Re:Why not in America?
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Gamer Nation
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heroes come from every walk of life. i have the utmost respect for lance armstrong especially. but how can you say that those amongst us who dedicate our energies towards technology and even games themselves are not heroes? there are alot of people in the technology field mainly stemming from their love of games and getting attached to the computer at an early age. im not always the biggest fan of bill gates myself, but you have to respect a successful entrepenuer. think about how many lives would have been lost, and how many would have been saved without the interest and the curiosity instilled by science and technology. in these modern days, video games are helping cultivate that interest.
athletics teach you a great deal many things. teamwork, health, etc. video games teach a great deal as well. problem solving, pattern recognition, hand-eye-coordination [which can be reapplied back to sports] so i wont call it a complete waste. everything done in moderation...
[lance doesnt really count here since he is a survivor first and foremost and that is on another level.] but, for bill gates-types to not be considered heroes. i tell you what. you can have an program at a school and invite any sports star you want. they will say i play in the nba or nfl or whathaveyou. there will be cheers and applause. some kid will get up and say, "i practice every night after school so i can grow up to make it to the nba like you".
you can invite your bill gates-type person to the same school. they will say im part of the team that makes halo, starcraft or whathaveyou. there will be cheers and applause. some kid will get up and say, "i'm teaching myself programming every night after school so i can grow up to make my own games".
not every kid makes it to college or to the professional leagues, and not every kid makes it to college or as a programmer. but programming and technology is something they can use their entire lives. and i tell you this, the bill gates type is more likely to be able to provide those high schoolers jobs after college.
i am in excellent shape, i played sports and i played video games. both in moderation. i am happy i am not out of shape now that im no longer 18, but i am even happier that i have skills and a job in a field i enjoy. you may not agree with me, but if youre here on slashdot, im sure you at least partly feel similar.
Re:Why not in America?
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Gamer Nation
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· Score: 1
im sorry to hear about your experience in high school, but obviously here on slashdot im sure you arent the only one that felt that way.
the fact is [obviously i dont know your age, but judging from the fact that you were playing online in junior high you cant be too old], things are slightly different amongst online games these days. i look back at the old days of quake and starcraft, and now i look at stuff like xbox live, and its night and day. i think that the future of online games will be different. playing online seems to be taking the route of being a 100% social event. playing games alone without an online component is a different beast though.
unfortunately, youre mainly talking about not being active enough. thats something different from being antisocial. i cant help you there. but there are kids that group together and play games together all over the place. hence the rise of clans. its so common and socially open that you periodically see craigslist postings for gatherings of gamers to play psp or ds or just join in on a couple rounds of halo2. things are changing man...
capcom and namco each have created tons of decent fighting games, and most would not be considered crap. the majority of their games end up on the ps2; if not just the ps2 exclusively. each company has their reasons; thats just the way it is.
for target demographics being the reason for there not being many GC fighting games, but you also admit that the GC version sold well. super smash brothers sold well. i would say that there is a market for gc fighting games. publishers and developers are just choosing not to publish them for the gc. also you mention that working in other nintendo characters would help the game sell even more. basically it sounds like you are wishing for soul calibur ripped of its story and characters just replaced by nintendo properties?!??! im envisioning super smash brothers powered by the soul edge engine!!! lol.
if your thinking is indicative of how most nintendo owners felt, what hope would a third party developer have in creating titles for the revolution if he doesnt somehow work mario, zelda, samus, etc into the game? im sure that many already feel this way, hence lack of much third party support. namco has its own intellectual property, i doubt they wish to contine down the road of paying for licenses from other companies when they themselves have dozens of their own original characters. smaller developers obviously couldnt afford to pay for such a license, so where would that leave them in nintendo-land?
as for controllers, each is well suited for different things. my hands must be better suited for the ps2. to each his own, but admittedly many gc owners complain about the button layout of the gc controller not working well with many games. [read the posts on this page alone if you want proof].
also, why is it that no one here is crying that there is no tekken5 for GC or xbox?
also, we still do not know what additional costs namco incurred by including the three different characters in sc2. obviously since they are the owners of the tekken IP, including heihachi didnt cost them anything. they ported over several of his moves/animations from tekken, so thats less work; they saved there. licensing spawn and necrid from todd mcfarlane for the xbox version undoubtedly cost them. im sure that nintendo didnt just hand over link for free either, but that's debatable.
once those licensing fees are taken into account, its quite possible that the ps2 version made them the most money even though it didnt sell as well.
yeah, but porting the entire engine and game would be one serious headache. i have no idea how the engine runs under the hood, but porting it to either of the parrallel running architectures of the next gen systems would be one serious headache.
granted the game would probably sell pretty well since there are few launch fighting titles, but still the userbase for the next gen systems will be alot smaller than the current generations. it took namco a while to learn how to harness the power of the current gen systems, im sure they would rather have a decent current gen title, than a launch title that plays suspiciously due to them still trying to get a grips on the newer architecture.
since its at least temporarily exclusive, they will probably pull in lots of SC fans that own multiple systems. and they also avoid the inevitable "well, all these games are great and cool and all, but the graphics here are better, the controller here is better"-banter from those of use with multiple systems too.
