Upcoming epic games

[Edfilho]

I disagree with that. I think you fail to remember quite a bit. There are quite a few good exclusives for all the systems. The Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden games that are exclusive for XBox are really incredible. There are great racers like Project Gotham, Rallisport Challenge and Forza. You can't get Steel Battalion anywhere else. The latest Unreal Championship is very good. Kingdom Under Fire could only be done well on the XBox. There's Fable, Thief, Deus Ex, Crimson Skies, Brute Force, Panzer Dragoon, House of the Dead and many more.

Are you counting them exclusive if they're still on PC too? Morrowind, Knights of the Old Republix, Doom, Chronicles of Riddick, Republic Commando, Full Spectrum Warrior are others all really great XBox/PC games. If I had a choice, I'd take most of those on the XBox.

I think what you mean is that the XBox and PS2 really lack good mascots which is important. The PS2's got a bunch of crummy generic ones, and the XBox simply just has the Master Chief. Games like Super Smash Brothers, Mario Kart, Mario Party, the Mario sports and others where you can concoct a great game entirely out of well known mascots are really neat.

Well, right. I forgot some XBox games, true enough. But some od the exclusives you ccited are available on other plataforms: Fable is coming to the PC with enhancements, Thief, Deus Ex are on the pc (and the original, non-XBOX games were a hell lot better), Crimson Skies started on the PC, Panzer Dragoon came from the Saturn (IIRC), and House of the Dead is in lots of places. And I really like mouse+wasd for FPS, so there is no contest here for me.

But your overall point is right. The characters are the big thing on the N. And most Mario spin-offs and sports games are excellent. It is funny when people hate a franchise just because it is a franchise, even though most, if not all, the games in it are varied and good. I'm really looking forward to Mario Strikers, for instance, gotta love arcade futebol games.

Regarding Nintendo being just for parties... Well... RE4, Metroid Prime 1 and 2, Wind Waker, Paper Mario, Baten Kaitos, Tales of Synphonia, pikimin 1 and 2...

 

[X_FIREFALCON]

Hey, all the consoles are great...otherwise, one or all wouldn't sell at all.

Back on topic...other games coming out that will be cool (I think) on consoles (focusing on XBox, though some might be multi-platform...dunno): X-Men Legends II, Gauntlet Seven Sorrows (maybe), Need For Speed Most Wanted (maybe), Starcraft Ghost (you know - if it every actually comes out), and Star Wars Battlefront 2.

Hrmmm...did you know they're also coming out with a Sonic (kinda) and Castlevania game for XBox supposedly? Shadow the Hedgehog & Castlevania: Curse of Darkness...wonder if either of those will hold up to the decent history their respective series have had.

I think the Gamecube guys also have another StarFox to look forward to at some point...I liked the original and the 64 version, though I heard the last one on the Gamecube wasn't as great according to some. Hopefully the new one will rekindle the flames of the series, though. For five non-existent Confed credits, can anyone guess which StarFox character from the first StarFox was my personal favorite?

Anyway...fun times ahead on every console. It's a good time to be a gamer (hey, has it ever been a BAD time?)!

And let's all face it - video games are for kids, so we're all holding onto our youth here one way or another!

Gamecube, XBox, and PS2 players unite!

- FireFalcon ~};^

 

[Happy Camper]

Gamecube, XBox, and PS2 players unite!

I play on PCs only (although I may be tempted to get an Xbox 360)

 

[X_FIREFALCON]

I play on PCs only (although I may be tempted to get an Xbox 360)

DOH!

Ok...and PC gamers...unite!

Probably getting an XBox 360 myself, but I'm reluctant...what with those PowerPC chips it has. *grabs Bill Gates by his big head* What were you thinking, Billy?!

Hrmmm...I just took the time to look at Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and I have to say...it definitely gets my vote. The graphics are simply amazing! Of course, I do have to say that the new Zelda looks like it's going to have pretty sweet graphics too. Ehhh it's realistically a toss-up, but Oblivion gets my vote, and brings back some fantastic memories of an older Elder Scrolls game I used to play on the PC - Arena, I think, was the name.

- FireFalcon ~};^

 

[Jesus]

Wowza. This brought up quite the debate. To prevent another "Nintendo is kiddy" war, let me just say that I did some researching and found the Gamecube has close to 20 M rated titles. I know, that doesn't mean it's mature, but I've many a time heard people use that as their argument for why Nintendo is kiddy, so, just clearing that up.

As for next gen consoles, I'll definately look into the Xbox360 and I'm sure I'll get the Nintendo Revolution.

