Don't forget we're talking about CONSOLE games here. How much "support" do you think actually GOES towards a copy of Grand Theft Auto? Pop it in- it works. If it doesn't, it goes back to the store.
The actual SMB2- released here later as the lost levels- is almost a direct sequel to SMB and is very VERY similar in gameplay, layout, etc. . If you look at SMB, then "lost levels", then SMB3 there's a much more obvious progression. SMB2 is different because as another poster noted above, it's a completely different game that had mario characters added as an afterthought.
The Durabis coating on Blu-Ray makes the need for a casing irrelevant. It's by far the most durable disc based media ever made. Steel wool can't scratch it.
And as for VHS and Cassettes being more durable than CD's...I've never had a CD or DVD player "eat" my Discs and permanently ruin them, nor have I ever seen a VHS or Cassette tape last anywhere near as many playings as discs do without severe drops in quality. Unless you're using your CD's and DVDs as drink coasters, they are more durable and will last longer than any tape based media.
Funny story about Web TV- when I used to sell electronics back in the day, the little buggers were practically boomerangs. People would buy them so grandma had something cheap and easy to get online with, but grandma and grandpa would either
1.) not understand the whole "monthly fee" part of it and return it or
2.) Get confused anyway, and return it.
We had stacks, and stacks, and stacks of unsellable returned Web TV's that no one wanted. If Web TV shipped a million units, I'd be amazed if more than half actually stayed in homes once purchased.
Blu-Ray's Durabis coating is MUCH MUCH more durable than CDs or DVD's ever were. It's been widely reported to be able to withstand screwdriver attacks and steel wool pads and still be playable.
edit: sorry, that should have been first month of 2003. Stores with non-commissioned employees first started popping up in 02, but It wasn't made companywide policy until late january of '03.
I can't speak for CompUSA (though it's unlikely) but Circuit City hasn't had comissioned employees since the first month of 2002, and Best Buy never has. There are minimum quotas everyone is expected to meet (otherwise, how can you tell if they're doing their job or not?) but you'll find that just about anywhere.
Third party support is *Essential* for console success. No matter how high the quality of Nintendo's titles may be, they can only produce so many per year before quality suffers as a result. Nintendo's top franchises are great, but not substantially better than best that SCEA, Capcom, Namco, Square Enix, EA, Konami, etc can produce.
A previous poster claimed that nintendo's first party titles have "the widest appeal" but that's simply not true. If you don't like cutesy platform games, you're out of luck. For example: what's the Nintendo first party equivalent to Gran Turismo? Shadow of the Colossus? Soul Calibur? Guitar Hero? God of War? Metal Gear Solid 3? Final Fantasy X? Grand Theft Auto? Indigo Prophecy? Guilty Gear XX? Fight Night? Silent Hill? (no, the RE series is NOT like Silent Hill, and hasn't been for some time.) All of these games (except perhaps indigo) sold extremely well so there's clearly an audience nintendo is neglecting.
Having solid, quality 3rd party developers on board means that you don't have to spend time watering down your titles to appeal to "everyone." Looking at the PS2, No matter what your taste in games is there's a very high chance you can find a title you like. Are there bad titles? sure. But a quick trip to gamerankings or similar can easily steer you away from the ones not worth your time.
The Xbox1 is officially dead and no longer being produced, so no...an Xbox version isn't very likely. The 360 doesn't have the install base to justify such a risky release right now (the game is VERY expensive and rhythm games are still kinda niche), plus it's international support is practically nonexistant. Looks like if you want to play Guitar Hero, it's Ps2 or nothing.
how does this stuff keep getting modded up insightful? The CD, codeveloped by phillips was a success but so was the 3.5 inch floppy, the DVD (sony IS a developer of the current DVD standard and a member of the forum, look it up) Beta has done very well in the professional area and Minidisc sold strongly overseas. Sony's Bravia line of TV's is currently the best selling flat panel out there and the Playstation has been the top selling console for over ten years straight. So clearly not EVERYTHING sony does is a failure.
