Next Gen Consoles- Too Early?

Also there is another issue here...

those that can afford to buy new consoles as and when they are released will not complain too much about stuff coming to market...whereas to those of us to whom buying a new console is something that needs and element of financial planning behind it will feel that if things come to market too fast then they will get hard done by when they new-gen comes out if you see what I mean. There's an element of have and have nots that comes into play when people express their opinions about this sort of thing...
 
nobody_here said:
good point, i agree, i think the largest majority of HDTV owners are twenty-something guys that are the largest consumers of consoles, thats why the console prices are warranted too, what twenty-something guy that will spend thousands on a HDTV that likes playing games wouldn't spend $400-600 on a HD capable console?

i know i would, and will, as soon as my PC parts sell on ebay i'm goin shoppin'!!
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The problem is that game consoles are targetted to JUST the 13-30 males. There's much more money to be had if you target it to appeal to everyone (see: Sims). If it's cheap enough, easy enough for everyone to play, and appeals to more than just male hormones, and targetted for everyone to be able to enjoy (not just HDTV owners) there is a HUGE market you can tap. I'm finding myself less and less interested in boob-fest and kill-fest type games, because the genres have become so stale and rehashed. More and more I'm becoming enamored with games that appeal to more than just bloodlust and sex (I'll be enjoying real sex, thanks). Games like Civ IV and The Movies, and even Nintendogs have held my attention for much longer than the Doom's, Halos and GTAs have... and until something fresh comes along in the FPS/RTS/etc genres, I'll continue to play games that appeal to more than just 16 year olds... this is just my opinion, of course... but from what I see on the next gen systems' release lists I'm currently not interested.
 
We don't have to squeeze every last drop of blood we can out of hard ware before moving on. The Xbox pas pushed was pretty darn close to it's limits anyway, and even if they spent tonnes of time optimizing it, you would have seen very subtle difference in graphics. It was time to move on. I'm tired of PC games looking like crap simply because they have to also be developed for some ancient console. Besides, if you've been playing an Xbox for the past 2 years you sure as heck aren't looking for good graphics. Why spend a bunch of money optimizing for slightly better graphics, when they won't look any good any way? If you want graphics, you'll need to move to a 360 or a PC.
 
steviep said:
The problem is that game consoles are targetted to JUST the 13-30 males. There's much more money to be had if you target it to appeal to everyone (see: Sims). If it's cheap enough, easy enough for everyone to play, and appeals to more than just male hormones, and targetted for everyone to be able to enjoy (not just HDTV owners) there is a HUGE market you can tap. I'm finding myself less and less interested in boob-fest and kill-fest type games, because the genres have become so stale and rehashed. More and more I'm becoming enamored with games that appeal to more than just bloodlust and sex (I'll be enjoying real sex, thanks). Games like Civ IV and The Movies, and even Nintendogs have held my attention for much longer than the Doom's, Halos and GTAs have... and until something fresh comes along in the FPS/RTS/etc genres, I'll continue to play games that appeal to more than just 16 year olds... this is just my opinion, of course... but from what I see on the next gen systems' release lists I'm currently not interested.
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agreed! another good point made, i am nearly 30yrs old now, married, two kids, house, etc......., thats why i am selling my pc and getting a 360 for now, PS3 later most likely, i would never buy a console to play first person shooters, thats PC gaming for me and always will be, it's just not meant to be done with a gamepad IMO

1. i'm bored with CS:S and Doom3 type games which i used to really enjoy and have time for, there's just nothing new about the first person shooters anymore, they are "played out"

2. it fits my lifestyle more now, instead of having to deal with the PC "hassles", maintaining, troubleshooting, etc......i will really enjoy being able to hit "ON" and play some really nice Racing (PGR3) and Sports (Madden 2005?) games, maybe a Strategy game from time to time, and all in HiDef/DD 5.1 surround

3. i don't entertain guests much anymore, but when i do, it is much more appealing to me and my guests to sit around the big screen with a pizza and cold beer than to huddle around the PC and watch people take turns sitting in front of it and learning how to actually use a keyboard and mouse simultaneously (although that does make for a good laugh sometimes)

so this topic is really very dependent on what age group you are in and what life-stage the individual is at, i think if some users only want to play the Sims and what not, they should be fine with a last gen console, but if they want the HiDef experience and have a HiDef TV, then asking them to pay the same price for a 360 for instance as the "hardcore Halo shooter" type, is not off the wall IMO, you pay for the technology and what the market will bear, not by how you intend on using it ;)
 
MrGuvernment said:
DFR!

