iga_bobovic said:

ravenprose said:

The DVD market has been standardized since its creation, yet that didn't stop manufacture's from improving upon the hardware, nor has it prevented improvements in disk technology such as HD-DVD and Blu-Ray from being created. I see no reason why the games market can't work the same way.

Because the DVD market is not video game market. DVD market is a smaller part of the whole movie industry. There are also movie theaters and television. But gaming is even more diverse, we have also handhelds remember. I mean the Wii interface is moving towards Virtual Reality, how can you standarise that? Or the handheld market? There are some guys working on a portable projectors, haptic feedback devices. controlling video games with your mind. What if Nintendo decides to go Virtual Reality, while microsoft tries to go mind control?

This is different than HD-DVD and Blu-Ray, because they only improve the capacity of the disc. The same tech, but more sophisticated. Making realistic haptic feedback would require new technology! A big difference, gaming is an interactive medium. There are so many possibilities, I do not think you can standarize it without smothering progress.

Yes but besides television (and this is a big stretch) there still isn't even somewhat close to the control Nintendo, Microsoft, and SONY have over the other companies. And Nintendo to Virtual Reality? Where'd you get that. Even so it would be dually supported like CD's and MP3's or Blu-Ray and Digital Downloads. What your doing is essentially thinking of how the current market would work under the standardization formula however this is false because the entire videogame market needs to be reconstructed from the ground up much like it was during the mid-to-late 80's.

darthhomer said:

To whoever posted the Piccolo picture - did you read the script to the movie?

It's fucking terrible. It really is.

I'm too scared to be honest.

punk rebel ecks said:

darthhomer said:

To whoever posted the Piccolo picture - did you read the script to the movie?

It's fucking terrible. It really is.

I'm too scared to be honest.

You should be.

They fuck up the characters and storylines badly. They make Goku a fucking outcast and almost a nerd. Bulma is a gun-wielding scientist. Krillin's only in the movie briefly, Yamcha has a key role...the Red Ribbon Army is also in the movie and they're trying to rebirth Piccolo...

God, I could go on. Should I just post the damned script?

I will continue to insist that the hardware issues surrounding standardization are far greater than examples used for DVD players.  RAM, graphics card, CPU all affect relative performance.  In order to have games run as they do now and not push consoles entirely into PCs would be to require VERY specific details in the hardware spec -- I mean the exact model of everything.

It's not simply a matter of a disc format, then hardware to read that disc.  Games render using the hardware.  It would be a nightmare to get agreement while very little potential decrease in price.  Meanwhile you're eliminating the option of the Wii vs 360/PS3 scenario of a cheaper alternative with lesser hardware.

Additionally, gaming is an active experience, whereas movies are passive.  Games at their core are a sequence of inputs.  Standardizing hardware standardizes input, and consequently stagnates game design.

The all-games-under-one-platform fairy tale would be a complete disaster.

Just so everyone knows, I am working on the new site (hence you haven't seen any changes here in a while).  It will be a few weeks yet at least, but it's coming, and it will be significant.

punk rebel ecks said:

yodariquo said:

I will continue to insist that the hardware issues surrounding standardization are far greater than examples used for DVD players.  RAM, graphics card, CPU all affect relative performance.  In order to have games run as they do now and not push consoles entirely into PCs would be to require VERY specific details in the hardware spec -- I mean the exact model of everything.

It's not simply a matter of a disc format, then hardware to read that disc.  Games render using the hardware.  It would be a nightmare to get agreement while very little potential decrease in price.  Meanwhile you're eliminating the option of the Wii vs 360/PS3 scenario of a cheaper alternative with lesser hardware.

Additionally, gaming is an active experience, whereas movies are passive.  Games at their core are a sequence of inputs.  Standardizing hardware standardizes input, and consequently stagnates game design.

The all-games-under-one-platform fairy tale would be a complete disaster.

