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[Nirolak]

Shipment results we know of so far;

Nintendogs + Cats: 1,710,000 as of 3/31/11
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition: over 1,000,000 as of 4/8/11
Super Monkey Ball 3D: 350,000 as of 3/31/11
Samurai Warriors Chronicles: 260,000 as of 3/31/11

While the initial shipments of 3DS software were quite healthy, unfortunately the sell-through so far hasn't been.

Street Fighter's first month in the U.S. was only 95,000 copies and in Japan it only did 85,899 copies lifetime.

Europe isn't exactly a huge seller for fighting games either.

Given the top 10, we know Nintendogs did even less in the U.S.:

Top Ten 3DS games
01. Street Fighter 3DS - ~95,000
02. Pilotwings Resort
03. Lego Star Wars
04. Rayman
05. Tom Clancy Ghost Recon
06. Super Monkey Ball
07. Nintendogs+Cats G
08. Ridge Racer
09. Steel Diver
10. Nintendogs+Cats F

In Japan we know it's only done 201,167 copies as well.

It seems retailers were very optimistic, which isn't surprising given the success of the Nintendo DS, but it seems like it will burn retailers (and publishers due to return fees in Europe and the U.S.) in the end.

 

[AniHawk]

I wonder if we'll ever start really seeing western 10 man development teams again outside of iphone development.

well it sounds like ancel's crew is pretty small. they might be the only ones that small from a really big publisher.

 

[lwilliams3]

Shipment results we know of so far;

Nintendogs + Cats: 1,710,000 as of 3/31/11
Super Street Fighter IV 3D Edition: over 1,000,000 as of 4/8/11
Super Monkey Ball 3D: 350,000 as of 3/31/11
Samurai Warriors Chronicles: 260,000 as of 3/31/11

I think Capcom's push for more hardcore games on the 3DS from the start may open some opportunities for Western games that the DS didn't have. In either case, I don't think Nintendo is too worried about 3DS support compared to Cafe. Handheld game development is strong in Japan, so the 3DS will eventually get a great library even if Western companies doesn't support it too much. For Cafe, though, western developers will be alot more important.

 

[Nirolak]

Its rather remarkable how incompetent western publishers are. Level 5 has made almost all of its fortunes because of the DS.
So they would rather develop games for the profitless iOS devices instead of developing for the DS? No wonder the gaming market is on its knees.

EA actually had a net revenue of $230 million on mobile this fiscal year.

We don't get a profit breakdown, but if nothing else they are definitely selling a lot.

Given that they are investing more and more into mobile as well, and that they expect to break even or make a profit next fiscal year for the company as a whole, the odds are good that their profit margin is healthy.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

have seen a lot of interviews with small/indie developers who wanted to make a game for handhelds, but got refused by literally every Western publisher, so they turned it into an iOS or downloadable game instead.

There has to be an opportunity in there somewhere for someone.

 

[Nirolak]

There has to be an opportunity in there somewhere for someone.

Yeah, Warner picked up Scribblenauts after all the traditional publishers refused and made a nice amount of money.

Majesco also picked up Monster Tale from the Henry Hatsworth people, but I'm not sure if that actually sold anything.

Edit:

Here's a quote from the Monster Tale interview:

Destructoid: There's a lot of experience on the team, but DreamRift is a new studio, and you guys are coming out of the gate with a new IP here. I'd imagine that would be both challenging and scary.

DreamRift: It was definitely challenging, and we were aware that taking other routes such as doing licensed games or ports of existing games to different platforms would be safer. Although, many of us have experience making some very successful licensed titles in the past, we felt strongly that for our first game as an independent studio, we wanted to tap into our passion for creating new universes, characters, and innovative gameplay mechanics.

When we originally pitched the concept to publishers, we noticed that many publishers perceived an original IP as being too risky for the current DS market, preferring instead to go with sequels to existing games or products based on other licenses. Due to that climate, we felt a sense of accomplishment when we reached an agreement with Majesco to publish the game.

