I doubt this will be denied. Perhaps considering it a replacement for sleep is taking it a bit too far, but I can see this easily being a replacement for existing products such as no-doze (Which, I imagine truckers consider a godsend).
Also, I envy your ability to function on six hours of sleep. I'm one of those poor saps who cant get out of bed without a minimum of ten hours. I guess software development probably wasn't the best career choice...
I imagine these are the people who have already sold several PS3s on ebay. It would seem that finacing isn't a problem so much as meeting their expected shipping quota.
Then again, I could be wrong. They could be your stereotype single nerd living out of their parent's basement.
Battles are horribly boring. Auto attack, who in the world decided upon that? Hey, you there, attack those guys! I'll just sit back and heal...
I've played a number of jRPGs in my day, and in the FF series the gameplay in XII is easily my favorite.
I've been spoiled lately by other developers like Game Arts (Grandia series) and Tri-Ace (Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Radiata Stories) and their game's lack of random battles. As a result, I've come to grow very sick of games that still use these archaic systems and have since found myself avoiding those games. Why? Strategy perhaps, othertimes it's just lazyness. If I go back to an earlier area of the game the battles are usually a waste of time. Non-random battle systems allow you to avoid them all together, but in XII you can take it one step further. Think about the enemies you can drop in one hit. As you run by them, your AI-controlled allies can strike down any would-be pests while you continue your trek, uninterrupted.
I think most people just aren't ready to give up control and automate the battle process. As it's already been said, most of the time the battles are done on auto-pilot with the player just mashing x. This system just rids the need for button mashing.
Seriously, play through this and get used to the battle system, then go back to a game with a "traditional" battle systel (if you really want to torture yourself: Dragon Quest 8). You'll really appreciate how much less the game feels like a grind-fest.
If they had included auto healing as well, the only thing the player would need to do is walk around between way points!
Remove the random battle and level grinding and that's all you're doing anyway. Sure, there's the occasional puzzle and/or cutscene; but it's generally: bring some object to some location, defeat some boss, repeat.
According to this page, the $199.00 price point in 1991 inflates to $296.45 in 2006. The original NES came closer at $375.25 (or $471.40 for the deluxe set), but that's still a tad shy of the $600.00 price point.
Fully agreed. Though, I found it a bit odd that none of the new XM/MP3 hybrid units were mentioned (nor were they in his summer edition), yet they can do everything and more than the listed Sirius unit at the same price point.
I've thrown many a controller in frustration and, after finding all of the buttons and putting it back together, they still functioned normally. What kind of knock-off crap breaks from a 2-foot drop to a (most likely) carpeted floor?
Oh yeah, and to stay somewhat on topic: Vibration CAN be useful, but as it's been stated a few posts up: It's been used for so many useless things, most of the time the user will ignore it.
True enough, but what customers are going to pay more for a drive that costs more AND needs to be replaced more often when the only advantage is a possibly insignificant performance increase?
I doubt many people are going to take this route when existing technologies (RAID comes to mind) work fine for those who absolutely need the extra performance (or rather, have convinced themselves they need it [Hi, owner of that $7,500 gaming rig!]).
>> BluRay is cute, but useless as a selling point.
I disagree. If anything, Sony should be bragging about this, for two reasons I can think of: (1) If BluRay takes off as a media format, thats one less player youre required to buy for media playback. (2) As far as media storage (games), this will put Sony far ahead of the 360 or Wii. Imagine if the PS2 didnt have a DVD drive. Now imagine how many CDs all those multi-DVD games would require. Im sure the consumers would be raped for any game that required 5+ discs and some super-fancy custom case (special edition packaging, anyone?). This goes hand-in-hand with Sony's intent for the PS3 to last through the next two generations. You can bet that since the other consoles come standard with DVD players, there will be very few developers who release media on HDDVD (kinda like how many games supported the HDD in the PS2).
>> First of all, the format war is far from being decided. And, let's be honest folks, how many of you got the PS2 as >> a cheap replacement for a DVD player? I know nobody who has a PS2 and no other means to play DVDs, more importantly, >> better (especially considering sound quality) alternatives? So BluRay will certainly NOT be a selling argument, >> unless there are no BluRay-only players out there by the time the PS3 comes along that are cheaper than 600. And, >> frankly, I would NOT get a player that only plays one format (I wouldn't get a player for either of those DRMcrippled >> formats, but let's assume I'm a movie junkie for now). Murphy's law predicts that, when you side with one of the format >> contestants, you side with the wrong one. So people will play it save and wait for players that can deal with BluRay >> and HDDVD.
Actually, It was quite handy to have my PS2 acting as a backup DVD player when my 5-disc changer was getting repaired. Similarly, since I dont have any HD equipment yet, I dont really want to shell out the cash for an HDTV or some HD media player. Since I plan to buy a PS3, itll be nice to still have an option for playing BluRay (should the format take off) until I build a respectable system.
