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The Game Hardware News & Rumors Thread


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The Game Hardware News & Rumors Thread
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
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Join Date: Jul 2004
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2011-05-31, 16:35

The DS Lite drops in price to $99 on June 5, its first price drop in over five years on the market.

Also, pretty much all the Mario DS games will start coming in special red boxes. No price drops, though.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Robo
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2011-06-27, 11:36

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
Wuh-oh.

Microsoft possibly developing new console for 2012

Sounds like this might not be a ten-year cycle for the Xbox.
More rumors of a new Xbox in 2012

I don't know what to think. Microsoft has stated, in the past, that they view the Xbox as having a ten-year-lifecycle, thanks in part to Kinect. And it's not like the Wii U is a generation ahead of the 360, or anything. But at the same time, it has been seven years, and they really wanted to be first out of the gate in 2005, too. I can see it not sitting well with them at all that Nintendo will be launching a new console three years before their next Xbox is set to hit. And they did announce the Xbox 360 and shipped it in the same year, no 18-month rollout there.

But still. Unless we start seeing tons more rumors about new Xbox hardware, I'm going to assume that some wires got crossed somewhere and that BGR's source is only partially correct — maybe Microsoft will be launching a smaller, Wii-fighting 360, and maybe they'll even rush out a new touchscreen controller of their own to match, but it wouldn't be an all-new platform. It'd be a redesign and an accessory, just like what we saw in 2010. (I wouldn't be surprised to see a redesigned, "actually slim" PS3 in 2012, either. 32nm Cell chips should be available right around that time, and neither Microsoft nor Sony is going to want their console to look passé next to the new, uh, hotness.)

-•••-

As for this year: A new model of the PS3, the CECH-3000, just started shipping in Japan. It's a minor revision, and it's mainly a cost-cutting measure: it's lighter and has a lower-rated power supply, though it doesn't seem to be using die-shrunk Cells or RSXs and it doesn't really use less power. The heatsink has also been redesigned, and the fan is smaller. Oh, and I'm not sure the buttons glow when you press them any more. So, yeah, cost-cutting all around. (Hard drive sizes remain unchanged.)

If history is any indication, we'll see this model announced for the NA/EU/AUS markets at Gamescom in August. I'm not sure we're about to see a $199 PS3, though. A $50 drop seems more realistic, but I could also see Sony just bundling the PS Move starter kits with all PS3s at $299 (instead of at $399 today). I mean, last year all they did was bump the HDD 40GB, so. (Admittedly, though, having only one PS3 SKU "with everything" could actually make the PS3 more attractive to holiday shoppers who will be facing an arsenal of five different Xbox SKUs. You can just picture the snarky Kevin Butler campaign, right?)

As for the Xbox, Microsoft has been historically very aggressive with pricing, and the hard-drive-less model has been at $199 since 2008 (though it's since been redesigned, gained WiFi, &c.). I could see Microsoft dropping the 4GB 360 to $149, matching the Wii, and the 250GB 360 to $249. That said, the $399 Gears of War bundle has already been announced and priced, which would seem to suggest no pricing changes for the Xbox this holiday (and it's the console that needs a boost the least, so).
  quote
Robo
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2011-07-09, 21:51

If you're wondering what PS Vita game boxes will look like (am I the only one who cares about boxes?), they're the same size and shape as the PS3's Blu-ray cases. They're clear plastic but they don't have the big clear bar along the top, so the box art portion is taller. The idea is that you can place them on a shelf alongside PS3 boxes and they "match," including having the PSVITA / PS3 banners on the side lining up, which warms my obsessive compulsive heart. Yes, that's a large box for a tiny plastic chip, but so are DS boxes — the box has to be large enough for the manual, after all. From what I gather, the idea is to make ports easier by not requiring devs to completely redesign the manual for the awkwardly narrow PSP cases, this time. (I suspect that the way the narrower-than-DS cases caused retailer's PSP sections to appear smaller than the DS sections, even if they contained the same number of games, might have had something to do with it, too. Also: Vita games that come with soundtrack CDs and the like will no longer have to ship in a wider cardboard box.)

