A note on Ben's predictions (Nintendo mostly)

MajorLag · Post by **MajorLag** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 10:53 pm

Disclaimer: I am a Nintendo fanboy. Actually, thats not entirely accurate. I am a Miyamoto fanboy, and seeing as Miyamoto is employed by Nintendo, I guess I like them too. I regard the man as the greatest artistic genious video games have ever (and probably will ever) know. I'm not a homosexual, but if Miyamoto propositioned me I couldn't say no, so great is my love for this man.

That being said, I try to keep the following as objective as I can, but I must admit to some bias.

[quote] Predictions and Ramblings:

Iâ€™ll give Nintendo one thing â€“ at least theyâ€™re not putting a ridiculous â€œmore than 2â€

Post by **Gamelver** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:38 pm

well, the PS3 controller is just plain ugly

...I kind of agree with you, though...Ben, you're a little bit biased against Nintendo. and that's understandable, in a way, because they, er, haven't been making the best decisions lately (like a new GBA, for example). but it kind of sounds like you're being a bit pessimistic on the controller. of course, no one can really know until some games are out (so really, you could be either way and it wouldn't neccesarily be wrong) but remember that although the games using the controller MIGHT suck, they also might be really great. eh, end of my midnight-semi-too-tired-to-construct-good-thoughts-rant-while-also-watching-THHGTTG-TV series

...

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Fri Dec 02, 2005 11:56 pm

You're posting at midnight too?!

MajorLag, I think an enormous amount of what you just said was nothing but a big pile of...very insightful and accurate information. I think the most notable point (and one you seemed to pass over) is that "the average gamer" is NOT 30 years old or whatever. The "average gamer born 30 years ago" is 30 years old. Every new generation since that first one has been more media-centric and gaming oriented. If you are a kid, you own a console, and that console is probably made by Nintendo (if not, your parents may possibly be idiots). I remember one of the head-dudes at Nintendo saying once that he (also) wishes for an adult to be able to pick up a Nintendo game and briefly feel like a kid again. I agree that Nintendo should do fine as long as they avoid major screw-ups.

But, after that wonderful speech, you said one of the most biased and impossibly unsupported things I have ever seen:

A note on the Xbox 360: It seems to me that there is a strong possibility that the 360 or its successor will replace the PC-Gaming market entirely.

This simply won't happen, because the hundreds of thousands of people like me who LIKE shelling out money to build computers won't allow it. Furthermore, so long as we use computers during our workday, we will have reason to load some form of game onto them.

F · Post by F » Sat Dec 03, 2005 1:52 am

Bravo, MajorLag. I was actually planning on doing something similar, but...uhh...I'm kind of lazy.

On a side note, I'm fairly sure that every post of yours that I've ever seen has been about Nintendo.

Unidentified Assilant · Sat Dec 03, 2005 4:52 am

Nice... I never really liked Nintendo in the past, but Revolution has blown my mind, it's cheap enough too, but the end of Analog TV scares me, since it's being cut off by 2008, does that mean game consoles that run from RF won't work, and will I still be able to use a Composite/SCART connector with a PS2 to my 12" Tele (obviously not HDTV)?

Post by **Gamelver** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 7:29 am

of course you can

....if you want to watch tv, however, you'll need an HDTV or a converter...

Post by **SpongeBuell** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 12:46 pm

Unidentified Assilant wrote:the end of Analog TV scares me, since it's being cut off by 2008, does that mean game consoles that run from RF won't work, and will I still be able to use a Composite/SCART connector with a PS2 to my 12" Tele (obviously not HDTV)?

You're in the UK, don't worry about that stuff (this is in the US)

Post by **benheck** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 1:07 pm

I highly doubt the PC gaming market is going away. Sure PC's cost more, but everyone has one anyway so that doesn't really count. The only real cost are adding decent video cards, but even those are usually less than an XBox 360.

See, we're all console people here but I know plenty of folks who SWEAR by PC gaming and don't even touch consoles. It's a whole market. World of Warcraft anyone?

For multiplayer the PC really can't be beat. You can buy a game for 50 bucks and play it online. XBox charges for that (on top of your internet)

Plus games like PDZ can do what, 32 players max? And most console FPS's are less than that. PC mutliplayer FPS's typically do 32-64.

Finally THE MOUSE. No controller can beat the mouse for FPS. I used to play FPS on consoles, now that I've WASD'ed it up for 5 years I can't even play Halo for a minute without pulling my hair out.

