There's nothing wrong with variety in your titles...
I can't wait to play this game... I also can't wait to play the new Mario and the new Zelda. Nintendo catches a lot of flack because they don't really offer a variety, for the most part the titles on their system are equivalent to a Family film in terms of their content. They obviously don't NEED a variety to keep themselves in business, but as a gamer I really appreciate it when they offer me some adult oriented titles to round out their catalog. Lets face it the Wii is an awsome console and you wont get the Wiimote experience on anywhere else. I think it'd be a terrible shame if we weren't able to use that tech across the gamut of gaming experience and applications both family oriented and adult oriented.
The display I bought about 18 months ago doesn't offer any digital inputs. Just VGA and component video. At the time I didn't think about it seeing as all of my devices only supported component and I wasn't expecting HDCP to be such an important part of future compatibility (the model with digital inputs was a few hudred more). I'd LIKE for this display to last at least 5 years, regardless of HDCP being optional or not I guarantee they'll start implementing it long before the end of my display's life.
If it were an artifact of noise in my system... I'd know it, I'm familiar with what that sounds like and this isn't it. Perhaps "hum" isn't the right were, it's more high pitched then that, like a step below a dog whistle but "shaped" like a hum. As for my setup. I've got well over $3K into it including a Acoustic Research Power Cleaner. None of my other media make this noise, just 4 out of my 5 SACDs... that is before I sold all of them and the player because of it (the 5th disc that didn't make the noise was the one that let me know it was the media and not the player, researching similar people had the same experience and found it was the watermark).
Tests have shown that 50% of listeners can detect the watermark while listening. Considering the type of people who buy this kind of tech I guarantee most of them are in the range that can detect it. At this point I prefer DVD-A because I don't hear any artifacts from the "protection"
more so then their bullying of their actual customers is their crippling of the user experience. My favorites include:
-Buying a CD and finding the Security tag glued to the paper insert such that if I were to remove it it would ruin the picture
-Buying a DVD, popping it in and watching the mandatory "you wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy add. You know the one that gets stripped out when they make pirate releases so the only person who sees it are the paying customers.
-Paying $30-$50 for a special edition DVD or box set and being forced to sit through 15minutes of advertisements before I can watch the film
-Paying $25 for an SACD because of it's "higher quality" and hearing a constant hum in the background caused intentionally by their anti-piracy measures (because people who rip MP3s really care about the higher bit-rate version of the disc, and doesn't intentionally ruining the quality defeat the purpose of a higher quality format? They wonder why more people aren' adopting it)
I can't wait to pay $600-$800 for an HD-DVD player, and $30 per disc only to have my resolution crippled because the HDTV I bought last year doesn't feature the latest Anti-Piracy tech... I can't wait for my Windows OS to do the same thing because I don't want to upgrade my expensive and recently bought hardware either.
When will they realize that pirates will get the content no matter what measures are in place. there are well documented ways to easily thwart everything I've mentioned above. In the end all it does is cripple the end user experience.
The MPAA and RIAA have plenty of numbers that show how much they think they're loosing to piracy but do they have any numbers that show these ridiculous measures actually helping?
yeah there's really only 2 or 3 NPC "personalities". Most of the time when you're cave diving the baddies you'll meet there have a kill or be killed mentality. I found that most of your targets in the Dark Brotherhood will flee if given the chance, and most necromancers you fight in the Mages guild will keep retreat if you get too close but keep their distance in general.
I wouldn't call the AI "intelligent" but it's definite more adaptive then the scripted AI we're used to. Basically certain actions happen if certain criteria are met and the criteria you meet is completely dependent on how you play the game, So two different people can have two completely different experiences if they have different play styles. Some interesting glitches though. I broke into a Church undercroft and after 3 verbal warnings from the NPCs there they started attacking me. I yielded and they stopped but immediately after stopping they started attacking again... because I was still trespassing. Another one was I attacked an Archer guard in the Imperial City and he missed me and hit another guard. So that guard attacked the one who shot the arrow, and then more and more guards came and started attacking each other, this continued until they all died. Because they're programed to attack and kill anyone who attacks a guard, but apparently they don't distinguish between intentional attacks and accidental friendly fire. So the whole thing caused an AI chain reaction and killed off all the guards in the immediate area.
Again, a lot more could be done to improve this, and it's not anything we haven't seen before, but it seems to be pretty rare in games these days. I think one of the things I really like is some key NPCs can be killed and prevent you from finishing things later in the game. A good example is in the Thieves guild you have to steal something from the Arch Mage in the Mages Guild, if you kill the arch mage while trying to steal it, you can't complete the mages guild questline later because the NPC that gives you your quests is dead. Is that kind of dynamic playing that makes the game really interesting. Yeah I'd be really pissed if I killed someone who's intrical to the plot later on, but it makes me think long and hard about my actions in the game. If everything is scripted then there's no real consequences and I don't have to think too critically about my actions. Worrying about long term consequences give the game a very REAL feeling. If you were to tie that in with AI I think it'd be even better.
