AlexMax
12-09-2003, 08:01 PM
Check out this "Gaming Gaffes of 2003".
http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20031205192338153
Weird. i agree with just about everything the guy says. Most interesting comments...
PlayStation 2 Online -
Initially Sony announced that they would have their network adaptor for the PS2 out in late 2001, but they missed that date. Then it was spring of 2002. Didn't happen then either. And, so, right on time they launched it in August of 2002. I can live with a little delay, really I can. But now, here we are, fifteen months after the launch and there still isn't a coherent online experience. Nor is there a truly compelling library of online games. Cheating has ruined games like SOCOM: Navy Seals. Sports games like Madden have had to deal with "quitters" and "pausers". Given the response, it appears that Sony was relatively unprepared for these contingencies. By all accounts Xbox Live beats the pants off of Sony's stuff, and the main complaint against Live is the yearly fee. Well, just remember that from Sony you're getting what you pay for.
Hell yeah. Sony online blows, and if it weren't for Madden 2004 and SOCOM II's popularity it would be a vast empty wasteland.
Nokia's N-Gage -
Nokia has developed a novel strategy for establishing a successful mobile phone gaming platform. First, design it so you have to remove the battery to change games. (Even if it's not hard, it sounds awful.) Also, make it notoriously embarrassing to use as a phone. (See image, left.) Next, assemble launch titles from the lineup of hit games from six years ago like Tomb Raider and Pandemonium. Finally, give it the kind of outrageously high price for a phone (say $299) that is guaranteed to attract attention, especially in a market where the leading platform costs less much less ($70 for the plain GameBoy Advance and $100 for the SP model). Here we are, a couple months after launch, and the game selection is still paltry, with fewer than twenty insipid titles available compared to the 400 or more available for the GBA (out of pity for the N-Gage I won't mention all the GameBoy and GameBoy Color games that the GBA can play). Sure, Nokia's plan is a little more elaborate than the classic plan of the underpants gnomes, but at least as successful.
Agreed. What's funny is that Nokia hasn't EVER released any figures that say "We sold this amount of units to customers".
Rare's Xbox Debut - As PainKilleR noted in his first impressions, Grabbed by the Ghoulies just ain't the kind of stuff that's going to make Microsoft's purchase of Rare worthwhile. Clearly, the Bungie buy has been profitable for Microsoft, but one wonders if they feel similarly about Rare. Will Rare have to give back the hats of money if Perfect Dark Zero turns out to be a dud?
Maybe you anti-Xbox fanboys have a little bit to cheer about. Nintendo was smart to get rid of Rare when they did. Very Very Smart. If Perfect Dark Zero doesn't blow me away and have Online play, it's over.
http://curmudgeongamer.com/article.php?story=20031205192338153
Weird. i agree with just about everything the guy says. Most interesting comments...
PlayStation 2 Online -
Initially Sony announced that they would have their network adaptor for the PS2 out in late 2001, but they missed that date. Then it was spring of 2002. Didn't happen then either. And, so, right on time they launched it in August of 2002. I can live with a little delay, really I can. But now, here we are, fifteen months after the launch and there still isn't a coherent online experience. Nor is there a truly compelling library of online games. Cheating has ruined games like SOCOM: Navy Seals. Sports games like Madden have had to deal with "quitters" and "pausers". Given the response, it appears that Sony was relatively unprepared for these contingencies. By all accounts Xbox Live beats the pants off of Sony's stuff, and the main complaint against Live is the yearly fee. Well, just remember that from Sony you're getting what you pay for.
Hell yeah. Sony online blows, and if it weren't for Madden 2004 and SOCOM II's popularity it would be a vast empty wasteland.
Nokia's N-Gage -
Nokia has developed a novel strategy for establishing a successful mobile phone gaming platform. First, design it so you have to remove the battery to change games. (Even if it's not hard, it sounds awful.) Also, make it notoriously embarrassing to use as a phone. (See image, left.) Next, assemble launch titles from the lineup of hit games from six years ago like Tomb Raider and Pandemonium. Finally, give it the kind of outrageously high price for a phone (say $299) that is guaranteed to attract attention, especially in a market where the leading platform costs less much less ($70 for the plain GameBoy Advance and $100 for the SP model). Here we are, a couple months after launch, and the game selection is still paltry, with fewer than twenty insipid titles available compared to the 400 or more available for the GBA (out of pity for the N-Gage I won't mention all the GameBoy and GameBoy Color games that the GBA can play). Sure, Nokia's plan is a little more elaborate than the classic plan of the underpants gnomes, but at least as successful.
Agreed. What's funny is that Nokia hasn't EVER released any figures that say "We sold this amount of units to customers".
Rare's Xbox Debut - As PainKilleR noted in his first impressions, Grabbed by the Ghoulies just ain't the kind of stuff that's going to make Microsoft's purchase of Rare worthwhile. Clearly, the Bungie buy has been profitable for Microsoft, but one wonders if they feel similarly about Rare. Will Rare have to give back the hats of money if Perfect Dark Zero turns out to be a dud?
Maybe you anti-Xbox fanboys have a little bit to cheer about. Nintendo was smart to get rid of Rare when they did. Very Very Smart. If Perfect Dark Zero doesn't blow me away and have Online play, it's over.