6th October 2005, 12:45 PM
First... great long post Lazy... :)
Revolution controller... Nintendo has said that it'll onclude a nunchuck in the box (that is, the remote and the analog stick attachment.) That pair gives you four main buttons, two or three menu buttons, the freehand movement, an analog stick, and a dpad right above the main button (use that for four more controls). Including the dpad, that makes for ten buttons... or one more than Gamecube has... so I fail to see how the new controller alone is completely useless for ported games. Yes, some won't work well at all. And that's why we'll have the shell. But I think that more than you expect will be playable with just the freehand and analog stick attachment.
As for whether a shell will come in the box... that's a good question. The main things that make me say "probably"are the facts that N64 and SNES games will have problems adapting to the new controller (it could be done, but it would not be very comfortable or ideal, to say the least), and that many third party games will similarly be designed for standard controllers and would also not adapt that well. The main reason I think 'possibly not'? Because Nintendo wants to keep things simple and emphasize this new controller, and including the standard one in the box too would somewhat undermine both of those goals. But in the end, at least in the US, I do see them including one (shell). Not definitely, but likely.
I don't understand what there is to complain about with the N64 controller... analog stick or dpad, six face buttons, two shoulder buttons... what could be better? Yeah, just about nothing. :) Perfect for just about any genre or type of game.
As for the GC, I would agree that that didn't advance controller design one bit. It's a perfectly decent controller, but "large A button with the others around it" isn't exactly innovation anyone has any interest in following up on... (not that I dislike the design, but that it's not particluarly innovative and no one else is copying Nintendo's idea)
This is the group Microsoft is trying so hard to steal away from Sony... I'm not sure if it's going to work, but they'll almost certainly make some ground on it. The X360 is first and has a nice lineup of games... sure most of the purchasers will be harder-core gamers, but it'll pick up popular momentum, especially if the PS3 is farther away from US release than some think... (that is, if it isn't coming out in the US next spring, but just Japan, and the US release is later) As for Nintendo... if Sony launches early, like next spring, and Nintendo is in the summer or fall, there is a danger of falling behind. I know that they've made it a goal this time to not fall behind, but I'm worried that we know nothing more than just "2006"... at least Sony is saying "Spring", even if we don't know the specifics of which region(s) are getting it in Spring.
Anyway, I'd say that MS taking the market is more likely than another crash in the near future. I mean, I guess it could happen, but it just doesn't seem very likely... the Japanese market may be struggling, but the US one isn't there yet, and I don't think it will be (or rather, I don't think it'll have the potential to be) there for some years to come. Games as they are now are going well, even if it does mean a huge lack of innovation, new ideas, non-liscenced/sequel titles, etc...
Yes, this is a very good question. There do seem to be more doubters of Sony this time than there were for PS2, that's for sure... but how will it translate to sales? As you say, there are too many things we don't know... but it is interesting to see the issues like the people who dislike the controller (I have no problem with the PS3 controller... looks nice, other than the fact it's still got the PS1/2 button layout...), the shape of the system, those development costs (that's a good question -- will that mean better games, or will it mean fewer games on the PS3 and more for X360 as people take advantage of Microsoft's more permissive standards? PS2 already has problems with Sony not allowing some games to be sold (like some 2d PS2 games, allowed in Japan but not in the US... so Metal Slug 3, for instance, is only on Xbox in the US.)... will that get worse this time? And will that affect sales (it didn't much with PS1 or PS2, obviously)?
Revolution controller... Nintendo has said that it'll onclude a nunchuck in the box (that is, the remote and the analog stick attachment.) That pair gives you four main buttons, two or three menu buttons, the freehand movement, an analog stick, and a dpad right above the main button (use that for four more controls). Including the dpad, that makes for ten buttons... or one more than Gamecube has... so I fail to see how the new controller alone is completely useless for ported games. Yes, some won't work well at all. And that's why we'll have the shell. But I think that more than you expect will be playable with just the freehand and analog stick attachment.
As for whether a shell will come in the box... that's a good question. The main things that make me say "probably"are the facts that N64 and SNES games will have problems adapting to the new controller (it could be done, but it would not be very comfortable or ideal, to say the least), and that many third party games will similarly be designed for standard controllers and would also not adapt that well. The main reason I think 'possibly not'? Because Nintendo wants to keep things simple and emphasize this new controller, and including the standard one in the box too would somewhat undermine both of those goals. But in the end, at least in the US, I do see them including one (shell). Not definitely, but likely.