after playing the xbox and ps2 versions [i own the xbox version] i can say that spawn wasnt exactly the greatest character they could have used. spawn would have been more well suited to something like a streetfighter or darkstalkers. more of a 2d fighting game character since you dont really get to use most of what could be considered his really cool abilities. heihachi is solid, and link sounded interesting, but well... i havent played it. the overuse of nintendo franchises kinda disturbs me.
you also leave out the fact that due to the layout of the gamecube controller, there are very few fighting games on the gamecube as is.
the release of a game of this "caliber" and you have an instant hit on the fighting genre deprived gamecube. its harder to release a fighting game on the ps2 or even xbox because there is more competition for the fighting genre fans.
but dont fret. nowadays the term exclusive usually only applies for a certain amount of months. look at grand theft auto. look at metal gear solid. if you dont have all of the systems, just be patient.
re4 is still coming for the ps2. your last statement is false. re4 for the ps2 was shown as late as e3 this year.
well, i think that the success of RE4 lies in the fact that the console has a lack of more mature titles. not to drag on and on about "kiddie" reputation of the GC, but there is a serious lack of more adult themed game titles on the GC. period. when you take a very, very popular console title that until then had no recent original releases [sequels and remakes dont count] and release it for a system like the GC, you have a group of fans that are starving for more adult games and you have an automatic best seller. add to the fact that it is supposedly a good game [havent played re4 yet] and there you have it.
similarly, capcom understands that the re franchise began with the playstation. due to brand loyalty, many playstation owners are owners of the ps2, and would love the opportunity to play one of their more popular franchises on hardware that they actually own, and once again... there you have it. why wouldnt capcom release re4 for the ps2? due to the latter, the re fanbase for the ps2 is probably even larger than on the gc. and since it is supposedly a good game, im sure that releasing re4 on the ps2 will attract more of the ps2's broad userbase to the franchise. since many of the ps2 fanbase will move on to purchase ps3s, they will be interested in buying another sequel to the franchise. it all makes sense, at least to me.
i can foresee capcom contemplating releasing re5 for the revolution, but since probably even capcom has no idea what the revolution control schema will be like, nor do they even know if it can handle the graphical prowess that they are using for the other two next gen systems. how can they be assured that the game they have already spent months developing will even be portable to this new console? they are waiting to see what the revolution will provide them to work with before making such an announcement.
well, the fact of the matter is with the whole push for HD content, the FMVs and the textures which give the game its look will need more space. im not saying that the games will take up the whole 50-100 gigs that blu-ray provides, but space constraints should be the last thing that developers should have to worry about. [well, they shouldnt have to worry about ram either, but hey... theres always next generation]
the blu-ray player already plays all formats before it, and the HD-DVD format is supposedly able to be backwards compatible. i am assuming that you can view a HD-DVD disc on a regular DVD player [albeit not in true HD]. that means that in some aspect you should be able to read a HD-DVD disc on the blu-ray player. since they are both using blue lasers, i really wouldnt be too surprised if you were able to find a firmware patch somewhere to read both formats.
and perhaps the market is still too young to fully embrace either next gen format. but with every ps3 having a drive, thats a pretty large install base for the industry to ignore. you will always have a way to get your content into homes.
think about it. if you are in the business of releasing movies, which format would you rather release in? the one with... im guessing here, but with i guess a 20 million or so ps3 userbase or HD-DVD thats struggling to take off, since there are only a select handful that can afford the players at the time?
very true, but who successfully sues MS for allowing spyware or viruses to infect your computer which you have full control over, and purposely set it up to be infected. even if they sue, how would they end up convicted? under what grounds? it is impossible to create 100% secure software, just as it is impossible to create 100% bug-free software. unbeforeseen circumstances popup.
GTA at its current rating is supposed to only be sold to people over what? 17? so what? at that very same age they can rent watch or buy any r-rated movie available anywhere and see scenes even more explicit than any of the ones in GTA. they are making a huge deal over the fact that kids well under that age can also go in and purchase titles they werent originally intended to be able to pick up. is that rockstars fault? nope, its the retailer. if you go blame the retailer, they will say the sales person is at fault, since the store policy says otherwise. the same applies for movies; at most retailers, kids of any age can go in and buy any movie they want, regardless of rating [unless its x, and even that depends on the retailer and whomever is the salesperson at the time] the difference is that the movie industry has worked alongside the govt; they have connections.
lets say i develop a program that plays dvd files. but i also code into the program something that outputs the dvd files unencrpyted onto the HDD. at the last minute after finishing the bulk of the code, i realize "hey, this could get me in trouble, let me hide it away". once my product reaches the market i find that people have been reverse engineering my product [which is illegal in any way shape or form according to my license agreement] they find that they can tweak my configuration files to "unlock" said function of my program. should i be held accountable for the efforts of a "criminal hacker"? [criminal: they illegally broke the license agreement which i sold them with my software; hacker: someone who is proficient at computer skills or illegally gains access to a computer system or file]
you apparently have not had your hands on this thing. first and foremost the 16:9 screen on the PSP [even at the smaller size] will beat most portable dvd players at the same price. you should definitely check one out. the screen is usually what sucks most people in. its superb quality and after you actually watch video on it, you would never try to compare it to a huge bulky portable dvd player again.
Dude. Playing music is not something the PSP does well. It's far too big. 1gb flash players cost the same as a 1gb memory cart for the PSP.
