There's one arcade game that I know of where you stick your head in a helmet, and a LCD screen inside (I realize that this isn't quite VR, but the way it's designed is quite cool) basically serves as the view of the game. You are a stationary turret shooting tanks, soldiers and planes, and you turn and aim by moving the helmet (i.e. turning around in a circle and tilting your head up and down). You don't end up dizzy because it does not require much rotation, and because dizziness results from not having a point of reference. The graphics aren't amazing, but the game is fun to play because of the immersiveness of the whole thing.
You have to remember that not every adolescent computer user knows how to get that far on the Internet. Some of them are just as naive about the use of them as their parents.
Not all parents want their kids to have a gaming machine, though. Some of my friends' parents are dead set against them ever owning a video game console, and yet they own state of the art computers. This will be immediately viewed as a console by parents, if anything because of the X-Box name.
Simply providing an example of someone who wouldn't buy it.
The only console I remember ever being higher-priced was an equally niche-market effort, the Net Yaroze, a development-equipped PS1 put out by Sony. Not many people bought it, because of price and because most people who play games don't want to develop them. This isn't exactly the same situation, but seems to appeal to about the same number of people and is priced accordingly.
Shame I wasn't on Slashdot yesterday, when I could have legitimately said "The Day After Tomorrow comes out the day after tomorrow". Oh well... never get to use that line again...
Honestly, you'd think with the bashing they got when they released the first one that they'd give up. It doesn't look like they've changed much except the sidetalking, and that was as much endearing as it was annoying. This new N-Gage is probably going to do as bad or worse than the original.
Games like this prove that gaming companies are up for the challenge of selling a game that is totally out of left field and/or seem like they were made on an acid binge. It takes guts to sell this kind of game, and I admire them for taking the chance.
I'm not saying there's a low number of people who want to play puzzle games, I'm just saying that puzzle games in general are more suited to a portable format.
But the gameboy was a portable system. Puzzle games seem to do better on portable systems because they foster short playtimes, like 10-15 minutes, such as when you're waiting in line or on a plane. However, consoles are more prone to sitting down and longer gaming sessions.
Unlimited usage would promote abuse, if you think about it. Some people would download 3 songs a month, others would take the opportunity to pay one fee for all the songs they can get, and then download just as they would on, say, Kazaa or WinMX, and then be able to claim legality.
If people go and see that Napster UK and Napster Europe are offering terrible prices, what incentive are they going to have to buy online? It will encourage either (a) people buying more real albums or (b) people downloading more music illegally. (A) will be a boon for the recording industry, (B) will be a bane for it, both of them will suck for Napster.
The American game market is vastly different from Japan's. A game like Puzzle Collection may have gotten fanfare from the gaming press and hardcore fans, but for the average kid/casual gamer, it may not have been an appealing choice. Not EVERYONE enjoys thinking when they play their games, at least in America.
It's really up in the air, in the end, whether a game will sell in any market. However, the money required to take it into a second market and translate it is considerable, and they need to focus this money on the games that they are sure will do well instead of niche games.
You're comparing a nearly 30 year old series of games (it was never a console, it was more like Tiger Electronic's games) to the Nintendo DS? Sure, the Game and Watch had two screens. But LCD isn't hard to program at all, and those games were rather simplistic. I fail to see how Game + Watch having two screens indicates that Nintendo is losing ideas. Because Sony didn't make an all new controller for the PS2, did that indicate they were running out of ideas? Re-using concepts later on is not a bad thing, as long as it's done well.
I wasn't referring to pure life of a console, I was referring to life after a successor has hit the market. How long did N64 have games made for it after GCN hit shelves? Or SNES/N64? Or SMS/Genesis? Most consoles die quick deaths once their successor comes to market, but the PSOne seems to have achieved a sort of slow trickle of activity, which is unusual this late in its lifespan.
...there's still a slow trickle of game software being made for the PS1? The PS1 is probably the longest lasting piece of video game hardware in terms of how long games have been made for it officially after its successor came to market. Games are being made specifically for it, and games are also being made jointly for PS2 and PS1 (mostly sports games are what I've seen).
Or perhaps because the Sega brand has some leverage in the US, still, while Sammy really doesn't, Sammy could bring pachinko parlors over to the US? If they did it under the Sega label, it might deface the brand a bit, but Sega's already taken a beating.
I don't see how this is much of a problem. Granted, Sammy will probably send Sega farther into the arcade market, but if you look at it, would you rather send a flailing brand into a sector that they were forced to pull out of years ago, or one that they're still dominating in in the country that you so happen to be based in? Sega has a much more stable arcade department, and it would probably be smarter financially for Sammy to go ahead and send them into the sector that Sega seems to know best. At least we aren't losing the brand entirely.
However, these privileges are things that you are supposed to work for months to get, and in turn paying the company who made the game multiple months' worth of fees to do so. By paying someone else for the privilege/house/item/whatever, you bypass the monthly fee and the work involved and, by doing so, rob indirectly the game maker of some of their money. This is their rationale behind it, and it's a damn good one. People doing things like this ruin the in-game economy, because instead of "How much gold does that item cost"? It's "How much $$ does it cost?"
Slashdot Mirror
Perhaps I should RTFA before posting... the game in question is Beachhead 2002, which is also included with the P5 glove, apparently.