Quote:I suppose that depends who you talk to. I know many people who just don't like the Gamecube controller (the biggest complaint is that it's too small), and I'm not sure it brought anything new to video game scene.
I know Nintendo received some backlash for their controllers (namely the N64 and GC controllers) from developers, but the complaints have been minimal and are mostly caused by the button layout. Miyamoto said it himself that the N64 controller was designed specifically for Mario 64. That does reinforce the notion that Nintendo doesn't always act with everyone else in mind, such has been the case with different formats as well, and it does tend to alienate game developers. What of everyone else who wants to make games for the Nintendo console? Can Nintendo win back third parties to create a more desireable console, one that doesn't primarily feature Nintendo made games?
I don't understand what there is to complain about with the N64 controller... analog stick or dpad, six face buttons, two shoulder buttons... what could be better? Yeah, just about nothing. :) Perfect for just about any genre or type of game.
As for the GC, I would agree that that didn't advance controller design one bit. It's a perfectly decent controller, but "large A button with the others around it" isn't exactly innovation anyone has any interest in following up on... (not that I dislike the design, but that it's not particluarly innovative and no one else is copying Nintendo's idea)
Quote:Like I said, they dont care about reading a review, looking for polished games or looking for specific developers or publishers; They'll go wherever the games with the "it" factor are - If their friends talk about, if it's mentioned on the Daily Show, if the commercial is awesome, they'll be ready and waiting money-in-hand. In otherwords, if the PS3 losses popularity most people in the Sony camp (casual gamers) will drop it like it's hot and either quit gaming all together or get the system that does have the 'it' factor - The same games, the same publishers, just different consoles. This is extremely frightening to people in this industry, because that's exactly what happened when the industry crashed in the late 70's and early 80's.
This is the group Microsoft is trying so hard to steal away from Sony... I'm not sure if it's going to work, but they'll almost certainly make some ground on it. The X360 is first and has a nice lineup of games... sure most of the purchasers will be harder-core gamers, but it'll pick up popular momentum, especially if the PS3 is farther away from US release than some think... (that is, if it isn't coming out in the US next spring, but just Japan, and the US release is later) As for Nintendo... if Sony launches early, like next spring, and Nintendo is in the summer or fall, there is a danger of falling behind. I know that they've made it a goal this time to not fall behind, but I'm worried that we know nothing more than just "2006"... at least Sony is saying "Spring", even if we don't know the specifics of which region(s) are getting it in Spring.
Anyway, I'd say that MS taking the market is more likely than another crash in the near future. I mean, I guess it could happen, but it just doesn't seem very likely... the Japanese market may be struggling, but the US one isn't there yet, and I don't think it will be (or rather, I don't think it'll have the potential to be) there for some years to come. Games as they are now are going well, even if it does mean a huge lack of innovation, new ideas, non-liscenced/sequel titles, etc...
Quote:There will of course be hardcore fans of Sony, but hardcore Nintendo fans have the numbers that Sony does not. I expect that to change with PS3, but i'm not sure how it will change. There's only two schools of thinking on the matter: It will be great or it will suck hard. Some people cant wait, and some people are jumping off of Sony's boat like it's sinking. Only time will tell what the outcome will be but it's completely grey right now.
Perhaps, Sony's membership fee of 16 million PLUS development costs will ensure quality games. But they're going to destroy the very market they thrive in, the one they created, by doing so. All those people who just want the new Harry Potter game or the sports game with updated roster or that game with the hot chick on the box are going to be left in the cold if the devs who manufacture these games dont want to pay the membership fee.
Yes, this is a very good question. There do seem to be more doubters of Sony this time than there were for PS2, that's for sure... but how will it translate to sales? As you say, there are too many things we don't know... but it is interesting to see the issues like the people who dislike the controller (I have no problem with the PS3 controller... looks nice, other than the fact it's still got the PS1/2 button layout...), the shape of the system, those development costs (that's a good question -- will that mean better games, or will it mean fewer games on the PS3 and more for X360 as people take advantage of Microsoft's more permissive standards? PS2 already has problems with Sony not allowing some games to be sold (like some 2d PS2 games, allowed in Japan but not in the US... so Metal Slug 3, for instance, is only on Xbox in the US.)... will that get worse this time? And will that affect sales (it didn't much with PS1 or PS2, obviously)?
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