"Apparantly we are supposed to by "oohed" and "ahhhed" by the names of these games alone"
Some "sequals" are truely that, and some are just expansions.
I will buy pretty much every game with the name "Splinter Cell" or "Legend of Zelda" on it. These are games that are built from the ground up each time while just reusing the game world. These can be as innovative and great as any other non-sequal game.
The widely accepted best game ever itself is a sequal (Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time).
"How is this any different than the XBOX 360? Games like Grand Theft Auto and Madden will still cost an arm and a leg, while lower budget games will be downloadable through the system. Again, how is this any different?"
It fundamentally isn't. The only real differences will be the $150/$200 price tag compared to the $300 for the actual console - and Nintendo may focus slightly more on their version of Xbox Live Arcade.
This is a proprietary version of DVI created by Sony. Some new HDTV's have HDMI hookups in the back - most don't.
It is rumored that Sony will require HDMI connections from the PS3 to the HDTV to prevent Blu-Ray movie piracy. If you need to run out and buy a HDMI capable TV (or an expensive DVI-HDMI adapter) there will be many unhappy people.
HDMI IS the reason why Sony has already pushed things back.
Nintendo is trying for a much different audience. Not the college kids getting together for Halo/Ghost Recon/Counterstrike matches, not the 80hours/week MMORPG addicts, not the fans who buy consoles just for sports games.
Nintendo is going for the casual "family" audience. Nintendo is going for what made the original NES great. I hope they can pull it off. Nintendo right now is competing with themselves, not MS or Sony.
"Free online play is where Sony and Nintendo are at. Microsoft better scramble to come up with an answer."
I would rather have 8% of my customers paying me $5 per month than have 25% of my customers playing online when I have to pay for all the bandwidth, hardware, and development costs.
With XboxLive as a main selling point of the 360 I'm suprised Sony didn't just mimic every aspect of the system.
With a free system can you:
1) Download 500mb-1g demos
2) Download HighDef movie trailors
3) Send Voice/Text messages
4) Videoconference
5) Have a 'friends' list with friend leaderboards?
This sounds like what PS2 had - basically just a network connection and then each Developer could do whatever they wanted. Since they have to build most of the online system from the ground-up it makes each online game pure crap.
The 360, after this month when GR:Advanced Warfighter and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion launch, will hit the point of having titles in nearly every genre that can push consoles out the door.
Sports: Plenty. College Hoops 2k6 is the best IMO.
Racing: PGR3.
FPS: C0D2 and GRAW.
RPG: Oblivion.
Adventure (dying genre unfortunately): Kameo.
The 360 is missing a MMORPG (in the works, probably won't do well anyhow) and a strategy game. The major genre's are covered.
with Halo3 and a price cut coinciding with the PS3 launch, along with an obscene $500 price tag, they are in trouble.
1) What was Microsoft supposed to do? Wait until AFTER Christmas to release just to have a few more consoles? It was a business decision to make a select few who got the console early happy rather than make EVERYONE wait. There is no sense in having unused consoles in a warehouse waiting for others to be made.
2) The 360 has set a record for most games sold per console up to this point. There are a TON of games released already with 9.0+ ratings. COD2, PD0, PGR3, GRAW, FNR3, etc. With Elder Scrolls 3 coming out in a week the 360 will have an absolute ton of top-end titles.
3) The console costs $300, you lost all credibility when you claimed almost 3x that. There are a ton fewer broken 360's than PS2's when it hit the market.
The BR drive is slowly killing the PS3. Sony chose to push their new format rather than do what is good for the gamer.
This "poor man's blu-ray" will not fit into any market. Home theater enthusiasts will buy a professional HD player and the average gamer could care less.
What is making this decision so horrible is the fact that these Blu-Ray drives will push the PS3 to around double the price of the 360 even when selling at a considerable loss. The Cell processor, while powerful, in the real world doesn't have much on 3 3.2 ghz processors (besides a lot of $$$). Sony has an advantage over Microsoft in terms of "branding," but Sony has made a ton of poor architectural decisions.
Sony/MS use a subscription model. Nintendo is using free access.
The free access is an extra bonus when buying a console, so Nintendo should sell extra consoles to make up the cost of free online gaming. Sony/MS would rather sell fewer consoles but use a subscription model.
Is holiday '06 for Japan or the US? We already have known from prior interviews that the Japan release will be first (and probably have many more consoles for sale). This could push the U.S. release of the PS3 into the realm of March '07.
Market analysts (non M$) are predicting 5.5 million Xbox360's sold by June and around 12-15 million by the end of the year. Certain PS3 fanboys will buy a PS3 no matter when it is released, but why will the average family buy a PS3 when they have a 360 and a solid collection of games?.
With Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Elder Scrolls:Oblivion coming out this month, along with more and more consoles hitting the shelves, Microsoft is looking absolutely golden.
We are now experiencing the diversion between Console gaming and PC gaming.