Playing movies on the PSP is a real pain in the neck and the wallet. If you have more than 1 kid all bets are off. Can you imagine the fighting going on in the back seat? A few GBA SP's and a bunch of games would keep kids far more entertained.
okay, playing music could be better. yes, but playing music is in fact something that the PSP does well. its not meant to be the size of the ipod, since i am assuming thats what you are comparing it to. its not meant to be that size because it functions as more than just a music player.
as far as the memory goes. i would agree that it is expensive to buy memory sticks, but you also have the option to not buy any. even though the default one sucks, sony has finally smartened up and decided to release memory with the system.
buying PSPs for a bunch of kids is probably not the easiest solution unles you have money to burn, but i guarantee that you will save cash in the long run. you buy one product instead of: (music player + video game system + portable dvd player + emulator device + photo viewer) X ~2 batteries per device X the number of kids you have.
yeah, but you have to recognize that emulating a nes, and emulating a playstation are two different monsters. nearly anything can emulate nintendo hardware [exceptions for the GC and in some cases the n64].
Whereas many of the people posting have mentioned that they are interesting in having a device that does one thing [and does it well]. there are alot of parents that are interested in buying one device for their kids instead of 4. thats the PSP appeal. im not going on record saying whether thats better or not, but as a parent on a budget and kids that want an ipod, a portable media viewer, a playstation, and portable video games for the ride to and from school, etc. i think the PSP would appeal to that demographic since its more economical.
if you buy a PSP and use only one of its functions, whereas its just playing games, or just watching movies, or as alot of people here have stated, just playing homebrew; you are getting your monies worth. excluding play-yan importing, if you buy a gameboy and decide not to play games, you dont really have any use for it.
UMD movies are selling at a pretty decent clip. with more and more movie companies getting on the UMD bandwagon i dont really see the correlation. perhaps as gamers we cant really see the idea of movies bringing in new consumers to play games. the movie aspect isnt bringing in as many new non-gamer customers IMO, but it surely is making an impact on the industry. that cant be denied.
i remember hearing something along the lines of EA hiring the guys who did the desert mod for the original battlefield to create BF2. when initial development for BF2 was over and done, they fired the development team.
so, of course who was still around to patch the game? some new people i guess, and this is what you get out of it.
im looking for the exact article i saw on it. i dont recall all of the exact details, but if im right... one word. karma!
wow, a whole subthread on various swapping techniques, why they are better or worse than the FS+HG technique, instead of any commentary on the actual article at hand.
In the scheme I envision, the PS1 ISOs wouldn't be signed against the PSP execution key; they'd be signed against the PS1 emulator key.
if you give ANY direct access to the hardware to run code youve signed for in some way, you are providing a backdoor. trust me on this one. it would be simple to code a "hand-off" executable. plus this would give rise to a bunch of ISO hacking. imagine hacked isos of sonys most popular flagship titles with the character models replaced by mario or master chief; nude lara croft textures...etc. dont think sony would be too happy about that.
Since 2-year-olds live in the same house as a high-school-age (or college-age during the summer) PSP player.
alas, i understand. but just as you have to take precautions to keep two year olds and liquids away from your computer and monitor, you might need to try to keep them away from your psp which costs more than some computers nowadays.
The thinking in this case is that if you're rotating the system to activate a tilt sensor, then you might inadvertently twist the system.
maybe youre mistaken or the video has you led astray. the psp doesnt bend as easily as you think. [actually i just tested my theory and yes, my keyboard bends more easily than my PSP. lol.] since the usb connector is at the top of the psp, you could plug a sensor in and have your way with the psp. unless youre the incredible hulk, or you have already dismantled your psp, and the screws are loose or something; i dont see anyone inadvertently breaking or ejecting the umds from the psp anytime soon that way.
Problem is that if you're required to "be nice" to a 2-, 6-, and 10-year-old living in your parents' house, and you get punished if the 2-year-old begins to cry when you gently push her hand away from your game system, "older and more professional gamers" have to put up with "gamers of all ages" whether they like it or not.
with all those siblings i guess i understand why buying both systems or a spare one they can use is kinda sorta out of the question. but what i can say is that the psp is pretty durable, but it looks like a piece of art [you dont want to smudge it, you dont want to scratch it] it makes you want to treat it very carefully. but the psp can handle pretty rugged use too. worst case scenario you can buy yourself a case and a screen protector.
Thank you for recognizing that there is a market segment that demands durability and quick play.
of course there is. i realized that when i had to decide between the two which one i wanted to buy first. i wont knock either one. i liked the gameboy when it was originally introduced but i disliked the idea of dumbing down a console game just to play it on the go. if the psp didnt have a sleep function, maybe i would look at it differently, but i like games for the challenge and i hate feeling like i can beat this game in a matter of 2 hours. i am older now and i have older tastes. im a better gamer, so i prefer a solid challenge. if something comes along that i like, i might pick up a ds too. so far im not impressed, but that doesnt mean no one else is. i was the same with the xbox; i didnt pick one up until i saw a few games i liked. i also saw with the psp the opportunity to consolidate several of my devices into one. so i got it. different gamers have different needs from their game systems. the psp isnt for everyone, and the ds isnt either.
