"If the GBA were up against a platform that had PS2 level graphics, at the same price point, the GBA would get crushed."
Posts like yours are very perplexing. The GBA hardware, in console form, would cost about 100$ CDN -- only a bit over a third of the cost of a PS2 system.
If Nintendo were to release a GBA player that worked without GameCube, I'm sure it'd sell decently well. More than you seem to think, anyways.
Not everyone is like you; not everyone enjoys the same things you do. I own and enjoy F-Zero because it is a challenging, fast racing game. I think it's the pinnacle of arcade racing available.
I also buy strategy guides. I also read gamefaqs. Why do I do these things? Because, when I am stuck in a game, I no longer enjoy it. In F-Zero it's a matter of learning more about the game, but in most games it's a matter of noticing something that's not entirely obvious unless you've already solved it once before. If I get off on a tangent it trying to solve a problem, I'll likely never finish the game as I have a couple hundred other ones vying for attention.
The way you talk in this post is very offensive to a lot of gamers. You give no respect to people who play for fun. I don't think that's at all cool.
"Nobody would ever purchase a console with the intent of playing only one game"
No, but there are plenty of people who buy a console because of one game. In fact, almost every person who owns a console buys it because of one, solitary game.
Different consoles have different games. For me for the Xbox, it was Jet Set Radio Future. Unless you're a collector or a casual user, you will buy a console because one game will make your decision.
Why do you think the Xbox is the first system ever with viable system link?
Because Microsoft includes everything you need -- out of the box -- to get online and do cool things. The only part they leave off is the actual service you pay for called Xbox Live!
Your post is about as well informed as this entire story (where the originator apparently has never heard of the DOA Online that's coming out).
All things equal, the rough numbers are 3 PS2 customers to 1 Xbox customer to 1 GCN customer. Assuming that the Xbox customer happens to also have a GameCube, what makes him choose GCN version over the Xbox version?
That's the point of the paragraph. Soul Calibur 2 is not just selling well because it's a good fighter on a console with few fighting games (Mortal Kombat aside), it's selling even better than expected considering how many multi-console homes are. People are choosing the GameCube version over other ones. That is the point I was making.
If Nintendo and third-parties can harness this, then people will buy the GameCube version more.
Nintendo has done a lot to win back video game publishers: witness such amazing events as lowered royatly rates, parterships for developing titles (Sega/Namco/Nintendo F-Zero), and farming out franchise characters for use in third-party titles (Link in Soul Calibur 2).
Nintendo also has the crap games for the masses. They get the EA games the same as the PS2 or Xbox.
So why isn't the GameCube more popular, since they did everything you said to do (except they did it before you posted here)? Because no one cares. They have a PS2 already (single console owners), or they have an Xbox (multiple console owners). Almost everyone who wants a GameCube has one; the rest either don't know they want it because of Nintendo's less than stellar advertising campaign, or will buy the Xbox version.
Soul Calibur 2 and Madden 2004 prove exactly how different the audiences are. Right now, for every 3 PS2s in the North American market, there is 1 GCN and 1 Xbox (numbers aprox: PlayStation 2 18,485,673; Xbox 5,682,847; GameCube 4,429,930).
How are these two games proving this? Madden 2004 came out on all 3 systems the same day. Madden 2004 for the PS2 has sold 35 to 1 versus the GameCube version (it has sold about much better on the Xbox; ~5 to 1). Soul Calibur 2 for the GameCube has sold 5 to 1 verus the PS2 version -- despite the number of potential PS2 Soul Calibur purchasers being 3x the number of GameCube purchasers. It's even managed to sell more than the Xbox version, again even though they Xbox market is bigger.
These numbers tell us a few things. Most people who only own a PS2 only care about the so-called "crap" games for the masses. They are happy with their crap games on their system with slow load times and jaggy picture, even if they could potentially get it better elsewhere.
If they person owns multiple consoles, chances are that the GameCube is a second console; the Xbox or PS2 is the primary. If they Xbox is the primary, they will probably by the Xbox version of multi-platform titles because the Xbox version "will be better." Even if the PS2 is the primary console, chances are the owner will play mainly Nintendo titles on the GameCube because their games come out first on the PS2 compared to the GameCube.
