Curmudgeon Gamer
04 February 2009
Review: BioShock (PS3)
Yes, you should play BioShock. Not finish, mind you, but play. You can get everything you need by reaching the big confrontation, putting the controller down, and pretending that was the final act.
BioShock gets one thing perfect: a beautiful and dark alternate history vision of a 1950s-era dystopia, Rapture, created on the ocean floor by an affluent Objectivist. Decor, apparel, and music blend together brilliantly within a majestic but cracked underwater complex. For hours I was satisfied to stroll through the world and soak up the rich atmosphere.
The grotesque genetic modifications common among the remaining Rapture survivors lured me deeper into the city and drove the basic combat and defense which served as my only interactions with most of those survivors. As I collected Adam and Eve, the two substances used in the genetic upgrades, I modified my own body and grew in both power and versatility.
That the game boils down to these simple combat interactions is its ultimate failing. There are only three persons in the world of Rapture with whom I could interact meaningfully. Andrew Ryan, the creator of Rapture, insulted me over my radio, sent his underlings to kill me, and ultimately proved me the lesser man. Atlas, resistance fighter and nemesis to Ryan, kindly asked me to join his side and fight to survive and escape from Rapture. And Sander Cohen, a demented and cruel artist who trapped me and enlisted me in the creation of a mixed media assembly.
The last of these, Sander Cohen, is the height of the game's vision. After carrying out the assassinations required for his art, Sander rewarded me with some resources, and turned his back to me. I had a clear choice. I could let him live or I could kill him, and my role within the game told me that killing him was not only the rational choice but the correct moral choice. So I shot him in the back, and ultimately destroyed him.
I actually felt good about that, and truly understood why BioShock is so highly regarded.
Later, when I finally dealt with Ryan, the game reached another climax -- but did not end. While that confrontation had clearly been a primary goal all along, my character's motivation beyond that point is weak to the point of irrelevance. The game finishes with a contrived scavenger hunt, a Sister's Keeper mission, and a boss battle that was as uninspired and simple as the rest of the game had seemed complex.
BioShock delivers an unforgettable experience. Ultimately my disappointment with it stems from its failure to live up to the promise of its premise.
(Image credit: This amazing thread of alternate cover art.)
--jvm at 18:41
Comment
[ 4 ]
27 January 2009
More than 600 PlayStation Demo Discs
This is not my not-auction (nor the not-auction of anyone I know) but given my interest in demo discs, it amuses me:
At first I thought 635 demos probably included too many PC demos to be reasonable, but that's actually not the concern. The concern is that many, many of these are repeats. Rare or not, asking $2000 for this is pretty brave. Maybe there really is a collector willing to drop that kind of dough on redundancy.
Or maybe the rares in this set add up to over $2000 and the seller is hoping to find a reseller who wants to take the time to resell the rares separately.
At first I thought 635 demos probably included too many PC demos to be reasonable, but that's actually not the concern. The concern is that many, many of these are repeats. Rare or not, asking $2000 for this is pretty brave. Maybe there really is a collector willing to drop that kind of dough on redundancy.Or maybe the rares in this set add up to over $2000 and the seller is hoping to find a reseller who wants to take the time to resell the rares separately.
--jvm at 16:48
Comment
[ 2 ]
05 January 2009
Analyzing the Downloadable Game Racket
Ryan over at GamerBytes has a pretty awesome pair of articles on the top selling games on XBLA (here) and PSN (here).
I recommend them. Here's a quote I particularly liked:
Anyway, the articles are a decent read.
Disclosure: I have written pro bono for GamerBytes and the parent company (Think Services) also owns Gamasutra, for whom I write monthly.
I recommend them. Here's a quote I particularly liked:
From various sources we can see that despite some quality games coming out from smaller developers, like RooGoo and Shred Nebula, they're not selling. They can't get their name out there, and nobody is taking the time to give these games a go.Of all the stuff Sony's screwed up in the past couple of years, the PS Blog is one of their triumphs. I don't read it a lot, but they do a decent job of keeping true exclusive announcements for themselves. That increases visibility and readership tremendously, I'd imagine.Go and have a look at the US PlayStation blog - they have done a fantastic job allowing smaller developers, like the people behind high Velocity Bowling, PAIN, SuperSonic Automatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars and NovaStrike to speak directly to the community and give them a chance to convince the people. Interviews with Major Nelson are nice, but that's not enough.
Anyway, the articles are a decent read.
Disclosure: I have written pro bono for GamerBytes and the parent company (Think Services) also owns Gamasutra, for whom I write monthly.
Labels: business, online distribution, ps3, psn, xbla, xbox360
--jvm at 20:17
Comment
[ 0 ]
23 December 2008
Review: Super Stardust Portable (PSP)
Super Stardust HD is one of the finest PlayStation 3 games ever made. Yes, it looks like pure eyecandy, but the gripping, seat-of-your-pants gameplay stands the test of time. I recently commented that Space Invaders Extreme is to the original what Tempest 2000 was to Tempest, and I'm tempted to compare SSHD to Asteroids. Honestly, that's the wrong comparison. It is a new Robotron: 2084 for the HD generation.
When I heard the Super Stardust HD developer, Housemarque, was making a PSP version I laughed out loud. How do you condense a two-joystick game with countless objects on the screen at any given moment onto a handheld with only one analog nub (not even a stick!) and far reduced RAM and CPU capabilities? "Madness!" I thought, "It will look and play terribly."
I was wrong. (Regular readers no doubt are used to that by now.) In fact, it is now one of the finest PSP games I've ever played.
The second joystick -- used for shooting -- is handled with the four right buttons, used as a directional pad, but that's just the obvious bit. The brilliant part is that tapping a direction will generate a wide spread of random shots. The gold melter, which is one of the key weapons to master, will fire out a pleasing sinusoidal wave using this tapping approach, mimicking just the way I use it in the PS3 version. And holding down all four buttons (not difficult, in my experience) will fire the melter in a swift circular pattern -- again, just as I've used it many times in the other version.
Graphically, the game gives the appearance of handling enough objects that it really doesn't matter if falls short of the PS3's billions. Everything looks beautiful, and I'd say it's one of the better demonstrations of the PSP's abilities. One important difference here is that the spherical play surface in the original has been replaced with a spherical-looking background image and a toroidal playfield. (The use of a torus to give the illusion of a sphere is a trick I last saw in Tetrisphere on the Nintendo 64.)
The only quibble, and it's not difficult once you learn to cope, is that weapon selection is on the D-pad. That's awkward, and I'd make a couple of suggestions to improve it. First, there should be a way to map the D-pad directions to a particular weapon; for example, I should be able to make up select the rock crusher, right the gold melter, and down the ice splitter. This would eliminate some of the frustration. The final direction could be used as a cycler, or (better) a means of selecting the most upgraded weapon currently available.
The pacing has been tweaked a bit to make accomodate the adjustments in the controls. The result is a game which has kept me in awe for a solid week, and shows no intention of slowing down. I've sunk over 6 hours into this version already, and that was during a busy week when I've also been playing BioShock and doing holiday chores. (For comparison, I have well over 12 hours in the PS3 game.)
I've realized, in the meantime, that Robotron: 2084 was ultimately the correct comparison. After all, one of my favorite versions of that classic arcade game is on a handheld. The Atari Lynx version of Robotron: 2084 uses just a D-pad and two firing buttons, but still has a very clever solution to the independent firing problem that impresses me to this day: the two buttons are used to rotate a constant stream of shots while the D-pad handles movement.
When I heard the Super Stardust HD developer, Housemarque, was making a PSP version I laughed out loud. How do you condense a two-joystick game with countless objects on the screen at any given moment onto a handheld with only one analog nub (not even a stick!) and far reduced RAM and CPU capabilities? "Madness!" I thought, "It will look and play terribly."
I was wrong. (Regular readers no doubt are used to that by now.) In fact, it is now one of the finest PSP games I've ever played.
The second joystick -- used for shooting -- is handled with the four right buttons, used as a directional pad, but that's just the obvious bit. The brilliant part is that tapping a direction will generate a wide spread of random shots. The gold melter, which is one of the key weapons to master, will fire out a pleasing sinusoidal wave using this tapping approach, mimicking just the way I use it in the PS3 version. And holding down all four buttons (not difficult, in my experience) will fire the melter in a swift circular pattern -- again, just as I've used it many times in the other version.
Graphically, the game gives the appearance of handling enough objects that it really doesn't matter if falls short of the PS3's billions. Everything looks beautiful, and I'd say it's one of the better demonstrations of the PSP's abilities. One important difference here is that the spherical play surface in the original has been replaced with a spherical-looking background image and a toroidal playfield. (The use of a torus to give the illusion of a sphere is a trick I last saw in Tetrisphere on the Nintendo 64.)
The only quibble, and it's not difficult once you learn to cope, is that weapon selection is on the D-pad. That's awkward, and I'd make a couple of suggestions to improve it. First, there should be a way to map the D-pad directions to a particular weapon; for example, I should be able to make up select the rock crusher, right the gold melter, and down the ice splitter. This would eliminate some of the frustration. The final direction could be used as a cycler, or (better) a means of selecting the most upgraded weapon currently available.
The pacing has been tweaked a bit to make accomodate the adjustments in the controls. The result is a game which has kept me in awe for a solid week, and shows no intention of slowing down. I've sunk over 6 hours into this version already, and that was during a busy week when I've also been playing BioShock and doing holiday chores. (For comparison, I have well over 12 hours in the PS3 game.)
I've realized, in the meantime, that Robotron: 2084 was ultimately the correct comparison. After all, one of my favorite versions of that classic arcade game is on a handheld. The Atari Lynx version of Robotron: 2084 uses just a D-pad and two firing buttons, but still has a very clever solution to the independent firing problem that impresses me to this day: the two buttons are used to rotate a constant stream of shots while the D-pad handles movement.
--jvm at 23:07
Comment
[ 0 ]
19 December 2008
A Simple Rule for PS3 Installs
If my DualShock 3 turns itself off automatically while waiting for your game to install, you have a problem. Fix it. I'm looking at you, BioShock.
While I'm on it, another rule: if the patch for your game is 4GB or larger, the game should be sold on the PSN storefront, like Burnout Paradise, just for convenience. I'm looking at you, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.
While I'm on it, another rule: if the patch for your game is 4GB or larger, the game should be sold on the PSN storefront, like Burnout Paradise, just for convenience. I'm looking at you, Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds.
--jvm at 21:31
Comment
[ 2 ]
16 December 2008
Review: Prince of Persia (PS3)
The new Prince of Persia tells the story a young woman and a young man who fall in love with each other, battle an evil force that threatens their world, and ultimately pay dearly for the choices they make.
When I walked the final steps to the conclusion of the game, I realized that more than any game in recent memory I was the character on the screen. The hours of conversation between the handsome, plucky Prince (a commoner with a fancy nickname) and his legitimately royal foil, the lively Princess Elika, had had their intended effect.
I was the Prince, and he was I. I knew what I had to do. I knew why I had to do it. I knew there would be dire consequences, and I felt a moment of uncertainty.
In that moment, I considered turning off the console, removing the disc, putting it away. Yet I could not -- I could no more avoid my fate any more than the Prince could avoid his. So the Prince and I did what had to be done. The final images of the game I shall not soon forget.
Surrounding the tale is an action game for casual players. The Prince and Elika move through a beautiful, intricate fantasy world via rhythmic acrobatic challenges, what I think of as Parappa parkour. Except for one moment near the climax, honed reflexes are not really required for the jumping and running. Combat is simple pattern recognition and interruption combined with improvisation using an elaborate -- but friendly -- combo system.
As I said, it's for casual players: you can't die, it uses a type of magic cursor to guide you when you're lost, and the autosave system is always keeping track of your progress. All the frustrations have been removed so you can enjoy the game's story and its satisfying movement challenges.
Don't go into this game expecting it to be Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is not -- and never was intended as -- a modern version of that classic. This is a brand new experience with new challenges and a story that grownups can appreciate.
When I walked the final steps to the conclusion of the game, I realized that more than any game in recent memory I was the character on the screen. The hours of conversation between the handsome, plucky Prince (a commoner with a fancy nickname) and his legitimately royal foil, the lively Princess Elika, had had their intended effect.
I was the Prince, and he was I. I knew what I had to do. I knew why I had to do it. I knew there would be dire consequences, and I felt a moment of uncertainty.
In that moment, I considered turning off the console, removing the disc, putting it away. Yet I could not -- I could no more avoid my fate any more than the Prince could avoid his. So the Prince and I did what had to be done. The final images of the game I shall not soon forget.
Surrounding the tale is an action game for casual players. The Prince and Elika move through a beautiful, intricate fantasy world via rhythmic acrobatic challenges, what I think of as Parappa parkour. Except for one moment near the climax, honed reflexes are not really required for the jumping and running. Combat is simple pattern recognition and interruption combined with improvisation using an elaborate -- but friendly -- combo system.
As I said, it's for casual players: you can't die, it uses a type of magic cursor to guide you when you're lost, and the autosave system is always keeping track of your progress. All the frustrations have been removed so you can enjoy the game's story and its satisfying movement challenges.
Don't go into this game expecting it to be Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. It is not -- and never was intended as -- a modern version of that classic. This is a brand new experience with new challenges and a story that grownups can appreciate.
--jvm at 18:23
Comment
[ 6 ]
11 December 2008
Home - Sony's investment in failure
Today Sony allows the general PlayStation 3-owning public to get into PlayStation Home, its virtual world.
I see two possibilities here:
I wish Sony had used its money to seed unique, exclusive games for its online service. That would have been a lot more interesting, and would have improved its image both among consumers, developers, and publishers.
I see two possibilities here:
- Apathy - Most people don't know about -- or care about -- PlayStation Home. This is the best case scenario for Sony.
- Hatred - Sony forces some popular games to incorporate Home in an essential way, and people hate it. Reviewers will comment on how the Xbox 360 version of a game doesn't include such stupid features. Players will complain about having to use it. This is the bad scenario.
I wish Sony had used its money to seed unique, exclusive games for its online service. That would have been a lot more interesting, and would have improved its image both among consumers, developers, and publishers.
Labels: online, online distribution, playstation home, ps3, psn, sony
--jvm at 11:22
Comment
[ 7 ]
03 December 2008
Review: Tomb Raider: Underworld (PS3)
Strictly as an exploration game, Tomb Raider: Underworld falls short of the standard set by the original Tomb Raider. However, it does provide a better run/jump/climb experience than either of its immediate predecessors, Tomb Raider: Legend and Tomb Raider Anniversary. Regrettably, that's about all it does competently.
Each of the last three games has a key strength: Legend provided a strong characterization of Lara, Anniversary was exceptional for its story and level design (which leans heavily on the original), and Underworld gives us the skilled Lara we've been waiting for ever since Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time opened the door to the new generation of acrobatic platforming. If Lara has another adventure -- and I'm not convinced she should -- the designers would be well-advised to keep the Lara of Underworld. She really is a joy to watch, and not just for her curves and slinky attire.
When I played Anniversary I felt that the designers had not taken enough liberties with the original material. When I see the opportunity offered by Underworld go wasted, I wonder if the designers simply aren't up to the task of creating compelling worlds.
Here's the problem in a nutshell: the original Tomb Raider was built out of large, dense levels, dominated by a giant structure which Lara needed to approach in several different ways. Underworld goes for gigantic levels with lots of wasted space.
The Sphinx level from Tomb Raider is the easiest example, although the Obelisk of Khamoon, St. Francis' Folly, and The Colosseum would serve just as well. Within minutes of emerging on top of the Sphinx, Lara sees ledges and doors which cry out to be explored. Looking up, you wonder if she can find a way on top of the beast's head. Eventually, each of these is visited, figured out, and bested. Despite the grand scale each level had a special intimacy, a sense of discovering and mastering a whole sequence of devious riddles which fit together like a tightly-packed mechanical watch.
By contrast the levels in Underworld are needlessly gigantic and boring, as if size alone would make them better. Instead of seeing obvious signposts around you, leading you onward to deeper and darker secrets, Lara's Underworld consists of desolate, uninteresting expanses with tiny oases of adventure connected by long hallways or jungle roads. The motorcycle that Lara straddles for half the game -- yes, half the game! -- is proof that the levels are anything but tight, fun experiences. Truly, the best moments of the game, when you first see and later scale a giant mechanical tower of stone, recall precisely the design of the original. They feel out of place compared to everything else in Underworld.
In the final level of the game the designers commit an unpardonable sin: they go from a set number of enemy creatures per level to respawning enemies. The difficulty goes way up, but not in a way consonant with the game's other challenges: running, jumping, and climbing. Perhaps I should have shelved the game, given the frustration this section caused me, but I felt the need to finish even in the face of cowardly tricks.
I'm willing to excuse modestly clumsy design if the story is top notch, but Underworld has no such saving grace. Amusingly, the designers have replaced Lara the cipher of the original game (often derided for being zero- or one-dimensional) with Lara the smoldering, resentful harpy who misses her dear, lost Mommy. She yells and threatens and glowers, hoping the noise will distract you from the stupidity of it all. Sure, you can claim there's more detail to this Lara, but you just can't bring yourself to care.
On top of that, the writers have attempted an embarrassingly amateur Grand Unified Theory of World Mythology. You'll laugh out loud more than once at the blithering stupidity Lara mutters for her little recording device.
Reportedly the original Tomb Raider developers, Core Design, wanted to make a grand trilogy starting with the ill-fated Angel of Darkness. Crystal Dynamics has pulled off a trilogy in four years, which is quite an accomplishment. I am impressed that Crystal Dynamics pulled the thread of the original game's story and wove it together with the seemingly separate thread from Legend, all leading to a tidy resolution in Underworld. It's quite a trick, but ultimately nothing more.
Note: I experienced two hard lockups while playing this game. Each required me to power cycle my PS3.
Each of the last three games has a key strength: Legend provided a strong characterization of Lara, Anniversary was exceptional for its story and level design (which leans heavily on the original), and Underworld gives us the skilled Lara we've been waiting for ever since Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time opened the door to the new generation of acrobatic platforming. If Lara has another adventure -- and I'm not convinced she should -- the designers would be well-advised to keep the Lara of Underworld. She really is a joy to watch, and not just for her curves and slinky attire.
When I played Anniversary I felt that the designers had not taken enough liberties with the original material. When I see the opportunity offered by Underworld go wasted, I wonder if the designers simply aren't up to the task of creating compelling worlds.
Here's the problem in a nutshell: the original Tomb Raider was built out of large, dense levels, dominated by a giant structure which Lara needed to approach in several different ways. Underworld goes for gigantic levels with lots of wasted space.
The Sphinx level from Tomb Raider is the easiest example, although the Obelisk of Khamoon, St. Francis' Folly, and The Colosseum would serve just as well. Within minutes of emerging on top of the Sphinx, Lara sees ledges and doors which cry out to be explored. Looking up, you wonder if she can find a way on top of the beast's head. Eventually, each of these is visited, figured out, and bested. Despite the grand scale each level had a special intimacy, a sense of discovering and mastering a whole sequence of devious riddles which fit together like a tightly-packed mechanical watch.
By contrast the levels in Underworld are needlessly gigantic and boring, as if size alone would make them better. Instead of seeing obvious signposts around you, leading you onward to deeper and darker secrets, Lara's Underworld consists of desolate, uninteresting expanses with tiny oases of adventure connected by long hallways or jungle roads. The motorcycle that Lara straddles for half the game -- yes, half the game! -- is proof that the levels are anything but tight, fun experiences. Truly, the best moments of the game, when you first see and later scale a giant mechanical tower of stone, recall precisely the design of the original. They feel out of place compared to everything else in Underworld.
In the final level of the game the designers commit an unpardonable sin: they go from a set number of enemy creatures per level to respawning enemies. The difficulty goes way up, but not in a way consonant with the game's other challenges: running, jumping, and climbing. Perhaps I should have shelved the game, given the frustration this section caused me, but I felt the need to finish even in the face of cowardly tricks.
I'm willing to excuse modestly clumsy design if the story is top notch, but Underworld has no such saving grace. Amusingly, the designers have replaced Lara the cipher of the original game (often derided for being zero- or one-dimensional) with Lara the smoldering, resentful harpy who misses her dear, lost Mommy. She yells and threatens and glowers, hoping the noise will distract you from the stupidity of it all. Sure, you can claim there's more detail to this Lara, but you just can't bring yourself to care.
On top of that, the writers have attempted an embarrassingly amateur Grand Unified Theory of World Mythology. You'll laugh out loud more than once at the blithering stupidity Lara mutters for her little recording device.
Reportedly the original Tomb Raider developers, Core Design, wanted to make a grand trilogy starting with the ill-fated Angel of Darkness. Crystal Dynamics has pulled off a trilogy in four years, which is quite an accomplishment. I am impressed that Crystal Dynamics pulled the thread of the original game's story and wove it together with the seemingly separate thread from Legend, all leading to a tidy resolution in Underworld. It's quite a trick, but ultimately nothing more.
Note: I experienced two hard lockups while playing this game. Each required me to power cycle my PS3.
Labels: ps3, reviews, tomb raider
--jvm at 19:57
Comment
[ 4 ]
22 September 2008
The correct answer is "Burnout Paradise" (and more DLC ramblin')
What game has the best DLC plan? For me, not Mega Man 9. Rather, the answer is Burnout Paradise.
The demo was pretty neat, although it had an inordinately long intro which I presume was intended to deter people from using the demo as a proxy for buying the full game. Despite middlin' sales in January 2008, the developers (Criterion) have regularly released updates for the game to add new features, cars, and most recently motorcycles.
Those updates have all been free. And they eventually enticed me to buy the full game. If they tell me they will support the next Burnout title the same way, and it is as fun as the current one, then I'm already primed to buy it too.
In fact, and I know this will shock folks who know me, I intend to sell my physical copy of Burnout Paradise and buy the full download version available this Thursday on the PlayStation Store. I'm comfortable enough with their system (five downloads to separate systems, if necessary, and unlimited full data backups onto my own media as desired) to take the plunge and enjoy the convenience of having the game ready to launch at any time.
In fact, I'm considering the same deal with both Warhawk and Gran Turismo 3: Prologue, both of which are available on the PS Store as full game downloads.
Truly, I play the downloaded PS3 games far more than I play the disc-based games. Super Stardust HD, The Last Guy, PixelJunk Monsters, even the PS1 games I've purchased from Sony's store -- these all get more play than my unloved PS3 disc games. They start faster, they're always 5 seconds from starting, and they are quieter (although this last point is being picky, since the Blu-Ray drive isn't that noisy).
I find myself wishing I could rip my PS3 games to the hard drive and play them there. That's how much I like the instant-access that I used to enjoy with PC games (back in the pre-CD-in-the-drive days).
Sony keeps coming up with pleasant surprises, and the Burnout Paradise package is one of them. If they'd listen to me, here's my recommendation for a November Surprise: Work out a deal with EA to put Dead Space and/or Mirror's Edge on the PS Store the week of Thanksgiving. Also offer Sony's own LittleBigPlanet available as a download through the store. Make each game $10 cheaper online until the end of the year, provided you buy the downloadable version through the online store.
I think that would work out very well for everyone involved. (Whether it would make up for the painful price gap between the Xbox 360 and PS3, I don't know, but it would be a huge self-marketing ploy that could bring some people over.)
The demo was pretty neat, although it had an inordinately long intro which I presume was intended to deter people from using the demo as a proxy for buying the full game. Despite middlin' sales in January 2008, the developers (Criterion) have regularly released updates for the game to add new features, cars, and most recently motorcycles.
Those updates have all been free. And they eventually enticed me to buy the full game. If they tell me they will support the next Burnout title the same way, and it is as fun as the current one, then I'm already primed to buy it too.
In fact, and I know this will shock folks who know me, I intend to sell my physical copy of Burnout Paradise and buy the full download version available this Thursday on the PlayStation Store. I'm comfortable enough with their system (five downloads to separate systems, if necessary, and unlimited full data backups onto my own media as desired) to take the plunge and enjoy the convenience of having the game ready to launch at any time.
In fact, I'm considering the same deal with both Warhawk and Gran Turismo 3: Prologue, both of which are available on the PS Store as full game downloads.
Truly, I play the downloaded PS3 games far more than I play the disc-based games. Super Stardust HD, The Last Guy, PixelJunk Monsters, even the PS1 games I've purchased from Sony's store -- these all get more play than my unloved PS3 disc games. They start faster, they're always 5 seconds from starting, and they are quieter (although this last point is being picky, since the Blu-Ray drive isn't that noisy).
I find myself wishing I could rip my PS3 games to the hard drive and play them there. That's how much I like the instant-access that I used to enjoy with PC games (back in the pre-CD-in-the-drive days).
Sony keeps coming up with pleasant surprises, and the Burnout Paradise package is one of them. If they'd listen to me, here's my recommendation for a November Surprise: Work out a deal with EA to put Dead Space and/or Mirror's Edge on the PS Store the week of Thanksgiving. Also offer Sony's own LittleBigPlanet available as a download through the store. Make each game $10 cheaper online until the end of the year, provided you buy the downloadable version through the online store.
I think that would work out very well for everyone involved. (Whether it would make up for the painful price gap between the Xbox 360 and PS3, I don't know, but it would be a huge self-marketing ploy that could bring some people over.)
--jvm at 20:40
Comment
[ 3 ]
31 July 2008
PSN Video Store - good start, needs improvement
The PSN Video Store launched while I was away, but I tried it out as soon as I got home. So far:
I don't believe Sony will offer HD movies for sale for quite a while, but they've got work to do with just the stuff they're offering.
