mikeszekely

Unlikely. In terms of raw power, the PSP is likely to hold the title for awhile. The next GBA, which is still only a rumor started by analyst predictions and nothing official from Nintendo, isn't likely to be huge leaps and bounds over the current GBA. The analysts who are predicting a new Gameboy are also predicting that it says under $100. Still, while I believe that the PSP will capture a good section of the handheld market, I think there's plenty of room for the Gameboy yet. Pokemon is still a strong seller, and let's face it, parents are unlikely to spend $250 to get a handheld system for a 4-10 year old who is likely to lose or break it. Actually, Microsoft has thrown their support behind the Gizmondo. Which, aside from the prohibitively high price (Sony could get away with it you know developers are going to support it), I'd be have tempted to get just for Momma, Can I Mow the Lawn?

We're looking at two different ideas of profitable, I suppose. Yeah, for every Xbox sold, Microsoft takes a hit because they make less money on that sale than they spent building the unit. However, Microsoft has made great strides in establishing the Xbox brand, so that future endevors might turn out to be more profitable. Nintendo might make money on every Gamecube sold... but they lose money on ever console built and left unsold. That's what led to the stoppage in production for a time, and that's what led to their first ever quarter in the red. It was largely strong GBA sales through the holiday season that put them back in the black. If the "innovation" in the Revolution turns out to be expensive, or if it alienates more consumers than it draws, they may find themselves heading for hard times. Especially if the PSP takes a bite out of their handheld market. But to what degree have they been successful? Viewtiful Joe, Resident Evil 4, Killer 7, and other games by Capcom were only supposed to be exclusive to the Gamecube in the first place because Shinji Mikami threw his support behind the Gamecube and publicly criticized the PS2. Developing exclusives for the Gamecube turned out to be less than profitable, hence Capcom's decision to also release the games on the PS2. Whatever strides Nintendo has made to gain 3rd party support, they've offset by using more expensive, proprietary media, and by gouging developers on licsensing. If you can only afford to develop a game for one console, chances are you're going to go with the PS2, given that it's cheaper to make a PS2 game and you have a much larger potential audience. No arguing about the Xbox, but I think the PS2 has more niche games than the Cube. I mean, all that readily springs to mind on the Cube is Pikmin and Animal Crossing. The PS2 has stuff like My Street, Parappa, Space Channel 5, Katamari Damacy, Taiko the Drum Master, etc. It's kind of easy to overlook those games, though, in the sea of mainstream stuff that does get released on the PS2. Having the most games has its advantages and disadvantages, I suppose. Of couse, as evidenced by some of the niche games released on the PS2, the real champion of the obscure was definately the Dreamcast. I don't care whch system they release for, but I definately want seqeuls to Samba de Amigo and Seaman. No, as I recall, Square went with Sony because Final Fantasy VII was impossible on a cartridge. The bad blood was less because of some beef that Square had with Nintendo, and more Nintendo being unhappy that Square had broken ties with them and handed their new rival a smash hit. Which isn't entirely irrational. It isn't only the launch games that matter... it's the potential games throughout the entire life span of a console. People who wanted a PS2 just because it was a PlayStation were obviously very satisfied with the original PlayStation. Despite the dissapointing technical limitations of the PS2, chances are most of those early adopters wound up satisfied. It's because I've been happy with my PSone and PS2, as well as my Xbox, that I'm very intersted in the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Conversely, it was because of the greatness of the original Nintendo and SNES that I bought an N64, and despite the being less than stellar, the previous success of the NES and SNES had be come back for the Gamecube, which also dissapointed me. After two dissapointments, I just can't bring myself to care about the Revolution. I'm a gamer. I don't watch much TV, because I'd rather play games. I confine my reading to after I go to bed but before I fall asleep, because given the choice, I'd rather play a game. To that end, a handful of "masterpieces" aren't going to cut it for me, because once they're done, they're done. A dozen 8 and 9's are better to me than 5 10's, because that's 7 more games to keep me entertained. Of couse, that's assuming that the Gamecube had the most masterpieces... which it hasn't. I can't think of a single game on the Gamecube that really even held my interest. The only games on the Cube I even bothered to finish was Megaman Network Transmission and the Rogue Squadron games. On the PS2, I absolutely loved the Onimusha series, the Ace Combat games, the Megaman games, Z.O.E, God of War, and the Shin Megami Tensei games. I also prefer racing games on the PS2, and did greatly enjoy the Need for Speed games as well, although I realize that they were also available for Gamecube. And for the Xbox, I might not have liked Halo as much as some people, but it was still a fun game, and I also loved Jade Empire and the Knights of the Old Republic games. Also, I prefer sports games on the Xbox because of the hard drive, although sports games for me really means Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Again, not a big fan of Nintendo's first party games. Haven't liked a Mario or Zelda since the SNES days. Actually, my favorite Nintendo franchise these days would be Pokemon... ...and if Nintendo would happen to get out of the hardware market, wouldn't a Pokemon game on the PSP be grand? Just speculating, mind you, as I doubt that Nintendo would quit cranking out handhelds anytime soon, even if they quit making home consoles.

