Now, the Achievement for not dying once may get some people to play it more tactically, but Bioshock was still piss easy on "Hard". The only time I was actually worried about dying in the game (minor spoiler) was when Frank was reducing your maximum possible health. Every other time in the game, it was only a minor setback to get killed since there was a vita chamber every 10 feet (with no cost to use them). You could go through the game simply smashing people with the wrench (There's even a plasmid that gives you health for doing so) and the only real reason to use most of the already existing plasmids is simply because you are bored, and want to try something else for a change.
How about the Vita chambers are spread farther apart (or cut in half)? or how about a limited # of respawns... something like 10 total. How about each time you respawn your enemies respawn and are back to full health? Something like that. I understand some people just want to "experience the game" and aren't interested in it being too difficult, but given how easy "hard mode" was I expect "Easy" to actually bring up a DVD like menu where you just hit "Play" and the character just goes through the game with no further input from you.
Nintendo got a lot of things right, but shipping a console without multiple gigabytes of storage in the post-Original XBox world is just plain inexcusable.
It does have an SD slot, and it would really only take some licensing on their part and a firmware update to allow use of HCSD cards (which is pin compatible with SD) to allow 8 gig cards and for games to be played from them. It wasn't too long ago that full retail games were shipped in 1.5 gig mini-dvds for the Gamecube.
The fact of the matter is that if it weren't for the price difference, the PS3 would be the superior casual-games machine at this point just because of the PSN content.
Wha? If we are looking solely at "Downloadable Casual games" than the 360 blows the PSN, and Wii out of the water.
As stupid as it sounds, it's true. The 360 with Uno, Hearts, Catan, Texas Hold'em, Pac-man, Luxor, Bejeweled 2, etc... has a far better catalog geared to casual gamers than the Wii and PSN combined.
The downloadable PS3 games (with motion control) are selling for 1/3rd what disc based Wii games are selling for, and quite frankly are more innovative than the series of Wii-hashes that Nintendo has been pumping out.
What $17 PSN games are based around Motion control? Which are worth playing? Each retail game I played (Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Motorstorm) that implemented motion control played like ass with it, and I was thankful to turn it off. Is there any PS3 game that has motion controls that are as sensitive and responsive as say... ExciteTruck?
If lack of a hard drive makes the $280 360 an "unacceptable gaming experience" then lack of backwards compatibility has to put the $400 PS3 on the same level. The PS3 simply does not have a large enough game library to compete without access to the *extremely* extensive PS2 library (not to mention that of the many many great PS2 games, most are now being discounted as "last-gen" games).
Agreed. By removing the backwords compatibility chips, Sony released a system that plays the fewest amount of games on the market, and that definately would say sales.
Elevators too, are nice but aren't for all games. You'd be hard pressed to justify an elevator in a medieval setting, for example. Heck, even in a modern setting, if you have elevators between bits of outdoor scenery, it looks just bloody stupid.
I think you took the suggestion too literally. That's just an example of how the Metroid series gets around it, but you could insert "hallway, tunnel, path in the woods, alley way, etc..." something that is confining and limits how much you see and is long enough (time wise) that by the time you are on "the other side" everything is loaded.
"... system software updates have improved software backwards compatibility and added support for upscaling of PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games up to 1080p resolution. Upscaling can improve picture quality in some situations."
Which is a result of ditching the Emotion Engine hardware in the 80GB PS3 model and a benefit of doing it in software - as opposed to the no-longer-manufactured 60GB PS3 which had the EE chip.
So long as you don't enable progressive-scan in the game (or have old Firmware), the 60 gig model will upscale PS1/PS2 games. It actually does a pretty good job of it too.
And the graphics? Well if you are into anime or cartoons then fine. But if you like realism then don't expect much.
How about the realism of swinging the remote as a Golf club? Tiger Woods 08 helped straiten out my regular golf swing. (I still slice, but not as much or often)
A real gamer would never say that the Wii is better then the PS3 or the 360 or eventhe PS2 or the original XBOX. I think the reason it does so well is that people really are THAT DUMB. They think "well I can grab this console for so much less money". They never take the quality of the thing into consideration. It may be true that you can pick up a Wii game faster then a 360 but the learning curve isn't that much of an issue. Trust me, don't buy a Wii. You will regret it if you do. If you don't regret it, you just don't know what your missing.