I think that Monster Tale is one of a few, if not the only, new IP games from a western studio to have been signed in the past year on the DS. We have the utmost respect and appreciation for Majesco’s support in working with us to bring Monster Tale to reality.

The decision to create an original game concept of our own played off of what we saw as our strengths as a team. We have a lot of experience in creating a new IP from scratch, including Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, which my founding-partner, Ryan Pijai, and I worked on as Lead Designer and Lead Programmer. In fact, I have never actually worked on a sequel across a professional game design career spanning more than a decade.

Source: http://www.destructoid.com/interview-dreamrift-s-peter-ong-talks-monster-tale-196624.phtml

 

[EatChildren]

Price drop sooner rather than later for the 3DS I think, probably timed to combat the NGP. Nintendo will want to get some really high end software out there too. It's an interesting situation. I honestly didn't expect such an underwhelming and empty launch, and I'm not sure Nintendo will respond fast enough.

Cafe will be a whole different ball game though, and will either succeed or flop based on what Nintendo do. If they can keep it unique and interesting people will hopefully want it. They've spoken a lot about attracting the 'core' gamer, but they'll need exclusives for that. Ports of current gen games wont be good enough, and I hope Nintendo are not so blind that they'll think people will pack up and flock to their system just for those.

 

[Nirolak]

Price drop sooner rather than later for the 3DS I think, probably timed to combat the NGP. Nintendo will want to get some really high end software out there too. It's an interesting situation. I honestly didn't expect such an underwhelming and empty launch, and I'm not sure Nintendo will respond fast enough.

Cafe will be a whole different ball game though, and will either succeed or flop based on what Nintendo do. If they can keep it unique and interesting people will hopefully want it. They've spoken a lot about attracting the 'core' gamer, but they'll need exclusives for that. Ports of current gen games wont be good enough, and I hope Nintendo are not so blind that they'll think people will pack up and flock to their system just for those.

I think they recognize that, but the question is, can they make a game that will really sell Western core gamers on the system.

Sony had to task about ten different developers on the problem and make a lot of sequels before they really got something going with Uncharted. I'm not sure if Nintendo is willing to spend those kinds of resources to do this.

 

[Instro]

I think they recognize that, but the question is, can they make a game that will really sell Western core gamers on the system.

Sony had to task about ten different developers on the problem and make a lot of sequels before they really got something going with Uncharted. I'm not sure if Nintendo is willing to spend those kinds of resources to do this.

Seems like a job for Retro.

 

[lwilliams3]

Price drop sooner rather than later for the 3DS I think, probably timed to combat the NGP. Nintendo will want to get some really high end software out there too. It's an interesting situation. I honestly didn't expect such an underwhelming and empty launch, and I'm not sure Nintendo will respond fast enough.

Cafe will be a whole different ball game though, and will either succeed or flop based on what Nintendo do. If they can keep it unique and interesting people will hopefully want it. They've spoken a lot about attracting the 'core' gamer, but they'll need exclusives for that. Ports of current gen games wont be good enough, and I hope Nintendo are not so blind that they'll think people will pack up and flock to their system just for those.

In some ways, the 3DS' real launch will be in June.

As for the Cafe, even having "upgraded" ports of current gen games from third parties developers will be a major improvement to what the Wii mostly received. It will be interesting to see the difference the Cafe's additional features will make.

 

[Cromat]

If Cafe doesn't get a critical mass of 3rd party support and Nintendo heavy hitters it risks being Dreamcasted by the next Microsoft and Sony consoles. I fear that 3rd parties might be wary about supporting Cafe because most of them were burned on the Wii.
And with 3DS seeming to be off to an uphill battle, it might be a lot harder on Nintendo this time around.

 

[Tron 2.0]

In some ways, the 3DS' real launch will be in June.

I assume you're referring to OoT, which to me is just laughable.

