Is it just me, or are most of the scores pretty arbitary? The entire article is pretty contentless, if this were a magazine it would probably be a sidebar to a proper article on console launches or something.
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Anyway, I think the Xbox 360 launch is very impressive, in that as someone living in the UK we're getting at about the same time as everyone else, and not six months (or more) after the first area to get it. Of course Microsoft doing this does seem to mean that the 360 will be in such short supply just about everywhere, as they've got three big launches simulatenously, with the possible bonus of new technology teething troubles. (I don't buy the "It's all marketing" stuff, the rumours make it sound like Microsoft are having problems getting enough of they systems together in time to me, it just sounds too bad).
The lack of much info on what the launch software lineup is going to be is rather disturbing, although as the article points out, few console launchs actually have that many games, especially for the first launch (remember that North America and Europe usually get the consoles after Japan, so a few more games will be ready compared to the Japanese launch). Although of course, some of this is from Microsoft's rush to get the console out of the door. I guess the lack of announcement about launch games is Microsoft trying to get as much time as possible for games to be completed, but I think with about a week to go it may be getting to the point where it's impossible to actually manufacture and distribute a game in time for the launch.
Heh, imagine a PC that you don't have to upgrade for about five years, where newer games look better than older ones on the same hardware?:-):-):-)
But PCs will always have th graphical edge, but I personally keep on getting the impression you need to be in a near-constant upgrade cycle if you want to keep your PC near the cutting edge. I don't plan to buy a next generation console until it's about £150ish (and I can see which one has the best games). I doubt I'll get my PC up to a reasonable gaming spec for that, it would probably be a squeeze to get it up to spec for the £280 an Xbox 360 is supposed to cost.
Becuase to add Xbox Live support they'd have to recode parts of the game to add Live. Xbox Connect is basically a hack that makes your Xbox think it's on a LAN with another Xbox, it doesn't modify the game itself to say add voice and friends support actaully into the game itself. It isn't clear if the Xbox 360 version even touches the game code, if might just be running the game in an emulator. Even if it is recompiled[1], it's doubtful they'd want to spend the resources to adding (and debugging) new features, it would probably cost too much.
AFAIK Bungie said that the Halo 1 network code isn't that good for internet play, as it wasn't designed for it, so they'd probably want to replace that if they did an online version for one thing.
[1] Which I kinda find doubtful, as Microsoft would basically have to pursuade every 3rd party to either recompile their game, or give Microsoft the source code so they can recompile.
In Europe the French came up with a one-for-everything TV connection solution called SCART, as a standard connection between TVs and stuff like VCRs etc. (RGB and composite video input, with a composite video output line, stereo sound, plus some control lines like a "look at me" signal, a widescreen signal etc.) Unline many French standards, this was has actually been adopted by almost all European TVs.
Now it's great, especially as it means most European TVs have RGB input. But it was designed in the early '80s, so newer standards like S-Video and YUV Component effectivley had to be hacked on later, and so you have a problem that TVs may or may not accept certain types of signals over SCART (yukky composite is about the only one you can be certain of, although RGB SCART is the most common version of the connector by far) It also doesn't support HDTV (except the YUV variant?), but that's probably moot as the all-in-one HDMI connector seems to being push for HDTV connections.
Oh, and the SCART connector is posibley the worst connector design ever made.
(Oh, and as most European TVs have SCART, games consoles are naturally ship with composite + stero connectors (RCA jacks) and a cheap adaptor, rather than a full RGB SCART cable, which is extra.)
I assume by spinner you mean a disc that hasn't been stopped before the being ejected? (Which means your drive is kinda broken, both tray and slot loading drives stop the disc before ejecting them). I kinda doubt that it would be spectacular discs of death. I'd imagine whatever mechanism moves the disk from the drive mechanism back out the slot would probably slow the disc down quite a bit, as it can't exactly be a zero-friction device to grab the disc in the first place. I doubt it would be propelled out of the drive at top speed, it would be no more dangerous than a tray loading drive ejecting a spinning disc (or turning off a tray loading device then opening the tray whilst the disc is spinning).
