You missed the point.. They won't get the games if they don't solve the problems I listed.
Developers aren't going to create huge games for a platform that only has a 1million or so userbase. Instead they will take their hit games to other consoles like the 360 which have 10million, etc.
That means if Sony want's exclusive games (which would sell the console as you suggest), they need to get their consoles out FIRST so 3rd party developers want to spend the time to develop on it.
It's sort of like a "chicken and the egg" issue here. Microsoft overcame it by selling the 360 (and the original XBOX for that matter) at a financial loss per sale - it made it cheaper to the consumer and therefore were able to get more out into the market. In return, developers slowly slid over to Microsoft because there was money to be made by developing for the console.
Sony thought because of the success of the PS2 they could ride the developers to create all the great console games, AND charge top dollar for their consoles (and they are still taking a loss per sale!) Unfortunately their woes with Production fueled the already negative press from their marketing blunders (You'll get 2 jobs for a PS3!) and now previously "Exclusive" sony franchises are finding their way to Wii and 360. For a console who was not the "First Entrant" of this Generation, that's like a deathblow.
So you are correct in that the main issue (for all consoles, throughout history of the home console market) is getting games to drive sales of your system, the approach that Sony took crippled their ability to do so, and need to change some things before they will be able to get and sustain that type of advantage.
Wish there was an edit button.. I knew that number seemed off:)
its not 500million (more like 8million$) to develop a PS3 game. Its 500,000 sales requied to turn a profit. My mistake, but it did make me go find the article.
Looks like Sony is finally getting their heads out of their cracks.
Salvaging the system should be their first priority. When I say salvage I don't mean beacuse it's already a failure, but in the sense that the overall 'market buzz' of the console is overwhelmingly negative. Sony needs to really reshape its console in order for it to be successful and shake off the rediculous problems that the HR department (and initial design decisions) have been causing them.
Problems to solve, in order of priority for the company: 1) Get the COST of the console DOWN. 2) Fix the BluRay manufacturing woes. 3) Help their 3rd party developers to understand the CELL processor and sucessfully develop on the platform. 4) Match the XBOX LIVE online experience.
This is my opinion of course, but outsourcing the CELL processor will be a step in the right direction for #1. Without lowering the price of the console, the sales and demand for the console just aren't going to be there... Then again, #2 will prevent them from meeting the demand anyways, so you can probably interchange those top 2 in terms of importance.
Without a broad market exposure, the investment required to develop a high quality game on the platform isn't viable for most studios. I forget who it was, but in a 3rd party interview on the subject of PS3 development an estimate was given to the amount of 500$million per game of the complexity of the CELL processor.. (Im not looking up the interview but it was posted here on SlashDot I believe.)
So once Sony handles the price and production woes, keeping their developers happy so that they a) continue to develop on the platform and b) ensure a healthy and broad diversity of available games to play will go a long way in making the PS3 "successful."
#4 is more of hearsay, as I have been told (I do not own a PS3) that the online experience is a 'first hash' type of thing and falls short in many respects to XBOX Live service.
Anyways - even speculation of this sort is a good thing - instead of a typical "screw price, you are all sheep and will pay what we tell you to pay!"
Take it with a grain of salt, because that's what my opinion is worth on the internets! (or maybe less...)
If you havn't played the little racer levels, then you don't know what hitting a gaming wall is. All this talk about FF games and Gears of War and Doom 3 and stuff?
Please. Fire up your NES Emulator of choice and see how far you get with Battletoads (without cheating of course..)
Warning: You may want to go shopping for a hairpiece first, because you'll look funny once you pull all your hair out.
Wow, I feel like someone just puked their hands and rubbed it all over my body. This is absolutly rediculous.
Nintendo adds a wrist strap as a safety feature, so stupid people who have 'grip' problems (small peens perhaps?) don't throw the Wiimote around. A group of morons (ok ok, maybe they were drunk and... how did NPR put it?... overzealous?) break a few TVs, and now all of a sudden Nintendo is libel for a defective console?
Yea, great. Im sure this is REALLY going to make Nintendo warm to us Americans. You wonder why they don't port a lot of games over to the US, and you wonder why in some games prior to the port they 'dumb it down' thinking its 'too hard for westerners.' (I wish I could find the article that I got this information from.. I thought it was BS at the time, but now Im thinking it might have been credible.)
Nintendo comes out of left field with a great console, thats tons of fun for all ages... And some douchebags who are looking to make a quick buck want to file a lawsuit against them for breaking a WRIST STRAP which didnt' even need to be added in the first place?
wiihaveaproblem.com - 29 broken straps out of... 1million+ consoles (probably near double that in controllers) wiidamage.com - 3 broken straps reported
I love the US, but sometimes I just have a hard time being 'proud to be an American.'
(I reserve the right to not check my spelling or grammar. Deal with it!)
Do whatever works best for you. Some people swear by reading coding books, improving your math skills (especially if you are interested in graphics programming) - and others tell you to work off other peoples code or take a class or something...
I think working with other coders gives me the most benefit... As long as you aren't shy about asking 'why' and doing some legwork in looking things up yourself. When you are surrounded by people who have been coding for 10-20 years not tapping that resource is just stupid. Sure, they might have 'their way' of doing things, but like you should have learned in Comp Sci, there's more than one way to fry an egg (write some code, mix a drink, etc.) You get the point. Learn the concepts, look over other peoples code to 'see what they were doing', work on a project that will give you exposure to subject matter experts in areas you want to learn more about, and you'll be on your way.
And honestly, I *DO* believe reading is beneficial. Even if you don't feel like you learn very well that way (some people dont), books are a great resource to learn new things or use as reference material. You might be overwhelmed at first, but the more effort you put into developing your skills, the more you will get out of it.
You misunderstand my question - Im not concerned about how Sony will come up with the money to fund these developers. I want to know what 'conditions' come with the funding and where that leaves the developers in terms of future profits from their hard work.
