The creator of Mega Man game series and the new game Lost Planet on the 360 has announced that he’s is making a new game for the Wii. Unluckily nothing else has been revealed about the game.
Well doesn’t seem like there is going to be a Lost Planet 2 for 360. But it’s good to see some more support from Capcom. Capcom has been one of the companies that’s been hush with the Wii only announcing a few titles. Maybe we’ll see some support soon now that Wii had an amazing launch.
Zucas
Yea I’m a little late on the punch for this one and December sales for America should be released sometime next week but hey here’s November. I did say that I’d give both but only for hardware. I’ll just give VGCharts for software as I have a lot more and better list from them. So relate the software back to VGCharts numbers not NPD’s.
Console/This Month/Total- VG Charts
DS 1,037,500/8,497,000
PS2 783,500/41,871,000
GBA 759,500/39,158,500
X360 567,500/3,775,500
Wii 547,500/547,500
PSP 465,500/6,460,500
PS3 226,000/226,000
GC 82,500/12,318,000
XB 5,000/15,887,500
Console/This Month- NPD
NDS – 918,000
PS2 – 664,000
GBA – 641,000
360 – 511,000
Wii – 476,000
PSP – 412,000
PS3 – 197,000
Not a real significat difference but as you can see VGCharts seem to run slightly higher than NPD’s. Whichever you go buy it still has same places. Anyways DS owned this month topping at 1 million. While followed up by the still hot PS2 not hindered by the next gen consoles. And GBA is still completely raping the PSP. Poor PSP. While Wii and 360 fight for the top as top selling next gen console but because of shortages 360 barely gets the edge. While PSP has a boost but still not enough to half NDS or touch GBA. While PS3 rounds it out at 200,000 due to shortages. Onto software which remember is from VGCharts.
Rank/Platform/Game/This Week/Total
1. 360 Gears of War – 1,126,500/ 1,126,500
2. PS2 Final Fantasy XII- 1,026,000/ 1,026,000
3. PS2 Guitar Hero II- 570,500/ 570,500
4. Wii LoZ: Twilight Princess – 461,500/ 461,500
5. DS Nintendogs- 433,500/ 3,262,000
6. PS2 WWE S vs R 2007- 398,500/ 398,500
7. 360 Call of Duty 3- 376,000/ 376,000
8. PS2 Need For Speed: Carbon- 349,500/ 349,500
9. PS2 Madden NFL 07- 286,500/ 2,371,500
10. DS Pokemon Ranger- 233,500/ 233,500
Alot of new titles made the list namely Gears which topped the charts. Though suprisingly did not sell a lot of hardware with it. Weird eh. Guess all who had the console were going to get the game. FFXII just barely gets beat out while Guitar Hero and Zelda: TP have a huge opening month. Nintendogs trio continues to sell like a beast passing the 3 million mark now in America. COD3 360 version has a really good 1st week also.
But do take notice that Zelda: TP was bought by almost all buyers of the Wii in America. That was an 85% buy rating of the game. Nothing short of amazing. Lot of big titles released in November so big sales were sure to come. I expect almost all these titles to beat them sales out in November. Hardware will also be great month. Sales next month are going to be amazing so be sure to tune in for that. By the way if you ever have any software you want to look up that isn’t shown here check out VGCharts site. It has some great software round ups in there.
Zucas
From here on out I’m going to try to post sales from 2 different sources. For Japan those would be from Media Create and VGCharts. Both are very respectful in their areas and I feel both should be shown. Both have very similar numbers but still slightly different. Unluckily today I will jsut show VGCharts numbers. Remember you can check VGCharts out here for all there wonderful sales numbers:
So as always let’s start with hardware:
Console/This Week/Total
DS- 324,500- 13,435,750
Wii- 100,500- 572,500
PS3- 72,500- 319,000
PSP- 51,500- 4,538,000
PS2- 42,250- 21,748,250
X360- 18,000- 250,500
GBA- 3,750- 16,634,250
GC- 1,250- 4,013,500
Alright as you can see DS took another week with amazing sales in December as it always does. And just last week it topped over 13 million in Japan after just 2 years. It’s on a role to pass the PS2 very quickly. Many think it could do it easily this time next year. Also it’ll have no problem passing GBA this year which’ll die out just under 17 million in Japan. After that DS has only one more to pass and that’s the original Gameboy which topped out at over 31 million in Japan alone. But to pass the best selling gaming hardware ever will take a beastly amount of sales. Anyways Wii took 2nd once again and has passed the 500,000 limit. The goal for Wii sales at the end of the year in Japan was 1 million. Would be quite impressive if they can hit that number but odds are they want. Just too many shortages. PS3 on the other hand is starting to finally pick up on shipments in Japan and pick up sales each week. Look like it’s going to be all out war in Japan with the PS3 and Wii. Will it turn out DS vs PSP style or GC vs PS2. We’ll find out.