No, they haven't. In fact, it was about a year or so ago that they were running in the red for the first time in their corporate history. They've been seriously losing money on the Gamecube. What's kept Nintendo in the game for the last few years was their virtual monopoly on the handheld market. The PS2 might have outsold the Gamecube and the Xbox combined, but the GBA and GBA SP have outsold the PS2. If the PSP cuts into the handheld market (which I think it will, but not enough to keep Gameboys from being hot items at Christmas), Nintendo might finally have to start worrying. Not true. While a lot of what's being tossed about is rumors, real comments have sparked them. Things like how the DS was supposed to innovate, but the Revolution is supposed to change the way we think about games. Things like how they thought games are getting to complicated, and how they want to simplify their games and the method of input for their games so that even a mom could pick up and play her children's games. We can speculate what that means... be it gyroscopes or buttonless controllers that are one big touch screen. But one thing is certain... Nintendo really wants to buck tradition and "innovate." And like David, I hear "more DS-style gimmicks" whenever Nintendo says "innovation." At the end of the day, I think Nintendo is right to say that it doesn't come down to technical specs. It shouldn't come down to gimmicks, either. It should come down to games, and even on that front, I think Nintendo's losing it. Don't get me wrong, Nintendo's games are still fun to play... but Sunshine was the Mario 64 with a squirt gun. Windwaker was Ocarina of Time with cel-shading. Some of their best exclusives, like Metroid Prime, are actually second-party games. And if Rare has taught us anything, it's that all it takes for a second party to jump ship is a little money. Maybe I am a little jaded, but I'm with David... I wasn't very enthused with the N64, and I too regret buying a Gamecube. And while I loved my GBA, the DS is a colossal dissapointment. As of right now, I have zero interest in the Revolution. Actually, I do hope they quit after this one, and become a third-party developer. I've lost faith in Nintendo's hardware and Satoru Iwata, but Nintendo does crank out the occasional fun game.

Except that I already own a modded PS2 to play DYRL, VF-X, and the PS2 Macross game. Even though I intend to buy a PS3 as well, I'd surely get the American version, and if a new Macross game was released for it, I'd have to either buy a second Japanese unit or chip my American unit. Also, with Microsoft gaining more Japanese support, who's to say that the 360 won't have a Macross game?

Kind of like how the SNES guaranteed the N64's success, eh? Sony won't be on top forever, they might not get overthrown this generation but I suspect Microsoft (and maybe Nintendo) will take some of Sony's market share. Sony is getting fat and lazy, only a matter of time. In their first try, they've managed to outsell Nintendo, who was the world leader in consoles until Sony dethroned them with the PlayStation. For recent quarters, the Xbox outsold the PS2 in the US (although their cumulative total is still far behind). Many Japanese developers are jumping on board the Xbox 360's boat, too, including a former Final Fantasy director. If they can start to pull numbers in Japan, they might not win the next-gen round, but their third console could be a solid contender in the future.

What makes it diffrent than the 2600, INTV, and Channel F? </nitpicky_bastage> Wireless controllers out of the box, an optical disc drive, digital/optical out for surround sound, most likely support for hi-def TVs...

Actually, it's going to be a movie for the PSP. I don't know if it's getting a DVD release or not, but it's supposedly a definate thing for a UMD release. huh?!?! why's that? You mean I gotta watch that beautifully animated movie on a tiny @$$ screen? ugh, that sucks. They better release it later on dvd.... I'm going to assume that you've never seen a movie play from a UMD on the PSP? Believe me, especially coming off the Gameboys and the DS, the PSP's screen really isn't all that tiny, and really does do justice to movies on UMD. I was literally floored when I popped Spider-Man in just to see how it looked... and if you've got good headphones, the PSP sounds amazing, too. Plus, the PSP's screen is already 16x9 for widescreen... Off the memory stick, well... it's still looking really good, but compression and what not take their toll. Yes, but compared to a nice TV, the PSP sucks. Even if you have to letterbox it because your TV is 4:3. We're talking small for a movie player here, not small for a game machine. JB0, have you seen UMD movies on the PSP? The fact is, unless you have a really nice TV with progressive scan and component video, movies look nicer on the PSP.