The good:
Pricing is a touchy issue, I realize. The convenience of picking a movie and starting to watch it almost immediately (in SD) is a feature I'm willing to figure into my cost, but just for rentals. The delay when renting HD will keep me from going that route, I expect.
For purchases, I'm looking at $10 - $15 to download a movie that lacks basic features I expect in a DVD which retails for the same price. I don't get chapters, subtitles, special features, or commentary on the PSN Video Store, but I do with a DVD. While I can go down the street and get something that gives me noticeably more value for the same price, I won't be buying again. If I absolutely must have the movie on demand in my PS3, I'll rip it from a physical copy I own -- with captions.
If Sony fixes the pricing and features, I'll reconsider my moratorium on buying movies from PSN.
Finally, I'm pleased to see Disney movies on the list. Now, can we get some Disney movies worth watching ... like Pixar films?
- Rented RoboCop in SD (standard definition)
- Rented WarGames in SD
- Rented Donnie Brasco in HD (high definition)
- Bought Gattaca in SD
I don't believe Sony will offer HD movies for sale for quite a while, but they've got work to do with just the stuff they're offering.
The good:
- Easy to rent and buy, just like the normal PlayStation Store
- SD movies are reasonably small, around 1.6 - 1.8GB
- HD image quality is pretty nice, but I'm no expert
- Selection is decent
- SD movies have reasonable quality, but even I have noticed compression artifacts once or twice
- HD movies appear to be 7GB to 8GB, which takes a few hours to download to my PS3 conncted by 802.11b to a router which is attached to a cable modem that I'm told is attached to a 6 gigabit connection.
- No markers inside the movie file to aid in navigation, so you don't get random access of the sort you see with DVD chapters. Basically, it's modern tape or serial access.
- No subtitles/captions.
- No way to see what new movies or TV shows have been added since the last visit
- No way to buy entire seasons of TV shows at a reduced price
Pricing is a touchy issue, I realize. The convenience of picking a movie and starting to watch it almost immediately (in SD) is a feature I'm willing to figure into my cost, but just for rentals. The delay when renting HD will keep me from going that route, I expect.
For purchases, I'm looking at $10 - $15 to download a movie that lacks basic features I expect in a DVD which retails for the same price. I don't get chapters, subtitles, special features, or commentary on the PSN Video Store, but I do with a DVD. While I can go down the street and get something that gives me noticeably more value for the same price, I won't be buying again. If I absolutely must have the movie on demand in my PS3, I'll rip it from a physical copy I own -- with captions.
If Sony fixes the pricing and features, I'll reconsider my moratorium on buying movies from PSN.
Finally, I'm pleased to see Disney movies on the list. Now, can we get some Disney movies worth watching ... like Pixar films?
Labels: business, hdtv, online distribution, ps3, psn
--jvm at 21:39
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[ 3 ]
03 June 2008
Stuntman: Fixed
Stuntman on the PS2 was a clever but flawed game. It provided cinematic moments that you can't get in the racing genre, but lengthy loading times crushed the joy from the experience. Ruffin knew it would appeal to me, and it did, but I never finished it.
With Stuntman: Ignition, a sequel on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the load times are gone. Two seconds are required to restart a stunt run, and I can indulge the game's invitation to perfectionism. It is also a lot prettier.
The PSN demo that went up last year was uninviting. The full game gives a better introduction and I'm enjoying it.
On the other hand, if you haven't played the game before and it tries to download the latest update, the system registers and error and drops back to the PS3 system menu. Playing once and restarting fixes that issue.
With Stuntman: Ignition, a sequel on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the load times are gone. Two seconds are required to restart a stunt run, and I can indulge the game's invitation to perfectionism. It is also a lot prettier.
The PSN demo that went up last year was uninviting. The full game gives a better introduction and I'm enjoying it.
On the other hand, if you haven't played the game before and it tries to download the latest update, the system registers and error and drops back to the PS3 system menu. Playing once and restarting fixes that issue.
--jvm at 23:53
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[ 0 ]
25 May 2008
Super Stardust HD Redux
Super Stardust HD on the PS3 has an upgrade available for $5. It adds a mode called Endless, which is pretty much what it sounds like: endless waves of random enemies and asteroids.
Think of it as Robotron: 2084 played on a sphere with continuous waves of random enemies and difficulty that ramps steeply the longer you survive. The AI is completely ruthless, and willing to drop roughly eleventy billion rocks and lightning fast enemies on you at one time if that's what it takes to kill you. Oh, you will die cheap, humiliating deaths but the game is just fair enough to leave you thinking it's your own fault for dying.
Which is to say, I love it.
I thought SSHD was pretty much distilled arcade action, but I was wrong. This is better -- a lot better. I'm not sure I'll ever play the other modes ever again, much as I can't play Twisted Metal 2 ever again without homing napalm.
If you own a PS3 and love fast arcade action games in the vein of Robotron, you owe it to yourself to buy Super Stardust HD. Buy it with the Solo Pack upgrade and get one of the very best experiences the PS3 has to offer.
Think of it as Robotron: 2084 played on a sphere with continuous waves of random enemies and difficulty that ramps steeply the longer you survive. The AI is completely ruthless, and willing to drop roughly eleventy billion rocks and lightning fast enemies on you at one time if that's what it takes to kill you. Oh, you will die cheap, humiliating deaths but the game is just fair enough to leave you thinking it's your own fault for dying.
Which is to say, I love it.
I thought SSHD was pretty much distilled arcade action, but I was wrong. This is better -- a lot better. I'm not sure I'll ever play the other modes ever again, much as I can't play Twisted Metal 2 ever again without homing napalm.
If you own a PS3 and love fast arcade action games in the vein of Robotron, you owe it to yourself to buy Super Stardust HD. Buy it with the Solo Pack upgrade and get one of the very best experiences the PS3 has to offer.
Labels: online distribution, ps3, psn
--jvm at 22:47
Comment
[ 2 ]
22 May 2008
Oh yeah! Bioshock PS3.
About flippin' time. Of all the exclusives on the Xbox 360, this one was the most frustrating to me. Now it looks like I'll get my chance to play later this year.
The other exclusives that bug me are Pac-Man: Championship Edition (which apparently has zero chance of ever making it to another platform) and Ace Combat 6. The latter I suspect will make the jump to the PS3 later this year too, perhaps as Ace Combat 7 (a la Ridge Racer 6 and 7).
The other exclusives that bug me are Pac-Man: Championship Edition (which apparently has zero chance of ever making it to another platform) and Ace Combat 6. The latter I suspect will make the jump to the PS3 later this year too, perhaps as Ace Combat 7 (a la Ridge Racer 6 and 7).
--jvm at 10:59
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[ 0 ]
15 May 2008
Mirror's Edge Teardown
Mirror's Edge, a new title from Electronic Arts, looks really amazing to me. I think its new take on the parkour action genre has the potential to make Ubisoft's upcoming Prince of Persia game look stale. (Caveat: We've not seen the new PoP, so we can come back and compare once Ubisoft's game is shown.) When I look at the games I've really enjoyed in the past couple of years, they're mostly third-person action games like Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and the God of War series. I hope Mirror's Edge will be a fresh title to add to that list.
Anyway, the official trailer is a lot of fun to watch, and even more fun is this teardown of the trailer by GameTrailers.
Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
Anyway, the official trailer is a lot of fun to watch, and even more fun is this teardown of the trailer by GameTrailers.
Via Rock, Paper, Shotgun.
--jvm at 10:49
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[ 0 ]
08 May 2008
Chains of Olympus for PS2 for Xmas '08
This isn't an announcement, but a prediction. Provided the porting of Daxter from the PSP to the PS2 is true (see here, originally seen here), then Sony has to be seriously considering porting God of War: Chains of Olympus to the PS2 as well. Keep in mind that both Daxter and God of War on the PSP share some engine code, so a port of the former would accelerate a port of the latter.
According to NPD's figures, Chains of Olympus sold well over 300,000 copies in its first month on the market. A PS2 version would easily sell a million and would complement a $99 PS2 model quite well.
Given that I completed the PSP game twice (something I almost never do for long-form action games), I'd probably end up picking up the PS2 port. So make that a million copies, plus one.
In an ideal world, Sony would also get someone to port the game to the PS3 and sell it for $15 on PSN. But this is Sony we're talking about, so it will never happen.
According to NPD's figures, Chains of Olympus sold well over 300,000 copies in its first month on the market. A PS2 version would easily sell a million and would complement a $99 PS2 model quite well.
Given that I completed the PSP game twice (something I almost never do for long-form action games), I'd probably end up picking up the PS2 port. So make that a million copies, plus one.
In an ideal world, Sony would also get someone to port the game to the PS3 and sell it for $15 on PSN. But this is Sony we're talking about, so it will never happen.
--jvm at 09:24
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[ 0 ]
29 April 2008
GTA4 lockups: what did reviewers play?
I let my 60Gb PS3 install GTA4 tonight while I fixed dinner. When I checked on it later, it had run through the intro and locked up after giving control over to the player. (I wasn't there, so I didn't see it happen.) Apparently lockups are happening with some regularity to a lot of players and not just on PS3.
The whole situation reminds me of how Champions of Norrath on the PS2 locked up for a fair number of consumers, but no reviewers mentioned it. Seemed odd to me at the time and I did some asking around to find out why.
Turns out reviewers didn't review the same kind of disc sold in stores. One reviewer told me he reviewed Champs o' Norrath on two single-layer DVDs as opposed to the dual-layer DVDs sold to us commoners.
Makes me wonder if the same thing happened here. The reviews are pretty much all pegging the 10 on the review-o-meter, but I haven't heard about the reviews talking about lockups like folks are seeing on normal systems. If I had the time, I'd start asking around -- someone should.
Meanwhile, I hard reset my PS3 and played about 15 minutes up to the first save point. So far so good. Now if I only had time to play more, but real life has me elsewhere. Ah well.
The whole situation reminds me of how Champions of Norrath on the PS2 locked up for a fair number of consumers, but no reviewers mentioned it. Seemed odd to me at the time and I did some asking around to find out why.
Turns out reviewers didn't review the same kind of disc sold in stores. One reviewer told me he reviewed Champs o' Norrath on two single-layer DVDs as opposed to the dual-layer DVDs sold to us commoners.
Makes me wonder if the same thing happened here. The reviews are pretty much all pegging the 10 on the review-o-meter, but I haven't heard about the reviews talking about lockups like folks are seeing on normal systems. If I had the time, I'd start asking around -- someone should.
Meanwhile, I hard reset my PS3 and played about 15 minutes up to the first save point. So far so good. Now if I only had time to play more, but real life has me elsewhere. Ah well.
--jvm at 21:21
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[ 5 ]
27 April 2008
Hidden message in Metal Gear Online! (not really)
This help screen for entering your avatar's name in Metal Gear Online is surely a cryptic hint to the mysteries of Metal Gear Solid 4.
Or it could just be weird programming or some dirty words I never learned. Still, made me laugh.
Or it could just be weird programming or some dirty words I never learned. Still, made me laugh.Labels: beta, metal gear, ps3
--jvm at 00:13
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[ 0 ]
26 March 2008
Down the memory hole
So there are reportedly leaked maps of GTA4's Liberty City. Neat.
I guess it should have been obvious to me, but I'd just assumed they'd build detail into the "existing" Liberty City that we all knew from GTA3 and GTA:LCS. So much for all that.
I know Liberty City about as well as any fictional world I've played, and I am a little disappointed that I won't have that leg-up when GTA4 hits next month. It would have been neat to have some of that memory helping me get out of tight spots on the run...
I'm guessing that this is essentially what happened to Liberty City from the original GTA when GTA3 came out...
I guess it should have been obvious to me, but I'd just assumed they'd build detail into the "existing" Liberty City that we all knew from GTA3 and GTA:LCS. So much for all that.
I know Liberty City about as well as any fictional world I've played, and I am a little disappointed that I won't have that leg-up when GTA4 hits next month. It would have been neat to have some of that memory helping me get out of tight spots on the run...
I'm guessing that this is essentially what happened to Liberty City from the original GTA when GTA3 came out...
--jvm at 16:25
Comment
[ 3 ]
07 March 2008
Time for a break
I'm due for a much needed holiday next week. I just grabbed a copy of God of War for the PSP and I have to say that it looks a lot better than I remember. I'll have to dig out my demo and see if there are noticeable improvements.
I also downloaded the PSP version of flOw, the relaxing game that previously had been a Flash game and later a downloadable PS3 game. Despite all the kvetching by the press about graphical slowdowns, this is really a very clean port. I recommend it for PSP owners, especially if you haven't played the PS3 version.
Meanwhile, I've not been blogging because my writing agreement with Next-Gen was extended from a monthly NPD column to include a weekly column. So, since late January I've been pouring my weekend free time into that work. For the curious:
Anyway, I've got next week's column in the bag and I'm hoping for a day or two of just pure gaming while I'm on holiday. Between my real job, time with family, caring for sick kids, being sick myself, and writing on the side I've had practically no time for games, much less writing about playing games.
I also downloaded the PSP version of flOw, the relaxing game that previously had been a Flash game and later a downloadable PS3 game. Despite all the kvetching by the press about graphical slowdowns, this is really a very clean port. I recommend it for PSP owners, especially if you haven't played the PS3 version.
Meanwhile, I've not been blogging because my writing agreement with Next-Gen was extended from a monthly NPD column to include a weekly column. So, since late January I've been pouring my weekend free time into that work. For the curious:
Anyway, I've got next week's column in the bag and I'm hoping for a day or two of just pure gaming while I'm on holiday. Between my real job, time with family, caring for sick kids, being sick myself, and writing on the side I've had practically no time for games, much less writing about playing games.
--jvm at 15:14
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[ 1 ]
13 January 2008
Hacking the PS3 (or: Sony is clever, for once)
A thread came up on NeoGAF about when it might be possible to play copied PlayStation 3 games, via modchip or hacked firmware or what have you. This reply pointed to this talk on YouTube, which is terribly interesting. Watch the introduction, which takes about five minutes.
I remember when it was announced that GNU/Linux would be permitted on the PlayStation 3 out-of-the-box and how this was a move to prevent piracy. These folks, who at least give the impression of being in touch with the hardware hacking scene, believe that making the PlayStation 3 open to other operating systems has kept it safe from the pirates. In a nutshell, the "smart" hackers open a system up and the "dumb" pirates then exploit the opening. By inviting the former group to play within some boundaries (certain PS3 hardware is still off limits from within PS3 Linux distributions) the latter group doesn't have a chance.
Now, that doesn't mean that the PS3 will never be hacked. All systems are hacked, eventually, I believe. But 14 months after the launch Sony is still secure. Every other system they've launched has been hacked to pieces, and they've lost out on at least some software licensing fees as a result. (I won't try to figure out how much, given how people argue that pirates would never have bought the games in the first place, that Sony might benefit from having more people playing software on its platforms, etc. etc. Perhaps we can all agree that it's at least greater than thr-- four dollars.)
Of course, the irony is that Sony finally had the right idea on the platform whose software fewer people actually want to play, much less pirate.
I remember when it was announced that GNU/Linux would be permitted on the PlayStation 3 out-of-the-box and how this was a move to prevent piracy. These folks, who at least give the impression of being in touch with the hardware hacking scene, believe that making the PlayStation 3 open to other operating systems has kept it safe from the pirates. In a nutshell, the "smart" hackers open a system up and the "dumb" pirates then exploit the opening. By inviting the former group to play within some boundaries (certain PS3 hardware is still off limits from within PS3 Linux distributions) the latter group doesn't have a chance.
Now, that doesn't mean that the PS3 will never be hacked. All systems are hacked, eventually, I believe. But 14 months after the launch Sony is still secure. Every other system they've launched has been hacked to pieces, and they've lost out on at least some software licensing fees as a result. (I won't try to figure out how much, given how people argue that pirates would never have bought the games in the first place, that Sony might benefit from having more people playing software on its platforms, etc. etc. Perhaps we can all agree that it's at least greater than thr-- four dollars.)
Of course, the irony is that Sony finally had the right idea on the platform whose software fewer people actually want to play, much less pirate.
--jvm at 18:00
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[ 4 ]
10 January 2008
Sony is Dancing on HD-DVD's Grave
If you ask me, all the furore surrounding the HD-DVD gloom and doom buzzing around the internet can only be a "good thing" for Sony. It's all just further proof that the symbiosis between games console and media accessory is irrevocably complete and the resulting abomination is the future. And I'm not even going to begin to theorise about how the PS3 might have helped Sony's Blu-Ray empire.
Sony are probably going to use the news as a metaphorical ladder to climb towards their metaphorical goal in the universe, which is to sell the PS3 as a "lifestyle" console. This serves the dual purpose of inevitably infuriating people who spend a considerable chunk of their time browsing internet forums (i.e: me) and also generating a huge swathe of attention (case in point: this post) where the ensuing knock-on effect will cause some people to put down money and actually buying one.
There's got to be some fence sitters, who both want to adopt a HD format and not buy the next Betamax. This news will surely encourage them towards a PS3. Right?
Of course, there's the bigger picture. We all want to be seen as cool and Sony are no different. By touting their universally-panned fence-sitting jack of all trades black box as some sort of arbitrary accessory to life then Sony aren't just making a games machine for teenagers they're making something you're not ashamed of having in your living room. I'm sure that's the sort of general consensus that Sony are getting at. I'll bet you my right arm that's the kind of stuff they talk/make Powerpoint graphs about in business meetingsDon't get me wrong, Sony are no worse than the competition. After all, my 360 has spent the last three weeks slapping me round the face with news about how I can download movies onto my games playing console, provided it's not too busy randomly exploding and I can buy a sound system big enough to drown out the console's turbine engine.
I bet even Nintendo would do it if their little white brick was powerful enough.
--Martin at 06:17
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[ 1 ]
20 December 2007
UT3 PS3 can't download mods directly: true
But this isn't news, despite complaints by Penny Arcade and now Kotaku:
But, hey, free fricking mods and levels, people. For all the kvetching we see over paid downloadable content, isn't free better, even if it takes a tiny bit of elbow grease? Jeepers.
And, no, that's not Free. It's free.
FileFront has the download and installation instructions, which, curiously, point out that removable storage of some sort is required for import. Whether it be compact flash, Memory Stick or simply a USB thumb drive, it seems one can't simply download to the PS3's built-in mass storage via the internet browser. What's up with that?Believe it or not, this was known almost a full month ago. I remembered reading it today after Mike sent me the Penny Arcade link. Read it:
What we do to finalize it, make sure it makes the most efficient use of memory, and runs the fastest, is we bake it down to the PS3 version, but that's just like saving a file in Word in a different format. If you save it on a PlayStation 3 format, you can stick it on the Internet, and someone can download it, put it on a memory card [USB drive, memory stick], and import it into their PlayStation 3 version of the game. That works really well.Awkward? Yes. Should it have been fixed before launch? Of course. Sony needs to fix it ASAP. I recall having trouble downloading themes directly from the PS3 browser too. And remember, this is the same outfit that hasn't gotten movie downloads online yet and can't seem to make an online PSP storefront that doesn't involve another machine (Windows PC or PS3).
But, hey, free fricking mods and levels, people. For all the kvetching we see over paid downloadable content, isn't free better, even if it takes a tiny bit of elbow grease? Jeepers.
And, no, that's not Free. It's free.
Labels: business, modding, online distribution, ps3, sony
--jvm at 23:45
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[ 6 ]
07 December 2007
PlayStation 3 Memory Cards
Everyone knows the PS1 and the PS2 used memory cards, but did you know the PS3 has memory cards too? Target thinks so:
Technically, they're right. It is a card with memory on it. You can use it with the PlayStation 3, although I'm not sure the cheaper 40GB model has a port for one. But in the sense that the term "memory card" has been used with previous PlayStation consoles, it's a bit of a misnomer.
Still, more power to them if they can get people to buy them, especially at this price. The one I'm looking at has twice the capacity for this same price. And I'm buying it for my PSP, not my PS3.
Technically, they're right. It is a card with memory on it. You can use it with the PlayStation 3, although I'm not sure the cheaper 40GB model has a port for one. But in the sense that the term "memory card" has been used with previous PlayStation consoles, it's a bit of a misnomer.Still, more power to them if they can get people to buy them, especially at this price. The one I'm looking at has twice the capacity for this same price. And I'm buying it for my PSP, not my PS3.
--jvm at 10:12
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[ 2 ]
06 December 2007
Bowling issues in a brave new world of gaming
I like the new PSN game, High Velocity Bowling. Intuitive and fun, with the best SIXAXIS control scheme I've yet seen. Not bad for $10, especially if I can get the wife or maybe even my son to play along.
On the other hand, it is rather...sinister.
Three things jump right out at me:
On the other hand, it is rather...sinister.
Three things jump right out at me:
- As soon as you start the game it has a little note saying that you must have an HDMI cable and an HDTV with an HDCP compatible HDMI port to run the game in 1080p. Basically, you have to have an encrypted connection from the PS3 to the TV. Baffling. What am I going to do...steal high resolution video of myself tossing one in the gutter? Bizarre.
- The menu options right off the bat include various modes of play and...buy new characters. In-your-face microtransactions! None are available now, but if this works like the PSN game PAIN released last week, there will be little dudes you can add to the game for $0.99 very soon...
- Then at the bottom of the menu screen you can see that tapping the triangle button does something special. It displays the End User License Agreement, or EULA. Because, really, you never know when you might want to check the possibly-binding legal document you virtually signed when you booted the game the first time.
--jvm at 22:44
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[ 1 ]
03 December 2007
Horrible Sony marketing
Finishing Uncharted at the same time that I'm seeing Sony hire a new advertising agency reminds me to mention the horrible Sony presence in local GameStop stores. Sony's big first-party games for the holiday are Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, and (maybe) Heavenly Sword. These are practically invisible to shoppers.
One particular GameStop that I visit about once a week has a single copy of Uncharted on display. Recently I saw it on the shelf with only its spine showing, making sure it won't catch anyone's attention. The copy of Ratchet & Clank they have there is on the top shelf of the PS3 section, which puts it above everyone's eye level. And I'm not even sure they have a copy of Heavenly Sword.
Sony apparently is spending some huge wad of cash ($150 million?) on promoting the PS3. The TV ads someone showed me online today were pretty good. The Uncharted one certainly nails the tone of the game. But when people get to the store, if the PS3 display is as uninteresting as what I'm seeing, then all that money will be for naught.
Then they have a PS3 kiosk, but no really interesting demos. It should be locked on a Ratchet & Clank demo or something. Heck, get a Japanese account like I did and download the Japanese Gran Turismo 5 demo. It's a beautiful looking game and will get people interested.
One particular GameStop that I visit about once a week has a single copy of Uncharted on display. Recently I saw it on the shelf with only its spine showing, making sure it won't catch anyone's attention. The copy of Ratchet & Clank they have there is on the top shelf of the PS3 section, which puts it above everyone's eye level. And I'm not even sure they have a copy of Heavenly Sword.
Sony apparently is spending some huge wad of cash ($150 million?) on promoting the PS3. The TV ads someone showed me online today were pretty good. The Uncharted one certainly nails the tone of the game. But when people get to the store, if the PS3 display is as uninteresting as what I'm seeing, then all that money will be for naught.
Then they have a PS3 kiosk, but no really interesting demos. It should be locked on a Ratchet & Clank demo or something. Heck, get a Japanese account like I did and download the Japanese Gran Turismo 5 demo. It's a beautiful looking game and will get people interested.
Labels: business, game stores, ps3, sony
--jvm at 22:18
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[ 0 ]
Review: Uncharted: Drake's Fortune (PS3)
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune tells the story of Nathan Drake as he seeks the treasure his ancestor, Sir Francis Drake, left hidden on a remote tropical island. A reporter, Elena, and his best friend, Sully, tag along for the ride. Vicious competitors arrive simultaneously and the two groups race to unlock the island's secrets and locate Drake's treasure.
All of the gameplay falls into two categories: movement puzzles and combat. Most of the former is unoriginal, but the lush scenery almost makes up for it. Combat takes over as the game reaches its climax, which helps the pacing but also reveals the game's design limitation. Fortunately, the brutal pack intelligence of the enemies makes every encounter a challenge, even when replaying the same scene. While you can effectively use cover to maximize your firepower, you can also be overwhelmed from the flank if you don't subdue the enemy quickly enough.
Able-bodied and lithe, Nate parkours through the island's jungle and hidden ruins with visible effort. And while he is armed, he lacks the action game genre's armor and health packs. Except for his amazingly steady aim, he is a very human actor. Recent Tomb Raider games have humanized Lara and smoothed her movement, but future entries in that series will rate poorly if they don't match Uncharted's standards for characterization and action.
The game's biggest weakness comes at the end when the near-realism is nearly jettisoned for a fantastical action game (and movie) cliche. Fortunately, the twist doesn't play out as ham-handedly as it first appears, nearly saving itself by the end. Redemption comes in a pivotal scene which feels ripped directly from a classic action movie I'll decline to name, but then plays out satisfyingly differently.
Uncharted isn't quite the personal revelation that Tomb Raider was in 1997 or that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was in 2005, but it's still an awesome experience.
Technical note: While playing I experienced one hard lock that required me to reboot my PS3.
All of the gameplay falls into two categories: movement puzzles and combat. Most of the former is unoriginal, but the lush scenery almost makes up for it. Combat takes over as the game reaches its climax, which helps the pacing but also reveals the game's design limitation. Fortunately, the brutal pack intelligence of the enemies makes every encounter a challenge, even when replaying the same scene. While you can effectively use cover to maximize your firepower, you can also be overwhelmed from the flank if you don't subdue the enemy quickly enough.