PSP jumped and so did PS2 yet they are still quite low for this time. GBA and GC jumped with it’s small numbers and 360 significantly dropped without a big release. 18,000 at this time is quite sad. If anyone does think that 360 is doing quite well in it’s 1st year out in Japan do take note. After a year released in Japan for the original Xbox it had sold 336,000 units. 360 is actually doing worse. And just as you thought MS could get your hopes up in Japan actual data crushes it like a bug. Anyways on to sales:
#/Game/Platform/This Week/Total
1. Pokemon Diamond / Pearl DS 225,500-3,970,250
2. Rockman Star Force DS 106,750-106,750
3. Kirby Squeak Squad DS 96,750-577,250
4. Shiren Mysterious Dungeon DS DS 89,000-89,000
5. New Super Mario Bros DS 81,750-3,763,000
6. Jump Ultimate Stars DS 73,500-362,000
7. Love and Berry DS Collection DS 73,500-615,500
8. Wii Sports Wii 72,000-328,250
9. Common Knowledge Training DS 71,500-852,250
10. Wild Arms 5 PS2 70,500-70,500
As you can see DS ownage throughout the charts taking 8 spots. The lone not Nintendo platform game goes to Wild Arms while the lone next gen title is in Wii Sports which climbs to amazing sales looking at Wii hardware sales thus far in Japan. Other sales in clude #11 which was Pokemon Battle Revolution which took in 69,750 in it’s 1st week. Wii Play also sold well this week at #13 and has sold 310,000 total in Japan thus far. Zelda: TP went all the way back to #30 but still strong sales overall with 205,000 copies sold in Japan.
The supposed hit X360 title Blue Dragon fell all the way back to #41 only saling 15,500 in it’s 2nd week to give it 88,750 units sold total in the country. The PS3 entered the charts with Motorstorm in it’s 1st week at #32 and got in 21,250 in sales.
Overall in Japan it seems to be nothing but handhelds and Nintendo that sales. If you look at publisher totals Nintendo is always on top in Japan with large leads over the rest. Also NIntendo handhelds are the new thing as it’s even hotter than the playstation brand. And right now the only next gen console saling hardware and software wise seems to be the Wii. Although PS3 is trying to keep up Nintendo could run away with this if all goes according to play. With 360 already out of it and Sony struggling with shipments it could be nothing but Nintendo in Japan for quite awhile in handheld and console.
Zucas
It’s not confirmed but seems like a reasonable boxart for the game. I like it. I haven’t bought a Mario Party game since #4 but maybe I’ll buy this one.
Zucas
Well we all know of the Wii’s technical capabilities by now. And that the full next gen games that are soley being designed for graphics just won’t work on the Wii. But that’s not stopping the hot, fiery new console from still getting the big titles. EA is bringing it’s popular WWII franchise to the Wii and PS2. Here’s a few screens and IGN’s description on the game:
Vanguard drops you into the boots of Frank Keegan, Corporal of the 82nd Airborne Division. Players can expect classic, FPS gameplay in a WWII setting with the addition of a control scheme tailored to the Wii.
“Medal of Honor Vanguard features a strong storyline told in classic MOH fashion,” explained Matt Sentell, Senior Producer at EA Los Angeles. “We are really excited to offer this game both on the PS2 and Wii, which will allow fans to experience MOH in a completely new way.”
Medal of Honor is definetly my favorite so far in the WWII genre so glad to see it coming. Though I’m also hoping for a Brothers in Arms Wii game to come along. And with all the competing WWII games on the Wii Gearbox would be foolish to not jump into that competition. And just a quite note the Wii may be underpowered but I personally believe when devs start using the hardware specifically for the Wii and no ports I think some beautiful Wii games can definetly be made. Red Steel was definetly a start showing how good the graphics can be but I think the Wii can exceed the Xbox by alot and really make some beautiful games.