I'm sure it will sell well, but system seller? No.

Or the update.

Is upgraded firmware enough to push systems, though?

 

[TheGreatMightyPoo]

I assume you're referring to OoT, which to me is just laughable.

Or the update.

 

[herzogzwei1989]

As for the Cafe, even having "upgraded" ports of current gen games from third parties developers will be a major improvement to what the Wii mostly received.

I agree with that for the most part.

 

[MrNyarlathotep]

Sony had to task about ten different developers on the problem and make a lot of sequels before they really got something going with Uncharted. I'm not sure if Nintendo is willing to spend those kinds of resources to do this.

A lot of Nintendo in-house studios have been very quiet for quite a long time though, as DS and Wii output has nearly dried up completely.

I mean, I assumed they were quiet because Nintendo were getting a lot of games ready for 3DS launch which has obviously not been the case. If they're working on prototype games for whatever Project Cafes new USP is, I'd expect at least 5 'nintendo' titles for Project Cafe launch, around half of which to be new IPs.

EDIT:

If Cafe doesn't get a critical mass of 3rd party support and Nintendo heavy hitters it risks being Dreamcasted by the next Microsoft and Sony consoles.

That's sort of down to MS and Sony, and from the looks of things a new PS / Xbox are at least 3 years away which bodes well for Nintendo.

As does overall raised expenses of development this gen - if I was a studio focussed on current gen development solely I wouldn't be in any hurry whatsoever to raise development costs again any time soon.

I fear that 3rd parties might be wary about supporting Cafe because most of them were burned on the Wii.

Not to retread this argument, but third parties not having success on the wii is basically their own damn fault.

 

[Instro]

If Cafe doesn't get a critical mass of 3rd party support and Nintendo heavy hitters it risks being Dreamcasted by the next Microsoft and Sony consoles. I fear that 3rd parties might be wary about supporting Cafe because most of them were burned on the Wii.
And with 3DS seeming to be off to an uphill battle, it might be a lot harder on Nintendo this time around.

We talking Japanese 3rd parties or western? I dont see there being any problems getting 3rd party support from all the Japanese developers like they are already getting on the 3DS, if western 3rd parties feel like they got burned on the Wii they only have themselves to blame really. Either way I dont see that being a deciding factor, at the very least most devs will want to make easy money doing ports of their current and upcoming games.

 

[lwilliams3]

I assume you're referring to OoT, which to me is just laughable.

I'm sure it will sell well, but system seller? No.


Is upgraded firmware enough to push systems, though?

Nintendo hasn't done too much with advertising the 3DS since its launch, and I doubt it's a coincidence that the firmware update was pushed so close to E3. Seems like a set-up for a marketing revival.

 

[Tron 2.0]

Nintendo hasn't done too much with advertising the 3DS since its launch, and I doubt it's a coincidence that the firmware update was pushed so close to E3. Seems like a set-up for a marketing revival.

I see television commercials all the time. They've had a presence on event programming like the NBA playoffs.

The ads are awful, but they're out there.

 

[AniHawk]

Sony had to task about ten different developers on the problem and make a lot of sequels before they really got something going with Uncharted. I'm not sure if Nintendo is willing to spend those kinds of resources to do this.

are you talking about sony in general or the ps3 in particular? if it's sony in general, then they've had many more games that appealed to western gamers from western studios (both naughty dogs's earlier franchises and jaffe's stuff), and if it's the latter... well, i'm not sure there's really been a system-seller for the ps3. at least not in the way gta iii was for the ps2 or halo was for the xbox.

i think the best nintendo can hope for is to have the definitive editions of multiplatform games. this should be easy to do initially, just based on visuals, but in the long run, it will depend on cafe's online infrastructure and the online community. it's basically what happened with the 360, but the 360 benefited from sony massively screwing up a lot of things.

getting exclusives is probably impossible, or would require the cafe to get pc games that cannot run on current consoles.