No pictures, sorry. I'm pretty sure this is technically still subject to change—I'm guessing they'll show off the retail boxes at Gamescom—but I have it on good authority that some people will be very upset and frantically redesigning said manuals if it does.

Oh, and the "theme color" of the PS Vita — the color of the stipe under the "PSVITA" banner, and the color of the accessory boxes, analogous to red on the PS3 and yellow on the PSP — is...light blue. So, if that was keeping you up at night, you can now rest easy.

Blue is so...expected. I was hoping for orange. But I guess they didn't want to have nothing but "warm" colors. And Microsoft has pretty much a corner on all the secondary colors, with Xbox's green, Live's orange, and Kinect's purple. All will be forgiven when the PS4's theme color is hot pink.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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bassplayinMacFiend
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2011-07-11, 10:30

Games are still coming on physical media for the PSVita?
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dmegatool
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2011-07-11, 11:17

Cartridges... They're pretty similar to SD cards (Shape/Size).
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torifile
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2011-07-28, 10:56

Nintendo is dropping the price of the 3DS to $170. That's almost 1/3 off in 4 months. Wow. This, along with EA's statement that consoles are only "40% of the game industry" (what does that mean, exactly? Total sales, revenues, use or what?) really emphasizes the sea change we're seeing in the gaming market. It'll be interesting to see what's left of traditional gaming once this all shakes out.

If it's not red and showing substantial musculature, you're wearing it wrong.
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dmegatool
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2011-07-28, 11:15

Nintendo is doing terrible. From Kotaku :
Quote:
Global DS sales are down from 3.1 million this time last year to 1.4 million this past quarter. Wii sales are down by 50% as well, from 3 million to 1.5 million sold. That would be OK if the new 3DS was doing a roaring trade, but in the past three months only 710,000 of the new handhelds have been sold. Worldwide.
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Robo
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2011-09-04, 17:00

Just in case you were worried that the delay of Kinect Star Wars (and its awesome R2D2 bundle) until 2012 would mean that there would only be five separate Xbox 360 SKUs this holiday season, have no fear! There's going to be a special Modern Warfare 3 bundle to replace it.

I don't know. I think it might be competing with the identically spec'd and priced Gears of War 3 bundle for the hearts of Xbox 360 Shoppers Who Like Tacky Grungy Consoles Based On Macho Shooter Sequels. But this is grungy grey, with a lightning bolt, while the GoW3 console is grungy red, with a skull. So maybe they're differentiated enough.

Both consoles are $399 and include a 320GB hard drive, two matching controllers featuring the new adjustable d-pad, and a copy of their respective titles.

If you don't like these bundles, there's four other SKUs, from $199 to $399, with every possible combination of "have/have not Kinect" and "have/have not 250GB hard drive." They're all matte black, now. Microsoft is phasing out the glossy ones. So there's, you know, that.

Oh, and unsolicited prediction: Next Xbox console is called "Xbox 8," announced at E3 2012, and launched holiday 2013.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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torifile
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2011-09-04, 19:23

8 years for the 360? That would be impressive.
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Robo
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2011-09-04, 20:25

Quote:
Originally Posted by torifile View Post
8 years for the 360? That would be impressive.
Yeah, that's twice as long as the active life of the original Xbox. It's pretty crazy if you think about it like that.

This generation is longer than normal for everybody: Nintendo normally releases a console every five years and this time they're going six, and Sony normally releases a console every six years and this time I think they'll go seven (meaning I'm expecting a 2013 launch for the PS4, too).

But even though the Xbox is the oldest of the current-gen consoles, and even though Microsoft announced both previous Xboxes the same year they shipped them, I don't think there's any chance of a 2012 launch for the next Xbox. Halo 4 is coming out for the Xbox 360 in 2012; they're not going to put that up against a new console. But 2013 is actually a really good year for an Xbox launch, because it's otherwise an "off year" for Microsoft: both the Halo and Gears of War series are on three-year development cycles, and that means that there will be no new installment in either series in 2013, meaning Microsoft can focus their marketing efforts almost entirely on the new console.

So Halo 4 comes out fall 2012, as a "last hurrah" for the Xbox 360 (as Halo 2 was for the original Xbox). The next Xbox launches a year later (as the Xbox 360 did), with the start of a new Gears trilogy one year after launch (as with Gears 1) and Halo 5 two years after launch (as with Halo 3). Microsoft runs these series like clockwork.