i think that the square aside is uncalled for in terms of this article. i think the point was that iD software has been rehashing the same game over and over again. albeit with better graphics and maybe better netcode each time.
square on the other hand has been improving upon the graphics and gameplay. they have been branching out on the mechanics of the genre [turn based strategy, rpg, rts, and whatever genre parasite eve and vagrant story could be considered]. granted, it is hit and miss with final fantasy and square titles in general; i dont like them all myself. but each go-round you have a new battle system, new gameplay mechanics, new irritatingly annoying minigames, and GASP! yes, even a new well defined story. maybe the GTA series would be a better example in the same vein as the doom and quake series. same game but with new characters and better graphics
HL2 is IMO king of the hill for now, and valve actually did more than just update the graphics engine to create HL2. im not saying it is the best that ever will be, and im not saying that its not just the logical path that the sequel was headed, but i think they might have put together a better overall package for the series from inception; its not like doom or quake were reknown for their stories in the first place. if they could have put together a better non-annoying implementation for anti-piracy i would definitely give valve their credit.
well to paraphrase the misunderstood statement of ken katuragi himself. they created these items not so that everyone can go out and buy one immediately, but so that it would be something worthwhile. if you save up more or spend a lil more than you would normally spend at once, you dont feel let down with the final product you devoted part of your budget to.
dont fret. eventually prices will drop. people will trade older systems in. software will get better, and if you want one bad enough, im sure you'll get one in time. if all else fails theres always ebay or one of those win-a-free-psp or win-a-free-ds referral deals.
maybe its just me, but ken kutaragi pretty much wears the exact same outfit every time i see a picture of him.
anyways, it was a very intelligent article. maybe games' journalism is not in fact dead. maybe there is something to the whole "new games' journalism" fad. its nice to find out just how difficult it is to make a living as an independent developer. reminds me of stories of struggling recording artists waiting for their big recording contract.
i'd also be more than interested in seeing more detail into what effort went into designing for new technology that at the time still has not even been created yet.
also, if this game was created and able to run on a modern overclocked system. why the whole uproar about cgi work aka "lies that the e3 trailers told us"? this was basically created on two year old pcs.
With all the power of the PSP, why couldn't Sony have made a PSP program that emulates a PS1 ISO stored on Memory Stick Duo media? That would surely increase the PSP's library. Before you kneejerk answer "piracy enabler", consider that Sony could require the ISO to be ripped from a genuine PS1 CD using Sony's tool and that the ISO could be encrypted to work with one PSP unit's serial number.
well it would be a nice idea. however as you are probably aware, they already have a growing piracy problem with the psp. enabling people to download a program that signs or encrypts iso's is a bad idea. you basically would be giving the piracy community the tools they need to directly reverse engineer and sign their own code and isos.
Then the PSP isn't as durable as the Nintendo DS, which handles WarioWare: Twisted! (in GBA mode) just fine.
uhm, since when was the psp supposed to be built to be more durable? i didnt realize it was a competition. if you twist the system hard enough to open the latch [which doesnt open easily at all unless you use the switch, contrary to common belief] you would be putting undue pressure on the system. what type of gimmick would require you to twist the screen? i wouldnt twist my ipod, keyboard or any of my other electronics for the sake of any gimmick game. should i be upset that my psp isnt supposed to be able to be twisted like that? i didnt realize that was a necessity. the psp is durable enough to handle being carried about daily by older and more professional gamers; the ds is built to be durable enough to be carried around by gamers of all ages. nothing wrong with either stance.
what im saying is that if you need a durable system with games that can last as little as a few minutes at a time, you should go for the ds. if you want a more multipurpose and more immersive system go for the psp. in fanboy land is it illegal to own both?
well in all honesty. i have to agree with the quick games being useful statement. i agree there are not many "quick" games available. but does that mark the PSP a failure? not really. i am sure that there will be plenty of pickup and go games available for the PS over the length of its lifecycle. for those that only use your portable for games such as this, perhaps the DS is more your cup of tea.
however, keep in mind that the bulk of gba and gb games from the past have followed the same model that the psp follows. many games were created to be shorter [overall] and simpler versions of console games. i think that the library for gb and gba games were just so large that you have plenty of room within genres to find the perfect game for you that doesnt consume more time than you havet once. library building takes time. but it will get there.
in the meantime you can use the sleep button with just about any game if you find you need to go do something and you havent gotten to that next save point.
as for loading time, there is loading time, but nothing ridiculously long [although i have heard that midnight club3 (70secs) was pretty bad] but much of the loading time ive seen is not extremely noticeable when compared to a console game.
the battery power is definitely not as conservative as the DS but its not as bad as one might think. i usually squeeze out 5-6 hours per charge. ive only run out of power once since i bought mine; using it daily.
no dead pixels on my screen. no sticky buttons; the thing works great. as for it shooting discs out, i would probably crack the screen if i twisted mine hard enough for the umd to pop out.
i think that the DS has its purpose, but so does the psp. if you have the money, buy both. but in the meantime try to remember that you guys are criticizing a console thats been out in north america for four months, and has to create its own library of games. it all will come in time.