Zucas
According to Codename Revolution Driver: Parallel Lines will be porting over to the Wii in March of 2007. The game was released earlier this year on the PS2 and Xbox. Here’s the boxart:
The game is obviously made by Atari. The game receieved decent reviews from sites such as IGN and should make a good edition to the Wii 2007 lineup. This also gives the Wii another M rated game giving the Wii a still very unique and diverse lineup. Although ports of PS2 games to the Wii are getting kinda annoying it still does keep the lineup very diverse and varying. Giving us lots of titles from different genres and for different age groups. The Wii lineup is looking very strong throughout the entire year of 2007 and let’s hope to see more games popup especially exclusive to Wii.
Zucas
Hey guys. Long time no see. I’m definetly going to try to get the blog back up and running. How? I really don’t know. But until I figure that out here’s to a Merry Christmas. Enjoy this lovely pic of our favorite gaming gir, Zelda who would also like to wish you a Merry Christmas haha.
So from all of us at Gamer’s Paradise have a Happy Holidays.
Zucas
When I first saw this trailer, it blew my mind away. This commercial does everything it’s supposed to, to capture the audience. It draw my attention with the kids talking and then the Intense action got me hooked. If you pay close attention you can see that Master Cheif awakens after being tossed about in a Warthog. I think this is how he gets his armor scratched up as shown in the first commercial.
It seems the hackers are having a field day with the PS3, first putting PS3 games on their HDDs and playing them… and now creating an automated and FREE program to steal any PS3 game you want. Just make sure you buy big external HDDs :).
It seems some clever hackers have found a very simple way to steal PS3 games, using a simple command via the Linux OS that puts the games content on the PS3 HDD and makes it “stealable” and able to be moved from the PS3’s HDD to a computer or any other storage device. These hackers have already stolen games suck as Resistance and Madden, and are working on ways to copy this information onto BD discs and then sell the copies illegally. Sony has not commented on the issue.
The Lost Planet Multiplayer demo is available for download now on XBL Marketplace. Some of you may remember the excellent single player demo launched during E3, and now the game has improved even more so.
On November 22nd, Xbox Live Video Marketplace was launched in the North America. The service has rentable High Definition and SD movies that are downloaded and then deleted after a certain amount of use. Also available are new game trailers(free), and movie trailers and short clips(also free) now grouped into one section. My personal favorite are the television shows with networks like CBS, Comedy Central, MTV, Spike, and Paramount shows available for download. Althought the service got off to a rough start with surprisingly strong demand(thus clogging the servers), if you contact Xbox customer service your points will be refunded. The service is running smoothly now.
WordPress doesn’t work well with Godaddy webhosting so if anyone knows a blogging site that is compatible with Godaddy, please let me know. For know I’m going to have to manually edit in each post you guys make into the site.
Nintendo launching of the Wii was a huge success with 716,000 consoles sold. Nearly tripled the amount of Ps3’s sold. Personally, I didn’t think I would be the one walking home with a Wii Sunday morning. It was a last minute decision for me and I don’t regret it. The Wii has been amazing so far especially with Zelda Twilight Princess. The Wiimote and the nunchuck makes gaming more relaxing. Nintendo plans to release a million more Wii’s before Christmas and plan to have 4 million more out at the end of January. In my opinion, the success of these next gen consoles was brought to you by Ebay. On Ebay, people can screw each other over by ridiculously overcharging because the supply is low and the demand is high for these next gen consoles. I found it absurd when I saw a Ps3 sold for $31,000. It’s either me, or our society seems really impatient and eager to throw money away.
-Journey
This Gamer’s Paradise will be going under MAJOR changes. I’m finally buying a web host and our OWN DOMAIN NAME! Zucas, tonight im going to be lining up for the Wii… yes u heard right, Jounrey lining up for the Wii. I need to talk to you about the webhost situation and get it all sorted out with you. Get on AIM tomorrow or anytime this week.
IGN was able to confirm through getting the final version of Excite Truck that indeed the Wii has the option for custom soundtracks. Through your Wii SD card you are able to save MP3 songs onto it and make a soundtrack to play during your game such as you would do on the 360 and Xbox.
How many other games support this is unknows or whether or not it’s universal. But this is indeed an awesome feature cause being a huge Xbox Live player and I really love being able to listen to my music at the same time. Good move Nintendo. The one multimedia feature that I love in gaming.