 

[SneakyStephan]

In some ways, the 3DS' real launch will be in June.

As for the Cafe, even having "upgraded" ports of current gen games from third parties developers will be a major improvement to what the Wii mostly received. It will be interesting to see the difference the Cafe's additional features will make.

Noone is going to buy cafe to play ports (they might buy them once they have the console, but it sure as hell isn't a reason to get the console).
Pc already fills the graphics niche for ports, at a lower cost too.

It's the exlusives and the real nintendo games that will have to sell the system to people.
I'm looking forward to what nintendo and their partners come up with on cafe and will buy one if there's good stuff, but the ports? 3x no.

A new wave racer, zelda, mario, pikmin, banjo, pokemon (seriously , naruto games sell well, a pokemon game that looks as good as the cartoon would sell like crazy) etc will move consoles.
If they don't have any (or no awesome new IP's either) I doubt enough people will give a shit to make it a successful launch.

 

[Wolves Evolve]

Its absolutely nutty that people are talking about 1080p / 60fps as some kind of watershed level. So few developers think in those terms for so many reasons, not least of which it doesn't necessarily seem to affect sales when you peg lower down the graphics pole. To whose benefit would it be for a hardware company to turn to its developers and say "ok everybody listen, we want to really make sure everything is this size and this fast".

 

[zoukka]

Its absolutely nutty that people are talking about 1080p / 60fps as some kind of watershed level. So few developers think in those terms for so many reasons, not least of which it doesn't necessarily seem to affect sales when you peg lower down the graphics pole. To whose benefit would it be for a hardware company to turn to its developers and say "ok everybody listen, we want to really make sure everything is this size and this fast".

Happens with every single generation. People think that the some of best achievements and better design choices carry over to all games and devs from the previous generation.

Sorry but it won't happen.

 

[dwu8991]

Its absolutely nutty that people are talking about 1080p / 60fps as some kind of watershed level. So few developers think in those terms for so many reasons, not least of which it doesn't necessarily seem to affect sales when you peg lower down the graphics pole. To whose benefit would it be for a hardware company to turn to its developers and say "ok everybody listen, we want to really make sure everything is this size and this fast".

You have to be fairly close to the "40-50" HD tv to notice the 1080P difference. Once you more than 2-3m further away, you won't be able to tell the difference.
As for 60fps, its only needed for ultra fast games that demand precision, which you can count on one hand.

 

[m.i.s.]

Noone is going to buy cafe to play ports (they might buy them once they have the console, but it sure as hell isn't a reason to get the console).
Pc already fills the graphics niche for ports, at a lower cost too.

It's the exlusives and the real nintendo games that will have to sell the system to people.
I'm looking forward to what nintendo and their partners come up with on cafe and will buy one if there's good stuff, but the ports? 3x no.

A new wave racer, zelda, mario, pikmin, banjo, pokemon (seriously , naruto games sell well, a pokemon game that looks as good as the cartoon would sell like crazy) etc will move consoles.
If they don't have any (or no awesome new IP's either) I doubt enough people will give a shit to make it a successful launch.

One problem (amongst a myriad) is that existing HD gamers have already made a considerable time investment into their 360/PSN profiles. Nintendo may face considerabe inertia in having them migrate to an unknown Nintendo online platform.

The other problem is that - like 3DS - if Nintendo launch with too many of their own IP's they risk crowding out 3rd parties. If they launch with no Nintendo IP's, they risk a 3DS type underwhelming launch.

 

[Xater]

Don't people remember what the differences between PS2 and Xbox multiplatform games were like back then? That is actually all I expect. At least that way I am not going to get disappointed and can maybe safe some money...

 

[ThoseDeafMutes]

Its absolutely nutty that people are talking about 1080p / 60fps as some kind of watershed level. So few developers think in those terms for so many reasons, not least of which it doesn't necessarily seem to affect sales when you peg lower down the graphics pole. To whose benefit would it be for a hardware company to turn to its developers and say "ok everybody listen, we want to really make sure everything is this size and this fast".

