lack of interest in next gen- jaded gamers thread

[HioMrSan]

Thats just hillarious. I've been thinking they were just going to cancel the gamecube zelda for a long time. If they don't cancel it, I feel the option will still be on the table till the last hour. They were waiting to judge how well the Wii would sell and then wonder if it would be worth it to release a gamecube version. Obviously they want the title to push sales of the Wii.

Considering Zelda is the only title on Wii that seems to be good, why would I buy a Wii if its on the gamecube.

[MidnightRecession]

Originally Posted by bandit22

apparently ebgames/gamestop will not be getting any copies, or something like that.

Untrue, it's just that it comes out after the Wii version.

Originally Posted by bandit22

what the fuck happened to adventure games like this?

Indigo Prophecy? Dreamfall? Sam and Max? Plenty of adventure games come out, it's just that they don't get as much press.

[Axem Rangers]

OH GOD INDIGO PROPHECY

That was the coolest game since Shenmue.

[Excel-2009]

Originally Posted by MadRoll

Untrue, it's just that it comes out after the Wii version.Indigo Prophecy? Dreamfall? Sam and Max? Plenty of adventure games come out, it's just that they don't get as much press.

What is your stance on Snatcher?

[Arkaaito]

Late arrival to the thread - it looks like I missed all the drama. Whatever shall I do?

Anyway, I'm also in the jaded camp, or at least the "not-getting-a-PS3-until-it-has-Bemani-games" camp. I've toyed with the notion of getting a 360, but it seems that Microsoft is pushing pretty hard for a community-oriented console and I'm really, really not a community person. (Witness my frequent month-long disappearances from Bemanistyle, for instance. And this is a community that I like.) And the Wii fails to appeal because using the controller probably won't be that different from using an ordinary game-pad (which is apparently the exact opposite of the reason everyone else who dislikes it is complaining). I would get a PS3 only for Bemani, and then not until games were no longer being issued for the PS2; I don't see that happening for at least a few years.

But then, you could argue I've been in the jaded camp for the past decade; before I got my first PS2 (as a gift, actually, from someone who knew my love of music games) this summer, the last game console I'd purchased was the original NES! I particularly loved my Atari ST and its styles of games. I really can't explain why.

I suppose the only justification I can give for all this is that I don't do well with small differences. Games nowadays are divided into set genres - FPS, StatFPS, TacShooter, TacRPG, NRPG, StatRPG, Adventure, CivClone, SimCityClone, and maybe a couple of others that I'm forgetting, with only a few notable exceptions. Once you've played one game in the genre, why play another one that's the same except for a few different pieces/levels/weapons/party members/names/stats/settings/time periods/buildings? So in each genre I have the game or series that I follow - Civilization, SimCity, Bard's Tale (don't laugh), Final Fantasy (pre-VI - keep not laughing), Elder Scrolls, Myst, etc. - and outside those I really couldn't care less.

The only exceptions that I notice are RPGs and arcade games. RPGs have settings and characters that at least change somewhat from game to game - I consider Arcanum to be measurably different from Diablo, for instance, or from Sacred, even though all have similar gameplay. Arcade games have different gameplay, or the different gameplay seems to matter more - for instance, each Bemani type has a different controller and play style, and different games of the same type have different songs. No, I can't explain why different songs are so much more meaningful for me than different levels, though it probably has something to do with my obsession over music.

It used to be that many games were islands - genres weren't well-defined yet, so developers didn't have to decide which label to gear the game toward. This means you wound up with everything from Dungeon Master and Sundog to Lost Dutchman Mine and Disney Tower. Which genre would we put any of those games in nowadays? Aside from the adventure games (Gold Rush, ___'s Quest) and the arcade games (Arkanoid, Joust), we don't have good labels for them.

Before, what made me buy a game was that the designers had thought of something that I couldn't or at least didn't think of on my own. Now I buy games because the designers have the resources to realize the concepts that I don't. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that the originality that exists is usually found in minutiae of the game rather than the game concept itself. So the impetus to get a game is less "I have to have that! There's nothing else like it/there's no replacement!" and more "That's a little better than what I have now, so I guess I'll pick it up."

[Novasonic of /flex]

Wow the one thread I didn't actually read degenerates to this. Ha. Ha. Elixir you're banned from OG if you're not already. Or you will be shortly after this post. EDIT: Ok nvm he's already banned where the fuck have I been.

