davis
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I believe that the Nintendo Wi is going to be the best of all of the next generation game consoles. The Xbox 360 has not shown that much change from the Xbox and the PS3 will be overpriced and not worth $500. The Wi is the only one that seems to show good improvements from previos consoles.

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Citrus
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I think a good number of people here agree with you, but I would perfer not to get into a console/fanboy war here anyway.

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Doom
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There's already been talk about this here.

But as I've ignored that thread, might as well say something here. I was personally thinking about getting a PS3 in the beginning before too many details were given. The price tag ruined it all, and Wii is definitely the most promising thing right now. I never cared about either one of the Xbox's at all.

However, I'm still not completely sure if I'll get Wii or PS3. Most of my console games are for PS2, and the age of that console is really beginning to show up (It doesn't run a handful of them anymore at all). If I decided to get a Wii, I'd pretty much have to get a new PS2 as well. Which would still be a lot cheaper than a PS3, though.

I'll let them get some games released before making my final decision. (Oh, and they'd pretty much have to lower the cost of the PS3 first before I'd seriously consider it - Sony is still at that big of a disadvantage)

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[Last edited by Doom at 06-13-2006 10:32 PM]

b0rsuk
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I heard PS3 is going to be modular - someone said in an interview you'll be able to replace parts of it with newer components.

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eytanz
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That's terrible. One of the best selling points of consoles is that their configuration is predetermined, so game designers know exactly what they're dealing with. This allows for much faster and relatively bug-free development compared to PC games. Making modular consoles loses some of that advantage. Even if Sony prevents 3rd-party components completely, there will still be room for variation.

Plus, unless new components are very cheap, this doesn't really count as added value anyway.

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miketo
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davis wrote:
I believe that the Nintendo Wi is going to be the best of all of the next generation game consoles.

I was going to take your post seriously, and then I noticed you spelled the name of the product wrong -- three times.

Care to try again?

b0rsuk
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eytanz wrote:
That's terrible.

o_0


To add something to the topic, read about power usage of various consoles:

http://www.dxgaming.com/?p=6

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Krishh
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I don't see why the o_0, b0rsuk. I like modular systems and am a PC gamer, but I have to agree with eytanz here: the modularity of the PC is one of the downfalls of PC gaming, because consoles are cheaper, easier to use and you know what you'll get with one and can be fairly sure it will serve you for a good while, ammong other things. Removing this advantage, while maybe attracting the PC gamer crowd, risks to alienate their current consumers.

b0rsuk
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Krishh wrote:
I don't see why the o_0, b0rsuk. I like modular systems and am a PC gamer, but I have to agree with eytanz here: the modularity of the PC is one of the downfalls of PC gaming, because consoles are cheaper, easier to use and you know what you'll get with one and can be fairly sure it will serve you for a good while, ammong other things. Removing this advantage, while maybe attracting the PC gamer crowd, risks to alienate their current consumers.

The prices are as low mainly because consoles are sold at price below cost of manufacture. They make up for that with game costs.

This is not a problem with modularity itself, there are many hardware manufacturers independent on each other. Lack of proper standarisation, etc.(nothing I would have a problem with) Despite PS3 running linux, I expect it to be heavily crippled and locked tighter than a chastity belt. Most probably Sony will hold a tight grip on hardware production. If all modular hardware is manufactured by a single company, what's the problem ?
In any case, it looks like PS3 is one standarized package, so everyone gets the same hardware. Newer components won't be released for a year or something like that. So it will take at least a year for anyone but biggest malcontents to have a chance of complaining about something. Information on ps3 modules is, so far, very scarce, so we can't assume what exactly the modular components will be. Perhaps some components will never change, because all games will be optimized for _something_, and/or designed with _something_ in mind.
PS3 is said to have rather innovative processor, and it's not yet released, so everything is possible.


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[Last edited by b0rsuk at 06-18-2006 09:03 PM]

Mattcrampy
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b0rsuk wrote:
The prices are as low mainly because consoles are sold at price below cost of manufacture. They make up for that with game costs.

Tad inaccurate - this is Sony's business model, which Microsoft borrowed. Nintendo made a profit on every N64 and Gamecube console sold, and will do the same for the Wii. This is how come they can sell less than the Xbox and make a scad more money.

