Support NeoGAF

[AniHawk]

What is the next big GBA game ?

Ratatouille.

 

[Kafel]

Ratatouille.

The PS3 will get it as well.

An exclusive one ? ( that will make a difference )

 

[Jive Turkey]

Ratatouille.

Screw that. Surf's Up will kick its ass!

 

[Duderz]

Anyone have the top ten software for each platform? I'm not looking through 55 pages...

Thanks.

 

[RiskyChris]

What is the next big GBA game ?

Mother 3.

Believe, damn you!

 

[F#A#Oo]

http://www.ps3forums.com/showthread.php?t=73888

From the first post onwards it's nothing but hilarious misunderstanding about Sony's forecast! :lol

 

[turtle553]

http://www.ps3forums.com/showthread.php?t=73888

From the first post onwards it's nothing but hilarious misunderstanding about Sony's forecast! :lol

The sad thing is it used to be a decent site before the PS3 launch, lots of technical information. Now it just is a bunch of delusional rantings. I must say it is more entertaining now, kinda like a slow motion car wreck (if you find car wrecks entertaining).

 

[Death_Born]

Mother 3.

Believe, damn you!

 

[Juwanna Peezadis]

http://www.ps3forums.com/showthread.php?t=73888

From the first post onwards it's nothing but hilarious misunderstanding about Sony's forecast! :lol

I liked this one:

Where do I start?I start here, your whole psot is full of lies and BS,in short you are a noob who knows nothing.I let some where else tell you everthign that is wrong with these post

Spoiler

So, their "Forum Sage" is akin to our "Junior Member"?

[EDIT]
Oh, this one's even better:

Story Continued
NPD doesn't gather all sales, so realistically the only source we can kinda trust is Sony

Must be rough on them. They're getting delusional.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

My DSLite broke just through normal use.

I just found out that my DS lite is losing touchscreen sensitivity, and for games like Ouendan and EBA that is almost the same as having the DS break.

 

[apujanata]

I just found out that my DS lite is losing touchscreen sensitivity, and for games like Ouendan and EBA that is almost the same as having the DS break.

Have you contacted Nintendo Support, as per mod advice in your thread ?

 

[Phife Dawg]

Beats me. I picked up my DS and the right hinge just snapped when I opened it. It was perfectly fine the night before.

The rep on the phone told me that the right side is where all the weight of the screen rests, so if it starts cracking, the whole thing is going to come off. Nintendo does not "officially" recognize it as a problem on their end, though.

That said, it was nice of them to knock $55 off the bill (it's itemized as "Customer Good Will discount" on the invoice), but it's still pretty disappointing. I'm going to be treating my replacement DS with kid gloves from now on.

While I think it's bollocks to charge for that (since a lot of people have that problem) I think 20 $ is reasonable. Isn't that the amount you pay for MS' disc swapping program? I recall reading it here somewhere.

 

[Tf53]

Oh, God bless the PS3forums.

sold to retailers is all SOny cares about...

retailers don't buy units for fun, so clearly PS3s are selling.

Well spelt and a well developed argument!

Except that I have the facts.

Japanese sales to March 31: 811,381 (Media Create)

US sales to March 31: 1,188,700 (NPD)

Canada sales to March 31: About 100,000 (NPD)

Europe sales from announcement late-March: 800,000

That totals 2,900,081 for THE BEST REAL FIGURES WE HAVE FOR ALL TERRITORIES, to March 31st.

I am a huge PS3 fan, but you can believe whatever fantasy figures you want, there are the REAL figures.

The facts? Please I post most of the numbers here, I know the facts, and you do not, they sold over 3 million

:lol :lol :lol

 

[Luckyman]

So, made from ground up for the Wii Spiderman 3 was outsould 2:1 by two PS3 SKUs.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Spiderman for the Wii sucked pretty bad, though. :lol

 

[Tchu-Espresso]

So, made from ground up for the Wii Spiderman 3 was outsould 2:1 by two PS3 SKUs.