And yes I guess you could sorta say I’m back haha. I’ll try haha. Still haven’t cleared up all this shit but I think I need some responsibility like this to get my life back on track.
Zucas
Atari founder Nolan Bushnell dislikes the PS3 and basicly slammed it in an interview. He praised the Wii and said it’s great that they are trying to expand the gamer universe. He also had nothing but good things to say about the Xbox 360. He said the developer tools are amazing and its very easy to develop for given the systems capabilities. He also said xbox live is what gaming needs. On the flip side he said the PS3 was very difficult to develop for.
a quote from an ign article on the issue
“Bushnell expressed his distaste for the difficulty of developing for the system, and the “arrogance and capriciousness” which Sony has gotten away with in the past due to its massive installed user base. Bushnell even went so far as to call first party developers “idiots” if they chose to develop for the PS3 rather than the 360.”
for more info visit http://xbox360.ign.com/
It is here! XNA studio beta. With this program you can create your own 360 game. I believe you can also play it, but you cannot share it and get it rated if you don’t pay the subscription fee of $99 a year. Look on the bright side… it could be worse like having two WoW accounts! LOL! Directly download XNA Beta here.
Ok since this has basically been playing on almost every single gaming podcast that I have listened to I decided to post here for those that havn’t seen it. Watch this little kid get pwned.
Here are some changes we will be undergoing soon
1) New logo design.
2) Custom banners for like “Podcast, Day of Paradise” posts
3) I will pay the 15 dollars to edit the raw HTML of this blog
4) Will be moving to our own domain(Not soon though but in the future)
Please welcome Aaron (BorntobeWilde) to the Gamer’s Paradise Crew. He will be an editor to the blog and possibly contributing to the weekly podcasts.
Wii is of the 7th generation of video game consoles, or, ‘next-gen’ as it’s called now.
There are many different areas that are all in their own way a generation advancement. There is the whole and the sum parts of the whole. 7.1 Dolby, Hi-Def, motion-sensing, multi-core, etc.
One of the reasons why BITS ceased to classify a generation was because the consoles all had different CPU/GPU bit counts. There was no longer a uniform structure. The parts of the whole started to vary widely. Some systems had DVD, others didn’t. Some had built-in HDD, others didn’t. Some had 32-bit CPU, others had 64-bit. Some had integrated online, others didn’t. Etc.
So, it could be argued that Wii is not ‘next-gen’ because it doesn’t have multi-cores or Hi-Def media. But it could also be argued that the PS3 and X360 aren’t ‘next-gen’ because neither has true 3d motion-sensing controls. This is where arguments concerning next-gen get hung up on. Isolating the parts of the whole is a subjective matter. For some multi-core means ‘next-gen’, for others control-mechanism means ‘next-gen’.
I’d like to stress that “next-gen” literally means the 7th generation of games consoles. However, what many people debate is that there’s a “true next-gen”. PS3 fans are arrogant about how powerful their console is and buying into all the hi-tech hype of Blu-Ray and, in wanting a boost of self-superiority (damn those nintendo fanboys gloating about their more popular Wii), as well as believing what Sony themselves say about the matter (next-gen starts when we say so), they therefore feel that the Wii is not TRUE next-gen.
They all know Wii is of the 7th generation (next-gen), but they believe it’s not TRUE next-gen purely because it does not match the massive leap from last-gen that the PS3 and X360 took. All due to multi-cores, to dvd playback, to hi-def capabilities. As a generation has always been classified by a CPU/GPU measurement (8-bit, 16-bit, etc) that’s how these people still think.
True Next-Gen, therefore, is just a subjective based on hardware capabilities.
They’re right in saying Wii is not true next-gen. Because Wii is far behind to the leap the PS3 and X360 made, it makes people think that such a large leap is the norm. However, Wii is still next-gen regardless…a) because it’s of a new time, b) it IS a 2x advancement from last gen.
Who said an advancement had to be 5 or 8 or 14 times more before it was allowed to be called “next-gen”? Consider last-gen. People could argue that only Xbox was TRUE last-gen because it’s GPU was double the power at 256-bit, as well as having a built-in HDD, and integrated Online multiplayer. These alone would, by the same logic, mean that all consoles were in a generation all their own due to the varying specs. But who said anything HAD TO BE a specific number of times more powerful? Meanwhile, people could argue that only the PS2 or the Dreamcast were TRUE last-gen because the CPU was better or some other technical factor. People can get stuck looking at the individual trees and not take in the whole forest.
