Console Talk

[bradavon]

I'll probably end up with game consoles capable of playing both formats anyway (I'll have to buy an Xbox 360 about a year from now and a PS3 somewhere down the road).

Why buy both consoles???

The Xbox 360 is indeed interesting as it can offer HD-DVD and a Media Centre, not that that interests me enough. When I do go HD it will be a proper Player (it will be no more than £500, about the price of the current HD-DVD Player but either there'll be one format or a dual player).

I can then start upgrading my DVDs. I'll continue to buy DVDs until then as it will be 5 years+ before most DVDs are on the HD format. Can you see Seven Samurai on HD-DVD any time soon.

To be fair you had to be told by Michael Mackenzie bout Blu-ray not doing IME.
http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?c ... mentpage=2

Touché. Yeah I did my homework

[EvaUnit02]

Why buy both consoles???

You've clearly never been a hardcore console gamer then. For the exclusive game titles & franchises (I own all three current-gen consoles); TBH I don't want a PS3, but three of my favourite franchises - Metal Gear Solid, Silent Hill and Devil May Cry are exclusive to the platform. But there's also the types of genres and styles of games too. You're more likely to find a much wider selection of Japanese-style games (eg linear anime-influenced RPGs) on a Playstation console than you are on an Xbox.

Actually make that all three consoles - will need a Nintendo Wii for the Zelda and Metroid Prime franchises.

I'll continue to buy DVDs until then as it will be 5 years+ before most DVDs are on the HD format. Can you see Seven Samurai on HD-DVD any time soon.

Ditto for me (and probably most people). But even then it probably only be favourite titles and not every single disc in my library - which will probably be much much bigger then it is now. I've bought 100+ DVDs thus far this year alone, I'd hate to imagine how big it'll be in 5+ years.

[bradavon]

How many DVDs do you have? When I go HD I'll buy titles I don't have on DVD definitely but agreed upgrading is another thing entirely.

Hopefully HD Discs will be bargain prices by then too. They average about $24 now which is decent compared to the $36 that DVDs cost at launch but still to much for big purchases.

You've clearly never been a hardcore console gamer then.

Nope the only consoles I ever owned were the original Gameboy and also the Sega Gamegear both portable so don't really count. A mate owned the Nintendo SNES which I thought was really cool but I never ended up picking one up myself.

I always played PC games when I did play games. I get bored after 10-15 minutes nowadays.

That's extreme I don't know anyone else who has bought all 3 current consoles. My brother had the Playstation and now has the PS2 but in reality nowadays it's mostly used as a DVD player (he plays the odd game but I think he's grown out of it).

I usually found pretty much every game I wanted was released on the PC (including at the time many exclusive ones) and of course it was much cheaper to play games on the PC (after you had bought the hardware of course).

[Kurgan]

I've got the PS2 and the GameCube, and my brother got the Xbox. I only really allowed him to get it (:D) because of Steel Battalion, a game where you control a giant mech, with a giant controller. Original price was £149 or so; he got it for £40. Kerching!
Gameswise though, there're are very few that he has for that platform; the majority of games are for the first two machines.

But, the reality is that some games have exclusivity on different platforms. You're not likely to see Mario games or Zelda games on anything other than a Nintendo machine; Sony has the edge with certain franchises (the ones pointed out by Eva are ones that are the same as my choices, to be honest), but more than that, the PlayStation straddles a gap between the XBox and the GameCube (and I'm sure it will carry forward to the next gen) which is populist as well as cult. There are more cultish games out for Nintendo's consoles (off-beat puzzle games etc.) but Sony are no slackers in this department.
The main XBox games I want, are ones that are available on all platforms; it has very few first-party titles that are must haves.

I'm definitely getting a Wii, and a PS3 at some point. I have yet to be sold on the XBox 360. There are a couple of games that look interesting enough, but 'interesting enough' doesn't cut it. I have to know that there are games coming out that I cannot live without

Sorry to hijack the thread away from Supes

[slasher13]

I have yet to be sold on the XBox 360. There are a couple of games that look interesting enough, but 'interesting enough' doesn't cut it.