As dumb as it is I think the AI in Oblivion is better the most games we've seen recently.
Most animals will blindly attack you if you enter their territory, they have no idea that the sword you're wielding can take them out in a single blow. Similarly animals like deer will always flee.
NPCs have varying levels of intelligence, if they're an ally and following you, the smart ones will sneak when you sneak and follow your lead. The dumb ones will charge in ahead of you, get in your line of fire and often get themselves killed. Similarly if you attach someone who is un armed or weak, depending on their personality they'll run away. Smart Archers will keep their distance, zombie archers will stay in one spot. Smart blade fighters will block and dodge, keeping a small distance away unless attacking, if you sit there and block they'll wait for you to get your guard down before attacking. And dumb blunt fighters will run in Kamikaze.
It could still get a lot better but just walking down the street you hear the NPCs starting conversations with each other and I frequently hear stories about different weird scenarios that played out due to the AI. It still has a lot to be desired but it's a whole lot better then anything else I've seen, when battling computer controlled NPCs I often feel that I'm on a level playing field and they're bound by the same rules that I am.
I think to make the best AI experience possible you have to imagine how you'd build the game if the opposition was player controlled, then simply write AI that replaces the "player".
I would define the "life-of-product" is how long I decide to use it rather then the manufacturer. And really that is based on the games available. My Dreamcast still gets frequent play. My PS2 started collecting dust about the time I got my Xbox 1, and my Xbox 1 has been collecting dust since I got my 360. As per my experiences the Dreamcast has had the longest ACTUAL product life, despite the fact that it had the shortest as defined by the manufacturer. On the other side my PS2 has had the shortest ACTUAL product life, despite the fact that it has the longest as defined by the manufacturer.
You also assume people buy all of their consoles at launch. Many people who buy one console over another (at least the ones who want to make sure they're getting their money's worth) will wait until all the consoles are released before making a purchase, so that they can make an educated decision about which one they like the best. Which essentially brings the lifespans of all consoles in a generation to the same length of time.
I could give a sh*t about what people think the product lifespan is based on when consoles are released, it doesn't change which ones get the most play once they enter my house.
Same here...
...I think I see what you're getting at though.
For me each console offers something all of it's own. Excluding the up and coming consoles the Gamecube gives me Nintendo's unique style, they offer games that have no equivalents on any other console, stuff like Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, even other stuff like Metroid or Geist you really can't find elsewhere. Also for my money they offer the best party game experience, lots of games that require little to no experience to just pickup and have good fun with friends through local multiplayer.
The PS2 offers me a lot of Eastern style games I can't really get elsewhere. Stuff like the FF franchise, Xenosaga, Tekken, MGS, Parappa, Guitar Hero etc. Those games have a distinctive Japanese feeling to them, something we've never had on an MS console and something that is too adult and mainstream for a Nintendo console. Most of these games however are best played alone.
The Xbox (and the 360) offer me a lot of Western style franchises and PC games that don't appear on any other console. A Plethora of FPS games, western style RPGs like Fable and Oblivion, and a yet to be matched online community/multiplayer experience. I may have to disagree with you on the "immersion" argument as my experiences with Forza and PGR3 felt a lot more true to life then my experiences with GT4 and Enthusia, but to each his own.
I don't know how you'd really analogize that to cars or politics but clearly each console (at least up to this point) offers their own distinct experiences. And it's clear that each company is trying to steal away ideas from the other. MS is trying to gain some of Sony's eastern style, Nintendo is trying to steal away some of MS's online community experience, and Sony is trying to steal away some of Nintendo's unique flair. There is more cross pollination going on then that but you get the idea.
Despite what the features are, or who stole what idea, the bottom line (for me at least) is who can deliver the games I enjoy playing, and can they do it at a reasonable price?
The 360 has done this for me so far, the $400 price tag was hard to swallow at first but PGR3, Condemned, COD2, DOA4, and Oblivion have more than paid for the console in enjoyment. The Wii has yet to proove itself as we don't know a price (though I highly doubt it will be anywhere near as expensive as the 360) and the PS3 will have to produce some out of this world experiences to warrant the $600 price tag they're expecting people to pay for their Premium console. We'll see how things pan out as we get closer to Q4.
If anything I'd symbolize them with politics... ready?
The Sony fans represent republicans, they voting majority, they have the largest user base and regardless of how much crap is spewed out they follow blindly and gobble it up
The MS fans represent democrats, rounding out in 2nd they tend to have at least some form of reasoning behind why they support who they do, on occasion they come out ahead and they do have some zombie followers but in general they're a smaller, more educated less generic group.
The Nintendo fan represent supporters of the green party, the smallest base but a group where pretty much all of them have deep moral convictions for supporting who they do. They almost never come out ahead and their stance seems to come out of nowhere most of the time.
... Now you probably really hate me:p
Using your car analogy though the PS3 is the SUV, acquiring various features stolen from every other type of vehicle almost to the point of almost completely forgetting what that type of vehicle is built for in the first place... I don't even know where to carry the analogy to the other consoles... I don't think a car analogy can really be used to describe the different console players.