Sorry, but for many things the Wii simply IS better than the PS360. Not to say they each don't have their strenghts but the Wii for Sports games (Tennis, Golf) is superior to anything that can be done by pressing a button. Now the FPS controls are coming into focus with Metroid 3 and MoH Heroes 2 and that will make the Wii version the prefered version of future FPSes. You don't sound like the kind of person who would play a Harry Potter game, but if you did, the Wii version used the Wiimote as his wand to cast spells with motion controls. That's another level of immersion that isn't possible on the other systems. Now a Game like Gears of War wouldn't be possible on the Wii (in its current form anyway) but that doesn't mean it doesn't have good games, or even the best version of multiplatform games.
You said that the Wii mote is good for some things, but not for others. I'm pretty sure one of those things at which it excels is FPS games. Playing Metroid, I actually found the nun chuck to be much better than wasd for movement, and the wiimote was pretty much as good as a mouse for aiming. The only downfall that I can see (in games where this would be necessary) is that switching weapons may not be as easy as hitting the number keys.
Actually the Wiimote can give you enough options to switch between weapons if you use the D-pad. I'm personally not fond of being able to cart along every weapon you ever picked up in a game. Games like Gears of War make you decide which guns are more important to carry at any given level and those choices are important. If you have the Metroid control Scheme and use the D-pad to select from one of 4 different weapons, I think it would work fine.
Oh, yeah and I agree that Analog is a ton better than WASD. This is why I prefer Metroid controls over PC controls for FPS. WASD sucks and though the Wiimote isn't quite as sensitive as a mouse (but in MoH: Heroes 2 for the Wii can be) it is close enough that the Wiimote takes the win. Add in the visceral feel when you rip off an Alien's shield with the "grapple gun" (that can't be duplicated anywhere else) before you blast them and you have an epic Win.
Attachment rate is a big deal though. Nintendo only profits so much from selling 3 games with each system. What they need is to engage those soccer moms with game after game they want to buy. If they're perfectly happy with Guitar Hero and Wii Sports for the next 3 years, Nintendo loses out big time.
Not for Nintendo. They are still selling to people who wouldn't consider their products before. If a casual gamer buys 1 or 2 games per year, that's still 1 or 2 (or 5-12 over the life of the system) that they wouldn't have sold before. Considering they make money every step of the way, this can only be a win.
Also I posted this several times, but the attach rate is pretty low due to there being a higher concentration of "casual gamers" buying the system, and a a very high concentration of "hard core games" being published. If there were more titles that actually fit the tastes of the audience buying the system, game sales would naturally improve.
WiiSports. Yes, WiiSports. People are paying $250 to play that game, so it is a Killer app.
Does the PS3 have one?
Not yet. They keep getting delayed, going Multi-console, or haven't been given a formalized schedule yet. MGS4 and FFXIII get all the press, but God of War 3, or Shadow of the Colossus 2 will move some units; they just aren't on the schedule yet.
It's unfortunate since the PS3 doesn't have anything to really define it yet. It has good games (and some good exclusives), but none that have the draw to get people to buy the platform the day that specific game comes out. They really need something like a Halo, or Zelda, or Final Fantasy to ship soon.
This sales this generation will end with (1) Wii (2) 360 (3) PS3. The only real drama is whether the PS3 can scrape into 2nd place ahead of the 360.
The 360 being all but dead in Japan will help Sony a lot, and though it's not impossible for the PS3 to overtake the 360 it's not all that probable.
By the numbers, the PS3 needs to outsell the 360 by 200,000 units every month until 2011 just to catch up. At which point I'm sure MS will already be talking about the next X-Box.
It would be very possible. I got a wii about 2 months ago and I've bought a single wii game since then. I want to buy more, I eagerly scan the videogame store shelf every week, but the games tend to be underwhelming at best.
It's Ironic that Nintendo captured the casual market and yet there are very few games for them, they either fall under the "core-gamer category" (RE4, Metroid3, etc...) or the "Shovelware" (Too many to mention actually) category. I own a Wii with something like 15 Wii games, and 2 dozen VC games. I love it, and play it often. My parents enjoyed WiiSports so much they wanted one of their own for when they have company over. They are as "non-gamer" as can be, but are not opposed to buying games anymore as long as they appeal to them. To date they only have 3 games (WiiSports, WiiPlay, and Tiger Woods 08) and 1 VC game (PacMan). Occasionally I bring over Rayman RR, or Excitetruck and we play them a little, but that's it. They are both retired, have time and money available to them, but there is simply not a selection of games they find appealing.