All of this is kind of a moot point, since Blu-Ray is NOT a Sony-only property as the board of directors includes Apple Computer, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic (Matsushita..the largest consumer electronics company in the world), Pioneer Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp Corporation, TDK Corporation, Thomson, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Home Video Inc. As well as the support of nearly every major hollywood studio outside of Universal.
Having seen D-VHS on a big screen high def TV vs. the same movie in DVD- the difference is definitely noticeable. I'm eagerly looking forward to HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray as they become available.
One would think IBM actually designing the bulk of the cell processor would have something to do with that...IBM also developed the processor in the 360 as well as the CPU of the Revolution. No matter who loses this round, IBM wins.
The Connectix VGS was a Ps1 emulator. To date there are no fully fuctioning Ps2 emulators and most likely won't be one for some time as the PS2 is notoriously difficult to program and has rather unorthodox hardware compared to a PC.
This old chestnut gets trotted out from time to time by people who have clearly NEVER used a PSX/PS2 Pad. The directional buttons ARE NOT separate. They're linked together, just like the SNES is, but the center is located underneath so as not to bust up your thumbs. Remember getting sore thumbs pulling off repeat dragon punches in SFII, because the "corners" of the dpad dug into your fingers? this doesn't happen on a PSX pad.
I take issue with the idea that "modern" games are unchallenging- it's all in what you play. While most gamers could sleep through the latest final fantasy without too much trouble (RPG's have never really been all that difficult- their emphasis is on storyline over twitch gameplay) there are PLENTY of nigh impossible games out there that blow classic games out of the water. Try playing Ninja Gaiden Black, Virtua Fighter 4, Guilty Gear XX # Reload, Ikaruga, Guitar Hero, R-Type Final, MGS3:Subsistence, or Amplitude on High difficulty. You'll be begging to go back to the "easy" games of yesteryear.
there's some holes in your list, but the most glaring is this one:
The games become shorter - I've played Nethack for years without ascending, when I was a kid it took me weeks or months to finish Super Mario or Maniac Mansion. Today I have yet to see a game I don't play through in a day or two.
Super Mario Brothers can be finished in not much more than 15 minutes. Maniac Mansion on NES (never played the PC version) can be completed multiple times in a day. Neither of these games are particularly difficult but as one gets OLDER and BETTER at gaming, games that take 2-3 weeks when you're 9 can be breezed through in a day or two when you're a seasoned gamer in your 20s. Not exactly rocket science.
No one dares to take much of a chance of producing anything but the big three (on computers), first-person-shooter, real-time-strategy, or MMORPG. There might be some mixing between the three, but in the last 5-6 years, just about every game produced fits pretty easily into one of those three categories
"The Sims" (most successful computer series of all time) disagrees with you here.
The market is simply saturated with these types of games in the PC realm. Even on consoles it isn't much better. There are 3-4 other types of game consoles have, sports games (basketball, baseball, football, hockey, soccer), hack+slash, racing, and fighting.
The console market still has a plethora of innovative adventure games (indigo prophecy) Rhythm Action (DDR, Guitar Hero, Beatmania), Puzzlers (Geometry wars) , NON First Person Shooters (R-Type Final, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Rez) and a few games here and there that don't easily fit into any genre. (Katamari, Shadow of the Colossus, Wario Ware for GC) If all you're seeing are sports games and fighters, you're not looking hard enough.
If the Japanese are so racist in what they buy...
on
The New Japan 360 Plan
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· Score: 2, Interesting
..Then why is the Ipod so successful there, when surrounded by plenty of other asian made Mp3 players?
sounds like your friend just took terrible care of his discs. Hint: using them as drink coasters is a bad idea.
Investing in a $15 Game/DVD/CD doctor takes care of all but the worst non-label side scratches- I've fixed a game or two for friends this way.