My proposition is that true next-gen is not necessarily the most important thing anymore. The future is about new-gen, further advancements in motion-sensing, 3d immersion, augmented reality.
All three future consoles are signed on and will max-out using the Cell. So it will be all about furthering interactivity with the game itself, with other gamers in online multiplayer, and with devices such as mobile phones, Vista, and hand-helds. They’ll be identical, with identical free online, identical gamertags, identical gamerpoints for microtransactions, and identical cross-platform games. So there’s no longer a “next-gen”.
It ended the minute Sony won the next-gen technologial race against Microsoft BEFORE the X360 even released. Those two companies were in a cold war and the minute Nintendo revealed their Wii-mote it changed everything. Sony’s victory is somewhat hollow because they haven’t achieved anything! IBM won because it proved the Cell was superior. So much so that all three companies are signed on to use the Cell.
XBL showed the way for Sony and Nintendo to follow. Microsift won here even if Sony improves on the concept. The only other thing Sony could well win is making their Blu-Ray the standard media. The whole PS3 itself is just a front for them to make Blu-Ray standard.
The whole war has already ended. Next-gen is over. Sony wins (blu-ray). IBM wins (Cell). MS wins (XBL/Live Anywhere). Wii wins (establishing new-gen genre and market leader).
New-gen 2011 will be all about IBM’s Cell-powered, Sony Blu-Ray playing, Nintendo:ON/Wiimote capable system with an XBL/Live Anywhere integrated online service.
New-gen is real and now (Wii) all because of the Wii-mote.
Many argue that the Wii-mote is just another controller, like a steering wheel. That an older system released with any usual add-on controller would not make it “next-gen”.
But, steering wheels are standard controllers. There was only ONE possible advancement that could be made, only ONE possible revolution – 3D motion-sensing. The last frontier of controllers was the right thumbstick. Only the last year have developers finally innovated gameplay around more use of the thumbsticks and moving away from button-mashing. But the road ends there. It’s ended already. Steering wheels and other attachments are still standard.
The only new direction that controllers could take was motion-sensing. Motion-sensing in its earliest stage (Wii-mote) is what we have now. But by the time all these Cell-powered consoles launch in 5 or so years, it will be all about pushing onwards finding new frontiers in motion-sensing. The last 20 years ended on the final frontier being left-right thumbstick control replacing button-mashing. Similarly, this new-gen motion-sensing era will end on the final frontier being 3D augmented reality, with your body itself as the controller, with voice or even mind recognition controls. That could be 20 years from today. But, this is the NEW-gen diretion that just got opened up by Nintendo releasing the Wii-mote.
So, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo all using the Cell, will all push forward now into New-Gen. Exploring, advancing and innovating into motion-sensing, body/voice/mind control, and will no longer be about porting a previous years Madden with graphical enhancements.
This whole TRUE NEXT-GEN that is spoken of is already over before it even started! NEW-GEN is the path that even Sony is following with Sixaxis and Eyetoy. All companies are in development right now because they already know true-next-gen is over and true-new-gen has just begun.
Next-gen isn’t an opinion-based judgment. It isn’t about sales. It isn’t about graphics per se. It isn’t about controllers either.
Next-gen, point #1 – Gen means generation. A generation is of time. Your father is one generation, you being his son, are the next generation. Consoles come out in 5 year spans roughly, spawn of a previous console.
Next-gen, point #2 – Each gen was actually classed on not graphics per se, but the CPU/GPU capability of the hardware. 8-bit generation, 16-bit generation, 32-bit generation, 64-bit generation, 128-bit generation, etc.
So, whatever system fell into 16-bit it became next-gen. Even if a lot of games actual graphics didn’t look much different across some games, it doesn’t matter. Even if a funky new controller was added or not. It doesn’t matter. It’s about the capabilities. Which means more processing power for better graphics, but also better gameplay (things added inside a game like more levels, more AI, etc). Even if the graphics/gameplay at first didn’t make a huge leap, they were still next-gen.
The last-gen officially represents Dreamcast, Gamecube, PS2 and Xbox. They all had different bits. The Dreamcast was 32-bit CPU, but it had dual 64-bit GPU performing at 128-bits. The PS2 had a 128-bit emotion engine but had a dual 64-bit CPU. The Xbox, meanwhile, had only 32-bit CPU but 256-bit GPU.
