mikeszekely

Microsoft hints at iindie support. Say what you will about the rest of their divisions, the Xbox division seems to be more in touch with gamers today than Sony. Everytime someone gets homebrew running on the PSP, Sony freaks out and released a new firmware update. Meanwhile, the Xbox team is encouraging it.

While I'd love for it to be a totally new, original game set in the Soma Cruz post-Dracula future (the soul-stealing function really makes Aria and Dawn), I've heard that it's actually going to be a remake of Symphony of the Night.

You were supposed to get one for Castlevania. And that's after announcing Final Fantasy IV for the GBA as well. And, as awesome as Dawn of Sorrow looks on the DS, I'd actually prefer more games for the GBA anyway. As I mentioned, I just picked up a Gameboy Micro. For all the innovation of the DS and sheer power of the PSP, I'm loving the Micro for it's sheer portability (I'd actually say it's a little smaller than my cell phone), not to mention that the screen is brighter and more clear than the DS. Of the three I played (I never got around to Sonic Advance 3), call me crazy, but I liked Sonic Battle. They were all pretty good... much better than the Genesis games. But I kinda like Sonic better in 3D... Sonic Adventure 2 is still one of my favorite Dreamcast games. There was, but I didn't particularly care for it. Pass. I've just read the previews, and I'm really not sure what to say. I can't imagine how different it could be from Sonic Advance. (Just like Dawn of Sorrow isn't much different than the previous 3 GBA Castlevanias and Symphony of the Night before that). And while Sonic Advance was fun, it was nowhere near as good in my opinion as, say, Castlevania or Megaman Zero. So while I may end up playing Sonic DS, I'm not exactly chomping at the bit to play it. Next DS game I'm really looking forward to is the new 2D Super Mario Bros.