Then you really haven't seen the lastest Tenchu offering which is coming to xbox360. Tenchu in my opinion vastly superior to Metal Gear Solid, and I can't wait to play this.

Again much apology on taking this even more off topic

BTW I be getting a PS3 (backwards comp with PS2/PS1 game via software emulation), WII (Love to see Resident Evil: Umbrella) and Xbox360 (Tenchu )..

Now lets get a petition for Yu Suzuki to complete his Shenmue Saga

[Kurgan]

Shenmue doesn't need finishing; not with Yakuza on the PS2. That game just kicks ass (as does your charactor, Kazuma. A harder gangster I have never seen; just watch him headbutt someone ) I think it's made by the same team; it's certainly made by Sega, and is very much in the same vein.
Shenmue put me off with the ending that seemed to take 4 years to finish and had absolutely nothing of value at the end of it.
Good general game mechanic though...

Tenchu lost its appeal a while ago for me (whilst still on the PS2) due to a very MGS approach to gameplay, without any of the variety or story that the Solid Snake games offer.
Graphics are now no longer what sells me on a game; they're all going to look 'good' - it's just variations on that. Gameplay though, on a good looking game can still be shite.
Plus, the fact that the XBox has the Dead Or Alive beach games on them says it all: it's a machine for wankers

[romerojpg]

Dead Or Alive looks so nice with the bouncy boobs! so much that the films much the same.

[bradavon]

I saw the trailer for the latest Dead Or Alive game and yeah sure at first it's cool but after about 2 seconds you realise they're CGI. Sorry I can't get turned on by CGI.

Did you guys see that documentary recently on Channel 4 or 5, where middle aged men had sex with and seemed to really care about their "Real Dolls":

http://www.realdoll.com/

I kept thinking "THEY'RE NOT REAL". This is pretty much the same, no? Or does it have awesome game play (no not with your hands )?

[bradavon]

Are the three consoles pretty much the same hardware wise or will one stand above the rest with better graphics and higher frame rates?

[grim_tales]

Those dolls look wierd

[Kurgan]

I saw the trailer for the latest Dead Or Alive game and yeah sure at first it's cool but after about 2 seconds you realise they're CGI. Sorry I can't get turned on by CGI.

...

I kept thinking "THEY'RE NOT REAL". This is pretty much the same, no? Or does it have awesome game play (no not with your hands )?

The consoles specifications are all different, with the PS3 being the most 'powerful', followed by the the 360 and the Wii being the weakest. But specification, as I've said before, has nothing to do with the quality of the games.
Which brings me to Dead Or Alive. Button-bashing immature crud. Doesn't have the timing of Virtua Fighter, the quality of the Tekken control system, or the hardcore nature of the StreetFighter series.
All it has are giant boobs with a life of their own attached to a pretty simple game mechanic.

[EvaUnit02]

Shenmue doesn't need finishing;

Shut up, Shenmue is a fucking brilliant game and the saga needs finishing.

View this clip.

Tenchu in my opinion vastly superior to Metal Gear Solid, and I can't wait to play this.

I'm surprised that Tenchu still has a fanbase after the awful Wrath of Heaven/Return from Darkness and Kurenai/Fatal Shadows.

[slasher13]

Shut up, Shenmue is a fucking brilliant game and the saga needs finishing.

Ditto my thoughts exactly

I'm surprised that Tenchu still has a fanbase after the awful Wrath of Heaven/Return from Darkness and Kurenai/Fatal Shadows.

LOL yup we are still around lurking in the shadows, Tenchu: Senran looks amazing and it the only reason I would get an xbox360

[EvaUnit02]

Which brings me to Dead Or Alive. Button-bashing immature crud.

Didn't you play DOA4? Itagaki totally overhauled the game and it's actually challenging now.

Not that I really about fighting games anyway, the last one I bought was Soul Calibur 2 for GC and even then I didn't really want to buy it, but had to in the end (the order had been placed and I couldn't cancel it).