There's one arcade game that I know of where you stick your head in a helmet, and a LCD screen inside (I realize that this isn't quite VR, but the way it's designed is quite cool) basically serves as the view of the game. You are a stationary turret shooting tanks, soldiers and planes, and you turn and aim by moving the helmet (i.e. turning around in a circle and tilting your head up and down). You don't end up dizzy because it does not require much rotation, and because dizziness results from not having a point of reference. The graphics aren't amazing, but the game is fun to play because of the immersiveness of the whole thing.
You have to remember that not every adolescent computer user knows how to get that far on the Internet. Some of them are just as naive about the use of them as their parents.
Ignorance is bliss. Computers are viewed as educational tools, video games are viewed as entertainment.
Not all parents want their kids to have a gaming machine, though. Some of my friends' parents are dead set against them ever owning a video game console, and yet they own state of the art computers. This will be immediately viewed as a console by parents, if anything because of the X-Box name.
Simply providing an example of someone who wouldn't buy it.
The only console I remember ever being higher-priced was an equally niche-market effort, the Net Yaroze, a development-equipped PS1 put out by Sony. Not many people bought it, because of price and because most people who play games don't want to develop them. This isn't exactly the same situation, but seems to appeal to about the same number of people and is priced accordingly.
Shame I wasn't on Slashdot yesterday, when I could have legitimately said "The Day After Tomorrow comes out the day after tomorrow". Oh well... never get to use that line again...
What about when it comes out on DVD?
Honestly, you'd think with the bashing they got when they released the first one that they'd give up. It doesn't look like they've changed much except the sidetalking, and that was as much endearing as it was annoying. This new N-Gage is probably going to do as bad or worse than the original.
Games like this prove that gaming companies are up for the challenge of selling a game that is totally out of left field and/or seem like they were made on an acid binge. It takes guts to sell this kind of game, and I admire them for taking the chance.
I'm not speaking in absolutes, I'm speaking of how puzzles games do BETTER on portables, not that they only sell on portables.
I'm not saying there's a low number of people who want to play puzzle games, I'm just saying that puzzle games in general are more suited to a portable format.
But the gameboy was a portable system. Puzzle games seem to do better on portable systems because they foster short playtimes, like 10-15 minutes, such as when you're waiting in line or on a plane. However, consoles are more prone to sitting down and longer gaming sessions.
Unlimited usage would promote abuse, if you think about it. Some people would download 3 songs a month, others would take the opportunity to pay one fee for all the songs they can get, and then download just as they would on, say, Kazaa or WinMX, and then be able to claim legality.
Or on the bases in a baseball game. *cough*
If people go and see that Napster UK and Napster Europe are offering terrible prices, what incentive are they going to have to buy online? It will encourage either (a) people buying more real albums or (b) people downloading more music illegally. (A) will be a boon for the recording industry, (B) will be a bane for it, both of them will suck for Napster.
The American game market is vastly different from Japan's. A game like Puzzle Collection may have gotten fanfare from the gaming press and hardcore fans, but for the average kid/casual gamer, it may not have been an appealing choice. Not EVERYONE enjoys thinking when they play their games, at least in America.
It's really up in the air, in the end, whether a game will sell in any market. However, the money required to take it into a second market and translate it is considerable, and they need to focus this money on the games that they are sure will do well instead of niche games.
You're comparing a nearly 30 year old series of games (it was never a console, it was more like Tiger Electronic's games) to the Nintendo DS? Sure, the Game and Watch had two screens. But LCD isn't hard to program at all, and those games were rather simplistic. I fail to see how Game + Watch having two screens indicates that Nintendo is losing ideas. Because Sony didn't make an all new controller for the PS2, did that indicate they were running out of ideas? Re-using concepts later on is not a bad thing, as long as it's done well.
I wasn't referring to pure life of a console, I was referring to life after a successor has hit the market. How long did N64 have games made for it after GCN hit shelves? Or SNES/N64? Or SMS/Genesis? Most consoles die quick deaths once their successor comes to market, but the PSOne seems to have achieved a sort of slow trickle of activity, which is unusual this late in its lifespan.
...there's still a slow trickle of game software being made for the PS1? The PS1 is probably the longest lasting piece of video game hardware in terms of how long games have been made for it officially after its successor came to market. Games are being made specifically for it, and games are also being made jointly for PS2 and PS1 (mostly sports games are what I've seen).
Hooray for absolutely forgetting to format my comment!
Segammy
Sammyga
Semmy
Samga
Anyone have any more suggestions?
Following the precedent of SNK Playmore... Segammy Sammyga Semmy Samga
Or perhaps because the Sega brand has some leverage in the US, still, while Sammy really doesn't, Sammy could bring pachinko parlors over to the US? If they did it under the Sega label, it might deface the brand a bit, but Sega's already taken a beating.
I don't see how this is much of a problem. Granted, Sammy will probably send Sega farther into the arcade market, but if you look at it, would you rather send a flailing brand into a sector that they were forced to pull out of years ago, or one that they're still dominating in in the country that you so happen to be based in? Sega has a much more stable arcade department, and it would probably be smarter financially for Sammy to go ahead and send them into the sector that Sega seems to know best. At least we aren't losing the brand entirely.
Now where have we seen the "Fog of Bullshit" before.... *wink* *wink*
However, these privileges are things that you are supposed to work for months to get, and in turn paying the company who made the game multiple months' worth of fees to do so. By paying someone else for the privilege/house/item/whatever, you bypass the monthly fee and the work involved and, by doing so, rob indirectly the game maker of some of their money. This is their rationale behind it, and it's a damn good one. People doing things like this ruin the in-game economy, because instead of "How much gold does that item cost"? It's "How much $$ does it cost?"