Nintendo is moving units to casual gamers, but they (and 3rd parties) need to recognize this largely untapped market and deliver some games they want to buy! Guitar Hero Helps, so does DDR, and Karaoke games, but what about SuDoKu, or NY Times Crossword puzzles...
the race for console dominance is still anyone's to win
I disagree.
Why is this modded Troll? Since the Wii has sold the most systems worldwide in this generation (IE: more than the PS3 and 360), and it continues to outsell their competitors by a considerable margin every month (they were only slightly beat out during the Halo 3 launch) wouldn't it be appropriate to say the race is "Nintendo's to lose" ?
Ironically, I was just reading this article, that describes Super Mario Galaxy's coaster mode which looks like it is geared toward playing the game cooperatively with younger children.
As the second player, you don't get a character on screen, you get a cursor that is used to capture gems, gather coins, help give Mario jump boosts and distract would-be foes. So younger gamers still get to control the primary character, feel like they're controlling a game and ensures that the game experience lasts longer than what would occur based on their current abilities.
I think it's ironic that they claim it's for "younger children" rather than "non-gamers". The co-op system is brilliant that it has virtually no learning curve, "hop in, hop out" simply by turning the remote on, and despite being very helpful in a number of cases it is neither required for a person to enjoy the game solo, nor more difficult to advance without it. This is something that lets someone who normally wouldn't be interested like an older parent, or non-gamer girlfriend the ability to share in the experience and actively help, without all the added complexity.
Right now, the only people moving this way are Sony. You'll note that Warhawk was available as a download purchase, as well as being sold in stores. Don't expect to ever see this feature for the Wii, though. The lack of a proper hard-drive means that you'll never see new commercial-quality games as downloads.
Yes, but I think Warhawk symbolizes how dumb corporations are in trying to pursue a new revenue model. The Downloaded version of the game (for $40 mind you) does not support local multiplayer, since in Sony's infinite wisdom "they did not pay for the right to play that game", It doesn't matter if they are sub accounts under the master that did buy them, they still can't play. So either you can pay $60 for a version with a bluetooth headset (and local multiplayer, and resellability, or the ability to loan it to friends), or a $40 version without the headset, or a $40 version that is locked to both the PS3 and the user?
The Wii could support USB hard drives, or SDHC cards (which are pin compatible with SD cards and offer sizes over 2 gig) with a firmware update so it is completely possible. Remember, it wasn't too long ago that (nearly all) Gamecube games shipped in 1.5 gig mini DVD's. Originally this was reguarded mearly as "wishful thinking" by the fan base, but with Final Fantasy Christal Chronicles was announced as a WiiWare title , something along these lines seems imminent.
Then you must be terrible at the game. There are so many features that have made it perfect since I started playing the actual version of the game (not the XBox360 version)
- It's one of few board games I've ever played that scaled well with number of people. The more people the more strategy there is to tile placement while a two-player game is still interesting.
- It is fast to start. There is no massive setup time. Drop the tiles into a pile, make sure they're all face down, shuffled up and start playing. It starts to get boring to go play a game that takes 30 minutes just to set up the board.
- It's a fast game. Over anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour.
- It's replayable, games will consistently be different.
- It's fast paced, player turns are done and over pretty quickly (unless you have someone that takes forever to realize the obvious play.
- There is ample room for "screwage", that is, when playing with some of your regular friends, games eventually deteriorate into being able to screw over the most people when in position not to win or if you just want to make someone else's game a living hell (such as that person winning too often).
I think the real problem is these games don't translate well to people playing video games. The whole point of a board game is the socialization factor which you eliminate almost completely playing online.
Do you realize all those benefits are present in the 360 game? There is also the benefit of the computer scoring everything which always took forever on the regular game. Also unlike Catan, there are no secret cards or tiles, so you can play 4 player locally and not miss the social aspect. I also like not having to constantly adjust the board since the land always expands in a weird way that never sits well on the table (and I can't use the floor as my cat would play with the peices).
If you want to discuss it in terms of game compatibility, are any of the following games ported to Wii? Super Mario Land. Balloon Kid. Yoshi's Cookie. Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins. Kirby's Star Stacker. The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (original or DX).
Nope. And none of them were ported to Gamecube either.