Maybe we have different definitions of fanboy? You seem to think that anyone who enjoys anything besides the PlayStation brand is a fanboy for that non-PlayStation console. Fact is, I've played games on more consoles that you can probably remember. The last console game I enjoyed was Genji for PS2, before moving on to the new Castlevania for the DS. There are probably few gamers with LESS bias than me. But you know what? Yeah, I'm getting (and looking forward to) the Xbox 360. It's already got games that I want, and with it's added Japanese support, will likely have many more games I'll want to play in the future. I'm also interested in the Nintendo Revolution. Yes, the controller is certainly unusual, but I'm curious to see what they do with it. Not to mention that Nintendo has solid first party games, and will likely be cheap enough to justify as a second system. And no, I'm really not interested in the PS3 yet. They've announced nothing to grab my attention, and given me nothing to go on but hype and hints of a hefty price tag. Until they announce a price, date, better games, or do something to show that the PS3 will live up to the hype, I will remain uninterested. We're not talking about when the first of spring is. We're talking about the Xbox 360's launch date, which is November 22nd. Not the 21st, as you claimed. You know another common business strategy? Hyping your product so people will believe it's better than it really is. In any case, the PS3 will not debut for anything less than $400. The competiton between Sony and Microsoft will certainly be fierce. Microsoft is going to get a good head start, and industry people have suggested that an Xbox 360 price drop will help to deflate Sony's launch. They didn't start the Halo 3 thing, though. It began as a rumor floating around on the net. Gates gave it some credence when he talked about it last spring. And the analysts have agreed that would certainly help Microsoft maintain the lead they're predicting. But again, Bach just said three days ago that Halo 3 will be ready when it's ready. They're not as stupid as you are. They're not going to rush their star franchise out the door. Will it be ready in March/April? Probably not. Holiday 06? Probably. (Actually, the current rumor has Halo 3 releasing in early June). Our annual Store Managers Conference, when our companies like Sony meet with us to tell us what they have in store for us to sell in the coming year, is pretty good for heresay. But remember that Sony has yet to successfully launch any of the PlayStation family simulatneously worldwide. They've given no indication that they are planning a simultaneous worldwide launch for the PS3. When they did try to do a simultaneous worldwide launch for the PSP, they were shooting for America's holiday season. They ultimately changed their plans to give American developers more time to work on launch games. When Kutaragi says spring (and he didn't say the first of spring, I might add... more recent comments have indicated Q2, which is April to June, and the summer solstice isn't until the 21st of June), everyone but you seems to get that's probably for Japan, with a holiday 06 launch in the States. The American holiday season is more important than you think. Take it from someone who's been in retail for ages... unless Sony suprises everyone by announcing a $300 PS3 in time for holiday 05, they can announce whatever they want without causing a string of canceled preorders or returned Xbox 360s. Customers want what's here now, especially during the holidays. Sony could announce a $100 PS3 in February, and we will still be sold out of Xbox 360s until after the holidays. Even the Dreamcast, which Sony went on to devastate, had a solid first holiday. And Sony will be fighting a much tougher battle with Microsoft. Trust me, little Timmy will be pissed as hell if he has to wait for any presents. Kids hate to wait the most. I seem to recall them predicting a $400 price tag for the Xbox 360... But that's not my point. As you've noticed, their guesses are educated... that is to say, better than your guesses. They get paid, and quite well, to research consumer spending, consumer reaction, industry trends, and all sorts of other variables, to make predicitions for investors to go on, so they really can't say whatever they want, since a lot of money rides on what they say. All you have is your rampant "SONY RULZ" fanboyism driving your guesses. And when have we known you to be even 10% right? Both games were criticized for not looking much better than current gen Xbox games at E3. We were reminded that they were running on alpha dev kits at 25%. Several media outlets have since then got to play more recent builts running on the beta hardware. The previews have been glowingly positive for both games, with comments like "Zero is looking more and more like a proper next-generation title," (EGM) and the like. Actually, I can and will deny that the PS3's killer aps are too numerous to count. You just have a hard time counting. But there is just one killer ap for the PS3 so far, and that's MGS4. Two if you count Resident Evil 5, but remember that RE5 is also coming out on the Xbox 360. All that's left are prerendered movies (not even created with actual PS3 hardware) for generic sequels to generic franchises. Killzone 2? Hope it's less mediocre than the first one. Gran Turismo 5? A prettier version of the same damn game we've already played four times... I'd be more interested in Forza 2. Although, if it's delayed as much as the previous GTs were, the PS3 might actually be affordable by the time GT5 comes out. Tekken 6? I wasn't willing to shell out $50 for the last two Tekkens, let alone $60 for Tekken 6 AND $400+ for a console. Devil May Cry 4? If it's more like DMC3 and less like DMC2, we're getting warmer, but still not enough to buy a console over. SOCOM 4? I could maybe see it moving some consoles, although I'm personally not interested. The new features in Xbox Live (most of which will be free) will likely have a lot of people playing Perfect Dark Zero, Halo 3 (which should be out by then), or Gears of War on Live instead, unless Sony comes up with a centralized online service that's up to snuff. I shouldn't call a movie a movie? What the hell should I call it then? Well, I know one thing myself and anyone else who remembers the jaggies in DOA2 Hardcore that weren't in the Dreamcast version could call them: hype. And we're not buying it, either. Sony can show all the prerendered movies they want, and I have no reason to believe that the actual gameplay will look anywhere near it. And as far as PS3 games looking better than Xbox 360 games, another quote from EGM: "If you're waiting to see if first-generation PlayStation 3 titles pack more dazzle, don't, say developers. We're told to expect a similar level of quality from PS3 launch titles." Some other quotes to keep you happy: "There were 10 million PlayStations 2s before we launched the original Xbox. We couldn't catch up. It's kinda like having a 30-point lead in the third quarter." -J Allard. FYI, Microsoft hopes to move 10 million Xbox 360's before the PS3 launches. "This is a clash of the titans, but I give the nod to Microsoft, who has billions in cash in the bank and a very focused strategy. Sony, in general, is a mess right now. They're climbing out of a hole and they need the PS3 to save their ass." -annonymous industry analyst. Come to think of it, Sony has been doing a lot of restructuring and laying off lately. And they are putting a lot of emphasis on the PS3... "360 great, PS3- pain in my ass." -Id Software CEO Todd Hollenshed, paraphrasing legendary programmer John Carmack's initial impression of developing software the the next-gen systems. "Recently, Koei CEO Keiko Erikawa commented that her company would consider shifting to another platform if PS3 development proves too expensive." -recent Gamespot article about the PS3 price.

