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[Sharp]

Blizzard treats its franchises much more carefully than SOE ever did. It's probably the best example out there of consistently high quality leading to sustained sales.

 

[Evlar]

Why does this sound like that period of time in EverQuest where Sony released an expansion every four months and pissed off their fanbase?

Because I mean, it sounds really similar.

Well... it doesn't. WoW has been out for approaching three years, has only a single expansion, and that expansion was released more than two years after launch. Many people were complaining they took too long to release the Burning Crusade.

MMO players will complain about anything.

 

[Green Shinobi]

More than all that, or in addition to it, Bioshock is horror. I'm shocked at how poorly the horror genre was represented on the machine. There's a market not being served.

It's because the horror market really only consists of a few big players. There was a time when other companies tried to get into the mix, but most of the games flopped (because they all sucked). As a result, the only horror franchises that are really left are Resident Evil, Silent Hill and Fatal Frame, with the occassional oddball like Jericho or the FPS with horror elements like Doom 3 or Bioshock. None of the big franchises have sequels coming out anytime soon.

And really, in Bioshock, only Hephaestus was true horror. The rest was more based in exploration/adventure.

 

[mugwhump]

No way am I trusting waggle to an online shooter, its just not precise enougth, I like the Wii controls for certain games but its no good for online FPS battles

Waggle isn't precise enough, but the pointer definately is. You wouldn't even need autoaim.

 

[Norse]

halo 3 comes out too late in sept for 360 to outsell wii...October theres a chance, but wii will still win sept.


As for the ps3 boys still holding on(they must be on payroll), PS3 is, and always will be, the bottom feeder in NA this generation. ITS OVER!

sony is so frickin lucky the 360 never launched with hd dvd drive or that company would be in bankruptcy court.

 

[AniHawk]

So I've been gone all day. How many of these did I get right?

Predicting the NPD thread:

-Bioshock vs. MP3
-FPS/core games don't sell on the Wii
-More games should come to the 360 because third party games actually sell there
-nuh uh those games should come to the Wii because it sells the most

 

[C4Lukins]

Blizzard treats its franchises much more carefully than SOE ever did. It's probably the best example out there of consistently high quality leading to sustained sales.

Blizzard is easily the most consistent company for awesome that I have ever seen. Hell, they will spend millions on a game and then cancel it just so that they do not degrade their image. WC3 is the only game of theirs that disappointed me, and that was just because of changes they made that did not sit well with me. It made up for it with all of the awesome custom user created content. I probably spent 10 hours on the actual game and 100 on those tower and rpg games that people made.

 

[Evlar]

So I've been gone all day. How many of these did I get right?

Uncanny.

 

[stewacide]

...The same applies with the Wiimote where you cannot effectively control your character, aim, and shoot without some sort of lock on mechanism. That works great if the gameplay is built around it, but with the majority of first person shooters like COD it does not make a lot of sense. It is a different experience. I was just taking issue with the idea that the Wiimote is automatically a better control mechanism for FPS games.

I don't follow. Unlike Prime on the GC which had a very cumbersome control scheme MP3 controls just like e.g. COD on Wii, or any PC FPS for that matter (in free-aim mode that is). There's no trade-off. Lock-on is there as a legacy of the GC games, but you can move/shoot just as well without it.

 

[AlteredBeast]

halo 3 comes out too late in sept for 360 to outsell wii...October theres a chance, but wii will still win sept.


As for the ps3 boys still holding on(they must be on payroll), PS3 is, and always will be, the bottom feeder in NA this generation. ITS OVER!

sony is so frickin lucky the 360 never launched with hd dvd drive or that company would be in bankruptcy court.

360 could outsell Wii in September because Nintendo has apparently stopped shipping out Wiis! There are exactly zero to be found in Northern Utah and its been that way for two weeks. Best Buy, GS, and Target have all received calls and nobody has seen any for a while.

 

[Green Shinobi]

sony is so frickin lucky the 360 never launched with hd dvd drive or that company would be in bankruptcy court.

But then the 360 would have cost $500 or $600 instead of $400, which would have made waiting for the PS3 a lot easier.

 

[C4Lukins]

I don't follow. Unlike Prime on the GC which had a very cumbersome control scheme MP3 controls just like e.g. COD on Wii, or any PC FPS for that matter (in free-aim mode that is). There's no trade-off. Lock-on is there as a legacy of the GC games, but you can move/shoot just as well without it.

As I said I have no played it, I was imaging how it would work. But how can you strafe without the lock on?