I'm forced to disagree. Carcassonne makes a GREAT 360 game. While you may like or dislike it for whatever reasons you may have, online play optimized by a computer scorekeeper and rule-manager is fantastic. No "mistakes" playing on a 360. You can't make an accident setting a follower on the wrong land, etc. It's good for a number of the reasons that UNO makes a good 360 game -- without the vastly higher luck factor in UNO.
I'm only upset that they're not giving something ELSE to those of us who bought Carcassonne already...
I agree that the compter management streamlines everything wonderfully to make this my "preferred version" (I would like to add the Arc of the Covenant as a game option though) and I agree it would be nice to get a new expansion for it (preferably early before it's released for sale to guarantee you didn't already own it), They are at least giving us a larger online community to play against.
Would you consider the Gameboy player a game? I always considered it a peripheral.
That's beside my point, which is: Where is the equivalent peripheral for Wii?
Actually, that's not besides the point, it is the entire point. The Parent post stated:
"But the Wii can also run gamecube games natively, without emulation...
All of the gamecube games should run on it, i don't know of any that don't."
Which is to say that all games should run on the Wii. Which is correct. I can't think of a single Gamecube game that will not run on the Wii (with a Gamecube controller and Memory card of course), but there are some peripherals that will not work, so they may not be as fully featured. There were only 3 peripherals that plugged into the bottom of the Gamecube (to my knowledge) and thus not compatible with the Wii; The Broadband adapter, Modem Adapter and The Gameboy player. The former 2 were replaced by the internal Wifi (or Lan adapter) for the Wii, and unfortunately they are not compatible with the handful of Gamecube games that depended on them.
You still CAN plan Phantasy Star "online" (just the offline content) and ultimately whether it could use the Wifi adapter to connect to the internet (it can't) is immaterial as the servers are down.
Currently there is no equivalent peripheral for Wii (which is a shame really), but we were discussing game compatibility not peripherals.
All of the gamecube games should run on it, i don't know of any that don't.
Game Boy Player doesn't, because there's no place to plug in the GBA cart reader.
Would you consider the Gameboy player a game? I always considered it a peripheral. If you REALLY enjoy changing the background patterns or scaling options I suppose you could make it a game...
Is that your Oblivion save-game file and my Oblivion save-game file are probably pretty similar.
It's not like Morrowind where there were dozens upon dozens of faction combinations, and things *actually* worth stealing. (We could have a whole conversation about what the point of being a thief is in a world full of 'levelled loot' and hilariously powerful 'unlock spells', but that's another post). In Oblivion there really aren't all that many ways you can play it. And the differences between the character types are amazingly minimal. (Argonians can now wear boots! And they can still breathe underwater, but who cares when there's nothing underwater anyway?). Oblivion has 4 guilds, and one main plotline. For all the illusion of 'uniqueness', your character probably isn't.
Though I don't disagree that most save files will end up inherently similar (especially early on, and late in the game), I would like to point out that one of the most useful items I acquired in Oblivion was the Fin Gleam Helmet which could only be found by exploring underwater.
Now, if HD-DVD goes tits-up, that standalone player is as "worthless" as the PS3 in that not much new is coming out for it, but it only cost you $150 -- or $99,
Actually it still upconverts standard dvds, and at that price point is still competitive with other DVD upconverters without the HD (native) playback. Add in the 5 free HD DVDs, and either way you cut it you're still ahead.
Slashdot Mirror
How about the Vita chambers are spread farther apart (or cut in half)? or how about a limited # of respawns... something like 10 total. How about each time you respawn your enemies respawn and are back to full health? Something like that. I understand some people just want to "experience the game" and aren't interested in it being too difficult, but given how easy "hard mode" was I expect "Easy" to actually bring up a DVD like menu where you just hit "Play" and the character just goes through the game with no further input from you.
It does have an SD slot, and it would really only take some licensing on their part and a firmware update to allow use of HCSD cards (which is pin compatible with SD) to allow 8 gig cards and for games to be played from them. It wasn't too long ago that full retail games were shipped in 1.5 gig mini-dvds for the Gamecube.
Wha? If we are looking solely at "Downloadable Casual games" than the 360 blows the PSN, and Wii out of the water. As stupid as it sounds, it's true. The 360 with Uno, Hearts, Catan, Texas Hold'em, Pac-man, Luxor, Bejeweled 2, etc... has a far better catalog geared to casual gamers than the Wii and PSN combined.