And you wonder why people think you're a deluded fanboy? 1.) True, except that it's actually the 22nd. You're a day early. 2.) NEVER going to happen. I'd suggest you read up on the PS3 announcements, but it seems not matter what you read all you get is "SONY RULZ!" Kutaragi has said, "I want people to think, 'I'll work extra hours to buy it' and 'Not for households' on the matter of PS3 price. At Gamestop, we're hearing $500-$700. And industry analysts are predicting that Sony will bite the bullet, suck in the losses, and eke it out for $400. Which, of course, will in no way affect the 360's launch. 3.) Robbie Bach has stated recently and publicly that Halo 3 will ship when it's ready. Microsoft isn't stupid, and they know better than to rush Halo 3. 4. The PS3 is expected to have a staggered lauch, sometime in Q2 (April to June) in Japan, and Holiday 06 in the US. Even if they did announce a March release for US in mid December it wouldn't affect the Xbox 360 launch for two very important reasons. 1.) Mid December is AFTER the 11-22 launch, so the preorders (of which my store alone has 200... which is a lot for a redneck town with two Gamestops). 2.) March of '06 is still AFTER the Holiday, and little Timmy isn't going to be happy with naught but a preorder slip under the Christmas tree. So, no, I don't think you're crazy. Just stupid. PS~ Industry analysts REALLY disagree with your predictions (and they're much more qualified to make such predicitions). They're predicting that the Xbox 360 will lead the next gen until 2008. What killer aps? At least the Xbox 360 has Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, and Gears of War. All Sony's got is a few movies not indicitave of actual games, and a very old Solid Snake.

The hard drive makes the full package. You may not think you need a wireless controller or the Live stuff, but you still need to save your games. Memory cards are $40. Not to mention that the hard drive is required for any sort of backwards compatibility. You can always buy a seperate hard drive later... for $100. So, the full package is actually like upgrading to wireless controller and what not for free.

Megaman: Powered Up (Rockman Rockman) and Megaman: Maverick Hunter X (Irregular Hunter X). Here's hoping they remake at least up to Megaman 3.

You too? I'd just picked up a Gameboy Micro, and ran through Aria of Sorrow again. Then I got DoS. So, instead of playing with my sexy new toy (I'll pick it up again when I grab Megaman Zero 4), I find myself playing the DS I haven't touched since last year... until the battery ran out. Charge faster, dammit! It's amazing how much of a difference the DS's power makes on a 2D game. DoS looks light years better than AoS. My only complaints would be that, amazingly enough, the Micro actually has a better backlit screen than the DS, and I kinda miss it. Also, while the dual screen setup is marvelous (being able to see the map while you're playing instead of switching to it is a huge leap forward), the touch screen features feel tacked on just so they could say they used them. Look, the DS has six buttons. Conventional gameplay is possible. Not every DS game needs to support the touch screen.

MGREXX, did it occur to you to actually read the articles you cited? Because, if you had, you'd notice that neither article supports the notion of Blu-Ray superiority. Both stress the same two points we've been hearing for months: Blu-Ray discs hold more, HD DVD is a lot cheaper. Except that the Blu-Ray camp is saying that their discs really aren't all that expensive, and the HD DVD camp is saying that 50GB dual layer BD-ROMS do not exists, so HD DVD actually leads by 5GB. And frankly, none of it is enough to make an educated opinion about which format would actually be preferable. Educated opinions, though, are not your specialty. Sony's opinions are, and they're for Blu-Ray. We get that. Stand alone players have always debuted at prices that would have been the kiss of death for any videogame console. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Sony is jumping the gun by going with Blu-Ray for the PS3. They're using unproven tech that's going to make the Disc Read Error syndrome of the PS2 seem like a minor inconvenience. I'm also willing to bet that Sony pulls support for Blu-Ray movie playback (if they ever announced it in the first place... I only remember them saying that PS3 games would use Blu-Ray and that the PS3 would play regular DVD movies). HVD for the win.

Answer: they use single layer discs. A next-gen game that hits 15MB would be impressive. 25GB will work nicely. In fact, it's highly unlikely that that the PS3 would ever use a dual layer 50GB BD-ROM. And by biased, I'm sure you mean contradictory to your rabid Sony fanboy-ism.