If thats what they call made from the ground up they should just kill themselves.

 

[AniHawk]

If thats what they call made from the ground up they should just kill themselves.

To their credit, they realized the project was due the next day and had an all-night cram session. I know their pain all too well.

 

[Phife Dawg]

Spiderman for the Wii sucked pretty bad, though. :lol

PS2 Spiderman is allegedly even worse, by far. Huge install base helps with that version though.

 

[mr_bishiuk]

Oh, God bless the PS3forums.





:lol :lol :lol

Thats funny I guess they figure the rest of the world outside the big 3 is worth 700k+ sales!

 

[Haunted]

wow, Ps3forums and the honorable SPG are hilarious ... I'd like to think most of these are joke posters in the know.

Spoiler

At least I hope so, otherwise, it'd be just sad.

 

[Mithos Yggdrasill]

Proud? Not really. I'm proud of my sons, however.

Great answer.

 

[Father_Brain]

N'Gai Croal has a ridiculously in-depth analysis of the NPD numbers, done as an email conversation with Geoff Keighley. There's far too much to quote here, but a few interesting bits:

Nevertheless, I don't think we'll see many third party games that are currently being developed for both PS3 and Xbox 360 drop their PS3 SKUs, even if Sony has multiple months under 100,000 units sold. The reason is threefold: Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot estimates the cost of a port adds just 10 percent to the cost of development; marketing budgets don't increase significantly with the addition of another SKU; and Microsoft isn't willing to pay for the majority of those titles to become Xbox 360 exclusives when they know that their larger installed base means that the bulk of those sales will take place on Xbox 360 without Microsoft execs having to lift a finger. Ironically, the latter is the same reason why Sony isn't willing to pay for exclusives: as Phil Harrison himself pointed out, the PS3 ecosystem is so unhealthy right now, any negotiations for a third party exclusive would be a) weighted almost completely in the third party's favor; and b) unlikely to have much of an impact.

If, having suffered a $2 billion loss during its last fiscal year, Sony is not willing to lop at least $100 off the price of the PS3--and you're correct that a price drop alone is unlikely to move the needle enough--that leaves the company's first party operation and a handful of remaining third party exclusives to shoulder the burden. But great games take time to make, and it's unlikely that such lookers as White Knight Story, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Final Fantasy XIII will be ready by the end of 2007. (SOCOM: Confrontation will get some PS2 dead-enders to upgrade, but the PS3's $599 price tag will remain an inhibitor.) And without potential killer apps on that scale, Sony will more or less be forced to cede 2007 to the Xbox 360 until both a price cut and better software manifest themselves. In the interim, Sony will have to endure message board mockery and mainstream media stories about the PS3's failure until they take the aforementioned necessary steps to reestablish some positive momentum.

I'll conclude my hardware analysis with this: I've also heard the same statements from third party publishers that the Wii is going to run out of steam. And while six months do not a generational champion make, I'd have to ask these executives: upon what basis are they making these assumptions? I hope they're not basing them on the so-called high-def revolution, because many people who have HDTVs are buying them because they're bigger and flatter, not because of picture quality, as evidenced by the fact that a lot of people have HDTVs without any HD content or signals. The Wii, meanwhile is optimized for 480p displays, and remains a phenomenon nonetheless. And when we look at the sustained superlative performance of the Nintendo DS in the face of technologically superior competition from the PSP and mobile phones, I wonder if this refrain that the Wii fad will soon die off isn't merely wishful thinking on the part of publishers who have overextended themselves on next generation consoles and high-end PCs, and are now trembling at the thought of reinventing themselves to compete in a world where Nintendo is number one.

