak?
The DS is a 3d capable handheld with rumoured backward compatibility to the GBA if thats not a succesor then exactly how would you call it? Nintendo is just being a bit "discrete" because the DS is pretty much in an "acceptation" phase however if everything goes as planned dont expect nintendo to keep pumping out gba games next year (and maybe this one), they are going to turn all their attention to the DS and DS games wont be GBA compatible.
Oh and Nintendo also said the DS wont be the PSP competitor its just a very big and happy coincidence it was scheduled for release the same year than the PSP (which is now delayed til next year). yeah sure, I'll buy that for a dollar.
p.s. Anyway I dont see why nintendo is so "discrete" about it, the GBA is shock full of games is not like is not a good idea to buy one, specially now that is gamecube compatible, oh well to each their own.
I dont think people "hate" the zodiac, they simply dont consider it a competitor, I mean everybody (who knows it) loves the g32 (the taiwan handheld that can run mame games and its own) however it just doesnt have enough users to be considered a GBA competitor. Another example: Infinium labs can be as loud as they want and start suing people left and right as much as they feel like but still no one in their right mind will label the phantom as a console competitor(even if it had been released) they are (would be in the case of infinium) small guys with a small console and thats just about it. They COULD grow to the scale of a nintendo but that would just be unexpècted.
Ok heres my take:
The One who has an obvious advantage is nintendo since they have the lead with the gameboy but the whole Dual screen idea looks more like a novelty than an actual feature. Even before launch developers have showed themselves a bit esceptic on it taking off. Nintendo had always said that their advantage would be their price, but now that the DS is rumoured to have a 3d chip it would affect it directly. Parents and gamers wont mind buying a GBA at $100 but a DS at $200+? with less than half the battery life?(speculative price) why not just buy a GBA instead?
The PSP is the second most important contender, while many think that is a sure bet as the handheld king, sony has actual little to no experience in the handheld market, and actually had a flop in their past (the pocketstation). The biggest problem according some analists is its price which would range around $200-$300 and that the product will not be targetted at kids-teens but at the teenage-adult market (just like the PS according some) while teens and young adults have always been haldheld consumers the adult market is a niche that has never been touched. In order to achieve this the psp will have MP3, MPG and rumored MiniDVD and TV playing capabilities (plus other apps like a personal agenda and even a digital camera with an add on) it will be advertised as a multi task device instead of a handheld. The problem still persits: will gamers be willing to expend the extra cash in a "multi device" when all they want is a handheld?
The N-Gage 2, with the history of n-gage is easy to discard this one of the list as a contender at all, while N-gage 2 will fix a good part of the designs problems that make the first one a joke, Nokia still has the problem that they dont develop any games and that not many 3rd party companies will be willing to risk to partner with them (again) after their big flop. Technical problems aside, the pricing, useless user packages and complete lack of support were also terrible and none of them seems to have been tackled off for its succesor.
In my opinion this "war" was already over before it started, Sony and Nintendo will each take a section of the market and "share" it somehow. Nintendo will hold most kids, some teens a small group of young adults and their old fanbase. Sony will get a small group of kids a good part of teens, most young adults and their old fanbase. Even if both systems turn out to be flops they will still offer better quality and game libraries than their competition. (ngage2, zodiac and cell phones) So basically (unless something unexpected happens) it is a no brainer.
p.s. About the article: seriously do you think is a good idea to hear handheld predictions from a guy who greenlighted a N-gage game?
Thanks for reading fellow slashdotters, peace!
My new upcoming sig:
Slashdot needs 2 new modifiers: -1:Frantic fanboy and -1: Compulsive whinner. Unfortunately I get the feeling everyone (including me) would get modded -2 practically all the time
I played the demo in the Quakecon last year, sorry but theres not much I cant tell you to change your opinion about it, you just have to wait until you have your hands on it and the buch of mods that will follow suit when is released.(or the ones you will make if thats your thing)
IMO I had the chance to taste it and I can tell you this much, Doom 3 is to doom What the new ninja Gaiden is to the nes ninja gaiden. Simply the best horror game Ive played.
Hollenshead said that the Xbox version will ship after the PC version, and the PC version will ship when it's done.
Translation: Our xbox version (which is relatively simple) is kind of ready but theirs (which is very complex considering the range of cards it has to work on and internet/modding features) is not, so we wont release any version until they are both ready, the cows come home or armaggedon is here.
There goes another E3 and no Doom 3 yet.
And for sanity's sake someone should ban the term "when it's done" in an interview, gamers are traumatized with Duke Nukem Forever.
[Off topic]
To the 400 guys who answered "graphics are not important X are more important!" the article was about GAME GRAPHICS only. Thats like a discussion where someone announced "lets discuss about the best books of our era" and answering "TV sitcoms are more important than books!". Try to stay on the actual topic please.