And I wouldn't consider video games to be only for kids. Everyone watches movies and goes to amusement parks as kids. Does that mean that when you grow older, you should stop enjoying them? No, not really. I wouldn't call it holding onto your childhood, but rather, just enjoying yourself.

Also, something quite funny, a year or two back, Nintendo was trying to show how awesome they were for making sequels to all their great titles, and named off some 20 titles. Then they compared it to the PS2's under 10 titles, and the Xbox's 1(Halo 2). It was quite funny at the time, and it proved a point that Xbox didn't have any real mascots, just MC, who not everyone likes.

 

[Happy Camper]

Probably getting an XBox 360 myself, but I'm reluctant...what with those PowerPC chips it has. *grabs Bill Gates by his big head* What were you thinking, Billy?!

I think the 360 is supposed to use a tiple core intel chip. The PS3 uses a power PC chip. Which BTW has ten cores and should rival the speed of supercomputers 10 years ago. Anyone fancy rendering toy story?

 

[Edfilho]

Fun facts:
-they are not 10 cores. it is one core and 7 things no one knows exactly what they are. Remember, Sony promissed that the PS2 would be albe to render FF8's intro in real time. All filthy lies.

- Nintendo is the leader system seller.
- Nintendo has the best profits by a long shot. Even counting software, the xbox never gave anything but losses to MS.
- The Revolution WILL have all 1st party games prior to the Rev for free download.
- Hardware analists are coming to the conclusion that the Cell processor excels in media streaming and related tasks. It won't be much better than current generation in AI, Physics and most gameplay related jobs.

So Sony is bringing the same old girsl back, only with some fake boobs, nose jobs...


Ok, I'm no PS hater, nor I loathe the Xbox. but the company that focuses on making games is still Nintendo. and they are the ones making more money out of it.

 

[Jesus]

Indeed. And that's why they've lived through all the handheld wars. It's easy for Nintendo to stay strong in the handhelds, and it's not as profitable as home consoles, so it doesn't attract as many giants. If sony does want to win the handheld war, they're going to lose a lot of money in the proccess, but me? I think they've already lost with the PSP. In japan, everyone seems to think they have, as Nintendo released Nintendogs over there and it trippled console sales for the DS.

And yeah, I'm not interested in the PS3. Sony announced it wasn't even a gaming machine any more, but rather, that gaming was a side feature. Next people will be calling gaming a gimmick. Ugh, that will be a horrible day indeed.

 

[Happy Camper]

I doubt sony will win the hand held war (although it doesn't exist yet), apparently the battery life is only supposed to be around four hours. With a battery life like that, the PSP will cease to be portable.

 

[Sarty]

Yes, the PSP has some nice features but the battery power kills it, I've gotten about 5 hours out of mine. Whereas my DS, fully charged, is like a cell phone and will last for several DAYS of gaming. I still like switching between both though, just like my Gamecube and PS2.

 

[Jesus]

I don't think I've ever had my DS battery die on me. I play it often enough that you'd think it would, but I remember to charge it now and then(every couple days) and it usually takes under half an hour to charge. So, yeah, DS certainly lives up to the whole portability thing. Some people complain that it's battery life meter doesn't show enough information since it only has two levels, Not low, and Low, but really, it doesn't seem to matter as you never need to worry, even if it is low.

Anyways, I've just heard that Animal Crossing DS uses the DS's touch screen in such a way that it makes going back to D-pad and buttons seem clunky, so, I'm begining to wonder what kind of controls Nintendo would give a Zelda game on the DS...either way, I want the next Zelda game after this one on the DS.

 

[T8H3X11]

Ok, I'm no PS hater, nor I loathe the Xbox. but the company that focuses on making games is still Nintendo. and they are the ones making more money out of it.

Where are you getting that info? The Gamecube has sold the least of any of the three consoles.

By the end of 2003 PS2 sold 20.25 million units, XBox 6.64 million, and Gamcube 5.7 million. Granted had a year on the Xbox and GC. In 2003 the PS2 sold 4.41 units, the GC 4.12 million, and the Xbox 4.02 million. In the past year or so Xbox has pulled ahead selling the most units with PS2 then GC. So Nintendo is making more money?

My Hypothesis: The next-gen war will only feature PS3 and XBox 360. Both Sony and Microsoft are obviously pushing the envelope on technology and that's where I feel the big market is. Most gamers want the best visuals availabe and want the next biggest thing. I don't believe that thing is the ability to download games from Nintendo's library (which I read that downloads will be free for a limited time). I can go to Gamestop and buy a NES for $5 and games for $.10 or get free emulators online and play practically any NES, SNES, or N64 I want to.