It also tells us that people will buy for the GameCube when there is incentive to. The PS2 and GCN versions of SC2 have PL2 and widescreen; the GCN version also supports 480p. The Xbox triumphs over this with its 720p support and Dolby Digital audio. So why is the GameCube version selling more copies? Because Link's in it, duh!;)
I think the strong sales of Soul Calibur 2 on the GameCube despite the existance of an Xbox version will show third parties that GameCube titles will sell well when there is a reason to buy them. So far most of what the Xbox and GameCube get for third-party titles are warmed-over PS2 ports. Nintendo is trying to bump up the third-party exclusives because they know that people won't buy those titles in any noticable quantity because of the widely-held belief that, "the Xbox version is always better."
Hopefully this example from Namco will show third-party publishers that simply porting a title is not enough; if they are willing to put in the effort to make each version distinct and worth owning, they will sell more copies than they would've otherwise. If they support the more powerful hardware (Xbox and GameCube) by truly using the features available to them, they will also sell more copies as compared to the PS2 version recompiled and slapped on a mini-DVD.
Time will tell. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to make good on their promise to beat Sony to the 2005 next-gen console launches.
Were it not a cellphone first and a gaming platform second. I've read the Nokia propoganda they send to the local video game chains. They expect people to come in, spend 450$ CDN on it, and then go home and play games that look marginally better than GBA games (note: GBA SP -- 150$ CDN) on a crappier button layout, while also required battery swapping to swap carts.
They expect that the bluetooth multiplayer and fact that you can upload your times in games via GPRS to their Nokia wireless service will be worth the 3x upfront cost. This is despite the obvious caveat that most cell plans with data transfer are stupidly expensive. The pamhplet says in bold, "User must have data transfer features on their cellular plan." I'm not paying an extra 10$ a month of cell fees for what I can spend half on (Xbox Live! centralized scoring and multiplayer) -- especially since an Xbox is only 250$ CDN. The extra 200$ I save not going with an N-Gage buys me Live! and a couple of games.
This mobile wireless niche Nokia wants to dominate doesn't exist. It won't exist for a few years yet, since GPRS and CPDP are still prohibitively expensive and unused by the general populace.
As for the Phantom -- only 1 company can be succesful on a the platform which is based around XP Embedded; Microsoft.
While it's rumoured that N5 will support GameCube games, it's so far away as to not matter at this point. Nintendo doesn't paper launch consoles for years before you can actually buy them. Best to wait and see what they'll do (I hope that they release Bluetooth adapters for the GBA link port and have it connectable to N5 via bluetooth, as well as shipping with only Wavebirds -- no more corded controllers).
The situation with the SNES was a bit different. The NES was a 6502, and the SNES had a 65C816 (which has a complete 6502 mode). At the time, though, no one had backwards compatibility. SMS games wouldn't run on the Genesis (although they'd run on GameGear with an adapter), etc. Nintendo saw no benefit to forcing the extra circuits into their SNES and having an adapter cartridge ship with it when most people had a NES anyways.
It's all cost/benefit. It's why they stopped shipping systems with 2 controllers (people will buy a second one if they need it, and it encourages 3rd parties), and why no more pack-in games are around (unless you're trying to promote your system -- even then, you can pass on the costs ala MS' Adrenaline pack).
I wouldn't be surprised if the next-gen systems ship with just the hardware and the power cord. That'll let me get the component video AV without already paying for the shitty composite that "comes free" with the system:)
A matter of time before MS changes its check, or adds new ones.
Don't underestimate the motivation that money can bring to a company. Especially when they'll only be getting my money while I know that there are no modded Mechs on Mech Assault that are indestructable.
"About the only thing left to try is hardware DRM, but even that's not fool-proof (X-Box)."
Xbox Live! service + XBox hardware = no mods, no cheaters. There's the odd bugged game that can be used in various evil ways, but the actual combination of a locked-hardware set and a locked-network is fairly strong.
Sure, you could possibly crack it, but it's so improbable as to be impossible.
I wish the native L&F wore more emphasized in Java. Apple did a great job on their port of the Java SDK, but I want the Linux one to use something like KDE/QT model (which is compatible enough, themes wise, to work with GNOME/GTK+ as well).
System.Windows.Forms is what makes C# sexy for GUI. We need something like that for Java, but I doubt it'll be easy to get it.