Due to all these varying bit capabilities within each system, the whole bit-rating thing has since lost its meaning. But at the time, that’s what was used to define that generation. That is partly why the term “next” was used for this generation. Because there was no longer a clearly defined bit rating to classify a generation.
So, officially, if last-gen was DC, GC, PS2, XB….and they all roughly worked on the same bits and bytes, which defined their generation, which defined the hardware capabilities….THEN….the X360 and PS3 are all NEXT-gen because they are a further advancement from the hardware capabilities of last-gen.
Even if the Wii might be a smaller jump compared the X360. It’s still using a generational advance that sees it at least 2 times more powerful than the GC. The Wii-mote doesn’t even factor in. It has nothing to do with the controller. It’s just that the X360 and PS3 made such a large leap in CPU/GPU that that now defines the benchmark of what is “Next-Gen”.
A truer definition of the Wii is NEW-gen, a “new” revolutionary type of gaming rather than a “next” evolutionary advancement in CPU/GPU from the previous GC. That CPU/GPU benchmark which PS3 and X360 define as ‘next’-gen, the Wii doesn’t reach. But, the Wii is definately not last-gen either. It has a big enough generational leap in CPU/GPU from the GC to have been a next-gen if the PS3 and X360 didn’t exist. It’s just the PS3 and X360 saw the Wii’s bet and then raised it plenty.
Conclusion
PS3 and X360 are next-gen.
Wii is new-gen.
Does it matter? Not really. Because consumers will buy and love what they determine to be the ‘best’ system, or more fun system, with the most ‘best/fun’ games.
The Wii-mote, while not factoring into ‘next-gen’ CPU/GPU, is an advancement in control-mechanism that in a way defines a NEW generation of gaming. This definition means that the Wii is several generations ahead of the X360, and a generation ahead of the PS3.
Nintendo literally established a new type of generation of gaming. Motion-sensing generation. In the future, this is what will matter more than sheer graphics. Sheer graphics are VERY important and it is just now expected from consumers and reviewers that all consoles attain a level of graphics/AI/Environment and nothing less.
Because the Wii’s graphics/AI/Environment are not up to par, yet their motion-sensing gameplay is so advanced and has created a new type of generation in gaming, then the Wii is just the forefather of future new-gen consoles. Which the X720 and PS4 will follow.
Remember, all three companies are now signed up with Cell. This means that Nintendo’s next console will keep up to speed with the graphics/AI ‘next’-gen advancements, but their motion-sensing control-mechanism will further refine/advance and be the benchmark for all consoles to be like. The X720 and PS4 will both by that stage TRY to follow this ‘new’-gen evolution and incorporate motion-sensing controls. They will literally get off from the Next-Gen train and jump aboard the New-Gen train.
In other words, with all three future-gen consoles powered by Cell, and therefore a uniformity of CPU/GPU capability across all three consoles, expect to see an emphasis on motion-sensing and augmented-reality functionality, a generational technological war fought developing towards that end. With Microsoft and Sony learning the tough billion-dollar lessons of losses made in upping the processing power cold war, and the rising costs and time of developing games, and the consumers bound to make the CPU/GPU-challenged Wii the most sought after console, the direction of gaming is already heading towards the ‘new’-gen pathway. In many ways, X360 and PS3 have already lost to the Wii because they are fighting on a ‘next’-gen battlefront when the war has already shifted to ‘new’-gen. Sony has somewhat awakened enough to implement the ‘Sixaxis’ controller, as they realize the changes happening underfoot.
So, yes, PS3 and X360 are next-gen, but that in many ways is not such a great thing to boast about. Next-gen is already a gen behind what the Wii has instigated, which to many analysts and consumers, is the future of gaming. Expect Sony and Microsoft to follow suit as they will be chasing what the consumer decides is worthwhile. This dawn of a new era should also greatly benefit the games development companies. Opening the door to many mid and low range developers with imaginations bigger than their finances. ‘Next’-gen has effectively hurt the industry, allowing only the biggest studios to afford developing for the higher-end X360 and PS3. As often noted, some of these large developers tend to be conservative and not too innovative, pumping out their regular yearly updated ports.
“He said the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and Ninetendo Wii all had tremendous innovation – and all three game console makers have signed up to use the new Power-based Cell CPU.”