 

[AlternativeUlster]

ps3 might have a chance in october with home and ratchet, i predict a 300k month then, wollan told me.

I doubt anyone is going to get a 500 dollar console for Home. Thats bizarro talk from bizarro poster. Its like saying that the News Channel is going to push some Wiis.

 

[Evlar]

As I said I have no played it, I was imaging how it would work. But how can you strafe without the lock on?

Yep. Strafe is mapped to the left analog stick, just like other console FPS.

You should check out MP3. It's really cool.

 

[underfooter]

PS3 is dead.



Halo 3 is going to seal the deal this holiday.

 

[Raistlin]

360 is the new PS2 confirmed.

Well, as close as the new PS2 can be in NA.

Huh?

 

[Son of Godzilla]

sony is so frickin lucky the 360 never launched with hd dvd drive or that company would be in bankruptcy court.

If MS launched with HDDVD they both would have gone bankrupt competing for laser diodes.

And Ani you missed the "Steam is killing PC gaming", so you forfeit all winnings.

 

[zallaaa]

Nintendo. I've just thought that in a month they move almost 2 millions pieces of hardware. Surely that's impressive!

 

[AniHawk]

If MS launched with HDDVD they both would have gone bankrupt competing for laser diodes.

And Ani you missed the "Steam is killing PC gaming", so you forfeit all winnings.

Well that prediction was made weeks ago back before Steam began killing PC gaming.

 

[Son of Godzilla]

Yep. Strafe is mapped to the left analog stick, just like other console FPS.

I think he's having trouble with how you rotate horizontally in the game. Which I'd like to know too. Is there just a deadzone area in the middle of the screen for aiming or what?

 

[davepoobond]

PS3 is dead.

if ps3 were dead it wouldn't have sold 330k madden, more than 3 times a console that has like 3 times the userbase


somethings still to be said for its attach rate in that regard.

 

[Alts]

In terms of precision, nothing can beat kb/m. What feels right, though? That's really all personal preference.

I expect that amidst all the DRM controversy and whatnot surrounding Bioshock, a more significant portion of Bioshock sales than 10-15% is through Steam. It holds a number of advantages over the physical copy, unfortunately.

 

[AniHawk]

Didn't see Failair's numbers. Man, Factor 5's REALLY gonna feel that in the morning.

 

[stewacide]

As I said I have no played it, I was imaging how it would work. But how can you strafe without the lock on?

Movement with the analog stick on the nunchuck is like a PC shooter (only much better because it's fully analog): forward, back, and strafe left and right. You turn again like in a PC FPS with the pointer. The strange Prime setup is completely gone.

As I said, Wii for FPSs is like a mouse-and-keyboard except inherently better (IMHO) because the pointer maintains a constant centre (i.e. you don't have to lift-and-reposition as with a mouse) and movement is fully analog.

 

[Green Shinobi]

I doubt anyone is going to get a 500 dollar console for Home. Thats bizarro talk from bizarro poster. Its like saying that the News Channel is going to push some Wiis.

Home is going to be a sausage-fest. I don't get why people are so excited about it. I'd rather be cracking jokes with a bunch of GAFfers over a microphone in an Xbox Live lobby like I did in Forza 2 and will do in Halo 3 than run around a big virtual city with a 90% penis ratio.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

if ps3 were dead it wouldn't have sold 330k madden, more than 3 times a console that has like 3 times the userbase


somethings still to be said for its attach rate in that regard.

Zelda still had high sales for the Cube....

 

[C4Lukins]

Yep. Strafe is mapped to the left analog stick, just like other console FPS.

Well shit now it makes sense to me. For some reason the idea of it was not registering in my brain. Do you think you could play it without using the lockon though and it would still play better then your typical dual analog FPS? The only FPS I have played with the Wii was Red Steel so I have no good basis of comparison because that was a mess.

 

[AniHawk]

if ps3 were dead it wouldn't have sold 330k madden, more than 3 times a console that has like 3 times the userbase


somethings still to be said for its attach rate in that regard.

Madden for PS3 owners is like RE4 for GC owners. It's all they have left.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

Madden for PS3 owners is like RE4 for GC owners. It's all they have left.

At least the GC didn't get the gimped version of RE4.

 

[Green Shinobi]

Madden for PS3 owners is like RE4 for GC owners. It's all they have left.

Bullshit, wait for Uncharted!

 

[.dmc]

So I've been gone all day. How many of these did I get right?

Not enough Madden talk.