[romerojpg]

Dead or Alive is a amazing game, button bashing? you are insane if you think that boobs are nothing, its a great game and an expert could kick arse like I did, the 1st game was shit, part 2-3-4 are very good. It sure beat TEkKEN 679, I loved Street Fighter, Tekken games, but the vast quantity of crap sequels got on my nerves, Virtua Figher games are the wors mind you, awful games only good for pros who lay 18 hours a day.

[Kurgan]

Nope, not played the fourth game; can't bring myself to do so after the third one.
And I couldn't give a shit as to what Itagaki's done. He's made the DOA volleyball games and in my book, that makes him a wanker catering for other wankers. What also makes him a wanker is his wearing of sunglasses all the time and not being called Jack Nicholson to compensate.

Soul Calibur 2 isn't bad at all. Again, a control system that makes sense and an even game balance always helps to make a good game.
Plus, making Link a playable character was inspired

My comment about Shenmue not needing to be finished was meant to be facetious (funny clip, by the way ), but the one about the ending of the game wasn't. It just went on and on, with no payoff; a lot like F.E.A.R's ending. The third will have to do a lot to wipe away those thoughts of tedium from my brain.
They've had enough time to finish the saga, but instead had an hour long sequence of fuck-all

[Kurgan]

Dead or Alive is a amazing game, button bashing? you are insane if you think that boobs are nothing, its a great game and an expert could kick arse like I did, the 1st game was shit, part 2-3-4 are very good. It sure beat TEkKEN 679, I loved Street Fighter, Tekken games, but the vast quantity of crap sequels got on my nerves, Virtua Figher games are the wors mind you, awful games only good for pros who lay 18 hours a day.

Dude, DOA suffers from the worst case of button-bashing of any game I've ever played. I didn't really play the first game on PSOne, owned the second on PS2 and thoroughly played it, which is when I became aware of the button-bashing aspect. I spent a reasonable amount of time learning the various moves, only to find that I could quite easily win matches by just hammering one button to do that four-jab combo of Kasumi's and occasionally blocking. By the third game, when the devs decided to allocate a serious amount of programming man-hours to breast physics, instead of further tweaking the game, I'd had enough
Virtua Fighter is the hardest fighter I've played and you're right, it takes a long time to master it all; time I just don't have now. But at least the characters seem distinct.

[grim_tales]

I liked Soul Calibur 2 a lot, I have it for the 'Cube

[bradavon]

Those dolls look wierd

And CGI boobies don't?

p.s - Agreed Romero Street Fighter was awesome but the umpteen Street Fighter 2 sequels got on my nerves. Did they ever release Street Fighter 3?

[grim_tales]

I didn't say that Brad - CG boobies look wierd also - but I do't know why you'd pay $8000 or whatever to get one of those dolls. It'd be like you're having sex with a dead person

[Yi-Long]

DOA certainly isnt a button-masher, that's for sure. It IS easily accesible, and you CAN win a match by button-mashing... but when you really get into it and learn the moves, a buttonmasher should lose to an experienced player.

It's just a very very good game, which is excellent for 2 players.

Soul Caliber was brilliant on Dreamcast. I'd love to play a new good version in the future.

Virtua Fighter seems like the kinda game I'd enjoy. Very serious. I've player VF2 in the EuroDisney Arcade 10-15 years orso ago, and I quite liked it.

Anyway... about the new console-war:

I will PROBABLY go for a 360, once it goes down in price.
HOWEVER, Playstation 3 is starting to look good as well, ESPECIALLY with Ninja Gaiden Sigma now said to come out for it, which looks amazing.

I won't buy a Wii though. First of all, just looking at their past 2 consoles, N64 and Cube, they just dont release enough quality games for their system. 2nd of all, many fo their good, classic games dont seem to go down in price, Metroid 1 is very hard to find and Resident Evil 4 is still 50+ euro in most stores, even though it's been out for years (PS2 version is already cheap)

2nd of all, I dont really feel like I want to be standing in my livingroom swinging my controller around like a lunatic. I just want to sit on a couch or on my bed and play games with my controller. And I think Xbox360 and maybe PS3 will do a better job at providing those games.