As for shrapnel from a disc shattering, slot loading drives (at least the one on my PCs) has a barrier that covers the slot when a disc is loaded (to stop you trying to force a second disc in I guess), so that would stop and shrapnel leaving the drive, although I'd guess the drive itself would be a writeoff. I don't think the slot is even in line with the level that the disc is actually played at.
Well in the UK it's out in time for Christmas... 2006.
It's been pretty thin on the ground though, and my local Woolworths has a sign up basically saying "put your name down and we can send you one for you before Christmas".
I don't think DVD manufacturing / packagine would take that long, enough DVDs for the launch could be stamped out in a couple of days, and packaging could be prepate beforehand, I think the main issue would be shipping. But I think in this sort of situation they'll probably be able to get it shipped ASAP with liberal applications of money. I doubt Microsoft have shipped the consoles themselves yet, so it's probably just a case of distributing the games with the console. Although any games going gold in the week before launch itself probably have little or no chance of getting out on launch day.
(Oh, and didn't the Japanese launch of the N64 have about 2 games? I think a few other launch days in Japan at least have been thin on games, which is a problem the US and Europe haven't had before as we usually get the systems months later when there's a fair number of games ready).
I do think the Xbox 360 launch is going to be rather thin on the ground for games, but Microsoft should have some Kudos for getting the console ready for a (near) worldwide launch so soon etc. (Although I am suspicious that Microsoft may be exagerating the rarity of the console, but you never know, perhaps the stress of doing a worldwide launch does mean that they can't make enough consoles at the moment).
I'm sure I saw a couple of EA Soundtrack albums on iTunes Music Store (UK) a couple of months ago (at about the time I noticed that iTMS UK had the various Final Fantasy OSTs as well, nice that it isn't some sort of US-only deal). Although they may have been some sort of early releases before the mail bulk or something.
I think it's great that they're releasing them, pity I haven't played any EA games in a while so have no interest in actually buying them. Now the second Halo 2 sountrack would be nice when it turns up (if only they weren't padded out with crappy "music inspired by" stuff, goddamm it I'm buying it for the games music, not random crappy music).
Plus I won't buy full albums as downloads, I'd rather spend the extra money and have the real CDs.
Quake just uses CD audio for the game soundtrack. What else are you going to fill a CD with if you're not using loads of FMV? Lots of '90s console games are the same, you can just put the disc into a CD player and play any CD audio tracks the game uses.
You can probably make a fair guess at worldwide share by adding up the figures for known markets though.
Anyway, it's moot anyway as "second place Worldwide" is rather meaningless apart from as a second rate pissing contest between manufacturers. How the console does in each induvidual market is probably more relavant for most things, like if you can actually buy it. Actual retail stuff (like say, whever high street shops in the UK stock Gamecubes) they'd only really look at performance on a more local level (which is why you can't buy Gamecube stuff in most UK high street shop).
Developers may be less likley to develop for a system if it isn't doing well in their target market(s), it may be better to concentrate resources on the ones that are doing better. (Although who buys what console in what market is another thing to complicate a choice of target platform).
I personally think Twilight Princess will be a great seller software wise, but I don't think it'll shift many more consoles, I think it might be too late.
Yeah, it is bullshit. The real reason is it wouldn't sell well enough on the Gamecube (it's not dead, it's just pining for the Fjords![1]), especially if it's an online focused game (what with Nintendo's great online support).
[1] OK, so it's not that quite bad, Nintendo do have enough money from their portable cash cows to keep on propping it up with new software if you've got a system, but very few third party developers (at least western ones) seem to think it's worthwile nowadays. A solid 3rd place in the west isn't a good place to be, even if they can claim 2nd place worldwide due to the Xbox's complete failure in Japan.
Well, in Sony's case their broadband adaptor has a far higher market penetration than the Gamecube one, especially as new PS2s have it built in. Bringing an online-aimed game to the Gamecube is stupid, as Nintendo frankly have given no support to online gaming on the 'cube, and therefore few 3rd parties have either.