They'll announce the 2013 Xbox at E3 2012, though, because they'll want everybody to wait on buying a Wii U and buy the new Xbox instead. Plus, they won't have as much stuff for the Xbox 360 left to announce* — it'll be Halo 4's big coming out party, but that's not exactly new. And it'll be too soon to really show off a lot of the next-gen stuff. So it'll be a more platform-focused show, I think, with the next-gen Xbox hardware reveal as well as lots of talk of Windows 8's Xbox Live integration and possibly an Xbox-branded Nokia phone.

*) One Xbox 360 game I think they will announce is Kinect Star Wars 2: The Original Trilogy, for 1H 2013 release. I'm assuming they're co-developing both games back-to-back, as they did with Kinect Sports and Kinect Sports Season 2. I'm assuming this because the only reason I can think of why they would adapt the prequel trilogy first is because they were saving the more desirable trilogy for an already-in-development sequel.

An artist-specific Dance Central game, with Lady Gaga Dance Central being the obvious choice, would also make sense for holiday 2012 and would be in keeping with Harmonix's past release patterns. If this happens, expect Lady Gaga to make an appearance at Microsoft's E3 presser, because Microsoft always spends huge gobs of money on their keynote.


---

The difference between Microsoft and Sony:

Xbox 360 limited editions



PS3 Ni no Kuni limited edition

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2011-09-04, 21:36

First week DXHR sales for three platforms:

PC - 80,780
360 - 348,236
PS3 - 228,711

I'm going to be very interested in seeing the breakdowns for BF3 and MW3 later this year.
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Robo
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2011-09-04, 23:22

Quote:
Originally Posted by Eugene View Post
First week DXHR sales for three platforms:

PC - 80,780
360 - 348,236
PS3 - 228,711
For what is (let's face it) essentially a new IP to most gamers, that's not bad at all.

It's apparently going to be $35 at Toys R Us next week, but $20 price drops after two weeks on the market aren't unusual these days.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Maciej
M AH - ch ain saw
 
Join Date: May 2004
 
2011-09-05, 11:05

Eugene's post got me thinking; has anyone recently seen any article recapping the state of PC gaming? Kind of a "state of the Union" type article addressing the challenges increased console ownership poses to PC gaming? Historically has the distribution between PC & console always favored consoles? Is the PC gaming market healthy? I'm interested in these types of questions but having abandoned PC gaming sometime in high school I don't really know what the state of the industry is.

I suspect some of you guys are intimately involved in the gaming industry, and others of you seem to have great grasp of the industry from an outsider's perspective - would anyone care to share their thoughts about the future of PC gaming?

(Perhaps this type of discussion is worthy of its own thread if interest is sufficient?)

User formally known as Sh0eWax
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Robo
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2011-09-06, 06:57

More (as of yet) Japan-only special edition goodness, this time for Uncharted 3:




Note that Sony made a special edition product that wasn't just making it look grungy and splashing on a huge logo! In fact, there's no logo, just a kakhi-colored map. It's obviously not for everyone, and I think the picture of Drake's ring is out of place and unnecessary, but there's some nice details here, like the compass rose around the d-pad and the subtly recolored baltic blue of the Sony logo and Select/Start labels. It fits Uncharted without screaming UNCARTED®3: DRAKE'S DECEPTION™. Microsoft should take note.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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Eugene
careful with axes
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Hillsborough, CA
 
2011-09-06, 18:10

The PC market is healthier than its ever been thanks to console gaming. I don't have a chart handy, but the amount of money put into the industry by AAA developers has increased by the billions in the past decade.

Also it's not like traditional console makers will rule forever. The console market will eventually suffer the same fate as the PC market. Services like OnLive have proven that hardware doesn't really matter anymore. Eventually (sooner than we think) most games will be played on generic boxes running within a common operating environment.
  quote
Robo
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Join Date: Jul 2004
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2011-09-07, 01:40

Well, the good news for Nintendo is that they're getting Monster Hunter Tri G for the 3DS, which is a significant exclusive.