Also, Sony has committed to making all Ps1 games downloadable to the PSP and possibly PS3 also (there's no reason it wouldnt work for one but not the other, as connectivity between the two is a very big priority for Sony at the moment) so if your legal games die, or there are a few hard to find PS1 gems you've been dying to play (Saiyuki comes to mind) this is more than ideal.
yeah, but the problem here is that the 3D street fighters weren't actually any GOOD. In fact, they were total ass. Put Street fighter 2 turbo up against a GREAT 3D fighter like Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution, Tekken 5, or Soul Calibur 2/3...and quite frankly I'd rather play those.
VF4 in particular is EXTREMELY deep and technical. Mastering a fighter can take months at best, and then you get to test your skills in quest mode against AI fighters modeled after Virtua Fighter world champions...the AI in this game is INCREDIBLE and makes older fighters seem crude in comparison. Anyone who says Fighters haven't gotten better since Street Fighter 2 simply hasn't been playing the right fighters.
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Don't forget we're talking about CONSOLE games here. How much "support" do you think actually GOES towards a copy of Grand Theft Auto? Pop it in- it works. If it doesn't, it goes back to the store.
The actual SMB2- released here later as the lost levels- is almost a direct sequel to SMB and is very VERY similar in gameplay, layout, etc. . If you look at SMB, then "lost levels", then SMB3 there's a much more obvious progression. SMB2 is different because as another poster noted above, it's a completely different game that had mario characters added as an afterthought.
And as for VHS and Cassettes being more durable than CD's...I've never had a CD or DVD player "eat" my Discs and permanently ruin them, nor have I ever seen a VHS or Cassette tape last anywhere near as many playings as discs do without severe drops in quality. Unless you're using your CD's and DVDs as drink coasters, they are more durable and will last longer than any tape based media.
Looks like someone has already forgotten the tragedy that was the Pippin! Apple and consoles do not mix!
Well except for their drop in half last quarter... You mean the quarter following the Holiday '06 shopping season? imagine that.
1.) not understand the whole "monthly fee" part of it and return it or
2.) Get confused anyway, and return it.
We had stacks, and stacks, and stacks of unsellable returned Web TV's that no one wanted. If Web TV shipped a million units, I'd be amazed if more than half actually stayed in homes once purchased.Blu-Ray's Durabis coating is MUCH MUCH more durable than CDs or DVD's ever were. It's been widely reported to be able to withstand screwdriver attacks and steel wool pads and still be playable.
edit: sorry, that should have been first month of 2003. Stores with non-commissioned employees first started popping up in 02, but It wasn't made companywide policy until late january of '03.
I can't speak for CompUSA (though it's unlikely) but Circuit City hasn't had comissioned employees since the first month of 2002, and Best Buy never has. There are minimum quotas everyone is expected to meet (otherwise, how can you tell if they're doing their job or not?) but you'll find that just about anywhere.
Third party support is *Essential* for console success. No matter how high the quality of Nintendo's titles may be, they can only produce so many per year before quality suffers as a result. Nintendo's top franchises are great, but not substantially better than best that SCEA, Capcom, Namco, Square Enix, EA, Konami, etc can produce.
A previous poster claimed that nintendo's first party titles have "the widest appeal" but that's simply not true. If you don't like cutesy platform games, you're out of luck. For example: what's the Nintendo first party equivalent to Gran Turismo? Shadow of the Colossus? Soul Calibur? Guitar Hero? God of War? Metal Gear Solid 3? Final Fantasy X? Grand Theft Auto? Indigo Prophecy? Guilty Gear XX? Fight Night? Silent Hill? (no, the RE series is NOT like Silent Hill, and hasn't been for some time.) All of these games (except perhaps indigo) sold extremely well so there's clearly an audience nintendo is neglecting.
Having solid, quality 3rd party developers on board means that you don't have to spend time watering down your titles to appeal to "everyone." Looking at the PS2, No matter what your taste in games is there's a very high chance you can find a title you like. Are there bad titles? sure. But a quick trip to gamerankings or similar can easily steer you away from the ones not worth your time.