That may be, but for me... AT $199 I'm pre-ordering based on it's BC features alone... At $249 I'll see if it has a game or two that interests me... At $299 it needs to have at least 3 titles on launch day that I REALLY want to play
You missed my point about HDMI... it's not that people will have to upgrade their TVs it's that people will have to upgrade their TVs AND their PS3s because the low end version doesn't support it. That's not very Future-proof now is it (especially considering Sony expects their consoles to hold 10+ year lifespans).
Also it's not that no one has mentioned rumble. SONY SAID IT WAS TAKEN OUT. so it will definitely NOT be there. Using 3rd party controllers for rumble in BC games is just retarded, in the literal sense of the word.
You must have lucked out, I went through 3 PS1s and I'm on my 4th PS2, and I barely played the things. As for other consoles I've only ever had 1 NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Dreamcast, Xbox 1, and Xbox 360. I did have to buy a 2nd Saturn but that was my own dumb fault. The PS consoles break just looking at them cross-eyed. I can honestly say that I don't know a single person IRL who's still on their first PS2.
IIRC the AV Multi port is the some one Sony's been using since the PS2, which does include HD Component but no digital video options like DVI or HDMI.
with no HDMI you don't get HDCP and without that you risk your expensive HD movies not actually playing in HD, sure they've claimed to be backing away from it but that has yet to be seen, movie companies will still have that option and if they decide to implement it then you as the user will be screwed. What's the point of spending all the extra money on a BRD capable console if you don't actually get HD movies?
As for the controller if the Console doesn't support rumble then all the 3rd parties in the world wont make it come back. 3rd party controllers generally suck compared to 1st party anyway. Even if they did implement it, without it being built into the 1st party hardware 0 games will support it, the only thing it'd be useful for is playing old PS1 and PS2 games.
The Xbox 360 has a universal control of that, you can adjust the level of vibration (or tun it off completely) in your profile and that will carry the setting across all games you play. Similarly you can change how you want Generic Controls for different types of games FPS (southpaw/inverted axis, which button fires, etc.), Racing (which buttons is gas, brake, shift, etc.). I know the N64 offered similar rumble adjustment through a switch on the rumble pack, did the GC as well?
I personally like the rumble feature, in some games I find it annoying or overused but more often then not I feel it's advanced to a point of adding an extra level of immersion. like when I'm in a driving game and go over a bridge and feel the "thump thump" just like I would feel through the steering wheel in a real car. Details like that I really enjoy.
I can respect your dislike for the feature, but I think giving people the option as opposed to just taking it out is kind of ridiculous. Also I find it hard to believe that Sony couldn't get it to play nice with the motion tracking (why not just shut it off with motion tracking in use if it was a problem). If I had to guess they dropped it due to the lawsuit with Immersion.
Not to mention using a wand controller in one hand is a much much more natural way to use a 3D motion device then something where you keep both hands together in front of you horizontally.
The applications for a wand that work well:
Guns (gun games, FPSs etc)
Bats/Clubs (Golf, baseball, cricket etc.)
Swords/Weapons (rpg fighters)
Hands (punches, blocks, arm gestures, etc.)
NONE of those uses pan out well when holding the controller like a Playstation controller. How would you play a golf game and swing the controller like a club with a PS controller? How would you hold it and virtually PUNCH something? How would you use it like a gun?
Most modern professional 3D motion controllers are wand shaped for this very reason. Even still a wand can be held horizontally for the same feeling you'd get from holding a regular controller, which really only works well for driving/flying. I'm not saying there wont be innovative use of the PS motion controller (as I'm sure there will be) But a Wand controller is infinitely more versatile. I think this just solidifies Sony's blind rip-off of Nintendo's next step without actually taking into consideration all the aspects of WHY Nitendo is doing things the way they're doing them.
1. The PS2 had USB 1.1 Port Not 2.0
2. Sony Released a PVR version of the PS2 called the "PSX" in Japan, it was an enormous flop...
3. the PS2 offered Linux support and very few seemed to really care. The PS3 will probably offer Linux support again, and I'm sure it will be greeted with just as much apathy. If anything all it does is prevent the Linux community from cracking the security and inadvertently opening the doors to piracy trying to run their OS on new hardware.
In addition to the Wii motion sensor ripp off don't forget the addition of the Playstation "Guide Button" they placed on the center of the controller. Most original idea Ever or the fact that they were scared of all the people hating the boomerang controller that they jumped back into their security blanket that is the stanky old controller design they've had since the PS1 dropped in 1994, that's right it'll be 12 years old, interesting seeing as that seems to be about the age of most of their fan base.
the GC comment was more aimed at the parent post then you.
I agree that the Wii-mote looks interesting, I'm trying not to pass judgment until I get a chance to spend a few hours with the thing but I'm skeptical at best. Having used controllers with similar ideas in the past (SideWinder Freestyle, Essential Reality P5 glove) the motion sensing is either too inaccurate and buggy (like the P5) or too accurate to use (like the Freestyle). In all cases having to keep your arms afloat instead of resting on your lap can be tiresome. As a fan of shooting games at the arcade Your arms can get very tired very fast holding the gun in the air in front of you. In fact most games like that provide short 10 second breaks every 30 to 60 seconds of gameplay to provide your arms with a break.