 

[AniHawk]

Some LTDs:

Mario Party 8: 1,055,000
Wii Play: 1,948,000

 

[underfooter]

At least the GC didn't get the gimped version of RE4.

Huh?

 

[speculawyer]

Home is going to be a sausage-fest. I don't get why people are so excited about it. I'd rather be cracking jokes with a bunch of GAFfers over a microphone in an Xbox Live lobby like I did in Forza 2 and will do in Halo 3 than run around a big virtual city with a 90% penis ratio.

You've got a good point there. I've never quite understood the whole point of Home. I think it may end up being a ghost town.

 

[AniHawk]

Bullshit, wait for Uncharted!

That came out wrong. What I meant was that it's all the fanbase has to look forward to. Obviously there are more games that look good, but the majority of the guys that buy PS3s are people who are largely sports and racing fans.

 

[stewacide]

Well shit now it makes sense to me. For some reason the idea of it was not registering in my brain. Do you think you could play it without using the lockon though and it would still play better then your typical dual analog FPS? The only FPS I have played with the Wii was Red Steel so I have no good basis of comparison because that was a mess.

If you're playing in free-aim mode, the only real use for lock-on is for homing missiles and to execute a side dash (which it forces you to be locked onto something to do). In terms of just moving and shooting lock-on is completely un-necessary: I never used it except as mentioned.

Red Steel is nothing like MP3. If you've played COD3 on Wii it's a tightened-up version of that.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

Huh?

C'mon, 30 frames man. 30 frames.

 

[FightyF]

I've had a couple of friends picking up a PS3 this last month due to the price drop. I find these numbers odd, really.

On the other hand, there wasn't many compelling softs out there to move units. Warhawk came out a bit late to affect sales.

August is peanuts compared to the next 4 months...you people writing off the PS3 are crazy in the head.

The jump could also be due to 360 owners dumping their old one and getting one that's more reliable.

 

[Evlar]

I think he's having trouble with how you rotate horizontally in the game. Which I'd like to know too. Is there just a deadzone area in the middle of the screen for aiming or what?

On the highest sensitivity setting (which everyone should use) there's practically no dead zone- the screen is always moving around slightly. As you point to the right with the wii remote the reticule follows. If you're slightly right of center of the screen your view will pan to the right very slowly. As you move the reticule further and further right the view pans faster and faster to the right, until it's spinning around at a rate of 144 degrees per second when the reticule is all the way on the edge of the screen (yes, I timed it). This, by the by, is one-fifth the speed of the highest sensitivity setting in Halo 2.

It might sound disorienting but it works very naturally in practice. There's good physiological reasons for this, too, and Retro even demonstrates the logic behind the control scheme in-game. In a normal FPS your eyes are always focused on the center of the screen. When you turn it's like you're turning your neck, and then your torso, but your eyes always stay locked straight ahead. In MP3 they show Samus's eyes moving around, following the reticule as it moves around on the screen. This is, of course, how people function in the real world (somewhat). If you want to look slightly to the right you just adjust your eyes. If you need to look further right you move your eyes AND your head, and even further you're peering as far right as you can and turn your whole body. MP3 behaves in exactly this manner.

The lock-on is really just a legacy tool in the game to make MP3 play more like the early Prime games. It centers the screen view on a certain target, but your reticule is still free to aim wherever (and quite frequently the thing you lock on to is not what you want to aim at- other things will be moving around all over that you want to shoot at). Lock on is a movement aid, not an aiming tool. And it's largely unnecessary; I was able to complete most of the game without locking on at all.

The greatest problem right now with applying MP3's scheme to a competitive FPS is that the turning is too slow. However, this is not a mechanical problem with the control set-up, it's a conscious choice of the developers. They could easily remove the lock-on button and replace it with a quick-turn button, which would allow you to spin up to Halo 2 speeds when pressed. This, or other techniques, would make it possible to have competitive console FPS without using dual analog. More important the aiming is far faster and more precise than dual analog making the auto-aim function found in Halo and others unnecessary.

It's really cool, you should try it out.

 

[ParticleReality]

Fuck, just release the $400 PS3 already. Get a good amount of users as you can this year then just go apeshit with games and features next year. Other then that, I'm glad I'm waiting until spring 2008 to start next gen gaming.

That came out wrong. What I meant was that it's all the fanbase has to look forward to. Obviously there are more games that look good, but the majority of the guys that buy PS3s are people who are largely sports and racing fans.

You know that hes trying to say that after uncharted thats all they have left.

