bishopcruz

price on the 360 was 299 for the core and 399 for the full 360, the more expensive version has been selling a lot better than the core, and they are looking to move like 5.5 million by the end of the quarter. The more expensive one is still the one in the most demand because the core system absolutely blows as far as features are concerned.

I might be willing to go down on a PS3 but I have to see how much money I have, I know me and gunsmith have been talking about it for a while.

This gen will define how much mainstream will be willing to pay at launch for a while. $299 was considered the limit here, but the 360 has done well at 400 and the PS3 will probably see out even at 500. We'll see how it all pans out.

BTW chances are the Wii will also be in great demand over the holidays. So it may be another way to get some extra money.

Edit: Forgot, numbers were about 15% core and 85% 360.

Never played on god mode, I just knew that after I beat the game I never EVER wanted to play it again. God I hated the level designs.

As sure as I can be. Sony's not going to want PS3s sitting on the shelves over the holidays, else it will hurt them buzz wise. They are going to want these things being hailed as sold out on every news channel that will run the story.

I've been hearing that the yeilds on the cell and other things have not been particularly great, so there is a good chance that their numbers may be lower than sony is pitching now. In other words I'll believe the million units per moth when I see them.

As far as the price goes its hard to tell just how much it is going to be, analysts have set the manufacturing costs somewhere between 700-900 dollars and possible retail costs between $500-$800. Analysts are often wrong, but still it ain't gonna be cheap.

These predictions were made back in February, and to be fair, sony denied them. Then again, in the same breath they denied launching later than spring.

As far as the 1million PS3s a month until launch if I rememjber the articles I had read correctly it was 1million at launch and then 1 million each month thereafter, and they were talking worldwide numbers.

edit: THen again getting any sort of reliable news reporting when it comes to these things is damn near impossible. Forbes just reported that the PS3 would be $399, which came from a PSM article stating the same. Where did the PSM article get its info? From a statement by Ken Katuragi some 8 or more months ago stating a BARE MINIMUM of what the console might cost in yen , converting that number to US dollars, and cutting the price by 30 bucks.

For our friends in the UK:

This shit writes itself:

Koch to disribute Wii all over the UK

"We couldn't resist ... the headline wrote itself! But seriously, folks, if you haven't heard, back in January, Nintendo appointed Koch Media to be the preferred distribution partner of their products in the UK. Yep, that's it. Now get back to work!"

This sounds like a snafu the likes of releasing the Nova in spanish speaking countries.

We'll see how accurate those numbers end up being, several million units at lauch ain't gonna happen, especially considering how fucking nasty yields have been on the cell and other stuff. Its also, as microsoft learned a bitch and a half to do a worldwide launch of a system like this.

It's gonna be like just about every launch has been in the last several years, very short supply, and systems selling for livers on ebay.

From IGN:

Yakuza Coming to US

The acclaimed Japanese title is officially headed stateside.

by Chris Roper

 

February 23, 2006 - Sega of America this morning announced that it is bringing the critically-acclaimed Yakuza stateside. Known as Ryu Ga Gotoku in Japan, the game is the brainwork of producer Toshihiro Nagoshi and award-winning novelist Seishu Hase.

 

The game focuses on the world of Japan's underground criminal organization and one of its ex-members, Kiryu Kazuma. After serving 10 years in prison for murder, Kazuma attempts to rebuild his life until he's brought back into the criminal world to solve the mystery of a mysterious girl known as Haruka and a missing $100 million.

 

"Yakuza is a game like none other as it delves into one of the most mysterious and iconic aspects of Japanese culture," says Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing at SEGA of America. "Players will have the opportunity to take on the world's most notorious and sophisticated underground organizations as they embark on a series of dangerous missions set in the gritty and seedy underbelly of Tokyo."

 

Yakuza will be available exclusively for the PlayStation 2 and is currently slated to ship in Summer 2006.

Well, yes and you once told me that Miyamoto could shit on a CD and you'd buy it, so I wouldn't expect much else.

Anyhoo, still a goddamn awful name. In this industry that is saying something.

Well, we will see, this could be a success with the casual gaming crowd or a horrible failure. I don't think nintendo needs to worry about the early adopters, they will be grabbing the system anyhow, it's getting the others onboard, and the name is part of that marketing.

I'm not saying that all consoles have been well named, but WOW this is a really bad one. Don't like the logo much either.

If you'd read the news stories I had posted you would see that the Nintendo Revolution is now called the Wii, Nintendo had fucking lost it.

It is pretty awful, not to mention the spelling of it just annoys the ever loving hell out of me. Gah. Whatever focus group claptrap came up with this name needs to get shot.

And here I thought microsoft would have the worst named console this generation.

It begins

Check out nintendos page

Yes you read the title right, Nintendo has renamed the Revolution the Wii, pronounced "We". This could quite possibly be the worst name for a console since, well, ever.

Here is the Big N's PR blurb:

"Introducing ... Wii. As in "we." While the code-name "Revolution" expressed our direction, Wii represents the answer. Wii will break down that wall that separates video game players from everybody else. Wii will put people more in touch with their games ... and each other. But you're probably asking: What does the name mean?"