In most cases Wii-mote type controller in the past have made interesting conversation pieces but little else. If anyone can pull it off well Nintendo can... but thinking about how I come home from a long day at work followed by a few hours at the gym, slump down and snuggle into my couch with a cool drink at arms reach and play for hours using little more then my thumbs and first finger, the idea of having to sit up or stand and waving my arms in the air doesn't seem all that appetizing past impressing people when I hold parties.
The 6 button pad wasn't aftermarket... The console launched with only 3 but half way through it's life they added 3 more. If you bought the console at that point it came with 6 buttons, it was also available separately for those who owned the older version and wanted to upgrade, or just wanted a 2nd controller. Similarly the Original PS1 controller didn't have analog sticks (or Vibration) the "Dual Shock" didn't come about until halfway through the Playstations Life AFTER Nintendo and Sega introduced their analog game pads. The Sega Saturn game pad changed TWICE. The first change was purely ergonomic (much like the Xbox 1's controller change, where the US model was replaced with the sleeker Japanese version), the second change replaced the shoulder buttons with analog triggers and added a single analog stick, it looked like a bulky version of a Dreamcast controller with 6 face buttons and no VMU port.
Nintendo seems to be the only ones who don't change their controllers mid life.
And I don't know how you can chastise the PS and Xbox gamepads but rave for the GC. I'll agree that the GC has an AMAZING ergonomic feel by comparison, I actually loath the way the dual shock feels in my hands... but the button count is pretty much the same across all of them.
GC: A,B,X,Y,Z,L,R, a d-pad and 2 analogs
XB: A,B,X,Y,B,W,L,R, a d-pad and 2 analogs
PS: A,B,X,Y,L1,L2,R1,R2, a d-pad and 2 analogs
The XB and PS only have 1 extra gameplay button over the Gamecube, and that's only because the GC controller isn't symmetrical.
My biggest gripe with the GC controller is that the face buttons are NOT arranged in the typical diamond shaped 2x2 matrix. If you can't find your placement on that style button layout then I'm sorry but you fail at console gaming. I suspect you'd have the same trouble finding your way around a D-pad. It might be more ergonomic or better for someone who's never gamed before, but that'd be like Dell selling all their new computers with Dvorák keyboards because they're more efficient then qwerty. You can't just change something like that...
There are some things that are the way they are because thats the way they are.
Wasn't there some open source game someone made for the iBook that used it's internal accelerometers (drop sensors I believe) to play a marble labyrinth game?
sometime the position relative to itself IS the desired measurement.
Exactly, I think the point here is, it is in-fact MORE difficult to download and install the patch then it is to download pornography. Infact modding the game to show such things would take a conscience effort while stumbling across pornography on the internet might not be.
Basically the content might as well not even exist in the game because there are no codes or anything to access it. It's as if you wrote some code and commented it out, then someone went through uncommented it, recompiled it and blamed you for doing something wrong.
However after the GTA incident you'd think Bethesda would be more keen then to leave a file like that on the distributed disc. At least Crystal Dynamics fixed their nipple in the Lara Croft Title before that got out of hand.
I agree, I didn't really care about anime for a while, I even caught a few episodes mid-season of NGE when my college roommate was watching it and it was semi-interesting but it didn't really grab me or make we want to seek out more (kind of like: "eh, it's on, I guess I'll watch it")
years later I caught an episode of Cowboy Bebop on Adult Swim and thought it was pretty cool, knowing that most anime follows like a mini-series I decided to buy the first disc, I loved it and bought the rest of the series and eventually my collection grew from there, I own about 10 or 15 complete series now (including NGE) and numerous movies.
I think for any non-anime watcher, to be properly introduced into Anime you have to
1.) Watch it dubbed rather then subbed (hardcore fans will shout blasphemy but you have a much higher chance of pulling someone in with it dubbed, some of the dubs these days are actually quite good and certain characters I find even more suiting with their english voice actors then their japanese).
2.) Watch a Serious series that more westernized. I think Cowboy Bebop is a fantastic series, as is NGE or Initial D, and others, all appeal to different tastes. Too many people have visions of DBZ or Speed Racer as the end-all-be-all of Anime, and that's a shame. A series series will help break that stereotype.
3.) Watch a series as opposed to a Movie. Movies might be shorter but if you start someone out on a series everything is much slower to develop and it's much easier to follow the plot and character development. Plus if you start by watching 3 or 4 episodes of a series it will undoubtedly create a want to watch more of it and see how the story resolves itself.
I've been successful in getting a few friends into Anime using the above methods, even people who outright "hated it" despite the fact that they'd never really watched it.
Bebop, NGE, Outlaw Star, Lain, Ghost in the Shell, Big O, Initial D are all some favorites of mine.
Slashdot Mirror
There's nothing wrong with variety in your titles...