 

[C4Lukins]

If you're playing in free-aim mode, the only real use for lock-on is for homing missiles and to execute a side dash (which it forces you to be locked onto something to do). In terms of just moving and shooting lock-on is completely un-necessary: I never used it except as mentioned.

Red Steel is nothing like MP3. If you've played COD3 on Wii it's a tightened-up version of that.

I will have to give it a shot. I am one of those who hates the Prime series because I loved the 2d console games, but when I get some time after the holidays I will pick it up. Actually my brother owns it, I will bum it off of him and if I like it then I will buy it.

 

[DDayton]

I had a crazy thought today.

A lot has been made about software attach rates for the 360, Wii, and PS3. What I'm wondering is how much downloadable games (specifically Wii VC) are impacting tie ratios on each platform.

My only though is that I could see folks happily playing downloadable games on their system and being less enthused to go out and buy more games. I know the 360 has a lot of stuff in the Arcade and the Wii has loads in the VC, but I'm wondering what relative digital purchases are for those systems.

I'm just wondering whether Wii owners are more likely to buy an old game and play it for a longer stretch of time than other system owners are for a downloadable game. It's been my impression from the relative release lists on Arcade and the Wii that the Wii's VC has more games which COULD consume longer stretches of playtime... the Zeldas, the Mario titles, etc.. The 360 has games, but aren't more of them designed -as- casual games and arcade game upgrades, as opposed to traditional "longer" console games?

It probably doesn't make that much of a difference, but I was curious.

 

[Cruceh]

lol ps3, thought the $100 price drop would help more.

 

[AniHawk]

I had a crazy thought today.

A lot has been made about software attach rates for the 360, Wii, and PS3. What I'm wondering is how much downloadable games (specifically Wii VC) are impacting tie ratios on each platform.

My only though is that I could see folks happily playing downloadable games on their system and being less enthused to go out and buy more games. I know the 360 has a lot of stuff in the Arcade and the Wii has loads in the VC, but I'm wondering what relative digital purchases are for those systems.

I'm just wondering whether Wii owners are more likely to buy an old game and play it for a longer stretch of time than other system owners are for a downloadable game. It's been my impression from the relative release lists on Arcade and the Wii that the Wii's VC has more games which COULD consume longer stretches of playtime... the Zeldas, the Mario titles, etc.. The 360 has games, but aren't more of them designed -as- casual games and arcade game upgrades, as opposed to traditional "longer" console games?

It probably doesn't make that much of a difference, but I was curious.

Well it was only 1.5m at E3 or something like that, so I doubt it's impacting sales much. In fact, most people I see buy a Wii usually just get Wii Play or nothing at all (since it comes with Wii Sports).

 

[Rolf NB]

Home is going to be a sausage-fest. I don't get why people are so excited about it. I'd rather be cracking jokes with a bunch of GAFfers over a microphone in an Xbox Live lobby like I did in Forza 2 and will do in Halo 3 than run around a big virtual city with a 90% penis ratio.

Your game lobbies are overrun by impressive bikini vixens, too? And I thought it was the drugs.

 

[AlternativeUlster]

Well it was only 1.5m at E3 or something like that, so I doubt it's impacting sales much. In fact, most people I see buy a Wii usually just get Wii Play or nothing at all (since it comes with Wii Sports).

To be fair, at launch I could only afford a system and one game (Zelda) and had a friend buy an extra controller. If Play was out, we would have gotten that too. I don't think that many people have that much cash to burn.

 

[MassiveAttack]

lol ps3, thought the $100 price drop would help more.

It honestly has very little to do with the PS3 and far more to do with the simple fact that the vast majority of the consumer market will simply not pay $499 for a vdeogame console. This is has been true of the industry since its inception and remains true today. Sony gambled on being able to shift this proven paradigm and lost... big time.

 

[MobiusPigeon]

Huh?

again...just accept it.

 

[Norse]

Holy shit, that is with $10 less per unit. The total of just the $10 extra on the 360 version($4,901,00) > Total PC sales($3,850,000)

come on people, you all know the 77k on the pc was for the past week!!!! PC game sales are reported weekly...77k was for the past week, not a month.

 

[speculawyer]

What's next for X360? Halo 3, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, Project Gotham 4...that's all for this year that's considered 'good or great' for it?

NBA 2K8, PGR4, GTA 4 . . . D'oh!, Army of Two, Burnoutaradise, Turok, Call of Duty 4, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero 3, Rock Band, Tony Hawk, Need for Speed, Simpsons, FIFA 08 . . .