 

"Wii sounds like 'we,' which emphasizes this console is for everyone. Wii can easily be remembered by people around the world, no matter what language they speak. No confusion. No need to abbreviate. Just Wii."

 

"Wii has a distinctive "ii" spelling that symbolizes both the unique controllers and the image of people gathering to play. And Wii, as a name and a console, brings something revolutionary to the world of video games that sets it apart from the crowd."

 

"So that's Wii. But now Nintendo needs you. Because, it's really not about you or me. It's about Wii. And together, Wii will change everything."

Just waiting for the dick jokes/scatalogical humor.

Now that I think about it though, for a long time GameFan was my favorite, especially during the 16 bit days. Man oh man I remember spending proabably hours reading and rereading the previews for games like Lunar 2 and Phantasy Star IV. As I grew older though, I realized just how bad theri reviews were. They would drop like 20 points offof a game for the stupidest reasons. I remember one time when Street FIghter Alpha first came out they gave the saturn a lesser review because the shadows were a different color than the PS one. The funny thing was, was the different color for the super move shadows was actually trying to make them look superior over the arcade version, but the oiriginal colors were still available.

That and blasting Lunar 2 because of the script, which caused a lot of bad blood between them and WD.

VC&CE was one of the few mags back in the day that had feature stories that weren't previews, so I gave them props for that.

The one cowboy was talking about was Next Generation, far and away my favorite mag ever. They had amazing interviews and great freature stories, their reviews on the other hand sucked. They had journalistic integrity in a time when every other mag was amateurish. They get my vote.

Some other great ones were the late years of Game Players, VG&CE which I thought was well put together, and Elecronic Games, which aslo had great feature stories.

Now I read game informer, even though their integrity is shit, and EGM, the stories are sometimes interesting. Those of you who were gamefan fanatics check out PLAY, I think that it is utter crap, but it does have the best screenshots, and it basically gamefan reborn. Same editor and everything.

Realize that this is a bit late and all, but gunsmith decided for sure he's doing the autocross instead of MegaCon, the dirty bastard, so looking to see if there is any space at this late juncture. Well, I'll just see what happens.

Hehe, love these, see my sig, OTOH has anyone else here played "The Bard's Tale" it's great at poking fun at RPG conventions. Who can't love a game that has lines like this. Especially when the Bard is voiced by Cary Elwes.

Narrator: "The Bard slayed the wolf, which had apparently consumed a weapon, several sundry goods, and the contents of a small treasury... wait this can't be right."

The Bard: "That's nothing, once I killed a rat and a chest popped out. An entire CHEST!!"

Narrator: "Well, in either case I shall skip over such passages in the future."

The Bard: "Hey! That's a valuable source of income!"

Princess: "You must got to the top of the tower and break the seal there, then we can speak again."

The Bard: "Hold on, hold on, A tower? Or THE tower."

Bodb: "You'll need a key to get through the gate."

The Bard: "Let me guess, it's at the top of a tower guarded by an evil wizard and his horrible minions."

Bodb: "No, I have it right here, why would you think that?"

The Bard: "Huh, first time for everything."

The new Tomb Raider is looking like it might not suck, if Crystal Dynamics can make the controls good, I may actually like this one, that and it be purdy.

and wrestling + cheesecake == Rumble Roses XX

and because waiting for this game makes me wanna cry, another shot from Oblivion.

Edit: god damn it. Gotta go, friggen images that don't link. I'll fix these later.

This one goes out to Jumbie:

The first Yaoi game translated into english. When I first saw the news story on this one I thought the headline read "Yaoi game coming to DS!" instead of "Yaoi game coming to US!" which I thought would have just been too wierd. Apparently its set in france. Wow, a gay game in france. Wonder what would happen if Thompson got his mitts on this one.

News story here: Kotaku

anyone looking for a copy of Disgaea you can find a copy at GameQuest Direct apparently this company is reprinting rare games and selling them new at regular price instead of the HUGE markup you'd pay for a used one on Ebay. They have also reprinted Rez, Gitaroo Man, Persona 2, and others. Rumor has it that some other hard to find games will get reprints as well, I hope there is one for Suikoden II as I was never able to get my hands on it and it sells on Ebay for a nut and a half.

Sounds like fun, would ther be any room in vehicles heading up there?

Well, start off with Resident Evil 5 for the 360 (and later PS3) RE5

Can't find video for this one, but I've played the demo and it looks amazing, Fight Night Round 3 for the 360:

Next is [eM] Enchant Arm, I really hope this one comes out over here as it is looking pretty sweet. Not as nice as the Mistwalker Games (which no one here seems to care about.) but pretty cool nontheless.

trailer

Honestly, the best thing in the next gen for the system (other than the graphics, which, BTW have ALWAYS been the big thing about the next generation of game systems.) The Xbox live functionality is just amazing, even better than it was back on the original. I especially love Xbox live arcade, being able to download demos of both old school, and new, fun little games, and then buy them for about $5 is just great. Geometry wars is so unbelieveably fun it's just insane.