I can't wait to play this game... I also can't wait to play the new Mario and the new Zelda. Nintendo catches a lot of flack because they don't really offer a variety, for the most part the titles on their system are equivalent to a Family film in terms of their content. They obviously don't NEED a variety to keep themselves in business, but as a gamer I really appreciate it when they offer me some adult oriented titles to round out their catalog. Lets face it the Wii is an awsome console and you wont get the Wiimote experience on anywhere else. I think it'd be a terrible shame if we weren't able to use that tech across the gamut of gaming experience and applications both family oriented and adult oriented.
The display I bought about 18 months ago doesn't offer any digital inputs. Just VGA and component video. At the time I didn't think about it seeing as all of my devices only supported component and I wasn't expecting HDCP to be such an important part of future compatibility (the model with digital inputs was a few hudred more). I'd LIKE for this display to last at least 5 years, regardless of HDCP being optional or not I guarantee they'll start implementing it long before the end of my display's life.
If it were an artifact of noise in my system... I'd know it, I'm familiar with what that sounds like and this isn't it. Perhaps "hum" isn't the right were, it's more high pitched then that, like a step below a dog whistle but "shaped" like a hum. As for my setup. I've got well over $3K into it including a Acoustic Research Power Cleaner. None of my other media make this noise, just 4 out of my 5 SACDs... that is before I sold all of them and the player because of it (the 5th disc that didn't make the noise was the one that let me know it was the media and not the player, researching similar people had the same experience and found it was the watermark).
Tests have shown that 50% of listeners can detect the watermark while listening. Considering the type of people who buy this kind of tech I guarantee most of them are in the range that can detect it. At this point I prefer DVD-A because I don't hear any artifacts from the "protection"
more so then their bullying of their actual customers is their crippling of the user experience. My favorites include:
-Buying a CD and finding the Security tag glued to the paper insert such that if I were to remove it it would ruin the picture
-Buying a DVD, popping it in and watching the mandatory "you wouldn't steal a car" anti-piracy add. You know the one that gets stripped out when they make pirate releases so the only person who sees it are the paying customers.
-Paying $30-$50 for a special edition DVD or box set and being forced to sit through 15minutes of advertisements before I can watch the film
-Paying $25 for an SACD because of it's "higher quality" and hearing a constant hum in the background caused intentionally by their anti-piracy measures (because people who rip MP3s really care about the higher bit-rate version of the disc, and doesn't intentionally ruining the quality defeat the purpose of a higher quality format? They wonder why more people aren' adopting it)
I can't wait to pay $600-$800 for an HD-DVD player, and $30 per disc only to have my resolution crippled because the HDTV I bought last year doesn't feature the latest Anti-Piracy tech... I can't wait for my Windows OS to do the same thing because I don't want to upgrade my expensive and recently bought hardware either.
When will they realize that pirates will get the content no matter what measures are in place. there are well documented ways to easily thwart everything I've mentioned above. In the end all it does is cripple the end user experience.
The MPAA and RIAA have plenty of numbers that show how much they think they're loosing to piracy but do they have any numbers that show these ridiculous measures actually helping?
yeah there's really only 2 or 3 NPC "personalities". Most of the time when you're cave diving the baddies you'll meet there have a kill or be killed mentality. I found that most of your targets in the Dark Brotherhood will flee if given the chance, and most necromancers you fight in the Mages guild will keep retreat if you get too close but keep their distance in general.
I wouldn't call the AI "intelligent" but it's definite more adaptive then the scripted AI we're used to. Basically certain actions happen if certain criteria are met and the criteria you meet is completely dependent on how you play the game, So two different people can have two completely different experiences if they have different play styles. Some interesting glitches though. I broke into a Church undercroft and after 3 verbal warnings from the NPCs there they started attacking me. I yielded and they stopped but immediately after stopping they started attacking again... because I was still trespassing. Another one was I attacked an Archer guard in the Imperial City and he missed me and hit another guard. So that guard attacked the one who shot the arrow, and then more and more guards came and started attacking each other, this continued until they all died. Because they're programed to attack and kill anyone who attacks a guard, but apparently they don't distinguish between intentional attacks and accidental friendly fire. So the whole thing caused an AI chain reaction and killed off all the guards in the immediate area.
Again, a lot more could be done to improve this, and it's not anything we haven't seen before, but it seems to be pretty rare in games these days. I think one of the things I really like is some key NPCs can be killed and prevent you from finishing things later in the game. A good example is in the Thieves guild you have to steal something from the Arch Mage in the Mages Guild, if you kill the arch mage while trying to steal it, you can't complete the mages guild questline later because the NPC that gives you your quests is dead. Is that kind of dynamic playing that makes the game really interesting. Yeah I'd be really pissed if I killed someone who's intrical to the plot later on, but it makes me think long and hard about my actions in the game. If everything is scripted then there's no real consequences and I don't have to think too critically about my actions. Worrying about long term consequences give the game a very REAL feeling. If you were to tie that in with AI I think it'd be even better.