Again you are looking at this the wrong way. If this was true then how has PC gaming stayed afloat so long without such competition and companies running the show?  Not to mention that graphics and tech are quickly reaching there end. There are very few games that still push tech hell very few games that couldn't be done on the Wii's tech level outside of their visuals. The models don't have to be exact but they can be similar. Yes you may get performance differences (like in PC Gaming) but this is about as big as a deal of the difference of sound quality in MP3 players or different picture quality in TV's. If you want to watch those high tech Blu-ray movies upgrade your TV, you want to play Crysis? upgrade your PC.

Cheaper Alternatives with Less Hardware? If anything this would dramatically increase it. Just look at any other medium industry as price collapses happen when more companies enter in to compete against for a slice of pie.

This isn't a "fairy-tale" this is a very realistic reality. Again you can't look at it as "switching the current industry to that state" it has to be completely reborn similar to how it was in the mid-to-late 80's.

PC gaming is an involved process because of the hardware issues; you don't just pop the disc in and go.  As I said, you'd have to turn consoles into PCs to make it work, which is a waste of time when we already have PCs.

And PCs "stay-afloat" because it's a ubiquitous platform.  They are not dedicated gaming machines and are there regardless.

You also seem to have completely missed the basis of my objection with your insistence that other mediums having hardware competition lowering the price.  This is due to the option of cheaper production.  In order to have standardized consoles, the hardware still has to be IDENTICAL.  Identical parts and you don't have those cheaper alternatives.

And no, again it is not comparable to televisions or MP3 players.  Those output a signal, games require actual processing and rendering.  Performance issues on consoles DESTROY THE GAMES.

Let's for a minute assume your scenario.  One platform.  Let's call it Superconsole.  Here's Super Mario Superconsole: How do you tell if or how well it will run?  Are we going to look at the box and see "Minimum system requirements"?  If so, what is the point of this and how is it not just a PC?  If not, how can the specs of the Superconsole vary between manufacturers and not be an unmitigated disaster?

Let's also address this "rebirth" idea.  Movies have multiple hardware manufacturers because the creators of the mediums used, such as Toshiba and the DVD, benefit from releasing the codec and medium for reading.  In the case of games, the content of the disc must be created with an assumption about the hardware used to read it and in that, while a DVD is a DVD hardware-wise, one game is not the equivalent of another.  How then does it ever get a rebirth when parties can't simply release and wait for the disc to be read, and when a company such as Nintendo has nothing to gain from it?

yodariquo said:

Just so everyone knows, I am working on the new site (hence you haven't seen any changes here in a while).  It will be a few weeks yet at least, but it's coming, and it will be significant.

Will it have a forum?

Can't wait.

edgecrusher said:

Looks like I'll just grab the Xbox versions instead.

My God man, how many games can one person buy?

edgecrusher said:

Just more proof that the industry is heading for standardization. Its better to have the industry share in the hardware costs, content, and creative minds, than for 2 or 3 companies to control it all.

I've wanted the 3DO aka DVD licencing model for a few years now. I just don't see how this system benefits consumers that much. Sure there are some benefits but does that outweigh the one huge benefit of being able to play every game on your system?

archangel3371 said:

I don't think it's ever to late to start marketing to a particular consumer segment though via games and advertising. IMO it would seem kind of foolish to see a targetable audience and just wait another 2 to 3 years when you bring out a new system to begin to advertise to them. You need to get into their heads as soon as possible. It may or may not immediately payoff but you have to at least let them know your out there.

.

That's very true. I guess I'm just precious about having ideas protected. Back in early 2000 I was on magazine and the production team was telling me about how they instituted this design that was then copied by a boat load of other mags. I'm a writer too, so if someone took my idea and made it their own I would be pissed. But image is a different beast. Overall I just want to see more ideas and creativity.  

ravenprose said:

I'm all for standardization too. I can't for the life of me understand why developers/publishers are still trying to support this multi-console industry. It doesn't appear to be in their best interests. Spreading themselves thin by trying to make games for 6 consoles (4 home consoles, and 2 portables) is just crazy.