** I probably AM a Sony fanboy, but I am in no way discounting the possible success or failure of any of the three. Im just stating my opinion of the usefullness of BluRay in the PS3, since lots of people seem to think its worthless/meaningless/whatever.
Not buying a PS3 due to the price is understandable, but your second reason (because of Blu-Ray) is just stupid. Even if Blu-Ray bombs horribly as a general media format and goes the way of Beta, the games will still be on Blu-Ray discs. And when it comes down to it, the PS3 is primarily a gaming system...
I imagine you also didnt buy a PS2/XBox because of DVD, or a gamecube because its media comes on the 'pocket' DVDs? Virtually every gaming system has supported a new format; some of those formats happened to also be used for things like music or movies. I really dont see your reasoning behind such a statement.
BluRay isnt going to make or break the PS3. If the format succeeds for other types of media, itll be an extra feature to use the console to play said media. However, even if BluRay fails miserably, youve still got PS3 games which will most likely be BluRay formatted. Since PS3 games will only play on a PS3 anyway, it wont matter if theyre on some obscure format no one -- other than Sony -- supports. This holds true for any format x on any console y.
Ive said it countless times during these debates. BluRay support on the PS3 is going to be nothing more than a "Hey! Look what else I can do!" type feature.
An idea very similar to that has been done, but in a different context. If you have a PSP and are into mech games or third person shooters, check out Armored Core - Formula Front. The AI system in the game sounds very similar to what youve described.
No, but it does require you to fill out some mind-numbing paperwork then go through a 'cool off' period. Clearly the thought of guns being used as tools of murder has influenced the (legal) purchasing process. The same can be said about digital media. Because companies feel they are losing a large amount of money due to piracy, they are implementing all kinds of methods to make it harder for their product to be duplicated.
The people who are getting screwed here is the honest guy/gal who has no problem paying for the product (once). As soon as methods are available to the general public for creating and using legal backups, the underground super l33t hackers and pirates will have already put it to use to make nth copies of Windows Vista 2012 Corporate Server Edition and Pokemon: Cornflower Blue. Bah.
Seriously now, how often do you find your discs completely damaged beyond repair?
In all of the years Ive ever owned a device capable of playing media stored on a disc-like object, Ive only ever had ONE that was damaged to the point where the drive had problems reading it. The solution? I drove to my local Best Buy, purchased a Disc Dr, ran my PS2 game through it and like magic it worked again, good as new. Im all for the 'backup' excuse, when its exactly that -- a backup. More often than not though, 'backup' translates into 'extra copy for me so I can return the original to blockbuster without paying late fees' or something equally illegal.
I will admit though, I dont have any scrubby kids running around putting their awful peanut butter & jelly hands on everything, so my opinion may be a bit skewed.
In all fairness though, how many of those 'broken' PS2s were actually broken? The original PS2 had an adjustable angle for the laser assembly; which could be easily knocked out of alignment during shipping or due to abuse/rough handling. I cant even count how many PS2s Ive 'fixed' by simply cracking the case open and moving the little white gear near the rear-right side. Disc read error? I think not. Most people wont bother attempting to fix anything themselves, theyd much rather write it off as a loss and buy a new one.
Depends. How easy will it be for joe nobody to take advantage of the work put in by those determined uber-hackers? Will ripping/burning utilities be released en mass? Probably. Will Blu-Ray burners/media be cheap? Probably not. Not at first, anyway. I think cost alone will be the biggest deterrent to piracy. Most people wont bother if it costs the same or more as the original media. All this delay nonsense will prove to be a waste of time and money.
Actually, I think the lack of inexpensive Blu-Ray players is going to help Sony far more than it will hurt them. Its pretty much expected that the PS3 isnt going to retail for $800.00 or some equally obscene amount of money, so people who are looking for the 'latest and greatest' in movie technology will be able to pick up a Blu-Ray player that happens to also play games for roughly half the cost of existing players. This is, of course, assuming the PS3 retails for no more than what the 360 does/did.
Plus, unlike MS, Sony is in a position to push the Blu-Ray format via Sony Pictures. I may be dead wrong but unless MS makes some deals with companies, they have no way to force (video) media to be released on HD-DVD.
Slashdot Mirror
As would your face from being flung into the wall at 3Gs.
I doubt this will be denied. Perhaps considering it a replacement for sleep is taking it a bit too far, but I can see this easily being a replacement for existing products such as no-doze (Which, I imagine truckers consider a godsend).
Also, I envy your ability to function on six hours of sleep. I'm one of those poor saps who cant get out of bed without a minimum of ten hours. I guess software development probably wasn't the best career choice...
This is a marketing ploy by Sony to get more people standing in line at Walmart and Best Buy without having to pay them!