2. Kyoto, Wii Have A Problem

I originally wrote a long, detailed, involved section here. Then I decided that, since I'd promised "Kyoto, We Have A Problem" two months ago and had yet to deliver, this section could in fact serve as that long-awaited post. So rather than get into it, I'll just point out that the companies most disrupted by the Wii's disruptive technology are arguably not Sony or Microsoft, but rather the third party publishers who for the most part seem genetically ill-equipped to thrive in a Nintendo-dominated console market. For the rest of my thoughts on this--and how it poses a problem for Kyoto--my faithful readers should look for "Kyoto, We Have A Problem" later this week soon.

 

[mood]

N'Gai Croal has a ridiculously in-depth analysis of the NPD numbers, done as an email conversation with Geoff Keighley. There's far too much to quote here, but a few interesting bits:

That was a great read, thanks.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Thanks for that, Father_Brain.

It amazes me, really, that some developers are afraid of Wii. And I think the exuse that they "have to compete with Nintendo" is bollocks. To me, they're saying, "we don't want to make good games."

The DS has already proven that fans of Nintendo are willing to buy good third party titles, and praise them. Level 5 and Square-Enix have done really well on the DS. Atlus is making out like a bandit too. And Capcom has bloomed their Phoenix Wright series into a favorite amongst gamers.

Hell, I think even EA is doing well on the system. It's giving Sim City a small presence in Japan.

My point is, shoddy ports and bad games won't sell on Wii. But if you put up the effort, and make something that interests people, you'll sell.

 

[Kafel]

Thx for this good read. I really like Croal's articles.

Now about the Wii, I'm not too worried for japanese developers and I'm not surprised by the recent reports of them switching for the Wii. They have proven at many times that they still know how to be creative in this industry and are in fact still open-minded about what a video-game should be.

On the other hand, I have a hard time believing that western studios will take the same path. Maybe some of them will really want to cope with the possibilities offered by Nintendo's console but those will most likely be guided by "characters" who have quite a vision in the videogame : Wright, Ancel, Chahi, Schafer ...

Of course many ports with Wii mapped controls will be enjoyable but that's not what the Wii deserves.

 

[SouthernDragon]

Eteric Rice, I agree. What a developer should do is make a game not normally made by Nintendo and publish it on a Nintendo console.

FPS on a Nintendo console? A good one? How about a JRPG? Gritty sports game? How about an epic traveling series? Or a gangsta game? A racing sim?

Make these, and make them well, and it will sell so well. I know that I crave something along the lines of Trusty Bell and Odin Sphere.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Mother 3.

Believe, damn you!

I have to wonder of NOA got orders last fall from NCL to cease GBA game support, or something, because while the GBA may have died completely last year in Japan, the continuing good sales of GBA hardware here make NOA's "Pokemon Red Rescue Team is the last first-party GBA release ever" decision look like a really stupid move...

 

[Eteric Rice]

Yeah, even Gameboy Micros still come in at my local Wal-Mart

 

[Death_Born]

I just found out that my DS lite is losing touchscreen sensitivity, and for games like Ouendan and EBA that is almost the same as having the DS break.

I have a heavy hand and haven't gotten anything but a couple of invisible scratches after S-ranking all Hard Rock missions on EBA. You must be the Incredible Hulk. HULK SMASH DS!

 

[Saint Gregory]

I'll conclude my hardware analysis with this: I've also heard the same statements from third party publishers that the Wii is going to run out of steam. And while six months do not a generational champion make, I'd have to ask these executives: upon what basis are they making these assumptions? I hope they're not basing them on the so-called high-def revolution, because many people who have HDTVs are buying them because they're bigger and flatter, not because of picture quality, as evidenced by the fact that a lot of people have HDTVs without any HD content or signals. The Wii, meanwhile is optimized for 480p displays, and remains a phenomenon nonetheless. And when we look at the sustained superlative performance of the Nintendo DS in the face of technologically superior competition from the PSP and mobile phones, I wonder if this refrain that the Wii fad will soon die off isn't merely wishful thinking on the part of publishers who have overextended themselves on next generation consoles and high-end PCs, and are now trembling at the thought of reinventing themselves to compete in a world where Nintendo is number one.