It lets me take most of what I've learned with Java, and leverage it with a faster VM and better environment integration. While applications like MP3 players can get away with looking totally weird, I prefer my applications to be consistent.
Plus, the GUI programming is ultra easy with the model for messages that.NET uses with C# applications. I found it much easier than working with SWING applications.
Too bad that there's not any handy C# environment for Linux that's complete that I know of. I'd really like to be able to write more C# applications, since the language and GUI libraries are such a breeeze to work with.
The I-Ninja demo included in Soul Calibur 2 for the PS2 illustrates a great example of non-silly punishment. On one level you must roll a barrel of gunpowder to a set spot, then detonate it. It's rather like monkey ball, except you control the barrel/ninja rather than the level.
If you fall off or the barrel explodes, it doesn't force you to back track or anything else. The barrel dropper drops another barrel, and I-Ninja hops onto the barrel -- ready for another attempt. It also has a lot of cool moves (ala Jet Set Radio Future). It's quick, neat, and unfrustrating. A pleasant switch from all the linear platformers that stick with the jumping-puzzle-frustraction-factor gameplay.
"You are like the person who argues that when I want a refund for Windows I should call Microsoft."
No, I'm like the person who tells you to talk to MS when Windows Update doesn't work for IE 4 on Win98.
Windows Update is a service that Microsoft provides, just like PSO online part is a service that Sega provides. Unless you're paying the store you bought the game from for the service, you're just being a jerk.
Here's the deal: when you buy the game from the store, you're purchasing the box, instructions, discs, etc. The actual service is provided for you by the company that made the game, not the store. Taking it back to the store is taking it to the wrong people.
Based on your wording, I suspect you harras the shop people for no good reason other than to get a free ride on a game you played for a while and waited to go under. Please, do everyone a favour, and stop being a jerk.
IE's an OS component -- it loads at boot time, consuming ram in the background always (ala Mozilla's quickstart). On my machine, Windows takes about 1.5 minutes to boot. Firebird loads in 20 seconds under Linux. I think that's a pretty big difference in speed.
"If FP had used BitTorrent, they would have cut down the bandwidth needs by a huge factor."
Bittorent did not exist when they introduced this service. In fact, the premium service was more a response to the increase in bandwidth fees and decrease in ad revenue as the dot crash happened in 2000-2001.
You make a very good case for them doing it now, but the fact that the software didn't exist a few years ago seems to not be a factor in your post even though it's a very important fact.
Is that due to the lack of good samaratin laws, you can be sued in the US if you (for example) pull someone from a burning wreck that's about to explode, but end up paralyzing the person in the process. If you're going to help a person in the US who you do see being involved in something dangerous to them, just be sure to leave the country when you're done.
US law is scary. I wish the average populace was more informed about it so that it'd be reformed.
25 charges of public mischief. 24 charges of attempted murder. 1 charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill. 1 charge of murder one (since they clearly planned it).
The statement that they were inspired by GTA is irrelevant. In the 16th century, some Catholic nuns started to walk around with heavy pelvic thrusting all the time. They claimed it was because Satan had visited their convent and ravaged them in both holes with his evil, barbed, bifurcated penis. Did Satan really do that? No, not any more than GTA is responsible for this.
An action is not the same as an idea -- it takes a diseased mind to put an idea like, "it's fun to kill people" into practice.
If you design 8 levels, place them in an overworld, and have various puzzles laid out such that you need to use the thing aquired in dungeon 4 to access the part of the map that has 5 and 6, it's not a cop out. It's just another item to expand the game play. Would Zelda be better with fewer dungeons? No, it's a nice length as is. You can spend 20 hours going around, or you can motor through it in a couple of hours (SNES version, anyway).
But that does mean that 5% of all the profits you help give to Trolltech or Apple will probably go to companies like SCO and Microsoft.
All the more reason for careful restrictions on business to business investment. You end up with a tangled web, and the consumers in the free market are no longer able to boycott the companies they want to.
Slashdot Mirror
"If the GBA were up against a platform that had PS2 level graphics, at the same price point, the GBA would get crushed."
Posts like yours are very perplexing. The GBA hardware, in console form, would cost about 100$ CDN -- only a bit over a third of the cost of a PS2 system.