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heroes come from every walk of life. i have the utmost respect for lance armstrong especially. but how can you say that those amongst us who dedicate our energies towards technology and even games themselves are not heroes? there are alot of people in the technology field mainly stemming from their love of games and getting attached to the computer at an early age. im not always the biggest fan of bill gates myself, but you have to respect a successful entrepenuer. think about how many lives would have been lost, and how many would have been saved without the interest and the curiosity instilled by science and technology. in these modern days, video games are helping cultivate that interest.
athletics teach you a great deal many things. teamwork, health, etc. video games teach a great deal as well. problem solving, pattern recognition, hand-eye-coordination [which can be reapplied back to sports] so i wont call it a complete waste. everything done in moderation...
[lance doesnt really count here since he is a survivor first and foremost and that is on another level.] but, for bill gates-types to not be considered heroes. i tell you what. you can have an program at a school and invite any sports star you want. they will say i play in the nba or nfl or whathaveyou. there will be cheers and applause. some kid will get up and say, "i practice every night after school so i can grow up to make it to the nba like you".
you can invite your bill gates-type person to the same school. they will say im part of the team that makes halo, starcraft or whathaveyou. there will be cheers and applause. some kid will get up and say, "i'm teaching myself programming every night after school so i can grow up to make my own games".
not every kid makes it to college or to the professional leagues, and not every kid makes it to college or as a programmer. but programming and technology is something they can use their entire lives. and i tell you this, the bill gates type is more likely to be able to provide those high schoolers jobs after college.
i am in excellent shape, i played sports and i played video games. both in moderation. i am happy i am not out of shape now that im no longer 18, but i am even happier that i have skills and a job in a field i enjoy. you may not agree with me, but if youre here on slashdot, im sure you at least partly feel similar.
im sorry to hear about your experience in high school, but obviously here on slashdot im sure you arent the only one that felt that way.
the fact is [obviously i dont know your age, but judging from the fact that you were playing online in junior high you cant be too old], things are slightly different amongst online games these days. i look back at the old days of quake and starcraft, and now i look at stuff like xbox live, and its night and day. i think that the future of online games will be different. playing online seems to be taking the route of being a 100% social event. playing games alone without an online component is a different beast though.
unfortunately, youre mainly talking about not being active enough. thats something different from being antisocial. i cant help you there. but there are kids that group together and play games together all over the place. hence the rise of clans. its so common and socially open that you periodically see craigslist postings for gatherings of gamers to play psp or ds or just join in on a couple rounds of halo2. things are changing man...
capcom and namco each have created tons of decent fighting games, and most would not be considered crap. the majority of their games end up on the ps2; if not just the ps2 exclusively. each company has their reasons; thats just the way it is.
for target demographics being the reason for there not being many GC fighting games, but you also admit that the GC version sold well. super smash brothers sold well. i would say that there is a market for gc fighting games. publishers and developers are just choosing not to publish them for the gc. also you mention that working in other nintendo characters would help the game sell even more. basically it sounds like you are wishing for soul calibur ripped of its story and characters just replaced by nintendo properties?!??! im envisioning super smash brothers powered by the soul edge engine!!! lol.
if your thinking is indicative of how most nintendo owners felt, what hope would a third party developer have in creating titles for the revolution if he doesnt somehow work mario, zelda, samus, etc into the game? im sure that many already feel this way, hence lack of much third party support. namco has its own intellectual property, i doubt they wish to contine down the road of paying for licenses from other companies when they themselves have dozens of their own original characters. smaller developers obviously couldnt afford to pay for such a license, so where would that leave them in nintendo-land?
as for controllers, each is well suited for different things. my hands must be better suited for the ps2. to each his own, but admittedly many gc owners complain about the button layout of the gc controller not working well with many games. [read the posts on this page alone if you want proof].
also, why is it that no one here is crying that there is no tekken5 for GC or xbox?
also, we still do not know what additional costs namco incurred by including the three different characters in sc2. obviously since they are the owners of the tekken IP, including heihachi didnt cost them anything. they ported over several of his moves/animations from tekken, so thats less work; they saved there. licensing spawn and necrid from todd mcfarlane for the xbox version undoubtedly cost them. im sure that nintendo didnt just hand over link for free either, but that's debatable.
once those licensing fees are taken into account, its quite possible that the ps2 version made them the most money even though it didnt sell as well.
yeah, but porting the entire engine and game would be one serious headache. i have no idea how the engine runs under the hood, but porting it to either of the parrallel running architectures of the next gen systems would be one serious headache.
granted the game would probably sell pretty well since there are few launch fighting titles, but still the userbase for the next gen systems will be alot smaller than the current generations. it took namco a while to learn how to harness the power of the current gen systems, im sure they would rather have a decent current gen title, than a launch title that plays suspiciously due to them still trying to get a grips on the newer architecture.
since its at least temporarily exclusive, they will probably pull in lots of SC fans that own multiple systems. and they also avoid the inevitable "well, all these games are great and cool and all, but the graphics here are better, the controller here is better"-banter from those of use with multiple systems too.
after playing the xbox and ps2 versions [i own the xbox version] i can say that spawn wasnt exactly the greatest character they could have used. spawn would have been more well suited to something like a streetfighter or darkstalkers. more of a 2d fighting game character since you dont really get to use most of what could be considered his really cool abilities. heihachi is solid, and link sounded interesting, but well... i havent played it. the overuse of nintendo franchises kinda disturbs me.
you also leave out the fact that due to the layout of the gamecube controller, there are very few fighting games on the gamecube as is.