I think the first time I saw a thread on GAF where people were all talking about how the success of CoD4 was primarily due to it being 60fps, I nearly spat out my drink.

 

[Wolves Evolve]

I think the first time I saw a thread on GAF where people were all talking about how the success of CoD4 was primarily due to it being 60fps, I nearly spat out my drink.

I remember that thread! And NeoGAF is maybe one of the best big forums on games online - and this was a consensus view! "Ah yes, thats what people want, 60 frames per second!". There was even a discussion in that thread about how this would lead all action games to move to 60fps from then on. There but for the grace of Derp go I.

 

[zoukka]

I think the first time I saw a thread on GAF where people were all talking about how the success of CoD4 was primarily due to it being 60fps, I nearly spat out my drink.

Strange. The only rational arguments I remember from there was, that 60fps was a big factor in why so many people think CoD games look better than the competition.

I guess it spiraled into standard madness from there on :b

 

[Maxrunner]

If Bethesda or anyone else releases Cafe ports 5+ months after the PS3/360/PC versions, well... let's hope they don't use the resulting sales figures as a basis for judging the viability of support for the platform, because I suspect it won't be a pretty picture.

They wont, didnt the bethesda howard something called the wii a something toy something??? do you think that will change with the cafe???

 

[SneakyStephan]

I think the first time I saw a thread on GAF where people were all talking about how the success of CoD4 was primarily due to it being 60fps, I nearly spat out my drink.

Ehm, 60 fps results in half the input lag, which results in responsive controls.

People bitched like mad about the input lag in dead space.
Killzone 2 has input lag out the wazoo (like 4 frames...) in part thanks to the low framerate and everyone noticed the 'heavy' controls.
Guerrila tried to tell people "it's a feature" but that certainly didn't fly.
Games like burnout paradise were specifically designed around maintaining 60 fps to keep the controls responsive.
But what do Criterion know right? Their knowledge about what makes a game control well is nothing compared to your endless wisdom.

IW wouldn't bother either if it didn't matter.

Replace primarily with party in the success statement and it should be pretty accurate.

 

[Syferz]

While the initial shipments of 3DS software were quite healthy, unfortunately the sell-through so far hasn't been.

Street Fighter's first month in the U.S. was only 95,000 copies and in Japan it only did 85,899 copies lifetime.


Top Ten 3DS games
01. Street Fighter 3DS - ~95,000
02. Pilotwings Resort
03. Lego Star Wars
04. Rayman
05. Tom Clancy Ghost Recon
06. Super Monkey Ball
07. Nintendogs+Cats G
08. Ridge Racer
09. Steel Diver
10. Nintendogs+Cats F

The 3DS launched with a 4 day month... so those sales reflect only 4 days i believe, I think all this talk about 3DS's sales is premature. As for western studios I think EA will put everything on the 3DS because sometime next year, there will be 20Million 3DS units out there, and people love EA games. Ubisoft is going to continue to push stuff onto Nintendo's handhelds, didn't they make an assassin's creed? and Activision put COD modern warfare on the DS!, there is no way they won't release a COD for a system that they can actually port with a relatively modern engine, I think modern warfare on the DS sold at 1m and looked like smudges on the screen while doing it, but had decent reviews, so there was some effort there. (developed by N-space)

Also, I don't know how everyone feels about a certain site chartz site around here, but they put SF4 3ds at ~350k on a platform with 2.5m units sold (this is sold to users rather then stores, and is all estimations, but it's better then what I have in front of me. again certain site put ps3 and xbox versions at about 1m a piece, with user bases over x20 bigger.)

Wii did have exclusives btw, even some from R* such as the super censored version of Manhunt 2 and Bully, which later became a timed exclusive, but western developers are willing to give the system a try, it's really the owners of that system that lets the developers down, and then later receives nothing but shotty ports and shovel ware from their b and sometimes c teams.