As dumb as it is I think the AI in Oblivion is better the most games we've seen recently.
Most animals will blindly attack you if you enter their territory, they have no idea that the sword you're wielding can take them out in a single blow. Similarly animals like deer will always flee.
NPCs have varying levels of intelligence, if they're an ally and following you, the smart ones will sneak when you sneak and follow your lead. The dumb ones will charge in ahead of you, get in your line of fire and often get themselves killed. Similarly if you attach someone who is un armed or weak, depending on their personality they'll run away. Smart Archers will keep their distance, zombie archers will stay in one spot. Smart blade fighters will block and dodge, keeping a small distance away unless attacking, if you sit there and block they'll wait for you to get your guard down before attacking. And dumb blunt fighters will run in Kamikaze.
It could still get a lot better but just walking down the street you hear the NPCs starting conversations with each other and I frequently hear stories about different weird scenarios that played out due to the AI. It still has a lot to be desired but it's a whole lot better then anything else I've seen, when battling computer controlled NPCs I often feel that I'm on a level playing field and they're bound by the same rules that I am.
I think to make the best AI experience possible you have to imagine how you'd build the game if the opposition was player controlled, then simply write AI that replaces the "player".
It brings a whole new meaning to: "Awe-Man my computer froze again..."
Easy there Governor, I was being sarcastic.
...hence the :p
I would define the "life-of-product" is how long I decide to use it rather then the manufacturer. And really that is based on the games available. My Dreamcast still gets frequent play. My PS2 started collecting dust about the time I got my Xbox 1, and my Xbox 1 has been collecting dust since I got my 360. As per my experiences the Dreamcast has had the longest ACTUAL product life, despite the fact that it had the shortest as defined by the manufacturer. On the other side my PS2 has had the shortest ACTUAL product life, despite the fact that it has the longest as defined by the manufacturer.
You also assume people buy all of their consoles at launch. Many people who buy one console over another (at least the ones who want to make sure they're getting their money's worth) will wait until all the consoles are released before making a purchase, so that they can make an educated decision about which one they like the best. Which essentially brings the lifespans of all consoles in a generation to the same length of time.
I could give a sh*t about what people think the product lifespan is based on when consoles are released, it doesn't change which ones get the most play once they enter my house.
For me each console offers something all of it's own. Excluding the up and coming consoles the Gamecube gives me Nintendo's unique style, they offer games that have no equivalents on any other console, stuff like Zelda, Mario, Smash Bros, even other stuff like Metroid or Geist you really can't find elsewhere. Also for my money they offer the best party game experience, lots of games that require little to no experience to just pickup and have good fun with friends through local multiplayer.
The PS2 offers me a lot of Eastern style games I can't really get elsewhere. Stuff like the FF franchise, Xenosaga, Tekken, MGS, Parappa, Guitar Hero etc. Those games have a distinctive Japanese feeling to them, something we've never had on an MS console and something that is too adult and mainstream for a Nintendo console. Most of these games however are best played alone.
The Xbox (and the 360) offer me a lot of Western style franchises and PC games that don't appear on any other console. A Plethora of FPS games, western style RPGs like Fable and Oblivion, and a yet to be matched online community/multiplayer experience. I may have to disagree with you on the "immersion" argument as my experiences with Forza and PGR3 felt a lot more true to life then my experiences with GT4 and Enthusia, but to each his own.
I don't know how you'd really analogize that to cars or politics but clearly each console (at least up to this point) offers their own distinct experiences. And it's clear that each company is trying to steal away ideas from the other. MS is trying to gain some of Sony's eastern style, Nintendo is trying to steal away some of MS's online community experience, and Sony is trying to steal away some of Nintendo's unique flair. There is more cross pollination going on then that but you get the idea.
Despite what the features are, or who stole what idea, the bottom line (for me at least) is who can deliver the games I enjoy playing, and can they do it at a reasonable price?
The 360 has done this for me so far, the $400 price tag was hard to swallow at first but PGR3, Condemned, COD2, DOA4, and Oblivion have more than paid for the console in enjoyment. The Wii has yet to proove itself as we don't know a price (though I highly doubt it will be anywhere near as expensive as the 360) and the PS3 will have to produce some out of this world experiences to warrant the $600 price tag they're expecting people to pay for their Premium console. We'll see how things pan out as we get closer to Q4.
meh I don't think your analogy really works...
... Now you probably really hate me :p
If anything I'd symbolize them with politics... ready?
The Sony fans represent republicans, they voting majority, they have the largest user base and regardless of how much crap is spewed out they follow blindly and gobble it up
The MS fans represent democrats, rounding out in 2nd they tend to have at least some form of reasoning behind why they support who they do, on occasion they come out ahead and they do have some zombie followers but in general they're a smaller, more educated less generic group.
The Nintendo fan represent supporters of the green party, the smallest base but a group where pretty much all of them have deep moral convictions for supporting who they do. They almost never come out ahead and their stance seems to come out of nowhere most of the time.