The neutral news — and the reason this is in the hardware thread — is because to make it work on the 3DS (the original Tri was a Wii Classic Controller game, after all), they're making a special 3DS cradle that adds a second analog stick, extra shoulder buttons, and a lot of thickness to the 3DS.

There's no reason to assume that this cradle is anything other than an accessory for one game, like countless DS lite add-ons before it. But the bad news is that people on NeoGAF are freaking out, acting like a redesign of the system to incorporate the extra features is somehow inevitable, talking about how Nintendo betrayed early adopters and posting threads like "WILL THE 3DS GET CAPACITIVE SCREENS IN THE RELAUNCH?!?!" NeoGAF overreacting to things is hardly new, but it's rare for the entire forum to enter full-on carnival of stupid territory.

This is largely due to...

Off-topic (click to toggle):
...01net, a French rumor site that rose to notoriety by correctly predicting the Wii U's unique controller (they got info the from the also-French Ubisoft). They recently ran a feature in which they would leak new Nintendo inside information every day for a week, and one of the things they leaked was a "second stick" attachment (with no shoulder buttons) for the 3DS. They claimed it would be a "clip" that stuck onto the bottom right corner of the 3DS, rather than a cradle, and they claimed it would be required for not one but many future games, and would be as such would be sold separately for $10 (as opposed to being bundled with Monster Hunter) and then eventually built into a redesigned unit. The reason 01net gave for Nintendo making the clip/cradle were different too—rather than making a cradle to allow play of one popular Wii Classic Controller game, 01net claimed that Nintendo wanted to do a do-over because they felt threatened by the PS Vita. In fact, 01net's "leak" suggests, Nintendo is preparing to relaunch the system entirely—with a new name!

Needless to say, 01net's "leak" doesn't quite seem to match up with reality, but because they predicted a second stick attachment and the 3DS is getting a second stick attachment, people are now acting like everything 01net "leaked" is absolute truth, and they're ignoring all the parts that don't fit reality, such as the nature of the attachment, its purpose, and how it is going to be sold.

What's worse is that people are now assuming that all the other leaks 01net posted in that "week of scoops" are true. And those leaks are even more suspect than the rebranding/relaunch one. Most notably, they claim that Satoru Iwata is on an "ejector seat" and that the board was trying to oust him. Most doubted that 01net, which has never been shown to have any sources inside Nintendo, would have a source high up enough within the organization to be aware of any organized plot to oust the CEO. But apparently that's now "proven" to be absolute truth!

Their other "leaks" included the scoop that Nintendo's critically acclaimed Super Mario Galaxy series was (shocker!) based on a purchased prototype, as if all Nintendo did was slap in Mario and take all the credit. It just came across as mud-slinging and sort of unaware of how game design works. Also, the day after Jobs left Apple, 01net's "leak" just happened to be a rant about how Nintendo can't compete with Apple. It didn't leak any new information at all. Was the whole week of leaks trolling for hits and/or publicity for an 01net editor's book about, you guessed it, the inside story of Nintendo? I report, you decide.

But everyone's acting like their 100% accurate now, because of the second-stick attachment thing, even though what 01net predicted was totally different from what actually happened. Predicting that Nintendo will make a cradle for one popular game is completely different from saying that Nintendo will make a second-stick clip that's designed for Vita feature parity and will be a major part of the console's strategy going forward, including a redesign, relaunch and rebranding.

The worst part is that Monster Hunter Tri G, an enhanced re-release of the Wii's Monster Hunter Tri, was already heavily rumored at the time of 01net's article. The Monster Hunter series is popular enough in Japan to warrant special hardware (the Classic Controller "Pro" was made for—and bundled with—Monster Hunter Tri), the single-stick PSP installments had infamously poor controls, and the 3DS would need expanded control options to support any port of the Wii game. Taking this into account, a special cradle for Monster Hunter Tri G isn't that surprising at all.
Off-topic part summarized: A hack site took a fairly obviously true rumor, still got a bunch of details wrong, added a whole bunch of crazy, and now everybody is acting like all the crazy far-out parts are true because they got the obviously-true part right. Even though they really didn't!*

*) The clip they described couldn't possibly contain additional shoulder buttons, like the real cradle does. Due to its thickness, I also wouldn't be very surprised if it also soon comes to light that the cradle contains an extended-life battery, another fact that would be impossible to square with 01net's leak of a small clip. (Battery life is the chief criticism of the 3DS hardware and Monster Hunter players are very hardcore; the special Monster Hunter PSP also came with an extended-life battery.) Whoa, did I just make a not-that-bold prediction? I guess I get to claim all sorts of crazy stuff now, which will all be proven true if the cradle has a battery!