If Nintendo were to release a GBA player that worked without GameCube, I'm sure it'd sell decently well. More than you seem to think, anyways.
Not everyone is like you; not everyone enjoys the same things you do. I own and enjoy F-Zero because it is a challenging, fast racing game. I think it's the pinnacle of arcade racing available.
I also buy strategy guides. I also read gamefaqs. Why do I do these things? Because, when I am stuck in a game, I no longer enjoy it. In F-Zero it's a matter of learning more about the game, but in most games it's a matter of noticing something that's not entirely obvious unless you've already solved it once before. If I get off on a tangent it trying to solve a problem, I'll likely never finish the game as I have a couple hundred other ones vying for attention.
The way you talk in this post is very offensive to a lot of gamers. You give no respect to people who play for fun. I don't think that's at all cool.
"Nobody would ever purchase a console with the intent of playing only one game"
No, but there are plenty of people who buy a console because of one game. In fact, almost every person who owns a console buys it because of one, solitary game.
Different consoles have different games. For me for the Xbox, it was Jet Set Radio Future. Unless you're a collector or a casual user, you will buy a console because one game will make your decision.
Why do you think the Xbox is the first system ever with viable system link?
Because Microsoft includes everything you need -- out of the box -- to get online and do cool things. The only part they leave off is the actual service you pay for called Xbox Live!
Your post is about as well informed as this entire story (where the originator apparently has never heard of the DOA Online that's coming out).
All things equal, the rough numbers are 3 PS2 customers to 1 Xbox customer to 1 GCN customer. Assuming that the Xbox customer happens to also have a GameCube, what makes him choose GCN version over the Xbox version?
That's the point of the paragraph. Soul Calibur 2 is not just selling well because it's a good fighter on a console with few fighting games (Mortal Kombat aside), it's selling even better than expected considering how many multi-console homes are. People are choosing the GameCube version over other ones. That is the point I was making.
If Nintendo and third-parties can harness this, then people will buy the GameCube version more.
Nintendo has done a lot to win back video game publishers: witness such amazing events as lowered royatly rates, parterships for developing titles (Sega/Namco/Nintendo F-Zero), and farming out franchise characters for use in third-party titles (Link in Soul Calibur 2).
;)
Nintendo also has the crap games for the masses. They get the EA games the same as the PS2 or Xbox.
So why isn't the GameCube more popular, since they did everything you said to do (except they did it before you posted here)? Because no one cares. They have a PS2 already (single console owners), or they have an Xbox (multiple console owners). Almost everyone who wants a GameCube has one; the rest either don't know they want it because of Nintendo's less than stellar advertising campaign, or will buy the Xbox version.
Soul Calibur 2 and Madden 2004 prove exactly how different the audiences are. Right now, for every 3 PS2s in the North American market, there is 1 GCN and 1 Xbox (numbers aprox: PlayStation 2 18,485,673; Xbox 5,682,847; GameCube 4,429,930).
How are these two games proving this? Madden 2004 came out on all 3 systems the same day. Madden 2004 for the PS2 has sold 35 to 1 versus the GameCube version (it has sold about much better on the Xbox; ~5 to 1). Soul Calibur 2 for the GameCube has sold 5 to 1 verus the PS2 version -- despite the number of potential PS2 Soul Calibur purchasers being 3x the number of GameCube purchasers. It's even managed to sell more than the Xbox version, again even though they Xbox market is bigger.
These numbers tell us a few things. Most people who only own a PS2 only care about the so-called "crap" games for the masses. They are happy with their crap games on their system with slow load times and jaggy picture, even if they could potentially get it better elsewhere.
If they person owns multiple consoles, chances are that the GameCube is a second console; the Xbox or PS2 is the primary. If they Xbox is the primary, they will probably by the Xbox version of multi-platform titles because the Xbox version "will be better." Even if the PS2 is the primary console, chances are the owner will play mainly Nintendo titles on the GameCube because their games come out first on the PS2 compared to the GameCube.
It also tells us that people will buy for the GameCube when there is incentive to. The PS2 and GCN versions of SC2 have PL2 and widescreen; the GCN version also supports 480p. The Xbox triumphs over this with its 720p support and Dolby Digital audio. So why is the GameCube version selling more copies? Because Link's in it, duh!