Using your car analogy though the PS3 is the SUV, acquiring various features stolen from every other type of vehicle almost to the point of almost completely forgetting what that type of vehicle is built for in the first place... I don't even know where to carry the analogy to the other consoles... I don't think a car analogy can really be used to describe the different console players.
That may be, but for me... AT $199 I'm pre-ordering based on it's BC features alone... At $249 I'll see if it has a game or two that interests me... At $299 it needs to have at least 3 titles on launch day that I REALLY want to play
PSSST.... don't tell anyone but MS has already revealed their launch date and price point...
You missed my point about HDMI... it's not that people will have to upgrade their TVs it's that people will have to upgrade their TVs AND their PS3s because the low end version doesn't support it. That's not very Future-proof now is it (especially considering Sony expects their consoles to hold 10+ year lifespans).
Also it's not that no one has mentioned rumble. SONY SAID IT WAS TAKEN OUT. so it will definitely NOT be there. Using 3rd party controllers for rumble in BC games is just retarded, in the literal sense of the word.
You must have lucked out, I went through 3 PS1s and I'm on my 4th PS2, and I barely played the things. As for other consoles I've only ever had 1 NES, SNES, N64, Genesis, Dreamcast, Xbox 1, and Xbox 360. I did have to buy a 2nd Saturn but that was my own dumb fault. The PS consoles break just looking at them cross-eyed. I can honestly say that I don't know a single person IRL who's still on their first PS2.
IIRC the AV Multi port is the some one Sony's been using since the PS2, which does include HD Component but no digital video options like DVI or HDMI.
with no HDMI you don't get HDCP and without that you risk your expensive HD movies not actually playing in HD, sure they've claimed to be backing away from it but that has yet to be seen, movie companies will still have that option and if they decide to implement it then you as the user will be screwed. What's the point of spending all the extra money on a BRD capable console if you don't actually get HD movies?
As for the controller if the Console doesn't support rumble then all the 3rd parties in the world wont make it come back. 3rd party controllers generally suck compared to 1st party anyway. Even if they did implement it, without it being built into the 1st party hardware 0 games will support it, the only thing it'd be useful for is playing old PS1 and PS2 games.
The Xbox 360 has a universal control of that, you can adjust the level of vibration (or tun it off completely) in your profile and that will carry the setting across all games you play. Similarly you can change how you want Generic Controls for different types of games FPS (southpaw/inverted axis, which button fires, etc.), Racing (which buttons is gas, brake, shift, etc.). I know the N64 offered similar rumble adjustment through a switch on the rumble pack, did the GC as well?
I personally like the rumble feature, in some games I find it annoying or overused but more often then not I feel it's advanced to a point of adding an extra level of immersion. like when I'm in a driving game and go over a bridge and feel the "thump thump" just like I would feel through the steering wheel in a real car. Details like that I really enjoy.
I can respect your dislike for the feature, but I think giving people the option as opposed to just taking it out is kind of ridiculous. Also I find it hard to believe that Sony couldn't get it to play nice with the motion tracking (why not just shut it off with motion tracking in use if it was a problem). If I had to guess they dropped it due to the lawsuit with Immersion.
Not to mention using a wand controller in one hand is a much much more natural way to use a 3D motion device then something where you keep both hands together in front of you horizontally.
The applications for a wand that work well:
Guns (gun games, FPSs etc)
Bats/Clubs (Golf, baseball, cricket etc.)
Swords/Weapons (rpg fighters)
Hands (punches, blocks, arm gestures, etc.)
NONE of those uses pan out well when holding the controller like a Playstation controller. How would you play a golf game and swing the controller like a club with a PS controller? How would you hold it and virtually PUNCH something? How would you use it like a gun?
Most modern professional 3D motion controllers are wand shaped for this very reason. Even still a wand can be held horizontally for the same feeling you'd get from holding a regular controller, which really only works well for driving/flying. I'm not saying there wont be innovative use of the PS motion controller (as I'm sure there will be) But a Wand controller is infinitely more versatile. I think this just solidifies Sony's blind rip-off of Nintendo's next step without actually taking into consideration all the aspects of WHY Nitendo is doing things the way they're doing them.
1. The PS2 had USB 1.1 Port Not 2.0
2. Sony Released a PVR version of the PS2 called the "PSX" in Japan, it was an enormous flop...
3. the PS2 offered Linux support and very few seemed to really care. The PS3 will probably offer Linux support again, and I'm sure it will be greeted with just as much apathy. If anything all it does is prevent the Linux community from cracking the security and inadvertently opening the doors to piracy trying to run their OS on new hardware.
So exactly what is you point again?
In addition to the Wii motion sensor ripp off don't forget the addition of the Playstation "Guide Button" they placed on the center of the controller. Most original idea Ever or the fact that they were scared of all the people hating the boomerang controller that they jumped back into their security blanket that is the stanky old controller design they've had since the PS1 dropped in 1994, that's right it'll be 12 years old, interesting seeing as that seems to be about the age of most of their fan base.
the GC comment was more aimed at the parent post then you.