What $17 PSN games are based around Motion control? Which are worth playing? Each retail game I played (Heavenly Sword, Warhawk, Motorstorm) that implemented motion control played like ass with it, and I was thankful to turn it off. Is there any PS3 game that has motion controls that are as sensitive and responsive as say... ExciteTruck?
Agreed. By removing the backwords compatibility chips, Sony released a system that plays the fewest amount of games on the market, and that definately would say sales.
I think you took the suggestion too literally. That's just an example of how the Metroid series gets around it, but you could insert "hallway, tunnel, path in the woods, alley way, etc..." something that is confining and limits how much you see and is long enough (time wise) that by the time you are on "the other side" everything is loaded.
So long as you don't enable progressive-scan in the game (or have old Firmware), the 60 gig model will upscale PS1/PS2 games. It actually does a pretty good job of it too.
How about the realism of swinging the remote as a Golf club? Tiger Woods 08 helped straiten out my regular golf swing. (I still slice, but not as much or often)
Sorry, but for many things the Wii simply IS better than the PS360. Not to say they each don't have their strenghts but the Wii for Sports games (Tennis, Golf) is superior to anything that can be done by pressing a button. Now the FPS controls are coming into focus with Metroid 3 and MoH Heroes 2 and that will make the Wii version the prefered version of future FPSes. You don't sound like the kind of person who would play a Harry Potter game, but if you did, the Wii version used the Wiimote as his wand to cast spells with motion controls. That's another level of immersion that isn't possible on the other systems. Now a Game like Gears of War wouldn't be possible on the Wii (in its current form anyway) but that doesn't mean it doesn't have good games, or even the best version of multiplatform games.
Actually the Wiimote can give you enough options to switch between weapons if you use the D-pad. I'm personally not fond of being able to cart along every weapon you ever picked up in a game. Games like Gears of War make you decide which guns are more important to carry at any given level and those choices are important. If you have the Metroid control Scheme and use the D-pad to select from one of 4 different weapons, I think it would work fine.
Oh, yeah and I agree that Analog is a ton better than WASD. This is why I prefer Metroid controls over PC controls for FPS. WASD sucks and though the Wiimote isn't quite as sensitive as a mouse (but in MoH: Heroes 2 for the Wii can be) it is close enough that the Wiimote takes the win. Add in the visceral feel when you rip off an Alien's shield with the "grapple gun" (that can't be duplicated anywhere else) before you blast them and you have an epic Win.
Fixed that for you.
Not for Nintendo. They are still selling to people who wouldn't consider their products before. If a casual gamer buys 1 or 2 games per year, that's still 1 or 2 (or 5-12 over the life of the system) that they wouldn't have sold before. Considering they make money every step of the way, this can only be a win.
Also I posted this several times, but the attach rate is pretty low due to there being a higher concentration of "casual gamers" buying the system, and a a very high concentration of "hard core games" being published. If there were more titles that actually fit the tastes of the audience buying the system, game sales would naturally improve.
Halo and Gears of War (before it went to PC)
WiiSports. Yes, WiiSports. People are paying $250 to play that game, so it is a Killer app. Not yet. They keep getting delayed, going Multi-console, or haven't been given a formalized schedule yet. MGS4 and FFXIII get all the press, but God of War 3, or Shadow of the Colossus 2 will move some units; they just aren't on the schedule yet.It's unfortunate since the PS3 doesn't have anything to really define it yet. It has good games (and some good exclusives), but none that have the draw to get people to buy the platform the day that specific game comes out. They really need something like a Halo, or Zelda, or Final Fantasy to ship soon.
The 360 being all but dead in Japan will help Sony a lot, and though it's not impossible for the PS3 to overtake the 360 it's not all that probable.
By the numbers, the PS3 needs to outsell the 360 by 200,000 units every month until 2011 just to catch up. At which point I'm sure MS will already be talking about the next X-Box.
It's Ironic that Nintendo captured the casual market and yet there are very few games for them, they either fall under the "core-gamer category" (RE4, Metroid3, etc...) or the "Shovelware" (Too many to mention actually) category. I own a Wii with something like 15 Wii games, and 2 dozen VC games. I love it, and play it often. My parents enjoyed WiiSports so much they wanted one of their own for when they have company over. They are as "non-gamer" as can be, but are not opposed to buying games anymore as long as they appeal to them. To date they only have 3 games (WiiSports, WiiPlay, and Tiger Woods 08) and 1 VC game (PacMan). Occasionally I bring over Rayman RR, or Excitetruck and we play them a little, but that's it. They are both retired, have time and money available to them, but there is simply not a selection of games they find appealing.
