Quote: "Is that why Sony are intending to make PS3 Online-ready from the get-go? I don't think so."
It has a network connection. Whoopdi-freaking-do.
So does the X-Box, and GameCube.
Quote: "Is that also why PS2 currently have the largest online community of any Next-Gen console"
Wrong. The X-Box does. Why? Because it has X-Box Live! which makes getting online easier, quicker and more community based.
I don't play any games online on my PS2, I don't know anyone else who does either. Further more the Playstation 2 DOES NOT have the largest online game collection. The X-Box does.
Over 3/4 of the titles released with Multiplayer Options are X-Box Live! Compatible. This is roughly half of the entire X-Box catalog currently on the market.
What are Sony doing to correct this issue? Nothing. There are no enhancements to SonyOnline or PlayOnline. Even Final Fantasy XI Online, is being remade for the X-Box 360 because of the Live! support but there will be no Playstation 3 version.
Microsoft and Nintendo are making sure to provide an online community not just support.
Quote: "In other words, milking the company mascot for all he's worth."
No, it's an identifiable character. There is a difference between Milking a Character (aka Lara Croft) and using them in order to provide a base with which to create a new game.
Pokémon on the other hand IS being milked. If you want a target to attack, then attack the right one numbnuts.
Quote: "Correction: Sony still haven't learn this industry used to belong to Nintendo."
From where I sit, while the GameCube might only own 25% of the overall market share with X-Box. If you include the bigger picture to include handhelds then Nintendo happen to be out-performing everyone else with technology that is over 2 decades old.
Not to mention they've sold over 4x more Nintendo DS, than the PSP.. which puts them at roughly the same number of DS sold world wide as GameCube. After only 12months.
Yeah, I'm so sure that Sony obviously stole the crown.
Quote: "Regarding the whole " Which console is lightest" thing, The slimline PS2 was released because fans didn't like the bulkiness of the machine. I mean, The Gamecube might as well be called the GameBrick, and I could stick two Xboxs on the end of a bar and go olympic weight-training with it."
The Playstation 2 Slim, which was originally the Playstation X. Has nothing to do with the fans what so ever. Only Sony can rerelease the exact same hardware 5years on, using new prefrabrication techniques to retail for the same damn cost. And everyone feels it's some monumental break-through.
The GameCube weight the same is not lighter than the PS2-Slim, which I'm wondering actually. Where's the MultiMedia Control Promised? Where's the DVD-R Promised? Where's the built-in HDD Promised? Well?
They all disappeared along with the promised Playstation X. It's all about hype as far as the consumers are conserned and Sony are simply the best hype mongers right now. Hype is a funny thing though, sometimes it can work in your favour (Half-Life 2) and other times it can totally screw you over (Doom 3).
Quote: "My guess is, the reason for this is that, as you yourself stated, the console was newly-released, and as such, didn't have enough time to secure advertising and whathaveyou. Also, your making it sound as thought it's a brand-new machine, when in fact it was basically a request from the general public."
No, Sony's sales are most due to the fact that almost everyone's Playstation 2 died. We needed new machines capable of actually playing games. This wasn't something that affected just me, because you just go back to over Christmas and you'll see a number of posts from people who were bitching about thier PS2's recently dying.
I wouldn't be surprised if half the number sold were to previous Playstation 2 owners who needed to buy new hardware because Sony wanted to charge them for repairs.
Quote: "Notice that this has nothing whatsoever to do with Gamecube, obviously meaning that Gamecube did the worst in terms of popularity over Crimbo 2004."
I don't care how popular the GameCube is, I know from the perspective of you Sony freaks that it's considered a minor console despite the fact that it's actually head-to-head with the X-Box still.
I'm just pointing out that Microsoft were capable of delivering what the consumers wanted. Sony couldn't.
Quote: "It seems that a few people has got this misunderstood, predetermined misconception that PS2 and Sony focus mainly on graphics. This is not at all true, and I can say this as a Sony fan and as a not-bothered-which-one-is-best-person. Of course, I am not a not-bothered-which-one-is-best-person, but you know what I mean."
Soul Calibur, the game that let me think. Now which Console did that game originally appear on? Oh wait it's on the tip of my tounge.
