Archive for November, 2005
Sequels Turning Off Consumers?
Posted by Blackstaffer in Software on November 28th, 2005
I don’t agree. I only dislike sequels as far as they take away resources from new original content that could have been created instead. But that only applies to sequels I personally don’t like! 
For example, I see Ridge Racer 6 and think that yeah, what a waste of money. They could have made the next Frequency or something else instead of this derivative stuff. But then I see PGR2 or Burnout Revenge and I’m like Bring it on! I want more!
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. And so some people will like the sequel to game Ridge Racer, while others will like the sequels to Burnout. If consumers keep buying the games, companies will continue to make them. So if you want to see fewer sequels, buy fewer sequels.
Me, I’m gonna get the next Champions of Norrath game, and I don’t care how derivative people say it is. I like the series. I just hope it’s on the PlayStation 3 (PS3).
Next Generation – Analyst Says Sequels Turning Off Consumers
Revolution Developer Roundtable from 1UP.com
Posted by Blackstaffer in Nintendo Wii on November 28th, 2005
Interested in the Nintendo Revolution? Then 1up.com has an article for you. They talk about several things, including the new controller and whether or not it’ll be used as a gimick. And whether Revolution games will be shorter than other games:
Revolution seems more geared towards family fun, so games of epic scope seem less necessary. There is concern about games being too gimmicky and not having long-term replay value beyond the initial concept, but I have confidence that many games will be addictive and provide long-term enjoyment with friends. There will be must-have games, as well as some duds. I think the games produced by Nintendo will be worth the price of admission. If long-term play becomes an issue, they could always make a game where you perform daily exercises with the pointer and watch your character get bulked up over time.
Developers also think that gamers will buy the Revolution in addition to the PS3 or Xbox 360, but that there will be a smaller installed base. This could cause problems:
I do have concerns as a developer. If the Revolution doesn’t offer a large enough install base, it will be a tough sell for companies to focus their development efforts on a single platform. At The Behemoth, we are a small team and can only make one game at a time. It’s great because we have tons of creative freedom and make the games we want to make. We serve a niche audience but we still have to watch our bottom line. The question arises as to whether we want to make a really cool, unique game for a very large potential audience, or if we want to make something for a niche platform with a much smaller but dedicated audience. If we come up with a game idea specifically for the Revolution that is just too fun to pass up, I’m sure we’ll do it. The other scenario is the Revolution will get a port of a game that works on the other consoles as well.
But on the issue of HD the developers are split. Tom Fulp from The Behemoth says “I don’t consider lack of HD support to be too big a deal at the moment. I’ve always been more of a frame-rate nut myself; I like my frame-rates fast and smooth.” But Randy Pitchford of Gearbox says “I’m an HDTV user, so for me this is a big deal. I don’t think it’s going to be a big deal in the market when the Revolution launches, but it’s going to be a much bigger deal in 2008 or 2009.” I agree with Randy!
Bad GameCube. Bad!
Posted by Blackstaffer in Nintendo Wii on November 28th, 2005
Nintendo, known for games featuring characters such as Mario, Donkey Kong and Pokemon, is expected to report a decline in revenue for the full year as GameCube console and software sales taper off and as it is hurt by a price cut for its DS portable game machine, which it launched about a year ago.
Bad third party support. No online play. No DVD player. Gosh, I hope Nintendo learns a lesson as it designs the Revolution. Give people what they want!
9rules this Week
Posted by Blackstaffer in Xbox 360 on November 26th, 2005
This week Aelon.net wrote an article about the XBox launch. Here’s a little taste:
Swing back 3 weeks. I am cruising around the local mall and the Xbox 360 launch fever has just started. I ask the manager of a local EB about word from on high. He says that whenever their store preorders things you get a ballpark from the distributor on how many can be sent (for high demand items). They got the ballpark of about 150 for Xbox 360s. They preordered 200 (telling the last 50 they would probably be in the second wave). Guess how many they get? 30. Ouch. If that is the extent of the production delays Xbox 360 will become the greatest console that no one has.
Head on over to Aelon.net to check out the rest.
Every Xbox 360 loses Microsoft $127
Posted by Blackstaffer in Xbox 360 on November 25th, 2005
Supposedly, according to someone that doesn’t actually make the console, it costs about $470 dollars in parts to make an Xbox 360. Then you have to pay to assemble all those pieces. All told, that means that Microsoft will lose $127 per console sold.
Personally, I don’t think this is such a big deal. Microsoft has so much money in the bank that they could lose money on every Xbox 360 sold from now to eternity and still put it in their “lost in couch” column on their balance sheet.
Besides, this won’t last forever. I have a feeling that this time around, Microsoft has engineered things so that economies of scale and hardware optimizations will eventually allow them to profit on the console, much like Sony has done with the PS2.
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