If Nintendo partners with a decent competent online company, they will really hurt Sony and MS this coming gen, and might mean consoles in 2013, (and if they release in 2014 the tech isn't enough to push Nintendo out of third party support, and they should be the base system with 20M+ consoles) it's likely that Nintendo will have 10M+ consoles and become the base system for next gen no matter what Sony or MS do, especially because the next Xbox will likely use a very similar but higher end architecture. (~HD6950)

They wont, didnt the bethesda howard something called the wii a something toy something??? do you think that will change with the cafe???

Yeah they will change their mind with Cafe, it's modern tech that they can work into their existing engine with little work at all, it's really like saying "Do you think the developers will hate making more money?" seriously the architecture between 360 and Cafe if rumors are true, is so similar, there would be no difference to porting to a PC, Cafe would actually have more resources available since the mainstream GPUs for PC's today are actually slower than the 4850, which is 2 gen old just short of a top end single card gpu from 3 years ago.

 

[herzogzwei1989]

Ehm, 60 fps results in half the input lag, which results in responsive controls.

People bitched like mad about the input lag in dead space.
Killzone 2 has input lag out the wazoo (like 4 frames...) in part thanks to the low framerate and everyone noticed the 'heavy' controls.
Guerrila tried to tell people "it's a feature" but that certainly didn't fly.
Games like burnout paradise were specifically designed around maintaining 60 fps to keep the controls responsive.
But what do Criterion know right? Their knowledge about what makes a game control well is nothing compared to your endless wisdom.

IW wouldn't bother either if it didn't matter.

Replace primarily with party in the success statement and it should be pretty accurate.

Exellent breakdown of why 60fps matters in certain games.

 

[1-D_FTW]

But we're assuming that the developers won't improve the graphics on the ports thereby removing the capability of 1080P/60FPS. 1080P/60FPS doesn't sell the masses, better graphics does.



Any game this gen is CAPABLE of 60FPS. The question isn't whether they're CAPABLE, its what do the devs have to sacrifice in order to get it to run 60FPS. Why would developers do 60FPS/1080P when the masses couldn't care less about those features instead of improving the graphics which is a major selling point to the masses?

Probably because people expect the ports to have as much focus as PC games. Do PC games get redone assets to take advantage of the power? Almost never. There's no way they're spending any effort on Cafe ports (aside from having maps/inventory on the controller). The hope is that because it's similar enough to 360 architecture, that when they port over it'll be able to render everything so much faster that 1080P/60fps will be a happy accident they stumble into.

 

[Krauser Kat]

i dont think there is anyway a 4850 could pump out 1080 60 on games like Witcher 2 or Skyrim even forgoing the performance gains by working on a set system.

 

[Father_Brain]

In the end, I think Nintendo's goal with third parties on the Cafe is to avoid either a Wii or a GameCube situation (depending on hardware), and we should see signs of how that's going at E3.

At this point, I'm taking it on faith that Nintendo has improved third-party relations enough to ensure that a Cafe version is added to the overwhelming majority of near-launch and post-launch third-party releases, at least initially. If that's not the case, Nintendo has already fucked things up horribly, Cafe is stillborn when it comes to the Western core market, and Reggie et al. should be laughed out of the room if they claim anything to the contrary. But I really do think scalability will ensure that Cafe doesn't fall into a Wii situation when Sony's and Microsoft's next consoles come around, provided Cafe gets PS3/360/Cafe titles regularly and the Cafe versions actually sell.

That leads to the "GameCube situation" part, which happens to be one of my two main questions about Cafe at E3: whether Nintendo actually has a strategy for selling the system to current PS3/360 owners and making it their platform of choice for multiplatform titles. (The other question is whether they've abandoned the casual market in an attempt to pursue core gamers, as most of the controller rumors suggest.)

 

[donny2112]

Or the update.

This reminds me of "March Excitement."

