Come on, people, everyone knows videogames make people violent. For example, Adolf Hitler was a Duke Nukem 3D fanatic, Josef Stalin loved Mortal Kombat, Che Guevara played Carmageddon the whole day, Pol Pot was crazy for Resident Evil...
I'm sure everyone has heard of a.22 ("twenty-two") or a.357 Magnum ("three fifty-seven Magnum") or a Colt.45 ("Colt fourty-five") or a.50 caliber Desert Eagle ("Fifty caliber Desert Eagle"). All of those are expressed in inches. For reference, a 9 mm would be about a.354 caliber gun (simply convert 9 mm to inches).
All of that will be meaningless when we switch to lasers or phasers.
The hardware designers at Sega probably thought much like the way you do. That's the idea behind the massive failure called Saturn. Keep in mind, Sega's arcade boards used to have multiple processors. If their coders could deal with that, why wouldn't everyone else?
Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Saturn. Good developers could do amazing things with it -- Radiant Silvergun, Panzer Dragoon Saga, NiGHTS, Powerslave, Virtua Fighter 2, Astal, Guardian Heroes... but most chose to develop for the slightly less powerful and far more developer-friendly PlayStation.
And why? Because it made sense. It's not just a matter of developers being lazy or unskilled; if it is too hard to develop for a system, that also means doing so will take longer and cost more.
Well, if you asked Woody Allen, you would get some good advice:
"Not only is there no God, but try getting a plumber on weekends." "How can I believe in God when just last week I got my tongue caught in the roller of an electric typewriter?" "I'm a free man and I don't need God flying in to save my play. I'm a good writer." "If God exists, I hope he has a good excuse" "God is either cruel or incompetent."
Much like Windows is a rip-off^W^W inspired on Mac OS, that Candy interface looks rather similar to Kai's Power Tools. But is that good or bad? I'm not sure...
Upgraded graphics have driven the entire console industry for twenty years. Look at the 2600 or NES. Are modern consoles that different?
Yes, they are. 2600 to NES was a revolutionary step forward in graphics. Super Mario Brothers is a leap forward in graphics compared to Pong.
But there were intermediate steps -- Intellivision, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, all of which were more powerful than the 2600 but less than the NES.
The SNES couldn't really muster 3D graphics (remember Star Fox?) so the best SNES games look like Pong compared to Playstation's Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VIII or Gran Turismo 3
The best (and best-looking) SNES games were mostly in 2D. These hold their ground pretty well in comparison to 2D games on the Playstation. Compare, let's say,Nosferatu and Castlevania SotN. They don't look as different as you make it sound.
And you're again skipping intermediate steps -- Sega 32X, Jaguar, and 3DO had better 3D than the SNES.
Other than that, I think you have a point. Game machines have reached the "good enough" stage. Besides, to truly see the improvements, you'd need a high definition TV, which most people don't have yet.
That one is different. A legit company would make money from selling a product or service; SCO exists only as a Microsoft-sponsored FUD-spreading device.
To expand on this, I've tried putting a PS2 dual-shock into the hands of new players, like my girlfriend and my mother. "What's this?" they inevitably ask. It's an intimidatingly big mass of buttons, switches, diodes, etc. Add a "Wii-like" tilt sensor, and you just make something even LESS accessible.
Hey, I'm no n00b to gaming, and that damned controller freaks me out too! But it's not simply about the number of buttons. I'll list the issues:
Four triggers The main problem. You have to either use your middle and index fingers (which takes a lot of coordination, and makes your grip on the controller weaker), or use only your index finger (which forces you to move them it in an unnatural way). The Saturn's controller also had eight buttons -- but it was six face buttons and two triggers, which was just fine.
Button names Cross, triangle, ball, square? Fuck! Talk about counter-intuitive. It takes time to memorize where each button is. It'd be easier if it used letters like every other controller out there.
Bad shape It just does not feel comfortable to hold. It's very poorly shaped, it makes you twist your wrists. The analog sticks are also poorly placed. I'll take a Dreamcast controller over that piece of shit any time!
Broken d-pad They "broke" the d-pad into four buttons, and broken it is indeed! It's hard to press a diagonal.
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Do NOT buy music from stores. Instead, get them from torrents. It's safer!
Come on, people, everyone knows videogames make people violent. For example, Adolf Hitler was a Duke Nukem 3D fanatic, Josef Stalin loved Mortal Kombat, Che Guevara played Carmageddon the whole day, Pol Pot was crazy for Resident Evil...
"US & Canada only."
No, you missed the joke. it's about being stuck to dumb pointless traditions. Like, you know, monarchy.
The hardware designers at Sega probably thought much like the way you do. That's the idea behind the massive failure called Saturn. Keep in mind, Sega's arcade boards used to have multiple processors. If their coders could deal with that, why wouldn't everyone else?
Now, don't get me wrong, I love the Saturn. Good developers could do amazing things with it -- Radiant Silvergun, Panzer Dragoon Saga, NiGHTS, Powerslave, Virtua Fighter 2, Astal, Guardian Heroes... but most chose to develop for the slightly less powerful and far more developer-friendly PlayStation.
And why? Because it made sense. It's not just a matter of developers being lazy or unskilled; if it is too hard to develop for a system, that also means doing so will take longer and cost more.
Blue sky in games!
Yeah, like those creationist nutjobs give a damn about that.
Well, if you asked Woody Allen, you would get some good advice:
Much like Windows is a rip-off^W^W inspired on Mac OS, that Candy interface looks rather similar to Kai's Power Tools. But is that good or bad? I'm not sure...
Beer? Muslims can't drink alcohol, you infidel^W insensitive clod!
I know, and Diablo is not. ;-)
But there were intermediate steps -- Intellivision, Atari 5200, ColecoVision, all of which were more powerful than the 2600 but less than the NES.
The best (and best-looking) SNES games were mostly in 2D. These hold their ground pretty well in comparison to 2D games on the Playstation. Compare, let's say, Nosferatu and Castlevania SotN . They don't look as different as you make it sound.
And you're again skipping intermediate steps -- Sega 32X, Jaguar, and 3DO had better 3D than the SNES.
Other than that, I think you have a point. Game machines have reached the "good enough" stage. Besides, to truly see the improvements, you'd need a high definition TV, which most people don't have yet.
That one is different. A legit company would make money from selling a product or service; SCO exists only as a Microsoft-sponsored FUD-spreading device.
Four triggers
The main problem. You have to either use your middle and index fingers (which takes a lot of coordination, and makes your grip on the controller weaker), or use only your index finger (which forces you to move them it in an unnatural way). The Saturn's controller also had eight buttons -- but it was six face buttons and two triggers, which was just fine.
Button names
Cross, triangle, ball, square? Fuck! Talk about counter-intuitive. It takes time to memorize where each button is. It'd be easier if it used letters like every other controller out there.
Bad shape
It just does not feel comfortable to hold. It's very poorly shaped, it makes you twist your wrists. The analog sticks are also poorly placed. I'll take a Dreamcast controller over that piece of shit any time!
Broken d-pad
They "broke" the d-pad into four buttons, and broken it is indeed! It's hard to press a diagonal.