[/off topic]
IMO one of the biggest problems with today graphics is that new "features" are always treated as "only available in the newest most expensive 3d cards" per example effects like ambient "glow" (I cant remember the actual name right now) realtime shadowing and even normal mapping can only be done if you have certain version of a GPU to do it. This is in fact not correct, some of this effects are possible (even at a good framerate) without such hardware, the new hardware only makes easier to pull the effects thanks to it becoming a feature or due to some exploit. Per example the ps2 does not feature antialiasing, yet several developers have found how to "emulate" the effect with several methods, some of them very apropiate. John Carmack's "realtime shadowing" in doom 3, does not necesarily use vertex shaders(although it is vastly improved using pixel shaders) , but a very ingenuitive and optimized algorithm wich requires the stencil buffer (available since the riva tnt2) and prince of persia SOT "glow" effect (which has a pc version that wont run with anything below a ATI 9200) can even be done without any vertex or pixel shading at all by using bitmap overlays. (is slower but a good processor can help to keep the framerate) It seems sometimes that card/hardware manufacturers can be a bit intrusive in deciding which features are to be used and which ones are not in game developing. or perhaps game developers should ask themselves if having a certain feature in hardware means theres no way to implement it without it.
Kudos to ID who are developing doom3 with a geforce 1 minimum spec, and to the Ut 2004 team, which needs a riva tnt2 as a minimum spec, we know that wasnt easy and we apreciate it.
Additionally you have to remember theres no "look good" button in max3d or photoshop, a great artist can create stunning visuals even with lesser hardware and smaller poly count, while a crappy one can make a single cube use up to 6000 polies and still manage to make it look awful. Good artists are more important to graphics that any hardware feature (even one as impressive as HDRI)
It would be interesting to hear Carmacks Opinion on this topic. Unfortunately I think he's rather busy adding doom 3 finnishing touches.
This is the equivalent of making a site called "best movie ever" and then making a movie each week. No matter how original it may seem, you simply have no time to create something above average, what you get a long string of "could be better" to "lame" products, besides lets just face it, with the aid of modern tools (like flash and gamemaker) anyone with average (to no) coding skills can create a micro game in a week. (just like anyone with a handcam can create a movie in a week) I usually encourage indie game developers but Definetily I dont think this is a good idea.
You may want to check graal online http://www.graalonline.com is basically zelda online in the style of an mmorpg of sorts is cool and to certain extent is free.
A comment about the game, Im sorry but I really cant vouche for nintendo on their decision to require 4 gbas to play a 4 player game, it sounds more like a scare tactic than a product feature. And come on? 4 friends with 4 gba'S? I have 2 brothers a neighbor and between all of us we have 4 friends with one gba and one gamecube. In which alternate reality every brother in the same household and every neighbor friend has a gba? (well at least it doesnt require 4 cubes)
You may want to check graal online http://www.graalonline.com is basically zelda online in the style of an mmorpg of sorts is cool and to certain extent is free.
A comment about the game, Im sorry but I really cant vouche for nintendo on their decision to require 4 gbas to play a 4 player game, it sounds more like a scare tactic than a product feature. And come on? 4 friends with 4 gba'S? I have 2 brothers a neighbor and between all of us we have 4 friends one gba and one gamecube. In which alternate reality every brother in the same household and every neighbor friend has a gba?
This makes it more obvious than the entire move was just a political ad. Im afraid money has won moral today, vote for me anyway! yeah right
Ok muddy issues aside, if you are an actual conscerned parent heres a fact for you: The M rating is the equivalent of the R rating in movies and just like in movies There are a lot of titles that dont really desserve the rating and they are quite a few that actually desserve an stronger rating like A (Nc-18 X Adult only) rating (manhunt, gta3 in some cases , the suffering, doom 3) want to know which one is which? Easy! stick around and watch your kids playing! stablish as a rule that all games must be watched by the entire family (or at least by you), before you decide if is ok for them to play or buy. (if possible rent before you buy) problem solved! Read the manual, watch the game for at least half an hour, if after that theres something you find suspicious (the manual mentions hookers but you havent seen any) ask the store clerk they ussually know which games are really violent and which ones are not. EASY as that! You are the one who provides your kids money for buying games and therefore you are in charge of what they have, not CNN not the government YOU!
The psx is a great system (hmm yes I still associate that acronym with the ps but lets skip that) just the dvd recorder is enough for anyone to consider the purchase add to that the fact that is also a full ps2 and you have a deal, unfortunately the price is definetily a problem ($700 bucks) with a price like that lets just face it, everybody who was able to buy it, has already bought one.
Besides a real tech savy guy only needs to do the math, they can upgrade their computer to have a video-in card ($50) a half decent dvd-recorder($150) and buy a brand new ps2 ($150) all for ($350) half the price, and enjoy the same features of the psx in the living room. (not under the same case though).
Why this doesnt look like (and actually isn't) terrible news for sony? well for starters they are heading the "console wars" for what? 20 million sales? also the PSX is just a "bundle product" not their main console? and the ps2 is selling at almost the same rate? AND they are also a huge company who gets money from just about everywhere (movies,tv,electronics,evercrack addicts)? I mean seriously feelings aside at what point Nintendo was in the same position when they had to stop producing the cube? we were worried for nintendo back then. (fortunately we now realize they have never been in trouble since they are actually getting a profit for each console, contrary to other companies. So they will still be around for a while. thankfully for their fans)
However back at the PSX maybe sony should consider a price drop. I will definetily pick one up, if they put it around $350 or $300. I will ran to the mall if its on $250 Hell would be unleashed if its $200-$150 (but thats daydreaming).