When I preordered my PS2, it was in early January of the year it came out. As EB's are wont to do, they had taken more preorders for PS2s than they were going to recieve, so I couldn't get mine at launch. However, I got mine two days later, with no trouble, since I don't think people thought to try to rob people of PS2s that were seemingly sold out. This time around, though, I have an advantage... I'm a Gamestop employee! So, I'll preorder an Xbox 360, then purchase it in one of two ways: 1.) *PSP launch method* Buy my console first, then open the doors to the rest. 2.) *Halo 2 method* Set one aside, open the store, buy it before I leave for the night/day. Reguardless of the scenario, I'm guaranteed one. Oh, and since it is a Gamestop, it's likely that we'll only sell to preorders at midnight or if we open early in the morning. If we determine that we have extras, we'll probably wait until the next day to sell them.

What if the stores open early, like they did for the PSP? Or, which is actually quite likely, what if stores start selling them at midnight?

I'm agreeing with everything you said except the part about the plot... or anything else... being more action-oriented in KOTOR than Jade Empire. Near the end of KOTOR, things are happening faster and faster as the game builds to a conclusion, but the game starts off slow as molassass. Jade Empire lacked the epic do-or-die conclusion, but events unfolded in time to keep the story moving. I will agree that Jade Empire was easier. The d20 rules meant that you could try a few different ways of approaching a fight, but if your stats sucked, you were in for a time. In Jade Empire, as long as you were fast enough and good enough at rolling and dodging (standing still and blocking was fairly useless), you were going to be alright. I only had trouble with one boss, and that was in Chapter 4, if I recall correctly. I have to give credit to Jade Empire for allowing for different ways of playing. I mean, you said you emphasized Focus... that was actually the attribute I gave the least to (body being the most). My idea was to pick one style and stick with it... that would be my starting martial style, Leaping Tiger. I maximized my spead and damage, and that was enough for just about any situation. I did occasionally use my longsword weapon style from time to time, and Jade Golem helped in a pinch, but for the most part, especially when an enemy/boss was fighting me solo, I'd just get in their face and go to town. It also helped that Silk Fox's support style gives a bonus to damage with martial styles.

Not sure where I heard it, but I thought I heard it was delayed due to some legal crap. Not cool... we get the game first, but we have to wait for the downloadable content. Doubley not fair... Tigron was my favorite team in Wipeout Fusion... I want to try them in Pure!

Actually, it's going to be a movie for the PSP. I don't know if it's getting a DVD release or not, but it's supposedly a definate thing for a UMD release. huh?!?! why's that? You mean I gotta watch that beautifully animated movie on a tiny @$$ screen? ugh, that sucks. They better release it later on dvd.... I'm going to assume that you've never seen a movie play from a UMD on the PSP? Believe me, especially coming off the Gameboys and the DS, the PSP's screen really isn't all that tiny, and really does do justice to movies on UMD. I was literally floored when I popped Spider-Man in just to see how it looked... and if you've got good headphones, the PSP sounds amazing, too. Plus, the PSP's screen is already 16x9 for widescreen... Off the memory stick, well... it's still looking really good, but compression and what not take their toll.

Wes and I are in the same boat. With my wife in grad-school and the job market here in central PA being crap, we don't really have the luxury to buy new systems when they come out. We'll usually pick them up after the first or second price-drop. I love video games, but I'm not that into them that I can justify dropping $300-$400 on a new system. The one thing I hate, and call me old school on this, is the concept of the all-in-wonder system. I don't want my Xbox to have a removable HD that plays MP3's, washes the dog and reminds you when your next dentist appointment is. I want an Xbox that plays games, damnit! I've already got an all-in-wonder system- It's called my computer. I simply want my consoles to play games, and that's it. That's the beauty of a console system- it's a cheap computer that does one thing simply and really, really good... play games. WDC, I had no idea that you were so close! Where exactly in central PA are you? I'm really close to Latrobe, where they brew Rolling Rock (maybe an hour east of Pittsburgh). 'Kay, back on topic. I agree, I want to buy a game console to play games. That's one of the reasons why I'm so dissapointed with the DS... most of the games have been crap at best. The only two games I really got into were Feel the Magic and WarioWare, but both of those were like sweet flings. That said, the fact that the PS2 was backwards compatible gave me something to play with for the year or so it took to start getting games out for it (the first games I truly enjoyed were Z.O.E and Onimusha). Also, the fact that the PS2 played DVDs got me to buy my first DVD. Nevermind the fact that I rarely play PSone games now, and I have a much better stand-alone DVD player. Likewise with the PSP... I bought it because I'm in love with the idea of playing console-quality games on a handheld, not to mention that gorgeous screen. But since it can, I've been converting my fansubbed avi files to mp4 and watching them on the PSP. Now with the Xbox 360... sure, I don't really feel like springing extra for features I'm not too interested in. But, I do want a hard drive for Live, downloadable content, and because I'd rather pay extra for a hard drive than extra for memory cards. If it happens to double as an mp3 player, so much the better.