No, the big thing is power. That's what I'm looking for in the next-gen consoles. That's what the PS3 and XBox 360 has and the Revolution does not. I'm looking for a console that supports HD. The Revolution won't; Nintendo has even said they are not going to include component outputs. WTF? Sony is making sure that all games for the PS3 support 720p or 1080i.

My beef with Nintendo is that they are not embracing today's technology like Sony and Microsoft are. Sure, some 30 year old nostalgic gamers will by the Revolution but I doubt it will be able to compete with the other two.

 

[Maj.Striker]

T8,

I think you misread his statement (as did I until I reread it). I think he meant in terms of total sales...this would include software as well as hardware. I'm not sure but I assume that Nintendo (software titles plus gamecubes) sold better than Xbox overall but I think that is a bit slanted. I do think the most important statistic right now is that of last year's sales. I think the fact that the xbox pulling even (or maybe it was even ahead) of the PS2 was quite significant. I think it's far too early to predict who will do the best of the next generation consoles but it'll be interesting to watch. The Nintendo Revolution has some nice things going for it but I got to admit that it will play second fiddle to the other two. That being said...that might not be a bad thing. I don't think anyone at Nintendo expects it to outperform/outsale the other two big consoles so if they're happy with that then that's good...everybody wins.

 

[ChrisReid]

Where are you getting that info? The Gamecube has sold the least of any of the three consoles.

By the end of 2003 PS2 sold 20.25 million units, XBox 6.64 million, and Gamcube 5.7 million. Granted had a year on the Xbox and GC. In 2003 the PS2 sold 4.41 units, the GC 4.12 million, and the Xbox 4.02 million. In the past year or so Xbox has pulled ahead selling the most units with PS2 then GC. So Nintendo is making more money?

Yeah, sales have nothing to do with how much money they make. Both Sony and Microsoft take huge losses when they launch a system because they sell their consoles at a loss and hope to make up the money with software. Nintendo never goes into the red. Here are the published financial figures for the last cycle. These are net profit figures for Sony and Microsoft's gaming divisions and all Nintendo (since it's just gaming). The numbers below are in US Millions.

	Sony	Nintendo	Microsoft
2001	-409	726
2002	623	800	-750
2003	939	560	-1191
2004	650	316	-1215
2005	406	809	-58
	2209	3211	-3214

In the last cycle, the GameCube made the most money out of the major three. You can call the GameCube all sorts of silly names you want, but it's no secret that Nintendo is the most profitable company in the console business. http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/26/news_6126572.html

My Hypothesis: The next-gen war will only feature PS3 and XBox 360. Both Sony and Microsoft are obviously pushing the envelope on technology and that's where I feel the big market is. Most gamers want the best visuals availabe and want the next biggest thing. I don't believe that thing is the ability to download games from Nintendo's library (which I read that downloads will be free for a limited time). I can go to Gamestop and buy a NES for $5 and games for $.10 or get free emulators online and play practically any NES, SNES, or N64 I want to.

GameStop hasn't sold NES systems for years. They go on eBay for about $50. Nintendo has sold almost 8 million copies of its NES rereleases for the GBA in the past year. The Revolution's downloadable game library will make Nintendo piles and piles of money. You can talk about how the war will be fought between the PS3 and 360, meanwhile, Nintendo will be trucking cash to the bank.

No, the big thing is power. That's what I'm looking for in the next-gen consoles. That's what the PS3 and XBox 360 has and the Revolution does not. I'm looking for a console that supports HD. The Revolution won't; Nintendo has even said they are not going to include component outputs. WTF? Sony is making sure that all games for the PS3 support 720p or 1080i.

I'm a big fan of power. I just bought my 720p/1080i tv in anticipation of the new systems. But I'll be there on day one to get the new Nintendo system too. It's about games just as much as power, and there will be dozens of exclusive games on the Nintendo system that I'll need to get.

My beef with Nintendo is that they are not embracing today's technology like Sony and Microsoft are. Sure, some 30 year old nostalgic gamers will by the Revolution but I doubt it will be able to compete with the other two.

And those 30 year old nostalgic gamers are starting families and will be having kids of their own in the next five years. What system do you think they'll get? The new Nintendo system will probably be $100+ cheaper and will have access to the entire 8-bit to GameCube library. I'm personally most excited about the XBox 360, but I won't dismiss Nintendo because of the way their image has been portrayed on the internet for the last couple years.