Able-bodied and lithe, Nate parkours through the island's jungle and hidden ruins with visible effort. And while he is armed, he lacks the action game genre's armor and health packs. Except for his amazingly steady aim, he is a very human actor. Recent Tomb Raider games have humanized Lara and smoothed her movement, but future entries in that series will rate poorly if they don't match Uncharted's standards for characterization and action.
The game's biggest weakness comes at the end when the near-realism is nearly jettisoned for a fantastical action game (and movie) cliche. Fortunately, the twist doesn't play out as ham-handedly as it first appears, nearly saving itself by the end. Redemption comes in a pivotal scene which feels ripped directly from a classic action movie I'll decline to name, but then plays out satisfyingly differently.
Uncharted isn't quite the personal revelation that Tomb Raider was in 1997 or that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time was in 2005, but it's still an awesome experience.
Technical note: While playing I experienced one hard lock that required me to reboot my PS3.
--jvm at 19:38
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[ 0 ]
12 November 2007
Rock Band: FImp is Fun
Got to play one song's worth of the drum set with Rock Band on PS3 early this morning at the 24 hour Wal-Mart. It's great fun, as everyone and their brother already knows. On Medium difficulty, this ex-percussionist was able to get through the song without too many embarrassing mistakes, though mostly because the drums themselves are very generous about your timing.
I'd enjoyed Guitar Hero, though not enough to buy, and the formula translates to the drums very well. If you're wondering, it really is just Guitar Hero on the drums, where you're smacking the right one of a set of quads according to the icons on the screen. At times, you have to hit more than one. The limit for me so far was two at a time, which makes sense.
I didn't try much improvising a la Parappa, where improvising was the best way to really jack up your score, and since I wasn't familiar with the UI, I didn't know if my few riffs were helping much or not. Crossing the sticks just made me look like a dork. The mad scorefest that was the end of the song was a lot of fun, though I'm not sure the one-year old watching me knew what to think.
Unfortunately, the way the game had you bang the drums was pretty Ringo, which is to say it wasn't a very original arrangement and will likely convince another generation of hacks that all there is to playing drums is slapping at 'em as hard as possible, with the snare joining the high-hat every other beat. I'm hoping the two tougher levels have something a bit better than this quick demo's rim-smacking.
Still, is there a better social game out there right now? Rock Band puts the kabosch on anyone trying to argue to me that Mario Kart is worth inviting over the over-twenty [year-old] friends for a night o' fun. Rock Band extends the fun from air guitarists in Hero to has-been drummers like me. Cool.
So why isn't this out for the PS2 again? Curse ya', Sony!
(Update: It's a little difficult to find the PS2 version's due date. It's apparently Dec 10th, moved up to hit the sweet Xmas season spot. This is the first game I've been partially excited about playing in some time, WoW addiction excepted.)
I'd enjoyed Guitar Hero, though not enough to buy, and the formula translates to the drums very well. If you're wondering, it really is just Guitar Hero on the drums, where you're smacking the right one of a set of quads according to the icons on the screen. At times, you have to hit more than one. The limit for me so far was two at a time, which makes sense.
I didn't try much improvising a la Parappa, where improvising was the best way to really jack up your score, and since I wasn't familiar with the UI, I didn't know if my few riffs were helping much or not. Crossing the sticks just made me look like a dork. The mad scorefest that was the end of the song was a lot of fun, though I'm not sure the one-year old watching me knew what to think.
Unfortunately, the way the game had you bang the drums was pretty Ringo, which is to say it wasn't a very original arrangement and will likely convince another generation of hacks that all there is to playing drums is slapping at 'em as hard as possible, with the snare joining the high-hat every other beat. I'm hoping the two tougher levels have something a bit better than this quick demo's rim-smacking.
Still, is there a better social game out there right now? Rock Band puts the kabosch on anyone trying to argue to me that Mario Kart is worth inviting over the over-twenty [year-old] friends for a night o' fun. Rock Band extends the fun from air guitarists in Hero to has-been drummers like me. Cool.
So why isn't this out for the PS2 again? Curse ya', Sony!
(Update: It's a little difficult to find the PS2 version's due date. It's apparently Dec 10th, moved up to hit the sweet Xmas season spot. This is the first game I've been partially excited about playing in some time, WoW addiction excepted.)
Labels: firstimpressions, ps3
--ruffin at 10:41
Comment
[ 2 ]
08 November 2007
Uncharted: Drake's Fortune demo
After upgrading my PS3 to the v2.00 firmware, I downloaded the new demo of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and played through it on medium difficulty. Dude and gal go to find treasure on remote island, their plane is shot down, you are separated escaping. Now you're just a dude in the jungle.
After a few minutes of jungle environments you start running into bad guys with guns. From that point on, the game is mostly combat. At the end there is the tiniest bit of Tomb Raidering, and the game isn't subtle about it -- the hint icon constantly flashes even after you allow it to show you where you need to go.
Frankly, I found the combat difficult. I died a lot, and I think the grenade aiming interface is probably the worst I've ever used. That said, the use of cover was intuitive, which I hadn't expected after watching the videos.
The game looks brilliant, I think. The big waves on the water are a disappointment -- I saw a better effect in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance years ago -- but everything looks sharp and colorful. The dude (forgot his name) moves smoothly and responds well.
Would I buy the game? Maybe. I do have a hankering to play the demo again, so I guess there's that.
After a few minutes of jungle environments you start running into bad guys with guns. From that point on, the game is mostly combat. At the end there is the tiniest bit of Tomb Raidering, and the game isn't subtle about it -- the hint icon constantly flashes even after you allow it to show you where you need to go.
Frankly, I found the combat difficult. I died a lot, and I think the grenade aiming interface is probably the worst I've ever used. That said, the use of cover was intuitive, which I hadn't expected after watching the videos.
The game looks brilliant, I think. The big waves on the water are a disappointment -- I saw a better effect in Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance years ago -- but everything looks sharp and colorful. The dude (forgot his name) moves smoothly and responds well.
Would I buy the game? Maybe. I do have a hankering to play the demo again, so I guess there's that.
--jvm at 23:23
Comment
[ 6 ]
02 November 2007
Hold on to your PS2, controllers, discs...
Last night Sony put a downloadable version of Twisted Metal 2 up on the PlayStation Store. I'd been meaning to check out one of these downloadable games, and TM2 is by far the best one they've made available. So I gave them my $6 and a few minutes later was enjoying frantic car combat in a fictional part of Los Angeles.
I liked having access to a PS1 game without having to extract it from the shelves of my library. Sony should put more games up on the store or -- my preference -- sell a downloadable software package that allows me to rip my existing PS1 games to my PS3 hard drive. Or, perhaps, charge me a small fee (say a dollar) for the service. Make me an offer, Sony, and I'll consider it. This $6-or-more-per-game racket isn't my thing, even if it is more convenient.
However, the real trouble I had with Twisted Metal 2 on the PS3 is that my preferred control scheme -- Run 'n Gun -- isn't really feasible with the SIXAXIS controller. The lower controller triggers now have a lot of analog throw, and so are not very useful as digital switches. Since PS1 games like Twisted Metal 2 don't need analog triggers, they suffer. I briefly wondered how I could hook up a PS1 or PS2 controller, and remembered that it involves some controller-to-USB dongle that I don't own (yet).
So, with rumors that a cheaper, smaller PS2 system will be out next year, this just reinforces how I think people should view playing Sony games from here on out: get two systems. Keep a PS2 around for PS2 and PS1 games and view the PS3 as purely for PS3 games and Blu-Ray movies.
I liked having access to a PS1 game without having to extract it from the shelves of my library. Sony should put more games up on the store or -- my preference -- sell a downloadable software package that allows me to rip my existing PS1 games to my PS3 hard drive. Or, perhaps, charge me a small fee (say a dollar) for the service. Make me an offer, Sony, and I'll consider it. This $6-or-more-per-game racket isn't my thing, even if it is more convenient.
However, the real trouble I had with Twisted Metal 2 on the PS3 is that my preferred control scheme -- Run 'n Gun -- isn't really feasible with the SIXAXIS controller. The lower controller triggers now have a lot of analog throw, and so are not very useful as digital switches. Since PS1 games like Twisted Metal 2 don't need analog triggers, they suffer. I briefly wondered how I could hook up a PS1 or PS2 controller, and remembered that it involves some controller-to-USB dongle that I don't own (yet).
So, with rumors that a cheaper, smaller PS2 system will be out next year, this just reinforces how I think people should view playing Sony games from here on out: get two systems. Keep a PS2 around for PS2 and PS1 games and view the PS3 as purely for PS3 games and Blu-Ray movies.
--jvm at 09:25
Comment
[ 4 ]
30 October 2007
Hope for Sony
This is apparently from a presentation by Satoru Iwata of Nintendo:
I want to highlight this one in particular:
That jump in PS3 sales in Europe is pretty amazing. The PS3 is outselling the Xbox 360 immediately following the launch of Halo 3, if I'm reading it right. I believe that's following the launch of the 40Gb PS3, and my recollection is that European countries were getting some reasonably decent bundles (like a football game or something).
If we see anything like that when Sony introduces the 40Gb PS3 here, it might be a happy holiday for Sony after all. If they're selling 2-3 times as many PS3s after the 40Gb model was introduced into Europe, that would be comparable to selling 40,000 to 60,000 PS3s per week here. That would put Sony at 160,000 - 240,000 systems per month. During the Holiday 2007, I think you can safely double that, or even triple it.
We won't know how the 40Gb $400 model is really doing February 2008, maybe even March 2008, because Holiday sales will skew the numbers higher than usual. Regardless, it sure is going to be fun to watch.
I want to highlight this one in particular:
That jump in PS3 sales in Europe is pretty amazing. The PS3 is outselling the Xbox 360 immediately following the launch of Halo 3, if I'm reading it right. I believe that's following the launch of the 40Gb PS3, and my recollection is that European countries were getting some reasonably decent bundles (like a football game or something).
If we see anything like that when Sony introduces the 40Gb PS3 here, it might be a happy holiday for Sony after all. If they're selling 2-3 times as many PS3s after the 40Gb model was introduced into Europe, that would be comparable to selling 40,000 to 60,000 PS3s per week here. That would put Sony at 160,000 - 240,000 systems per month. During the Holiday 2007, I think you can safely double that, or even triple it.
We won't know how the 40Gb $400 model is really doing February 2008, maybe even March 2008, because Holiday sales will skew the numbers higher than usual. Regardless, it sure is going to be fun to watch.
--jvm at 23:15
Comment
[ 2 ]
28 October 2007
Sony rushed the October price drop
Last week I wrote in my NPD article:
That's right -- it still shows the 80Gb PS3 at $600. If you check online or in the store, the price is actually $500.
Leaks from printed fliers were the source for rumors of the summer price drops by both Sony and Microsoft. Now we're seeing the reverse: Sony dropped its price unexpectedly and it's taking the fliers a couple of weeks to adjust.
Anecdotally, the October price drop for the 80Gb model appears to have been less well planned than its June introduction, as fliers the week after the announced drop to $500 still reflected the higher $600 price.I thought I might possibly be reading too much into the mistake, but now I think I had it right. In my local Circuit City Sunday advert:
That's right -- it still shows the 80Gb PS3 at $600. If you check online or in the store, the price is actually $500.
Leaks from printed fliers were the source for rumors of the summer price drops by both Sony and Microsoft. Now we're seeing the reverse: Sony dropped its price unexpectedly and it's taking the fliers a couple of weeks to adjust.
--jvm at 09:16
Comment
[ 0 ]
26 October 2007
Eye of Judgment ... hacking
Given that the digital camera game Eye of Judgment for the PS3 apparently isn't very discerning about the quality of the encoding on the cards, it would be neat to see someone generate all possible card combinations and see what kind of hidden things might turn up. For example, the game could contain code and graphics for cards that aren't -- or never will be -- released officially. I'm not saying that there are any, but it would be an interesting hacking exercise to root out easter eggs.
--jvm at 21:16
Comment
[ 6 ]
18 October 2007
And now you've got 3 cents, Sony
Tonight Sony started offering David Jaffe's Calling All Cars games on PSN for only $4.99. I'd been considering buying it for a while, so I took the plunge. When it comes time to pay, I use my credit card to pay and...what's this? I can only put money on my account in round dollar amounts?
See, everything you can buy on PSN has a price that ends in 99 cents. Previously, when I'd purchased games, I'd been able to charge the exact cost. So last week I paid precisely $9.99 for Everyday Shooter. Perfect. Zero balance.
Now I've paid $5.00 into my PSN account and spent $4.99. That one penny is going to sit there and I won't be able to use it until I've bought 98 other items and the pennies add up. ARGH!
See, everything you can buy on PSN has a price that ends in 99 cents. Previously, when I'd purchased games, I'd been able to charge the exact cost. So last week I paid precisely $9.99 for Everyday Shooter. Perfect. Zero balance.
Now I've paid $5.00 into my PSN account and spent $4.99. That one penny is going to sit there and I won't be able to use it until I've bought 98 other items and the pennies add up. ARGH!
--jvm at 20:52
Comment
[ 6 ]
14 October 2007
Ms. Pac-man and Everyday Shooter
I've loved every minute I've played of Everyday Shooter, but I've struggled to explain the attraction to myself. Today, I think I hit upon a partial answer: it makes me feel like I feel when I play Ms. Pac-man.
No, really.
Ms. Pac-man is a maze and ghosts and power pellets. Everday Shooter is Robotron-style shooting and dodging with Every Extend Extra chain reactions set to guitar riffs. Yet, they share some important qualities.
Both open with a few unique, appealing bars of music. I listen and prepare myself mentally for the challenge ahead. Playing Ms. Pac-man at a stand-up machine, I settle my stance and grip the joystick with the tips of my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers. For Everday Shooter, I close my eyes and enjoy the music and enjoy a moment of peace.
The music ends and the action begins. In Ms. Pac-man, I clear the maze of dots while leaving the power pellets for later. Similarly, I dodge the first few enemies in Everday Shooter as I prepare to set up chain reactions. (Or, on the second level, I attack the first stationary enemy. Or on the third, I shoot robots and look for the first large one to begin a chain. Und so weiter.) The work is menial, but essential.
With the stage set, I begin exploiting the system. Ms. Pac-man collects four ghosts per power pellet and catches the two fruit in each maze. As ghosts pin her in, she sneaks away with some quick moves. Similarly, the dot in Everyday Shooter starts setting off chains, harvesting points, while weaving amidst danger for all it is worth. With skill, the payoffs are substantial.
And when the wheels come off, as inevitably they do, I improvise. Ms. Pac-man may have to slip through the warps on the side of the screen a couple of times to get at a particularly isolated dot with ghosts patrolling nearby. In Everday Shooter, I botch the timing and suddenly the dot is racing to gain some measure of control of the screen all over again. Take out a few enemies and work toward stability again.
Ultimately, both games are about survival. I suppose you could say that Ms. Pac-man is about points, but I don't really pay attention to the points anymore except to pick up the extra Pac at 10000 points. Instead, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of mazes I survive (second banana is good for me, as I don't play much anymore) and how often I chomp more than two ghosts at a time on later levels. In Everday Shooter, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of levels I survive, and by the efficiency of my chaining. My score weakly reflects these qualities.
No, really.
Ms. Pac-man is a maze and ghosts and power pellets. Everday Shooter is Robotron-style shooting and dodging with Every Extend Extra chain reactions set to guitar riffs. Yet, they share some important qualities.
Both open with a few unique, appealing bars of music. I listen and prepare myself mentally for the challenge ahead. Playing Ms. Pac-man at a stand-up machine, I settle my stance and grip the joystick with the tips of my thumb, pointer, and middle fingers. For Everday Shooter, I close my eyes and enjoy the music and enjoy a moment of peace.
The music ends and the action begins. In Ms. Pac-man, I clear the maze of dots while leaving the power pellets for later. Similarly, I dodge the first few enemies in Everday Shooter as I prepare to set up chain reactions. (Or, on the second level, I attack the first stationary enemy. Or on the third, I shoot robots and look for the first large one to begin a chain. Und so weiter.) The work is menial, but essential.
With the stage set, I begin exploiting the system. Ms. Pac-man collects four ghosts per power pellet and catches the two fruit in each maze. As ghosts pin her in, she sneaks away with some quick moves. Similarly, the dot in Everyday Shooter starts setting off chains, harvesting points, while weaving amidst danger for all it is worth. With skill, the payoffs are substantial.
And when the wheels come off, as inevitably they do, I improvise. Ms. Pac-man may have to slip through the warps on the side of the screen a couple of times to get at a particularly isolated dot with ghosts patrolling nearby. In Everday Shooter, I botch the timing and suddenly the dot is racing to gain some measure of control of the screen all over again. Take out a few enemies and work toward stability again.
Ultimately, both games are about survival. I suppose you could say that Ms. Pac-man is about points, but I don't really pay attention to the points anymore except to pick up the extra Pac at 10000 points. Instead, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of mazes I survive (second banana is good for me, as I don't play much anymore) and how often I chomp more than two ghosts at a time on later levels. In Everday Shooter, I measure my success by how far into the sequence of levels I survive, and by the efficiency of my chaining. My score weakly reflects these qualities.
Labels: classic, ms. pac-man, ps3, psn
--jvm at 00:12
Comment
[ 0 ]
12 October 2007
Conan demo
The only redeeming feature of the demo of THQ's Conan is the saucy lady with the bow. She flirts with Conan in the opening cinema and manages to seem alluring despite being a poorly lip-synced assembly of textured polygons. Then she disappears and Conan is left to the business of chopping the limbs off waves of bad guy clones.
At one point, no kidding, the floor was littered with more than a dozen detached arms. With each step, Conan kicked at least one with his feet. If it were at least fun to cut the limbs off, I could perhaps see past the gross detail, but it just isn't. Conan feels like a lumbering Kratos with only two attacks, detach-head and detach-arms. Worst of all, the demo doesn't even reward you with one last shot of saucy bow-woman. You just get to hear her congratulate you at the end.
That said, the game is yet another in the ongoing global war on pottery. Hooray for red and green glowing icons popping out of broken pottery, crates, and armless men!
This demo is currently on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store.
At one point, no kidding, the floor was littered with more than a dozen detached arms. With each step, Conan kicked at least one with his feet. If it were at least fun to cut the limbs off, I could perhaps see past the gross detail, but it just isn't. Conan feels like a lumbering Kratos with only two attacks, detach-head and detach-arms. Worst of all, the demo doesn't even reward you with one last shot of saucy bow-woman. You just get to hear her congratulate you at the end.
That said, the game is yet another in the ongoing global war on pottery. Hooray for red and green glowing icons popping out of broken pottery, crates, and armless men!
This demo is currently on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store.
--jvm at 10:00
Comment
[ 1 ]
08 October 2007
PS3 faring better than PS2, forget BC
I'm not talking about sales, mind you, just my experience. I spent about the first year of my PS2 ownership playing very few really impressive PS2 games. We had SSX and...right. By the time we got Metal Gear Solid 2 and Grand Theft Auto III in late 2001, many of us had spent a fairly barren year playing DVDs and PS1 games.
Here we are, coming up on 11 months into the PS3 life, and I've finally got a PS3. Despite what is literally a wall of unfinished PS2 games, I'm completely absorbed with PS3-specific games. Super Stardust HD is brilliant. The high score table is huge, but you can filter it to just show your friends. I've just squeaked by a friend's high score by a mere 20,000 points and he's vowed to get past me again. I presume this kind of feature is copied from Xbox Live, but it's just brilliant. Even if I don't get bested, I intend to increase the gap between my friend's score and my own, as soon as I find the time to play again.
On the other hand, flOw continues to engage me. I've discovered the third lifeform and will hopefully get another soon. I believe there are five. My elder son enjoys playing with the little creatures, even if he doesn't entirely understand the controls and lacks the fine motor skills to use the controller effectively sometimes.
I picked up Oblivion for a mere $30 and hope to grab both Warhawk and Resistance: Fall of Man before the end of the year.
And now Everyday Shooter is coming out this week.
So, I understand Josh's complaint about Sony completely dropping backward compatibility with PS2 software. I want it, and I'm glad I picked up a 60Gb model. On the other hand, I've found more than enough to keep me busy with just the PS3 parts of the system that I could have gotten a non-backward compatible model and really not have noticed very much.
That said, Sony really needs to get below $400 with their system. They're going to do ok this holiday, I suppose, but they better hope the 2008 software lineup doesn't get delayed any further and, most of all, delivers a compelling reason for Joe User to drop the money on a PS3.
Here we are, coming up on 11 months into the PS3 life, and I've finally got a PS3. Despite what is literally a wall of unfinished PS2 games, I'm completely absorbed with PS3-specific games. Super Stardust HD is brilliant. The high score table is huge, but you can filter it to just show your friends. I've just squeaked by a friend's high score by a mere 20,000 points and he's vowed to get past me again. I presume this kind of feature is copied from Xbox Live, but it's just brilliant. Even if I don't get bested, I intend to increase the gap between my friend's score and my own, as soon as I find the time to play again.
On the other hand, flOw continues to engage me. I've discovered the third lifeform and will hopefully get another soon. I believe there are five. My elder son enjoys playing with the little creatures, even if he doesn't entirely understand the controls and lacks the fine motor skills to use the controller effectively sometimes.
I picked up Oblivion for a mere $30 and hope to grab both Warhawk and Resistance: Fall of Man before the end of the year.
And now Everyday Shooter is coming out this week.
So, I understand Josh's complaint about Sony completely dropping backward compatibility with PS2 software. I want it, and I'm glad I picked up a 60Gb model. On the other hand, I've found more than enough to keep me busy with just the PS3 parts of the system that I could have gotten a non-backward compatible model and really not have noticed very much.
That said, Sony really needs to get below $400 with their system. They're going to do ok this holiday, I suppose, but they better hope the 2008 software lineup doesn't get delayed any further and, most of all, delivers a compelling reason for Joe User to drop the money on a PS3.
--jvm at 20:27
Comment
[ 8 ]
Everyday Shooter
Last week I encouraged Sony to make good on its promise to deliver Everyday Shooter on PSN before the end of the year. Apparently someone at Sony is listening: it will be released this Thursday.
--jvm at 20:22
Comment
[ 0 ]
Heavy Rain in the Valley
I spoke highly of the Heavy Rain trailer that Quantic Dreams was showing a while back. This is reportedly a video of the woman in that trailer. Here is the original Heavy Rain video. Side-by-side comparison:
Welcome to the uncanny valley.
Source: NeoGAF
Welcome to the uncanny valley.
Source: NeoGAF
--jvm at 19:30
Comment
[ 2 ]
04 October 2007
The Simpsons Game: Awful
I just finished an unenjoyable demo of The Simpsons Game, one of the bigger holiday titles for EA this year. I don't recommend you spend your time on it.
Some aliasing and blocky curves kept the game from living up to my visual expectations. On the other hand, the cut scenes appear to be mostly 2D animation and are quite good.
The entire demo is a boss battle against an evil Lard Lad, the donut store mascot brought to life by Kang and Kodos with their Halloween ray. As Homer and Bart, you must hit doors on Lard Lad's back and then pull out some wires to damage him while he's stunned. Do this three times and you win.
This is easier said than done, not because the game puts fair challenges in your way but because the game doesn't give the kind of smooth control you need to pull it off. The key issue is getting up onto the doors, and I did not enjoy trying. For example, I'd put Bart in a convenient location, use Homer to lure Lard Lad nearby, and then switch back to Bart only to find that he'd left his location. By the time I got Bart back in position, Lard Lad had moved on.
Does it help that the game makes fun of boss battles in Kent Brockman's commentary? A little, but not nearly enough. There are some truly enjoyable lines of dialogue in the game and in the cut-scenes, but you'd be better off catching a rerun of the original series on television.
The demo can be found on the PlayStation Store (for PS3 owners) and will presumably be put on Xbox Live sometime in the near future.
Some aliasing and blocky curves kept the game from living up to my visual expectations. On the other hand, the cut scenes appear to be mostly 2D animation and are quite good.
The entire demo is a boss battle against an evil Lard Lad, the donut store mascot brought to life by Kang and Kodos with their Halloween ray. As Homer and Bart, you must hit doors on Lard Lad's back and then pull out some wires to damage him while he's stunned. Do this three times and you win.
This is easier said than done, not because the game puts fair challenges in your way but because the game doesn't give the kind of smooth control you need to pull it off. The key issue is getting up onto the doors, and I did not enjoy trying. For example, I'd put Bart in a convenient location, use Homer to lure Lard Lad nearby, and then switch back to Bart only to find that he'd left his location. By the time I got Bart back in position, Lard Lad had moved on.
Does it help that the game makes fun of boss battles in Kent Brockman's commentary? A little, but not nearly enough. There are some truly enjoyable lines of dialogue in the game and in the cut-scenes, but you'd be better off catching a rerun of the original series on television.
The demo can be found on the PlayStation Store (for PS3 owners) and will presumably be put on Xbox Live sometime in the near future.
--jvm at 23:31
Comment
[ 4 ]
30 September 2007
About Super Stardust HD
A few months back I characterized Super Stardust HD as a copy-cat game with a thick layer of eye-candy. While what I said is true -- the game does borrow heavily from earlier games and a lot of effort was spent on flashy graphics -- it does miss that the game really is quite fun. I've dropped a ton of time into it this weekend, and I'd go so far as to say that this game could help me put off my need to own a Robotron: 2084 stand-up machine for another couple of years.
My hats off to the developer, Housemarque. Fine job. These folks understand how to keep the player engaged in a frantic action game: don't stop me from quickly jumping right back into another game. I believe from game over to blasting asteroids in a new game is close to 10 seconds, which is far better than you can say for a lot of games. Instantaneous would have been nice, but that's nitpicking.