With the extra cost in developing PC games (testing on more hardware, troubleshooting after the sale, driver testing) along with the extra time to develop (creating textures to fit high and low end systems) PC gaming is becoming a niche market.
MMORPG's, such as WoW, ARE that niche. PC's will always excel at social games that require a keyboard and heavy interaction with others.
Consoles will continue to dominate nearly every other type of game on the market.
"Granted, Bill did his share, but at least he got shit done, didn't destroy our image across the globe and hand our country over to radical religious nuts.
Got his "shit" done? Clinton pushed in a bill that balanced our budget way before our economy was ready, taking too much money out of our pockets sending us into a hard stagflation that resulted in one of the worst recessions we have suffered in decades.
Bush got his "shit" done by his tax cuts and fixing all of Bill's mistakes.
Of course not. Sony has said 2 things recently in press released:
1) They will launch in Japan first and
2) They will not sell the console "at a loss."
This will push back a US release date till at LEAST late 3rd quarter, and push the release price most likely at about double the price of a $300 Xbox360.
Sony *needs* to pony up and strip out the Blu-Ray drive. They are trying to push their own media technology and its costing the average gamer hundreds of dollars. A 10gig dual layer DVD is enough for any game in this generation since Sony is not doing 1080p.
If the hardware was finished, why the hell would you wait for launch titles? Isn't it better to have the system now with the games available and buy them as they are released? This way you have more time to play the best games.
I've never understood why someone would want to wait 6 more months to have 6 more games to play, when they could have been playing the first 10 already.
Slashdot Mirror
Nintendo's thing isn't first person shooters. Those kind of games appeal to crowds to demand cutting edge graphics, which Nintendo isn't aiming for.
Revolution will not have any impact on Halo3's success.
"Apparantly we are supposed to by "oohed" and "ahhhed" by the names of these games alone"
Some "sequals" are truely that, and some are just expansions.
I will buy pretty much every game with the name "Splinter Cell" or "Legend of Zelda" on it. These are games that are built from the ground up each time while just reusing the game world. These can be as innovative and great as any other non-sequal game.
The widely accepted best game ever itself is a sequal (Legend of Zelda - Ocarina of Time).
"How is this any different than the XBOX 360? Games like Grand Theft Auto and Madden will still cost an arm and a leg, while lower budget games will be downloadable through the system. Again, how is this any different?"
It fundamentally isn't. The only real differences will be the $150/$200 price tag compared to the $300 for the actual console - and Nintendo may focus slightly more on their version of Xbox Live Arcade.
Gamespot gave this game an astounding 9.6 for the 360. Amazing game with no frame rate/performance issues at all 10 hours in.
The real DRM question is HDMI.
This is a proprietary version of DVI created by Sony. Some new HDTV's have HDMI hookups in the back - most don't.
It is rumored that Sony will require HDMI connections from the PS3 to the HDTV to prevent Blu-Ray movie piracy. If you need to run out and buy a HDMI capable TV (or an expensive DVI-HDMI adapter) there will be many unhappy people.
HDMI IS the reason why Sony has already pushed things back.
"No one will buy a $400 console just to play $5 games"
It is a $300 console, but you are still correct.
Many many people, although, will select a $300 360 over a $600 PS3 when these $5 games are also in the equation.
Nintendo is trying for a much different audience. Not the college kids getting together for Halo/Ghost Recon/Counterstrike matches, not the 80hours/week MMORPG addicts, not the fans who buy consoles just for sports games.
Nintendo is going for the casual "family" audience. Nintendo is going for what made the original NES great. I hope they can pull it off. Nintendo right now is competing with themselves, not MS or Sony.
" I guess my state just needs to learn how to not be stupid."
I am also a resident of Illinois, and we need to learn how to kick Chicago out so we are no longer the big blue pimple in the red midwest.
We've had a streak of bad governers, and Blowsavich is no different.
"Free online play is where Sony and Nintendo are at. Microsoft better scramble to come up with an answer."
I would rather have 8% of my customers paying me $5 per month than have 25% of my customers playing online when I have to pay for all the bandwidth, hardware, and development costs.
With XboxLive as a main selling point of the 360 I'm suprised Sony didn't just mimic every aspect of the system.
With a free system can you:
1) Download 500mb-1g demos
2) Download HighDef movie trailors
3) Send Voice/Text messages
4) Videoconference
5) Have a 'friends' list with friend leaderboards?
This sounds like what PS2 had - basically just a network connection and then each Developer could do whatever they wanted. Since they have to build most of the online system from the ground-up it makes each online game pure crap.
The 360, after this month when GR:Advanced Warfighter and Elder Scrolls: Oblivion launch, will hit the point of having titles in nearly every genre that can push consoles out the door.
Sports: Plenty. College Hoops 2k6 is the best IMO.
Racing: PGR3.
FPS: C0D2 and GRAW.
RPG: Oblivion.
Adventure (dying genre unfortunately): Kameo.
