US October 2008 Hardware/Software Sales, NPD

[Caliane]

Originally Posted by wild_whiskey

You can argue all you want about how Nintendo is kicking MS's ass who's kicking Sony's ass, but one thing is for certain that the quality of releases isn't letting up. This fall we got Fallout 3, Gears 2, Resistance 2, Fable 2, Little Big Planet, Valkyria Chronicles, etc. etc. and of course in December, Persona 4 (<3<3<3)

Next year starts off with Halo Wars, Resident Evil 5 and Killzone 2. At some point is Alan Wake and Heavy Rain, inFamous is coming and looks promising as well. Bayonetta should be good as well.



MGS4 and it's ilk are not dying. MGS4 has far outperformed the older MGSs. I'm not going to speak about Gears 2, Halo 3, etc. because those results are obvious. The year-over-year increase in hardcore games should point to an overall expansion of the market, not just in casual games (though that is where the biggest expansion is).



PS3 has a wealth of AAA titles already announced to be released in 2009. You're either completely ignorant of the circumstances, or you just don't like good games.

For gamers, yes there's certainly WAY more good games on xbox and ps3. (ignoring PC). DS lineup is pretty strong. wii lineup is garbage.
Ps3 doesnt have many exclusives however. Its a bad business move today, to make a game thats exclusive. Truth is, if you game doesn't suck, neither company can really subsidize you to not release on all systems. They try, but take a look at profits on systems. Xbox install base is nearly double ps3 now.
Wii U.S. Installed Base Now Leads Xbox 360 by Almost 2 Million - Video Game News, Video Game Coverage, Video Game Updates, PC Game News, PC Game Coverage - GameDaily

Who in their right mind would sell a game that can only run on 5.7million units, when you could sell one that can run on 17million units of xbox/ps3 combined? How much would sony have to pay you to only release on theirs?

Of course msg4 outsold all previous titles. Theres more gamers now, and games only come out like 3 a year nowadays. And thats the problem.
Development times and costs are out of hand. When you can count the number of notable games that come out on one hand, of course those games will all sell well individually. There is a backlash, and its growing. A very large number of gamers are tired of waiting 5 years for a game, spending $60, and playing it for 20hours and being done with it.
we all play those games. but then go find something else to play in between while waiting.
And THAT game, is where the money is at to be made.

(Which is appearenty world of warcraft...) and desktop games, dlc games for consoles.

[Lenardo]

while the wii line up is not filled with AAA titles- as of yet- the quality and number of good games is increasing.

right now for christmas there are several (potentially)quality games to buy for the wii that have recently come out or will come out prior to christmas

most of which my family will own:
this is my list of games i am looking at that i have either gotten in the past 2 months or getting/might get for xmas

tales of symphonia -might get
monster lab - own it
shaun white snowboarding:road trip- own it
skate it- xmas gift
clone wars - xmas gift
mushroom men - xmas gift
deadly creatures - xmas gift - maybe *depends on if it gets good word of mouth)
Raymans raving rabbids:tv party- xmas gift
wario land shake it- xmas gift
castlevania judgement (maybe-not sure on this one waiting on more reports)
call of duty world at war- might get for me
sonic unleashed *maybe- heard the daytime stuff is awesome, nighttime sucks-per ign*
animal crossing- not getting
de blob- own it

while there are no gears 2 or resistance 2 etc, there is a decent line up of games for the holiday.

next year should be even better.

[Del]

*facepalm*

[Ronne]

That right there is why Iwata sleeps on a gigantic pile of money with many beautiful women...who are also made of money.

Seriously, you bought/are buying that huge list of mediocre, and that's being fucking generous, games?

[Hathe]

Originally Posted by Ronne

That right there is why Iwata sleeps on a gigantic pile of money with many beautiful women...who are also made of money.

Seriously, you bought/are buying that huge list of mediocre, and that's being fucking generous, games?

Don't disrespect or joke about the Wii, you'll get a load of negative internets! I'm living proof.

But with all due respect, I fucking love wii golf.

[Ronne]

Originally Posted by Hathe

Don't disrespect or joke about the Wii, you'll get a load of negative internets! I'm living proof.

But with all due respect, I fucking love wii golf.

I'm kind of pissed at the Wii in general; here we have this relatively new and innovative control scheme with the possibility of doing some really cool things, and all we get are a flood of turds that are about as much video game as a pair of maracas.

Someone give this guy a pile of money and some art/lore goombas to back him up and we'll have the first AAA Wii title that actually benefits from the Wiimote in a meaningful way:

[wild_whiskey]

Ps3 doesnt have many exclusives however. Its a bad business move today, to make a game thats exclusive. Truth is, if you game doesn't suck, neither company can really subsidize you to not release on all systems. They try, but take a look at profits on systems. Xbox install base is nearly double ps3 now.

PS3 has plenty of exclusives - they're largely being published by Sony. I've bought six of them this year. I don't get your argument. The most basic level of factual support is missing, so how can you even discuss this? You're just wrong.