That's the problem is that there are a small number of hardware makers who can effectively choke the industry. If there was like a gaming consortium they could agree on specs and controllers and licence the tech so that people could make them dvd player style. Sure you would have cheap crap dvd players and really expensive great ones. But like others have said it wont happen because the big 3 have nothing to gain.

archangel3371 said:

You know what my all-time favourite western animated series is, is the 1994 Spiderman. Boy did I ever love that show. Great animation and the voice-cast was perfect. I also love how they made each season a complete story arc broken up into chapters.

I loved it, but there was one thing that drove me mad. It was just like reading a comic book in that it always left you on a cliffhanger and you had to wait till the next week. Just like the X-men cartoon. Damnit.

yodariquo said:

Just so everyone knows, I am working on the new site (hence you haven't seen any changes here in a while).  It will be a few weeks yet at least, but it's coming, and it will be significant.

Cool.

Did the updates. Shower me with praise or poo, your choice.

Now, some guy at NeoGAF got Aquanaughts holiday on PS3:

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=336441

JonnyRam said:

As an owner of Forever Blue on the Wii, I got excited about this when seeing the early trailers in HD. I wasn't going to pick it up, for financial reasons, but curiosity got the better of me, and I figured I could part with Forever Blue to assist with the cost if needs be.

It's a stark contrast to the aforementioned Wii title, probably because of the resolution more than anything. I'd originally thought that Forever Blue looked pretty good because the resolution is not so obvious for a game with a mostly blue palette, but after booting this up, the difference became immediately apparent.

Another advantage the PS3 offers is in the audio area. Even in the introduction, the surround sound was showed off extensively, with shoals of fish circling around you resulting in an instant feeling of being surrounded by these little buggers.

Then the next big difference became apparent - you don't swim in this game. Rather, you pilot a small sub. It's kind of cool, since you can access all the functions like the aquatic library and logs while you are underwater, but it loses a little of the adventurous feel that Forever Blue has. You feel somewhat less humble and vulnerable when you are in a vehicle, unfortunately. It does mean you can move around a little more quickly, though, which will probably be appreciated when I am further in the game and the area I can visit has opened up substantially.

Adding aquatic life to the library is also significantly easier than Forever Blue. Thankfully you don't have to pet things endlessly to win their affection - you just click them to lock on, then click again to pick their info. This will probably be tricky for faster fish, but it seems adequate so far, and removes an unnecessarily frustrating element.

There is a relatively interesting story going on at the same time -- some guy has gone missing and you have to find his logs and work out what has happened to him. At first, your sub's computer is unwilling to tell you anything about the situation, but as you discover logs, the computer offers more information and you can dig further into the mystery.

Apparently it's a remake, but I'm not sure as I've never played the original PS games, but anyone craving for an HD underwater experience should definitely pick this up. The language barrier may be slightly large, but if you just want to look at the scenery and the wildlife, I should imagine there isn't much that will hold you back.

Oh yeah, the font is tiny and I need to sit close to my screen to read it About the only negative thing I can say about this so far. I  haven't come across anything as quirky as that. It's generally very realistic, aside from things like collision detection (e.g. a long thin eel blocks you like a brick wall). The graphics and sounds are all about immersion though, and work very well. I'm not a diver, but I suspect a few aspects of the presentation are rather idealistic (perfect ocean, high levels of colour, fish seldom leaving their territory), so probably not realistic in that respect, but that's all about gameplay.

Everything is written, nothing is spoken.

There are "zones" but the game is seamless. You can move between them as and when you want. The first time you enter a new zone, you'll get a cutscene and some new music, but subsequent visits are totally transparent. This is one of the things I love about the game

And now further impressions! I've played about 3.5 hours now.

As I said in reply to leroy hacker, the seamless transition between areas is a godsend after Forever Blue. Also the ocean design is wonderful -- lots of caves, tunnels and multiple layers. For example, in the latest area I've reached, there was an area that the beacon lit up, but I couldn't get to it because of a piece of the seabed that was raised like a mountain. However, I found a series of tunnels that wound round and took me deeper and deeper. My fears about the feeling of being in a sub earlier have disappeared. It's a pleasure to navigate around the water, and is mostly easy to steer. The first person view only adds to the immersion, and if you leave the controls alone for a while, the HUD disappears and you can just watch the sealife get on with it's own business. Very cool.

