Console Wars VI

[El_Cid]

...... But given your stated preferences I doubt a few quid off will make a difference for you.

True, i just dont get 10 hours of game for £50 or even £20? The price isnt, has never been the problem, its the shift to less single player gameplay(often) per game period. So until that industry standard goes back to where it used to be, i'll often take a pass over a sale.

@ LotM - yes to all your points. I think the whole second hand resale thing(in terms of it's boom in the last few years or so) can be put at the feet of the games industry itself - they (just like pretty much all markets(housing etc)) have just gotten too greedy in recent years, and for me the games are not good enough to often out weigh that shift. So yeah i buy the odd second hand game too even though i know it's not exactly helping the industry i want to support with my cash. They just have to try harder, i'm not a mindless consumer!

[self biased]

PS3 can play PS1 and PS2 titles. Or, it could until a few months back. That version is now out of production, officially that is.

i was told that the old ps3 models actually had the ps2 hardware in them. they're still backwards compatible with previous generations, but now it's done with emulators instead of hardware.

i'm not sure as to the veracity of this, but it seems plausible enough.

[Asher]

That's correct. I've got a launch PS3 with physical PS2 chips inside and 100% compatibility.

Then they had models that were a hybrid -- it didn't have the PS2 CPU but did have the GPU, and the CPU was emulated.

The newest models don't do BC at all.

[Nikolai]

Which is the single most idiotic decision from Sony in a while.

[Asher]

Which is the single most idiotic decision from Sony in a while.

They're bleeding money, they need to cut costs and get the PS3 price down. They're getting their ass kicked by the 360 and it's due to the price.

It's necessary. It's still too pricey.

[Asher]

dp

[DrSpike]

True, i just dont get 10 hours of game for £50 or even £20? The price isnt, has never been the problem, its the shift to less single player gameplay(often) per game period. So until that industry standard goes back to where it used to be, i'll often take a pass over a sale.

£50 is flat out wrong. The average price for a new game (say last 3 months) if you keep an eye on play, game and all the other UK sites is £25. The most I have ever paid for a game (on day of release mind you) was £35, unless there were peripherals involved.

Of the 20 odd 360 games I've played the smallest amount of hours played is probably about 20. You say 10 hours probably referring to the fact that most FPS games last about that long for one play-through, but as I've pointed out before good console games these days are designed to be played through twice or even more times, if you like co-op. For me:

Gears: 3 plays through (1 co-op)
Gear 2: 2 plays through (+ another 10 hours on Horde co-op) + many hours MP
CoD4: 3 plays through + MP
Halo 3: 2 plays through + 1 more for skulls & score.

And FPS is probably the genre that offers least hours/replayability if you take out MP. Other games offer more still.

So, in summary, you've overstated the price, and understated the hours, even in an extreme case. It's almost Asher-esqe tactics and I'm disappointed.

[Asher]

At least I'm right when I make an argument.

[Nikolai]

They're bleeding money, they need to cut costs and get the PS3 price down. They're getting their ass kicked by the 360 and it's due to the price.

It's necessary. It's still too pricey.

I agree. PS3 as it is now is a serious problem for Sony. But the appeal of the PS3 does not improve by removing one of the few good features of the console.

[Asher]

They calculated the cost of including a PS2 in each PS3 (~$50) was not worth the benefits. Given how cheap and abundant PS2s are, they are probably correct.

[El_Cid]

£50 is flat out wrong. The average price for a new game (say last 3 months) if you keep an eye on play, game and all the other UK sites is £25. The most I have ever paid for a game (on day of release mind you) was £35, unless there were peripherals involved.

...............

So, in summary, you've overstated the price, and understated the hours, even in an extreme case. It's almost Asher-esqe tactics and I'm disappointed.

Most software sales come from high street bricks and mortar stores(i did a post about Sins of the Solar Empires sales figures, and even for a priority download place like Stardock that method(on-line) only covered about 20% of overall sales), and in those places an average new 360/PS3/Wii game comes in at £49.99 or £39.99, not including the odd special offer that happens.

And while Asher isn't here(back again!) we need(ed) the extreme viewpoint imho

In other news, weird software sales figures from japan:

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=22180

NO PS3 gamesin the top ten!!!! ouch!!! And my newly beloved PS2 gets in at number 3 with Winning Eleven 2009 - not bad for a supposed dead machine(according to ummm Asher?), even if those numbers are down on the previous years game. Still no PS3 top ten sales....in Japan....thats bad!

[Asher]

PS2 software and hardware sales are down ~50% year over year. Get over it.

[El_Cid]

welcome back, hope you enjoyed your break Hey guess what? I just bought:

1. Rogue Galaxy(PS2/100 odd hours sp gameplay)
2. Dragon Quest 8(PS2/100 odd hours sp gameplay)
3. Kingdom Hearts(PS2/40+ odd hours sp gameplay)
4. Xenosaga-Episode II(PS2/100 odd hours sp gameplay)
5. Final fantasy X(PS2/40+odd hours sp gameplay)
6. Valkyrie Profile 2(PS2/60 odd hours sp gameplay)
7. Resident Evil-Cone name veronica X(PS2 ? hours sp gameplay)
8. Stolen(PS2 - booby prize/random choice)

They had some multi-buy deals going

Next up is Ico, We love Katamari and Shadow of the Colosus. lots and lots of gaming(my gf is running through them all first, i'll try them later), and i'm only about 1/16th of the way through my list of good PS2 games to get

[Asher]

Ico is a great game.

I'm glad to see you're catching up to what, 2004? You're getting there.

[Nikolai]

Let's see Asher.

Rogue Galaxy = 2007 in NA
Dragon Quest 8 = 2005 in NA
Kingdom Hearts = old, 2002 in NA
Xenosaga-Episode II = 2005 in NA
Final fantasy X = old, 2001 in NA
Valkyrie Profile 2 = 2006 in NA
Resident Evil-Cone name veronica X = old, 2001 in NA
Stolen = 2005

A good variety, age wise. And of course, age has nothing to do with enjoyment. You still seems to have problems understanding that people have different tastes.