I figured that's what you meant, since that's what'd be a common sense preference by just about anyone who's ever even considered wanting an Xbox 360. Allard or Bach, I can't remember which, already hinted in OXM though, that their strategy would be more along the lines of releases a new model 360 with an HD DVD-ROM, and then having large games release in both multiple DVD-9s AND HD DVDs (kinda the way PC games release on both CD-ROM and DVD-ROM today). Which would absolutely suck, because it'd be basically giving the finger to all the early adopters.

I actually don't. I didn't bother to buy to many movies on VHS because they were bulky and suffered from poor quality that got worse with use. What few movies I did have (Transformers: the Movie, Robocop, Star Wars, etc) I replaced with DVDs. While DVDs might not be hi-def, and therefore still not of the highest video quality, DVDs still has the EDTV thing going for it, plus a DVD should last longer than my lifetime. I don't see a pressing need to replace my DVDs, and I DO have an HDTV. Considering that people with HDTVs are a minority, I just see there being a ton of market interest in Blu-Ray OR HD DVD... yet. If they do an upgrade later, I hope it's available to people who already bought their Xbox 360s, instead of only existing in a premium rehash. I HATE buying things twice.

Does the Xbox version have Live support? That'd be the determining factor for me if they're close.

Glad I'm not the only one that feels the new episodes aren't that good. Some have been okay but none of them so far have me laugh out loud or give me a good honest laugh the way the older episodes did. 333399[/snapback] Not even when Peter, Stewie, Chris, and Brian were doing shots of Ipicac to see who got the last piece of pie?

Do you think you could ever be a friendly, productive member of the community, or do you have to insult someone every time you make one of your useless and retarded posts? And are you only a jackass when you're on the net, or are you a dipshit in real life too? 'Cause if you are, it's a wonder no one's tried to poison you or run you over or something. Forgive me if I'm missing something, since I haven't seen the TV series, but I was given every impression that Miranda is the Reaver homeworld. The Alliance introduced a chemical into the air that made most of the people so docile that they literally laid down and died, and the other 10% got more aggressive and became Reavers. Having seen the Reaver fleet hanging around Miranda, and all the peaceful dead bodies on the surface, what more could you want? And, speaking as someone who was totally unfamiliar with the show, I'm going to say that I was pretty impressed with the movie. It had just the right balance of action, comedy, and drama. I do agree that most of the characters, especially Inara, were extremely under-developed, but they were still developed enough that I really cared when Wash was killed.

Rented it and liked it. But, it wasn't anything spectacular... just like one LONG episode of the show. IGN said that, at some point, it will actually air as three regular episodes on TV. I'll wait until the season box set comes out with it.

For shits and giggles, I downloaded hi-def (720p) video samples from one of Microsoft's sites. The difference between it and a regular DVD movie was nothing short of stunning on my 52" Toshiba DLP TV. That said, though, I simply have too large of a movie collection. While a high-def disc format would be nice for future movies, I'm just not ready to start replacing anything I've already got. That is, sadly, a somewhat likely scenario. I know a guy who bought a DVD player when they were still asking $1000 bucks for one, but most people just aren't willing. And it seems fewer people are willing to spend that much on a game console. And if the final price of the PS3 does turn out to be the $500-$700 that I'm hearing, Sony might find that it'll take more than the PlayStation brand to sell it. Besides, if both sides are having as much trouble getting their stuff to work as the other side claims, I can only imagine the Disc Read Errors the PS3 will taunt us with. If the Xbox 360 supports HD DVD in the future, dandy, but for now, I'm kinda relieved they've gone with reliable DVD-9s.

I would have kinda thought that Microsoft and Intel by themselves would be the vast majority of the computer industry. So which is it? So, suprise suprise, Microsoft supports their iHD, and the BDA supports their BD-Java. No unbiased opinion as to which is actually better. Microsoft claims that the hybrid BD-ROM doesn't exists. The BDA says it does, but points out that as long as the players have both lasers, they can play the new discs and DVDs anyway. In other words, both sides aruge that both formats are useful for streaming media. But neither has addressed what we really want... the ability to rip and burn out own discs. Isn't it kind of telling that the BDA didn't address either of those points on cost? Gaijin, you're really seem to like Blu-Ray. You wouldn't happen to work for a BDA member, would you? Myself, honestly, I was initially thinking that Blu-Ray, with its use in the PS3, would be the format to get behind. But I'm not so sure now.

Interesting read.