The 360 is missing a MMORPG (in the works, probably won't do well anyhow) and a strategy game. The major genre's are covered.
with Halo3 and a price cut coinciding with the PS3 launch, along with an obscene $500 price tag, they are in trouble.
1) What was Microsoft supposed to do? Wait until AFTER Christmas to release just to have a few more consoles? It was a business decision to make a select few who got the console early happy rather than make EVERYONE wait. There is no sense in having unused consoles in a warehouse waiting for others to be made.
2) The 360 has set a record for most games sold per console up to this point. There are a TON of games released already with 9.0+ ratings. COD2, PD0, PGR3, GRAW, FNR3, etc. With Elder Scrolls 3 coming out in a week the 360 will have an absolute ton of top-end titles.
3) The console costs $300, you lost all credibility when you claimed almost 3x that. There are a ton fewer broken 360's than PS2's when it hit the market.
"see Final Fantasy XII, the be-all and end-all of console moving franchises"
Complete BS. Not many at all care in the states about the FF series. I've seen about 2 billion Halo LAN parties - I've never seen a FF lan party.
Zelda/Mario single handedly kept the Gamecube in the black.
The BR drive is slowly killing the PS3. Sony chose to push their new format rather than do what is good for the gamer.
This "poor man's blu-ray" will not fit into any market. Home theater enthusiasts will buy a professional HD player and the average gamer could care less.
What is making this decision so horrible is the fact that these Blu-Ray drives will push the PS3 to around double the price of the 360 even when selling at a considerable loss. The Cell processor, while powerful, in the real world doesn't have much on 3 3.2 ghz processors (besides a lot of $$$). Sony has an advantage over Microsoft in terms of "branding," but Sony has made a ton of poor architectural decisions.
March will be an absolute monster
Fight Night Round 3, Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, Burnout, College hoops 2k6 for 360, etc.
DS has pretty much destroyed the PSP.
Which business model will win?
Sony/MS use a subscription model. Nintendo is using free access.
The free access is an extra bonus when buying a console, so Nintendo should sell extra consoles to make up the cost of free online gaming. Sony/MS would rather sell fewer consoles but use a subscription model.
One way or another its nice to have choices.
Is holiday '06 for Japan or the US? We already have known from prior interviews that the Japan release will be first (and probably have many more consoles for sale). This could push the U.S. release of the PS3 into the realm of March '07.
Market analysts (non M$) are predicting 5.5 million Xbox360's sold by June and around 12-15 million by the end of the year. Certain PS3 fanboys will buy a PS3 no matter when it is released, but why will the average family buy a PS3 when they have a 360 and a solid collection of games?.
With Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter and Elder Scrolls:Oblivion coming out this month, along with more and more consoles hitting the shelves, Microsoft is looking absolutely golden.
We are now experiencing the diversion between Console gaming and PC gaming.
With the extra cost in developing PC games (testing on more hardware, troubleshooting after the sale, driver testing) along with the extra time to develop (creating textures to fit high and low end systems) PC gaming is becoming a niche market.
MMORPG's, such as WoW, ARE that niche. PC's will always excel at social games that require a keyboard and heavy interaction with others.
Consoles will continue to dominate nearly every other type of game on the market.
"Granted, Bill did his share, but at least he got shit done, didn't destroy our image across the globe and hand our country over to radical religious nuts.
Got his "shit" done? Clinton pushed in a bill that balanced our budget way before our economy was ready, taking too much money out of our pockets sending us into a hard stagflation that resulted in one of the worst recessions we have suffered in decades.
Bush got his "shit" done by his tax cuts and fixing all of Bill's mistakes.
"See!!! It is cheaper to play games on the PC."
Too bad building a PC with 3 3.2ghz processors and an equivilent ATI video card would be pushing 2 grand.
AKA You want more money per month ON TOP OF what Xbox Live players are already paying, and the business model is not currently set up.
"And the cost of the new gaming systems continues to rise."
PS3's price continues to rise. A $300 Xbox360 is less (adjusted for inflation) than PS1 PS2 Xbox1 NES SNES and the N64.
Also hard to say the Industry is in trouble when they set records in sales and profit last year (console, not PC).
"Any of this happening yet?"
Of course not. Sony has said 2 things recently in press released:
1) They will launch in Japan first and
2) They will not sell the console "at a loss."
This will push back a US release date till at LEAST late 3rd quarter, and push the release price most likely at about double the price of a $300 Xbox360.
Sony *needs* to pony up and strip out the Blu-Ray drive. They are trying to push their own media technology and its costing the average gamer hundreds of dollars. A 10gig dual layer DVD is enough for any game in this generation since Sony is not doing 1080p.
"if it means more launch titles"
If the hardware was finished, why the hell would you wait for launch titles? Isn't it better to have the system now with the games available and buy them as they are released? This way you have more time to play the best games.
I've never understood why someone would want to wait 6 more months to have 6 more games to play, when they could have been playing the first 10 already.