I agree that the Wii-mote looks interesting, I'm trying not to pass judgment until I get a chance to spend a few hours with the thing but I'm skeptical at best. Having used controllers with similar ideas in the past (SideWinder Freestyle, Essential Reality P5 glove) the motion sensing is either too inaccurate and buggy (like the P5) or too accurate to use (like the Freestyle). In all cases having to keep your arms afloat instead of resting on your lap can be tiresome. As a fan of shooting games at the arcade Your arms can get very tired very fast holding the gun in the air in front of you. In fact most games like that provide short 10 second breaks every 30 to 60 seconds of gameplay to provide your arms with a break.
In most cases Wii-mote type controller in the past have made interesting conversation pieces but little else. If anyone can pull it off well Nintendo can... but thinking about how I come home from a long day at work followed by a few hours at the gym, slump down and snuggle into my couch with a cool drink at arms reach and play for hours using little more then my thumbs and first finger, the idea of having to sit up or stand and waving my arms in the air doesn't seem all that appetizing past impressing people when I hold parties.
The 6 button pad wasn't aftermarket... The console launched with only 3 but half way through it's life they added 3 more. If you bought the console at that point it came with 6 buttons, it was also available separately for those who owned the older version and wanted to upgrade, or just wanted a 2nd controller. Similarly the Original PS1 controller didn't have analog sticks (or Vibration) the "Dual Shock" didn't come about until halfway through the Playstations Life AFTER Nintendo and Sega introduced their analog game pads. The Sega Saturn game pad changed TWICE. The first change was purely ergonomic (much like the Xbox 1's controller change, where the US model was replaced with the sleeker Japanese version), the second change replaced the shoulder buttons with analog triggers and added a single analog stick, it looked like a bulky version of a Dreamcast controller with 6 face buttons and no VMU port.
Nintendo seems to be the only ones who don't change their controllers mid life.
And I don't know how you can chastise the PS and Xbox gamepads but rave for the GC. I'll agree that the GC has an AMAZING ergonomic feel by comparison, I actually loath the way the dual shock feels in my hands... but the button count is pretty much the same across all of them.
GC: A,B,X,Y,Z,L,R, a d-pad and 2 analogs
XB: A,B,X,Y,B,W,L,R, a d-pad and 2 analogs
PS: A,B,X,Y,L1,L2,R1,R2, a d-pad and 2 analogs
The XB and PS only have 1 extra gameplay button over the Gamecube, and that's only because the GC controller isn't symmetrical.
My biggest gripe with the GC controller is that the face buttons are NOT arranged in the typical diamond shaped 2x2 matrix. If you can't find your placement on that style button layout then I'm sorry but you fail at console gaming. I suspect you'd have the same trouble finding your way around a D-pad. It might be more ergonomic or better for someone who's never gamed before, but that'd be like Dell selling all their new computers with Dvorák keyboards because they're more efficient then qwerty. You can't just change something like that...
There are some things that are the way they are because thats the way they are.
Wasn't there some open source game someone made for the iBook that used it's internal accelerometers (drop sensors I believe) to play a marble labyrinth game?
sometime the position relative to itself IS the desired measurement.
Exactly, I think the point here is, it is in-fact MORE difficult to download and install the patch then it is to download pornography. Infact modding the game to show such things would take a conscience effort while stumbling across pornography on the internet might not be.
Basically the content might as well not even exist in the game because there are no codes or anything to access it. It's as if you wrote some code and commented it out, then someone went through uncommented it, recompiled it and blamed you for doing something wrong.
However after the GTA incident you'd think Bethesda would be more keen then to leave a file like that on the distributed disc. At least Crystal Dynamics fixed their nipple in the Lara Croft Title before that got out of hand.
years later I caught an episode of Cowboy Bebop on Adult Swim and thought it was pretty cool, knowing that most anime follows like a mini-series I decided to buy the first disc, I loved it and bought the rest of the series and eventually my collection grew from there, I own about 10 or 15 complete series now (including NGE) and numerous movies.
I think for any non-anime watcher, to be properly introduced into Anime you have to
- 1.) Watch it dubbed rather then subbed (hardcore fans will shout blasphemy but you have a much higher chance of pulling someone in with it dubbed, some of the dubs these days are actually quite good and certain characters I find even more suiting with their english voice actors then their japanese).
- 2.) Watch a Serious series that more westernized. I think Cowboy Bebop is a fantastic series, as is NGE or Initial D, and others, all appeal to different tastes. Too many people have visions of DBZ or Speed Racer as the end-all-be-all of Anime, and that's a shame. A series series will help break that stereotype.
- 3.) Watch a series as opposed to a Movie. Movies might be shorter but if you start someone out on a series everything is much slower to develop and it's much easier to follow the plot and character development. Plus if you start by watching 3 or 4 episodes of a series it will undoubtedly create a want to watch more of it and see how the story resolves itself.
I've been successful in getting a few friends into Anime using the above methods, even people who outright "hated it" despite the fact that they'd never really watched it.Bebop, NGE, Outlaw Star, Lain, Ghost in the Shell, Big O, Initial D are all some favorites of mine.