the release of a game of this "caliber" and you have an instant hit on the fighting genre deprived gamecube. its harder to release a fighting game on the ps2 or even xbox because there is more competition for the fighting genre fans.
but dont fret. nowadays the term exclusive usually only applies for a certain amount of months. look at grand theft auto. look at metal gear solid. if you dont have all of the systems, just be patient.
re4 is still coming for the ps2. your last statement is false. re4 for the ps2 was shown as late as e3 this year.
well, i think that the success of RE4 lies in the fact that the console has a lack of more mature titles. not to drag on and on about "kiddie" reputation of the GC, but there is a serious lack of more adult themed game titles on the GC. period. when you take a very, very popular console title that until then had no recent original releases [sequels and remakes dont count] and release it for a system like the GC, you have a group of fans that are starving for more adult games and you have an automatic best seller. add to the fact that it is supposedly a good game [havent played re4 yet] and there you have it.
similarly, capcom understands that the re franchise began with the playstation. due to brand loyalty, many playstation owners are owners of the ps2, and would love the opportunity to play one of their more popular franchises on hardware that they actually own, and once again... there you have it. why wouldnt capcom release re4 for the ps2? due to the latter, the re fanbase for the ps2 is probably even larger than on the gc. and since it is supposedly a good game, im sure that releasing re4 on the ps2 will attract more of the ps2's broad userbase to the franchise. since many of the ps2 fanbase will move on to purchase ps3s, they will be interested in buying another sequel to the franchise. it all makes sense, at least to me.
i can foresee capcom contemplating releasing re5 for the revolution, but since probably even capcom has no idea what the revolution control schema will be like, nor do they even know if it can handle the graphical prowess that they are using for the other two next gen systems. how can they be assured that the game they have already spent months developing will even be portable to this new console? they are waiting to see what the revolution will provide them to work with before making such an announcement.
well, the fact of the matter is with the whole push for HD content, the FMVs and the textures which give the game its look will need more space. im not saying that the games will take up the whole 50-100 gigs that blu-ray provides, but space constraints should be the last thing that developers should have to worry about. [well, they shouldnt have to worry about ram either, but hey... theres always next generation]
the blu-ray player already plays all formats before it, and the HD-DVD format is supposedly able to be backwards compatible. i am assuming that you can view a HD-DVD disc on a regular DVD player [albeit not in true HD]. that means that in some aspect you should be able to read a HD-DVD disc on the blu-ray player. since they are both using blue lasers, i really wouldnt be too surprised if you were able to find a firmware patch somewhere to read both formats.
and perhaps the market is still too young to fully embrace either next gen format. but with every ps3 having a drive, thats a pretty large install base for the industry to ignore. you will always have a way to get your content into homes.
think about it. if you are in the business of releasing movies, which format would you rather release in? the one with... im guessing here, but with i guess a 20 million or so ps3 userbase or HD-DVD thats struggling to take off, since there are only a select handful that can afford the players at the time?
very true, but who successfully sues MS for allowing spyware or viruses to infect your computer which you have full control over, and purposely set it up to be infected. even if they sue, how would they end up convicted? under what grounds? it is impossible to create 100% secure software, just as it is impossible to create 100% bug-free software. unbeforeseen circumstances popup.
GTA at its current rating is supposed to only be sold to people over what? 17? so what? at that very same age they can rent watch or buy any r-rated movie available anywhere and see scenes even more explicit than any of the ones in GTA. they are making a huge deal over the fact that kids well under that age can also go in and purchase titles they werent originally intended to be able to pick up. is that rockstars fault? nope, its the retailer. if you go blame the retailer, they will say the sales person is at fault, since the store policy says otherwise. the same applies for movies; at most retailers, kids of any age can go in and buy any movie they want, regardless of rating [unless its x, and even that depends on the retailer and whomever is the salesperson at the time] the difference is that the movie industry has worked alongside the govt; they have connections.
lets say i develop a program that plays dvd files. but i also code into the program something that outputs the dvd files unencrpyted onto the HDD. at the last minute after finishing the bulk of the code, i realize "hey, this could get me in trouble, let me hide it away". once my product reaches the market i find that people have been reverse engineering my product [which is illegal in any way shape or form according to my license agreement] they find that they can tweak my configuration files to "unlock" said function of my program. should i be held accountable for the efforts of a "criminal hacker"? [criminal: they illegally broke the license agreement which i sold them with my software; hacker: someone who is proficient at computer skills or illegally gains access to a computer system or file]
you apparently have not had your hands on this thing. first and foremost the 16:9 screen on the PSP [even at the smaller size] will beat most portable dvd players at the same price. you should definitely check one out. the screen is usually what sucks most people in. its superb quality and after you actually watch video on it, you would never try to compare it to a huge bulky portable dvd player again.
Dude. Playing music is not something the PSP does well. It's far too big. 1gb flash players cost the same as a 1gb memory cart for the PSP.