There's still no factual support for 01net's much larger claims of an upcoming 3DS relaunch/redesign/rebranding, so my own prediction hasn't changed at all: the only "redesign" in the near future will be the addition of a 3DS XL model, likely toward the end of Q1 2012. If this model includes the newer lenticular 3D screen technology, it's possible Nintendo will also release a CTR-101 model of the existing 3DS featuring the same tech, but this would mainly be a cost-cutting measure: by using the newer screen they can use much weaker backlighting, extending the battery life of the unit as a result. This would potentially enable them to remove the charging dock from the package, greatly reducing the size of the box. (It's worth noting that the current 3DS package, with its included dock and metal stylus, was conceived as a $249 product; now that it's $169 there may be some cutting to do.)


Anyway, here's a picture of the cradle/grip/thing. I'm not sure if magazine scans are "legal" on AppleNova, so if the thought of seeing a picture of a page of an only-available-in-Japan magazine offends you, don't click this:

Spoiler (click to toggle):

don't ban me plz
Spoiler alert: It's fugly. (via the excellent Siliconera)

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong

Last edited by Robo : 2011-09-07 at 02:12. Reason: added picture
  quote
dmegatool
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2011-09-07, 08:48

I was coming just to post about this. Nintendo just lost it... Seriously. That reinforce my idea that they got lucky with the wii and the DS. It's like if all common sense is gone in that company.
  quote
Wyatt
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2011-09-07, 08:56

Yeah, Nintendo's gone insane. They're done, in my book. The Wii is the last Nintendo product I'll ever buy, and I don't even use it.
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bassplayinMacFiend
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Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2011-09-07, 09:27

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wyatt View Post
Yeah, Nintendo's gone insane. They're done, in my book. The Wii is the last Nintendo product I'll ever buy, and I don't even use it.
Agree. bought my son a Wii for Xmas last year and he's shown no interest in it. The only time it gets used is if one of his friends brings over a Wii game (rare).

In other news, if I was still heavily into PC gaming like I was in the 90s I'd definitely take a look at this beast:



The Razer Blade, less than an inch thick gaming laptop with i7 2.8GHz and some super duper video card. One of the coolest parts though is the LCD display/trackpad and button setup on the righthand side of the keyboard.
  quote
Robo
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2011-09-07, 09:53

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wyatt View Post
Yeah, Nintendo's gone insane.
Nintendo's always been insane. If anything, their problem of late is they they haven't been insane enough; they're largely doing the same things that worked for the DS and Wii even though those things worked (in part) because nobody had done them before.

From 2005 to 2008, Nintendo was making a bunch of new games. Brain Age. Nintendogs. Wii Sports. Wii Fit. Even New Super Mario Bros. sort of counts. These were the series that reached new gamers, especially in Japan. But then they stopped. Rather than continuing to make new series they started making sequels to these breakout hits, but these sequels didn't expand the audience the same way there predecessors did.

They have to find their next Nintendogs or Wii Sports. It's not going to be Nintendogs + Cats or Wii U Sports. It'll be something new.

The way things are now, it looks like DS : 3DS :: NES : SNES. The NES made all the tropes and the SNES refined them. And that's great, but the SNES didn't sell as well as the NES. It was in a fierce rivalry with the Genesis/Mega Drive in the West and the PC Engine in Japan, just as the 3DS looks to be in a fierce rivalry with the PS Vita, at least in Japan. The "console war" is back, and competition is always good for gamers.

So yes, the grip/cradle thing is fugly. But the 3DS getting the next Monster Hunter is a huge coup--it would be like if the PS Vita got Pokémon, somehow. It's the type of thing that wouldn't happen if you didn't have two companies who were willing to do anything to succeed.

It's an exciting time to be a gamer.