People think nintendo is the underdog - but to me they are the ones that innovate and create, they bring you NEW content, not the same old recycled crap!
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Which is why Mario and Castlevania are usually the only games worth buying on any nintendo system. :confused:
 
Haven't we settled this yet? Nintendo uses recognizable franchises to promote new gameplay styles. Just look at the difference in gameplay between the two N64 Zeldas, let alone between either of those two and any Zelda on another Nintendo platform. Bigger than the difference in gameplay between PGR2 and PGR3 to be sure, although you might have been too busy taking pictures of how purdy the game looked to notice the gameplay. Forgivable.
 
So your counterpoint would be one game that has gone from 2d to 3d. Super.
 
finalgt said:
Haven't we settled this yet? Nintendo uses recognizable franchises to promote new gameplay styles. Just look at the difference in gameplay between the two N64 Zeldas, let alone between either of those two and any Zelda on another Nintendo platform. Bigger than the difference in gameplay between PGR2 and PGR3 to be sure, although you might have been too busy taking pictures of how purdy the game looked to notice the gameplay. Forgivable.
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True, Nintendo may whore out their franchises so much it's disgusting, but they tend to be generational. It's not like Ratchet and Clank, where there's 4 games on a system, or capcom where as soon as they make a successful game they make a million clones right away. This is a lot different than a mario game once per console.
 
Tiny said:
So your counterpoint would be one game that has gone from 2d to 3d. Super.
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:rolleyes:

No, the example to my counterpoint would be one game that has gone from 2d to 3d. My actual counterpoint, if you could infer subtext, would be that every Nintendo franchise experiences similar gameplay differentiation.
 
also, i would like to mention the quality of games comes down to the developers. IMO, xbox has the least amonunt of memorable games compared to the ps2 and gamecube.

xbox memorable games for me: halo1/2, ninja gaiden, splinter cell, Mech Assault Series, Steel Battalion

ps2: Zone of the Enders 1/2, MGS2/3, Prince of Persia Series, God of War, Onimusha series, i'm sure there are much more but i just can't remember right now.

Gamecube: Pikmin1/2, Smash Bros Melee, Viewtiful Joe 1/2, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Kart, Mario Sunshine, Donkey Konga

in the end, innovative controller or not, it comes down to the developers that create the games which make or break the system.

however, i do like nintendo's approach to trying something new. hopefully it will bring forth some new fun game play.
 
finalgt said:
Haven't we settled this yet? Nintendo uses recognizable franchises to promote new gameplay styles. Just look at the difference in gameplay between the two N64 Zeldas, let alone between either of those two and any Zelda on another Nintendo platform.
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Yup... some people can't see this though. They see Mario, or Link, and assume that they must be the same game.
 
Are the controllers for the XBOX compatible with the XBOX360?

Other than the costly excercise of buying a console every 3 years, it would suck to have to buy 4 joysticks every time a new console comes out. That alone would be 1/2 the price of the console right there. I'm glad the Revolution has the GCN joystick ports.

I say leave the fast tech cycles to the PCs. Given that even after 3 years most developers are still tapping the power of the console at that point of time, 4 years would be a minimum time, in my opinion at least.

If making a 3 year cycle, they might as well make consoles like PCs, just with uniform products. I.e. there is only one source of "upgrade" parts, i.e. from sony, MS, nintendo, so any arguement for the "millions of hardware combinations" would be moot. Programmers could also program fro the best system and have a good downscaling system via resolution and effects, AND, this would be automatic, since they would know the system specs and combinations in advance.

PC's keep the same basic architecture over the years. Consoles often change drastically, which is why the development time always lags.
 
Deam said:
Are the controllers for the XBOX compatible with the XBOX360?
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After you play w/ the 360 controller you won't want to use anything else again let alone the xbox controller. I can't even play my xbox anymore because of the 360 controller. It's spoiled me.
 
WorldRunner said:
After you play w/ the 360 controller you won't want to use anything else again let alone the xbox controller. I can't even play my xbox anymore because of the 360 controller. It's spoiled me.
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agreed, i personally hated the batwing XBOX controller, the PS/PS2 controller is really nice, the 360 controller took that design, or maybe more like the Nintendo N64 controller design, and just made it better, but the PS/PS2 controller has by far been the most ergonomical design IMO, until the 360 that is
 
CreganTur said:
However, the X-Box still seems to have some untapped potential, or so it seems.