Playing movies on the PSP is a real pain in the neck and the wallet. If you have more than 1 kid all bets are off. Can you imagine the fighting going on in the back seat? A few GBA SP's and a bunch of games would keep kids far more entertained.
okay, playing music could be better. yes, but playing music is in fact something that the PSP does well. its not meant to be the size of the ipod, since i am assuming thats what you are comparing it to. its not meant to be that size because it functions as more than just a music player.
as far as the memory goes. i would agree that it is expensive to buy memory sticks, but you also have the option to not buy any. even though the default one sucks, sony has finally smartened up and decided to release memory with the system.
buying PSPs for a bunch of kids is probably not the easiest solution unles you have money to burn, but i guarantee that you will save cash in the long run. you buy one product instead of: (music player + video game system + portable dvd player + emulator device + photo viewer) X ~2 batteries per device X the number of kids you have.
yeah, but you have to recognize that emulating a nes, and emulating a playstation are two different monsters. nearly anything can emulate nintendo hardware [exceptions for the GC and in some cases the n64].
there is a portable xbox. its called: 'any laptop running windows2000'.
Whereas many of the people posting have mentioned that they are interesting in having a device that does one thing [and does it well]. there are alot of parents that are interested in buying one device for their kids instead of 4. thats the PSP appeal. im not going on record saying whether thats better or not, but as a parent on a budget and kids that want an ipod, a portable media viewer, a playstation, and portable video games for the ride to and from school, etc. i think the PSP would appeal to that demographic since its more economical.
if you buy a PSP and use only one of its functions, whereas its just playing games, or just watching movies, or as alot of people here have stated, just playing homebrew; you are getting your monies worth. excluding play-yan importing, if you buy a gameboy and decide not to play games, you dont really have any use for it.
UMD movies are selling at a pretty decent clip. with more and more movie companies getting on the UMD bandwagon i dont really see the correlation. perhaps as gamers we cant really see the idea of movies bringing in new consumers to play games. the movie aspect isnt bringing in as many new non-gamer customers IMO, but it surely is making an impact on the industry. that cant be denied.
this needs to be printed out in bold and thumbtacked to the office doors of many a MMO developers door.
oops sorry, not 100% correct [maybe 80-85%], but interesting nonetheless... read on... http://www.evilavatar.com/forums/showthread.php?t= 2663&
i remember hearing something along the lines of EA hiring the guys who did the desert mod for the original battlefield to create BF2. when initial development for BF2 was over and done, they fired the development team.
so, of course who was still around to patch the game? some new people i guess, and this is what you get out of it.
im looking for the exact article i saw on it. i dont recall all of the exact details, but if im right... one word. karma!
wow, a whole subthread on various swapping techniques, why they are better or worse than the FS+HG technique, instead of any commentary on the actual article at hand.
/. !!!!!!!!
man, i love
this got modded up to four? what is the slashdot world coming to?
anyways, am i the only one highly disturbed by nude digital characters in white socks? nudity i can handle, but the socks just kills it for me.
guess the socks were too hard for the modding community, at least they got the important parts right, huh?
In the scheme I envision, the PS1 ISOs wouldn't be signed against the PSP execution key; they'd be signed against the PS1 emulator key.
if you give ANY direct access to the hardware to run code youve signed for in some way, you are providing a backdoor. trust me on this one. it would be simple to code a "hand-off" executable. plus this would give rise to a bunch of ISO hacking. imagine hacked isos of sonys most popular flagship titles with the character models replaced by mario or master chief; nude lara croft textures...etc. dont think sony would be too happy about that.
Since 2-year-olds live in the same house as a high-school-age (or college-age during the summer) PSP player.
alas, i understand. but just as you have to take precautions to keep two year olds and liquids away from your computer and monitor, you might need to try to keep them away from your psp which costs more than some computers nowadays.
The thinking in this case is that if you're rotating the system to activate a tilt sensor, then you might inadvertently twist the system.
maybe youre mistaken or the video has you led astray. the psp doesnt bend as easily as you think. [actually i just tested my theory and yes, my keyboard bends more easily than my PSP. lol.] since the usb connector is at the top of the psp, you could plug a sensor in and have your way with the psp. unless youre the incredible hulk, or you have already dismantled your psp, and the screws are loose or something; i dont see anyone inadvertently breaking or ejecting the umds from the psp anytime soon that way.
Problem is that if you're required to "be nice" to a 2-, 6-, and 10-year-old living in your parents' house, and you get punished if the 2-year-old begins to cry when you gently push her hand away from your game system, "older and more professional gamers" have to put up with "gamers of all ages" whether they like it or not.
with all those siblings i guess i understand why buying both systems or a spare one they can use is kinda sorta out of the question. but what i can say is that the psp is pretty durable, but it looks like a piece of art [you dont want to smudge it, you dont want to scratch it] it makes you want to treat it very carefully. but the psp can handle pretty rugged use too. worst case scenario you can buy yourself a case and a screen protector.