No doubt Capcom (the lying cheating backstabbing bastards they are) would say the entire reason for Resident Evil 4 being developed for the Playstation 2 was "for the fans". Yes it makes for a very nice Sony Fanboy feel good peice. Doesn't make it true.
And this quote:
Quote: "...I feel that it's not really about the specifications of the hardware, it's more what your game is about - what's your motif, what's your theme? As such, like I mentioned earlier, it's more of a player-led development. We'll look at how they react to new hardware and react accordingly"
That's just thier pleasent way of trying to say "The Playstation 2 was limiting us!". In-fact an earlier quote:
Quote: "At the time, we felt that we really had reached the limits of the PS2's hardware specification, so we were faced with two challenges: improving Soulcalibur III further from that point technically, and making it more extensive in terms of the content."
Says it all doesn't it. Especially as another comment makes mention that some things had to be sacified because of it being multiplatform. Yet there is no mention of the X-Box or GameCube being "limiting" the potencial. As the current screenshots of Soul Caliber III clearly show, obviously the other machines were NOT the source of the limitations.
By remaining purely on the Playstation 2 this time, quite frankly is destroying the Fanbase that has been built on the X-Box who don't have many good fighting games, and the GameCube where thier largest fanbase since the demise of Sega's Dreamcast are.
If that's listening to thier fans then obviously they're ignoring over half of them.
Quote: "Which is, quite possibly, the reason why the Gamecube is losing out on sales right now."
Right now total world units sold (according to DPS) is
Sony Playstation 2 (Slim) 68million Units
Microsoft X-Box 31million Units
Nintendo GameCube 30million Units
To me that's hardly a huge game. What's more you take Asia out of the equasion, the scores change drastically.
PS2 - 38million
XB - 22million
GC - 20million
This might seem like a huge amount of sales, but at the end of the day Sony and Microsoft are still making an overall loss on thier hardware which is only made back through the games themselves, which need to constantly be advertised.
Nintendo might be at the bottom of the heap in overall sales, point is they're the ones who are currently making the most money. That's just for the GameCube.
Quote: "Forget all this Graphical Mumbo-Jumbo you were spouting earlier, the way I see it - The gamecube is least popular because it has no multimedia support, and, it's sole purpose
- games - is wasted because, to be quite frank, it has none. "
Really? See now this is the thing isn't it. Because I see a huge selection of games I want to buy on the GameCube... too many for me to own them all. For the Playstation 2 I have less than 20 games, all of which I really wanted but the end results of those games weren't what I'd hoped for, more over I'm not sitting here thinking "OMG I MUST HAVE THIS!" with any current PS2 game in development. I haven't felt that way for over a year.
Recently got God of War. Before that I got Killzone. They're alright, best games on the PS2 certainly. Once I completed them though, I've not really had the urge to replay them. £45 for games that will probably forever more sit on my shelf.
Yet, I go back and replay all of my Nintendo and quite a few of my X-Box games. I don't use my PS2 for DVD, I either use my X-Box which has Surround Sound built-in.. or I go downstairs.
So lets see... I have a much smaller PS2 library than GC, I don't really replay any of those games. Oh but the PS2 does have a bigger library of overall games. What the hell is the point in a larger library of crap games.
Put simple most of the best PS2 games have been multiplatform with the X-Box or PS2. X-Box offers better graphics, as does the GameCube. GameCube is cheaper by £10. It's not exactly a hard choice in my mind.
Quote: "(or any of any value, at least). Basically it is a machine with no valid reason of being, exept of course to please Ninty and it's sad little fans."
This is obviously comming from someone who has never played on a GameCube and believes in the Sony press that it's a "non-issue". God you know what, I hope to hell Nintendo provide Sony with the stern cold wake-up call to what this industry should be about.
The games. They have the most inventive library of games and developers providing the largest selection of variety you could ever ask for. Often providing them with the loveable heros that many of us (obviously not you) but those of us who weren't still in diapers 10years ago and seem to believe that Sony created the gaming industry, remember in the landmark games of the industry.
Obviously you really prefer the whole, Jak vs Rachet arguement... despite the obvious fact that they're identical sodding games. Or maybe you want a war-sim. I mean the choices are amazing... It's like Battlefield 1942, or Medal of Honor, or or I know some other generic WW2 FPS.