I've asked this question serveral times in different threads and never got an answer. Is there any historical reference for a console selling at the rate the Wii is suddenly falling off the map in a couple years the way people are still predicting?

I know that HDTV adoption rates are going to continue to climb, but I don't see why HD console sales are going to automatically climb with it. HDTV's don't make Wii graphics uglier, at least not on my TV.

 

[Eteric Rice]

I've asked this question serveral times in different threads and never got an answer. Is there any historical reference for a console selling at the rate the Wii is suddenly falling off the map in a couple years the way people are still predicting?

I know that HDTV adoption rates are going to continue to climb, but I don't see why HD console sales are going to automatically climb with it. HDTV's don't make Wii graphics uglier, at least not on my TV.

There really is no system that I can think of that blasted off like the Wii, and died. And I also don't think HD is going to hurt the Wii much, if at all.

I'm betting third parties are really thinking this over right now. They got caught up in the HD hype, and missed where the real interest was. The question is, what do they do now?

 

[Mejilan]

Are we still mocking Sony in this thread?

 

[Eteric Rice]

Are we still mocking Sony in this thread?

Not really, we're wondering when third parties are going to get their shit straight.

 

[DeaconKnowledge]

I've asked this question serveral times in different threads and never got an answer. Is there any historical reference for a console selling at the rate the Wii is suddenly falling off the map in a couple years the way people are still predicting?

I know that HDTV adoption rates are going to continue to climb, but I don't see why HD console sales are going to automatically climb with it. HDTV's don't make Wii graphics uglier, at least not on my TV.

I really think it;'s wishful thinking from Publishers who put all their eggs in one basket with the PS3 and 360, or those, that plain don't want to see Nintendo lead the market.

 

[Eteric Rice]

I really think it;'s wishful thinking from Publishers who put all their eggs in one basket with the PS3 and 360, or those, that plain don't want to see Nintendo lead the market.

They can only ignore it for so long, unless they don't want a chance to be hugely successful on the Wii. And lets be honest, there's a lot of potential money to be made there.

Lots and lots of money.

 

[JCBossman]

It is an OPTIONAL alternate controller. Very few games would support it.

Sega's peripheral problems were add-ons like the CD drive . . . not a controller included with a game.



Exactly . . . and the eyetoy was a huge success. A PS3/360 waggle-wand would be just like the eyetoy . . . it would be sold with a game and most games would not support it.


The point of this waggle-wand is not to wipe the Wii off the face of the earth. The point is to get customers who are trying to decide between a high-powered HD console & a fun waggle-box to pick the one that can do both. The Wii would still get plenty of sales for people totally into waggle and want Nintendo 1st party IP.

I personally agree with this line of thinking(and speaking for myself I am unanimous ) I would LOVE MS to release a waggle controller, a sports pack, and a few "Light Gun" type games, all in HD and my Desire to get a Wii for "Party games" will be over.Do it cheap with the controller and sports pack at less than $60

 

[A Link to the Past]

I would much rather see a DS remake of Mother 1/2/3 combined like EGM rumored than GBA versions of the games.

 

[Innotech]

Do they have weekly MC/monthly NPD thread there? I need to check them out.

Do you guys know of an equivalent Ntard/Wiitard only message board that's not official?

this forum is actually decent:

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/forums/index.cfm

 

[capslock]

N'Gai Croal has a ridiculously in-depth analysis of the NPD numbers, done as an email conversation with Geoff Keighley. There's far too much to quote here, but a few interesting bits:

Thanks for that, I think the points raised in that article actually deserve their own thread.

 

[titiklabingapat]

It really saddens me that the majority of GAF hold certain 1UP editors more than N'Gai in higher regard. Now THAT is gaming journalism.