1) Make idiot out of Company at E3 2) Offer downloadable content after competitors have already done it 3) ??? 4) PROFIT!!!
Ok maybe that's a bit unfair... This sounds like a good distribution channel for Sony - one that I think Microsoft should use a lot more.
What is interesting and what I would like to know more of, is how this "Sony will fund the development and distribution" works.. As a game designer if someone is funding your costs, they probably have an ownership stake in the finished product. So when they deliver the finished software to Sony for distribution, what is the profit share? If they make a huge blockbuster, does Sony keep all the cash flow and pay them a small 'development fee' and go about their business, or do they allow these developers to reap in a modest portion of profits?
I have a hard time beliving Sony will put up all the development costs and then share the profits... maybe that's just me. So if it's just a Cost Plus type contract with the developers, it sounds like a 'decent' way for Sony to get great games developed by smaller studios without the financial means to produce a larger scale project. It provides an advantage over the XNA Kit that MS is releasing since the financial backing should hopefully translate into higher quality games.
But then again, the XNA Kit will have a wider reach which may offset the advantage of Sony financing a 'select few.'
Oh.. By the way.. Sony, I still won't be buying a console at launch.
It looks like Nintendo is taking a page right from Microsoft in their online approach, and due to their huge history of games on their past consoles they are likely to have an even higher revenue stream from 'classic' game sales.
FTFA: "Nintendo reportedly plans to make ten new games available every month, so retro fans may want to set aside a budget -- if future releases can uphold this level of quality, all those Wii games may become almost a secondary consideration."
10 Every month?? That's pretty aggressive - but then again how many games have they produced for NES, SNES, 64, etc? A few thousand im sure. I'll be waiting for some of the gems (and would even be willing to pay a premium!) such as Metroid, Kid Icarus, Ikari Warriors/Contra(Online Co-op perhaps??) and the like.
Microsoft really had an amazing strategy with their online classic game downloads, but it looks like Nintendo is going to take it to the next level - and I for one will happily shell out a wii amount of cash for their golden oldies.
I recently did a review of MSFTs Gaming Division.. From the research that I did, the MSX was a "total failure" in the Japanese Market for a single reason - It had no 3rd party support. It's game selection was pathetic at best and as such, failed miserably.
When the console was created it was deemed Microsoft's way of taking it to the "Japanese console manufacturers" and they lost millions on it.
It just goes to show how important games are to the consoles that are developed - over the years every console has shined and/or failed (other than the PS2 - I think I found a statistic that said nearly 60% of the consoles were originally sold due to the DVD player capability) because of a weak selection of games, or 3rd party developers abondoning the systems for a "Next Gen" console.
I know this is slightly OT, but that's the reason I think MSFT is really going to take over the Industry over the next few years... Their development tools on the XBOX and XBOX360 are just plain superior for developers in comparison to Nintendo and PStation (unless something has significantly changed in their tools for the Wii/PS3.) It keeps developer costs lower, makes the game easily portable to Windows as a second outlet for sales, and with the XNA coming out the potential for the system just skyrockets in the Indie realm.
They have made a LOT of mistakes, starting with the MSX and going all the way up until Age of Empires was successful (I think it's recognized as their first REAL success in the industry and spurred a lot of the company's gaming division growth in the late 90s) but it's pretty obvious that they are learning and doing what they can to not repeat them.
But don't worry - Sony will laugh all the way to the bank when you... hmm how did he put it at E3?... buy PS3s "because."
In all seriousness it's expected for their profits to be in the gutter with the development of the next gen console... the real surprise here is that Nintendo's profits are UP when they have been developing the Wii - sure it's a less intensive system that is probably lower in price, but a 'next gen' console should still suck up a bit of profits.
Im not sure where community relations falls into this since E3 but it's been 6 months - I wonder if there is significant impact by Nintendo's positive view in the limelight in comparison with Sony's more arrogant and egotistical stance (IMO.)
The citizens of Iran are ticked off that they are being denied of "Western Culture", which is apparently something they want. Therefore they have been using High Speed internet to download music and videos and whatever else so they can have what they want.
Ahmah-not-gonna-work-here-anymore (couldn't help myself) decides that in order to stop the influence (re: the education of his people outside of what he allows them) he will just cripple the entire nation's communication abilities.... but all this really accomplishes is it takes longer for the people to obtain the goods they want.. This just goes to show his intelligence (lack). The people using the internet to get around his bans and laws are ALREADY influenced by Western Culture. This is just going to cause more discontent among his citizens.. Really, it's only a matter of time before that country becomes a bloodbath with citizens trying to step up to the Government and Ahmadinejad shutting them down forcefully.
On a positive note, it's also going to somewhat hamper their technology advanacement, right? Although Im sure his high-and-mighty Government 'is trusted not to abuse the highspeed internet' and therefore will continue to use it, so strike that. (I wonder how long that will go unnoticed by the civilians...)
What the hell is the world coming to? Now kids can't play flag football and 'tag' and similar 'chasing' games for fear of liability in case the kids get hurt? Honestly - this all comes down to stupid parents who want nothing but a free meal ticket, and our legal system (in the US anyways) is fostering this type of action.
Kids get hurt - Deal with it! Boys will be boys and all that. Now we are sheltering our children from being... children!? When will it stop? Some people will always have something to complain about and the fear of being sued is slowly turning our younger generation into zombies. Soon enough they will only be allowed to read books 'approved' by the Government (since schools have been sued over non-approved literature) and video games are things of the past for anyone under 18. The sad part is that it's not even our Government doing it to us, its ourselves!
I wish we could screen for integrity and ethics in people before they were allowed to become parents - sure, maybe im overreacting a little bit, but everytime I read a story like this it makes me feel bad for the children that will never get to experience the fun of being a child like I did.