 

[Eradicate]

I'm not sure if it's been brought up, and I've been trying to follow the hardware rumors as close as possible. I wasn't sure where to pose this question and I didn't want to start a new thread.

Are there any inklings as to the sound capabilities of the system? Such as, will it support fairly recent Dolby technology or THX or anything? I'm not sure how this is handled in a console as opposed to a computer. I'm more familiar with the external part of it all with the speakers and things.

 

[herzogzwei1989]

i dont think there is anyway a 4850 could pump out 1080 60 on games like Witcher 2 or Skyrim even forgoing the performance gains by working on a set system.

I disagree about Skyrim. Assuming it's already running on Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 at 720p 30fps, the RV770 GPU (4850) would have 4 times the performance to work with. Easily enough to double the resolution and framerate.


I'll admit I know nothing about Witcher 2.

 

[jacksrb]

I'm not sure if it's been brought up, and I've been trying to follow the hardware rumors as close as possible. I wasn't sure where to pose this question and I didn't want to start a new thread.

Are there any inklings as to the sound capabilities of the system? Such as, will it support fairly recent Dolby technology or THX or anything? I'm not sure how this is handled in a console as opposed to a computer. I'm more familiar with the external part of it all with the speakers and things.

I am not an audiophile, but it seems like that would be part of being the leading machine, technologically, for the next two years (which I would assume will be part of the pitch).

That said, they are always looking hard at adding any cost for the life of the console (see no DVD play on the Wii, etc).

 

[ReyVGM]

Is audio even an issue anymore? Ever since the GC days all consoles have sound the same to me.

 

[brochiller]

Is audio even an issue anymore? Ever since the GC days all consoles have sound the same to me.

It hasn't been an issue for Sony/MS, but for Nintendo it has for some reason. They refuse to include 5.1 support in their consoles, and a lot of people (including myself) will be extremely pissed if they do this again.

 

[Caramello]

Is audio even an issue anymore? Ever since the GC days all consoles have sound the same to me.

It is if you have a decent sound system. High end sound is a really important to a lot of gamers, Nintendo is lacking in the sound department from a technology standpoint.

 

[StevieP]

It is if you have a decent sound system. High end sound is a really important to a lot of gamers, Nintendo is lacking in the sound department from a technology standpoint.

Technologically, they are lacking (i.e. PCM audio) but my amp does extremely well with PLIIx and it does sound like 7.1 even though it's coming from a 2-channel source. Heck, the Factor 5 tie fighter demo sounds insane on my amp.

 

[herzogzwei1989]

Wouldn't the IBM Tri-Core CPU be able to handle 5.1 Dolby Digital sound in one of it's thread?

Pardon my ignorance but I thought that's how Xbox 360 handled it.

 

[JohnTinker]

Feel like with next week being the 2 week mark we'll start to see more leaks here & there from various press (which usually more often than not tends to be foreign press)

 

[JGS]

Is audio even an issue anymore? Ever since the GC days all consoles have sound the same to me.

Yes, I would love for upgraded sound although I hope the "plays DVDs" debate dies in a fire. I really don't care if my console plays movies.

 

[Adam Scott Aukerman]

It is if you have a decent sound system. High end sound is a really important to a lot of gamers, Nintendo is lacking in the sound department from a technology standpoint.

But let's be realistic, they likely still amount to a minuscule percentage of the market.

 

[Grampa Simpson]

Yes, I would love for upgraded sound although I hope the "plays DVDs" debate dies in a fire. I really don't care if my console plays movies.

I'd even say that I'd rather not have my console play DVDs. The more I run that spinning disk drive, the faster it wears out.

 

[herzogzwei1989]

Feel like with next week being the 2 week mark we'll start to see more leaks here & there from various press (which usually more often than not tends to be foreign press)

Yeah.

 

[Always-honest]

Is audio even an issue anymore? Ever since the GC days all consoles have sound the same to me.

you missed some PS3 games.