And Sony, keep dropping money on these kinds of exclusive games. I've watched the trailer for Everyday Shooter a couple of times already, and I hope you make good on your promise to bring it out before the end of the year. That plus LittleBigPlanet and I should be plenty happy.
My hats off to the developer, Housemarque. Fine job. These folks understand how to keep the player engaged in a frantic action game: don't stop me from quickly jumping right back into another game. I believe from game over to blasting asteroids in a new game is close to 10 seconds, which is far better than you can say for a lot of games. Instantaneous would have been nice, but that's nitpicking.
And Sony, keep dropping money on these kinds of exclusive games. I've watched the trailer for Everyday Shooter a couple of times already, and I hope you make good on your promise to bring it out before the end of the year. That plus LittleBigPlanet and I should be plenty happy.
Labels: fun, online distribution, ps3, psn, sony
--jvm at 21:30
Comment
[ 5 ]
25 September 2007
PS3
Writing this from the new 60Gb PS3 that arrived today. So far, a nice system.
I've downloaded and played a bit of fl0w, and it's a decent relaxing game. Blast Factor, the main Robotron-clone for PSN, is neat but I'm not upgrading from the demo just yet. I may wait until Christmas for any games on disc, but we'll see.
I've moved all my PS2 save data over, and the system worked just fine with Ace Combat 5. I've got a bunch of demos downloaded already and will get around to them eventually.
The USB keyboard driver and web browser could be a little more robust. Blame typos on that, please.
I'll probably watch Casino Royale on Blu-Ray with the wife this weekend. We'll see if she thinks there's any difference between DVD and an HD format.
When I have a vacation I'll probably look into backing up my data and installing GNU/Linux.
I've downloaded and played a bit of fl0w, and it's a decent relaxing game. Blast Factor, the main Robotron-clone for PSN, is neat but I'm not upgrading from the demo just yet. I may wait until Christmas for any games on disc, but we'll see.
I've moved all my PS2 save data over, and the system worked just fine with Ace Combat 5. I've got a bunch of demos downloaded already and will get around to them eventually.
The USB keyboard driver and web browser could be a little more robust. Blame typos on that, please.
I'll probably watch Casino Royale on Blu-Ray with the wife this weekend. We'll see if she thinks there's any difference between DVD and an HD format.
When I have a vacation I'll probably look into backing up my data and installing GNU/Linux.
Labels: linux, online distribution, ps2, ps3, sony
--jvm at 23:20
Comment
[ 3 ]
09 September 2007
PS3 Compatibility of My PS2 Library
To follow up on my post about how well my PS1 library will play on a PS3, here are the results with the 90 games in my PS2 library, which you can check out at MobyGames. The 60Gb wins.
The results for the software emulation of PS2 games...
Here are the graphs:
I intend to keep my old PS2 around, so most or all of these games should be available to play on that system even when they don't work on a PS3. Still, for out of the box compatibility the 60Gb really seems like the system to get. We'll see how well MonkeyKing's feelings about the software emulation pan out...
For the 60Gb:That works out to 89 out of 90, or 98.9%, being playable with minor inconvenient issues on a 60Gb PS3.
84 games work just fine (93%)
2 have video corruption (2D movies)
1 has graphics corruption (2D or 3D game graphics)
1 has some sort of audio problem (corrupted audio)
1 has a fatal hang
1 doesn't work with some sort of extra hardware
The results for the software emulation of PS2 games...
For the 80Gb:That works out to 76 out of 90, or 84%, which are documented playable with minor inconvenient issues.
50 games work just fine (57%)
7 have video corruption (2D movies)
12 have graphics corruption (2D or 3D graphics)
12 have a fatal hang
1 doesn't work with some sort of extra hardware
5 have speed problems (running slowly)
1 doesn't work online
1 is not in Sony's database
Here are the graphs:
I intend to keep my old PS2 around, so most or all of these games should be available to play on that system even when they don't work on a PS3. Still, for out of the box compatibility the 60Gb really seems like the system to get. We'll see how well MonkeyKing's feelings about the software emulation pan out...
--jvm at 00:31
Comment
[ 8 ]
08 September 2007
PS3 Compatibility of My PS1 Library
Either model of the PS3 will probably play your PS1 games as well as the other. That's my conclusion after I checked the compatibility of the 128 PS1 games in my library, as cataloged on MobyGames. Here's the breakdown
If you'd prefer a graph, here you go:
Out of these 128 games, the 80Gb and 60Gb models have exactly the same compatibility issues. Although I've never seen it said somewhere, this leads me to believe that the PS1 compatibility is purely software, and has nothing to do with the PS2 hardware in the 60Gb PS3 model. Sony has a software PS1 emulator after all, the one used on the PSP! Moreover, when issues have been fixed with PS1 game compatibility, they're fixed by a firmware update.
So, there is no compelling reason to get either PS3 model over the other if your concern is PS1 compatibility.
Incidentally, I believeyou still can't play the downloadable PS1 games on the PlayStation Network with a PS3 at one time you couldn't play downlodable PS1 games on the PlayStation Network with a PS3. If indeed there is was a software PS1 emulator built right into the firmware, then I'm really puzzled about Sony's reluctance to make those PS1 games playable on both the PSP and the PS3. What's What was going on there?
I'm working on combing through my PS2 library. I'll have another post up when I get done.
105 work just fine (that's 82%)The number that probably really matters: 126 out of 128 will work with minor inconvenient issues. That's 98.4%.
4 have video corruption (2D movies)
8 have graphics corruption (2D or 3D game graphics)
4 have some sort of audio problem (usually just a wrong or truncated sound)
4 have a bug that can cause a hang (only a couple are truly fatal)
1 has a controller issue
2 have speed problems (usually running slowly)
If you'd prefer a graph, here you go:
Out of these 128 games, the 80Gb and 60Gb models have exactly the same compatibility issues. Although I've never seen it said somewhere, this leads me to believe that the PS1 compatibility is purely software, and has nothing to do with the PS2 hardware in the 60Gb PS3 model. Sony has a software PS1 emulator after all, the one used on the PSP! Moreover, when issues have been fixed with PS1 game compatibility, they're fixed by a firmware update.So, there is no compelling reason to get either PS3 model over the other if your concern is PS1 compatibility.
Incidentally, I believe
I'm working on combing through my PS2 library. I'll have another post up when I get done.
--jvm at 21:20
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[ 3 ]
07 September 2007
Karraker Gone
One of the better things to happen to Sony in the past year is having someone who appeared mostly sane heading up PR. Now that guy, David Karraker, is leaving to work in the "spirits industry". I suppose one might say he needed a stiff drink. In the interview he did with Next-Gen.biz today, he touts Sony's PlayStation blog as an important contribution.
He's right.
I don't keep refreshing my RSS reader waiting for a new post penned by Jack Tretton, mind you. The blog is just a glorified PR space. On the other hand, when they make an announcement on the blog before they send out a press release to the news sites, they're doing precisely what Karraker said they needed to do: take control of their own message. Sure, it's often PR garbage, but at least the public can get the PR garbage directly from that tap instead of filtered through IGN or Kotaku. Direct is better.
Of course, Sony's message, no matter how direct, hasn't always been clear. Where is Game 3.0, anyway? Why are they letting leaks set up expectations of how well PlayStation Home is progressing? They've got work to do. But, for the most part, they're right back to a healthy back-and-forth with the media and their competition.
I hope Sony gets someone as good or better than Karraker for the next PR guy. They're going to need it.
(Disclosure: I have written and continue to write for Next-Gen.biz, to whom I've linked.)
He's right.
I don't keep refreshing my RSS reader waiting for a new post penned by Jack Tretton, mind you. The blog is just a glorified PR space. On the other hand, when they make an announcement on the blog before they send out a press release to the news sites, they're doing precisely what Karraker said they needed to do: take control of their own message. Sure, it's often PR garbage, but at least the public can get the PR garbage directly from that tap instead of filtered through IGN or Kotaku. Direct is better.
Of course, Sony's message, no matter how direct, hasn't always been clear. Where is Game 3.0, anyway? Why are they letting leaks set up expectations of how well PlayStation Home is progressing? They've got work to do. But, for the most part, they're right back to a healthy back-and-forth with the media and their competition.
I hope Sony gets someone as good or better than Karraker for the next PR guy. They're going to need it.
(Disclosure: I have written and continue to write for Next-Gen.biz, to whom I've linked.)
--jvm at 16:40
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[ 0 ]
Sometimes the 80 is better than the 60
I'm considering getting a 60Gb PS3 before the only way to get one is used, so I decided to hit up the new compatibility search engine Sony's put up just recently. In comparing the two models, I turned up one case where the 80Gb model (which uses software emulation for PS2 and PS1 games) does a better job: Atari Anthology for PlayStation 2. For the hardware emulation in the 60Gb, we get this:
Description: When the "Atari founder Nolan Bushnell" FMV plays, the audio plays approximately 1 second ahead of the video.For the 80Gb (software emulation), the report is
Description: No major problems for this title.Not a killer there, but it does leave me wondering what else will crop up in my collection. On balance, I'm seeing more issues with the 80Gb than with the 60Gb, so I haven't changed my plans. Still, it would be interesting to see a graphical comparison of some sort to visually evaluate how compatible each machine really is.
--jvm at 10:37
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[ 7 ]
09 August 2007
Madden 08, 360 Price Drops, and Selling Next Gen Down the River
Help.
Here, via a URL at ign.com, is a Microsoft press release. It's full of less than clever rhetoric, like, "Xbox 360 is the only console on which consumers will be able to play all of this year's biggest titles: [game 1], "Halo 3" (Bungie Studios), [game 2], [game 3]." That it's straight from MS makes it more interesting that a link is made between the Xbox 360 price drop and Madden's release. Microsoft, not controversially, thinks Madden pushes "next gen" console sales.
So now we have at least one good explanation why an EA Madden developer blog, here hosted by ign.com (conflict of interest, anyone?) says that the WinPC version of Madden matches the features of the "Current Gen" Madden engine instead of that of the "Next Gen" code. We wouldn't want to compete with next gen console sales, would we?
Strangely, the Windows Madden developer doing the blogging is trying to sell the Next Gen version down the proverbial river. Check this quote.
Two things occur to me:
1.) In the first bolded quote, it's impossible to have Madden on PC match "next gen" consoles' eye candy? Seriously? How many times have we seen engines start on the PC and have to be ramped down for consoles?
I've got to call bull on this one. The only out I can think of for Mr. Kiniry here is that if you have to start from a console engine and port it to the PC, EA's internal deadlines and resources allocated for the Windows version of Madden have created a situation where it would be impossible to port the Next Gen engine in time.
This tells us the PC version is [duh] downstream of the console versions. The issue is that Kiniry is [I assume] wrong to pass this off as a technical issue; it's all 0s, 1s, dollars, and cents.
2.) With the second quote, seriously, the Next Gen versions don't play as well? There's an eye candy vs. gameplay either-or here by definition? The hardware, programming libraries, etc. say that you can either have a game that plays great or looks great but not both? When and how did that happen? Even if you could port Next Gen in time, it'd be a boring game to play on WinPC and is a boring game on the 360 and PS3?
I'm not sure I'm buying that. In fact, I'm not buying it at all. I'll be eager to see how the Xbox 360 version plays (the 360's NCAA '08 is little different than the PS2's, imo, though here that's a sign for the worse).
In any event, if it's an advantage to be Current Gen, why wouldn't I buy the PS2 version over the Windows one and skip boot-up times, driver issues, etc? Ah yes, the Windows version is $10 less. So folks who have Windows boxes and Current Gen consoles get the option to pull in a discount?
I'm confused. If I hypothetically own three Madden-ready platforms, a Next Gen console, a Current Gen console, and a Windows PC, and I'm only buying one version of Madden, which does EA want me to buy and why again?
PS -- Where am I supposed to buy the Mac version again? It's not on ebstore.com, nor even on MacGameStore.com's "Coming Soon" list. What gives? A Google of "Madden 08" Mac gives me nuttin' useful.
Here, via a URL at ign.com, is a Microsoft press release. It's full of less than clever rhetoric, like, "Xbox 360 is the only console on which consumers will be able to play all of this year's biggest titles: [game 1], "Halo 3" (Bungie Studios), [game 2], [game 3]." That it's straight from MS makes it more interesting that a link is made between the Xbox 360 price drop and Madden's release. Microsoft, not controversially, thinks Madden pushes "next gen" console sales.
Microsoft Corp. today kicked off the greatest holiday lineup in video game history by announcing it will reduce the estimated retail price (ERP) of Xbox 360 by $50 (U.S.) beginning Aug. 8. Soon to follow, Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) will release its blockbuster video game title "Madden NFL 08" on Aug. 14. "Madden NFL Football," one of the most important mass-appeal franchises in video games, was the top-selling game of 2006 and is the top-selling franchise of the past 10 years.
So now we have at least one good explanation why an EA Madden developer blog, here hosted by ign.com (conflict of interest, anyone?) says that the WinPC version of Madden matches the features of the "Current Gen" Madden engine instead of that of the "Next Gen" code. We wouldn't want to compete with next gen console sales, would we?
Strangely, the Windows Madden developer doing the blogging is trying to sell the Next Gen version down the proverbial river. Check this quote.
The first question that is going to come up from all the PC fans is about Next Gen vs. Current Gen. So rather then bore you with the details let me say that we are still closer to the Current Gen version of the game. Personally I've been a fan of this choice given the way the game plays.... This really is the great Madden PC debate for the last couple of years: Speed and Game play of Current Gen versus the Look and Graphics of Next Gen (FYI - it just has not been technically possible to do both to date, even though I've been trying).(emph mine)
... I hate looking at screen shots of a game, reading the features, and going "Wow, that is going to be amazing," only to get it home and have it be nothing more then eye candy. Now don't get me wrong I love to push my system at home (why else put two video cards in one PC right?), but really I want a game that will keep me entertained for 60 hours not 60 minutes.
Two things occur to me:
1.) In the first bolded quote, it's impossible to have Madden on PC match "next gen" consoles' eye candy? Seriously? How many times have we seen engines start on the PC and have to be ramped down for consoles?
I've got to call bull on this one. The only out I can think of for Mr. Kiniry here is that if you have to start from a console engine and port it to the PC, EA's internal deadlines and resources allocated for the Windows version of Madden have created a situation where it would be impossible to port the Next Gen engine in time.
This tells us the PC version is [duh] downstream of the console versions. The issue is that Kiniry is [I assume] wrong to pass this off as a technical issue; it's all 0s, 1s, dollars, and cents.
2.) With the second quote, seriously, the Next Gen versions don't play as well? There's an eye candy vs. gameplay either-or here by definition? The hardware, programming libraries, etc. say that you can either have a game that plays great or looks great but not both? When and how did that happen? Even if you could port Next Gen in time, it'd be a boring game to play on WinPC and is a boring game on the 360 and PS3?
I'm not sure I'm buying that. In fact, I'm not buying it at all. I'll be eager to see how the Xbox 360 version plays (the 360's NCAA '08 is little different than the PS2's, imo, though here that's a sign for the worse).
In any event, if it's an advantage to be Current Gen, why wouldn't I buy the PS2 version over the Windows one and skip boot-up times, driver issues, etc? Ah yes, the Windows version is $10 less. So folks who have Windows boxes and Current Gen consoles get the option to pull in a discount?
I'm confused. If I hypothetically own three Madden-ready platforms, a Next Gen console, a Current Gen console, and a Windows PC, and I'm only buying one version of Madden, which does EA want me to buy and why again?
PS -- Where am I supposed to buy the Mac version again? It's not on ebstore.com, nor even on MacGameStore.com's "Coming Soon" list. What gives? A Google of "Madden 08" Mac gives me nuttin' useful.
--ruffin at 18:31
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[ 6 ]
16 July 2007
Rock Band, PS3...same thing
I just read yet another gush about EA's upcoming Rock Band:
I'll be happy to say I'm wrong when the time comes, but I just don't see it. A few points:
Look, Guitar Hero and its sequel(s) got out first, have brand recognition, and cost less (for existing and returning customers). Rock Band is going to come out with more-more-more at an accordingly higher price. To me, it's a lot like the Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3 situation. The Xbox 360 offers a lot of value for $400. While the PS3 gives you more hardware out of the box (decent sized hard drive, wireless, and the Blu-Ray player, for example), the price puts it out of mass-market contention.
Won't Rock Band be essentially the same thing?
You thought Guitar Hero was a breakout hit? This thing is going to be like Brain Age in Japan. Rock Band is a watershed for the games industry. It'll be a watershed for the music industry, too.Let me put it out there: I think Rock Band will fail miserably.
I'll be happy to say I'm wrong when the time comes, but I just don't see it. A few points:
- Millions of people have dropped $80+ on Guitar Hero and its products since November 2005. That brand recognition and familiarity presents a significant barrier to entry for EA's product, even if it's comparable.
- While Guitar Hero controllers will apparently work with Rock Band, that can't make EA happy one bit. You just know they want you to buy their controllers. I'm surprised they're even offering the game separately, to be honest. (Maybe they expect to make the real profits by offering track downloads after the initial sale -- that'd certainly make up for people buying just the game.)
- Regardless, people simply aren't going to drop $100-$200 on a game and these crazy controllers. Not in droves, and certainly not enough to warrant the kind of gushing that's going on in the press. Not when they can have a brand new Wii for $250 (provided they can find one).
Look, Guitar Hero and its sequel(s) got out first, have brand recognition, and cost less (for existing and returning customers). Rock Band is going to come out with more-more-more at an accordingly higher price. To me, it's a lot like the Xbox 360 vs. PlayStation 3 situation. The Xbox 360 offers a lot of value for $400. While the PS3 gives you more hardware out of the box (decent sized hard drive, wireless, and the Blu-Ray player, for example), the price puts it out of mass-market contention.
Won't Rock Band be essentially the same thing?
--jvm at 01:19
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[ 6 ]
13 July 2007
Total moronic reversal
It's been an interesting few days watching the Sony situation. I have more than a few game news outlets in my RSS reader and I read NeoGAF every day. Previously I felt that the game press and forum denizens were very harsh on Sony, jumping on every piece of news that could cast Sony in a bad light. On the other hand, reports in the mainstream press were generally neutral or positive on Sony, letting Sony spin without penalty and taking Sony's line that the PlayStation 3 is both a movie player and a game machine (which allows Sony to mitigate poor game sales with better-than-HD-DVD movie sales).
The roles appear to have reversed.
After Sony's price strategy announcement (it's a drop to me, but not others apparently) and reasonable E3 press conference (again, my opinion), the game press has seemed mostly positive on Sony's prospects and the NeoGAF tide has definitely turned to favor Sony a good bit more. On the other hand, places like Forbes are giving Nintendo lots of kudos and slapping Sony around. Microsoft is just there.
The muddling of the 60Gb PS3 issue today -- saying it's going away and then not -- hasn't helped.
Anyway, you know my bias already, but that's my view.
Colin Campbell at Next-Gen.biz has an editorial about Sony's fortunes that you might read. He's not pro-Sony. Disclosure: I've written and continue to write occasionally for Next-Gen.biz.
The roles appear to have reversed.
After Sony's price strategy announcement (it's a drop to me, but not others apparently) and reasonable E3 press conference (again, my opinion), the game press has seemed mostly positive on Sony's prospects and the NeoGAF tide has definitely turned to favor Sony a good bit more. On the other hand, places like Forbes are giving Nintendo lots of kudos and slapping Sony around. Microsoft is just there.
The muddling of the 60Gb PS3 issue today -- saying it's going away and then not -- hasn't helped.
Anyway, you know my bias already, but that's my view.
Colin Campbell at Next-Gen.biz has an editorial about Sony's fortunes that you might read. He's not pro-Sony. Disclosure: I've written and continue to write occasionally for Next-Gen.biz.
--jvm at 22:36
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[ 1 ]
Sony's Infinite Price Drop Loop
Give Sony credit. They've hit on a way to announce a price drop every week from here until Christmas. Here's how it works:
- Sell two configurations, one at $500 and a better one at $600.
- Discontinue the $500 model, mark the $600 model down to $500.
- Create a newer model, price it at $600.
- Goto 2.
--jvm at 22:09
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[ 1 ]
12 July 2007
Game 3.0?
Maybe I missed it, but did anyone from Sony utter Game 3.0 during their press conference? I relied on press reports since I don't have hours to sit around listening to these things, and so far I've not seen it mentioned once. Google's news and blog searches are turning up no useful references to "game 3.0" in the past day or two.
Seems like a pretty big no-show, if Sony didn't say it at least once.
Seems like a pretty big no-show, if Sony didn't say it at least once.
--jvm at 00:09
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[ 2 ]
09 July 2007
The Race to Cut
Sony has announced a price drop. Other than "Do I buy in August or November?", my question is this:
Is Sony beginning the same kind or price war they started (and won) with Sega?
For context, see the text of this comment by MonkeyKing1969 on my post documenting price drops for the original PlayStation.
The blue laser diodes have reportedly dropped in cost. The Emotion Engine hardware has been dropped from the new 80Gb PlayStation 3. Sony has reported that they have nearly full capacity production of the PlayStation 3 systems. Ideally they should be able to drop prices as their costs change, and this $100 price drop seems to be part of that.
So what's different? Whereas I suspect that Sony controlled the production of almost everything in the original PlayStation and in the PlayStation 2 (except perhaps the RamBus stuff), they have a partnership with NVIDIA for the PlayStation 3's graphics chip, the RSX. That's an entanglement I bet they wish they didn't have. As I recall, NVIDIA and Microsoft didn't part on the best of terms from a similar relationship on the original Xbox.
Microsoft doesn't own everything in the Xbox 360, but it does own more than the original Xbox. Still, it does depend on IBM and ATI/AMD for parts. The Xbox 360 ain't no Saturn, so to speak, but I'd like to hear a professional's opinion on how quickly and deeply Sony and Microsoft will be able to reduce costs of their respective systems.
If Sony drops the price again in a year by another $100, I do wonder if Microsoft will be able to keep up. Perhaps at that point, Nintendo's Harrison will want to reconsider his bravado.
Is Sony beginning the same kind or price war they started (and won) with Sega?
For context, see the text of this comment by MonkeyKing1969 on my post documenting price drops for the original PlayStation.
The blue laser diodes have reportedly dropped in cost. The Emotion Engine hardware has been dropped from the new 80Gb PlayStation 3. Sony has reported that they have nearly full capacity production of the PlayStation 3 systems. Ideally they should be able to drop prices as their costs change, and this $100 price drop seems to be part of that.
So what's different? Whereas I suspect that Sony controlled the production of almost everything in the original PlayStation and in the PlayStation 2 (except perhaps the RamBus stuff), they have a partnership with NVIDIA for the PlayStation 3's graphics chip, the RSX. That's an entanglement I bet they wish they didn't have. As I recall, NVIDIA and Microsoft didn't part on the best of terms from a similar relationship on the original Xbox.
Microsoft doesn't own everything in the Xbox 360, but it does own more than the original Xbox. Still, it does depend on IBM and ATI/AMD for parts. The Xbox 360 ain't no Saturn, so to speak, but I'd like to hear a professional's opinion on how quickly and deeply Sony and Microsoft will be able to reduce costs of their respective systems.
If Sony drops the price again in a year by another $100, I do wonder if Microsoft will be able to keep up. Perhaps at that point, Nintendo's Harrison will want to reconsider his bravado.
--jvm at 23:53
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[ 2 ]
03 July 2007
Not Ready for Prime Time
GameSpot recently changed how their site handles reviews. Among other things, the 0.1 granularity in scores is gone. Tonight they reviewed the PS3 game Super Stardust HD and the page I got came up with a score of 0.0. Here's the screenshot:
Looks like the system needs a little work guys. Although, if the score stays at 0.0, I'll at least give them credit for sticking it to (what appears to be) a copy-cat game with a thick layer of eye candy. (Of course, by the time you read this, they will probably have updated the page to show the correct score...)
Looks like the system needs a little work guys. Although, if the score stays at 0.0, I'll at least give them credit for sticking it to (what appears to be) a copy-cat game with a thick layer of eye candy. (Of course, by the time you read this, they will probably have updated the page to show the correct score...)
--jvm at 21:07
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[ 5 ]
Give Tretton a Cookie
I've not been impressed with SCEA president Jack "$1200" Tretton, but if Sony's going to fight Microsoft's moneyhats with words, I thought this was decent:
We have a very different approach to exclusives than some of our competitors. We don't buy exclusivity. We don't fund development. We don't, for lack of a better term, bribe somebody to only do a game on our platform. We earn it...I'd give Jack a cookie for that one.
[shnip]
Microsoft is too dependent on the third-party community, and Nintendo is too depended [sic, dependent, I presume] on first-party. We like to feel that we got a pretty good mix.
--jvm at 15:28
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[ 3 ]
04 April 2007
Sony the Copycat
In developing its online strategy, Sony ran a serious risk of being called a copycat since Microsoft had already covered the bases so well with Xbox Live. Given the blowback from the PlayStation 3's SIXAXIS controller -- which is motion sensing in a manner similar to the Wii remote -- they couldn't let it play out that way.
The GDC 2007 announcements of PlayStation Home and the Game 3.0 initiative successfully put Sony on the offensive. Phil Harrison and his crew pulled off what I'd considered impossible: planting the seeds of doubt in the Microsoft faithful. Maybe -- just maybe -- Sony's system would have features that they wanted, but couldn't have, in Xbox Live.
This doesn't mean that Sony isn't copying Xbox Live, of course. In fact, they should be mimicking every feature as fast as they can. As long as they keep the focus on what they (will) have that Microsoft doesn't, they can add the standard Xbox Live features with practical immunity from criticism.