The strategy of the original XBOX was based on what Sony tried to do with their PlayStation 2 console - instead of being just a game console they wanted to be an entire family entertainment Hub.. No console yet has satisfied that goal, or even come close in my mind. 360 is getting better with their live content, but it is still HIGHLY lacking.
The normal lifecycle of these consoles is ~5years. It doesn't surprise me in the least that they would start the planning stages already - it will give them a legup on being first to market with the NextGen when the time comes. In this industry that type of advantage creates major waves - just look at how it worked for the 360 compared with the (not yet released) PS3. If the PS3 came out first and had some decent launch games, I might have picked it up and skipped the 360 (thank god for favorable coincidences!)
So the next XBOX will have (dun dun dun!) more powerful Graphics than the 360, PS3, or Wii (gee that was hard to guess.) Beyond that I see them really expanding on the LIVE portion of their service. Right now they offer games, demos, and weak selection of music and videos(mostly game related)... Where is the iTunes relative content? I want to download a *WIDE* variety of TV shows, Videos, Music, etc on DEMAND (sorta like cable TV.) That's where the next step is going - You won't need cable, because everything you want to watch you'll be able to pull down from live the day after it airs. Of course, this is possible with the current 360 now, so shouldn't be much of a surprise.
Of course, it will likely be first to market with the 'latest and greatest' tech stuff... i.e. today we have BluRay vs HD-DVD.. In 5 years who knows what the new 'hot' tech thing is, but im sure the XBOX will have some of it. I'd expect it to highly integrate with the ZUNE (which is probably where/when the music content will really ramp up on the system.)
Long story short (too late), they only have things to gain in terms of preparing this early for the next Gen console, and likely all of us consumers will benefit because of it - Longer development (hopefully) means better quality overall, and they won't need to rush in order to enter the market behind the frontrunners./opinion
My understanding is that Blizzard (not sure if it was called that at the time) was creating a RTS based on Warhammer FOR Games Workshop. Somehow or another Games Workshop decided they didn't like/want/need the development team anymore, so the game and the team walked and created what is now known as WarCraft I. The rest is history really - it was hugely successful, spawned many sequels, and is now the #1 online RPG in the world.
So now GW is making their own MMORPG, based on their own proprietary game and story. Will it resemble WoW? Of course, but that's because WoW's foundation *IS* Warhammer. It will be what the WarCraft Universe was SUPPOSED to be in the beginning.
If this information is accurate (I've read it somewhere before, wish I could quote a source..) does GW ever 'kick themselves' for the lost opportunity in what would have been their domination of the MMORPG market, and how do they expect to overcome the hurdle of people (who aren't aware of the 'facts(?)') believing that Warhammer is a copycat of WoW?
You are right, we have nothing to complain about.
And the next (first for most of/.ers) time you get a kiss, your lips meet, and he/she pukes down your throat, Im sure you'll have nothing to complain about.. After all, you DID get the kiss.
..at all the time I wasted playing WoW brings a tear to my eye. I neglected my loving wife, my friends, I would occasionally skip work, school, or other activities just so i could 'raid.' That's the worst part about that game. It hooks you with the ease of leveling and the fact that you CAN level on your own. You don't need to be in a giant group to gain experience (a la FFXI).. The questing system is intuitive and enjoyable, the storyline is great wether you played the original Warcraft installments or not.
The game was successful because everyone wanted a 'casual friendly' game to play - and that's exactly what it *WAS*. But once everyone reached 60 and the developers lollygagged their way to the first expansion (after what? 2 years? 3? I can't even remember how long the game has been out thanks to being locked in a cold room full of empty coke bottles and a broken '2' key for Sinister Striking!)
Once you hit that top level and started raiding, it became a horrible addiction. The only way to see real character advancement is through new gear, and the GOOD STUFF (as all crack heads want!) is only available via raiding A LOT. I went from a happy casual player to a 5 day a week 'second full time job' player.
I don't think another game will have that much success anytime soon - im sure it's possible.. but I also think that the hayday of WoW is going to slowly come to an end. I don't know if their numbers are still going up or not, but im sure as more and more new games will be released that will slowly steal games from WoW... Blizzard might try to hold onto the throne with World of Starcraft or World of Diablo or basically just rehashing WoW with one of their other brands to keep it 'fresh', but eventually even they will bow down eventually.
Besides... WoW is in a whole new 'era' of gaming IMO. 20 years ago a fun game was playing cards after dinner with your parents (maybe a few more years than 20...whatever) The point is that as technology continues to develop and becomes accepted, more and more people jump 'on the wagon', and thats just part of what the gaming community is seeing today. Is it that WoW just happened to be 'the right game at the right time', or will it be looked at years from now as 'one of the first good games in the 'Gamers-Generation.' (I know that sounds a bit silly but hopefully you understand my point.)
Disclaimer: I fall upon my rights as an american to post this message without using spellcheck. Thanks!
From TFA: "We haven't yet begun planning a BlizzCon for this year, and truthfully it isn't intended as an annual event. We had a lot of fun though, and we're looking forward to getting another one going and inviting everyone to come hang out with us and check out everything that is Blizzard."
Original Link to Post: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=w ow-general&t=8612315&tmp=1#post8612315
The first one was a hit (apparently, I wasn't there.) Tickets did sell out, and there were some really sexy (and.. uhhh... unfortunately not so sexy) ladies dressed up as Succubus! (Im sure/.ers can appreciate that!) The next BlizzCon will likely be to announce the next BIG project after Burning Crusade is released - likely Hero Classes, another expansion, or a new game in the works (StarCraft 2/WC4/Whatever).
Let's see... Instead of leaving the earth (since some replies suggest that it isn't a very good idea and we would just ruin the Galaxy instead of Earth), lets find some other options...
Being wiped out by natural disaster
Immediate Risk: Moderate Low
Long Term Risk: High (Global Warming? Sun failure?)
Mitigation Plan: Sorry, Everyone dies (but hey, who cares right? This wont happen in our time! We should all have jobs in Washington D.C.!)
