@BrianK

Slightly disappointing figures for XBOX360 according to VGChartz for week ending
on 24 March. The price cut certainly made a difference but still didn't manage to
change anything. PS3 even sold a few thousand extra this week compared to last.

It shall be interesting to see if the price cut makes people buy more 360's in the
following weeks and months. It's certainly a bargain at its current price IMO.

_________________
/Harry

[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

Avatar by HNL_DK!

I think Sony should be applauded for using the price weapon aggressively. Sure, one can argue they needed to in the first place (i.e. they were somewhat desperate) and they have watered down the PS3 somewhat to get there, but Microsoft first stood by their price longer than I guess any console in recent history and since have been far less agressive in cutting their prices.

Maybe Microsoft feels they can't because of cost associated to quality issues or maybe they think they won't need to because they have positioned themselves already to capture a significantly larger pie of the current-gen console market than last time around, but I think they have missed some serious opportunities as well.

Microsoft could have, finance-wise, easily cut Xbox 360 pricing when PS3 came out by, say, $100 and made life very tough on Sony and perhaps affected Wii as well. They didn't and ever since they have dropped the price in small steps - and Sony is reaping the benefits of their more aggressive approach at this time. Even if PS3 is still very expensive, it might seem like a bargain considering how much the price has gone down...

Just like the BD vs. HD DVD war, Microsoft played less-aggressively for whatever reasons, Sony bet all and a bit more and they won. Microsoft, to their benefit, did do one thing very smart though: they came out so early in the game with a compelling package that it would be a miracle if they didn't, in the end, come out as a serious market-share winner this round. Sony probably won't reach PS2 levels no matter what they do, unless the competition drops the ball entirely.

I just think Microsoft might be (and might even deserve to be) so much more of a winner if they were as aggressive as Sony is. Kudos to Sony for that, IMHO, and a thumb down for Microsoft.

Last edited by jtsiren on 26-Mar-2008 at 09:23 AM.
Last edited by jtsiren on 26-Mar-2008 at 09:22 AM.

A big thumbs down to the price of stand-alone BR players going up in price since Toshiba bowed out.

@Lou

Hehe.. No need to sell them at a loss anymore?

I can only speak for Sweden and here we have only seen lower or standing
prices since Toshiba folded. Most cheaper players down 20-25% in price.
The cheapest now down to 2990SEK. Before you where hard pressed to find
one under 4000SEK.

I'm guessing they will be down to 2000SEK by christmas 2009 at the latest.
This compared to 1200-1500SEK for a good DVD player today (not cheap junk).

_________________
/Harry

[SOLD] µA1-C - 750GX 800MHz - 512MB - Antec Aria case

Avatar by HNL_DK!

Just adding feedback on a few more PS3 games:
- Assassins Creed
This was one of the games I'd been waiting for, but the reviews weren't impressive. Picked it up used. It's not bad, pretty fun. Good graphics, and decent gameplay so far. I can see how some may gripe about it becoming repetitive over time, but I've logged more hours playing it than Uncharted before that game sort of fizzled out for me. So, for longevity, I may not be sure yet, but definitely worth a rental for a weekend, or a discount purchase. I don't regret the purchase (at used, a bit less than half retail price), and I do hope to see an Assassins Creed 2.

- Lair
Another one I really wanted to come out, but has uniformly bad reviews. It's pretty, but seems to have been focused on 'prettiness' vs gameplay so far. The story _could_ be good, but even the online prompts for learning new moves, or how to fight in the air are nearly unreadable because of their color choices, and flashing too briefly on the screen. It's at times difficult to determine friend vs foe in the air as well, and a fair portion of the game so far (1-2 hours) consists of cutscenes, sometimes ending a 'mission' abruptly, without any real clear indication of the mission succeeding. The Six Axis controls aren't too bad, but on the ground, control (via stick) seems very imprecise, more like you're playing Dragons Lair, or just mashing the buttons while the dragon doesn't control very well, so you hope you hit something before they hit you.

So far, I've got to agree with the poor reviews for Lair, which is too bad, as it's a cool idea.

_________________
Are we not done with the same silly arguments and flames yet??!

@wegster

Thankfully, Factor 5 are back to producing Nintendo games...where they've done their best work.

@wegster

Quote:

The Six Axis controls aren't too bad

Quote:

So far, I've got to agree with the poor reviews for Lair

Funny comment, considering you don't really agree with the number uno complaint, that the Sixaxis controls suck.

Honestly I think you can do much worse than getting Lair. The US media reviews were wildly exaggerated, 360 games scoring higher like a 6 or 7 on average usually truly suck. Lair is IMO actually pretty cool in most parts. It's not the classic it could have been but certainly has its highlights. Voice acting sucks compared Heavenly Sword or Uncharted but better than Gears of War, some things aren't as polished as they could have been and yes it would have been smart to include analog stick support for those who seem to hate it.