Modularity isn't new (the N64 could take extra RAM), and nor is it a great selling point. Most games won't benefit from more RAM or more processors unless the game is designed to take it into account. This is the big secret behind PC games, and why they're such a pain to develop - they try to take every combination into account, and make it count. It certainly won't make the game look better, because that's mostly based on what textures and models are in the game. All it might do is improve the frame rate.

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skell
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Lol. You sya the PS3 is going to cost $500? It would be about 1750 Zloty - POlish currrency, which is about the one and half of the average month earnings...

But let me start from begin. I personally thing that PS3 is going to be the best, but unfortunately I can't compare it with Nintendo Wi because I haven't seen any games for it. If the graphics are going to be as good as they show in trailers, well, then I'm definitively going to buy it (My brother to be more precise). Mainly because Metal Gear Solid 4 will be only for PS3, and we are big fans of this game. I have no interest in Xbox, because it is too much for me to must use Windows XP (Not as bad, but it could be MUCH better).

I have really not much to say about this. I just hope that if the Nintendo will go bust, the Sony will make a fusion with it.

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Mattcrampy
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Nintendo is hardly going to go bust. They don't sell their consoles at a loss, so they make money from every console and game sold, and the DS is the cash cow of the industry. Yes, even more so than the PS2, which sold a lot of units but sold a lot of them at a loss.

So Nintendo are in a strong financial position.

Sony, on the other hand... the only part of Sony that I understand is making money is the PlayStation division, and it's currently propping up the company. If people don't buy into the PS3, it's feasible (but unlikely) that Sony will go bust.

The key here is whether developers will take to the PS3 (my forecast: almost definitely, as in Japan the Xbox 360 is a non-starter and it's stupid to assume everyone will want to develop for the Wii) and whether consumers will (a much trickier question - how many of you really want to say goodbye to DVD? Or pay out US$600 for a games machine and a DVD player that you a) need all new DVDs for and b) might not even get support in 5 years?)

Things might change if Blue Dragon sets Japan on fire, though. It's quite probably Japan's Halo, and if it does well, Sony are in a whole mess of trouble. Even more so if Microsoft does a deal with DoCoMo to bring Live Anywhere to Japan and the Xbox 360 has sales figures above five digits there.

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Banjooie
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Mattcrampy wrote:
...it's stupid to assume everyone will want to develop for the Wii...

You'd think so--it requires a lot of out-of-the-box.

However, Squeenix has put weight behind the Wii, and it's arguable they've controlled the console wars since Final Fantasy 1.

Mattcrampy
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Well, uh, I probably should have clarified that.

It's stupid to assume everyone will want to develop for any console you care to name. But Wii does require some creative thinking in terms of game design, and there are more than a few game directors who are primarily storytellers, and aren't good at coming up with new game design. Nothing wrong with that, of course, as interactive storytelling is a developing art and needs all the attention it can get, but it does suggest there's not going to be a whole lot of that on Wii.

Then again, there's been more adventure games on the DS than on any other console, so maybe not.

Also, I was under the impression that Squeenix had thrown most of their weight behind the PS3. Dragon Quest is a popular franchise, but I don't think it does the worldwide numbers Final Fantasy does.

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Banjooie
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Squeenix has been going 'Oh wow, this is awesome, we're going to develop stuff for this'. So it's not a complete washout like it was with the n64 and the PSX.


(Also: Dragon Quest actually outsells Final Fantasy, when it's out, I /believe/. I could be wrong.)

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[Last edited by Banjooie at 06-24-2006 05:00 PM]

Oneiromancer
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I know that "Squeenix" is making stuff for both consoles. FFXIII has something like 3 iterations coming out for the PS3...the main RPG, some action game, and I don't recall what the 3rd one is. But they will be released around the same time. They are also putting out a sequel to Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles on the Wii, which will work much better with online components than with trying to find 3 other friends with GBAs.

And considering the ports and remakes of FF games that are coming out on the DS and not the PSP, I think that "Squeenix" just understands that they make more money developing for the more popular consoles. That FF3 (original FF3, not FF6) remake for the DS looks pretty good, especially considering the lack of RPGs on the DS.

Game on,

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Banjooie
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I personally find my favorite part is that both Sony and X-box are saying that everyone should buy a Wii. (After their respective consoles.)