 

[Jesus]

Yeah, T8 made some pretty bad points. Like Chris said, console sales aren't profit sales, and Nintendo is ahead there.

Anyways, Nintendo really doesn't seem to care about power anymore. Really, they have a "been there, done that" attitude, after realizing that the cheaper console won with the PS1(cheaper development costs). "Now you're playing with power!" anyone? Yeah, Nintendo used to be the powerhouse company...up til the Gamecube. The N64 was a revelation for them, they completely changed their ways because of that loss. In fact, the N64 was more graphically powerful than the PS1, and ironically, now Nintendo and Sony have switched paths, with Sony going down Nintendo's old powerhouse path. Microsoft's Xbox though is only encouraging power. If it hadn't had those RPGs and Halo, I think less people would be going down the power path and more down the one of control gaming(like Nintendo is now).

Anyways, I've noticed that first generation(of a company) consoles are almost just like earlier consoles(with the exception of NES, Genesis was like NES, Playstation was like SNES, Xbox was like Dreamcast). And then, the second console is just like the first(NES-SNES, Genesis-Saturn, PS1-PS2, Xbox-360). The third console though, is completely different, with a whole new controller, and a whole new concept behind it(N64 was 3d, Dreamcast was online, PS3 is blueray and not a gaming machine). With the third generation also comes a big loss, and a change in the companies ways(Nintendo-gameplay>power, Sega-went to 3rd party, Sony-?). I don't know what to expect, but third gen of a company I expect them to lose a lot of power.

Yeah, it'll be weird if it does come true and there's a change in Sony. I half expect it.

 

[ChrisReid]

Anyways, I've noticed that first generation(of a company) consoles are almost just like earlier consoles(with the exception of NES, Genesis was like NES, Playstation was like SNES, Xbox was like Dreamcast). And then, the second console is just like the first(NES-SNES, Genesis-Saturn, PS1-PS2, Xbox-360). The third console though, is completely different, with a whole new controller, and a whole new concept behind it(N64 was 3d, Dreamcast was online, PS3 is blueray and not a gaming machine). With the third generation also comes a big loss, and a change in the companies ways(Nintendo-gameplay>power, Sega-went to 3rd party, Sony-?). I don't know what to expect, but third gen of a company I expect them to lose a lot of power.

Didn't we already have a discussion about trying to dig too deep to find trends? It's pretty rough trying to make predictions based on two general reference points. The PS3 controller is a concept design that I doubt will make it to final production. Blueray isn't a fundamental change at all, just another evolution of the CD/DVD. The "not a gaming machine" is just Sony hype. If you looked at the PS2's official title, it wasn't a game console either. It was the "Playstation 2 Computer Entertainment System" (http://global.scei.co.jp/manual/pdf/SCPH-30001.pdf).

 

[Sarty]

Hideo Kojima likened the 3 systems to dinner. He said that PS3 is like a really fancy dinner that you only treat yourself with a few times year in how it is very powerful but not dynamic enough to be used as often as the other systems. The Xbox 360 is a decent dinner that you have maybe a few times every month with its balance of power and dynamics. While the Revolution is your everyday dinner that isn't big on power but has features that keep it interesting enough to use very often.

 

[Happy Camper]

Where are you getting that info? The Gamecube has sold the least of any of the My beef with Nintendo is that they are not embracing today's technology like Sony and Microsoft are. Sure, some 30 year old nostalgic gamers will by the Revolution but I doubt it will be able to compete with the other two.

I believe nintendo are trying to focus on finding new ways to play games, rather than just have the same sort of games with prettier visuals. In a market where there is little space for originality this can only be a good thing. Whether it will genuinely make something that is new and exciting, and release a reasonable number of quailty games to play on the new gaming system (whatever it may be) remains to be seen.

 

[Maj.Striker]

Microsoft's Xbox though is only encouraging power. If it hadn't had those RPGs and Halo, I think less people would be going down the power path and more down the one of control gaming(like Nintendo is now).

You can say that but I would say that Halo was to Xbox as GTA Vice City was to the PS2. I don't have the sales numbers on either console's titles but I'd say the xbox was a considerable success despite posting losses. Why? Microsoft broke into a massive entertainment field in which they had no market share...started from scratch and has already established a sizeable share. They went from 0% in the console business to 30% or so of the industry. That's pretty impressive. I'd like to see someone else do that...let's see Yamaha or General Motors do that. The xbox360 is going to make them money this time as they've got an established audience this time around and the fact that they'll likely be cheaper than the PS3 is going to help a lot. But again...we'll see when it happens.