Console Wars V

[Alinestra Covelia]

Holy crap. Just, wow.

Some criminally inept contract drafting on the part of Sony, and some shades-of-grey conflict of interest by IBM. Also (surprise surprise) some sharp-nosed ability to sniff out the blood in the waters by Microsoft.

Thanks for posting the article link, Nostromo. A cautionary tale for corporate lawyers everywhere.

[Verto]

I was finally able to get my hands on Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2.

Holy crap, Fallout 3 is amazing! It's been awhile since I've found it so hard to stop playing a video game.

Gears of War 2 is a solid sequel, but it's taking backseat to Fallout 3 at the moment.

[Asher]

Holy crap. Just, wow.

Some criminally inept contract drafting on the part of Sony, and some shades-of-grey conflict of interest by IBM. Also (surprise surprise) some sharp-nosed ability to sniff out the blood in the waters by Microsoft.

Thanks for posting the article link, Nostromo. A cautionary tale for corporate lawyers everywhere.

It's a sensationalist article. Both the Cell's PPE and the 360's/Xenon's CPU cores both derive from a pre-existing IBM research processor dating back to 2000. The PPE is a minor modification of it, the Xenon CPU is a major modification of it.

Most of the heavy lifting/R&D on the PPE/Xenon core was done well before Sony paid a dime. IBM volunteered to contribute its existing design for modification but since they have always owned the chip, they could do whatever they wanted with it (including licensing it elsewhere). There's nothing Sony could have done to prevent this unless they would somehow convince IBM to sell the intellectual property to the PowerPC design (never going to happen). Sony and MS both took an "off the shelf" part from IBM and had it customized, it's really a non-story.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Yeah, that could make sense, on second thoughts. Do you have a link?

Given that the article's main source seems to be two (former?) IBM employees, there's a potential issue of bias too. Especially as it seems to come from a book they've written and sales figures for that may be a concern.

[DrSpike]

I was finally able to get my hands on Fallout 3 and Gears of War 2.

Holy crap, Fallout 3 is amazing! It's been awhile since I've found it so hard to stop playing a video game.

Gears of War 2 is a solid sequel, but it's taking backseat to Fallout 3 at the moment.

Oddly enough I also picked up both games at about the same time and found Fallout grabbing my attention more.

I'm on GoW2 now, which is amazing with its non-stop action, but agree Fallout 3 is the best game I played last year.

[Asher]

Yeah, that could make sense, on second thoughts. Do you have a link?

I worked at IBM during the years preceding the 360/PS3 launch, specifically on the PowerPC compilers used by both Cell and the 360's CPU...no link.

[El_Cid]

I'm not a minority(maybe)!:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21695

Got a new couple of games for my PS2, Tomb Raider Anniversary(does a good job of getting the vibe of the original right) and Rogue Galaxy(very good + huge rpg, annoying voice acting!) for xmas.
I think i'll spend more time(and money) on my PS2 than the other consoles i've owned A happy way for me to bow out of console gaming

[korn469]

Here are some interesting numbers on amount of time spent paying each console. PS2 is number one, followed by xbox360, and wii. The PS3 is fifth trailing the original xbox!



here is the original article

[Asher]

They're extremely suspect statistics that's more a factor of total console units in distribution than anything else.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I'm currently back on the Wii again, trying to finish all those games that I bought but never built up enough momentum for.

I'm at about 106 stars out of 120 for Mario Galaxy (the last star will be a real bummer). I'm also halfway through Metroid Prime 3 and I've just started Zelda.

Of the three, I like Mario the most and Zelda the least.

[Asher]

In an unexpected turn of events, I'll be helping out on a Nintendo Wii title (to be announced later this month). I'm not sure how long I'll be on it but I'm hoping it will not be too long. The venture capital arm of my firm has invested in a startup game company and they volunteered me as an "interim resource" to work on the graphics engine until they can find someone permanent to do it (I've no interest in sticking around on Wii games!).

So I may end up with a MobyGames entry before Frozzy & Dale, and I don't even want it. And it's on the ghastly Wii too.

Majesco is publishing it, too.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Hah, Asher forced to make a game on the Wii?

That would be like forcing Asher to make a straight porno!

[snoopy369]

Nice

[DrSpike]

How fitting.

[Asher]

I've just discovered they're doing a PC port, too.

Here's hoping I can swing my way on the PC side instead. But I doubt it