Source
“They told our reporter Roman that if necessary, they can easily develop a Blu-Ray player that is compatible with the Xbox360.”
Source
With these words, a war has ended and a new war has begun. This now is the dawn of an even more pointless future-gen video gaming console situation.
As much as the X360 has a common-sense advantage of not being lumbered with expensive built-in technology, not forcing the consumer to buy anything they don’t need, left as add-ons, their announcement about Blu-Ray is terrible news for the X360.
If Blu-Ray does beat out HD-DVD and Microsoft decide to bring out a Blu-Ray add-on, it immediately makes the X360 pointless to own. The PS3 will have Blu-Ray built-in which is also being used for games. Whereas, the Microsoft Blu-Ray add-on would only be for movie playback.
There’d be no competition. Microsoft would have to start selling new X360’s that have a built-in Blu-ray, a built-in HDD for core and premium consoles, built-in HDMI, and require games developers to start building games on Blu-Ray.
The problem with this, as you might notice, is that THIS IS WHAT THE PS3 IS!
Microsoft going down this path would have dire consequences for the X360. Especially in light of the other breaking announcement that Microsoft have signed on with IBM and the Cell CPU for future consoles.
A few weeks ago, an MS executive said that Microsoft were not prepared to give up on the console market, that they were here for the long-haul, if the X360 failed. Given the latest news developments regarding Blu-Ray and the Cell, this comment, in hindsight, seems to suggest that even Microsoft are almost resigned to an inevitable defeat.
The X360 has a slew of great games coming, but there’s no point in the X360 ending up offering the same technology as the PS3 but in a more half-assed and less streamlined and functional manner.
Purely the act of Microsoft bringing out a Blu-Ray add-on would be the death of the X360. It wouldn’t be utilizing it as a game disc like the PS3. It wouldn’t be part of a packaged system that includes HDMI and HDD like the PS3. There would be no point doing any of that because it would make the PS3 immediately a stronger consumer product. Microsoft might as well not release a Blu-Ray add-on and it would be the same result. They’d be fighting a losing battle and throwing good money after bad in the process.
If Microsoft bit the bullet and re-designed a “slim-X360” that had built-in Blu-Ray, HDD, and HDMI, it would only anger and alienate all current X360 owners. It would also mean there’d be no difference between the X360 and PS3, therefore what’s the point?
Considering Microsoft have now officially bought into the Cell, their future-gen Xbox would end up being a Cell powered, Blu-Ray playing, built-in HDD console. Sounds like a PS3 and PS4! D’oh!
All this breaking news suggests that Microsoft is on uncertain ground now. They have some great games coming, but they can always end up being cross-platform further reducing its appeal.
However, a course of attack for Microsoft could be in reducing it’s premium console price. The PS3, with all its built-in technology, is $600. Sony are losing roughly $300+ per console. The X360, with the built-in technology that it has, is $400. They might only be losing $100+ per console. The Wii, with even less built-in technology, is $250. They might be profiting roughly $50+ per console.
If Blu-Ray wins the Hi-Def optical media war, and Microsoft intend on releasing a Blu-Ray add-on, dropping the price of their console to a figure around $200 or $250 may well still be an option up their sleeve. That would make Microsoft lose about the same as what Sony are losing, but it would force consumers to reconsider the X360 as a PS3-like system – missing the HDMI, built-in HDD and Hi-Def drive, but whose processing power is right up there with the PS3. That would then put a lot of pressure on the Wii. Consumers would suddenly perceive the Wii as being overpriced for what it’s offering tech-wise, and Microsoft could then take some of the appeal off the PS3. Forcing consumers to be even more tempted to purchase an X360 instead. Beyond that, Microsoft would have to consider offering free XBL services. Whether all this would still be sufficient is hypothetical. The X360 can also be seen as a bits-and-bobs system lacking the overall uniformity of the PS3.
Of course, a lot still depends on whether even Blu-Ray beats out HD-DVD. If HD-DVD wins hands-down, it would surely spell disaster for the all-purpose, ‘built-in around Blu-Ray’ PS3. However, what adds strength to the PS3 is that the Blu-Ray drive is not only a Hi-Def movie player, but is being used for Hi-Def gaming. If the popularity of the Playstation brand continues, then the sheer volume of gaming content available on Blu-Ray coupled with the movie content available, would almost surely make Blu-Ray a more versatile media for the consumer. HD-DVD not involved in gaming, so no ‘hands-down’ dominance.