Sony has seemingly unlearned a lot of the "lessons" they learned with the PS3, so that's nice. The PS Vita is supposed to be easy and cheap to develop for, and that matters, especially in Japan (it's the reason portable gaming overtook consoles there). But I'm not sure if Sony is as hungry. Just look at the PS3 and 360.

It'll be an interesting holiday to watch.
  quote
bassplayinMacFiend
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Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2011-09-07, 10:11

Robo,

Commenting on your PS3/360 comment, I find myself more and more willing to buy non-exclusive titles on the PS3 simply because new 360 games are going to multiple discs due to storage limitations. I hate being told "Please insert disc x to continue".

If I had known LA Noire was 3 discs for the 360 I would've sacrificed the epeen points and snagged the PS3 version.
  quote
Robo
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2011-09-07, 10:26

Oh, no doubt. I prefer the PS3's hardware (Blu-ray!), even though it's more limited than the 360 in some ways (RAM!).

But Microsoft has been way more aggressive in courting exclusives. It's not PlayStation Move Star Wars.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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dmegatool
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2011-09-07, 10:29

Seems like a lot of games are going multi disc on the 360 lately. Surprising we didn't see that much until now. But it's definitely a trend or something. Rumors pointed that Battlefield 3 is a 2 discs game... shame if it's true.

Dave Mustaine :"God created whammy bars for people who don't know how to solo."
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dmegatool
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2011-09-07, 10:32

Quote:
Originally Posted by Robo View Post
But Microsoft has been way more aggressive in courting exclusives. It's not PlayStation Move Star Wars.
I don't miss a lot of 360 exclusives. The only one I would really like to play is Aban Hawkins And The Thousand Spikes... Live market title. If you never heard of it, check it out.

Dave Mustaine :"God created whammy bars for people who don't know how to solo."
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bassplayinMacFiend
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Join Date: Jun 2004
 
2011-09-07, 10:42

Quote:
Originally Posted by dmegatool View Post
Seems like a lot of games are going multi disc on the 360 lately. Surprising we didn't see that much until now. But it's definitely a trend or something. Rumors pointed that Battlefield 3 is a 2 discs game... shame if it's true.
Not a rumor, it is happening: http://gamer.blorge.com/2011/09/07/i...-deal-breaker/
  quote
Xaqtly
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Join Date: May 2004
 
2011-09-07, 13:34

Yeah... I'm not really playing my Wii any more. Nintendo has really gone downhill since the gamecube, which IMO was still a pretty good system. But the N64 was just about the best of all.

Right now in my living room I have my PS3 and N64 hooked up to my TV, but not my Wii. That's sort of telling.
  quote
Mugge
Thunderbolt, fuck yeah!
 
Join Date: Jan 2005
Location: Denmark
 
2011-09-07, 14:30

Quote:
Originally Posted by bassplayinMacFiend View Post
(...)

The Razer Blade, less than an inch thick gaming laptop with i7 2.8GHz and some super duper video card. One of the coolest parts though is the LCD display/trackpad and button setup on the righthand side of the keyboard.
Very nice indeed. If only the other PC manufacturers had the same gusto then perhaps they wouldn't all be bugging out of the personal computer business. Razer really deserves some sweet sales for that machine.

  quote
Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
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Join Date: Jul 2004
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2011-09-07, 19:14

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mugge View Post
Very nice indeed. If only the other PC manufacturers had the same gusto then perhaps they wouldn't all be bugging out of the personal computer business. Razer really deserves some sweet sales for that machine.
Agreed. I'm not sure if they'll get "sweet sales" at $2,799, but they actually tried to compete with Apple on design, and that deserves to be rewarded. Apple neds a Nikon, &c.

The problem with any potential Apple-rivals is that Apple has been for so long the only computer maker to take design seriously that everybody is loyal to them. (This was probably what doomed the Zune HD and webOS — the market for people who prioritize a well-designed experience but don't want an Apple product is pretty small.) There's also the issue of operating system. But I think Razer is smart to be targeting the Blade at gamers—they're a group that wants Windows, even if they feel OS X is better designed, because Windows is where the games are. Gamers have also been shown to be willing to pay a premium for high-end gear and bragging rights.