Who in their right mind would sell a game that can only run on 5.7million units, when you could sell one that can run on 17million units of xbox/ps3 combined? How much would sony have to pay you to only release on theirs?

Sony would, and in the Xbox's case, Microsoft. And your numbers are misleading. It's about 15m PS3 vs. 20m X360 worldwide. Obviously there's a huge benefit to creating games on both platforms, which is why almost all 3rd party published games are cross-platform. What's your point? There are still lots of excellent exclusives on both systems that drive up the value of the respective hardware.

Of course msg4 outsold all previous titles. Theres more gamers now,

Yes. That was my point. The video game market is expanding in the hardcore base as well. You seemd to claim earlier that it was not.

and games only come out like 3 a year nowadays. And thats the problem.

What? Wait... what?

Development times and costs are out of hand. When you can count the number of notable games that come out on one hand, of course those games will all sell well individually.

You can't count them on one hand. Not unless your hand has way more fingers than it should.

There is a backlash, and its growing. A very large number of gamers are tired of waiting 5 years for a game, spending $60, and playing it for 20hours and being done with it.

Software sale numbers say otherwise. They've been going up steadily, year over year, and show no signs of retreating. Also, standard development cycle for current generation games is average 1.5-2 years. 3 years on the huge ones. Which games are you waiting 5 years for? Insomniac games, for example, is putting out a triple-A title every fall.

Lenardo, I've got a Wii, and unlike many of the detractors on this board, I play it and love it. But that list of games fucking sucks, man. All of those are C-quality games, with a couple C+ on there. 2008 was not a good year for the Wii. Next year is looking awesome, though.

[The Ancient]

Mushroom men looks good as does Warioland: Shake it.

[Lenardo]

wild, how many of those games have you PLAYED though?

of the one's i Own currently.

they are all quality "B" games -in my opinion- they are not huge budget massive hype games, but the gameplay is well done, and to me how a game plays is much more important than how it looks.(though looking good is nice too)

monster lab- better graphics than most 3rd party wii games, an extremely deep character generator with thousands of combinations of parts, decent-if campy- presentation (the game is Aimed for the 7-13yr old), solid turn based combat that while repetitive has strategic depth as the games advances, it is a bit easy though- my 7yr old has over 20hrs in so far and loves it. so does my neighbors 11yr old and my other neighbors are getting it for their kids after they came over to see it played/played it themselves)

Shaun White- graphics are not as good as i'd like-but the gameplay is extremely well done, nice sense of speed, the balance board controls are intuitive and fun. in 2 days we've put in about 7hrs in playing, it is just FUN to play.(music selection is damn good too, my WIFE likes the game). the Wii version(78)- currently- is the highest rated of the 3 consoles (ps3/360 are @64)

De Blob- best 3rd party platformer(and one of if not the best platformer) put out for the wii this year, nice graphics (better than most ) intuitive control scheme, fairly hard to 100% a world. alot of fun to play- awesome music. i have about 10hrs or so playing it, same with my son (it is out on loan atm or it would be higher...)


clone wars- son wants, it's getting mixed reviews, but from talking to some people i know that have the game- their kids love it and they like it too.

mushroom men -to me looks really nice- only a review or two out there(c's) but the game does not come out for another 3 weeks so no clue yet, from what i have sampled from movies, the music is good, i like the graphical style and its a platformer..

skate it- from IGN's reports, controls are almost as good as shaun white snowboarding, but more indepth gameplay...waiting on reviews but my son want it for the wipeouts... so does my 4yr old son, thinks the wipeouts are hilarious. if it plays as good as shaun white does, solid B game

call of duty:world at war- is scoring within points of the other releases,...wii -81 ps3-85 360-84 pc-88 Solid B game

while i usually do not heavily weigh reviews in my purchasing habit, if a game scores Better review wise than the other consoles, that should imply better game.

the key to EVERYTHING though is for each individual to decide for themselves,
and to me, every game i have gotten Recently has been a good fun enjoyable game.

my 7yr old son though has no taste, he bought -with his own money- ninjabread man...(my wife was with him not me or i would have dissuaded him) however, he shows his preferences by his play habits and he has not played it more than like 3hrs total...

[Samflam]

Originally Posted by NinjaBurger

PCs will always be the better system for the grand majority of games, it's just the problem that the cost associated with playing games with the highest graphics is daunting to the average video game player.

For Joe Schmo on the sidewalk, do you think he'll go through the hassle of paying $1000 for a PC that can run the latest games (under/overestimate, I spent about $600 on parts to build my own middle-line PC recently), or spend $300 on a 360 and get practically the same quality of games without the hassle of dealing with the fine tuning for a gaming PC to run well?

I'd rather sit on a couch and play games any day of the week over sitting at my computer. When you throw in 1080p, surround sound and a comfortable controller then there's really no contest. You have to look at the whole experience.