Considering the delays, expenses, and manufacturing problems that the Blu-Ray diodes are causing, perhaps a built-in Blu-Ray for a new X360 or a future-gen Xbox would result in all the same problems.
Last-gen consoles basically offer DVD as standard. It was up to the consoles to offer different services, software, and exclusive games to convince the consumer to buy their console instead of a rivals. It’s now feasible that future-gen Xbox and PS consoles will have standard Blu-Ray, with the only thing different about them being the services, software and exclusive games.
It’s also feasible that even Nintendo’s Cell-powered future-gen console will offer built in Blu-Ray. In the end, Microsoft and Sony will end up incorporating the Wii-mote idea. We’ll end up with all three systems being essentially the same as each other! The madness!
It’s now apparent to me that all three companies are like three bachelors living in the same house – all paranoid and fighting each other over the same girl. All getting in each others way, wearing the same clothes, geting on each others nerves, behaving like brats, arguing loudly, and embarrassing themselves to their next-door neighbors.
It’s not their fault, they’re all forced to follow the standards that each of them innovate in their own way. However, competition ends up turning these three distinct companies, with their three distinct core philosophies, and turns them all into the same basic console manufacturer offering the same basic cross-platform games.
Consumers have the power. Consumers will make the Wii-mote a must-have for future-gen consoles. Cell is now officially the same CPU for all three future-gen consoles. Blu-ray, if it too becomes the standard media choice, will become standard for all three future-gen consoles. They all have no choice but to do so.
It’s clearly the potential rewards, the increased stakes, that is in many ways turning into a farce. They’re all clearly desperately greedy to be the King of the ever-increasing multi-billion dollar gaming industry. They’re all not going down without a fight. They’re all setting themselves up for billions of dollars of losses and manufacturing headaches in copying each other.
Now, more than ever, the future-gen picture is becoming clearer. This next-gen cycle is already officially dead before it has even begun. It seems clear now that the war was a cold war of technological ideas only, of three companies jockeying and fighting each other like the Three Stooges. They may as well all just merge and save us, the consumer, all this expense and devisiveness.
Nintendo, in building this secret Wii-mote weapon, and having MS and Sony clamor to discover it, will succeed in positioning the concept of the Wii-mote as a future standard. The Wii itself will probably end up dying out in a handful of years because Nintendo themselves now acknowledge that the Cell CPU is the direction to take with hardware. Microsoft, in building up this streamlined multi-device compatibility of Live Anywhere, will succeed in positioning itself as the mainstay of PC-Console-Handheld compatibiltity and Online services. Sony, in building up the Blu-Ray and with its huge catalog of movie/music, will succeed in positioning itself as the standard for optical media and content download services.
They all warred over the hardware solution, Microsoft offering a powerful PC-compatible architecture. Nintendo offering an efficient but inferior architecture. Sony offering the more powerful Cell. The Cell and the Wii-mote won. All this before an innings has even been completed in next-gen gaming. All this occuring behind the scenes, the jockeying of technological announcements.
What does this mean for the current next-gen? It means, once again, that all three companies focus will be on the future-gen. The developers will hone their skills on games that will in the most part be only enhancements from what we saw last-gen. The graphics, AI, physics, and environment interactivity/destructability will all increase proportionately once again. No wondrous leap. Not yet anyway. The consumer will go along for the ride and be sucked of as much money as possible. Then in 5 years we will see all three consoles offering the same devices and peripherals, the same media, the same online services, the same cross-platform games. Competition and the greed to be king of a multi-billion-dollar industry is resulting in console androgyny that will see all three companies wounding each other like the Three Stooges, and the consumers pining for that promised land.
Perhaps, more than ever, we may be on the threshold of a future-gen where all three companies finally merge resources and learn to share the pie? But not before another pointless round of Cell-powered, motion-sensing, cross-platform gaming.
Do not download any of the new game updates. I found that both the games I updated (G.R.A.W. and Halo 2) corrupted soon after. Whenever I turn the 360 on with those two games in it I get the three red light error and constant freezing at the boot menu. I contacted Microsoft today and they had no idea what I was talking about. All you have to do is go into your hardrive on the 360 menu and delete the update. I will be providing pictures showing proof of error and steps to correcting it.
Gamers Paradise 