I think the "service" claim is a bit of bullshit from Blizzrd though, it's really a case of the fact that Microsoft and Sony actively support online games, Nintendo don't.
I do wonder about the online support of the Revolution, as Sony and Microsoft will have a massive lead. It's OK to say they can see what they did wrong, buy Sony and Microsoft got to see what Sega ded wrong before them, they may be getting to the party rather late, especially after their brilliant show of support to online games on the 'cube.
Well, considering it's sucessor is just about to launch, I'm not surprised Microsoft are dropping the Xbox 1, it's famously made at a loss, and they can't easily redesign it to be cheaper, so it's getting dropped. A contract running out would be as good a point to stop as any (I hadn't heard that however, do you have a source?).
However I doubt it'll kill the Xbox 1 software market dead overnight, there's generally some overlap between generations, the software will still sell. There's still a fair amount of Xbox 1 titles in development. Not everyone will immediatley stop buying previous generation games as soon as the new systems are out, although I'd imagine after about six months they'd perhaps start having problems.
Yes the GameCube has a broadband adaptor. But Nintendo show absolutley no interest in it at all. There are two whole online games availible in Europe (PSOI&II, PSOIII), and another two games that support LAN play (Mario Kart and Kirby Air Ride). Compared to Sony, who have managed to get a fair selection of online games, and intergrated it into newer consoles. The PS2 doesn't have a unified online service, but Sony support online game development for it (they've actually developed some online games themselves for one thing).
So you'd be trying to sell an online (action) game on a platform who's manufacturer couldn't give a fuck about online, and whoes current online portfolio consists of a couple of RPGs.
Plus, the GameCube is practically dead, at least in the UK, and AFAIK it's in 3rd place in North America as well. Considering the game is probably aimed at the "western" markets, it makes sense to concentrate on the #1 and #2 systems in the markets, not the #3, especially one that doesn't have any kind of online user base (barring PSO players), and is loosing steam (and shelf space). They probably just decided it would'nt be worth putting any more money in on the GameCube version as they wouldn't get enough sales to justify it.
Yes, but with a GeForce 4 Ti you won't be able to use the high range lighting, which is the main point of the tech demo. It's still quite a fun diversion without all the fancy effect though.
My PC is a Athlon 1500+ with 512MB of RAM and a GeForce 4Ti (4200 I think)[1], and it did run, just about (it struggles with normal HL2, but Lost Coast didn't seem that much worse[2]), but I borrowed a mate's PC which actually met the requirements to see all the effects, it's bloomtastic! I do wonder if they have the light bloom exagerated a bit to show off, but it's still pretty neat, and the commentary is an interesting feature.
[1] Complaining about how bad my PC is is apparently Flamebait however. So I say it's the Ultimate POWAH System. [2] The main issue I notice was the join between the sea in the map and the 3D skybox sea was far more obvious on the GeForce4.
I need to buy a new graphics card, processor, and get more memory according to Steam. Oh, and a new motherboard as mine is too old to use new graphics cards or processors. I shouldn't be that surprised, it can barely handle normal Half-Life 2 / Source stuff.
I'd assume that these are like mobile phone top up cards, so the game shops are selling physical cards with a code on them to add X points to your Xbox. So theoretically the cards could run out.
I think this is just an alternative way to pay for Xbox Live and extra content for people who don't have credit / debit cards - IIRC Microsoft said they were working on ways so that people without them could get on Live (I'm exstatic about the prospect of more 12 year old American twats on Live...). I'll probably stick to the direct approach and keep on using my debit card if / when I get a 360.
Actually, the Gameboy Advance (240x160) is lower resolution than the NES (256x240[1]). It has a higher colour depth than the original though, and they can use a few more effects etc. but so did the SNES Super Mario All Stars version (which runs at the exact same resolution as the NES version). The All Stars version does have saving as well (can't be bothered to check if the NES version has), but you can't save in levels IIRC, that was probably added becuase the GBA is portable.
Of course Nintendo are probably goint to sell you another copy for download onto your Revolution when it comes out...
[1] Although apparently most NES games only use 224 lines, as the extra lines are overscanned on most NTSC TVs.