For those interested in this game I recommend to read user experiences here:
http://rr.ps3.ign.com/rrobj/ps3/object/761161/
http://boardsus.playstation.com/playstation/board/message?board.id=lair&thread.id=16259

Some ultra low res game footage:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=uc__oKIJdMA
http://youtube.com/watch?v=GzoX7ZQ0cFs

Last edited by MikeB on 27-Mar-2008 at 03:12 PM.

@wegster
Quote:

Another one I really wanted to come out, but has uniformly bad reviews. It's pretty, but seems to have been focused on 'prettiness' vs gameplay so far.

I agree. Lair is a beautiful game visually. Gameplay not so much. I recommend everyone with a PS3 rent this game first. If they user thinks it has staying power then buy it. IMO, it doesn't have the staying power worth purchasing. Rent for a weekend is best.

@MikeB
RE: my agreement with poor reviews
Quote:

Funny comment, considering you don't really agree with the number uno complaint, that the Sixaxis controls suck.

It's the gameplay that's lacking. SIx Axis control in different games seems to be hit and miss. It's awful in the Toy Home Racecar game (forget the name). In Lair, it's ok for flying, while the stick controlled dragon on the ground is just poor.

The agreement is mostly about gameplay itself. The game stutters in places, and is non-obvious when a mission is completed, cuts off in to cut -scenes near randomly, sometimes re-positioning you in the same mission but now you're no longer heading the same direction. The gameplay just isn't great.

Quote:

Honestly I think you can do much worse than getting Lair

Of course you do. You say that about every PS3 game.

Did you personally buy it then?

*shrug* Either way, the game's likely going to collect dust here, regardless of any links you may post.

Here's a review I can mostly agree with:
http://rr.ps3.ign.com/rrview/ps3/lair/761161/70271/

Oh yes, and 'Lair Network' = HUGE ROFLMAO.
The 'updates section' contains like 2 TIPS. No game updates, nothing of use. Sad.
Oh, and a link to the PS3 Lair forum owned by Sony. Yay.

Last edited by wegster on 27-Mar-2008 at 09:58 PM.

_________________
Are we not done with the same silly arguments and flames yet??!

@wegster

Quote:

Of course you do. You say that about every PS3 game.

Prove it. Lair and Super Rub 'a' Dub are the exceptions which got destructive reviews. The worst next-gen game I played so far is Rumble Roses XX on the 360 and that game got much higher scores than Lair did. Really that's amazing, there's simply no comparison.

@MikeB

Quote:

MikeB wrote: @wegster Quote: Of course you do. You say that about every PS3 game. Prove it. Lair and Super Rub 'a' Dub are the exceptions which got destructive reviews. The worst next-gen game I played so far is Rumble Roses XX on the 360 and that game got much higher scores than Lair did. Really that's amazing, there's simply no comparison.

Aren't you the same guy that thinks Motorstorm is more fun than Excite Truck?

@MikeB

Quote:

MikeB wrote: @wegster Quote: Of course you do. You say that about every PS3 game. Prove it. Lair and Super Rub 'a' Dub are the exceptions which got destructive reviews. The worst next-gen game I played so far is Rumble Roses XX on the 360 and that game got much higher scores than Lair did. Really that's amazing, there's simply no comparison.

This isn't about Lair being the 'worst game ever.' I also don't care about relative scores for 360 titles.

'Prove it?'

I suppose I should have said - 'any negative PS3 review posted on AW, you always defend the game in question, while I doubt you own all of them, either.' Is that better? That's sufficient 'proof' for me.

Did you buy Lair then, or not? Have you agreed that ANY PS3 game 'isn't great'?

Lair could have been good, but isn't. Just like some other games. There ARE some good ones, but really, trying to 'defend' games any time someone doesn't like one is sort of silly. Not every PS3 title is a winner, nor is it likely to be.

Don't worry, you can keep defending others as I post them, if you really feel the need, but please say whether or not you OWN them.

Coming up next: (yes, I own these, vs regurgitation of links)
Enchanted Arms
Spiderman 3
Fantastic Four- Rise of Silver Surfer
Rainbow Six: Vegas
Dark Kingdom
Sonic
Ghost Recon 2: Advanced Warfighter

_________________
Are we not done with the same silly arguments and flames yet??!

@MikeB

Quote:

The worst next-gen game I played so far is Rumble Roses XX on the 360 and that game got much higher scores than Lair did. Really that's amazing, there's simply no comparison

I don't think he posted Lair was horrid just that he wasn't impressed. Many agree there isn't a high replayability factor in Lair. I'd agree there is simply no comparision. You're putting a solo fighter flight sim game against a multiplayer fighter? I can see how anyone would favor 1 over the other. This sort of comparision is pretty much not useful, IMO.