Now, of course, Sony has to deliver. What some saw as pessimism in my recent column is actually my attempt to view the situation realistically. I encourage everyone, again, to go read what Sony announced for the PlayStation 2 in early 2000. They promised a boatload of features. Some of those features -- like downloadable movies -- still haven't materialized.
At least we have seen that downloadable movies can be done on Xbox Live. I'm sure Sony's busy copying that feature right now. If I'm right, then it will have a distinctive PlayStation Home twist when it arrives.
The GDC 2007 announcements of PlayStation Home and the Game 3.0 initiative successfully put Sony on the offensive. Phil Harrison and his crew pulled off what I'd considered impossible: planting the seeds of doubt in the Microsoft faithful. Maybe -- just maybe -- Sony's system would have features that they wanted, but couldn't have, in Xbox Live.
This doesn't mean that Sony isn't copying Xbox Live, of course. In fact, they should be mimicking every feature as fast as they can. As long as they keep the focus on what they (will) have that Microsoft doesn't, they can add the standard Xbox Live features with practical immunity from criticism.
Now, of course, Sony has to deliver. What some saw as pessimism in my recent column is actually my attempt to view the situation realistically. I encourage everyone, again, to go read what Sony announced for the PlayStation 2 in early 2000. They promised a boatload of features. Some of those features -- like downloadable movies -- still haven't materialized.
At least we have seen that downloadable movies can be done on Xbox Live. I'm sure Sony's busy copying that feature right now. If I'm right, then it will have a distinctive PlayStation Home twist when it arrives.
--jvm at 16:26
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[ 3 ]
Ancestry of Game 3.0
A piece I put together on Sony's Game 3.0 is up today at Next-Gen. Consider this post a place to file complaints and other comments.
I would like to credit Josh at Cathode Tan for an idea I used in the piece, with his permission. Here is his original post in which I first read about NDAs being in the mod community, from which I drew the connection. The original forum thread that Josh is referencing is here.
I had a couple of comments about Game 3.0 that didn't fit in with the piece that I'll probably put into a later post.
I would like to credit Josh at Cathode Tan for an idea I used in the piece, with his permission. Here is his original post in which I first read about NDAs being in the mod community, from which I drew the connection. The original forum thread that Josh is referencing is here.
I had a couple of comments about Game 3.0 that didn't fit in with the piece that I'll probably put into a later post.
--jvm at 06:12
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[ 2 ]
20 March 2007
Euro PS3 compatibility list
Via The Register, I see that Sony has published a database of how various games work on the new version of the PlayStation 3. Here's an interesting snapshot showing the situation with Metal Gear Solid 3:
One square means noticeable issues when played on a PS3 and three squares means no issues. I wonder how many people will have the one-square versions of MGS3? And I wonder if newer games have been made with libraries from Sony that are designed to increase compatibility. For example, God of War 2, a game which may tax the system about as hard as anything we've ever seen, just came out and has three squares. That could be the emulator, or it could be Sony making sure newer games pass a certain spec before they're released.
Anyway, I hope to pore over the list more later, especially the PSOne listing, since I expect that by the time I buy a North American PS3 I'll be dealing with the same software emulation.
One square means noticeable issues when played on a PS3 and three squares means no issues. I wonder how many people will have the one-square versions of MGS3? And I wonder if newer games have been made with libraries from Sony that are designed to increase compatibility. For example, God of War 2, a game which may tax the system about as hard as anything we've ever seen, just came out and has three squares. That could be the emulator, or it could be Sony making sure newer games pass a certain spec before they're released.Anyway, I hope to pore over the list more later, especially the PSOne listing, since I expect that by the time I buy a North American PS3 I'll be dealing with the same software emulation.
--jvm at 10:25
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[ 5 ]
09 March 2007
Phil Harrison confirms it: exclusivity not worth it (for now)
At GDC, we have Sony's Phil Harrison saying the following (emphasis added):
As for losing GTA IV, Harrison said that the PlayStation 3 was not suitable to be the exclusive home of Rockstar's upcoming title. "I don't think PS3 has the install base to support Rockstar's investment in GTA IV on its own," Harrison told the assembled bloggers. The first next-gen Grand Theft Auto game likely cost Rockstar considerable money and development time. That being such, it couldn't have sold enough copies on PS3 alone to make exclusivity worthwhile. In the future, as the number of PS3s in homes grows, it should become easier to nab major exclusives.I think that is awfully close to an important point I was trying to make recently: Sony expects the big-name titles to be cross-platform, primarily Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, so they can maximize the return on the huge development investment. The money saved on buying exclusives can be folded into Sony's internal studio budgets.
--jvm at 00:21
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[ 3 ]
07 March 2007
Three things PlayStation Home is *not*
Sony finally got around to announcing a grand online plan and it's called PlayStation Home. Go watch the trailer, if you haven't already. I took a quick peek around at reactions and people are definitely irrationally excited, so someone's got to be the adult around here. Sober up, people.
Addendum: MattG is skeptical of PlayStation Home for other reasons. And Ronald Diemicke at MobyGames is thinking along the same lines as my #3, calling it a "glorified marketing space, more like a big mall designed to suck up money".
- PlayStation Home is not final software - In fact, it is alpha software, so stop acting like this is what we will actually see launched in Fall 2007. Take a minute, remember your history, and go read this article from May 2000. Then ponder all the online goodness we've enjoyed on our PlayStation 2s for the past seven years:
More than just a games console, the PlayStation 2 will offer support for DVD Video, be able to function as a set-top box, Internet access device and also feature a PC-Card interface through which it can be connected to broadband networks.
Breathtaking, isn't it? Practically none of that happened. Not even close. There wasn't even a network adaptor until 2002, for crying out loud.
It is through these broadband networks that SCEI plans to deliver games, audio and video content from 2001.
History gives us no reason to believe Sony can bring its PlayStation Home dream to fruition, so just stop acting like the presentation today meant anything. It meant nothing.
Do yourself, and all of us, a favor: take a "show me" stance toward anything Sony announces. - PlayStation Home will not be simple - What I always liked about GameSpy was that I could fire it up, ping some Quake servers, and immediately jump into a game. The virtual reality interface on PlayStation Home looks like an awful way to get people together for matches or games. If I want to play a PS3 game online, the last thing I want to do is have to watch people fiddle with human-shaped cursors just to get to the "Start Game" location.
My only experience with trying to arrange virtual people was with another Sony property, Everquest Online Adventures, and I hated trying to get a party together in person to make plans for a quest. Now, I'm sure World of Warcraft people have this all figured out, but Sony's just bull-headed enough to come up with their own ridiculous solution to a previously solved problem. (See: ATRAC.) - PlayStation Home is not free - You heard me. It's only free in the sense that iTunes is free. It's actually a clever trap to bleed you dry of money.
Understand this: Sony is going to charge money for virtual property at every turn. Want a rug for your virtual house? A chair? A different color of wall paint? Then you better open your wallet, buster.
Microsoft pioneered downloadable content fees, and Sony will take it to completely new level. It will be glorious.
Addendum: MattG is skeptical of PlayStation Home for other reasons. And Ronald Diemicke at MobyGames is thinking along the same lines as my #3, calling it a "glorified marketing space, more like a big mall designed to suck up money".
--jvm at 19:53
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[ 11 ]
03 March 2007
What would make me buy a PS3?
Or, in some cases, just what I'd like to see in a console.
The way Sony acts some days, I'm not even sure they could manage the cookie.
- Ripping of my PSOne and PS2 games to the hard drive for use with the new emulation software. As a concession to avoid piracy, I'd be happy to verify my ripped copy with the original disc once out of every 25 times I attempt play from the hard drive. Or something like that.
- PlayStation Network stocked with free demos of every PS3 game.
- PSN Store stocked with dozens of PSOne games, including rare or Japanese-only titles, playable on PS3 as well as PSP.
- Start putting smaller PS2 games up for sale on the PSN Store.
- And while we're at it, how about Sony sells PSP games and an emulator on the PSN?
- Improved image quality on PS2 and PSOne games with the new emulation software.
- Sleep mode, just like I have on the PSP.
- High quality upscaling of DVDs. Reportedly coming soon, but I want to hear about quality from users first.
- Movies I actually want available on demand. Some sort of movie service reported to be announced this coming week, but no word on the selection, or which studios outside of Sony's will be included.
- A screenshot feature in future games.
- User account webpages with online storage. Storage can be used for screenshots, save games, and some sort of blogging.
- A chocolate chip cookie.
The way Sony acts some days, I'm not even sure they could manage the cookie.
--jvm at 22:49
Comment
[ 7 ]
02 March 2007
Xbox is the new PlayStation
By now most of the videogame industry has realized that the Xbox 360 is the new PlayStation 2. What many have yet to comprehend, however, is that Sony is perfectly happy to let that happen.
Seeds of this Generation
Go back to the launch of the Xbox and GameCube back in 2001. The first console generation of the 21st century had completely launched and Sony was building its commanding lead. The seeds of our current generation -- Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 -- were sown then and are just now beginning to bear fruit.
Microsoft covets that role for its Xbox 360, and it will have it. Sony is willingly giving up. Like the PlayStation 2 before, it will offer thousands of games, from dreck to art, from cross-platform million-sellers to unique third-party exclusives. Only, there won't be as many of that last group -- the unique third-party exclusives -- much to Microsoft's dismay.
Sony's Gambit: First-Party Power
This is Sony's vision for the PlayStation 3: a powerful multi-use system headlined by huge first-party exclusives, bolstered by big-name cross-platform titles. They want their first-party games to be to their console what the Spider-man movies have been to their movie business. They want to diminish the role of the cheaper, lesser games that plagued its PSOne and PlayStation 2. They want you to think premium cable, only for videogames.
From that perspective Sony's apparent indifference to exclusivity for games like Grand Theft Auto 4, Assassin's Creed, Virtua Fighter 5 makes a lot more sense. Sony expects publishers and developers to feel obligated to make those big games for PlayStation 3, along with other platforms. Indeed, to maximize profits, publishers will need to bring those games to several platforms, and the Wii isn't even in the running. Eventually developers will tame the Cell, out of necessity, and Sony will have its sufficient software base.
As the importance of third-party exclusives diminishes, and cross-platform games become the norm, the first-party offerings will be the key to attracting consumers. And that is Sony's ace.
Phil Harrison recently explained exactly this to The Guardian: "[Developing new titles in-house is] absolutely the strategy. When we launched the PlayStation, there were no accompanying games developed by Sony. When we launched the PlayStation 2, there was one: Fantavision, which, beautiful game though it was, was no game on which to launch a platform. But the PS3 will launch with more exclusive, high-quality games from our studios than we've ever done before."
As reported by Screen Digest in late February, Sony's internal studios have more than 2.5 times the manpower of Microsoft's studios. In fact, Sony has more studio staff than Nintendo and Microsoft combined. If cross-platform exclusives are taken for granted, then Sony is in a far stronger position than Microsoft to define its platform with unique software. Killzone 2, Warhawk, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -- these are but the beginning for Sony and their stable of developers. Microsoft had its year to set the standard for next-generation games with the likes of Gears of War, but from this point forward Sony intends to define the standard for which everyone else strives. It is the quality Sony hopes to achieve with software, the exceptional experience that they intend to offer, that justifies the high price of entry that the PlayStation 3 commands.
Incidentally, Sony isn't shutting out smaller games on the PlayStation 3 altogether. Lesser games, by developers big and small, will find room not on store shelves but on Sony's PlayStation Network as low-cost downloads. Think of it as one more step toward Phil Harrison's dream of disc-less PlayStation 4. And as can happen on Xbox Live Arcade, developers will perform an end run around the big publishers, something they all want to do.
The Stakes
In about a year's time we should have an idea of whether Sony's plans are going to pay off. Sony's initial crop of big-budget first-party games should have had a chance with reviewers and consumers. Europe's reception of the PlayStation 3 will have been assessed, and the viability of a $600 console will have been determined. This has to be the year of the PlayStation 3, or Sony will have a grim five years burning money to support a product few people wanted.
The greatest risk right now is that frustrated third parties could balk at the abstruse Cell architecture and the Blu-Ray data transfer issues and start handing exclusives to Microsoft. The added Xbox 360 momentum could create the positive feedback loop that sold more than 100 million PlayStation 2 consoles. If that happens, Sony would have handed Microsoft the keys to the kingdom on a silver platter.
Seeds of this Generation
Go back to the launch of the Xbox and GameCube back in 2001. The first console generation of the 21st century had completely launched and Sony was building its commanding lead. The seeds of our current generation -- Xbox 360, Wii, and PlayStation 3 -- were sown then and are just now beginning to bear fruit.
- The original Xbox attracted developers with its easy-to-use tools and integrated online services. Despite the change in machine architecture and continuing subscription costs for consumers, the Xbox 360 is lauded for improving on the gold standard its predecessor set for developers and online consumers.
- The GameCube played host to Nintendo's first party games, nontraditional games like Animal Crossing, and experimental controls like the Donkey Konga bongos and the Odama microphone. The Wii got a Zelda game at launch, packed in the crowd favorite Wii Sports, and would be nothing without its remarkable Wii controller.
- The PlayStation 2 puzzled developers with its non-standard architecture and primitive toolchain, leaving them to make of it what they could. The PlayStation 3 and its Cell architecture are even more unusual than the PS2, and developers are striving to understand its strengths and limitations.
Microsoft covets that role for its Xbox 360, and it will have it. Sony is willingly giving up. Like the PlayStation 2 before, it will offer thousands of games, from dreck to art, from cross-platform million-sellers to unique third-party exclusives. Only, there won't be as many of that last group -- the unique third-party exclusives -- much to Microsoft's dismay.
Sony's Gambit: First-Party Power
This is Sony's vision for the PlayStation 3: a powerful multi-use system headlined by huge first-party exclusives, bolstered by big-name cross-platform titles. They want their first-party games to be to their console what the Spider-man movies have been to their movie business. They want to diminish the role of the cheaper, lesser games that plagued its PSOne and PlayStation 2. They want you to think premium cable, only for videogames.
From that perspective Sony's apparent indifference to exclusivity for games like Grand Theft Auto 4, Assassin's Creed, Virtua Fighter 5 makes a lot more sense. Sony expects publishers and developers to feel obligated to make those big games for PlayStation 3, along with other platforms. Indeed, to maximize profits, publishers will need to bring those games to several platforms, and the Wii isn't even in the running. Eventually developers will tame the Cell, out of necessity, and Sony will have its sufficient software base.
As the importance of third-party exclusives diminishes, and cross-platform games become the norm, the first-party offerings will be the key to attracting consumers. And that is Sony's ace.
Phil Harrison recently explained exactly this to The Guardian: "[Developing new titles in-house is] absolutely the strategy. When we launched the PlayStation, there were no accompanying games developed by Sony. When we launched the PlayStation 2, there was one: Fantavision, which, beautiful game though it was, was no game on which to launch a platform. But the PS3 will launch with more exclusive, high-quality games from our studios than we've ever done before."
As reported by Screen Digest in late February, Sony's internal studios have more than 2.5 times the manpower of Microsoft's studios. In fact, Sony has more studio staff than Nintendo and Microsoft combined. If cross-platform exclusives are taken for granted, then Sony is in a far stronger position than Microsoft to define its platform with unique software. Killzone 2, Warhawk, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune -- these are but the beginning for Sony and their stable of developers. Microsoft had its year to set the standard for next-generation games with the likes of Gears of War, but from this point forward Sony intends to define the standard for which everyone else strives. It is the quality Sony hopes to achieve with software, the exceptional experience that they intend to offer, that justifies the high price of entry that the PlayStation 3 commands.
Incidentally, Sony isn't shutting out smaller games on the PlayStation 3 altogether. Lesser games, by developers big and small, will find room not on store shelves but on Sony's PlayStation Network as low-cost downloads. Think of it as one more step toward Phil Harrison's dream of disc-less PlayStation 4. And as can happen on Xbox Live Arcade, developers will perform an end run around the big publishers, something they all want to do.
The Stakes
In about a year's time we should have an idea of whether Sony's plans are going to pay off. Sony's initial crop of big-budget first-party games should have had a chance with reviewers and consumers. Europe's reception of the PlayStation 3 will have been assessed, and the viability of a $600 console will have been determined. This has to be the year of the PlayStation 3, or Sony will have a grim five years burning money to support a product few people wanted.
The greatest risk right now is that frustrated third parties could balk at the abstruse Cell architecture and the Blu-Ray data transfer issues and start handing exclusives to Microsoft. The added Xbox 360 momentum could create the positive feedback loop that sold more than 100 million PlayStation 2 consoles. If that happens, Sony would have handed Microsoft the keys to the kingdom on a silver platter.
--jvm at 05:39
Comment
[ 9 ]
26 February 2007
Response to Next-Gen editorial on PS3 BC
Colin Campbell gives a spirited defense of Sony's decision to drop the hardware in the PlayStation 3 that provided near complete backward compatibility with PSOne and PlayStation 2 software. I'm a fan of such compatibility, and I'm of course distressed that we may see compatibility diminish from what we've come to expect from the original. Campbell's editorial has a link soliciting responses and here's how I replied.
Two key points are glossed over in your piece.In defense of your position, I would add:
- True, Nintendo is not providing backward compatibility to all its previous consoles. However, this misses the important point that Nintendo is providing GameCube compatibility in the Wii. While it does not necessarily imply that Nintendo sees great value in backward compatibility, if it felt that it weren't worth the effort it would not have spent the time and money to make it polished enough for consumers to use in the finished hardware.
- Sony knows that its most important PlayStation 3 software will not arrive until later in 2007. In fact, the most important software for Sony's console business in the next six months will probably be on the PlayStation 2: Guitar Hero II and God of War 2, among others.
Consequently, it would be foolish to limit PlayStation 2 backward compatibility on the PlayStation 3. Doing so would provide one more hurdle to the consumer considering a PlayStation 3.
While I can grant that PSOne compatibility is not critical, I cannot discount the importance of PlayStation 2 software as the PlayStation 3 gets up to speed.
- A frugal shopper can get full PlayStation 2 and PSOne compatibility for under $100. It's called a PlayStation 2, and they're on store shelves now. It's a minor price to pay for hardware that plays some of the best games from the past 12 years.
- Moreover a point I thought you might have made in your defense of Sony is that no one knows the extent of the compatibility offered yet. Perhaps they're playing it safe and it'll be higher than the pessimists expect. And, at the very least, there is the potential for it to significantly improve over time.
--jvm at 11:43
Comment
[ 8 ]
23 February 2007
Exclusives for the new generation
Platform exclusive features will be the replacement for platform exclusive games. The latest case is Spider-Man 3 for the PlayStation 3 which will have a special New Goblin mini-game.
We saw the beginnings of this trend last generation: Splinter Cell (exclusives map on PS2, GBA connection on GameCube), Soul Calibur II (platform-exclusive characters), and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (original Prince of Persia emulated on the PlayStation 2, the sequel Prince of Persia 2 on the Xbox). It will only get worse this generation.
It used to be that you could buy all three platforms and the exclusive games for each. Now, to get access to everything you not only need all three platforms but also all three versions of a particular game. Lovely.
And, yes, I did buy both versions of Pinball Hall of Fame, one for my PlayStation 2 and one for my PSP.
We saw the beginnings of this trend last generation: Splinter Cell (exclusives map on PS2, GBA connection on GameCube), Soul Calibur II (platform-exclusive characters), and Prince of Persia: Sands of Time (original Prince of Persia emulated on the PlayStation 2, the sequel Prince of Persia 2 on the Xbox). It will only get worse this generation.
It used to be that you could buy all three platforms and the exclusive games for each. Now, to get access to everything you not only need all three platforms but also all three versions of a particular game. Lovely.
And, yes, I did buy both versions of Pinball Hall of Fame, one for my PlayStation 2 and one for my PSP.
--jvm at 21:28
Comment
[ 4 ]
The first PS3 hardware revision shipping next month?
Reports this morning like this one at Next-Gen.biz and this one at Reuters indicate that something has happened to the PlayStation 3 hardware. The result is reduced PlayStation 2 compatibility. If the Reuters report is to be believed then, it looks like an internal change (my emphasis):
So the first hardware revision of the PlayStation 3 may be to remove the PS2 chips that were inside to provide compatibility? I have no idea how much that costs, but perhaps it will save some dough. Then later this year there will be the move to a 65nm chip fabrication process for the Cell which will, supposedly, cut costs for Sony even more.
If the hardware has changed, I wonder when we'll see those systems on American shelves. As I've said before, initial console hardware often has its own bugs, but also has features that get cut from later revisions. Not that is was a particularly bold prediction, but I did say at the time:
Even these cost-cutting measures may not mean a cut in price for the PlayStation 3. As indicated in this Next-Gen.biz report, Sony may look at adding cheap bits to the package to make the current prices more acceptable. That didn't work for the PSP and it won't work for the PlayStation 3 either.
I think Sony is missing the point. The $500 and $600 prices are simply too high for most people, regardless of what kind of bonus junk you pack in the box. There's a mental barrier around $300 beyond which most people will simply stop paying attention. Sony needs a basic system at $400 to be on the periphery of consumer consciousness.
Software will take over some of the functionality that was originally taken care of by dedicated chips, which means far fewer PlayStation 2 (PS2) games can be played on a European PS3 compared with the Japanese and American PS3 models which play 98 percent of old games.
So the first hardware revision of the PlayStation 3 may be to remove the PS2 chips that were inside to provide compatibility? I have no idea how much that costs, but perhaps it will save some dough. Then later this year there will be the move to a 65nm chip fabrication process for the Cell which will, supposedly, cut costs for Sony even more.
If the hardware has changed, I wonder when we'll see those systems on American shelves. As I've said before, initial console hardware often has its own bugs, but also has features that get cut from later revisions. Not that is was a particularly bold prediction, but I did say at the time:
If/when they move to a software emulator I think it highly unlikely that they'll achieve the same compatibility they can with hardware. Then again, the mighty Cell is magick, so anything's possible.Looks like that's coming true.
Even these cost-cutting measures may not mean a cut in price for the PlayStation 3. As indicated in this Next-Gen.biz report, Sony may look at adding cheap bits to the package to make the current prices more acceptable. That didn't work for the PSP and it won't work for the PlayStation 3 either.
I think Sony is missing the point. The $500 and $600 prices are simply too high for most people, regardless of what kind of bonus junk you pack in the box. There's a mental barrier around $300 beyond which most people will simply stop paying attention. Sony needs a basic system at $400 to be on the periphery of consumer consciousness.
--jvm at 08:39
Comment
[ 5 ]
08 February 2007
Valve's console trojan horse
I'm very pleased to see official word on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of Half-life 2. The package will include the original Half-life 2, Episodes 1 & 2, Portal, and Team Fortress 2. The real question now becomes how will networking be handled, and will all platforms be able to play against each other.
I'd like to put two quotes together that I think indicate that we'll see the Steam service on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 relatively soon. First, GameSpot's report from yesterday:
But it's more than just downloadable extras, it's the entire Steam platform. I think that's the implication of the above report and the "no comment" in a recent CVG interview (found via Steam Review):
I wouldn't be surprised to see Valve try it. Like the rest of us, they like money, and actually have the means to make this kind of thing happen.
I'd like to put two quotes together that I think indicate that we'll see the Steam service on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 relatively soon. First, GameSpot's report from yesterday:
The Orange Box will be released for the PC, 360, and PS3, but EA confirmed to GameSpot that it will be the only Half-Life 2 product offered for the two consoles at retail.That's my emphasis. Maybe it's just extra verbiage from the GameSpot writer, but I bet that means what it implies: there will be other offerings through network downloads.
But it's more than just downloadable extras, it's the entire Steam platform. I think that's the implication of the above report and the "no comment" in a recent CVG interview (found via Steam Review):
CVG: One question on our mind is whether your forthcoming Half-Life 2 releases on Xbox 360 and PS3 will be tied in with Steam - what's the score here?Together I think those indicate the real news behind the Half-life 2 packages: they're Valve's trojan horse to get Steam's storefront out on the big consoles.Lombardi: Nothing to report today.
I wouldn't be surprised to see Valve try it. Like the rest of us, they like money, and actually have the means to make this kind of thing happen.
--jvm at 10:05
Comment
[ 1 ]
06 February 2007
Why Manhunt 2 may not appear on PS3 and Xbox 360
Today Rockstar announced that Manhunt 2, sequel to the sadistic original game from 2003, will be published for the PlayStation 2, Sony PSP, and Nintendo Wii. While I am dismayed that another sadistic piece of garbage will be published, the choice of platforms is very interesting. If Rockstar were to simply port the version from the PlayStation 2 to the more powerful Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, they would be skewered for the lazy effort. They may avoid a full version of Manhunt 2 for those newer platforms, one that takes full advantage of the next generation hardware, because the end result would tread a little too close to real not just for the likes of Jack Thompson or even the ESRB but for the general public.
The passing generation of console hardware can do some amazing things. One has merely to look at Halo 2 and God of War 2 to see what the hardware can accomplish in capable hands. Yet those games fall measurably short of photorealistic. Most average people can still tell that the images on the screen aren't real.
For the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, however, the gap has narrowed. Moreover, this is Rockstar, creators of Table Tennis for the Xbox 360, a game lauded for its realism. On these newer platforms, the expectation of photorealism -- or some close approximation -- will be intense. Were Rockstar to make a photorealistic Manhunt, they'd need to show all the gore that had previously been chunky and blurry in the lower polygon, muddy textured PlayStation 2 game.