As far as the new console war, I was all stoked for the Wii, and still am to a degree, but I understand the jaded feeling from people. I want to get a PS3, but eventually since it's eleventy billion dollars or so. I would much rather get a Wii and 360 for approximately the same price, which is what I plan on doing. My one real gripe with Sony is their lack of innovation. PS3 ooh pretty graphics and some multimedia capabilities. Oh wait 360 beat you to it. Ooh a motion sensitive controller (that I have not heard one good thing about). Oh wait Wii beat you to it. Sony seems to think that innovation isn't important, as long as Madden and FF games look prettier who cares if there's nothing new right? Wrong. I'll get a PS3 because there ARE games I want to play (Lair, White Knight, Tekken 6, assorted other games), and I'm sure they'll be fun, but it will be the same old experience. With the Wii, it's a totally new one. Everyone dogged the DS saying oh gay touch screen who wants that, and now look. Outselling everyone else and being a kickass system. I expect no less from the Wii. The launch lineup is a little lacking (what the fuck is the deal with half the games being based on Nickelodeon cartoons), but there's some quality looking titles there and more coming out very soon after. Nintendo's got my money, although I won't lie about feeling just a bit jaded about the whole thing.

[Excel-2009]

Originally Posted by Novasonic of /flex

...eleventy billion dollars...

That's not even a real number.

I've gotten over the hype generated by the Wii controller. More so since (not surprisingly) the Virtual Console is region-locked.

[モネ?]

Novasonic it can arugued that the only real innovatoer here is Nintentdo and MS isn't any better. The only differnce between a xbox and x360 is better graphics, better storage spce, and some improvements of live(which is kinda independendent of the x360 being nextgen or not).

The PS3 atm is being hurt from two things: lack of good third party titles(in the near term) and high price. The wii is beign weaken by a unproven controller concept for third party developers and mainstream gamers. The x360 is being alienated still with the lack of diverse games. The Japanese hate the system to death as a result, but things may began to change if LO is succesful. This is what this generation looks like atm, and this why alot of people are not willing to spend money on next-gen console just yet. Each console has a weakness, that makes it insanely inferior to another one. I don't think next-gen gaming will take off until more games come in the market and there seems to be a clear leader. In my view, anybody could win.

[Novasonic of /flex]

As far as the actual console yeah I'll admit MS wasn't too innovative on the 360, but the Live aspect alone has completely changed the face of online console gaming, and has set the bar WAY high for others to catch up. MS did Live and did Live VERY well, and to me it's the most impressive part of the 360. The arcade is awesome, and the titles they're releasing for it have been amazing (Doom, Street Fighter, Geometry Wars, UMK3), with more to come (SOTN fucking yes). Plus it's easy to navigate, and with the exception of Lumines (haha what a joke), the stupid little bullshit microtransactions are pretty much nonexistent. Hopefully that's not a sign of things to come though.

And as far as the 360 goes in Japan, from everything I've read it's slowly catching on more and more. I mean, Blue Dragon preorders are pretty much sold out everywhere over there, and I bet money some of those people are having to buy a 360 just for that game, then they expand their install base, move more software, etc etc. I still think Sony's got Japan with the PS3, but I'm still skeptical about here, although the frat boy Madden crowd (of which there are a LOT), could help PS3 move the units they need.

I also think Sony's going to have a nice bit of help from greedy consumers, snatching up consoles to sell on eBay, which in my opinion is the largest part of PS3 preorders selling out. That and the fact that, you know, they're shipping what, 400k? Great numbers Sony.

[Arkaaito]

400k in the US, 100k in Japan (IIRC).

To Microsoft, the new Live is the most important part of the 360 - that and their new development toolkit, which lay consumers don't hear that much about. Live IS their innovation, and they DO think it's essentially a part of the 360.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

[モネ?]

Originally Posted by Arkaaito

400k in the US, 100k in Japan (IIRC).

To Microsoft, the new Live is the most important part of the 360 - that and their new development toolkit, which lay consumers don't hear that much about. Live IS their innovation, and they DO think it's essentially a part of the 360.

Just thought I'd throw that out there.

I'll stop and say Live is still last gen and online gaming in general is. MS already created Live on the xbox. The only thing we see on the x360 are general improvments and a greator focus on it, rather then greatly innovating on the hardware itself. Sony and Nintendo saw online gaming as a way to improve the expericence, and are trying to copy(although not on the same level). Therfore it's no longer a innovation, but a standard. MS set a standard with Live in the last gen and companies are trying to catch up. Just like everybody copied Sony when they started using DVDs for games.

About those Sony shipment numbers. I think yall are forgeting those only apply to day 1. Now I'm not gonna hold Sony to their word until I see it, but Kaz said recetenly Sony will have weekly shipments in each region until they reach 1 million in Japan and North America(total 2mil) at the Gamer's Day event. Also it's worthy to note, Japan does not get the Wii until a month after the PS3 lunch. By that time, the shipment numbers certainly would' not be 100k still.