You know why the PC Gaming Industry seems to marvel whenever companies like id or valve make a new game? Because they're the best? No, it's pretty much because we hope for some god damn innovation that hasn't happened in over a decade.
Half-Life 2 is amazing with it's graphics but in the end your still running around mindlessly shooting with some minor character interaction. That for us is AWESOME, cause we have [censored] all else. Console developers could do so damn much more. They have more resources to provide more graphical bang for your buck. Everyone is guarenteed to have much larger storage than CD-Rom, so they can fit more media into a game. They can stream everything so you don't have to worry about loading times.
What do they do with this innovation? Repacked exactly what you've played 1000x before and try to tell you it's new.
I'm trying so hard to think of a game for the Playstation 2 which actually innovated anything. I can't think of one. Best I can think of is Final Fantasy with it's battle system. Then again everything else about the game remains identical.
Resident Evil on the Playstation 2, again nothing really changed.
How about Jak... what changed from game to game? Not a whole hell of a lot. 3 games the exact same damn thing over and over again.
You look at the GameCube variations.
Crystal Chronicles was one of the most innovative examples of how an RPG can grow and become multiplayer I've ever seen. It looks gorgeous and plays fantastically. You don't do the generic leveling up you'd do in other games, it's all about the story and the closely knitt game areas.
Resident Evil 4 transformed the games to a whole new level. Even the Remake and Zero games provided new things to the game.. made them feel more involved and closer to the player. They didn't just remake the game they provided a new take on the story while being true to the original. That in itself is a hard task.
The closest thing to Jak on the GC is Mario. Yes underneath it will a very similar game to the N64 version, the improvements of physics, puzzles and design. Provided it with one hell of a worthy upgrade from Mario64.
Quote: "Huh, that's a laugh. Don't blame Nintendo's Failures on the developers, it just makes you look like a hyped-up fanboy."
Sales would suggest Nintendo are quite happily keeping up with the competition. I don't see them being a failiar.
I do however blame developers/publishers for not developing enough games for it, particularly multiplatform games.
Best example I know of right now is Tomb Raider Legend.
Developed for the PC, XB, XB360, and PS2. Where the hell is the GameCube version? Your going to try and tell me it's Nintendo's fault that Eidos and Crystal Dynamics aren't developing a GameCube version?
That would be bullcrap and you know it. But you Sonytards reveal in the whole fact that because the PS2 has sold enough units they're supported. X-Box is supported simply because it's a PC. Where does that leave Nintendo? It leaves them with just as few games, so Nintendo work thier asses off to provide thier gamers with enough variety in thier own games to compensate.
Quote: "You obviously haven't researched hard enough. This may be a new idea to you, but why don't you check out PS2's website? You never know, you might learn something new."
Well let's see, in the past few months I've provided a technical overview and debate on the hardware. Covered the facts of what each company has provided in terms of the information realised.
And yes I visit the Sony website. Far more than what any adverage gamer will be doing. You know what I've found? Sony constantly pushing the fact that thier system will be far more graphically capable. Every review, every interview, every new video.
Created with the illusion that your gaming hardware will actually be capable of what they're promising. When the current fact is thier processor is almost equal speed to the X-Box 360 in real-life situations. What's more the graphical potencial of the system will only provide better performance in a handful of situations, and you will not be able to play all games in HD mode.
Oh and if you fancy boasting over the PC performance. While sure the RSX can outperform the G70 in performance tests, the CPU and system bottlenecks this performance. Combine this with the fact that the Cell processor is actually capable of 1/2 the performance of an Athlon64 3.2GHz or Pentium D 3.2GHz... if that.
Well sure it'll achieve slightly better performance than the X-Box 360, but really no it's not going to be able to push Killzone 2.
Technically to achieve that level of graphics will be impossible, in-fact running Unreal 3 and Gear of War will probably push both machines pretty much to thier limits.
At the moment both Sony and Microsoft are in a pissing contest with thier cards out on the table to wow the punters.
The GameCube as a peice of hardware isn't weak. Far from it.
As far as the titles available go, again it isn't exactly struggling for awesome games.
I say bring on the PS3, cause with Itowa now at the helm. I firmly believe that Nintendo are changing, internally and externally.