@Lou

Quote:

Thankfully, Factor 5 are back to producing Nintendo games...where they've done their best work.

What about Turrican 1 and 2 on the 'miggy!

_________________
"Art challenges technology. Technology inspires the art."
John Lasseter, Co-Founder of Pixar Animation Studios

@wegster

Quote:

Did you buy Lair then, or not? Have you agreed that ANY PS3 game 'isn't great'?

A friend owns Lair, I've only played some parts (like you have up to this point) and watched my friend play some other parts. I will borrow the game from him when I am done with some other games I have. My friend loves Lair, I have seen enough of the game to say the game really isn't as bad as most US reviewers claimed it to be. Everything is relative though, I like hard reviews but only if equally hard reviews are given to other games on different systems. Scores or complaints become meaningless if there's no consistency across reviews from the same source.

I don't play or buy bad PS3 games, I cherry pick the best ones. I am sure there are some really bad PS3 games, Lair not really being one of them.

Last edited by MikeB on 29-Mar-2008 at 10:40 AM.
Last edited by MikeB on 29-Mar-2008 at 10:39 AM.

@BrianK

Quote:

. I'd agree there is simply no comparision. You're putting a solo fighter flight sim game against a multiplayer fighter?

On the one hand you have an absolutely horrid fighter, from a well crowded genre the bulk of which providing a much better gaming experience than Rumble Roses does. The game is really awful, IMO get DOA4 or VF5 instead if you own a 360 and want to play a good fighting game.

On the other hand you have a pretty unique game, for a gerne lacking any real competition. A game which certainly has its jaw dropping moments and is pretty interesting overall despite its shortcomings.

Last edited by MikeB on 29-Mar-2008 at 10:36 AM.

It's interesting to see the European price cut did not boost 360 sales enough to beat the PS3 in sales even for the UK for the pricecut's first week.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/30024/360-and-PS3-rocket-during-bumper-Easter

The week after, GT prolgue was launched so the gap in sales will almost certainly be widening again. Amazon.co.uk bestsellers show GT prologue ranked number 1 for a while now and interestingly GTA IV for the PS3 ranked 2nd, this despite the 360's install base advantage for the UK due to the platform's 1 year and 5 months headstart.

@MikeB

Quote:

It's interesting to see the European price cut did not boost 360 sales enough to beat the PS3 in sales even for the UK for the pricecut's first week.

Though it was interesting to see that UK 360 sales nearly doubled. Undoubtably a price cut was due. Just in time for GTA.

Sony and PS3 questions.

Previously I said that I expect the PS3 to outsell the 360 by end of 2008. Currently the PS3 is ~5.5M behind. This means they need to outsell the 360 by ~140K per week, on average, to accomplish this. With the current sales of ~30-40K per week it is going to need a HUGE Christmas to accomplish my prediction. When do you predict the PS3 to reach #2? Will it ever beat the Wii and reach #1? If so when?

The PS2 was the huge winner of last generation. Hirari has stated in the past he expects the PS3 to beat the PS2 marketshare. Analysts say the marketshare for the PS2 is 65-70%. Do you think the PS3 will be able to come back and be the market leader to this extent? Or conversely at the end of this generation will Sony have slipped to a smaller % of the market? Also, when do you predict the PS3 will start outselling the PS2?

@BigD

Quote:

BigD wrote: @Lou Quote: Thankfully, Factor 5 are back to producing Nintendo games...where they've done their best work. What about Turrican 1 and 2 on the 'miggy!

Get yourself a Gamecube(or Wii) and buy the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron games...
Rumor has it that they are going to release a Wii-make that combines the 2 games and uses Wii-controls...this holiday season...

Perhaps we will see old Amiga games on the Wii's Virtual Console as well.
Now that the Wii supports USB keyboards and it's controller can be used as a mouse, anything is possible.

@MikeB

Quote:

MikeB wrote: @BrianK Quote: . I'd agree there is simply no comparision. You're putting a solo fighter flight sim game against a multiplayer fighter? On the one hand you have an absolutely horrid fighter, from a well crowded genre the bulk of which providing a much better gaming experience than Rumble Roses does. The game is really awful, IMO get DOA4 or VF5 instead if you own a 360 and want to play a good fighting game. On the other hand you have a pretty unique game, for a gerne lacking any real competition. A game which certainly has its jaw dropping moments and is pretty interesting overall despite its shortcomings.

So what you are saying is that you like Lair because you has nothing better to compare it to?