[Sharmai]

Originally Posted by Samflam

I'd rather sit on a couch and play games any day of the week over sitting at my computer. When you throw in 1080p, surround sound and a comfortable controller then there's really no contest. You have to look at the whole experience.

Wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, tv out graphics card to HDTV. cost 400$
Surround sound system 250-3000$

Playing your computer games on your HDTV in 1080P? PRICELESS

[wild_whiskey]

Originally Posted by Samflam

I'd rather sit on a couch and play games any day of the week over sitting at my computer. When you throw in 1080p, surround sound and a comfortable controller then there's really no contest. You have to look at the whole experience.

True. There are many things that hinder the PC from being the primary modern gaming platform.

There's also the ever-persistent fact that gaming can be a cooperative experience, even if its a single player game. There are very few single player campaigns I'm willing to play through on my own, but if my friends are around I'm much more likely to play through the whole thing. It's one thing to have a group of friends sitting on the bed or the couch to watch you play through and trade off on levels or deaths - it's another to all be huddled around a computer desk.

I went through BioShock, Ninja Gaiden, Metroid Prime 3, Ratchet & Clank, Lost Odyssey, Zack & Wiki, Mario Galaxy, (the list goes on) and on each and every one, I couldn't stick it out unless I had friends there to comment on things, trade the controller with, eat pizza with in between frustrating parts, cock slap each other, etc. The only single player game I'd rather play through myself is the MGS series because the characters are so loquacious I actually feel bad for anyone there with me trying to digest the verbose script.

Lenardo - De Blob is great. I guess if you only have a Wii and you just refuse to pick up anything else, then you'll get some kicks out of those games, no doubt. But even by your own admission, you're spending (or your wife is) hundreds of dollars on B-quality games. If you think Mushroom Men looks B-quality, then you'll shit your pants playing Banjo Kazooie: N&B, or LittleBigPlanet. Drop six of those games and you've got a 360. Drop 8 of them and you've got a PS3.

/long post

Wireless keyboard, wireless mouse, tv out graphics card to HDTV. cost 400$

PS3 w/ game, dual shock 3. $400

X360 w/ game, controller, headset, wireless adapter. $400

[Vandyn]

Originally Posted by wild_whiskey

PS3 w/ game, dual shock 3. $400

X360 w/ game, controller, headset, wireless adapter. $400

His point is that you get people constantly saying they rather play games on their couch on a 1080p tv as if that isn't possible with PC, which is not true. Now, the flip side to that argument is most people don't just use the PC for gaming, but for work/internet browsing/etc so hooking it up in the middle of the living room and typing up a Word document on your 1080p TV isn't practical.

[Zerai]

No, I'm sorry, you don't play computer games from your couch on a 1080p TV.

It just sucks.

Why? Mouse and Keyboard. Using it on your lap is uncomfortable and/or really limited mouse.

[meStevo]

PS3 w/ game, dual shock 3. $400

X360 w/ game, controller, headset, wireless adapter. $400

The current 80gb PS3 doesn't come with a game at $400, the 360 currently comes with two at $300. Your average person is also going to spend $20+ on some branded HDMI cable for either system (especially PS3, 360 comes with component). The Uncharted bundle (aka, the bundle with a game that came out over a year ago) is $500 and will be out in a week.

The wireless argument I hate, yes it's an overpriced piece of equipment that MS is fleecing people for, but it's not necessary for many/most people. If you argue that people could go to monoprice for their HDMI cable, then you can argue that people can also setup a wireless bridge for less than half the cost of the wireless adapter.

In the end, it's a BS fanboy argument with gaping holes in each side of it. People should get whichever console most of their friends have, or the console that has the exclusives they want. With Sony downplaying exclusivity, you can expect a lot less of it in the future outside of first party titles.

Personally, I bought into the PS3 as the Motorstorm bundle was being discontinued for fear of not being able to get a backwards compatible unit. I never had a PS2, I was an EQ junkie for that generation. Now I have a PS3 with a couple games I've barely played and just 1 out of a circle of friends who also owns one. It doesn't bring enough to the table to warrant a purchase to compliment their Xbox 360s. I have hope that at some point in the future, probably a couple of price drops away, that a couple more will pick one up and we can go back and experience stuff like Resistance 2 the same way we've done with GRAW and a number of other games. Stuff like making their video game console play fewer games just to make people buy more PS3 titles (not for cost cutting, per their execs) have pushed that date out and I am pretty sure a few will never own one as a result. I don't mean any of this as a reason or argument for/against a PS3, just painting the picture as to why I often come off negative towards the console. As an owner it's been an extremely disappointing experience outside of playing a few of my generally overpriced Blu-Ray movies/concerts (Rush: Snakes and Arrows Live is out next week, most anticipated thing I'll have bought for the ps3 aside from Iron Man on Blu-Ray).

TLDR: Sony has given my friends too many reasons not to buy their console, so I don't enjoy mine outside of playing movies.