Sony weren't first with backwards compatability. The Atari 7800 was backwards compatible with Atari 2600 cartridges. The Megadrive (Genesis) had an adaptor that let you play Master System (Mark III) games on it, and all the relavant hardware is on the Megadrive side. I don't think either of these have any enhancements though (the Master System mode on the Megadrive cartainly doesn't)
The Gameboy Color is kinda backwards compatible as well, but it's not that different hardware-wise to the original Gameboy, the Advance is a better example and that came post-PS2. (Although in GBC case, do you count false colouring of mono games as an enhancement?):-)
Well, in the UK Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven in the US / Japan) competes fairly well agains EA's FIFA Football benmouth, despite EA buying quite a lot of exclusive rights. (The English Premier League and the FIFA World Cup for example).
Of course football is different to american football, there are lots of countries that play it, and I don't think they can do anythin to stop you using the international team names (although EA have the rights to the World Cup etc.), and they can licence some team / player names depending on how each country licences it's IP. Of course the game still has loads of ringer teams like "West Midlands Village" (Aston Villa) to fill in for domestic teams that they couldn't licence.
The game also has editable datafiles, and for PES3 at least, Action Replay (a cheat disc manufacturer) helpfully released a disc that installed a correct team / player name datafile from scratch.
I wonder if an american football game could get away with a roster of ringers? The Florida Whales, the Cleavland Oranges and the San Fransisco 69ers (although that last name might be slightly inadvisable)?
In the UK we have silver slimline PS2s as well - Anyone know if they're 70000 or 75000 series? Not that I'd get one, I think plastic silver is really tacky as a finish, but I'm just interested.
(And do they still have the wonderful (not) matching black controller ports and power buttons etc. that the silver and aqua blue tray loading PS2s had?)
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Yeah, Sega Europe couldn't seem to market themselves out of a paper bag. They did have quite a few good games at launch though...
Is it just me, or are most of the scores pretty arbitary? The entire article is pretty contentless, if this were a magazine it would probably be a sidebar to a proper article on console launches or something.
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Anyway, I think the Xbox 360 launch is very impressive, in that as someone living in the UK we're getting at about the same time as everyone else, and not six months (or more) after the first area to get it. Of course Microsoft doing this does seem to mean that the 360 will be in such short supply just about everywhere, as they've got three big launches simulatenously, with the possible bonus of new technology teething troubles. (I don't buy the "It's all marketing" stuff, the rumours make it sound like Microsoft are having problems getting enough of they systems together in time to me, it just sounds too bad).
The lack of much info on what the launch software lineup is going to be is rather disturbing, although as the article points out, few console launchs actually have that many games, especially for the first launch (remember that North America and Europe usually get the consoles after Japan, so a few more games will be ready compared to the Japanese launch). Although of course, some of this is from Microsoft's rush to get the console out of the door. I guess the lack of announcement about launch games is Microsoft trying to get as much time as possible for games to be completed, but I think with about a week to go it may be getting to the point where it's impossible to actually manufacture and distribute a game in time for the launch.
Heh, imagine a PC that you don't have to upgrade for about five years, where newer games look better than older ones on the same hardware? :-) :-) :-)
But PCs will always have th graphical edge, but I personally keep on getting the impression you need to be in a near-constant upgrade cycle if you want to keep your PC near the cutting edge. I don't plan to buy a next generation console until it's about £150ish (and I can see which one has the best games). I doubt I'll get my PC up to a reasonable gaming spec for that, it would probably be a squeeze to get it up to spec for the £280 an Xbox 360 is supposed to cost.
Becuase to add Xbox Live support they'd have to recode parts of the game to add Live. Xbox Connect is basically a hack that makes your Xbox think it's on a LAN with another Xbox, it doesn't modify the game itself to say add voice and friends support actaully into the game itself. It isn't clear if the Xbox 360 version even touches the game code, if might just be running the game in an emulator. Even if it is recompiled[1], it's doubtful they'd want to spend the resources to adding (and debugging) new features, it would probably cost too much.