So far, Xbox only. And while KOTOR eventually made it to PC, since it was published by LucasArts, Microsoft Game Studios published Jade Empire, so I don't know if it'll ever make it to PC.

Absolutely, except for the action part. KOTOR was epic is size and ambition, and you could really tackle the different planets in any order. Jade Empire can be completed in just over 20 hours, and the only thing non-linear about it is the order that you tackle the subquests. I disagree about the action, though, because while the plot of KOTOR moved along at a faster pace, the combat itself still boiled down to point-and-click. Same animations over and over or not, the fact that the combat was in real time sucked me in a little more. In any case, saying that one excellent game isn't quite as good as another excellent game is like saying a Porsche isn't quite as fun to drive as a Ferrari. Both cars are a lot more exciting than your average Toyota Corolla and what not, and both KOTOR and Jade Empire are much better than your average Xbox game (or videogame on any console, for that matter).

I'm a hardcore gamer, so I usually can't resist. I've bought a Dreamcast, PS2, GBA, GBA SP, Nintendo DS, and a PSP all at launch. (I was too young to buy anything before those on my own, so I had to wait for them as gifts. But I have pretty much owned everything). I bought an Xbox and a Gamecube within a few months of launch. For the next-gen consoles, well, I didn't play the N64 all that much, and I've pretty much seen the DS and Gamecube as dissapointments. So, I won't be buying a Revolution until they have a game for it I can't resist. As for the Xbox 360 and the PS3, well, I have to see their official unveiling. Any bombshells in design or price could yet influence my decisions negatively. At the moment, though, I plan to buy both at their respective launches.

I've actually already beat it once. If you have the limited edition version, you can play as a monk, but not necessarily a Shoalin monk. While the game is heavily influenced by Chinese myth, you're not actually in China (sort of like how say Lord of the Rings is influenced by medievil times in Europe, but it doesn't take place in Europe). Reguardless of which character you decide to play as, the story is the same. Also, when you level up, you can customize your character however you like. Any of the characters can learn any style. But the important thing to remember is that Jade Empire is a role-playing game, not a fighting game or action game. You will spend most of your time talking to people, doing sub-quests, recruiting followers, and gaining points toward the Way of the Open Palm (Light Side) or Way of the Closed Fist (Dark Side), just like Bioware's other Xbox RPG epic, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. Combat does take place in real time. You can switch styles in the middle of a fight quickly by mapping your favorite styles to the d-pad. Styles fall into one of five catagories: Martial: Basic combat styles that can be used against almost any enemy. You'll use these the most. Support: These styles don't normally do damage, but they may add negative status effects like slow or poison to an enemy. They can also be used to with Martial styles to create Harmonic combos. Weapon: Weapon styles do more damage than martial styles, but they can't be used against spirits. Also, weapons drain Focus. Magic: Magic styles do elemental damage, as well as projectile attacks. Magic can't be used on demons, though, and magic drains Chi. Transformation: Transformation styles allow you to transform into something else, like say a Horse Demon. Tranformation styles usually do more damage and are immune to negative status effects, but they only last as long as your chi does. In combat, you can use the R and L triggers to target different enemies. The A button is your regular attack button. X is for power attack- power attacks are slow and leave you open to be attacked, but they can break through an enemy block. B is for blocking, and if you push a direction on the analog stick, you'll flip or roll. Y puts you in focus mode... that's kinda like bullet time. Black uses chi to add extra damage to your attacks. And white uses chi to heal. As I said before, the important thing to remember is that Jade Empire is not an action game or a fighting game. If that's what you're looking for, you might want to way until the Episode III game comes out. But if you liked KOTOR or RPGs in general, Jade Empire is an excellent game with a solid story if short story, interesting characters, and some action thrown into the mix.