3rd of all, I dont really care all that much about the Mario license. Metroid seems like a game I would enjoy, and Zelda looks very very promising, but I wont buy a new system for just those two.

In the end, I think 360 and PS3 will clash in a price-war. PS3 will launch at 600 euros in europe, and I think they wont sell much, so I think we should see that price drop down very very quickly. It has to, otherwise it will just flop bigtime.
At that time, 360's should be dropping in price as well, as they've been full-price for almost over a year now, and they should be starting to get cheaper anyway...
I think if I wait untill fall 2007, I could have both consoles (together) for about 500 euro...
Plus, by then, many of the great games should be budget-priced.

[IronMonkey]

I will PROBABLY go for a 360, once it goes down in price.
HOWEVER, Playstation 3 is starting to look good as well, ESPECIALLY with Ninja Gaiden Sigma now said to come out for it, which looks amazing.

I wouldn't worry too much about Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I have heard they are just releasing that on the PS3 to get PlayStation fans into the game, then they're releasing the REAL Ninja Gaiden 2 on XBox 360.

Or so I've heard anyway.

Apparantly Ninja Gaiden Sigma is just an updated version of Ninja Gaiden Black with better textures and a couple of extra features such as the ability to use 2 Dragon Swords and to play as Rachel. Other than that I don't think there's much new in it. Take a look at the preview videos over at GameSpot...

Since I've watched those I'm now not so bothered about Ninja Gaiden Sigma. When I first heard it was PS3 exclusive I was NOT a happy bunny because there's no way I'm buying a PS3 BUT Ninja Gaiden Black is my favourite game. I've read a bit more about it and it seems a true Ninja Gaiden 2 is still in development for XBox 360 so when the black 360 comes out with the 65nm core (runs cooler so less problems) I'll be buying one...

[Yi-Long]

I will PROBABLY go for a 360, once it goes down in price.
HOWEVER, Playstation 3 is starting to look good as well, ESPECIALLY with Ninja Gaiden Sigma now said to come out for it, which looks amazing.

I wouldn't worry too much about Ninja Gaiden Sigma. I have heard they are just releasing that on the PS3 to get PlayStation fans into the game, then they're releasing the REAL Ninja Gaiden 2 on XBox 360.

Or so I've heard anyway.

Apparantly Ninja Gaiden Sigma is just an updated version of Ninja Gaiden Black with better textures and a couple of extra features such as the ability to use 2 Dragon Swords and to play as Rachel. Other than that I don't think there's much new in it. Take a look at the preview videos over at GameSpot...

Since I've watched those I'm now not so bothered about Ninja Gaiden Sigma. When I first heard it was PS3 exclusive I was NOT a happy bunny because there's no way I'm buying a PS3 BUT Ninja Gaiden Black is my favourite game. I've read a bit more about it and it seems a true Ninja Gaiden 2 is still in development for XBox 360 so when the black 360 comes out with the 65nm core (runs cooler so less problems) I'll be buying one...

Yeah I know all that, that it's an updated Ninja Gaiden with better graphics etc... and I did watch the videos at gametrailers...

...but it just looks so absolutely awesome! It's one of my favourite games as well so I'd love to be able to play it again with better graphics and stuff.

I also know that NG2 is still an exclusive for the 360, and if that's as good as pt 1 is, then I'll definately buy it... but still, man. Sigma looks fucking sweet as hell in those vids. That first level right before you enter the japanese house, looks absolutely awesome in those vids, with falling leafs and stuff. That scene with the motorcycles looks great as well...

I've also seen the trailer for Metal Gear Solid, which looks awesome, and the trailer for Afrika is also very impressive, presentation-wise (no idea what the game is about though)

So slowly it seems PS3 is starting to look more and more interesting.

But like I said, I think it's mostly going to be a price-issue, as well as really looking at what games will be released for which platform.
I'm not all that fond of games like Halo and stuff, so some of the PS3 exclusives look interesting ... but the 360 has Ninja Gaiden 2 and some other interesting games.

Anyway, I will just wait it out. No use throwing money at a machine that's still prices 400 euros...
It's going to be hard at the end of the month though, with PES6 being released.