My favourite parts? Executives talking about pulling the plug on PS3 SKUs if it continues to dip below 100k in the next three months and suits running scared of the Wii and still shrugging it off as a fad. Boy, are they in for a rude awakening. :lol

 

[JCBossman]

Jesus Christ, I was just at Target, do they even SELL PSP's anymore? They had ZERO coverage for the PSP, and Sony is worried about Piracy? I can't even GET games legally at a MAJOR retailer, If that's the case Sony is Screwed.

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

They can only ignore it for so long, unless they don't want a chance to be hugely successful on the Wii. And lets be honest, there's a lot of potential money to be made there.

Lots and lots of money.

Here's a good quote from that article:

What if, as you speculate, Halo 3 and GTA IV don't have the system-selling effect that those franchises had in years past because of the systems are still priced way too high?

If they don't, Guitar Hero III, Rock Band, Wii Sports 2, Wii Health, Buzz! and SingStar (PS2, not PS3) could all be the beneficiaries of this continued drawn-out transition. Their all-inclusive, all-ages gameplay will sell not-only on the next generation consoles, but where applicable, they'll also shift many units on the PS2. This gets back to another point you raised earlier about those 115 million PS2 owners. If they look at a $399 Xbox 360, a $599 PS3 and the $60 games that come with them, wouldn't the most smartest thing to do--or at least, the most economical-- be to opt out for a third straight holiday until these companies all come to their senses and start pricing their wares (hard and soft) more within reach of the common man and woman? And if consumers make that choice, where does that leave all of these developers and publishers who have already made big bets on Xbox 360 and PS3, for whom big-budget AAA titles are at the core of their DNA? Can they adjust, or are they dinosaurs waiting to die out as the dust from the Wii explosion blots out the sun?

No one has a real good answer to the question about why the Wii will die out. Each new generation has ushered in new games and gameplay that rose above the previous generational favorites. I'm guessing many devs will be caught with no real response and other devs will clean up because they reacted to the current situation. Nintendo has the horsepower to carry the Wii. Hell, we see it now. Wii Play, Wii Sports. And they have enough of a killer lineup for the end of the year to keep enough of the hardcore stuck with them. VC will keep people from dropping the Wii totally. Factor in Mario, Metroid and SSB, they won't experience having users sell their system because nothing is coming.

I always looked at EA's response to this generation and specifically, the Wii, to get a good gauge of where the industry is going. They single handedly started the Dreamcast slide by refusing to support them and Nintendo wisely courted them with the GCN to avoid the same fate. Now, EA is firmly behind the Wii and we see Activision and Ubi right along with them. Ignoring the implications of the many crap games, these same crap efforts fund the whole industry. If casuals keep buying Rayman, COD and we get one or two good games out of it, then so be it. We are smart enough to avoid the traps, right?

At the very least, EA and it's ilk represent competition at a basic level and keep us from ever getting to a one console future (haha, screw you drinky). So, it's a necessary evil.

Wait, how did I get here?

*walks away from the screen*

 

[SouthernDragon]

Your ideas intrigue me and I wish to subscribe to your news letter.

Also, I... I am kind of amazed that publishers are in denial about the whole situation. I mean, what would it take for the PS3 to outsell the Wii or the 360 at this point?

 

[andthebeatgoeson]

It really saddens me that the majority of GAF hold certain 1UP editors more than N'Gai in higher regard. Now THAT is gaming journalism.

My favourite parts? Executives talking about pulling the plug on PS3 SKUs if it continues to dip below 100k in the next three months and suits running scared of the Wii and still shrugging it off as a fad. Boy, are they in for a rude awakening. :lol

N'Gai suffers from the GAF-wide effect, called Dyack syndrome. Fat people's opinion are instantly derided once it's found out they are fat. For instance, I'll have you know I am 300 lbs. See, you now don't give a shit about what I just said.