Nuclear War / Engineered Virus
Immediate Risk: Moderate High
Long Term Risk: Moderate High
Mitigation Plan: World Peace? pffttt. Hopefully us/.ers will all congregate to an Island and let everyone else perish, and we can then create a utopia led by CowboyNeal. Don't Forget that we'll still die from Natural Disasters or something we havn't thought of yet anyways!
Other dangers we have not yet thought of
Immediate Risk: Unknown
Long Term Risk: Moderate High?
Mitigation Plan: Can't really have one of these for something we havn't thought of yet.
So we are going to eventually die anyways - the bottom line is we either take steps now to ensure the continual survival of our Great^1000 Grandchildren, or we become even more selfish than we already are, steal the last bit of life from this planet, and then just wither away and perish. Of course, if thats the case why wait? Let's engineer that virus or start that Nuclear war now.
I read enough of this Paladin whining and crying on the official Forums. Instead of focusing on that, how about the complete lack of Internal Quality Assurance Testing that Blizzard has yet again displayed? They throw these patches on the Test Server and allow a public 'stress' test of changes - then turn the Test Server off, make 'additional changes' and throw it down to the live servers.
Let's just see a few of the more 'rediculous' bugs that made it into this patch:
Firemaw reflecting ALL SPELLS cast at him (This has apparently been hotfixed) Nefarian respawns immediately upon being kill in Dragon Form. (Yes, he immediately appears back on his throne and you can start the event again - Oddly enough after Phase 1, Phase 2 would not start and then he would stay gone for good so this isn't really a huge issue.) In MC the Annihilators and Surgers would be banished, becoming immune but still go around beating on people. In ZG there were multiple reports of fear being bugged Hakkar was either ninja-buffed or majorly bugged (each equally offensive IMO.)
Im sure the list goes on and on, but these are what I have seen and have been verified for me as of yesterday night. I find it amazing (then again, I expect it from Blizzard now..) that they don't bother to test these things before the patch goes live. How exactly do you give a major boss a "Reflection from all Magical Spells" ability and NOT notice it? Either the game was very poorly programmed (this wouldn't surprise me in the least) or someone is deliberately sabotaging the patches as they are being released on the live realms.
Or maybe someone else has a better explanation, but I find it hard to believe a "Woops!" when things are working perfectly and then suddently take on a completely different aspect or behavior, such as the spell reflection issue of a single boss.
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility in the grammar or spelling of this post. I play MMOGs and Im Republican.
I like this idea. For the modders its an extra spot to add a little more 'umph' to their home made beasts.
I'd be hesitant to bring this to a LAN type even though, seems like these would be a hot item for some of the less honest members of that community (quick finger willy anyone?)
Very Flashy and a great idea, although not a lot of characters and I read that a personal message would scroll.. With the breaks inbetween each LED character I don't think that would look exactly as nice as it COULD. I expect other Memory chip makers will follow suit with this idea and improve on the design a little bit.
On a side note, what kind of heating issue would this cause for the memory? It looks like theres a little vent on the top of these LED strips.. With my limited knowledge of these displays, is there any issue with increased heat to the DIMMs?
Well, it's a Thursday before Christmas Shutdown, nobody is here except us few poor souls with no vacation time left, and I happened upon this post on/.
SO - Because im bored, I decided to take a look at the website (pointed out in the website) that supposedly showcases this teenage girl along with her real name. Any speculation on which one she is? I think the blond, second from the left, is a good candidate.
This isn't a proper comparison, and it never was in my mind.
If you go to a movie in a Theatre, you get to SEE the movie in its entirety, but you don't own it. On the contrary, if you want to get the full experience out of a video game, you'll either rent it until you are finished, or buy it from the store.
You can't compare these 1 to 1 because you can't pay 8$ to play a game for 3 hours and be 'completely satisfied' and get closure from it.
Now they want to compare Movies, VHS, and DVD sales to.. it looks like just plain Video Game Sales.. What about Video game rentals? How about all the gaming events that they have around the country? Im sure there's money being spent there.. Does this include arcade games that people plug coins into?
You can't just take a look at opening sales of a movie theatre and compare it to opening sales of a video game and claim either is bigger than the other.
At least, it seems flawed to me, but I've been working all day and am probably fried. Anyone have any opinions on this?
I Appologize, maybe 'stupid' was the wrong wording. I could understand if this was just 'another game' that nobody cares about. It'd be something if this was an EA game that was just one of the hundreds they pump out a month, at the expense of their employees health.
Valve actually works really hard to make the community better. They are involved, they worked hard on this system to distribute the game and cut OUT the middle man (therefore in the long run, probably making it less expensive for us, the end users.) Plus, they spend an extended ammount of time developing and tweaking it, to be the *BEST* gaming experience it could be. Ive only played it 3 hours, and Im convinced they not only put their skill into making it, but their heart and soul. They took the time to give you everything you could possibly want, wrapped in a neat distribution package with a nice card labeled "STEAM" on the top, and you are hung up on 'not being able to use the internet at home, so im going to steal it instead!'
It angers me that instead of just getting off your lazy crack, dragging your box to a friends house and using his internet to do the *ONE-TIME Authentication* to unlock the game, you are going to go through the effort of downloading, cracking, burning, just so you can not pay for these peoples hard work.
I am sure its not by choice that 'you dont have internet' at your main residence, but there are alternatives to stealing. This is one game worth supporting the developers, and I think it's sad that something so miniscule as an authentication process (to gaurantee that the game isnt 'cracked' in the first place) would DRIVE you to doing just that.
Maybe stupid wasn't the right word, but if you can fill in the blank for me, feel free.
Slashdot Mirror
You missed the point.. They won't get the games if they don't solve the problems I listed.
Developers aren't going to create huge games for a platform that only has a 1million or so userbase. Instead they will take their hit games to other consoles like the 360 which have 10million, etc.