So, here's the question: Is it too early for these sytems to be coming out? Do they really bring enough big technological advancements to the table, which justify their existence?
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if microsoft sat there with the xbox while sony released PS3 microsoft would have probably >1% market share
 
nobody_here said:
agreed, i personally hated the batwing XBOX controller, the PS/PS2 controller is really nice, the 360 controller took that design, or maybe more like the Nintendo N64 controller design, and just made it better, but the PS/PS2 controller has by far been the most ergonomical design IMO, until the 360 that is
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I personally like the gamecube controller the best, but then I've mostly owned Nintendo consoles, I'm perfectly happy though with owning a gamecube and a few hit games (Smash Bros, F-Zero) and doing the rest of my gaming on pc, although I wish the twilight princess was released, it was so anying having the twilight princess get delayed then Oblivion (Best reason for 360 to date if it comes out).
 
sculelos said:
I personally like the gamecube controller the best, but then I've mostly owned Nintendo consoles, I'm perfectly happy though with owning a gamecube and a few hit games (Smash Bros, F-Zero) and doing the rest of my gaming on pc, although I wish the twilight princess was released, it was so anying having the twilight princess get delayed then Oblivion (Best reason for 360 to date if it comes out).
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Also I have owned. Atari->NES->Genises->SNES->N64->Gamecube, so I have owned alot of nintendo consoles and will like to replay thier games on the revolution, but mostly I want it for............................







SUPER SMASH BROTHERS 3!!!!
 
well , nintendo did bring a lot of sequel of ... for example Mario...

is super mario brothers 3 like mario 64? one is 2d and the others was one of the first fully 3d game on a console.

or is zelda a link to the past like Ocarina of time ... or even wind waker? ocarina of time did bring us the ztarget wich is now use in many many many games....

so to all who said Nintendo did too many sequel... i think youre totally wrong...

almost everytime they released a sequel of a HIT game , they did try to improve it with new gameplay idea...

is halo 1 and 2 like that?

you guys know the answer...
 
I guess people missed my point. It wasn't whether the old joysticks are better or worse than the new ones, it's that every 3 years you'd have to spend 200 bucks buying 4 new ones for the new console to play "party" or 4 player games.
 
arr4ws said:
... i think youre totally wrong...
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Cut to the key phrase. It is subjective to everyone. It is irritating when people can't see it in whatever console they choose to love most.
 
Syphon Filter said:
QFT!

I have a gamecube but its covered in about an inch of dust at the moment...
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I just sold my XBOX after having it for 9 months and my PS2 has been collecting dust for about a year now. They still have good games, but get me bored fast.

I rather keep PC gaming till all 3 consoles are out, and make a decision based on my own perception of what is what I am looking for in gaming. Who can balance graphics with gameplay? New Games ? Available quality games? Online gaming? and lots more.
 
The new consoles are right on time, and mind you there not just about better graphics and sound although that's always a plus.

Broadband is the new gaming platform as far as consoles are concerned. The new consoles processing power and storage capabilites will combine to deliver games and genre's that consoles just havent really been able to move into.

Your going to start seeing a hard emphasis on online personas, Mmorpg type games, online economys, downloadable content, updates, and chat and voice services. The reason behind it is new revenue models and being able to offer new experiences to console gamers.
 
Tiny said:
Cut to the key phrase. It is subjective to everyone.
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Subjectivity eh?

Tiny said:
A controller that will most likely force you to use the shell for a majority of games.

No, next-gen is not too early. In fact it is a year late.
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Facts are where?
 
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Thank you for pointing that out. Tiny, arr4ws is NOT a Nintendo !!!!!!. He just made a great post, despite the grammatical misgivings. FinalGT has made some great posts as well, ones that you have yet to rebut. Nintendo uses its characters (which are the most recognizable videogame characters in the world, btw) to take risks, for the most part. To explain it in layman's terms, which clearly some of you need... let's just say Nintendo wants to make a risky game, or include some kind of gameplay mechanic that hasn't been done in a game... Do they create a bunch of new characters and put them in a risky game? No, that would be financial stupidity. They make this "risky" game and stick Mario or Kirby or something in it, and then the name alone will get people to try it. This has been done plenty of times before (Kirby Canvas Curse, Mario Paint, Donky Kong: Jungle Beat, etc etc etc). Do you honestly think Mario Strikers would have sold 1/4 as much if they put generic characters instead of the mushroom kingdom usuals? Yes, Nintendo whores their mascots out... but usually for good reason. This has been covered a million times and needs to be put to rest. A PGR2 -> PGR3 type sequel is usually quite a bit different than a Nintendo sequel. And usually IS the keyword (there are isolated examples, like Mario Party - but that's not even made by Nintendo!)... but when I buy any Nintendo game that has a "2" next to it, or any iteration of their key franchises (Mario, Zelda, etc) I know I'm not getting some rehashed crap most of the time! /end of rant

To get back to this thread... earlier the "upgradable console" was mentioned, and that would completely defeat the purpose of console gaming. It's supposed to be "pick up and play", not "tweak, overclock, and upgrade" - we're talking about the wrong type of gaming machine, there :p
 