I think the strong sales of Soul Calibur 2 on the GameCube despite the existance of an Xbox version will show third parties that GameCube titles will sell well when there is a reason to buy them. So far most of what the Xbox and GameCube get for third-party titles are warmed-over PS2 ports. Nintendo is trying to bump up the third-party exclusives because they know that people won't buy those titles in any noticable quantity because of the widely-held belief that, "the Xbox version is always better."
Hopefully this example from Namco will show third-party publishers that simply porting a title is not enough; if they are willing to put in the effort to make each version distinct and worth owning, they will sell more copies than they would've otherwise. If they support the more powerful hardware (Xbox and GameCube) by truly using the features available to them, they will also sell more copies as compared to the PS2 version recompiled and slapped on a mini-DVD.
Time will tell. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to make good on their promise to beat Sony to the 2005 next-gen console launches.
I didn't double check the claims about N-Gage performance.
Were it not a cellphone first and a gaming platform second. I've read the Nokia propoganda they send to the local video game chains. They expect people to come in, spend 450$ CDN on it, and then go home and play games that look marginally better than GBA games (note: GBA SP -- 150$ CDN) on a crappier button layout, while also required battery swapping to swap carts.
They expect that the bluetooth multiplayer and fact that you can upload your times in games via GPRS to their Nokia wireless service will be worth the 3x upfront cost. This is despite the obvious caveat that most cell plans with data transfer are stupidly expensive. The pamhplet says in bold, "User must have data transfer features on their cellular plan." I'm not paying an extra 10$ a month of cell fees for what I can spend half on (Xbox Live! centralized scoring and multiplayer) -- especially since an Xbox is only 250$ CDN. The extra 200$ I save not going with an N-Gage buys me Live! and a couple of games.
This mobile wireless niche Nokia wants to dominate doesn't exist. It won't exist for a few years yet, since GPRS and CPDP are still prohibitively expensive and unused by the general populace.
As for the Phantom -- only 1 company can be succesful on a the platform which is based around XP Embedded; Microsoft.
While it's rumoured that N5 will support GameCube games, it's so far away as to not matter at this point. Nintendo doesn't paper launch consoles for years before you can actually buy them. Best to wait and see what they'll do (I hope that they release Bluetooth adapters for the GBA link port and have it connectable to N5 via bluetooth, as well as shipping with only Wavebirds -- no more corded controllers).
:)
The situation with the SNES was a bit different. The NES was a 6502, and the SNES had a 65C816 (which has a complete 6502 mode). At the time, though, no one had backwards compatibility. SMS games wouldn't run on the Genesis (although they'd run on GameGear with an adapter), etc. Nintendo saw no benefit to forcing the extra circuits into their SNES and having an adapter cartridge ship with it when most people had a NES anyways.
It's all cost/benefit. It's why they stopped shipping systems with 2 controllers (people will buy a second one if they need it, and it encourages 3rd parties), and why no more pack-in games are around (unless you're trying to promote your system -- even then, you can pass on the costs ala MS' Adrenaline pack).
I wouldn't be surprised if the next-gen systems ship with just the hardware and the power cord. That'll let me get the component video AV without already paying for the shitty composite that "comes free" with the system
"A great, but slightly flawed, PSX game that I might not have bought had PSX game prices not dropped precipitously after the advent of the PS2."
:)
I found it much better to buy Dreamcast games for the same reason. Better graphics, better gameplay -- and Soul Calibur!
A matter of time before MS changes its check, or adds new ones.
Don't underestimate the motivation that money can bring to a company. Especially when they'll only be getting my money while I know that there are no modded Mechs on Mech Assault that are indestructable.
"About the only thing left to try is hardware DRM, but even that's not fool-proof (X-Box)."
Xbox Live! service + XBox hardware = no mods, no cheaters. There's the odd bugged game that can be used in various evil ways, but the actual combination of a locked-hardware set and a locked-network is fairly strong.
Sure, you could possibly crack it, but it's so improbable as to be impossible.
I wish the native L&F wore more emphasized in Java. Apple did a great job on their port of the Java SDK, but I want the Linux one to use something like KDE/QT model (which is compatible enough, themes wise, to work with GNOME/GTK+ as well).
System.Windows.Forms is what makes C# sexy for GUI. We need something like that for Java, but I doubt it'll be easy to get it.