Clearly Sony is the mastermind behind this clever scheme. Clearly.
I was originally going to write a long-winded reply, but I think I can summarize my thoughts into these short sentences:
Using "M$", "WinBloze", etc. over-and-over makes you look like a tool. Knock it off.
I imagine these are the people who have already sold several PS3s on ebay. It would seem that finacing isn't a problem so much as meeting their expected shipping quota.
Then again, I could be wrong. They could be your stereotype single nerd living out of their parent's basement.
Battles are horribly boring. Auto attack, who in the world decided upon that? Hey, you there, attack those guys! I'll just sit back and heal...
I've played a number of jRPGs in my day, and in the FF series the gameplay in XII is easily my favorite.
I've been spoiled lately by other developers like Game Arts (Grandia series) and Tri-Ace (Star Ocean, Valkyrie Profile, Radiata Stories) and their game's lack of random battles. As a result, I've come to grow very sick of games that still use these archaic systems and have since found myself avoiding those games. Why? Strategy perhaps, othertimes it's just lazyness. If I go back to an earlier area of the game the battles are usually a waste of time. Non-random battle systems allow you to avoid them all together, but in XII you can take it one step further. Think about the enemies you can drop in one hit. As you run by them, your AI-controlled allies can strike down any would-be pests while you continue your trek, uninterrupted.
I think most people just aren't ready to give up control and automate the battle process. As it's already been said, most of the time the battles are done on auto-pilot with the player just mashing x. This system just rids the need for button mashing.
Seriously, play through this and get used to the battle system, then go back to a game with a "traditional" battle systel (if you really want to torture yourself: Dragon Quest 8). You'll really appreciate how much less the game feels like a grind-fest.
If they had included auto healing as well, the only thing the player would need to do is walk around between way points!
Remove the random battle and level grinding and that's all you're doing anyway. Sure, there's the occasional puzzle and/or cutscene; but it's generally: bring some object to some location, defeat some boss, repeat.
According to this page, the $199.00 price point in 1991 inflates to $296.45 in 2006. The original NES came closer at $375.25 (or $471.40 for the deluxe set), but that's still a tad shy of the $600.00 price point.
Fully agreed. Though, I found it a bit odd that none of the new XM/MP3 hybrid units were mentioned (nor were they in his summer edition), yet they can do everything and more than the listed Sirius unit at the same price point.
What a shame.
I've thrown many a controller in frustration and, after finding all of the buttons and putting it back together, they still functioned normally. What kind of knock-off crap breaks from a 2-foot drop to a (most likely) carpeted floor?
Oh yeah, and to stay somewhat on topic:
Vibration CAN be useful, but as it's been stated a few posts up: It's been used for so many useless things, most of the time the user will ignore it.
I imagine Capcom will appreciate the space of bluray when they re-release a bunch of PS2 games under one of their plethora of "collection" packages.
But has the capacity of a hamburger increased or decreased?
True enough, but what customers are going to pay more for a drive that costs more AND needs to be replaced more often when the only advantage is a possibly insignificant performance increase?
I doubt many people are going to take this route when existing technologies (RAID comes to mind) work fine for those who absolutely need the extra performance (or rather, have convinced themselves they need it [Hi, owner of that $7,500 gaming rig!]).
You post a pseudo-sarcastic question on slashdot and hope someone at Sony notices.
>> BluRay is cute, but useless as a selling point.
I disagree. If anything, Sony should be bragging about this, for two reasons I can think of:
(1) If BluRay takes off as a media format, thats one less player youre required to buy for media playback.
(2) As far as media storage (games), this will put Sony far ahead of the 360 or Wii. Imagine if the PS2 didnt have a DVD drive. Now imagine how many CDs all those multi-DVD games would require. Im sure the consumers would be raped for any game that required 5+ discs and some super-fancy custom case (special edition packaging, anyone?).
This goes hand-in-hand with Sony's intent for the PS3 to last through the next two generations. You can bet that since the other consoles come standard with DVD players, there will be very few developers who release media on HDDVD (kinda like how many games supported the HDD in the PS2).
>> First of all, the format war is far from being decided. And, let's be honest folks, how many of you got the PS2 as
>> a cheap replacement for a DVD player? I know nobody who has a PS2 and no other means to play DVDs, more importantly,
>> better (especially considering sound quality) alternatives? So BluRay will certainly NOT be a selling argument,
>> unless there are no BluRay-only players out there by the time the PS3 comes along that are cheaper than 600. And,
>> frankly, I would NOT get a player that only plays one format (I wouldn't get a player for either of those DRMcrippled
>> formats, but let's assume I'm a movie junkie for now). Murphy's law predicts that, when you side with one of the format
>> contestants, you side with the wrong one. So people will play it save and wait for players that can deal with BluRay
>> and HDDVD.