That means if Sony want's exclusive games (which would sell the console as you suggest), they need to get their consoles out FIRST so 3rd party developers want to spend the time to develop on it.
It's sort of like a "chicken and the egg" issue here. Microsoft overcame it by selling the 360 (and the original XBOX for that matter) at a financial loss per sale - it made it cheaper to the consumer and therefore were able to get more out into the market. In return, developers slowly slid over to Microsoft because there was money to be made by developing for the console.
Sony thought because of the success of the PS2 they could ride the developers to create all the great console games, AND charge top dollar for their consoles (and they are still taking a loss per sale!) Unfortunately their woes with Production fueled the already negative press from their marketing blunders (You'll get 2 jobs for a PS3!) and now previously "Exclusive" sony franchises are finding their way to Wii and 360. For a console who was not the "First Entrant" of this Generation, that's like a deathblow.
So you are correct in that the main issue (for all consoles, throughout history of the home console market) is getting games to drive sales of your system, the approach that Sony took crippled their ability to do so, and need to change some things before they will be able to get and sustain that type of advantage.
Wish there was an edit button.. I knew that number seemed off :)
- sell-500k-for-profit-218215.php
its not 500million (more like 8million$) to develop a PS3 game. Its 500,000 sales requied to turn a profit. My mistake, but it did make me go find the article.
http://kotaku.com/gaming/ps3/namco-ps3-games-must
Looks like Sony is finally getting their heads out of their cracks.
Salvaging the system should be their first priority. When I say salvage I don't mean beacuse it's already a failure, but in the sense that the overall 'market buzz' of the console is overwhelmingly negative. Sony needs to really reshape its console in order for it to be successful and shake off the rediculous problems that the HR department (and initial design decisions) have been causing them.
Problems to solve, in order of priority for the company:
1) Get the COST of the console DOWN.
2) Fix the BluRay manufacturing woes.
3) Help their 3rd party developers to understand the CELL processor and sucessfully develop on the platform.
4) Match the XBOX LIVE online experience.
This is my opinion of course, but outsourcing the CELL processor will be a step in the right direction for #1. Without lowering the price of the console, the sales and demand for the console just aren't going to be there... Then again, #2 will prevent them from meeting the demand anyways, so you can probably interchange those top 2 in terms of importance.
Without a broad market exposure, the investment required to develop a high quality game on the platform isn't viable for most studios. I forget who it was, but in a 3rd party interview on the subject of PS3 development an estimate was given to the amount of 500$million per game of the complexity of the CELL processor.. (Im not looking up the interview but it was posted here on SlashDot I believe.)
So once Sony handles the price and production woes, keeping their developers happy so that they a) continue to develop on the platform and b) ensure a healthy and broad diversity of available games to play will go a long way in making the PS3 "successful."
#4 is more of hearsay, as I have been told (I do not own a PS3) that the online experience is a 'first hash' type of thing and falls short in many respects to XBOX Live service.
Anyways - even speculation of this sort is a good thing - instead of a typical "screw price, you are all sheep and will pay what we tell you to pay!"
Take it with a grain of salt, because that's what my opinion is worth on the internets! (or maybe less...)
If you havn't played the little racer levels, then you don't know what hitting a gaming wall is. All this talk about FF games and Gears of War and Doom 3 and stuff?
Please. Fire up your NES Emulator of choice and see how far you get with Battletoads (without cheating of course..)
Warning: You may want to go shopping for a hairpiece first, because you'll look funny once you pull all your hair out.
Wow, I feel like someone just puked their hands and rubbed it all over my body. This is absolutly rediculous.
... how did NPR put it?... overzealous?) break a few TVs, and now all of a sudden Nintendo is libel for a defective console?
Nintendo adds a wrist strap as a safety feature, so stupid people who have 'grip' problems (small peens perhaps?) don't throw the Wiimote around. A group of morons (ok ok, maybe they were drunk and
Yea, great. Im sure this is REALLY going to make Nintendo warm to us Americans. You wonder why they don't port a lot of games over to the US, and you wonder why in some games prior to the port they 'dumb it down' thinking its 'too hard for westerners.' (I wish I could find the article that I got this information from.. I thought it was BS at the time, but now Im thinking it might have been credible.)
Nintendo comes out of left field with a great console, thats tons of fun for all ages... And some douchebags who are looking to make a quick buck want to file a lawsuit against them for breaking a WRIST STRAP which didnt' even need to be added in the first place?
wiihaveaproblem.com - 29 broken straps out of... 1million+ consoles (probably near double that in controllers)
wiidamage.com - 3 broken straps reported
I love the US, but sometimes I just have a hard time being 'proud to be an American.'
(I reserve the right to not check my spelling or grammar. Deal with it!)
Do whatever works best for you. Some people swear by reading coding books, improving your math skills (especially if you are interested in graphics programming) - and others tell you to work off other peoples code or take a class or something... I think working with other coders gives me the most benefit... As long as you aren't shy about asking 'why' and doing some legwork in looking things up yourself. When you are surrounded by people who have been coding for 10-20 years not tapping that resource is just stupid. Sure, they might have 'their way' of doing things, but like you should have learned in Comp Sci, there's more than one way to fry an egg (write some code, mix a drink, etc.) You get the point. Learn the concepts, look over other peoples code to 'see what they were doing', work on a project that will give you exposure to subject matter experts in areas you want to learn more about, and you'll be on your way. And honestly, I *DO* believe reading is beneficial. Even if you don't feel like you learn very well that way (some people dont), books are a great resource to learn new things or use as reference material. You might be overwhelmed at first, but the more effort you put into developing your skills, the more you will get out of it.
You misunderstand my question - Im not concerned about how Sony will come up with the money to fund these developers. I want to know what 'conditions' come with the funding and where that leaves the developers in terms of future profits from their hard work.
Nice! Dont Forget "Crab Attack" and "Extended I and R Sounds" for kids!