AFAIK Bungie said that the Halo 1 network code isn't that good for internet play, as it wasn't designed for it, so they'd probably want to replace that if they did an online version for one thing.
[1] Which I kinda find doubtful, as Microsoft would basically have to pursuade every 3rd party to either recompile their game, or give Microsoft the source code so they can recompile.
In Europe the French came up with a one-for-everything TV connection solution called SCART, as a standard connection between TVs and stuff like VCRs etc. (RGB and composite video input, with a composite video output line, stereo sound, plus some control lines like a "look at me" signal, a widescreen signal etc.) Unline many French standards, this was has actually been adopted by almost all European TVs.
Now it's great, especially as it means most European TVs have RGB input. But it was designed in the early '80s, so newer standards like S-Video and YUV Component effectivley had to be hacked on later, and so you have a problem that TVs may or may not accept certain types of signals over SCART (yukky composite is about the only one you can be certain of, although RGB SCART is the most common version of the connector by far) It also doesn't support HDTV (except the YUV variant?), but that's probably moot as the all-in-one HDMI connector seems to being push for HDTV connections.
Oh, and the SCART connector is posibley the worst connector design ever made.
(Oh, and as most European TVs have SCART, games consoles are naturally ship with composite + stero connectors (RCA jacks) and a cheap adaptor, rather than a full RGB SCART cable, which is extra.)
I assume by spinner you mean a disc that hasn't been stopped before the being ejected? (Which means your drive is kinda broken, both tray and slot loading drives stop the disc before ejecting them). I kinda doubt that it would be spectacular discs of death. I'd imagine whatever mechanism moves the disk from the drive mechanism back out the slot would probably slow the disc down quite a bit, as it can't exactly be a zero-friction device to grab the disc in the first place. I doubt it would be propelled out of the drive at top speed, it would be no more dangerous than a tray loading drive ejecting a spinning disc (or turning off a tray loading device then opening the tray whilst the disc is spinning).
As for shrapnel from a disc shattering, slot loading drives (at least the one on my PCs) has a barrier that covers the slot when a disc is loaded (to stop you trying to force a second disc in I guess), so that would stop and shrapnel leaving the drive, although I'd guess the drive itself would be a writeoff. I don't think the slot is even in line with the level that the disc is actually played at.
A tray loading unit would be hard (or probably impossible) to fit into such a small console as well.
Well in the UK it's out in time for Christmas... 2006.
It's been pretty thin on the ground though, and my local Woolworths has a sign up basically saying "put your name down and we can send you one for you before Christmas".
I don't think DVD manufacturing / packagine would take that long, enough DVDs for the launch could be stamped out in a couple of days, and packaging could be prepate beforehand, I think the main issue would be shipping. But I think in this sort of situation they'll probably be able to get it shipped ASAP with liberal applications of money. I doubt Microsoft have shipped the consoles themselves yet, so it's probably just a case of distributing the games with the console. Although any games going gold in the week before launch itself probably have little or no chance of getting out on launch day.
(Oh, and didn't the Japanese launch of the N64 have about 2 games? I think a few other launch days in Japan at least have been thin on games, which is a problem the US and Europe haven't had before as we usually get the systems months later when there's a fair number of games ready).
I do think the Xbox 360 launch is going to be rather thin on the ground for games, but Microsoft should have some Kudos for getting the console ready for a (near) worldwide launch so soon etc. (Although I am suspicious that Microsoft may be exagerating the rarity of the console, but you never know, perhaps the stress of doing a worldwide launch does mean that they can't make enough consoles at the moment).
Most Xbox Live games run peer to peer as well. The centralised service mostly runs things like the friends lists, the game finding services etc.
I'm sure I saw a couple of EA Soundtrack albums on iTunes Music Store (UK) a couple of months ago (at about the time I noticed that iTMS UK had the various Final Fantasy OSTs as well, nice that it isn't some sort of US-only deal). Although they may have been some sort of early releases before the mail bulk or something.