Manhunt is the kind of game that celebrates the image of a man's vain attempt to stuff his entrails back into his lacerated gut. No doubt there is a segment of the market that not only wants to see such sights, but in fact to cause them to happen. But the segment that stomached low resolution approximations of that scene on a PlayStation 2 is probably a good bit larger than the segment that wants to see a high resolution version, complete with pulsing, steaming, veiny intestines.
And Rockstar aren't alone in avoiding the bleeding edge of graphics. One of the most savvy moves I saw in the market last year was Valve's re-invention of Team Fortress. Imagine applying today's graphics to this original vision of TF2:
You would not come up with the form of TF2 that Valve has settled on:
So Rockstar has chosen to hit the platforms on which it can get away with this kind of game without crossing a virtual boundary. Beyond that boundary lies a whole new reality, the likes of which we have only begun to understand. I don't begrudge Rockstar's decision to avoid applying the full power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to the kind of game that would force us to ask some uncomfortable questions. I wish them luck and I'll be watching as always, an interested observer. However, the questions are still there: How real is too real? Which virtual activity will we, as a society, be willing to tolerate?
The passing generation of console hardware can do some amazing things. One has merely to look at Halo 2 and God of War 2 to see what the hardware can accomplish in capable hands. Yet those games fall measurably short of photorealistic. Most average people can still tell that the images on the screen aren't real.
For the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, however, the gap has narrowed. Moreover, this is Rockstar, creators of Table Tennis for the Xbox 360, a game lauded for its realism. On these newer platforms, the expectation of photorealism -- or some close approximation -- will be intense. Were Rockstar to make a photorealistic Manhunt, they'd need to show all the gore that had previously been chunky and blurry in the lower polygon, muddy textured PlayStation 2 game.
Manhunt is the kind of game that celebrates the image of a man's vain attempt to stuff his entrails back into his lacerated gut. No doubt there is a segment of the market that not only wants to see such sights, but in fact to cause them to happen. But the segment that stomached low resolution approximations of that scene on a PlayStation 2 is probably a good bit larger than the segment that wants to see a high resolution version, complete with pulsing, steaming, veiny intestines.
And Rockstar aren't alone in avoiding the bleeding edge of graphics. One of the most savvy moves I saw in the market last year was Valve's re-invention of Team Fortress. Imagine applying today's graphics to this original vision of TF2:
You would not come up with the form of TF2 that Valve has settled on:
So Rockstar has chosen to hit the platforms on which it can get away with this kind of game without crossing a virtual boundary. Beyond that boundary lies a whole new reality, the likes of which we have only begun to understand. I don't begrudge Rockstar's decision to avoid applying the full power of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 to the kind of game that would force us to ask some uncomfortable questions. I wish them luck and I'll be watching as always, an interested observer. However, the questions are still there: How real is too real? Which virtual activity will we, as a society, be willing to tolerate?
--jvm at 18:53
Comment
[ 9 ]
05 January 2007
Sony losing exclusives; what about Microsoft?
Every day for the past month someone in my RSS reader is writing about how Sony's losing the war because its PlayStation 3 exclusives from third parties are just time-limited exclusives and will also appear on the Xbox 360. Discussions branch out from there to whether third party exclusives are becoming extinct, a question I'll leave for another post. (Short answer: See how Splinter Cell was handled on Xbox, GameCube, and PlayStation 2.)
What's troubling is that we've heard precious little about how Microsoft's exclusives are getting a ride on Sony's console. As far as I know, no Dead or Alive (fighting or ogling by Tecmo) games have been announced for the PlayStation 3. And Microsoft still has a lock on Bioshock (by Irrational Games) and Lost Planet (by Capcom) and Dead Rising (also by Capcom) and Gears of War (by Epic) and Eternal Sonta (aka Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream by Namco Bandai). At least three of those are by Japanese companies, two of which (Capcom and Namco Bandai) have benefited greatly from Sony's systems in the past. Resident Evil and Ridge Racer, anyone? Maybe a little Devil May Cry or Tekken?
If I see any one of those Xbox 360 exclusives flip, then I'll be more inclined to believe that Sony's going to benefit from this death of exclusives. Until then, count me among the skeptics.
What's troubling is that we've heard precious little about how Microsoft's exclusives are getting a ride on Sony's console. As far as I know, no Dead or Alive (fighting or ogling by Tecmo) games have been announced for the PlayStation 3. And Microsoft still has a lock on Bioshock (by Irrational Games) and Lost Planet (by Capcom) and Dead Rising (also by Capcom) and Gears of War (by Epic) and Eternal Sonta (aka Trusty Bell: Chopin's Dream by Namco Bandai). At least three of those are by Japanese companies, two of which (Capcom and Namco Bandai) have benefited greatly from Sony's systems in the past. Resident Evil and Ridge Racer, anyone? Maybe a little Devil May Cry or Tekken?
If I see any one of those Xbox 360 exclusives flip, then I'll be more inclined to believe that Sony's going to benefit from this death of exclusives. Until then, count me among the skeptics.
--jvm at 10:34
Comment
[ 18 ]
04 January 2007
Not dead
I hate to start the new year this way, but I literally have nothing to say. The news has been light and nothing I've read has particularly interested me. I'm busy playing games (Final Fantasy III DS and Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops) and doing some reading.
For what it's worth, I'm considering an LCD TV over a PS3 for the time being. So there is that.
For what it's worth, I'm considering an LCD TV over a PS3 for the time being. So there is that.
--jvm at 21:04
Comment
[ 7 ]
25 December 2006
Sony fails the Napster test, PSOne emulator in the wild
Today some PSP owners can play many PSOne games on their PSPs -- reportedly with perfect speed, sound, and graphics -- without Sony's blessing. A hacked firmware on certain models allows the use of Sony's own emulator to play rips of original PSOne games. And, so, Sony caps off an awful year by failing to understand that when a market for your product appears you must seize it immediately or the world will leave you behind with empty pockets.
This is a lesson the RIAA and its members had to learn the hard way via Napster, Limewire, and all the other file-sharing networks that thrived on the public's desire for digital music downloads. While they looked in vain for a perfect solution to protecting their copyrights, they forgot that people are willing to pay for music, but those same people have limited patience.
Three steps I'll suggest are often necessary for winning your market:
I have no idea what Sony does now. I guess if the games that people download on the PlayStation Network are really just rips of PSOne games running in a universal emulator, then Sony needs to get that emulator out quick or lose any chance of cashing in on this situation. If it were available for purchase right now, I'd pony up for it. I'd even pay for a nice application that would take care of ripping my existing games to a handy format so I could play them with a minimum of hassle.
If Sony is selling enhanced, improved versions of PSOne games for use in their emulator, then they still need to get that stuff out and soon. They need to explain how their versions are superior to the versions we can all buy used in our local stores. They need to justify the cost somehow. (Networked Twisted Metal 2 would be nice, while I'm wishing.)
The current state is unacceptable. They've built a user base of PSP owners, simultaneously teased and neglected them, and now the market has moved past them to provide what Sony won't. Do something Sony. Anything.
This is a lesson the RIAA and its members had to learn the hard way via Napster, Limewire, and all the other file-sharing networks that thrived on the public's desire for digital music downloads. While they looked in vain for a perfect solution to protecting their copyrights, they forgot that people are willing to pay for music, but those same people have limited patience.
Three steps I'll suggest are often necessary for winning your market:
- Get your own product out there early.
- Make it accessible.
- Price it attractively.
- It has had the PSP out for over 18 months (in the U.S.) and still hasn't addressed the demand for emulated PSOne games on the handheld -- a demand that Sony itself drove when it announced that it had such plans.
- It has yet to make the few emulated games it has released accessible to the majority existing PSP users, myself included. Instead, users have to first own a PlayStation 3, through which they can purchase the games and then transfer them to a PSP.
- It has only succeeded in making its own product reasonably priced, with games costing around $6 each.
I have no idea what Sony does now. I guess if the games that people download on the PlayStation Network are really just rips of PSOne games running in a universal emulator, then Sony needs to get that emulator out quick or lose any chance of cashing in on this situation. If it were available for purchase right now, I'd pony up for it. I'd even pay for a nice application that would take care of ripping my existing games to a handy format so I could play them with a minimum of hassle.
If Sony is selling enhanced, improved versions of PSOne games for use in their emulator, then they still need to get that stuff out and soon. They need to explain how their versions are superior to the versions we can all buy used in our local stores. They need to justify the cost somehow. (Networked Twisted Metal 2 would be nice, while I'm wishing.)
The current state is unacceptable. They've built a user base of PSP owners, simultaneously teased and neglected them, and now the market has moved past them to provide what Sony won't. Do something Sony. Anything.
--jvm at 22:28
Comment
[ 1 ]
21 December 2006
High-resolution glimpse of a dystopian future
The PlayStation 3 Go! Sudoku page has something interesting...and evil. It has a click-through agreement to download screenshots. Apparently I can't republish the screenshots once I download them. Well, I can put them on my own PSP and you guys could probably look at the screen while I had one of them displayed without running afoul of this agreement. Seriously, it mentions that I can only keep them on my PSP.
That alone is outrageous, but as you'll see below the actual conditions are the result of a bad double paste (or something) making them a bit more unintelligible than the usual dubious legal agreements.
Not only a click-through agreement for a screenshot, but one that doesn't even form a coherent set of conditions. Brilliant!
But wait, there's more! For the sake of research, I went ahead and agreed to Sony's terms. The pop-up window I get is basically a 404 error, a page which doesn't exist. (It doesn't work at all on Safari, at least when I tested it.) So not only did I agree to some crazy contract, but Sony didn't even live up to their half of the bargain and give me my 1920 x 1080 screenshot of Go! Sudoku for the PlayStation 3. There oughtta be a law...
For your entertainment, here's the click-through agreement in all its glory. Yes, the first paragraph is repeated. All typos, except the crazy double-paste are probably mine (since I can't copy and paste from a Flash applet). I've marked the place where things go bad with a boldfaced [sic].
That alone is outrageous, but as you'll see below the actual conditions are the result of a bad double paste (or something) making them a bit more unintelligible than the usual dubious legal agreements.
Not only a click-through agreement for a screenshot, but one that doesn't even form a coherent set of conditions. Brilliant!
But wait, there's more! For the sake of research, I went ahead and agreed to Sony's terms. The pop-up window I get is basically a 404 error, a page which doesn't exist. (It doesn't work at all on Safari, at least when I tested it.) So not only did I agree to some crazy contract, but Sony didn't even live up to their half of the bargain and give me my 1920 x 1080 screenshot of Go! Sudoku for the PlayStation 3. There oughtta be a law...
For your entertainment, here's the click-through agreement in all its glory. Yes, the first paragraph is repeated. All typos, except the crazy double-paste are probably mine (since I can't copy and paste from a Flash applet). I've marked the place where things go bad with a boldfaced [sic].
Please read the below Terms & Conditions
When finished reading and you agree to the terms therein, Click Agree and Download to start downloading this great PlayStation content. If you do not agree click Cancel to return to the previous window.
When finished reading and you agree to the terms therein, Click Agree and Download to start downloading this great PlayStation content. If you do not agree click Cancel to return to the previous window.
The following terms apply if you download content from this website. Content may include game-based graphics, images, film, music, sounds and software. You must follow the directions that appear on the site about how to download. Sony Computer Entertainment America ("SCEA") is not responsible for any loss of data or damage to your software or hardware or other loss or damage caused by failure to follow our directions. SCEA may retrieve information about a user's hardware or software for authentication and to identify the correct directories for deposit of the download. All intellectual property rights in the content available on this site belong to SCEA or its licensors. The content may be copied only for your personal use via your PSP system. The content may not be modified, published, performed or transferred to anyone else (unless otherwise stated on the site) nor used for any commercial purpose. Except to the extent permitted by applicable law, you must not disassemble, de-compile, reverse engineer or otherwise break or attempt to break [sic] the following terms apply if you download content from this website. Content may include game-based graphics, images, film, music, sounds and software. You must follow the directions that appear on the site about how to download. Sony Computer Entertainment America ("SCEA") is not responsible for any loss of data or damage to your software or hardware or other loss or damage caused by failure to follow our directions. SCEA may retrieve information about a user's hardware or software for authentication and to identify the correct directories for deposit of the download. All intellectual property rights in the content available on this site belong to SCEA or its licensors. The content may be copied only for your personal use via your PSP system. The content may not be modified, published, performed or transferred to anyone else (unless otherwise stated on the site) nor used for any commercial purpose. Except to the extent permitted by applicable law, you must not disassemble, de-compile, reverse engineer or otherwise break or attempt to break the law.
--jvm at 06:44
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20 December 2006
Videogame gaffes and blunders of the year, director's cut
Next-gen.biz kindly asked me to reprise my curmudgeon role for an end-of-year post, and I obliged. The result has now been posted here.
To all who offered editorial comments on various topics this year -- Ruffin, John H., Michael, Dustin, and Kyle -- thanks for the help! Hopefully I remembered everyone.
Some bits ended up on the cutting room floor and I thought they'd be worth sharing. I should emphasize, perhaps, that everything past this point is mine, not Next-Gen.biz's, so if you want to yell at someone (or sue someone, if that's your thing), I'm your guy. In fact, if you just want to yell at someone, the comments are always open.
To all who offered editorial comments on various topics this year -- Ruffin, John H., Michael, Dustin, and Kyle -- thanks for the help! Hopefully I remembered everyone.
Some bits ended up on the cutting room floor and I thought they'd be worth sharing. I should emphasize, perhaps, that everything past this point is mine, not Next-Gen.biz's, so if you want to yell at someone (or sue someone, if that's your thing), I'm your guy. In fact, if you just want to yell at someone, the comments are always open.
- The name - Originally I called the list "The 2006 Nelsons" after Nelson Muntz and his immortal "ha-ha" laugh. That got nixed (as I half-expected, but I held out hope until the end). My second choice was to award #1 the prestigious 2006 Foo Cup (say it out loud) and the others could be the 9 runners up. Apparently that didn't make it either. Gaffes and blunders it is!
- Linkification - The original version had well over fifty links (all internal to next-gen.biz, incidentally) which were changed to just standard text. I'd rather hoped they'd make it, because they provide the documentation for everything I wrote, and for the sake of business didn't go off-site. Ah well.
- The text went through several revisions. This bit about Nintendo never made it into any final drafts, but is pretty high on my list of flubs this year.
Wii was region-free before it wasn't - What's worse than a region-locked console? Announcing a console is region-free and then correcting yourself to make it to region-locked. That's what Perrin Kaplan and Nintendo did to us with the Wii this year. I'm still angry about that one.
- The following was one of the entries, but got edited out. Along with this, I also considered putting in the big brouhaha over the Neverwinter Nights 2 review on 1UP and this bit by Simon Carless on how Xbox 360 sales were reported (poorly). Anyway, here's what got cut:
Blogger Ethics Panel to Convene Soon - In September the popular videogame blog, Joystiq, posted about "a scoop for some important news with one of the next-generation consoles." Leaving details to the overactive imaginations of an army of commenters and forum fanboys, post author Robert Summa assured everyone that "this announcement is something worth waiting for." Was it a secret, unannounced feature of the Nintendo Wii? Was Microsoft going to announce that Halo 3 would be on shelves this holiday season? Maybe Sony would relent, drop the price, and put the PlayStation 3 within reach of upper middle class Americans with spotless credit ratings. Not to be left out, rival blog Kotaku's Brian Crecente posted about the upcoming announcement, saying "expect to hear some kinda interesting news about a very interesting upcoming console", but similarly gave away no details.
What was that burning scoop? Here it is: "IBM announced that their Broadway chip custom-designed for Nintendo's Wii console has been shipping to Nintendo's since July."
Oh, the humanity!
Predictably, the firestorm sparked by this little stunt was ferocious. Robert Summa was summarily fired (yes, bloggers sometimes get paid) and Joystiq editor Chris Grant posted an apology. Summa shortly appeared on another site, Destructoid, and penned what amounted to a "f--k you" farewell to Joystiq, tastefully incorporating Martin Luther King Jr's famous "Free at last" speech and a picture of Mel Gibson in a battle skirt.
And they wonder why we think the videogame press is less than professional sometimes... - Hurricane Jack - When I wrote about Jack Thompson, I used the term Hurricane Jack to refer to him, since he hit the Gulf states of Louisiana and Florida. That term got nixed in the editing.
- Core Design and the Tomb Raider trailer - I wanted to include the mess surrounding the Tomb Raider PSP trailer that showed up this summer. I wrote a two long posts about: original post and the update. Unfortunately, one of the ground rules for the article was that I had to stick to facts, and unfortunately neither Core nor SCi/Eidos have provided a definitive version of just what did happen. We will probably never know exactly what it was, but you can at least read my take on it.
- Other ideas that didn't make the cut - Capcom's ongoing struggle to use larger fonts (in Dead Rising and Lost Planet), Nintendo DS absolutely destroying the PSP month after month, the coming rush of ridiculous MMOGs (Romero, Cartoon Network, James Cameron, and Dave Perry).
--jvm at 06:00
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15 December 2006
Sony stupid about PSP demos (revisited)
I've written before about my frustration with PSP demos, but the appearance this week of yet another Loco Roco demo just brought home how braindead Sony appears to be. As a North American PSP owner, I have access to five demos* directly from Sony** and three of them are variations on Loco Roco. I realize I've got a bias, because I just don't enjoy the little yellow blobs like some people apparently do, but I don't think most PSP owners are wetting themselves with glee over holiday-themed demos.
Let's compare with the other major system that's designed to grab data, like demos and movies, off the internets, the Xbox 360. You know how many games have demos on Xbox Live? FIFTY FIVE. That's right, 50 and then 5 more. There are even multiple demos for some games, for the demo-downloading completist.
I realize Sony's been a little busy screwing up its PlayStation 3 launch, but surely they can put some dedicated people on the PSP side of things and leave them there with resources to help the system live up to its potential. Right?
I will give Sony this, however: the ability to connect to your PlayStation 3 via your PSP from anywhere you have a network connection is pretty awesome. I haven't seen it in practice yet, but the idea is really quite intriguing. It is precisely the kind of feature Sony needs to one-up Xbox Live. Since Sony has the dedicated handheld platform to built upon, it is playing to a strength that Microsoft doesn't have (yet).
* I should note that I think there are five demos. I can't get my PSP online in my current location to double check. Corrections in the comments, por favor.
** Yes, I can download some unofficially and install them. Most are in Japanese.
Let's compare with the other major system that's designed to grab data, like demos and movies, off the internets, the Xbox 360. You know how many games have demos on Xbox Live? FIFTY FIVE. That's right, 50 and then 5 more. There are even multiple demos for some games, for the demo-downloading completist.
I realize Sony's been a little busy screwing up its PlayStation 3 launch, but surely they can put some dedicated people on the PSP side of things and leave them there with resources to help the system live up to its potential. Right?
I will give Sony this, however: the ability to connect to your PlayStation 3 via your PSP from anywhere you have a network connection is pretty awesome. I haven't seen it in practice yet, but the idea is really quite intriguing. It is precisely the kind of feature Sony needs to one-up Xbox Live. Since Sony has the dedicated handheld platform to built upon, it is playing to a strength that Microsoft doesn't have (yet).
* I should note that I think there are five demos. I can't get my PSP online in my current location to double check. Corrections in the comments, por favor.
** Yes, I can download some unofficially and install them. Most are in Japanese.
--jvm at 10:04
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20 November 2006
16% of my PSOne library buggy on PS3
I spent some time with Sony's PS3 Backward Compatibility database today checking out my PSOne library's compatibility. I have 125 or so PSOne games, and 20 of them, or 16%, have some sort of bug. They are:
It will be interesting to see how Sony improves compatibility over time.
- Air Combat - repeating startup bug, but works
- Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection - Asteroids and Tempest with missing bullets
- Arcade's Greatest Hits: The Atari Collection 2 - music/dialogue stutter in Paperboy and Crystal Castles; lock-up Blaster if no activity on controller for first 4 seconds of new level
- Area 51 - graphics corruption on status screen between sections
- Atari Anniversary Edition Redux - Asteroids, Tempest, Asteroids Deluxe with missing bullets
- Croc: Legend of the Gobbos - stutter during FMV at boot
- Dead or Alive - graphical corruption in background during training mode
- Dino Crisis 2 - graphical corruption during FMV from idle main menu, audio bug during New Game starting audio
- Driver - missing menu graphics
- Driver 2 - slowdown during missions
- Final Fantasy Anthology - fatal bug at first save point
- Gran Turismo - controller switches to digital mode in certain type of race
- Kagero: Deception II - some graphical corruption and missing background music
- Konami Arcade Classics - graphical problem in Super Cobra
- Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver - serious slowdown and pausing during gameplay
- Loaded - memory card issues
- Medal of Honor - fatal bug in one mission
- Namco Museum Volume 2 - graphical corruption in Xevious
- Silent Hill - medium tone when shooting
- Tomb Raider - 15 seconds on title screen and game will hang
It will be interesting to see how Sony improves compatibility over time.
--jvm at 21:50
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15 November 2006
Analyst analyzes analysts' analyses
Michael Pachter makes a good guest in this week's Next-gen.biz podcast. He comes across as "a man who likes talking to a man who likes to talk" and goes on at length about various aspects of the Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. In particular, I was intrigued by this bit:
I've still got 15 minutes of the podcast to listen to, but that won't happen until tomorrow morning on the way to work. Perhaps there are some more interesting bits later on. I certainly enjoyed the first 30 minutes.
One question that hadn't been asked of Pachter that I'd like an answer to: Does he play games? It's pretty apparent he's got a feel for the business of games, but does he actually play them or is he just a detached observer watching numbers and analyzing technology trends in the abstract?
Update: Answer is that Pachter does play games and even plays them at work. In addition to what sounds like playing as part of his job, he mentions a Guitar Hero party they're having at his workplace. I should get Guitar Hero at some point, since I keep hearing such good things about it.
Update 2: Interesting to note that Pachter basically doesn't mention any specific way that the Xbox 360 wins. If Blu-Ray takes off (or HD-DVD doesn't succeed, take your pick) or the Sony PlayStation brand remains strong, then the PlayStation 3 wins. And Guitar Hero is the proof that the Wii's new control mechanism will be a hit with consumers. For Microsoft to win, I'm guessing he thinks that the other two have to fail, which isn't necessarily the same as Microsoft succeeding on its own strengths.
I think that where most analysts are going to be not only proven wrong but are actually going to backtrack and change their opinions to the extreme is that the cost of the Wii at $249 is so dramatically much lower than the cost of the [Xbox] 360 or of a PS3 that many households are going to opt for a Wii first and wait for the others to come down in price before they buy a 360 or a PS3. [...]The part about choosing the Wii first is certainly plausible -- especially because of standard TV and the prices of HDTVs -- and it's a prediction I think we could easily check up on in 10-12 months. Will we be reading about Nintendo winning the war less than a year after their launch? That'd be fun, especially if you read videogame web forums. Then in two years we can see if Sony's made up ground and beating the competition, as he further predicts, making all those other analysts who declared a Nintendo victory for the generation wrong. Good times ahead, either way.
I think what's going to happen is analysts are going to see the Wii selling at a much more rapid pace mid-year next year than anybody expected and they're actually going to call Nintendo the winner of this cycle.
And in fact, what I think is going to happen is, over time, Nintendo's sales are going to slow -- over time as in 2009, 2010 -- and Sony's sales are going to pick up as the PS3 comes down in price.
So I think Sony's going to look like the clear loser this cycle, come summer. I think Nintendo's going to look like the clear winner this cycle this coming summer, and that's going to be wrong. And it will reverse in 2009, 2010 when there are 5000 Blu-Ray movies available to rent at Blockbuster and when all the households who already have a Wii get their HD monitors and PS3 sales will pick up.
I've still got 15 minutes of the podcast to listen to, but that won't happen until tomorrow morning on the way to work. Perhaps there are some more interesting bits later on. I certainly enjoyed the first 30 minutes.
One question that hadn't been asked of Pachter that I'd like an answer to: Does he play games? It's pretty apparent he's got a feel for the business of games, but does he actually play them or is he just a detached observer watching numbers and analyzing technology trends in the abstract?
Update: Answer is that Pachter does play games and even plays them at work. In addition to what sounds like playing as part of his job, he mentions a Guitar Hero party they're having at his workplace. I should get Guitar Hero at some point, since I keep hearing such good things about it.
Update 2: Interesting to note that Pachter basically doesn't mention any specific way that the Xbox 360 wins. If Blu-Ray takes off (or HD-DVD doesn't succeed, take your pick) or the Sony PlayStation brand remains strong, then the PlayStation 3 wins. And Guitar Hero is the proof that the Wii's new control mechanism will be a hit with consumers. For Microsoft to win, I'm guessing he thinks that the other two have to fail, which isn't necessarily the same as Microsoft succeeding on its own strengths.
--jvm at 20:08
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Resistance - light on the story
I'd hoped for a good story from Resistance: Fall of Man. Looks like if/when I play it, I'll be playing for the action, not the plot:
You'll learn a bit about the Chimera as you fight, and there's some resolution once you finally finish the campaign after countless grueling shoot-outs. But Hale's character is never developed and he almost never speaks, and the plot has some noticeable gaps. Ultimately, this is a game whose personality mostly comes across when you're shooting something. The Chimera and their ugly spider-like features make them easy to hate straightaway.Ah well. It does appear to have the tone and combat under control.