1) Make idiot out of Company at E3
2) Offer downloadable content after competitors have already done it
3) ???
4) PROFIT!!!
Ok maybe that's a bit unfair... This sounds like a good distribution channel for Sony - one that I think Microsoft should use a lot more.
What is interesting and what I would like to know more of, is how this "Sony will fund the development and distribution" works.. As a game designer if someone is funding your costs, they probably have an ownership stake in the finished product. So when they deliver the finished software to Sony for distribution, what is the profit share? If they make a huge blockbuster, does Sony keep all the cash flow and pay them a small 'development fee' and go about their business, or do they allow these developers to reap in a modest portion of profits?
I have a hard time beliving Sony will put up all the development costs and then share the profits... maybe that's just me. So if it's just a Cost Plus type contract with the developers, it sounds like a 'decent' way for Sony to get great games developed by smaller studios without the financial means to produce a larger scale project. It provides an advantage over the XNA Kit that MS is releasing since the financial backing should hopefully translate into higher quality games.
But then again, the XNA Kit will have a wider reach which may offset the advantage of Sony financing a 'select few.'
Oh.. By the way.. Sony, I still won't be buying a console at launch.
It looks like Nintendo is taking a page right from Microsoft in their online approach, and due to their huge history of games on their past consoles they are likely to have an even higher revenue stream from 'classic' game sales.
FTFA: "Nintendo reportedly plans to make ten new games available every month, so retro fans may want to set aside a budget -- if future releases can uphold this level of quality, all those Wii games may become almost a secondary consideration."
10 Every month?? That's pretty aggressive - but then again how many games have they produced for NES, SNES, 64, etc? A few thousand im sure. I'll be waiting for some of the gems (and would even be willing to pay a premium!) such as Metroid, Kid Icarus, Ikari Warriors/Contra(Online Co-op perhaps??) and the like.
Microsoft really had an amazing strategy with their online classic game downloads, but it looks like Nintendo is going to take it to the next level - and I for one will happily shell out a wii amount of cash for their golden oldies.
I recently did a review of MSFTs Gaming Division.. From the research that I did, the MSX was a "total failure" in the Japanese Market for a single reason - It had no 3rd party support. It's game selection was pathetic at best and as such, failed miserably.
When the console was created it was deemed Microsoft's way of taking it to the "Japanese console manufacturers" and they lost millions on it.
It just goes to show how important games are to the consoles that are developed - over the years every console has shined and/or failed (other than the PS2 - I think I found a statistic that said nearly 60% of the consoles were originally sold due to the DVD player capability) because of a weak selection of games, or 3rd party developers abondoning the systems for a "Next Gen" console.
I know this is slightly OT, but that's the reason I think MSFT is really going to take over the Industry over the next few years... Their development tools on the XBOX and XBOX360 are just plain superior for developers in comparison to Nintendo and PStation (unless something has significantly changed in their tools for the Wii/PS3.) It keeps developer costs lower, makes the game easily portable to Windows as a second outlet for sales, and with the XNA coming out the potential for the system just skyrockets in the Indie realm.
They have made a LOT of mistakes, starting with the MSX and going all the way up until Age of Empires was successful (I think it's recognized as their first REAL success in the industry and spurred a lot of the company's gaming division growth in the late 90s) but it's pretty obvious that they are learning and doing what they can to not repeat them.
94% down eh? Ouch.
... hmm how did he put it at E3? ... buy PS3s "because."
But don't worry - Sony will laugh all the way to the bank when you
In all seriousness it's expected for their profits to be in the gutter with the development of the next gen console... the real surprise here is that Nintendo's profits are UP when they have been developing the Wii - sure it's a less intensive system that is probably lower in price, but a 'next gen' console should still suck up a bit of profits.
Im not sure where community relations falls into this since E3 but it's been 6 months - I wonder if there is significant impact by Nintendo's positive view in the limelight in comparison with Sony's more arrogant and egotistical stance (IMO.)
The citizens of Iran are ticked off that they are being denied of "Western Culture", which is apparently something they want. Therefore they have been using High Speed internet to download music and videos and whatever else so they can have what they want.
Ahmah-not-gonna-work-here-anymore (couldn't help myself) decides that in order to stop the influence (re: the education of his people outside of what he allows them) he will just cripple the entire nation's communication abilities.... but all this really accomplishes is it takes longer for the people to obtain the goods they want.. This just goes to show his intelligence (lack). The people using the internet to get around his bans and laws are ALREADY influenced by Western Culture. This is just going to cause more discontent among his citizens.. Really, it's only a matter of time before that country becomes a bloodbath with citizens trying to step up to the Government and Ahmadinejad shutting them down forcefully.
On a positive note, it's also going to somewhat hamper their technology advanacement, right? Although Im sure his high-and-mighty Government 'is trusted not to abuse the highspeed internet' and therefore will continue to use it, so strike that. (I wonder how long that will go unnoticed by the civilians...)
What the hell is the world coming to? Now kids can't play flag football and 'tag' and similar 'chasing' games for fear of liability in case the kids get hurt? Honestly - this all comes down to stupid parents who want nothing but a free meal ticket, and our legal system (in the US anyways) is fostering this type of action.
Kids get hurt - Deal with it! Boys will be boys and all that. Now we are sheltering our children from being... children!? When will it stop? Some people will always have something to complain about and the fear of being sued is slowly turning our younger generation into zombies. Soon enough they will only be allowed to read books 'approved' by the Government (since schools have been sued over non-approved literature) and video games are things of the past for anyone under 18. The sad part is that it's not even our Government doing it to us, its ourselves!
I wish we could screen for integrity and ethics in people before they were allowed to become parents - sure, maybe im overreacting a little bit, but everytime I read a story like this it makes me feel bad for the children that will never get to experience the fun of being a child like I did.
Change is not ALWAYS a good thing.