Thank you for recognizing that there is a market segment that demands durability and quick play.
of course there is. i realized that when i had to decide between the two which one i wanted to buy first. i wont knock either one. i liked the gameboy when it was originally introduced but i disliked the idea of dumbing down a console game just to play it on the go. if the psp didnt have a sleep function, maybe i would look at it differently, but i like games for the challenge and i hate feeling like i can beat this game in a matter of 2 hours. i am older now and i have older tastes. im a better gamer, so i prefer a solid challenge. if something comes along that i like, i might pick up a ds too. so far im not impressed, but that doesnt mean no one else is. i was the same with the xbox; i didnt pick one up until i saw a few games i liked. i also saw with the psp the opportunity to consolidate several of my devices into one. so i got it. different gamers have different needs from their game systems. the psp isnt for everyone, and the ds isnt either.
i think that the square aside is uncalled for in terms of this article. i think the point was that iD software has been rehashing the same game over and over again. albeit with better graphics and maybe better netcode each time.
square on the other hand has been improving upon the graphics and gameplay. they have been branching out on the mechanics of the genre [turn based strategy, rpg, rts, and whatever genre parasite eve and vagrant story could be considered]. granted, it is hit and miss with final fantasy and square titles in general; i dont like them all myself. but each go-round you have a new battle system, new gameplay mechanics, new irritatingly annoying minigames, and GASP! yes, even a new well defined story. maybe the GTA series would be a better example in the same vein as the doom and quake series. same game but with new characters and better graphics
HL2 is IMO king of the hill for now, and valve actually did more than just update the graphics engine to create HL2. im not saying it is the best that ever will be, and im not saying that its not just the logical path that the sequel was headed, but i think they might have put together a better overall package for the series from inception; its not like doom or quake were reknown for their stories in the first place. if they could have put together a better non-annoying implementation for anti-piracy i would definitely give valve their credit.
well to paraphrase the misunderstood statement of ken katuragi himself. they created these items not so that everyone can go out and buy one immediately, but so that it would be something worthwhile. if you save up more or spend a lil more than you would normally spend at once, you dont feel let down with the final product you devoted part of your budget to.
dont fret. eventually prices will drop. people will trade older systems in. software will get better, and if you want one bad enough, im sure you'll get one in time. if all else fails theres always ebay or one of those win-a-free-psp or win-a-free-ds referral deals.
maybe its just me, but ken kutaragi pretty much wears the exact same outfit every time i see a picture of him.
anyways, it was a very intelligent article. maybe games' journalism is not in fact dead. maybe there is something to the whole "new games' journalism" fad. its nice to find out just how difficult it is to make a living as an independent developer. reminds me of stories of struggling recording artists waiting for their big recording contract.
i'd also be more than interested in seeing more detail into what effort went into designing for new technology that at the time still has not even been created yet.
also, if this game was created and able to run on a modern overclocked system. why the whole uproar about cgi work aka "lies that the e3 trailers told us"? this was basically created on two year old pcs.
With all the power of the PSP, why couldn't Sony have made a PSP program that emulates a PS1 ISO stored on Memory Stick Duo media? That would surely increase the PSP's library. Before you kneejerk answer "piracy enabler", consider that Sony could require the ISO to be ripped from a genuine PS1 CD using Sony's tool and that the ISO could be encrypted to work with one PSP unit's serial number.
well it would be a nice idea. however as you are probably aware, they already have a growing piracy problem with the psp. enabling people to download a program that signs or encrypts iso's is a bad idea. you basically would be giving the piracy community the tools they need to directly reverse engineer and sign their own code and isos.
Then the PSP isn't as durable as the Nintendo DS, which handles WarioWare: Twisted! (in GBA mode) just fine.
uhm, since when was the psp supposed to be built to be more durable? i didnt realize it was a competition. if you twist the system hard enough to open the latch [which doesnt open easily at all unless you use the switch, contrary to common belief] you would be putting undue pressure on the system. what type of gimmick would require you to twist the screen? i wouldnt twist my ipod, keyboard or any of my other electronics for the sake of any gimmick game. should i be upset that my psp isnt supposed to be able to be twisted like that? i didnt realize that was a necessity. the psp is durable enough to handle being carried about daily by older and more professional gamers; the ds is built to be durable enough to be carried around by gamers of all ages. nothing wrong with either stance.
what im saying is that if you need a durable system with games that can last as little as a few minutes at a time, you should go for the ds. if you want a more multipurpose and more immersive system go for the psp. in fanboy land is it illegal to own both?
well in all honesty. i have to agree with the quick games being useful statement. i agree there are not many "quick" games available. but does that mark the PSP a failure? not really. i am sure that there will be plenty of pickup and go games available for the PS over the length of its lifecycle. for those that only use your portable for games such as this, perhaps the DS is more your cup of tea.
however, keep in mind that the bulk of gba and gb games from the past have followed the same model that the psp follows. many games were created to be shorter [overall] and simpler versions of console games. i think that the library for gb and gba games were just so large that you have plenty of room within genres to find the perfect game for you that doesnt consume more time than you havet once. library building takes time. but it will get there.
in the meantime you can use the sleep button with just about any game if you find you need to go do something and you havent gotten to that next save point.
as for loading time, there is loading time, but nothing ridiculously long [although i have heard that midnight club3 (70secs) was pretty bad] but much of the loading time ive seen is not extremely noticeable when compared to a console game.
the battery power is definitely not as conservative as the DS but its not as bad as one might think. i usually squeeze out 5-6 hours per charge. ive only run out of power once since i bought mine; using it daily.
no dead pixels on my screen. no sticky buttons; the thing works great. as for it shooting discs out, i would probably crack the screen if i twisted mine hard enough for the umd to pop out.
i think that the DS has its purpose, but so does the psp. if you have the money, buy both. but in the meantime try to remember that you guys are criticizing a console thats been out in north america for four months, and has to create its own library of games. it all will come in time.