Having travelled alot I get a chance to see the actual people that play games. It's always a good statistical analogy to take a random 100 people as a sample, from each country. It never fails to reflect sales, save some anomalous results, but that's statistics. It's always obvious that the playstation brand is the most popular regarding home consoles, anywhere I've been, as 7 out of 10 people I (in average) ask have a Ps2, 2 have an xbox and one has a gamecube (here in the UK at least, but it's fairly similar in Greece as well). This seems not to be the case with the PSP. From what I see the PSP is not nearly as dominant or as fast selling as the rest of the playstation family. The ommission to include statistics on SONY's website, could easily be deliberate, due to the poor track of sales compared to Ps1 and Ps2.
on topic: That's pretty rough for sony to have a developer dissing them. But it's good to see someone stepping up to speak their mind. off topic (psp vs ds): Not the most up to date articles but... http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=2&cId=3148983 this is page 3 of an article to show the 2005 sales numbers http://www.codepoetsolutions.com/myth/dsvspsp.html japanese sales data for both handhelds
Anyway, the point I was trying to make was that although there's no doubt the DS has been a huge seller in Japan, that success has not been mirrored to the same extent in other markets. When viewed from a global perspective, the descision of Sony to make a "me too" console is based on sound business (risk-averse) sense. While we on this forum applaud Nintendo and its innovatative Wii console, none of us (Nintendo included, probably) actually know whether it will be a market success or not. That's a big gamble, one that companies like Microsoft and Sony are very unlikely to ever take, unless someone has blazed the trail first. Companies like Nintendo (and Google) thrive on innovation, but it needs to be remembered that the gamble can turn sour pretty quickly as well.
nintendo has currently secured an audience that wouldn't have been as secured if they had gone the hidef/classic evolution way. They have done their homework despite all the skeptisism about their new console prior to gameplay footage.
Uh... last time I checked (which was a month ago), the DS was leading Sony in every region. Though in the US it was only by 500,000. Of course, New Super Mario Bros. comes out Monday I think... and thats only going to increase the DS's lead in the US.
Is ironic how when sony finally put their heads to work and came out with one of the best handheld hardwares ever it may be the only PS that failed. Is the best of the best dilemma, like the DC...
It's an almost undeniable fact that somehow, Sony succeeded in botching up what could have been a lot stronger handheld system. And good on the Ubisoft Guy, seeing that controller made me feel disgusted, during their speech they practically claimed it to be their idea, filthy. I'm also particuarly annoyed that on the 6:00 news down here they had an article on E3 that specifically mentions the PS3 Controller and it's Motion sensativity but practically ignore the Wii - not even mentioning the Wii's motion Sensitive technology.
That's because the majority of western players are dumb fucks who go for graphics, blood and violence over decent game play any day of the week! Yakumo
Yep, I am also disappointed with Sony blatant plagiarism, trying to steal Nintendo’s thunder in the slyest way possible! But I agree with Taucias that the motion sensing might be a bit of a novelty. I have both the eyetoy & the bongos, but after work I just wanna lay on my couch and bash buttons (and devil may cry 3 was a chore!!!) So I hope Ninty has something in mind for lazy people J now I do think some games are still pure fun, but like Barc0de I’ve been playing games for 22 years now! And even though it still is still my favourite life wasting pastime. I find that playing is sometimes like a job sitting their completing it and feeling no satisfaction! At the end of Robocop on the Amstrad you got one sentence ‘good job Murphy’, now you get a half an hour FMV and you’re like oh well. We need more games that balance difficulty and fun well like Ninja Gaiden finishing that felt good… errrr I’ve gone off on one! No I’m not too worried I think the next gen has hope & I’ll still be a gamer even if Sony took over the market.
That's the whole point though, isn't it? The majority of western players are dumb fucks. The fact that anyone bought that "50 Cent: Bulletproof" game, and games like it, is proof that innovation only has a limited market and generica rules. While I don't agree with Sony's approach, I think they've got the majority of the market sussed, and the rest they'll be happy to do without so long as it increases their exposure to risk.... In a completely off-topic diversion, does anyone think we'll ever reach a stage where there is a global games "standard", meaning all games can be played on all systems, much like all DVD's can be played on all DVD players (region locks not withstanding..)? That way we'd have players from all the manufactures and could chose the brand and features that best suited us. Silly dream or soon-to-be reality?
Just because some people dont see the gameplay value of one game doesnt mean someone else wont. If a game is popular and people enjoy playing it theres nothing wrong with it. You shouldnt be complaining about people who enjoyed playing those games but about the industry who doesnt seek to create games of your interest.
Ask Trip Hawkins' bank manager. Seriously, console hardware has been evolving so fast that no standard would have been decided on quickly enough for it to be worth maintaining for any length of time. Even if they could agree on specs and get the hardware to market in a short space of time, none of the major players would be particularly interested in losing control over their hardware divisions, since despite what many people think, most of the time console manufacturers do not lose money on their hardware sales; more to the point, they'd end up having to undercut each other on hardware sales. It might be a better reality for the consumer, but it certainly wouldn't be for the current hardware manufacturers.
I said it some days ago: casuals just dont care about the Wii, is sad but its the truth. That's why I dont play RPGs. The whole "exp point" concept is just a way to extend an otherwise short game by making you work long hours on it. That was the entire idea behind the 3DO and look how it ended. The only way that could work is if the console maker get a nice profit on the unit so he doesn't have to rely solely in license income. But in order to do that you have to come up with a pretty inexpensive technology, like the DVD, but the problem is that videogame tech gets obsolete way quicker than any other consumer electronics (except of course, PCs). In other words, if we go for a standard then we've to accept a technological stagnation in the market.
Indeed! But the DS is still going strong... so we'll see. I really hope the Wii takes Japan by storm like I'm thinking it will.
It's quite hard to care about a console that hasn't been released. By this line it could be argued that putting enemies in your way in a platform game is just a means of slowing you down before the end of the level. It's called content. I don't know how many RPGs you've played, but levelling usually goes on during missions. It doesn't "slow anything down", it's part of gameplay. I mean, why bother with levels in the first place? Why not just show the ending at the start?
K, the Wii is just around the corner, and there's the hype that usually builds around a console's launch. The point is, if they mention the PS3, why they didnt say anything about the wii? And is not the same, because in other games the only way you can finish the level is using your own experience. In RPGs (I'm not a big fan but I did play a few) if you have a low exp. no matter how good you are you wont be able to defeat the enemies, but if you have a lot of exp. points even the final boss is a piece of cake.
No, we just have different tastes. Out of everyone here I thought you would appreciate that the most. You think every one should love 'sameold' 2d space shooters or the billion "fuck a 12 year old" games that the japs buy?
Funkstar De Luxe - 2D shooters are far from mainstream in Japanese gaming, only hardcore arcade gamers tend to like that kind of thing. "Fuck a 12 year old" games are also very much a minority thing. While there are quite a few loli-con games only a small group of people ever buy them. + "japs" is not a "PC" term. I would not use it, you can - but I should warn you that some people might be offended by it. But however, I am with you that we should all respect each others preferences. I may not like Western games that much, but I will not condemn Western gamers.
If 2D shooters are what the "mainstream" in Japan wanted then the Saturn and PC-Engine Duo should have reigned supreme. If "fuck 12 year old girls" games are what Japanese gamers primarily wanted then the PC-FX should have been the end all be all console over there (I make this assessment based on the fact that, if the PC-FX had sold despite NEC's insanity, then more dating sims would have been made).