The strategy of the original XBOX was based on what Sony tried to do with their PlayStation 2 console - instead of being just a game console they wanted to be an entire family entertainment Hub.. No console yet has satisfied that goal, or even come close in my mind. 360 is getting better with their live content, but it is still HIGHLY lacking.
... Where is the iTunes relative content? I want to download a *WIDE* variety of TV shows, Videos, Music, etc on DEMAND (sorta like cable TV.) That's where the next step is going - You won't need cable, because everything you want to watch you'll be able to pull down from live the day after it airs. Of course, this is possible with the current 360 now, so shouldn't be much of a surprise.
/opinion
The normal lifecycle of these consoles is ~5years. It doesn't surprise me in the least that they would start the planning stages already - it will give them a legup on being first to market with the NextGen when the time comes. In this industry that type of advantage creates major waves - just look at how it worked for the 360 compared with the (not yet released) PS3. If the PS3 came out first and had some decent launch games, I might have picked it up and skipped the 360 (thank god for favorable coincidences!)
So the next XBOX will have (dun dun dun!) more powerful Graphics than the 360, PS3, or Wii (gee that was hard to guess.) Beyond that I see them really expanding on the LIVE portion of their service. Right now they offer games, demos, and weak selection of music and videos(mostly game related)
Of course, it will likely be first to market with the 'latest and greatest' tech stuff... i.e. today we have BluRay vs HD-DVD.. In 5 years who knows what the new 'hot' tech thing is, but im sure the XBOX will have some of it. I'd expect it to highly integrate with the ZUNE (which is probably where/when the music content will really ramp up on the system.)
Long story short (too late), they only have things to gain in terms of preparing this early for the next Gen console, and likely all of us consumers will benefit because of it - Longer development (hopefully) means better quality overall, and they won't need to rush in order to enter the market behind the frontrunners.
Well, I'll ask it!!
My understanding is that Blizzard (not sure if it was called that at the time) was creating a RTS based on Warhammer FOR Games Workshop. Somehow or another Games Workshop decided they didn't like/want/need the development team anymore, so the game and the team walked and created what is now known as WarCraft I. The rest is history really - it was hugely successful, spawned many sequels, and is now the #1 online RPG in the world.
So now GW is making their own MMORPG, based on their own proprietary game and story. Will it resemble WoW? Of course, but that's because WoW's foundation *IS* Warhammer. It will be what the WarCraft Universe was SUPPOSED to be in the beginning.
If this information is accurate (I've read it somewhere before, wish I could quote a source..) does GW ever 'kick themselves' for the lost opportunity in what would have been their domination of the MMORPG market, and how do they expect to overcome the hurdle of people (who aren't aware of the 'facts(?)') believing that Warhammer is a copycat of WoW?
You are right, we have nothing to complain about. And the next (first for most of /.ers) time you get a kiss, your lips meet, and he/she pukes down your throat, Im sure you'll have nothing to complain about.. After all, you DID get the kiss.
..at all the time I wasted playing WoW brings a tear to my eye. I neglected my loving wife, my friends, I would occasionally skip work, school, or other activities just so i could 'raid.' That's the worst part about that game. It hooks you with the ease of leveling and the fact that you CAN level on your own. You don't need to be in a giant group to gain experience (a la FFXI).. The questing system is intuitive and enjoyable, the storyline is great wether you played the original Warcraft installments or not.
The game was successful because everyone wanted a 'casual friendly' game to play - and that's exactly what it *WAS*. But once everyone reached 60 and the developers lollygagged their way to the first expansion (after what? 2 years? 3? I can't even remember how long the game has been out thanks to being locked in a cold room full of empty coke bottles and a broken '2' key for Sinister Striking!)
Once you hit that top level and started raiding, it became a horrible addiction. The only way to see real character advancement is through new gear, and the GOOD STUFF (as all crack heads want!) is only available via raiding A LOT. I went from a happy casual player to a 5 day a week 'second full time job' player.
I don't think another game will have that much success anytime soon - im sure it's possible.. but I also think that the hayday of WoW is going to slowly come to an end. I don't know if their numbers are still going up or not, but im sure as more and more new games will be released that will slowly steal games from WoW... Blizzard might try to hold onto the throne with World of Starcraft or World of Diablo or basically just rehashing WoW with one of their other brands to keep it 'fresh', but eventually even they will bow down eventually.
Besides... WoW is in a whole new 'era' of gaming IMO. 20 years ago a fun game was playing cards after dinner with your parents (maybe a few more years than 20...whatever) The point is that as technology continues to develop and becomes accepted, more and more people jump 'on the wagon', and thats just part of what the gaming community is seeing today. Is it that WoW just happened to be 'the right game at the right time', or will it be looked at years from now as 'one of the first good games in the 'Gamers-Generation.' (I know that sounds a bit silly but hopefully you understand my point.)
Disclaimer: I fall upon my rights as an american to post this message without using spellcheck. Thanks!
From TFA:w ow-general&t=8612315&tmp=1#post8612315
/.ers can appreciate that!) The next BlizzCon will likely be to announce the next BIG project after Burning Crusade is released - likely Hero Classes, another expansion, or a new game in the works (StarCraft 2/WC4/Whatever).
"We haven't yet begun planning a BlizzCon for this year, and truthfully it isn't intended as an annual event. We had a lot of fun though, and we're looking forward to getting another one going and inviting everyone to come hang out with us and check out everything that is Blizzard."
Original Link to Post:
http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=
The first one was a hit (apparently, I wasn't there.) Tickets did sell out, and there were some really sexy (and.. uhhh... unfortunately not so sexy) ladies dressed up as Succubus! (Im sure
Let's see... Instead of leaving the earth (since some replies suggest that it isn't a very good idea and we would just ruin the Galaxy instead of Earth), lets find some other options...
/.ers will all congregate to an Island and let everyone else perish, and we can then create a utopia led by CowboyNeal. Don't Forget that we'll still die from Natural Disasters or something we havn't thought of yet anyways!