I think it's great that they're releasing them, pity I haven't played any EA games in a while so have no interest in actually buying them. Now the second Halo 2 sountrack would be nice when it turns up (if only they weren't padded out with crappy "music inspired by" stuff, goddamm it I'm buying it for the games music, not random crappy music).
Plus I won't buy full albums as downloads, I'd rather spend the extra money and have the real CDs.
Quake just uses CD audio for the game soundtrack. What else are you going to fill a CD with if you're not using loads of FMV? Lots of '90s console games are the same, you can just put the disc into a CD player and play any CD audio tracks the game uses.
You can probably make a fair guess at worldwide share by adding up the figures for known markets though.
Anyway, it's moot anyway as "second place Worldwide" is rather meaningless apart from as a second rate pissing contest between manufacturers. How the console does in each induvidual market is probably more relavant for most things, like if you can actually buy it. Actual retail stuff (like say, whever high street shops in the UK stock Gamecubes) they'd only really look at performance on a more local level (which is why you can't buy Gamecube stuff in most UK high street shop).
Developers may be less likley to develop for a system if it isn't doing well in their target market(s), it may be better to concentrate resources on the ones that are doing better. (Although who buys what console in what market is another thing to complicate a choice of target platform).
I personally think Twilight Princess will be a great seller software wise, but I don't think it'll shift many more consoles, I think it might be too late.
Yeah, it is bullshit. The real reason is it wouldn't sell well enough on the Gamecube (it's not dead, it's just pining for the Fjords![1]), especially if it's an online focused game (what with Nintendo's great online support).
[1] OK, so it's not that quite bad, Nintendo do have enough money from their portable cash cows to keep on propping it up with new software if you've got a system, but very few third party developers (at least western ones) seem to think it's worthwile nowadays. A solid 3rd place in the west isn't a good place to be, even if they can claim 2nd place worldwide due to the Xbox's complete failure in Japan.
Well, in Sony's case their broadband adaptor has a far higher market penetration than the Gamecube one, especially as new PS2s have it built in. Bringing an online-aimed game to the Gamecube is stupid, as Nintendo frankly have given no support to online gaming on the 'cube, and therefore few 3rd parties have either.
I think the "service" claim is a bit of bullshit from Blizzrd though, it's really a case of the fact that Microsoft and Sony actively support online games, Nintendo don't.
I do wonder about the online support of the Revolution, as Sony and Microsoft will have a massive lead. It's OK to say they can see what they did wrong, buy Sony and Microsoft got to see what Sega ded wrong before them, they may be getting to the party rather late, especially after their brilliant show of support to online games on the 'cube.
Well, considering it's sucessor is just about to launch, I'm not surprised Microsoft are dropping the Xbox 1, it's famously made at a loss, and they can't easily redesign it to be cheaper, so it's getting dropped. A contract running out would be as good a point to stop as any (I hadn't heard that however, do you have a source?).
However I doubt it'll kill the Xbox 1 software market dead overnight, there's generally some overlap between generations, the software will still sell. There's still a fair amount of Xbox 1 titles in development. Not everyone will immediatley stop buying previous generation games as soon as the new systems are out, although I'd imagine after about six months they'd perhaps start having problems.
Yes the GameCube has a broadband adaptor. But Nintendo show absolutley no interest in it at all. There are two whole online games availible in Europe (PSOI&II, PSOIII), and another two games that support LAN play (Mario Kart and Kirby Air Ride). Compared to Sony, who have managed to get a fair selection of online games, and intergrated it into newer consoles. The PS2 doesn't have a unified online service, but Sony support online game development for it (they've actually developed some online games themselves for one thing).
So you'd be trying to sell an online (action) game on a platform who's manufacturer couldn't give a fuck about online, and whoes current online portfolio consists of a couple of RPGs.
Plus, the GameCube is practically dead, at least in the UK, and AFAIK it's in 3rd place in North America as well. Considering the game is probably aimed at the "western" markets, it makes sense to concentrate on the #1 and #2 systems in the markets, not the #3, especially one that doesn't have any kind of online user base (barring PSO players), and is loosing steam (and shelf space). They probably just decided it would'nt be worth putting any more money in on the GameCube version as they wouldn't get enough sales to justify it.