Well, as Zentrandude mentioned, there's been a firmware release to bring the Japanese PSP XMD (that's the fancy name for the OS that Sony developed to run on the PSP, and probably the PS3 as well) up-to-date with the US release. But you shouldn't have to pay for it. Find a wi-fi hot spot, set your PSP's network settings so it can get on the network there, then scroll all the way to the left, then all the way up to the Network Update option. From there, the PSP should be able to update the firmware itself. As far as region coding goes, the option to use it has always been in place, but there are no plans to do so with games. It's the UMD movies that are being regionally coded. So, if you own a Japanese PSP, you can import the American version of, say, Ridge Racer (which has 7 more tours than the Japanese version), and it'll play fine. But don't import the R1 version of Pirates of the Carribean.

Actually, it's going to be a movie for the PSP. I don't know if it's getting a DVD release or not, but it's supposedly a definate thing for a UMD release.

I have no particular like or dislike for any of the console manufacturers. That said, I grew up on Nintendo, but haven't cared for any of their hardware save the GBA SP since the SNES, so I'm not particularly interested in the Revolution. Despite their shortcomings, I've enjoyed every piece of Sony hardware I've owned, and will therefore buy a PS3. And, although I'll agree that Microsoft lacks good design sense, I loved my Xbox, and if the hard drive mp3 player rumor turns out to be true, will certainly be buying an Xbox 2/Xenon/Xbox Next/Xbox FS/Xbox 360. As far as their PC stuff goes, I've never ran into any problems with XP. It's just a matter of learning it. Media Player is fine, but I've started using VLC instead. I can't stand IE; I use Firefox exclusively now. I bought a Microsoft keyboard that I like a lot. And as far as their PC games go, well, I'm not much of a PC gamer. So I suppose it doesn't matter.

You have to pay an additional $100 to get backwards compatibility? That's one of the most lame things I've heard so far regarding these next gen consoles. Still convinced that the something extra ISN'T Halo 2. The something else you're forgetting is the persistant rumor that the hard drive will be removable and battery powered, so that you can load it with mp3s and use it like an iPod. In other words, $399 is supposed to get you a next-gen console with a hard drive, backwards compatibility, and Microsoft's take on the iPod. Considering the ridiculous price tag on the iPod, that doesn't sound like such a bad deal to me...

It's not so much that you can overclock it... it's more that most PSP games are running with the processor deliberately underclocked. The PSP's processor is supposed to be a 333mHz chip. But the games released so far run it at 222mhz. This is apparently done to conserve the battery power. Sony has said that, on a case by case basis, some games may actually run at the full 333mHz, with Gran Turismo 4 Mobile supposedly being the first. Oh, so GT4's been exempted from Sony's "games must conform to our battery life estimate" rule? That IS why the games are running slow. Sony told the developers that their games WOULD NOT be licensed if they drained the battery faster than Sony's "estimated" battery life. Apparently now that they've cemented the PSP's battery life "estimate" as a real-world number, they're going to start letting games miss it. As much as I like the PSP, and as much as I'm usually inclined to argue against your cynicism, you've pretty much hit the nail on the head. And are you really suprised that the first game to be exempt is published by Sony? I'd complain more, but it seems I'm always pretty close to an electrical outlet. Longest I've gone without was while I was playing Tiger Woods PGA Tour for an hour and a half while my wife was shopping at T.J. Maxx. I suppose, though, that's why I have a car charger. Hopefully somebody, most likely a third party, will release a battery with a higher capacity/longer life than the regular one. Oh, and has anyone seen those Power Bricks? They seem pretty cool. I might be tempted to try one...

Who says the Xbox 360 won't be backwards compatible? As I recall, the big sticking point was whether or not the unit would have a hard drive... a hard drive that'd be pretty necessary to load any preloaded games onto. Consulting my magic 8-ball, I'll say that the Xbox 360 will be hard drive compatible, but that the hard drive will be sold seperately or in a more expensive bundle version. Neither the Xbox 360 or its hard drive will come preloaded with any games, especially not Halo 2, since Microsoft still wants you to pay $50 for it. And finally, the Xbox 360 WILL be backwards compatible, but NOT without the hard drive.

Slightly OT... is anyone picking up that Predator game that's coming out next week?

It's not so much that you can overclock it... it's more that most PSP games are running with the processor deliberately underclocked. The PSP's processor is supposed to be a 333mHz chip. But the games released so far run it at 222mhz. This is apparently done to conserve the battery power. Sony has said that, on a case by case basis, some games may actually run at the full 333mHz, with Gran Turismo 4 Mobile supposedly being the first.