Now I'm sure some will say "if you love the mouse so much why do you hate the Revolution controller?" I don't hate it, I just think it's weird, and I also don't think it'll work as well as mouse. A mouse you typically rest the ball of your hand on the table and do most of the moving with your fingers. Whereas the Revolution wand would require you to use your entire wrist.

Remember "Nintendo thumb"? Get ready for "Nintendo Wrist"

Plus I imagine they'll be a lot of float in the controls. A mouse has a "base point" (sitting on the pad) but a free floating wand has none.

You know, back in the day somebody musta thought the Atari 5200 non-centering joystick was a good idea, since it was made, but now it's regarded as a joke. It can happen again. Let's also not forget the Virtual Boy. No company is perfect, they'll always release a lemon eventually. Nintendo is no exception. I smell lemon with that controller, and I am sticking by my opinion.

I like Sony but they've made lemons too: the minidisc, BETA, the PSX, most of their modern "Walkman" devices, those DRM CD's. I like Ford, but THE EDSEL? It's part of progress: crap gets made with good intentions.

S q u e e ! · Post by **S q u e e !** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 1:12 pm

Thank you MajorLag, for shedding light on this situation!

No HDTV output: Hereâ€™s another thing - along with good graphics - that matters a lot more than many people think. Why do you suppose those XBox 360 displays in stores look so good â€“ they're in HDTV, thatâ€™s why! Also remember they just announced that December 31st, 2008 is the end of analog TV (standard def, like the Revolution) broadcasting in America. Thatâ€™s a mere 2 years after the release of the Revolution. Now granted the government isnâ€™t gonna go door-to-door and smash your old TV (youâ€™ll have to get an adapter, Dish Network, cable, or an HDTV set instead) but between now and then the price of HDTV sets will plummet and sales will go through the roof. Once decent HDTV sets go sub-$500 the hi-def market will explode like a nuclear bomb. Much like how DVD was the fastest adopted new format ever, HDTV will eclipse and replace standard NTSC very quickly.

Now, this is something that has bothered me since I read the article. Just because you can't play the games on the new "LCD-w/-super-special-way-better-than-analog-and-certainly-better-than-anything-else -on-the-market-and-totally-l337-w/-high-res-stuff" doesn't mean that the system will fail. On the contrary, it might actually be better for the system, as the people this system is geared towards (i.e. people who just play video games just for the sake of playing them and having fun) really don't care about how awesome their TV displays the graphics, and most people that are sensible wouldn't spend the $1000 (give or take) dollars a high-end HDTV costs. I mean, you play Atari, right? Well, Atari can only output RF without modding the system, and Composite when you do mod it.

Think about it.

Metroid fan · Post by **Metroid fan** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 1:57 pm

You guys are forgeting about something nintendo said that the revolution can hook up to a computer monitor...

MajorLag · Post by **MajorLag** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 2:30 pm

Finally THE MOUSE. No controller can beat the mouse for FPS. I used to play FPS on consoles, now that I've WASD'ed it up for 5 years I can't even play Halo for a minute without pulling my hair out.

I don't have much time right now, but I will make a better case for my reasoning with the XBox 360 later. I just wanted to point out to Ben that one of the reasons I said what I did was because you CAN use a mouse and keyboard with the 360. As I unerstand it, ANY USB mouse and keyboard will work.

teraflop122 · Post by **teraflop122** » Sat Dec 03, 2005 3:29 pm

You know, using normal TV signal on the Revolution may also ease the load on the systems video card. The Revolution is by no means a powerful console compaired to the newest Xbox and PS3, but it should fair rather well with only 640x480 or less.

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 12:53 am

good read and i totally agree with you, i feel that nintendo is gonna be around for the long run

cennar · Post by **cennar** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:20 am

i think people are giving sony more credit than they deserve, they to my experiance have been pritty bad, most people think the ps3 is going to do the same, they will only by marketing not fan base. I think that it sould be dead even with nintendo. but yeah there is a vary strong risk that they will be to asian focused and lose out on western media.

MajorLag · Post by **MajorLag** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:56 pm

Alright. I'm going to make a retraction about the XBox 360 replacing PC gaming. My previous statement was based on the idea that a keyboard and mouse could be plugged in and configured to work with any game. It seems that this is not correct. That combined with the $70 price tag on an xbox live subscription invalidates my earlier statement.