@MikeB

I don't get it. Why do you start polls and discussions on whether the PS3 is going to be successful when the only thing you do is dismiss any claims that it's not going to be? It's as if you're asking for reassurance, not discussion.

_________________

@Trezzer

Quote:

EA has some interesting launch numbers for PS3.

I expected low EA sales figures, Final Night Round 3 being an exception. Many of the games have been released earlier on other platforms, so if you already own a PS2 version there's less incensive to buy another copy. Also quite a few hardcore gamers already owned a XBox 360 and reports of poor quality ports by websites like Gamespot surely hasn't helped.

Last edited by MikeB on 06-Feb-2007 at 05:19 PM.

@MikeB

The same could be said for the 360 launch titles, though. Many of the titles had been released in one form or another on Xbox/PS2.

Here's a Canadian guy begging people in the UK to buy his 2 PS3's...

http://www.next-gen.biz/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4686&Itemid=2

Maybe I should make him an offer... Anyone in the PAL territories interested in an NTSC PS3? My site accepts credit cards... MikeB?

Last edited by Lou on 06-Feb-2007 at 06:00 PM.

@Trezzer

But there wasn't another high definition console available at the time. A significant number of PS3 titles were nearly straight XBox 360 ports and most XBox games (during launch even fewer) don't work on the XBox 360.

@AMiGR

Already addressed in an earlier post.

I don't see anything wrong with correcting Japanese XBox 360 data and I have no fear with regard to the Japanese market, nomatter if the Nintnedo Wii would continues to outsell the PS3 there for the near future, actually I hope it does.

Last edited by MikeB on 06-Feb-2007 at 06:32 PM.

@Lou

I don't recommend buying a NTSC PS3 within Europe, and personally I would not buy from scalpers. A few more weeks of waiting isn't too hard, or is it?

@MikeB

Quote:

But there wasn't another high definition console available at the time. A significant number of PS3 titles were nearly straight XBox 360 ports and most XBox games (during launch even fewer) don't work on the XBox 360.

Well, that's assuming two things:
1. That new PS3 owners has a 360 already. Some certainly do, but some surely went straight from PS2 to PS3.
2. That they either weren't happy with only support of most major titles and/or they didn't keep their original black box around (which I'm sure many did thanks to the excellent XBMC).

I thought your point was that because people had already played the games they didn't want a hi-def version of them (that I don't necessarily agree is a different matter - Fight Night R3 for the last gen were a far cry from the current gen machines.)

There's a bit of Virtua Tennis 3 news btw:

The PS3 version is very good although it only supports off-line play.

The 360 version will have 1080p like the PS3 version and additionally full online-support (ranked and friendly games) with VT:TV which lets you watch other online games spectator style.

@MikeB

Quote:

I don't see anything wrong with correcting Japanese XBox 360 data and I have no fear with regard to the Japanese market, nomatter if the Nintnedo Wii would continues to outsell the PS3 there for the near future, actually I hope it does.

I don't really see PS3 overtaking Wii at all in Japan.

@Trezzer

Quote:

The PS3 version is very good although it only supports off-line play.

I hope they will release a patch later on and offer some dedicated servers, like for Resistance. Sounds like good fun!

Quote:

The 360 version will have 1080p like the PS3 version

That's very nice, especially as a new XBox 360 version is rumoured to include a HDMI port.

Also the DVD drive may become less noisy:
link

Last edited by MikeB on 06-Feb-2007 at 08:07 PM.

@MikeB

Quote:

That's very nice, especially as a new XBox 360 version is rumoured to include a HDMI port. Also the DVD drive may become less noisy:

Undoubtably there will be changes to the 360. We know both PS3 and 360 have 65nm processors coming. Also, the PS2 hardware was announced to be disappearing for software emulation. A less noisy DVD drive is good. This is the source of most of the noise on this console. HD-DVD player while playing movies is quiet as are the fans on the 360.

Consoles appear to change quite a bit in their lifespan now. PS2 is a good example the first versions had a noisy drive and later versions added progressive scan. The slim line PS2 broke a couple of games but lowered the hardware pricing and likely made the lower prices for the PS2 a better possibility.

@Thread,

After a discussion in the staff forums we decided to move this topic of the front page but leave it in the general computing forum. We feel this has gone on long enough (this is just a continuation of a longer thread) and it mostly seems as only a few people are interested in posting in it).

Feel free to keep posting off course.

_________________
~
Everything you say will be misquoted and used against you..
~

@Seer

Excellent move gentlemen.

@Seer

The most sensible thing to do until Hyperion clarify their PS3 strategy.

@Thread

In other news 1up just shared a controversial rumour regarding the big budget game, Killzone for the PS3:

" if the rumors are to be believed, Sony shelved showing Killzone 2 in favor of spotlighting Insomniac's new shooter franchise (and it will be a franchise) Resistance. The same rumors have pointed to Killzone 2 being much further along than previously expected -- with the apex of the rumor arc concluding that the game has been playable online for almost a year.


Microsoft and Bungie's beta program for Halo 3 is all the rage this Spring. It's garnered countless news stories with its multiple points of entry and even landed a cover in EGM back in November (I expect the beta to be similar but with more weapons and polish to the maps covered in that series of stories).


Aside from the obvious connection between Killzone and Halo being first-party developed shooters and the first Killzone being branded with the unfortunate moniker of "Halo-killer," the ties between these games are going to bind even closer this Spring.