It lets me take most of what I've learned with Java, and leverage it with a faster VM and better environment integration. While applications like MP3 players can get away with looking totally weird, I prefer my applications to be consistent.
.NET uses with C# applications. I found it much easier than working with SWING applications.
Plus, the GUI programming is ultra easy with the model for messages that
Too bad that there's not any handy C# environment for Linux that's complete that I know of. I'd really like to be able to write more C# applications, since the language and GUI libraries are such a breeeze to work with.
VMWare just needs a couple of tweaks, though..
Just go and read this page. It's hit # 5 on a Google search for "vmware 2.6 kernel"
The I-Ninja demo included in Soul Calibur 2 for the PS2 illustrates a great example of non-silly punishment. On one level you must roll a barrel of gunpowder to a set spot, then detonate it. It's rather like monkey ball, except you control the barrel/ninja rather than the level.
If you fall off or the barrel explodes, it doesn't force you to back track or anything else. The barrel dropper drops another barrel, and I-Ninja hops onto the barrel -- ready for another attempt. It also has a lot of cool moves (ala Jet Set Radio Future). It's quick, neat, and unfrustrating. A pleasant switch from all the linear platformers that stick with the jumping-puzzle-frustraction-factor gameplay.
The chapter listing is on this website.
I lost my copy of the book years ago, though, so I can't look up the source of that reference.
"You are like the person who argues that when I want a refund for Windows I should call Microsoft."
No, I'm like the person who tells you to talk to MS when Windows Update doesn't work for IE 4 on Win98.
Windows Update is a service that Microsoft provides, just like PSO online part is a service that Sega provides. Unless you're paying the store you bought the game from for the service, you're just being a jerk.
Have you ever worked retail?
Here's the deal: when you buy the game from the store, you're purchasing the box, instructions, discs, etc. The actual service is provided for you by the company that made the game, not the store. Taking it back to the store is taking it to the wrong people.
Based on your wording, I suspect you harras the shop people for no good reason other than to get a free ride on a game you played for a while and waited to go under. Please, do everyone a favour, and stop being a jerk.
IE's an OS component -- it loads at boot time, consuming ram in the background always (ala Mozilla's quickstart). On my machine, Windows takes about 1.5 minutes to boot. Firebird loads in 20 seconds under Linux. I think that's a pretty big difference in speed.
"If FP had used BitTorrent, they would have cut down the bandwidth needs by a huge factor."
Bittorent did not exist when they introduced this service. In fact, the premium service was more a response to the increase in bandwidth fees and decrease in ad revenue as the dot crash happened in 2000-2001.
You make a very good case for them doing it now, but the fact that the software didn't exist a few years ago seems to not be a factor in your post even though it's a very important fact.
Is that due to the lack of good samaratin laws, you can be sued in the US if you (for example) pull someone from a burning wreck that's about to explode, but end up paralyzing the person in the process. If you're going to help a person in the US who you do see being involved in something dangerous to them, just be sure to leave the country when you're done.
US law is scary. I wish the average populace was more informed about it so that it'd be reformed.
25 charges of public mischief.
24 charges of attempted murder.
1 charge of assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.
1 charge of murder one (since they clearly planned it).
The statement that they were inspired by GTA is irrelevant. In the 16th century, some Catholic nuns started to walk around with heavy pelvic thrusting all the time. They claimed it was because Satan had visited their convent and ravaged them in both holes with his evil, barbed, bifurcated penis. Did Satan really do that? No, not any more than GTA is responsible for this.
An action is not the same as an idea -- it takes a diseased mind to put an idea like, "it's fun to kill people" into practice.
If you design 8 levels, place them in an overworld, and have various puzzles laid out such that you need to use the thing aquired in dungeon 4 to access the part of the map that has 5 and 6, it's not a cop out. It's just another item to expand the game play. Would Zelda be better with fewer dungeons? No, it's a nice length as is. You can spend 20 hours going around, or you can motor through it in a couple of hours (SNES version, anyway).
It's all a matter of game balance and design.
But that does mean that 5% of all the profits you help give to Trolltech or Apple will probably go to companies like SCO and Microsoft.
All the more reason for careful restrictions on business to business investment. You end up with a tangled web, and the consumers in the free market are no longer able to boycott the companies they want to.