I really liked Razer's Switchblade concept from CES — it's basically an 11" version of the Blade, and the entire keyboard has screen-keys. I suppose that the Blade is the sort of the final product of that concept, but I think it'd be a shame if we never saw a more compact Blade with a full screen-board.

As it is, it goes totally my minimalist tendencies, but I actually sort of like the 11" Alienware. *shame* It's compact for a gaming machine, and there's a part of me that would like being able to make my keyboard and speaker grilles grow a bunch of crazy colors.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
  quote
Wrao
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Location: Road Warrior
 
2011-09-07, 20:09

I keep getting tempted to pick up a 3DS + game used for ~$160 on craigslist, it seems like these sorts of 'deals' keep appearing as people bought the thing excitedly only to quickly realize they really didn't care for it(or they beat Zelda and got bored).

But then I realize... that'll probably happen to me too.

Ocarina 3D *is* really awesome when you get the 3D working just right, it does an exemplary job of recapturing at least some of the, for lack of a better word, sense of magic that the original game had when I was 12. But beyond that, none of the other available games look all that great. Mario Kart will probably be fun, Mario Land will probably be fun. Starfox will be fun if you have a couple of friends to play against. If a Final Fantasy VI remake was announced I'd be all over it. But beyond that, it is hard to imagine this system becoming too prolific or receiving of too many interesting games.
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Robo
Formerly Roboman, still
awesome
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Portland, OR
 
2011-09-07, 21:24

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao View Post
Ocarina 3D *is* really awesome when you get the 3D working just right, it does an exemplary job of recapturing at least some of the, for lack of a better word, sense of magic that the original game had when I was 12..
I agree completely. It gives the game a real sense of, idunno, space? Like, the 3D makes it feel more like you're actually in a real world. It's not like "stuff is flying out if the screen at you" like most 3D movies try to be, it's more subtle than that, but I really like it. Every once in a while I'll turn the effect off, and it just seems like it's missing something without it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Wrao
But beyond that, it is hard to imagine this system becoming too prolific or receiving of too many interesting games.
I have three 3DS games: OoT, nintendogs + cats, and Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Survivor Overclocked. I have one more on pre-order, the 3D rerelease of Tales of the Abyss. I'm not really worried about there being a lack of content in the future, what with tons of support from Square Enix (Theatrythm Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts 3D, even a new Chocobo Racing) and Level-5 (Professor Layton 5, Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright, Fantasy Life, Time Travelers, Inazuma Eleven Go...). And, of course, Nintendo. And Capcom, with Monster Hunter Tri G.

And there's no reason to think that Square Enix's series of 3D Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest remakes won't continue on the 3DS. Actually, heavily rumored right now is a sequel to Final Fantasy: The 4 Heroes of Light, which would make a lot of people happy.

Obviously, all that is stuff that's coming in the future. Like any new platform, there's not a huge amount of stuff out now (note to Nintendo: don't release systems in fucking February). But I think all the "3DS am doomed" talk will look pretty stupid after this holiday season. People are comparing it to the DS when it was at its peak, but the first months of the original DS's life were even worse for software (and if you discount the bump of its first holiday season, even worse for hardware sales, too).

Nintendo did everything wrong with regards to the launch timing, pricing, and advertising, and they've still sold over five million* of the things without a holiday season and without much software on the market. Microsoft sold six million Xbox 360s in their first year on the market. XBOX 360 AM BOMBA, amirite? (Microsoft wanted a ten million unit lead by the time the PS3 launched in all territories. They didn't get it, but I think Nintendo will by the time the PS Vita launches in all territories.)

People were expecting the 3DS to do "DS 2007" numbers at launch. But people buy systems for games, and no console launches with three years' worth of hits. The 3DS is doing "DS 2005" numbers, actually a bit better. And the DS exploded at holiday 2005.

Every system walks before it can run. The only exception has been the Wii, and that petered out halfway through the generation. Motion controls weren't a fad, but the Wii sort of...was.

*) Not including any Western sales in August — you know, the month of the huge price drop — so the real total is obviously higher. Expect Nintendo to trot out more accurate numbers at their 9/13 presser.

and i guess i've known it all along / the truth is, you have to be soft to be strong
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