Expect a playable Killzone 2 demo to be released (hmm, Phil Harrison is keynoting at GDC...) before gamers are participating in the beta for Halo 3. "

http://www.1up.com/do/blogEntry?bId=7846169&publicUserId=5519593

Here's one of them really simple AMOS-like games.

@Trezzer

Quote:

Trezzer wrote: Here's one of them really simple AMOS-like games

Hey! No cheating Trezzer... They clearly used the AMOS 3D extension package, not just Easy AMOS. And you thought we wouldn't notice?

***

Thinking of the Xbox 360 and PS3 question, I think the future HDMI/quieter edition of Xbox 360 is also one option I might consider, as far as future upgrades or purchases are concerned. I'm certainly watching that with interest too.

@Trezzer

Quote:

Here's one of them really simple AMOS-like games

Some example Blitz Basic games:

Legends of Idhuriel:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMbWfG7nR7g&eurl=

Granada Racer:
http://www.granadaracer.com/index.php?main=screenshots.php

The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
http://www.injoygames.com/oz/screenshot1.jpg
http://www.injoygames.com/oz/screenshot2.jpg

Nice game for the girls:

Maggie the Gardener
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qRSeiABid0

(Posted 2 weeks ago)"So, before I press on with my development I'd like you all to take a look at the progress of my latest game, 'Super Super Ice Balls' [working title]. It's based on a game I developed on the Amiga in about 93, and is still a work in progress. However, before I polish it up and offer up an alpha version for testing on sites like 'Indiegamer' and 'GameDev', I'd like to see what my good friends, the Blitz community think of it."
http://www.spacerecordings.co.uk/ssib_screenshot1.jpg

Some nice AMOS games:

Flight of the Amazon Queen
http://baixaki.ig.com.br/imagens/shots1/41830-b.jpg

Scorched Tanks
http://ninjaw.ifrance.com/cd32/_cd23gamerapril/scorched.gif

BabeAnoid
http://obligement.free.fr/gfx/babeanoid-1.jpg
http://obligement.free.fr/gfx/babeanoid-2.jpg

Some first Virtua Fighter 5 user photos:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/bebpo/VF5/picssss32006.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v297/bebpo/VF5/picssss32010.jpg

Excellent news with regard to Oblivion for the PS3:

Hands-on from IGN:

"The PS3 version of Oblivion isn't a simple port of the game either, although players who have picked up the 360 version will be very familiar with the control scheme. For one thing, the PS3 version has been optimized to take advantage of the Cell processor and hardware that the system offers. As a result, the game runs a lot faster than the 360 build. Entering dungeons or buildings results in a load of 3-5 seconds, compared to the 7-10 seconds or longer for the 360 version of the game. Similarly, the amount of framerate drops or hitches that cropped up in the wilderness as you accessed a new area on the 360 have been substantially reduced on the PS3 version. There is a plan to completely eradicate these issues as the game nears release, as well as fixing a number of bugs that were present in the other builds. Kiss the item duplication glitch goodbye.

Visual textures are much sharper in the PS3 version of the game.
The visual presentation of Oblivion has also been significantly enhanced. While it was a beautiful title on the 360, far off environmental details often displayed low resolution textures. This has been fixed with new shaders dedicated to rendering the foreground cleanly with sharper details, so rocky landscapes now have craggy appearances instead of smooth, non-distinct surfaces. While there is still a fair amount of pop-in that occurs (which can't be helped due to the size of the world), the draw distance is farther than the 360 version. As a result, screens from the PS3 version should approach those from high end PCs running Oblivion, which is an impressive feat. We'll have more on Oblivion soon, but for now, check out these new screens."

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/762/762108p1.html

That's a nice surprise for a change with regard to XBox 360 porting!

Some news from Epic:

"He then concluded the thought by showing his appreciation for Sony for putting a hard drive in every PS3, stating that Epic has plans to fully utilize the hard drive for Unreal Tournament 3. He then cautions that, "if you don't have a hard drive on Xbox 360 and you want to get the most out of your UT3 purchase, think about getting one."

So it appears I was right regarding the my believes that it was a good idea to ship every PS3 with a harddrive. Virtual Fighter 5 already takes advantage of this, reducing load times to arcade-like loading times.

Some notes: The 60 GB PS3 has a faster harddrive than the core model, if you consider buying a PS3 I think in the end you will find that the extra money is well spent on the premium (with Wiifi and Flashcard reader) model instead.

With regard to the XBox 360 I also think the premium model offers more bang for the buck, as if you upgrade the core system with a harddrive you will end up at the same price anyway, but without the advantage of having a wireless controller by default and other extras coming with the premium model.

Source:
Epic says Gears of War cost less than $10 million
http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=96188

Last edited by MikeB on 07-Feb-2007 at 09:52 AM.

EGM has reviewed Virtual Fighter 5 for the PS3:

Virtua Fighter 5 (PS3): 9.5, 10, 9.5 (Game of the Month)

They also spread the following rumour:

"Wipeout PS3 to hit in 2007, uses the MotorStorm engine"

[edit]Oh and the next issue is to include a feature on Ratchet & Clank 5 for PS3, they promise more than just a preview with screenshots and details, it seems Insomniac Games has been working very hard behind the scenes.

Last edited by MikeB on 07-Feb-2007 at 10:03 AM.