Nintendo is moving units to casual gamers, but they (and 3rd parties) need to recognize this largely untapped market and deliver some games they want to buy! Guitar Hero Helps, so does DDR, and Karaoke games, but what about SuDoKu, or NY Times Crossword puzzles...
Why is this modded Troll? Since the Wii has sold the most systems worldwide in this generation (IE: more than the PS3 and 360), and it continues to outsell their competitors by a considerable margin every month (they were only slightly beat out during the Halo 3 launch) wouldn't it be appropriate to say the race is "Nintendo's to lose" ?
I think it's ironic that they claim it's for "younger children" rather than "non-gamers". The co-op system is brilliant that it has virtually no learning curve, "hop in, hop out" simply by turning the remote on, and despite being very helpful in a number of cases it is neither required for a person to enjoy the game solo, nor more difficult to advance without it. This is something that lets someone who normally wouldn't be interested like an older parent, or non-gamer girlfriend the ability to share in the experience and actively help, without all the added complexity.
Yes, but I think Warhawk symbolizes how dumb corporations are in trying to pursue a new revenue model. The Downloaded version of the game (for $40 mind you) does not support local multiplayer, since in Sony's infinite wisdom "they did not pay for the right to play that game", It doesn't matter if they are sub accounts under the master that did buy them, they still can't play. So either you can pay $60 for a version with a bluetooth headset (and local multiplayer, and resellability, or the ability to loan it to friends), or a $40 version without the headset, or a $40 version that is locked to both the PS3 and the user?
The Wii could support USB hard drives, or SDHC cards (which are pin compatible with SD cards and offer sizes over 2 gig) with a firmware update so it is completely possible. Remember, it wasn't too long ago that (nearly all) Gamecube games shipped in 1.5 gig mini DVD's. Originally this was reguarded mearly as "wishful thinking" by the fan base, but with Final Fantasy Christal Chronicles was announced as a WiiWare title , something along these lines seems imminent.
Do you realize all those benefits are present in the 360 game? There is also the benefit of the computer scoring everything which always took forever on the regular game. Also unlike Catan, there are no secret cards or tiles, so you can play 4 player locally and not miss the social aspect. I also like not having to constantly adjust the board since the land always expands in a weird way that never sits well on the table (and I can't use the floor as my cat would play with the peices).
Nope. And none of them were ported to Gamecube either.
I agree that the compter management streamlines everything wonderfully to make this my "preferred version" (I would like to add the Arc of the Covenant as a game option though) and I agree it would be nice to get a new expansion for it (preferably early before it's released for sale to guarantee you didn't already own it), They are at least giving us a larger online community to play against.
Actually, that's not besides the point, it is the entire point. The Parent post stated:
Which is to say that all games should run on the Wii. Which is correct. I can't think of a single Gamecube game that will not run on the Wii (with a Gamecube controller and Memory card of course), but there are some peripherals that will not work, so they may not be as fully featured. There were only 3 peripherals that plugged into the bottom of the Gamecube (to my knowledge) and thus not compatible with the Wii; The Broadband adapter, Modem Adapter and The Gameboy player. The former 2 were replaced by the internal Wifi (or Lan adapter) for the Wii, and unfortunately they are not compatible with the handful of Gamecube games that depended on them.
You still CAN plan Phantasy Star "online" (just the offline content) and ultimately whether it could use the Wifi adapter to connect to the internet (it can't) is immaterial as the servers are down.
Currently there is no equivalent peripheral for Wii (which is a shame really), but we were discussing game compatibility not peripherals.
Would you consider the Gameboy player a game? I always considered it a peripheral. If you REALLY enjoy changing the background patterns or scaling options I suppose you could make it a game...
Smash looks awesome, but is not coming out next week. Last date I heard was Feb, 2008 (for the US).
This week is a lie!
Though I don't disagree that most save files will end up inherently similar (especially early on, and late in the game), I would like to point out that one of the most useful items I acquired in Oblivion was the Fin Gleam Helmet which could only be found by exploring underwater.
Thought I agree in spirit that the biggest game of the year comes out next week, but somehow you misspelled "Rock Band".
Actually it still upconverts standard dvds, and at that price point is still competitive with other DVD upconverters without the HD (native) playback. Add in the 5 free HD DVDs, and either way you cut it you're still ahead.