Try taking the difference of the Xbox and the X360 in terms of hardware -


Xbox - Bascially a GeForce 3/4 GPU
Intel 700Mhz
64 megs SHARED RAM


X360- something along the lines of a Ati X1800+ 10meg daughter die capable of doing some video decoding operations
multi cored processors running @ 3.2ghz
512 megs SHARED RAM


There is a huge difference. And if you think that 2005-06 is too early to replace a Pentium III and a Geforce 3 card then you must be living in Eastern Europe or some other garden variety 3rd world country that thinks Beverly Hills 90210 is a new TV series.
 
steviep said:
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

To get back to this thread... earlier the "upgradable console" was mentioned, and that would completely defeat the purpose of console gaming. It's supposed to be "pick up and play", not "tweak, overclock, and upgrade" - we're talking about the wrong type of gaming machine, there :p
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Well, my point was that if they are going to be releasing new consoles every three years, they might as well do it via upgrades. Personally, I usually just get the current Nintendo console to go along with my PC. I have enough time to play games on every console, and the time I do have I'd rather play the Nintendo franchise games.

My point about the upgrading was that for the sense of R&D, development, etc, having a 3 year console cycle would not be that effective. Games wouldn't reach their peak on any given console. Yet, if they had upgrades...(think n64 memory enhancement), they could maintain the same development system, just with the option of higher resolution graphics, etc.

Obviously, this was only a though, and there would be NO tweking, overclocking, etc. Again, think of the N64 memory expansion. Every three years, you have the choice of buying a new "compoenent" to replace what's already in the console, which would be just a shell. As long as they kept the same processor/achitecture, this could go on for several years without any detrimental effects.

All hypothetical, and likely never to happen.


As well, I do not believe the general gaming public would be pleased with having to pay 400 bucks every 3 years for a new console. The usual positive aspects of consoles, along with the put game in/turn on simplicity, is that you buy it and it lasts for several years. 4 years should be the earliest they release a new console, unless they have a way of making them cheaper and backward compatible with the accessories from other consoles.
 
Traditionally uprgades for consoles confuse the general populace. The Saturn tried it too with their RAM cart upgrades. I think the idea of being able to carry over controllers is a good idea, but when you start making consoles upgradeable you start to segment your own market just like the 360, because then people have to upgrade to play a new game, and I think the market is resistant to that in the console arena. I could be wrong though, I wasn't too into games when Perfect Dark and Majora's Mask came out so I don't know what the public opinion back then was.

Besides, no hardware company is going to use the same controllers console after console because it's another way to bring in some money.
 
Well, the key factor would be that you don't need to upgrade. Because all the console owners woudl have the same hardware, be it the more advanced or regular hardware, programers shoudl be able to scale the game to the different hardware. There should be no issue of "millions of combo's" like on the pc, with drivers, etc, because there is only one source.

So long as all the games work, just with different graphical abilities, it should not be a big issue. And then people can upgrade when they want.

Again, this is truely hypothetical and likely won't happen, but I think it's better than having to by a new box every 3 years, with all new games, etc, when you never reach the peak of any given generation.
 
There is no refuting fanaticism.

Keep believing that Nintendo doesn't rehash out the yang, but everyone else does.

Silly misnomers from others don’t stop me from enjoying games that I have enjoyed in the past.

And not once has Madden been a simple roster update.
 
Json23 said:
LOL!!!!


Phew! Man, I want what you are smoking!!
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Madden has added something every year. Obviously the roster update is something that many people want because you know...we want rookies in the league and want people on their correct teams as well as ability updates.

However dozens of features/addtions have been made over the past few years. There's simply no arguing this because it's plainly obvious that the game isn't the same year in and year out.
 
I do NOT think the next gen consoles are here to early. Its about time they arrive!

I have a 360, and I will probably get a Rev.

Goodbye wasting cash on my computer for gaming lol.
 
Eh, I just waste money on everything and not worry about it. I bought this new A64 setup with a 7800GTX at the end of the Summer, and I have a 360 now. I'm a geek buyer. *shrug* Now I just have to decide which system I want to buy Oblivion for, sigh. Save $10 to play on my 20 inch display and slightly cramped setting, or pay to play on my 37 inch HD display. Hmm, I do have the 5.1 going on the 360 though...that might be the capper.

Anywho, I'm kinda looking forward to the Revolution to, and I'm traditionally anti-Nintendo when it comes to consoles, I just like their portables. But a low price point and an interesting controller has me interested. And I'm in a Boycott Sony mood after their rootkit crap, so I sure won't get a PS3 anytime soon (but then I took a year to get a PS2 since I already had an Xbox).
 
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