I still haven't gotten that far with the story, but apparently it has something to do with these four sounds I've found on rocks at the bottom of the ocean. These sounds are supposedly used to communicate with aquatic lifeforms, but I haven't figured this out yet. I found a sub-event when I found a whale though, which is a more typical "find this item" kind of deal. I still haven't found the item, though I had fun searching around a wrecked 17th Century ship for a while. I guess it's just not in that shipwreck :/

So how does the game stop you venturing into the furthest reaches of the ocean on your first dive? There are these sonobuoys which are used to "locate" you, but they are all deactive. You have to buy batteries from the boss of the research facility and put these batteries in the sonobuoys to reactivate them. The area around that boy is then added to your map and you can go there freely. Some of these buoys also contain log data that add to the story (about this guy that has gone missing). Unfortunately, and a little frustratingly, you can only carry one battery at first, which means you have to return to the base frequently. But I assume this will increase later as there are five spaces in that part of the HUD. Apparently the sub has a lot of other stuff that gets upgraded too, but apart from the auto-pilot mechanism, I haven't seen anything of this yet.

There are two people at the research labs that you can talk to when you return to base -- one is a girl who gets carried away with the romanticism of the ocean and believes in any old crap, the other is the boss who is really skeptical and doesn't believe any of the nonsense that you're getting involved in. They contrast well, and so far the volume of conversation has been just right. The sub also has an on-board AI that talks to you about some matters, but for the most part is hiding facts from you at the start of the game, thanks to security clearance that you don't have, but presumably will have at some point. Very X-Files.

Trophies: there are some bronze trophies that unlock when you find new areas. They're the only ones I have so far. I think the bulk are related to completing your aqua library, and engaging in the song stuff which I haven't worked out yet.

So is basically a remake of the PS1 game, from what I've said so far?

Some other guy WYWY said:

"OK I've spent about 3 hours with this.

As a sign of the kind of the 'free-roam' play-style here, my progress is pretty different from Johnnyram, seeing and experiencing different things. I stick much closer to the story as I progress. There's actually a pretty good mystery story here. You can go exploring wherever you want to, but following the story will guide and aid your exploration progress. Oh it won't turn totally linear, consider it along the lines of "you can go to A,B,C,D or E but maybe you can try A or C first. But you can always come back later if you don't want to".

Following the story will also gain you upgrades and stuff, such as increasing the battery capacity, allowing you to deploy the NaSU thingees that allow you to "shortcut" to selected areas instantly, etc.

And I'll have to say, at this early stage the story - though 'just' a missing person mystery - is already superior to 99% of the jrpg nonsense we usually get. A boon for those who enjoy a nice plot."

From what I can see, the HD resolution makes this game too unrealistic looking. It's far too clean looking and seeing all this unnatural fancy mapping just puts me off. That screen of the giant squid is pretty telling to me. For instance in Endless Ocean you encounter this beast in the abyss, a jet black area where it moves in and out of your grainy torchlight. I also don't like the idea of being stuck in a submarine as oppossed to freely swimming about in my scuba gear. I also like the interactions with animals in E0. Having that three tier system meant that I could do one level and then the replayability was there on the next dive uncovering that bit more info. This game looks cool though and if I had a PS3, frankly I would buy this game because of Endless Ocean, like this guy did. It's that great of an experience to me.

Holy crap Deathnote the game on the Wii! Oh wait it is Castlevania, never mind!

Check out the most awesome Kirby Review ever!

As always, Kirby tortures his foes to death by eating them, stripping the flesh from their bones, then spit out their corpse/eat their brains to gain their fighting abilities.

If that wasn’t enough, Kirby can saw open his enemies’ skull, and replace the brain with a mind control chip; transforming it to a helper.  

Awesome review

gamingeek said:

They should make a comedy Kirby game, where he wears a rambo style headband and has twin Uzi's and drives jeeps and blows shit up.

Like this?