--jvm at 19:41
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Halo 3 vs. PS3 (almost called it)
I predicted that Microsoft would release a Halo 3 demo on Xbox Live in time for the PlayStation 3 launch. I was wrong on the timing, it appears. This week's announcement of a Halo 3 multiplayer test available in Spring 2007 along with a new trailer is just one more example of how Microsoft is hitting its stride in the console market: they'll suck lots of headline space away from the North American debut of the PlayStation 3 with some well-chosen bits of information. They didn't even have to put the demo itself out -- they just needed to announce the future demo. As I said back then:
Anyway, I continue to be impressed with the swiftness with which Microsoft has learned to play to the crowd. If they do come out with the higher sales this generation (and that may happen in terms of software, even if it's not true of hardware) then they'll have earned it.
See, it's one thing to get the big magazines and websites talking about Halo 3 in previews. It will be another thing altogether when over a million Xbox 360 owners download a Halo 3 demo, invite friends over to play, and set online forums afire with post after post of gushing praise. [...] What's going to be louder? A dozen well-paid articles on the coming of the PlayStation 3 or literally millions of monkeys banging away on their keyboards about the most important demo since shareware Quake?And, while Bill Gates was wrong about some of the specifics -- he had Halo 3 coming out Spring 2006 -- he did promise this would happen, in his own creepy way:
'It's perfect,' Gates says, radiant with bloodlust. 'The day Sony launches [the new PlayStation], and they walk right into Halo 3.'The image of Gates radiant with bloodlust is a bit disturbing, no?
Anyway, I continue to be impressed with the swiftness with which Microsoft has learned to play to the crowd. If they do come out with the higher sales this generation (and that may happen in terms of software, even if it's not true of hardware) then they'll have earned it.
--jvm at 15:29
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13 November 2006
Worst PS3/Wii launch coverage - NPR!
On the way to work I heard Laura Sydell's report on Morning Edition about the launch of Sony's PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. I thought it was awful.
- The whole thing has a pro-Nintendo slant, to my ear. Except for the price mistake.
- The original version of the report, the one most people actually heard, said the Wii was going for $279. The audio now has the right price, and the web page shows the correction, but this happened only after an untold number of folks heard the wrong price this morning.
This seems a particularly poor reporting mistake, since I haven't seen any report anywhere that priced the Wii at $279. - The correction refers to the prices of "the Xbox". That's needlessly ambiguous. In the audio of the story it's referred to as the "the latest generation Xbox", as if it didn't have a name yet.
- The text blurb on the website throws in this needless groin kick:
The stakes are especially high for Sony, whose PlayStation Portable was trounced by the Nintendo DS during the last round of format wars.
Say what? The last round of format wars? How is the competition between the PSP and the Nintendo DS a format war? I think you got your buzzwords mixed up.
Worse, the audio of the story never mentions the PSP nor the DS. It's actually relevant to the story's thesis -- that Sony and Nintendo aren't competing directly because they're pursuing different audiences -- but that's never actually addressed by Sydell.
--jvm at 21:30
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[ 6 ]
12 November 2006
Fifteen seconds with a PS3 controller
Target has its PlayStation 3 kiosk set up, but not running anything yet. I held the PlayStation 3 controller for about fifteen seconds as I passed by. I liked the feel of it, especially the L2 and R2 buttons. They're like real triggers now, an innovation that Sony has needlessly avoided since the Saturn 3D Controller and the N64 Z-trigger (whichever came first). The whole thing is certainly light, but I'd hope that'd be an advantage if I have to be whipping it around to use the sixaxis functionality. Early reports had had a negative slant, but my superficial first impression (not playing, regrettably) was positive.
In other news, picked up Zoo Keeper for the Nintendo DS. This is the same game that I enjoyed in Flash form back in early 2003.
In other news, picked up Zoo Keeper for the Nintendo DS. This is the same game that I enjoyed in Flash form back in early 2003.
--jvm at 20:30
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[ 4 ]
08 November 2006
Sony doing it the hard(ware) way
Via PS3 Blog, I see that Sony's putting a PlayStation 2 inside of every PlayStation 3. Is there also a miniaturized PSOne? This is the hard way to get backward compatibility, at least from a cost perspective. My guess is that a software solution, amortized over millions of system sales, would come out cheaper.
Now I want a first-generation PlayStation 3. The first versions of Sony's systems always have the neat doodads that are cut later. The original PlayStation had the serial network cables for linking consoles and non-proprietary video output connectors and that other funny port on the back. The original PlayStation 2 has the iLink port, two USB ports, and the bay for the hard drive. In each generation the smaller, sleeker version of each console had all those features cut.
If/when they move to a software emulator I think it highly unlikely that they'll achieve the same compatibility they can with hardware. Then again, the mighty Cell is magick, so anything's possible.
Now I want a first-generation PlayStation 3. The first versions of Sony's systems always have the neat doodads that are cut later. The original PlayStation had the serial network cables for linking consoles and non-proprietary video output connectors and that other funny port on the back. The original PlayStation 2 has the iLink port, two USB ports, and the bay for the hard drive. In each generation the smaller, sleeker version of each console had all those features cut.
If/when they move to a software emulator I think it highly unlikely that they'll achieve the same compatibility they can with hardware. Then again, the mighty Cell is magick, so anything's possible.
--jvm at 23:19
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[ 5 ]
07 November 2006
Decent PR from Sony, finally
The Gamasutra interview that Brandon "whoa" Sheffield did yesterday with Dave Karraker, new senior director of corporate communications for Sony, confirms some things I've said here before. For example, Karraker says (my emphasis):
Later, on page 3 of the interview, Sheffield asks why there aren't more budget titles in North America, as one can find in Europe and the UK. The answers don't entirely make sense to me. Karraker does say this:
This guy, Karraker, is still trying to spin some unspinnable points, however. Anyone who thinks that the PSP is doing "incredibly well" is just deluded. I'll permit that the PSP is improving -- it's getting more interesting games -- but it's far from what Sony (or the press) expected before its launch. Sony needs a better way to address that question when it comes up. And the dismissal of the appeal that Nintendo's Wii will have with the (so-called) hardcore gamer could well turn out to be a miscalculation. Still, I'll give the guy credit for pushing some of my buttons: he drops a hint that emulated games on the PSP will be $5 a pop (is he talking PSOne games?), that the entire Turbo-Grafx 16 library could show up on the PS3/PSP, and then finishes with "Panzer Dragoon, man, that was the game." If he's not really a gamer, he does a decent impression of one.
We were allowing media to drive the message for us, and interpret it for us. [...] Now we're very aggressively defending our turf, and attempting to right all the wrongs that have been said about us in the past, which includes misrepresentation of quotes from our executives. I think you've probably seen the difference, just in the last couple months, where if somebody goes out and says something negative about Sony, we're not going to sit back and allow that. We're going to position it properly, and provide the facts.That reminded me of what I wrote back in June, right after SCEA's publicity chief resigned:
When such [damaging] stories come up, I think it best to apply overwhelming force, through the press, and stamp [them] out immediately. If you're lucky, you'll kill it. You can't rely on the press to fix it for you on their own.Then, back in July, I proposed that Sony should start answering more questions immediately and clearly define the PlayStation 3. Then after the Tokyo Game Show, I pointed out that they hadn't managed to answer any of those questions in a serious way. Karraker addresses this pretty directly, again my emphasis added:
I think there has been a lot of negativity around Sony recently just because people have such high expectations for the system. And I think following recent events like Sony's Gamers Day, where we answered a lot of those questions - what are the games, what's coming in the box, what does the online service look like - the tide has kind of turned a little bit. We're seeing a lot less negative stories about us, unrelated to batteries, and people are starting to ask questions about Microsoft.I wondered why that didn't happen at TGS, and the answer is in Karraker's hiring date: Karraker apparently joined Sony only a week before the show. No doubt the entire TGS plan was already determined by that point. Given that Sony's only gotten better since TGS at providing useful information and making the case for the PlayStation 3 more aggressively, I cringe to think who planned what was shown at TGS.
Later, on page 3 of the interview, Sheffield asks why there aren't more budget titles in North America, as one can find in Europe and the UK. The answers don't entirely make sense to me. Karraker does say this:
Yeah, that's all based on the market. It's all based on what the market will allow.I wonder if this isn't some sort of code for "the market is filled with filthy pirates over there!" On purely anecdotal evidence (ergo a possibly ill-informed prejudgment) my impression is that Europe is host to a strong market of illegal copies, and to combat that difficulty Sony Europe is willing to flood the market with lower-quality budget titles. If Americans are less likely to pirate, then we don't get the piles of cheaply made games. With all the licensed garbage we already have on the shelves, we're better off without.
This guy, Karraker, is still trying to spin some unspinnable points, however. Anyone who thinks that the PSP is doing "incredibly well" is just deluded. I'll permit that the PSP is improving -- it's getting more interesting games -- but it's far from what Sony (or the press) expected before its launch. Sony needs a better way to address that question when it comes up. And the dismissal of the appeal that Nintendo's Wii will have with the (so-called) hardcore gamer could well turn out to be a miscalculation. Still, I'll give the guy credit for pushing some of my buttons: he drops a hint that emulated games on the PSP will be $5 a pop (is he talking PSOne games?), that the entire Turbo-Grafx 16 library could show up on the PS3/PSP, and then finishes with "Panzer Dragoon, man, that was the game." If he's not really a gamer, he does a decent impression of one.
--jvm at 08:54
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[ 2 ]
06 November 2006
PS3 reads thr-- SIX formats!
Next-Gen does a profile of Jack Tretton, the Sony executive VP in charge of the launch of the PlayStation 3. Obviously addled by the pressures of the impending launch, he utters:
Yes, I know Sony pulled all kinds of tricks to make the "standard" game CDs and DVDs difficult to copy, but the essential point is that the blue laser diode can read three types of media, not six different formats. I'd also question the "have nothing to do with each other" bit -- don't the PlayStation CDs and PlayStation 2 DVDs both essentially have ISO9660 filesystems? That'd make it, again, simply a matter of reading the medium.
As always, correct me in the comments.
"I'm like everybody else. I'm saying 'come on! Just build 'em, man! What's so complicated?' But think about what that blue laser diode has to do. It has to read audio CDs, standard DVDs, Blu-ray DVDs, PlayStation 1 games, PlayStation 2 games, and PlayStation 3 games. Six completely different formats that have nothing to do with each other and you're going to have one device that's going to read all those."Give me a break. It reads CDs, DVDs, and Blu-Ray. That's three, not six.
Yes, I know Sony pulled all kinds of tricks to make the "standard" game CDs and DVDs difficult to copy, but the essential point is that the blue laser diode can read three types of media, not six different formats. I'd also question the "have nothing to do with each other" bit -- don't the PlayStation CDs and PlayStation 2 DVDs both essentially have ISO9660 filesystems? That'd make it, again, simply a matter of reading the medium.
As always, correct me in the comments.
--jvm at 11:01
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30 October 2006
Shoot me if this happens
The PlayStation 3 hands-on articles are starting to pop up, and via Next-Gen.biz we get an abridged one by PSM. If I ever say this, or something like it, please shoot me:
Resistance is truly stunning. When you play it, you say "Now that's PS3!"Ugh.
--jvm at 11:26
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[ 5 ]
19 October 2006
Bugs on Xbox 360? Just wait for PS3...
Today I was listening to Next-Gen.biz Podcast #6 and they addressed a listener question about bugs in games, specifically Call of Duty 2, Dead Rising, and Lego Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy on the Xbox 360. Well, just wait for the PlayStation 3. Along with all the other gnashing of teeth over low system supply, good and bad launch titles, and the varied other fanboy/hater ranting, I fully expect this to be the buggiest system launch ever.
We've all heard about the motion-sensitive controller being sprung on developers a few weeks before E3. There have been stories about how the PlayStation 3 and its set of Cell processors are difficult to program for, much as we heard stories about the PlayStation 2 before it. There were the claims (and subsequent denials) of overheating consoles at Tokyo Game Show. And, of course, the online system is still in flux, with some features ready for launch and others simply promised for the future.
With more than 20 games available at launch, I'm betting at least one of them has ashowstopper should-have-been-a-showstopper bug. It's precisely what Sony does not need, but it's going to happen.
We've all heard about the motion-sensitive controller being sprung on developers a few weeks before E3. There have been stories about how the PlayStation 3 and its set of Cell processors are difficult to program for, much as we heard stories about the PlayStation 2 before it. There were the claims (and subsequent denials) of overheating consoles at Tokyo Game Show. And, of course, the online system is still in flux, with some features ready for launch and others simply promised for the future.
With more than 20 games available at launch, I'm betting at least one of them has a
--jvm at 21:51
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18 October 2006
What I wanted to hear: TF2 on PS3
From Next-Gen.biz today, in an article about Valve's Source engine being offered as middleware on the Xbox 360:
Hey, does this mean a port of Half-life 2 to a system that is essentially GNU/Linux? Just askin'...
Although both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 will be receiving their respective versions of Source-based Half-Life 2 (bundled with Episodes 1 and 2, Portal and Team Fortress 2), Lombardi added that "We're not currently working with Sony on PS3 middleware."Would I like to see more engines running on the PS3? Yes, of course. For now, I'll be content with a (future) version of Team Fortress 2 running on my (future) PlayStation 3. Hope it plays as well as it looks.
Hey, does this mean a port of Half-life 2 to a system that is essentially GNU/Linux? Just askin'...
--jvm at 16:48
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24 September 2006
Post-TGS, revisiting Sony's troubles
With the Tokyo Game Show 2006 finally over, has Sony improved its standing? In my mind, only a very tiny bit. A couple months ago, I suggested a few things I felt Sony needed to do. Here's where we stand with those:
What Xbox 360 games am I longing for? In particular, I'll offer that BioShock has some interesting features, and certainly isn't hurting for good graphics. (Rather interesting 15 minute demonstration here on Eurogamer. Found via Cathode Tan.) And certainly Dead Rising has gotten a lot of praise from the press and general gaming public alike. Will the PlayStation 3 also get Half-life 2: Episode Two, which is currently slated for the Xbox 360? I hope so, since Valve has hinted at a complete Half-life 2 package for Sony's machine, but just when and how that will happen is far from clear.
I'd been waiting until after the TGS to comment more on this subject. As I said earlier, there are some bright spots for Sony.
However, they should have used the time in the TGS spotlight to explain why they have things under control. Perhaps the reason they didn't explain is that they couldn't -- they don't have a network strategy, they don't have backward compatibility under control, they have lost key exclusives that 5 years ago would have been unquestionably on the PlayStation, and worst of all they bet the farm on Blu-Ray and that appears now to have been a horrible choice.
- Explain the network strategy - This is still unclear. My working assumption from here on out is that they really don't have a strategy.
- Explain backward compatibility - No news on this front, from what I've read. I fear that this will end up being a feature added on to the system sometime in 2007.
- Explain game pricing - We know Activision is looking at $60 games, and I'm guessing others will follow.
- Publicize exclusives - Ok, the ones I know I'll want are Metal Gear Solid 4 and Resistance: Fall of Man. That's pretty slim, although the Xbox certainly got by on and Halo and Halo 2 plus a few others.
- Without Blu-Ray, what does PS3 do that others can't? - No news here either.
What Xbox 360 games am I longing for? In particular, I'll offer that BioShock has some interesting features, and certainly isn't hurting for good graphics. (Rather interesting 15 minute demonstration here on Eurogamer. Found via Cathode Tan.) And certainly Dead Rising has gotten a lot of praise from the press and general gaming public alike. Will the PlayStation 3 also get Half-life 2: Episode Two, which is currently slated for the Xbox 360? I hope so, since Valve has hinted at a complete Half-life 2 package for Sony's machine, but just when and how that will happen is far from clear.
I'd been waiting until after the TGS to comment more on this subject. As I said earlier, there are some bright spots for Sony.
However, they should have used the time in the TGS spotlight to explain why they have things under control. Perhaps the reason they didn't explain is that they couldn't -- they don't have a network strategy, they don't have backward compatibility under control, they have lost key exclusives that 5 years ago would have been unquestionably on the PlayStation, and worst of all they bet the farm on Blu-Ray and that appears now to have been a horrible choice.
--jvm at 23:19
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04 September 2006
New Yorker puts PlayStation 3 on cover!
My wife brought me the latest New Yorker magazine (dated Sept. 4, 2006) while I was waiting for my CT scan on Friday, and I was amused by the cover. The cartoon shows a kid walking to school and a color map of the various sections of his brain. Nestled alongside Algebra (yay, Math!) and Manga and Scarlett Johansson are PS3 (i.e. PlayStation 3) and Counter-Strike. Here is the relevant part of the image, since I couldn't find the cover online anywhere:
I hope that's within the bounds of fair use for the New Yorker folks.
Further on in the magazine (p. 74) is a cartoon featuring a Game Boy Advance (not the SP). To show it here would be to give away the joke, so you'll have to hunt down your own copy.
I hope that's within the bounds of fair use for the New Yorker folks.
Further on in the magazine (p. 74) is a cartoon featuring a Game Boy Advance (not the SP). To show it here would be to give away the joke, so you'll have to hunt down your own copy.
--jvm at 14:51
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06 August 2006
PlayStation 3 importing...for PlayStation 1 & 2?
My understanding is that Sony will make the PlayStation 3 region-free, meaning that normal folks like me can import games from Japan or Europe and play them without modifying the console. Good for Sony and good for us. Naturally, I want more.
Since it will also play PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, will the region-free treatment extend to those games? Seems like a natural thing to do, but I haven't seen it addressed anywhere. I know I can't read everything that's been written about this, but Wikipedia didn't offer a good answer, and those guys have way more free time than I have. The article they reference is this one by IGN which says, ambiguously, "the PS3 will be region-free for gaming". They later expound upon that, saying that PlayStation 3 games will be region free, but this doesn't address my question directly.
Anyone know if I'll be able to play Japanese and European PS1 and PS2 games with a PS3?
Since it will also play PlayStation and PlayStation 2 games, will the region-free treatment extend to those games? Seems like a natural thing to do, but I haven't seen it addressed anywhere. I know I can't read everything that's been written about this, but Wikipedia didn't offer a good answer, and those guys have way more free time than I have. The article they reference is this one by IGN which says, ambiguously, "the PS3 will be region-free for gaming". They later expound upon that, saying that PlayStation 3 games will be region free, but this doesn't address my question directly.
Anyone know if I'll be able to play Japanese and European PS1 and PS2 games with a PS3?
--jvm at 01:20
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27 July 2006
What's missing from this article?
I ended up reading this Eurogamer interview with Mark Rein of Epic via Joystiq and realized something important was missing. Can you spot it?
The answer is that Epic provides middleware for Sony's PlayStation 3 developer's kit (PDF). So that's a potential conflict of interest. Rein might say things are going swell and that we can expect "great results" from not just Epic but other developers as well...because some of those developers just might be using the Unreal Engine. Or he might be perfectly sincere that Sony's doing well by developers, regardless of Epic's stake. Or it might be somewhere between.
Most folks reading that story would never guess that Epic has a stake in the PlayStation 3 developer situation. It's the reporter's responsibility to tell them.
The answer is that Epic provides middleware for Sony's PlayStation 3 developer's kit (PDF). So that's a potential conflict of interest. Rein might say things are going swell and that we can expect "great results" from not just Epic but other developers as well...because some of those developers just might be using the Unreal Engine. Or he might be perfectly sincere that Sony's doing well by developers, regardless of Epic's stake. Or it might be somewhere between.
Most folks reading that story would never guess that Epic has a stake in the PlayStation 3 developer situation. It's the reporter's responsibility to tell them.
--jvm at 11:16
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17 July 2006
Wii takes first place by being second? But will it sell exclusives?
Michael pointed me to this interesting interview at GamesIndustry.biz with corporate communications VP Jeff Brown from Electronic Arts. Brown makes a key observation about the Wii, but raises an interesting question that I don't see him address directly. The observation first, with emphasis added:
My follow-up question to Brown hinges on what he says next about the Wii's appeal:
We've been hearing over and over that the Wii will be the breath of fresh air the industry needs because it offers such a different experience. However, I don't see big companies like EA, whose bread and butter is cross-platform games, being much of a help to Nintendo's Wii.
Sure, Madden may be a different experience on the Wii, but that doesn't a priori translate into huge sales of Madden on the Wii. Your typical owner of both an Xbox 360 and a Wii may care more about familiarity with the controller (for doing well against friends or in tournaments, e.g.) than whether the Wii's controller adds some gimmicks. Even if the Wii gains a reputation for being as good as a standard Xbox 360 controller, it still faces outside factors like Xbox Live functionality. Will an Xbox Live user want to give up his contact list just to play Madden on the Wii? (These strike me as questions Ruffin, the resident Madden player, could address better.)
While the Wii may well be #1, or a very close second, in hardware sales, I suspect that people will stick with Microsoft or Sony for big-name cross-platform games like Madden. That is, the new experiences that the Wii offers will sell primarily games designed with the Wii's controller in mind, not cross-platform games. Is EA promising to do more than just make a special version of its games for the Wii? Will it commit to making Wii-exclusive games?
The measure for success for Nintendo may well be whether they manage to entice everyone to make such exclusive games, or if all the must-have software on a Nintendo system will, again, be first party.
Here's another thing that I think trends well for both the business and for consumers: everybody's saying that the Nintendo Wii is so unique that it's going to be the second system people buy, meaning if you own a 360 or a PS3, you'll probably also buy a Nintendo Wii. The funny thing is, some people say that discursively, like it's some sort of dig at Nintendo - and what they don't get is that if you're second on everybody's system, you're first overall.The logic here reminds me of mathematical discussions of voting methods and fair apportionment whereby someone who almost never gets selected first in a process ends up the big winner overall. Certainly that can happen mathematically, but the question is whether it will happen for real to Nintendo. I'm still skeptical, but I am intrigued by the possibility.
My follow-up question to Brown hinges on what he says next about the Wii's appeal:
If you look at what EA's doing with the Wii... Today we showed off Madden NFL on the 360 and I've seen it on PlayStation 3, and there are some differences between the two but they're largely the same experience. The Wii is a totally different experience, and if you like Madden NFL on 360, you still don't know what it's like on the Wii - it's a completely different experience.My question is: Will that different experience truly sell cross-platform games like Madden on the Wii?
We've been hearing over and over that the Wii will be the breath of fresh air the industry needs because it offers such a different experience. However, I don't see big companies like EA, whose bread and butter is cross-platform games, being much of a help to Nintendo's Wii.
Sure, Madden may be a different experience on the Wii, but that doesn't a priori translate into huge sales of Madden on the Wii. Your typical owner of both an Xbox 360 and a Wii may care more about familiarity with the controller (for doing well against friends or in tournaments, e.g.) than whether the Wii's controller adds some gimmicks. Even if the Wii gains a reputation for being as good as a standard Xbox 360 controller, it still faces outside factors like Xbox Live functionality. Will an Xbox Live user want to give up his contact list just to play Madden on the Wii? (These strike me as questions Ruffin, the resident Madden player, could address better.)
While the Wii may well be #1, or a very close second, in hardware sales, I suspect that people will stick with Microsoft or Sony for big-name cross-platform games like Madden. That is, the new experiences that the Wii offers will sell primarily games designed with the Wii's controller in mind, not cross-platform games. Is EA promising to do more than just make a special version of its games for the Wii? Will it commit to making Wii-exclusive games?
The measure for success for Nintendo may well be whether they manage to entice everyone to make such exclusive games, or if all the must-have software on a Nintendo system will, again, be first party.
Incredibly timely reply from cgmr.net's resident Madden expert:
It would appear someone's mixing apples and oranges in an attempt to sell more consoles and, through consoles, more copies of the same game.
To begin, however: Would I, as a Madden gamer who spends most of my playtime in franchise mode, be curious about what's going on with Wii? Absolutely, and if I wanted "more Madden" and the Wii were free, I'd grab a copy. But rarely do I want "more Madden" than my first go at the new year's offering; I've not purchased Madden for Mac & Playstation, or N64 and PS2, or any of these and WinPC in the same year.
If I had a Wii and, say, a PS2 and/or WinPC, I'd probably grab my copy on Wii, which, as we've discussed, will probably play conventionally in addition to playing uniqueWii. Because even Madden 2000 on the Mac had a good sized online contingent, and I enjoyed playing the slightly nontrivial amount of multiplayer I did on that platform, finding opponents on Wii is not a concern of mine. I extrapolate that to imagine the number of people with blood enemies on a single "next-next-gen" platform is a small enough number it's not a big problem for sales.
Yet this would suggest that I'm Wii first, not Wii second. I think Matt's right by saying crossplatform games are probably not going to benefit from the uniqueWii (I'm pushing this horrible adjective) situated controller enough for Wii owners to buy a second game [without a push; see below]. My hope is that Brown's talking more about what's unique to Wii gaming than about selling crossplatform games. People will play conventionally on Xbox 360 and PS3 and buy a Wii to be different. Being crossplatform allows the Madden example to serve as a Rosetta stone, and is also one of the few, fairly understandable ways for us to picture how the Wii will be unconventional.
Though since he's an EA guy, he's obviously pimping Madden. I'm an idiot to think otherwise, and he's apparently hoping people will be buying multiple copies of the game. So we're back to considering the audience/market they think they're targeting. Is Brown's angle for people who find the expense of multiple consoles trivial? Originally I felt that this was starting to sound like a larger market than what I would have originally thought, since we've mentioned the overly affluent, mutli-consoled, multiple iPod-loving household on cgmr.net before.
Probably more insightfully phrased, however, is that the multi-consoled household is a market everyone in games, having apparently just discovered the possibility with the reasonably-priced Wii, is actively trying to create and grow. Who in particular stands the most to gain from multiple-consoled households? That's right, people who release slightly different versions of games on each of those consoles. Man, cgmr.net is on the freakin' bleedin' edge, ain't we?!