I've been playing the hell out of this system since I picked it up. Perfect Dark is a blast, even more so online (feels alot like Golden Eye.). Dead or Alive 4 is a friggen blast, and again the online is a hella lot of fun. Call of Duty 2, well, I have never been a fan of WWII shooters, but this one just pulls everything off so well, that it is just amazing, frentic and tense.

I also have Condemned which is best described as a first-person survival horror. It is tense, creepy, and looks incredible. The graphics are a lot of what pulls you in, along with the great lighting, sound, and genuine creep factor. The places you go through feel pretty damn real.

It's the small things I am loving, the wireless controllers you can power the system on and off with, the ability to chat with a friend when we are playing to completely seperate games, being able to toss my own soundtrack into any game (though there are only a few I do that for), easy access to demos online, an integrated friends list, and a host of other great features. Looking towards the future, the real next-gen meat is coming, Prey looks amazing, Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon have me excited as hell, and when they come out, I'll probably still be chugging away at Oblivion.

I think the system has had a great launch thus far, not as nice as the dreamcast's but better than the PS2's by a friggen mile.

I do have to ask though, is what do you all expect out of a next generation system? I hear people always saying, it's the same games only prettier, and well, in some ways that is true I suppose, but it has alwyas been that way. Are you expecting a sytem that will provide you with midget hookers whenever you want?

I mean, when the SNES hit, it was well, a prettier NES, it had more power under the hood, and while scaling was shiny and new, it allowed for much more complex titles down the line. The only real launches I felt had a huge inititial impact were the launches of the Saturn and PS1, which had the 3-d wow factor and opened up things in a way that was immediately visible. And hell, even some of the stuff that they pulled off had been done on the SNES and Genesis.

The gen after that, well, it set things up to how we have them now. The N64 evolved things a bit, dreamcast was amazing, but it was honestly just prettier, PS2 killed even with horrible games at launch, the Xbox and GC again upped the graphical ante. It's just how it works. The Rev may shake things up with its controller, and I hope it does, Nintendo has already stated that they are trying to back away from the HD game, and we'll see where that takes them. PS3 is banking entirely on graphics.

As far as being rushed, well, that's probably true, then again the onptions they would be left with would be launching against the PS3 which would be suicide, or launching after it, which didn't work for them last time. So they made a bet on being first. We'll see what happens.

Yeah, because the 360, doesn't play CDs and DVDs either, oh wait, it does. Please the hype on the PS3 is absolutely ridiculous. Sony has this tendency of promising the world and under delivering. I remember the whole PS2 is going to have Toy Story graphics BS. People buying heavily into that hype was part of what killed the DC (amoung a host of other problems.)

Yeah the backwards compatibility is nice, but word is, that they are having problems with it currently, and it may not be as full as people would like whenever the PS3 actually launches. Which is looking like fall over here at the earliest. Devs are saying that it just isn't ready for a spring release.

The thing will have games I will want, no doubt, and I'll probably grab one for MGS4. Then again it is about the games in the end. And, in the generation leading up to this new one, the Xbox impressed me more than any of the other systems. Not only did it have the quirky Sega games, it also had some of the best developed western titles on the market. The games coming for the 360 impress the hell out of me as well.

I enjoy it, I think that other people will as well, problem is there are a bunch of people who won't even give MS a chance due to I dunno, console snobbery or something.

Then again, I have always been a fan of the scrappy underdog.

Nah, it means the original metal gear games.

Metal Gear first came out for MSX, and it got ported (rather badly) to the NES. Pretty dope game in the original version, though I never could kill Metal Gear at the end of it. Metal Gear: Solid Snake was the sequel, it also came out for the MSX, and never got ported at all to the NES/Famicom. Instead in the US we got Snake's Revenge, which was, an abomination.

Anyhow, MGS1 was a sequel to Solid Snake. It will be good to get an american translation of that one finally, as it has the introduction of Grey Fox, and some other MGS1 characters.

As for Sons of Liberty. Good game, not as good as part 1, but I never got the whole Raiden hate thing. Personally I think MGS2 would have been loads better if you could have also played through it as Snake, ala Resident Evil 2.

Still, Kojima has a tendency to want to fuck his fans w/o lube. We've been waiting for what, 8 years to play as Snake again, and when we finally can, he's a geezer. *sigh*

But I digress...

Good luck with The Sorrow Cowboy, took me a while to figure out how to beat that one.

Well got mine yesterday, literally one minute after sending a scathing email to Gamestop about how my pre-order wasn't in yet. Kinda funny.

Anyhow, this thing kicks major ass. Call of Duty 2 rocks, Condemned seems pretty damn creepy thus far, and Kameo is a pretty gosh darn neat platformer.

The online stuff you can do is great, xbox live arcade is just a cool friggen concept. Cheap simple games that are a ton of fun. Geometry Wars will probably be my first purchase off of the service, as the demo is just amazing. Great little shooter. Still the prospects of playing Smash TV online also calls to me.

No problems thus far. Seems like my Box isn't overheating or anything like that, but I got the extended warrenty just in case.

Now I just have to wait for Oblivion, DoA4, and Gears of War.