Atari 2600- 1977
NES- 1983 (japan) 1984 US
Genesis- 1988 (japan) 1989 US
Jaguar- 1993 (ok, so the jag tanked HARD, but it WAS a 32/64 bit system)
DC- 1998 (japan) 1999 US
360- 2005 (worldwide)
Analog control sticks have been used as far back as the Atari 5200 and the Vectrex.
The Xbox1 is officially dead and no longer being produced, so no...an Xbox version isn't very likely. The 360 doesn't have the install base to justify such a risky release right now (the game is VERY expensive and rhythm games are still kinda niche), plus it's international support is practically nonexistant. Looks like if you want to play Guitar Hero, it's Ps2 or nothing.
All of this is kind of a moot point, since Blu-Ray is NOT a Sony-only property as the board of directors includes Apple Computer, Dell, Hewlett Packard, Hitachi, LG Electronics, Mitsubishi Electric, Panasonic (Matsushita..the largest consumer electronics company in the world), Pioneer Corporation, Royal Philips Electronics, Samsung Electronics, Sharp Corporation, TDK Corporation, Thomson, Twentieth Century Fox, Walt Disney Pictures, Warner Home Video Inc. As well as the support of nearly every major hollywood studio outside of Universal.
Having seen D-VHS on a big screen high def TV vs. the same movie in DVD- the difference is definitely noticeable. I'm eagerly looking forward to HD-DVD and/or Blu-Ray as they become available.
One would think IBM actually designing the bulk of the cell processor would have something to do with that...IBM also developed the processor in the 360 as well as the CPU of the Revolution. No matter who loses this round, IBM wins.
The Connectix VGS was a Ps1 emulator. To date there are no fully fuctioning Ps2 emulators and most likely won't be one for some time as the PS2 is notoriously difficult to program and has rather unorthodox hardware compared to a PC.
This old chestnut gets trotted out from time to time by people who have clearly NEVER used a PSX/PS2 Pad. The directional buttons ARE NOT separate. They're linked together, just like the SNES is, but the center is located underneath so as not to bust up your thumbs. Remember getting sore thumbs pulling off repeat dragon punches in SFII, because the "corners" of the dpad dug into your fingers? this doesn't happen on a PSX pad.
I take issue with the idea that "modern" games are unchallenging- it's all in what you play. While most gamers could sleep through the latest final fantasy without too much trouble (RPG's have never really been all that difficult- their emphasis is on storyline over twitch gameplay) there are PLENTY of nigh impossible games out there that blow classic games out of the water. Try playing Ninja Gaiden Black, Virtua Fighter 4, Guilty Gear XX # Reload, Ikaruga, Guitar Hero, R-Type Final, MGS3:Subsistence, or Amplitude on High difficulty. You'll be begging to go back to the "easy" games of yesteryear.
..Then why is the Ipod so successful there, when surrounded by plenty of other asian made Mp3 players?
I thought that was the Phantom Console's business plan?
Investing in a $15 Game/DVD/CD doctor takes care of all but the worst non-label side scratches- I've fixed a game or two for friends this way.
Also, Sony has committed to making all Ps1 games downloadable to the PSP and possibly PS3 also (there's no reason it wouldnt work for one but not the other, as connectivity between the two is a very big priority for Sony at the moment) so if your legal games die, or there are a few hard to find PS1 gems you've been dying to play (Saiyuki comes to mind) this is more than ideal.
VF4 in particular is EXTREMELY deep and technical. Mastering a fighter can take months at best, and then you get to test your skills in quest mode against AI fighters modeled after Virtua Fighter world champions...the AI in this game is INCREDIBLE and makes older fighters seem crude in comparison. Anyone who says Fighters haven't gotten better since Street Fighter 2 simply hasn't been playing the right fighters.