 

[Eteric Rice]

Here's a good quote from that article:


No one has a real good answer to the question about why the Wii will die out. Each new generation has ushered in new games and gameplay that rose above the previous generational favorites. I'm guessing many devs will be caught with no real response and other devs will clean up because they reacted to the current situation. Nintendo has the horsepower to carry the Wii. Hell, we see it now. Wii Play, Wii Sports. And they have enough of a killer lineup for the end of the year to keep enough of the hardcore stuck with them. VC will keep people from dropping the Wii totally. Factor in Mario, Metroid and SSB, they won't experience having users sell their system because nothing is coming.

I always looked at EA's response to this generation and specifically, the Wii, to get a good gauge of where the industry is going. They single handedly started the Dreamcast slide by refusing to support them and Nintendo wisely courted them with the GCN to avoid the same fate. Now, EA is firmly behind the Wii and we see Activision and Ubi right along with them. Ignoring the implications of the many crap games, these same crap efforts fund the whole industry. If casuals keep buying Rayman, COD and we get one or two good games out of it, then so be it. We are smart enough to avoid the traps, right?

At the very least, EA and it's ilk represent competition at a basic level and keep us from ever getting to a one console future (haha, screw you drinky). So, it's a necessary evil.

Wait, how did I get here?

*walks away from the screen*

I don't see why it's so hard for them to adapt. If they wanted to expand to the Wii, they'd just have to finish what they're working on, sell their dev hits back to whom ever is failing, and order Wii dev kits.

Then, from there, they can plan games and create them.

If they continue to ignore what's happening. Then maybe they deserve to die out.

 

[Vic]

I don't see why it's so hard for them to adapt. If they wanted to expand to the Wii, they'd just have to finish what they're working on, sell their dev hits back to whom ever is failing, and order Wii dev kits.

Then, from there, they can plan games and create them.

If they continue to ignore what's happening. Then maybe they deserve to die out.

I think it's because they invested all their teams, money, equipments/tools and focus toward the HD-gaming ideas in the past years. That was the planned transition, not the Wii. Let's remember that the majority of all the ears in the industry only took notice of the Wii when it was presented at last year's E3 and that it's success was visible only very recently. Kinda hard to adjust the boat sail that late

 

[Link]

I think it's because they invested all their teams, money, equipments/tools and focus toward the HD-gaming ideas in the past years. That was the planned transition, not the Wii. Let's remember that the majority of all the ears in the industry only took notice of the Wii when it was presented at last year's E3 and that it's success was visible only very recently. Kinda hard to adjust the boat sail that late

It's one thing to have been blindsided by the Wii's success, but it's a completely different story to still be claiming the Wii is just a fad that will die out. That kind of stubborn denial can put you out of business.

 

[Hcoregamer00]

It really saddens me that the majority of GAF hold certain 1UP editors more than N'Gai in higher regard. Now THAT is gaming journalism.

My favourite parts? Executives talking about pulling the plug on PS3 SKUs if it continues to dip below 100k in the next three months and suits running scared of the Wii and still shrugging it off as a fad. Boy, are they in for a rude awakening. :lol

N'Gai in his blog shows that he is an articulate man who has tremendous insight into the gaming industry.

I don't know about you but I have a higher regard of him compared to any gaming "journalists."

 

[Vic]

It's one thing to have been blindsided by the Wii's success, but it's a completely different story to still be claiming the Wii is just a fad that will die out. That kind of stubborn denial can put you out of business.

Those "market direction denial" happens in every industry. Only those where ready to go where the market would take them benefit from the DS or/and Wii success. ex: Square-Enix, EA, Ubi and somehow indirectly, Atlus.

N'Gai in his blog shows that he is an articulate man who has tremendous insight into the gaming industry.

I don't know about you but I have a higher regard of him compared to any gaming "journalists."

Kobun is a cool dude man

 

[Meier]

N'Gai Croal has a ridiculously in-depth analysis of the NPD numbers, done as an email conversation with Geoff Keighley. There's far too much to quote here, but a few interesting bits:

Thanks for this -- great read. N'Gai is a man amongst boys in terms of video game journalism.