Being wiped out by natural disaster
Immediate Risk: Moderate Low
Long Term Risk: High (Global Warming? Sun failure?)
Mitigation Plan: Sorry, Everyone dies (but hey, who cares right? This wont happen in our time! We should all have jobs in Washington D.C.!)
Nuclear War / Engineered Virus
Immediate Risk: Moderate High
Long Term Risk: Moderate High
Mitigation Plan: World Peace? pffttt. Hopefully us
Other dangers we have not yet thought of
Immediate Risk: Unknown
Long Term Risk: Moderate High?
Mitigation Plan: Can't really have one of these for something we havn't thought of yet.
So we are going to eventually die anyways - the bottom line is we either take steps now to ensure the continual survival of our Great^1000 Grandchildren, or we become even more selfish than we already are, steal the last bit of life from this planet, and then just wither away and perish. Of course, if thats the case why wait? Let's engineer that virus or start that Nuclear war now.
I read enough of this Paladin whining and crying on the official Forums. Instead of focusing on that, how about the complete lack of Internal Quality Assurance Testing that Blizzard has yet again displayed? They throw these patches on the Test Server and allow a public 'stress' test of changes - then turn the Test Server off, make 'additional changes' and throw it down to the live servers.
Let's just see a few of the more 'rediculous' bugs that made it into this patch:
Firemaw reflecting ALL SPELLS cast at him (This has apparently been hotfixed)
Nefarian respawns immediately upon being kill in Dragon Form. (Yes, he immediately appears back on his throne and you can start the event again - Oddly enough after Phase 1, Phase 2 would not start and then he would stay gone for good so this isn't really a huge issue.)
In MC the Annihilators and Surgers would be banished, becoming immune but still go around beating on people.
In ZG there were multiple reports of fear being bugged
Hakkar was either ninja-buffed or majorly bugged (each equally offensive IMO.)
Im sure the list goes on and on, but these are what I have seen and have been verified for me as of yesterday night. I find it amazing (then again, I expect it from Blizzard now..) that they don't bother to test these things before the patch goes live. How exactly do you give a major boss a "Reflection from all Magical Spells" ability and NOT notice it? Either the game was very poorly programmed (this wouldn't surprise me in the least) or someone is deliberately sabotaging the patches as they are being released on the live realms.
Or maybe someone else has a better explanation, but I find it hard to believe a "Woops!" when things are working perfectly and then suddently take on a completely different aspect or behavior, such as the spell reflection issue of a single boss.
Disclaimer: I take no responsibility in the grammar or spelling of this post. I play MMOGs and Im Republican.
I like this idea. For the modders its an extra spot to add a little more 'umph' to their home made beasts.
I'd be hesitant to bring this to a LAN type even though, seems like these would be a hot item for some of the less honest members of that community (quick finger willy anyone?)
Very Flashy and a great idea, although not a lot of characters and I read that a personal message would scroll.. With the breaks inbetween each LED character I don't think that would look exactly as nice as it COULD. I expect other Memory chip makers will follow suit with this idea and improve on the design a little bit.
On a side note, what kind of heating issue would this cause for the memory? It looks like theres a little vent on the top of these LED strips.. With my limited knowledge of these displays, is there any issue with increased heat to the DIMMs?
Well, it's a Thursday before Christmas Shutdown, nobody is here except us few poor souls with no vacation time left, and I happened upon this post on /.
SO - Because im bored, I decided to take a look at the website (pointed out in the website) that supposedly showcases this teenage girl along with her real name. Any speculation on which one she is? I think the blond, second from the left, is a good candidate.
Maybe this should be a poll for the week? =)
http://www.theguygame.com/index-enter.htm
This isn't a proper comparison, and it never was in my mind. If you go to a movie in a Theatre, you get to SEE the movie in its entirety, but you don't own it. On the contrary, if you want to get the full experience out of a video game, you'll either rent it until you are finished, or buy it from the store. You can't compare these 1 to 1 because you can't pay 8$ to play a game for 3 hours and be 'completely satisfied' and get closure from it. Now they want to compare Movies, VHS, and DVD sales to .. it looks like just plain Video Game Sales.. What about Video game rentals? How about all the gaming events that they have around the country? Im sure there's money being spent there.. Does this include arcade games that people plug coins into?
You can't just take a look at opening sales of a movie theatre and compare it to opening sales of a video game and claim either is bigger than the other.
At least, it seems flawed to me, but I've been working all day and am probably fried. Anyone have any opinions on this?
I Appologize, maybe 'stupid' was the wrong wording. I could understand if this was just 'another game' that nobody cares about. It'd be something if this was an EA game that was just one of the hundreds they pump out a month, at the expense of their employees health.
Valve actually works really hard to make the community better. They are involved, they worked hard on this system to distribute the game and cut OUT the middle man (therefore in the long run, probably making it less expensive for us, the end users.) Plus, they spend an extended ammount of time developing and tweaking it, to be the *BEST* gaming experience it could be. Ive only played it 3 hours, and Im convinced they not only put their skill into making it, but their heart and soul. They took the time to give you everything you could possibly want, wrapped in a neat distribution package with a nice card labeled "STEAM" on the top, and you are hung up on 'not being able to use the internet at home, so im going to steal it instead!'
It angers me that instead of just getting off your lazy crack, dragging your box to a friends house and using his internet to do the *ONE-TIME Authentication* to unlock the game, you are going to go through the effort of downloading, cracking, burning, just so you can not pay for these peoples hard work.
I am sure its not by choice that 'you dont have internet' at your main residence, but there are alternatives to stealing. This is one game worth supporting the developers, and I think it's sad that something so miniscule as an authentication process (to gaurantee that the game isnt 'cracked' in the first place) would DRIVE you to doing just that.
Maybe stupid wasn't the right word, but if you can fill in the blank for me, feel free.