Actually, It was quite handy to have my PS2 acting as a backup DVD player when my 5-disc changer was getting repaired. Similarly, since I dont have any HD equipment yet, I dont really want to shell out the cash for an HDTV or some HD media player. Since I plan to buy a PS3, itll be nice to still have an option for playing BluRay (should the format take off) until I build a respectable system.
** I probably AM a Sony fanboy, but I am in no way discounting the possible success or failure of any of the three. Im just stating my opinion of the usefullness of BluRay in the PS3, since lots of people seem to think its worthless/meaningless/whatever.
Not buying a PS3 due to the price is understandable, but your second reason (because of Blu-Ray) is just stupid. Even if Blu-Ray bombs horribly as a general media format and goes the way of Beta, the games will still be on Blu-Ray discs. And when it comes down to it, the PS3 is primarily a gaming system...
I imagine you also didnt buy a PS2/XBox because of DVD, or a gamecube because its media comes on the 'pocket' DVDs? Virtually every gaming system has supported a new format; some of those formats happened to also be used for things like music or movies. I really dont see your reasoning behind such a statement.
Curses! You beat me to the NeoGeo reference. I lose on the intarweb again!
BluRay isnt going to make or break the PS3. If the format succeeds for other types of media, itll be an extra feature to use the console to play said media. However, even if BluRay fails miserably, youve still got PS3 games which will most likely be BluRay formatted. Since PS3 games will only play on a PS3 anyway, it wont matter if theyre on some obscure format no one -- other than Sony -- supports. This holds true for any format x on any console y.
Ive said it countless times during these debates. BluRay support on the PS3 is going to be nothing more than a "Hey! Look what else I can do!" type feature.
An idea very similar to that has been done, but in a different context. If you have a PSP and are into mech games or third person shooters, check out Armored Core - Formula Front. The AI system in the game sounds very similar to what youve described.
...
So thats why it takes 3 hours to get on a plane these days.
No, but it does require you to fill out some mind-numbing paperwork then go through a 'cool off' period. Clearly the thought of guns being used as tools of murder has influenced the (legal) purchasing process. The same can be said about digital media. Because companies feel they are losing a large amount of money due to piracy, they are implementing all kinds of methods to make it harder for their product to be duplicated.
The people who are getting screwed here is the honest guy/gal who has no problem paying for the product (once). As soon as methods are available to the general public for creating and using legal backups, the underground super l33t hackers and pirates will have already put it to use to make nth copies of Windows Vista 2012 Corporate Server Edition and Pokemon: Cornflower Blue. Bah.
Seriously now, how often do you find your discs completely damaged beyond repair?
In all of the years Ive ever owned a device capable of playing media stored on a disc-like object, Ive only ever had ONE that was damaged to the point where the drive had problems reading it. The solution? I drove to my local Best Buy, purchased a Disc Dr, ran my PS2 game through it and like magic it worked again, good as new.
Im all for the 'backup' excuse, when its exactly that -- a backup. More often than not though, 'backup' translates into 'extra copy for me so I can return the original to blockbuster without paying late fees' or something equally illegal.
I will admit though, I dont have any scrubby kids running around putting their awful peanut butter & jelly hands on everything, so my opinion may be a bit skewed.
What doesnt these days? Considering the swarms of linux fans with lots of free time, Im sure theres a toaster somewhere acting as a web server.
In all fairness though, how many of those 'broken' PS2s were actually broken? The original PS2 had an adjustable angle for the laser assembly; which could be easily knocked out of alignment during shipping or due to abuse/rough handling. I cant even count how many PS2s Ive 'fixed' by simply cracking the case open and moving the little white gear near the rear-right side. Disc read error? I think not.
Most people wont bother attempting to fix anything themselves, theyd much rather write it off as a loss and buy a new one.
Depends. How easy will it be for joe nobody to take advantage of the work put in by those determined uber-hackers? Will ripping/burning utilities be released en mass? Probably. Will Blu-Ray burners/media be cheap? Probably not. Not at first, anyway.
I think cost alone will be the biggest deterrent to piracy. Most people wont bother if it costs the same or more as the original media. All this delay nonsense will prove to be a waste of time and money.
Actually, I think the lack of inexpensive Blu-Ray players is going to help Sony far more than it will hurt them. Its pretty much expected that the PS3 isnt going to retail for $800.00 or some equally obscene amount of money, so people who are looking for the 'latest and greatest' in movie technology will be able to pick up a Blu-Ray player that happens to also play games for roughly half the cost of existing players. This is, of course, assuming the PS3 retails for no more than what the 360 does/did.
Plus, unlike MS, Sony is in a position to push the Blu-Ray format via Sony Pictures. I may be dead wrong but unless MS makes some deals with companies, they have no way to force (video) media to be released on HD-DVD.
Thats my $0.02, anyway.