Yes, but with a GeForce 4 Ti you won't be able to use the high range lighting, which is the main point of the tech demo. It's still quite a fun diversion without all the fancy effect though.
My PC is a Athlon 1500+ with 512MB of RAM and a GeForce 4Ti (4200 I think)[1], and it did run, just about (it struggles with normal HL2, but Lost Coast didn't seem that much worse[2]), but I borrowed a mate's PC which actually met the requirements to see all the effects, it's bloomtastic! I do wonder if they have the light bloom exagerated a bit to show off, but it's still pretty neat, and the commentary is an interesting feature.
[1] Complaining about how bad my PC is is apparently Flamebait however. So I say it's the Ultimate POWAH System.
[2] The main issue I notice was the join between the sea in the map and the 3D skybox sea was far more obvious on the GeForce4.
I need to buy a new graphics card, processor, and get more memory according to Steam. Oh, and a new motherboard as mine is too old to use new graphics cards or processors. I shouldn't be that surprised, it can barely handle normal Half-Life 2 / Source stuff.
Bloody PCs and their constant upgrade needs...
I'd assume that these are like mobile phone top up cards, so the game shops are selling physical cards with a code on them to add X points to your Xbox. So theoretically the cards could run out.
I think this is just an alternative way to pay for Xbox Live and extra content for people who don't have credit / debit cards - IIRC Microsoft said they were working on ways so that people without them could get on Live (I'm exstatic about the prospect of more 12 year old American twats on Live...). I'll probably stick to the direct approach and keep on using my debit card if / when I get a 360.
Well, I'm in Europe, so we don't officially have the eReader or its cards anyway.
It does sound pretty lame really.
Actually, the Gameboy Advance (240x160) is lower resolution than the NES (256x240[1]). It has a higher colour depth than the original though, and they can use a few more effects etc. but so did the SNES Super Mario All Stars version (which runs at the exact same resolution as the NES version). The All Stars version does have saving as well (can't be bothered to check if the NES version has), but you can't save in levels IIRC, that was probably added becuase the GBA is portable.
Of course Nintendo are probably goint to sell you another copy for download onto your Revolution when it comes out...
[1] Although apparently most NES games only use 224 lines, as the extra lines are overscanned on most NTSC TVs.
Sony weren't first with backwards compatability. The Atari 7800 was backwards compatible with Atari 2600 cartridges. The Megadrive (Genesis) had an adaptor that let you play Master System (Mark III) games on it, and all the relavant hardware is on the Megadrive side. I don't think either of these have any enhancements though (the Master System mode on the Megadrive cartainly doesn't)
:-)
The Gameboy Color is kinda backwards compatible as well, but it's not that different hardware-wise to the original Gameboy, the Advance is a better example and that came post-PS2. (Although in GBC case, do you count false colouring of mono games as an enhancement?)
Well, in the UK Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer (Winning Eleven in the US / Japan) competes fairly well agains EA's FIFA Football benmouth, despite EA buying quite a lot of exclusive rights. (The English Premier League and the FIFA World Cup for example).
Of course football is different to american football, there are lots of countries that play it, and I don't think they can do anythin to stop you using the international team names (although EA have the rights to the World Cup etc.), and they can licence some team / player names depending on how each country licences it's IP. Of course the game still has loads of ringer teams like "West Midlands Village" (Aston Villa) to fill in for domestic teams that they couldn't licence.
The game also has editable datafiles, and for PES3 at least, Action Replay (a cheat disc manufacturer) helpfully released a disc that installed a correct team / player name datafile from scratch.
I wonder if an american football game could get away with a roster of ringers? The Florida Whales, the Cleavland Oranges and the San Fransisco 69ers (although that last name might be slightly inadvisable)?
In the UK we have silver slimline PS2s as well - Anyone know if they're 70000 or 75000 series? Not that I'd get one, I think plastic silver is really tacky as a finish, but I'm just interested.
(And do they still have the wonderful (not) matching black controller ports and power buttons etc. that the silver and aqua blue tray loading PS2s had?)