Me, I'm choosing Wii until the PS3 or Xbox 360 are more affordable. It's the only even partially defensible upgrade I have (other than a Radeon) as long as my old console is supported, and I assume the only choice for a number of less affluent citizens like me. (Okay, I'm likely waiting even on Wii and going with the Radeon, but that's splitting hairs.)
So here's what's going on -- EA is trying to sell you a second console so that they can sell you their crossplatform middleware twice. Clever girl.
It would appear someone's mixing apples and oranges in an attempt to sell more consoles and, through consoles, more copies of the same game.
To begin, however: Would I, as a Madden gamer who spends most of my playtime in franchise mode, be curious about what's going on with Wii? Absolutely, and if I wanted "more Madden" and the Wii were free, I'd grab a copy. But rarely do I want "more Madden" than my first go at the new year's offering; I've not purchased Madden for Mac & Playstation, or N64 and PS2, or any of these and WinPC in the same year.
If I had a Wii and, say, a PS2 and/or WinPC, I'd probably grab my copy on Wii, which, as we've discussed, will probably play conventionally in addition to playing uniqueWii. Because even Madden 2000 on the Mac had a good sized online contingent, and I enjoyed playing the slightly nontrivial amount of multiplayer I did on that platform, finding opponents on Wii is not a concern of mine. I extrapolate that to imagine the number of people with blood enemies on a single "next-next-gen" platform is a small enough number it's not a big problem for sales.
Yet this would suggest that I'm Wii first, not Wii second. I think Matt's right by saying crossplatform games are probably not going to benefit from the uniqueWii (I'm pushing this horrible adjective) situated controller enough for Wii owners to buy a second game [without a push; see below]. My hope is that Brown's talking more about what's unique to Wii gaming than about selling crossplatform games. People will play conventionally on Xbox 360 and PS3 and buy a Wii to be different. Being crossplatform allows the Madden example to serve as a Rosetta stone, and is also one of the few, fairly understandable ways for us to picture how the Wii will be unconventional.
Though since he's an EA guy, he's obviously pimping Madden. I'm an idiot to think otherwise, and he's apparently hoping people will be buying multiple copies of the game. So we're back to considering the audience/market they think they're targeting. Is Brown's angle for people who find the expense of multiple consoles trivial? Originally I felt that this was starting to sound like a larger market than what I would have originally thought, since we've mentioned the overly affluent, mutli-consoled, multiple iPod-loving household on cgmr.net before.
Probably more insightfully phrased, however, is that the multi-consoled household is a market everyone in games, having apparently just discovered the possibility with the reasonably-priced Wii, is actively trying to create and grow. Who in particular stands the most to gain from multiple-consoled households? That's right, people who release slightly different versions of games on each of those consoles. Man, cgmr.net is on the freakin' bleedin' edge, ain't we?!
Me, I'm choosing Wii until the PS3 or Xbox 360 are more affordable. It's the only even partially defensible upgrade I have (other than a Radeon) as long as my old console is supported, and I assume the only choice for a number of less affluent citizens like me. (Okay, I'm likely waiting even on Wii and going with the Radeon, but that's splitting hairs.)
So here's what's going on -- EA is trying to sell you a second console so that they can sell you their crossplatform middleware twice. Clever girl.
--jvm at 11:18
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12 July 2006
"Nothing" is more popular than PlayStation 3!
Technically it's "neither the Wii nor the PlayStation 3 are more appealing", but the headline I picked is catchier. You can see Japanese consumer and retailer reaction to the Wii and PlayStation 3 in this Next-Gen.biz piece. The response from retailers was:
No matter how you slice it, not looking good for the PlayStation 3.
Of retailers, here are the consoles they find most appealing:
65.9%: Wii
18.8%: neither
15.3%: PS3
No matter how you slice it, not looking good for the PlayStation 3.
--jvm at 11:42
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10 July 2006
40 incompatible games is still too many
Bob nearly calls me a shill, but does push me to post on this article which comments on PlayStation 3 backward compatibility that's been making the rounds. I first saw it on PS3blog but it's been covered elsewhere by now. Here's the key bit:
Seriously, I find it difficult to believe that Sony cares enough about backward compatibility to make the PlayStation 3 more compatible than the PlayStation 2.
If they pull it off, however, then that'll be one big point in favor of grabbing a PlayStation 3 sooner rather than later.
Sony is very concerned about quality and backward compatibility. They want to get this right. They tested game after game after game. When there were about 40 Playstation 1 games that didn't work properly, that didn't pass their criteria for quality.So I checked that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia, and came up with its list of PSOne games incompatible with the PlayStation 2. Turns out there are just about 40 such games, if you own the new slim version of the PlayStation 2. Of those 40, I own seven, which is seven too many. I have often considered grabbing a late-model PSOne just to have a compatible system around.
Seriously, I find it difficult to believe that Sony cares enough about backward compatibility to make the PlayStation 3 more compatible than the PlayStation 2.
If they pull it off, however, then that'll be one big point in favor of grabbing a PlayStation 3 sooner rather than later.
--jvm at 10:05
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How can Sony rehabilitate the PS3 public image?
The blasted PlayStation 3 isn't even out yet, but you can't go to ten random videogame blogs and not find someone bashing it, or Sony execs, for something. I find myself wondering: What can Sony possibly do to turn things around, gain some positive momentum?
All of you about to shout "Lower the price!" please...don't. We know already.
I obviously can't speak for everyone else, but here are a few things that would make me sit up and take notice. These aren't in any particular order...
All of you about to shout "Lower the price!" please...don't. We know already.
I obviously can't speak for everyone else, but here are a few things that would make me sit up and take notice. These aren't in any particular order...
- Explain PlayStation Network Platform immediately: Xbox 360 players have access to a much-improved Xbox Live service along with Xbox Live Arcade, and I envy them. Sony needs to tell me how PlayStation Network Platform is going to be as good -- if not better -- than Xbox Live.
Matching Xbox Live feature-for-feature and then cranking it up to 11 would be a start. Coming up with something I want that Microsoft hasn't already thought of would be even better. As I've said before, if Sony can't get this right, they're screwed. - Explain how backward compatibility will work: I'm one of the few people for whom this matters deeply. Will it be hardware or software? Will it improve with updates, as we've seen on the Xbox 360? Tell me the truth about your expectations, and be specific about which games will probably not work.
- Explain the game pricing model: I do not want to buy a $70 game to go with my $600 PlayStation 3. Tiered pricing I can stand, but if everything is going to shoot for a $70 price tag just to cash in on the initial rush, irrespective of quality, then I am not interested.
- Other than Metal Gear Solid 4, name one guaranteed exclusive that I want: We already know that I'm going to get MGS4, but that's just one game. Except for Defender 2000 on the Atari Jaguar and Typing of the Dead on the Dreamcast, I'm not that willing to buy a console for a single exclusive game.
You've already lost your exclusivity on Grand Theft Auto 4, so you can't trot that one out anymore. You lost your Resident Evil exclusivity a long time ago. It does appear you've got Silent Hill and Ace Combat exclusives this generation (with the exception of Silent Hill 2 on the Xbox), but I've not heard any promises of those games on the PlayStation 3.
So, tell me something truly exclusive that I really want to have.
(If you're looking for ideas, how about a true, 2D console sequel to Castlevania: Sympony of the Night with HD-quality graphics and a soundtrack that makes me weep...) - If Blu-ray fails, how is the PlayStation 3 still going to be special? Consistently Sony reps are saying that the PlayStation 3 is so very much more than a console, thus is truly worth the steep price of admission. Presumably, HD output and Blu-ray are key features in that regard.
If, heaven forbid, Blu-ray pulls a Betamax, just what will remain to make me feel like this hardware is much more than the average game console? Cut the marketing crap and the buzzwords and just tell me: What sets the PlayStation 3 apart from the Xbox 360 if Blu-ray isn't in the picture?
--jvm at 01:38
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04 July 2006
July Carnival of Grumpy Gamers
Ron "Monkey Island" Gilbert, a.k.a. Grumpy Gamer is hosting the July Carnival of Gamers. Some interesting posts there, like this one that still doesn't understand that scarcity is a natural part of the system (I'd reply with this about the need for illegal ROMs or this about games that can't be bought) and this one about Shadow of the Colossus that makes me want to know if he's got to the disappointing ending yet (his post is from 2005; my SotC post here).
I submitted like four posts from June's bounty and suggested that Grumpy Gamer use his editorial power to pick from none-to-all as worthy of being listed. Two made it: this one by Ruffin and this one by me. I know that's not in the rules for the carnival, but I favor editorial filtering. If the current carnival poster doesn't like your post, resubmit next month. If it gets rejected several times, perhaps there's a reason.
I realize a carnival starting out may want to get as many posts as it can, but at some point you have to take a cleaver and cut the fat.
If I get cut, I won't take it personally. I certainly won't stop posting. The writing's become a reward in and of itself, and comments from regulars and passing readers are a great bonus. Not getting into the carnival wouldn't change any of that.
Besides, there are far too many games to play and write about. Worrying about getting picked just takes time away from actually maintaining a blog.
I submitted like four posts from June's bounty and suggested that Grumpy Gamer use his editorial power to pick from none-to-all as worthy of being listed. Two made it: this one by Ruffin and this one by me. I know that's not in the rules for the carnival, but I favor editorial filtering. If the current carnival poster doesn't like your post, resubmit next month. If it gets rejected several times, perhaps there's a reason.
I realize a carnival starting out may want to get as many posts as it can, but at some point you have to take a cleaver and cut the fat.
If I get cut, I won't take it personally. I certainly won't stop posting. The writing's become a reward in and of itself, and comments from regulars and passing readers are a great bonus. Not getting into the carnival wouldn't change any of that.
Besides, there are far too many games to play and write about. Worrying about getting picked just takes time away from actually maintaining a blog.
Labels: ps3
--jvm at 23:29
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29 June 2006
Consumer Reports on Blu-ray, HD-DVD, and PS3
This month's issue of Consumer Reports just arrived and I was intrigued to see "High-def DVD" mentioned on the cover. Wondering if they'd mention the PlayStation 3 as an option for a Blu-ray player, I flipped the magazine open to find myself on exactly the right page -- one of those annoying stiff cardboard inserts urging me to subscribe marked the spot.
The article gives "seven sobering realities" about being an early adopter of one or the other format. The second reality is "It's not cheap", which explains that players cost in the $500 to $1000 range and that movies will cost about $25.
The last paragraph of this section mentions the PlayStation 3:
Between now and Christmas, I suspect that just about every medium-to-large newspaper will publish an article about HD-DVD and Blu-ray, trying to give some background for possible consumers. If this particular line -- that the PlayStation 3 is your cheap ticket to the next-generation movie player -- makes it out of Consumer Reports and into those articles, then Sony may get a favorable push in both the movie and game markets.
For those of us interested in games, this "cheap Blu-ray player" line isn't going to make the $500 or $600 entry fee any easier to swallow. But maybe Sony doesn't care about us -- maybe the PlayStation 3 Blu-ray player is Sony's cheap Trojan Horse.
The article gives "seven sobering realities" about being an early adopter of one or the other format. The second reality is "It's not cheap", which explains that players cost in the $500 to $1000 range and that movies will cost about $25.
The last paragraph of this section mentions the PlayStation 3:
You can get a more versatile high-def DVD player if you can wait until November. That's when Sony is supposed to roll out its PlayStation 3 video-game console, which will include a Blu-ray drive. But it will cost $500.It occurs to me that this may very well be how Sony will pull a rabbit out of its hat. Compared to a $500 HD-DVD player, the $500 PlayStation 3 looks like a bargain, since it is a next-generation movie player that just happens to be on the low end of the price range ...oh, and it's a game console that happens to play three generations of software!
Between now and Christmas, I suspect that just about every medium-to-large newspaper will publish an article about HD-DVD and Blu-ray, trying to give some background for possible consumers. If this particular line -- that the PlayStation 3 is your cheap ticket to the next-generation movie player -- makes it out of Consumer Reports and into those articles, then Sony may get a favorable push in both the movie and game markets.
For those of us interested in games, this "cheap Blu-ray player" line isn't going to make the $500 or $600 entry fee any easier to swallow. But maybe Sony doesn't care about us -- maybe the PlayStation 3 Blu-ray player is Sony's cheap Trojan Horse.
--jvm at 21:39
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16 June 2006
More on Backward Compat.
Adding to my previous post, a couple of more points on the backward compatibility article at Next-Gen:
- This quote from Christian Svensson struck me as interesting:
As such, it has value as a bullet point in the system wars and the lack of it is perceived as a major deficiency in the face of consoles that do have it. In reality, people buy new hardware to play new games. (emphasis added)
Seems to me the Wii virtual console could well disprove that last sentence entirely. We'll see how well Nintendo pulls it off this holiday season. - This sentence from the conclusion could use an extra bit:
Microsoft might just as well have made a virtue of its shortcomings, pledged BC for just a small proportion of really big hitting Xbox games, and moved on. We realize this isn't going to be a popular position to take but, Sony, under immense cost pressures, ought to consider the unthinkable and do likewise.
The key word there is "unthinkable". Sony has made a pledge that the PlayStation 3 will be backward compatible to the PSOne and PlayStation 2. Even if it's just 99% like the PSOne-on-PS2 situation, they'll survive intact, I believe.
But Sony has a big public relations problem, one that has gotten worse with nearly every announcement, clarification, and interview. The only bright spot is when they explained that the lobotomized PlayStation 3 model wasn't quite as awful as we'd been led to believe.
Even if backward compatibility is not on the minds of most consumers now, it will be when they see a headline like "Sony Cuts More PlayStation 3 Features". Even if Joe Slashdot wasn't ever going to fire up a PlayStation 2 game in a PlayStation 3, the new that they're reneging on their pledge of backward compatibility will only cement the current impression that the PlayStation 3 is underpowered and overpriced.
Again, the point is not whether that impression is accurate or not. The point is that if enough people have reason to believe it, Sony will pay a painful price.
--jvm at 15:34
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06 June 2006
Sony doesn't read Curmudgeon Gamer
Sony just doesn't know when to shut up. Today we get this from Kaz Hirai:
With the PlayStation 3, we are keeping to our belief that we have the true next-generation console. It's all about the games. We all know that. It's about delivering compelling entertainment to the consumer once again. We are well on our way to showing that. We are in a very compelling position. I'm confident we will stay in the lead.Except that we all know it's not about the games, at least to Sony. It's about the success of Blu-Ray -- oh, and the PlayStation 3 too, while we're at it. If it were really about the games, we wouldn't be hearing grumbling about developers not having a mature development environment with only 3 or 4 months left before the first games need to be finished.
--jvm at 11:44
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05 June 2006
PS3 may fail not over technology but bad PR
Watching the Coyote fall off a cliff for the umpteenth time can be funny. Watching Sony get sideswiped by another PR gaffe isn't.
Today we have The Inquirer saying the PlayStation 3 and Cell have critically flawed design and SCEE president and CEO David Reeves saying Sony wants "to try and double digital entertainment in the next five to six years" but whether they "have 40, 50, or 60 percent market share is not that important."
In the past weeks we've seen them struggle to explain the high price of the PlayStation 3, argue that they didn't copy the Wii controller, explain that the features removed from the cheaper PlayStation 3 don't cripple it quite as much as previously thought, and that they don't have plans to ban the sale of used games. (Sorry, I'm not digging up links for all those right now. You can find them.)
Is it any real surprise that SCEA publicity chief Molly Smith resigned last week?
The lesson of the "64-bit because it's two 32-bit processors" lie that plagued the Atari Jaguar is that some lies are so simple and compelling that they're impossible to kill. (Of course, this isn't limited to videogames of course. Most people still think Jack Abramoff gave money to Democrats. He didn't.) When such stories come up, I think it best to apply overwhelming force , through the press, and stamp it out immediately. If you're lucky, you'll kill it. You can't rely on the press to fix it for you on their own.
My fuzzy recollection of the 1999-to-2000 period is that Sony dominated the press, burying the Dreamcast and hobbling the Xbox and GameCube before they were even born. Today, a not insignificant segment of the population want Sony to fall apart completely, so it's tempting to ascribe the recent public gaffes to a mass realization that Sony's a big sham, that the Emperor has no clothes. There is certainly some thread of truth there.
I think more importantly we have all changed and Sony's playing catch-up. Six years ago most of us probably got our information and opinion from the big videogame media sites. Magazines were more important for breaking news stories. And as a result, I think people were a little too caught up in the Emotion Engine hype.
Now I almost never see news stories through GameSpot or IGN. Rather, I see them linked to by a blog, and along with that link comes some nugget of commentary. Actually, not just one blog, but dozens of blogs. The result of this filter is that I'm less likely to get the company line first and more likely to hear news with an instant shot of opinion.
Whereas there might have been one or two highly publicized reports on Sony's pricing back in 2000, you now have hundreds of bloggers talking about it simultaneously. Earlier this year, the same thing happened to Microsoft with its Xbox 360 shortages. What did they do? They shut up and fixed the problem, for the most part.
Similarly, Sony needs to get out of the headlines for a month or so. When a bad story comes up, respond with overwhelming force to stamp it out immediately, but otherwise shut up. Stop trying to justify the price. Stop trying to explain the controller. Just put your launch together, and let people decide when they see the games on shelves.
Today we have The Inquirer saying the PlayStation 3 and Cell have critically flawed design and SCEE president and CEO David Reeves saying Sony wants "to try and double digital entertainment in the next five to six years" but whether they "have 40, 50, or 60 percent market share is not that important."
In the past weeks we've seen them struggle to explain the high price of the PlayStation 3, argue that they didn't copy the Wii controller, explain that the features removed from the cheaper PlayStation 3 don't cripple it quite as much as previously thought, and that they don't have plans to ban the sale of used games. (Sorry, I'm not digging up links for all those right now. You can find them.)
Is it any real surprise that SCEA publicity chief Molly Smith resigned last week?
The lesson of the "64-bit because it's two 32-bit processors" lie that plagued the Atari Jaguar is that some lies are so simple and compelling that they're impossible to kill. (Of course, this isn't limited to videogames of course. Most people still think Jack Abramoff gave money to Democrats. He didn't.) When such stories come up, I think it best to apply overwhelming force , through the press, and stamp it out immediately. If you're lucky, you'll kill it. You can't rely on the press to fix it for you on their own.
My fuzzy recollection of the 1999-to-2000 period is that Sony dominated the press, burying the Dreamcast and hobbling the Xbox and GameCube before they were even born. Today, a not insignificant segment of the population want Sony to fall apart completely, so it's tempting to ascribe the recent public gaffes to a mass realization that Sony's a big sham, that the Emperor has no clothes. There is certainly some thread of truth there.
I think more importantly we have all changed and Sony's playing catch-up. Six years ago most of us probably got our information and opinion from the big videogame media sites. Magazines were more important for breaking news stories. And as a result, I think people were a little too caught up in the Emotion Engine hype.
Now I almost never see news stories through GameSpot or IGN. Rather, I see them linked to by a blog, and along with that link comes some nugget of commentary. Actually, not just one blog, but dozens of blogs. The result of this filter is that I'm less likely to get the company line first and more likely to hear news with an instant shot of opinion.
Whereas there might have been one or two highly publicized reports on Sony's pricing back in 2000, you now have hundreds of bloggers talking about it simultaneously. Earlier this year, the same thing happened to Microsoft with its Xbox 360 shortages. What did they do? They shut up and fixed the problem, for the most part.
Similarly, Sony needs to get out of the headlines for a month or so. When a bad story comes up, respond with overwhelming force to stamp it out immediately, but otherwise shut up. Stop trying to justify the price. Stop trying to explain the controller. Just put your launch together, and let people decide when they see the games on shelves.
--jvm at 15:06
Comment
[ 13 ]
15 May 2006
History of Console Prices (or: $500 ain't the worst...)
Is the $500 price tag for the crippled PlayStation 3 historically high or low? I did a bit of number crunching to try to put that number in perspective. These graphs tell the story:
I've uploaded PDF versions: absolute and relative.
The first shows absolute price and the second shows relative price. Here absolute means the stated price at the time the console went on sale. Relative means what does that price mean in 2006 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.
I'm a little busy right now, so I don't have time for commentary. Feel free to supply your own.
Update:Also, yes, I know the $600 PS3 and $400 Xbox 360 should be on there somewhere. I'll do them later. Done. Didn't update the thumbnails, but the full-sized images now show the two choices for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
I got the idea after reading this GamePolitics rant about the antics of Destructoid at E3 2006.
I've uploaded PDF versions: absolute and relative.The first shows absolute price and the second shows relative price. Here absolute means the stated price at the time the console went on sale. Relative means what does that price mean in 2006 dollars, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics inflation calculator.
I'm a little busy right now, so I don't have time for commentary. Feel free to supply your own.
Update:
I got the idea after reading this GamePolitics rant about the antics of Destructoid at E3 2006.
--jvm at 13:38
Comment
[ 197 ]
01 May 2006
Randy Pitchford: Visionary, madman, or both?
This was certainly an interesting quote from Randy Pitchford in this morning's Next-Gen:
Unless Microsoft splits the market 40-40 with Sony this time around, I don't see Sony giving up their exclusive platform to license one from Microsoft. It's not just Sony being Japanese and Microsoft being American. Look at how this Wii thing is playing out for Nintendo. Image means quite a lot, and giving in to Microsoft in that area in particular would damage Sony's image everywhere.
Putting aside that factor for the moment, Sony's not been horribly competent of late either. Suppose licensing Microsoft's tech was the only way for Sony to survive as a gaming company in the post-PS3 generation. I wouldn't expect Sony to be clever enough to realize it and save their own hide.
So, what to make of this quote? I'd like to see some proof of why this makes complete sense. How about you?
I still hold onto my prediction from a couple years back that, eventually, Sony will be licensing the video game operating system software from Microsoft. Perhaps Sony's experiences with their new online initiative will actually make that difficult-to-imagine step a little easier... If Microsoft can ever figure out how to gain traction and trust as a gaming platform in Japan, I believe that the two companies will rapidly desire to become partners instead of competitors. It sounds counter to expectations at first because we are so caught up in the competition, but I assure you that I could explain why the concept of an eventual partnership between Sony and Microsoft has merit.That last strikes me as Fermat-like: "I have a remarkable proof, but this margin is too small to contain it."
Unless Microsoft splits the market 40-40 with Sony this time around, I don't see Sony giving up their exclusive platform to license one from Microsoft. It's not just Sony being Japanese and Microsoft being American. Look at how this Wii thing is playing out for Nintendo. Image means quite a lot, and giving in to Microsoft in that area in particular would damage Sony's image everywhere.
Putting aside that factor for the moment, Sony's not been horribly competent of late either. Suppose licensing Microsoft's tech was the only way for Sony to survive as a gaming company in the post-PS3 generation. I wouldn't expect Sony to be clever enough to realize it and save their own hide.
So, what to make of this quote? I'd like to see some proof of why this makes complete sense. How about you?
--jvm at 09:44
Comment
[ 1 ]
23 March 2006
Regarding PS3 and Revolution
With the announcement that the Nintendo Revolution will have Sega Genesis, Turbo-Grafx 16, NES, SNES, and N64 games, the new question for me (and I suspect for others) has now shifted from "Can I afford a PlayStation 3 and a Revolution?" to "PlayStation who?"
One last thing: If this gives me legal access to Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, the only important Castlevania that I've not yet played, I'm going to be in line on Revolution launch day.
One last thing: If this gives me legal access to Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo, the only important Castlevania that I've not yet played, I'm going to be in line on Revolution launch day.
--jvm at 14:37
Comment
[ 4 ]
22 March 2006
Sony promises the world (of backward compatibility)
So reports Next-Gen:
Now, on a brand new platform, they're going to get it right? I doubt it. Even Microsoft wasn't so foolhardy as to promise 100% compatibility.
Sure, Sony might come close enough for Average Joe, but (as Ruffin's pointed out) I'm not that guy. I have around 180 PlayStation 2 and PSOne games in my library, and I want to be able to play every one of them. If I have to buy the real hardware, then that's what I'll do, but it'd be nice for Sony to make good on this "full compatibility" promise.
Then there's this:
[Phil Harrison] also confirmed full backwards compatibility to PS1 and PS2 games, full Blu-ray support for games and movies and echoed Ken Kutargi's sentiments on how the HDD is a key component to the system.As I've noted before, I'm skeptical of Sony getting full backward compatibility right. After all, the original PlayStation 2 didn't play some PSOne games correctly. (I should know - I own several of them!) The slim PlayStation 2 model presumably has those problems and it has trouble with a selection of PlayStation 2 games to boot!
Now, on a brand new platform, they're going to get it right? I doubt it. Even Microsoft wasn't so foolhardy as to promise 100% compatibility.
Sure, Sony might come close enough for Average Joe, but (as Ruffin's pointed out) I'm not that guy. I have around 180 PlayStation 2 and PSOne games in my library, and I want to be able to play every one of them. If I have to buy the real hardware, then that's what I'll do, but it'd be nice for Sony to make good on this "full compatibility" promise.
Then there's this:
Regarding backwards compatibility, he said that there might be opportunities for optimization of previous generation games when played on the PS3. However, Sony has no plans for the graphical optimization of downloadable PS1 games on the PSP (which were announced by Ken Kutaragi last week).I'm surprised. Sure, they can't very well improve the polygon models, but pixelization and jaggies will still be visible, even on the smaller PSP screen. Would a little texture smoothing and antialiasing really hurt? And if they're going to be recompiling the games (as I'd suspected they would), some games would benefit from a higher framerate. Perhaps they're just going bare-bones, and if that's the case they better make these games cheap.
--jvm at 18:44
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[ 3 ]
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