Someone somewhere said that it'd have been interesting to see Topher as Ben Reily (Peter's clone in one of the arcs that took over the role of Spidey, and even convinced Peter at one time that Peter was the clone.) -Al 332329[/snapback] I could see Topher as Ben Reilly. The clone story was kinda lame, but the actual Ben Reilly/Scarlet Spider character was pretty good.

Ugh. In a way Sandman and Venom are kind of the same; they both manipulate their bodies into weapons and such. I fear CG overkill on this. 332074[/snapback] CGI overkill was a given. It's pretty much been a given in the Spider-Man movies. What made up for it was the fact that, like some of the better Spider-Man comic books, there was a lot of focus on the characters themselves, outside their costumes. Tobey managed to pull off a pretty good Peter Parker. Topher... he could have totally pulled off Peter Parker. I doubt he could do crazy enough, but he's scrawny enough to have been Carnage. But Venom? I don't care what kind of pimple-faced angry youth Bendis wrote him as in Ultimate Spider-Man, in the regular continuity that's been going on for nigh on 20 years, Eddie Brock was a big guy. Like Agent One big. I don't have a problem with Topher as an actor, but the only way they could have cast someone LESS like Eddie Brock would have been to cast a six-year old girl. Michael Clark Duncan would have been a better choice (we were willing to overlook the fact that the Kingpin was supposed to be white in Daredevil).

In a recent interview, Kirsten Dunst all but confirmed that Topher Grace will be Venom in Spider-Man 3, to which I have to say... WTF!?! Granted, the Spider-Man films had been taking liberties with Spidey and his origins, but at least Tobey McGuire kinda looks like Peter Parker. Topher Grace looks about as much like Eddie Brock as Tiger Woods does.

And they quickly used up that space it provided. True most do not right now. But right now, the cost of 2 dual layer DVD's is equivalent to the cost of a single Blu Ray disc...(actually almost close to $2 at this early stage and expected to be less than $1 by the time next year rolls around). Cost will pay for itself in the long run...and the other reason BluRay is excpected to do well with the game industry as well is the increased security over DVD's. Which is a big thing for the film and game industry whether we think it's a problem or not...they do and they will do everything they can to protect their content. Audio quality can be improved as well (which anyone with a HT system knows is sorely lacking in console and PC titles today). Bottom line is you are correct in your arguments, however the industry will move on. Avg Joe won't really care or know anyways...but what I'm saying is there's really nothing wrong in having too much capacity available, however not having too much certainly can be at times. 330741[/snapback] Let me start off by saying that I have nothing against having more space. Space is fine. And, if Blu-Ray really takes off, as it's poised to, then I have no problem with future devices using Blu-Ray discs. The main point of mine (and, at least I think JB0's) argument, though, is that a lot of people are simply looking at it as BD-ROM = 50GB, DVD-9 = 9GB, therefore BD-ROM is better and the Xbox 360 is a dud for using dual-layer DVDs... and that's simply not the case. Microsoft was committed to getting the 360 out in time for the holiday, and they simply didn't have the luxury of waiting to see who the winner of the next-gen format war would turn out to be... especially when, maybe not all, but the majority of next-gen games will fit on a single dual-layer DVD. If 95% of the games you buy come on a single disc for both the Xbox 360 AND the PS3, does it really make a lick of difference that the PS3's chosen medium has that much more empty space on it? Especially given that the 360's drive will be 12x, and the PS3 will be likely have a 2x, and that will likely translate to faster load times. Blu-Ray has plenty of potential, but it's not necessary yet.

Nah, that's the beauty of it. Buy a big home you can't afford. Make payments sporadically, call them to make other arrangements, etc, to string them along for a few years. Then finally quit paying and default. When they come to repo your home and kick you out, who cares? Black hole farts are gonna kill your ass anyway.

Don't tell me you just started playing Final Fantasy with these new-fangled 3D PlayStation era Final Fantasies? In the original Final Fantasy, after completing a task to prove their worth, Bahamut gives power to the Light Warriors, giving them their class upgrades. In Final Fantasy IV, Bahamut only agreed to aid the companions and allow Rydia to summon him after they demonstrated that they were fighting for justice. In Final Fantasy VI, although we don't get to see much of his character the way we do in Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy IV, we're given to understand that he, like the other summonable monsters in the game, is an Esper. The Esper race seemed to be, on the whole, a benevolent race.