I was at Fry's the other day and I saw stacks of PS3 boxes (estimated about 25-30 total) but not one 360 or Wii. I was shocked at how many PS3's there actually were available. As popular as the Playstation brand is, I would have imagined they would be flying off the store shelves.
I have the Wii, love it. That said, I received Madden and NBA live for XMAS and they both suck. Maybe I just need to get more used to the new way of doing things, but I'd FAR rather play them with a standard controller. Neither are especially sharp as far as responding to your movements which makes matters worse. I'm sorry, but I just don't want to mess with a Madden that necessitates my throwing both hands up in the air like a dork to catch a pass. It is a gimmick, it is forced and awkward, and it's annoying. I have the Wii, love it. I think it's important to think of the Wii as diverging away from what systems have been up to this point, Nintendo included. It's revolutionary and phenomenal, but not for all game types. For Golf and Baseball, it's genius - the gameplay is enhanced 10 times more than 360 and PS3 could do via graphics and frame rate. For shooters, it's okay if you buy the gun attachment and the developers designed the controls well (Metroid sorta fell short, IMO). Nintendo-developed stuff like Mario is good times, because they know how to get the most out of the Wiimote. Games ported from the traditional systems........MAJOR dice roll. Lego Star Wars works great. Others just try to make you use the remote + nunchak like a regular controller and it's pointless. Then you have Madden and NBA Live wedging in Wiimote controls just because they feel they have too, and it's clumsy, awkward, and difficult. You have to pick and choose. You wouldn't want to try and play PC stuff like Warcraft on PS, and you don't want to play just anything on Wii. I'm hopeful that down the line, EA and the rest will get it right in all their games. For now, it's spotty. Evan
I've avoided all this stuff because it would ruin my life, but lately I'm trying to convince myself to buy a console. So newer PS3s are not backwards compatible? Is that how it's going to be from now on? I would prefer to get a PS3 and be able to play PS2 games.
The power of the PS brand hasn't really done anything for the PS3. Well...I guess it is probably why it is doing so well in Europe, although that might be partly due to screw-ups on Microsoft's part as well. Unless people are just holding on to their PS2s due to the PS brand and waiting to buy a PS3 later, it hasn't really had much of an impact. Agreed. I think some things could work out great on the Wii (particularly "casual" games), but some types of games just wouldn't really work as well on the system IMO. I guess you could sort of relate it to the handhelds (some games work out great on handhelds, others don't). I think of the Wii as separate from the 360/PS3 (different types of consoles going after different types of markets with different business plans), which makes that easier for me to see. Not sure how everyone else sees things. As zeyn asked, are there any baseball games you'd recommend? I didn't really consider the baseball game in Wii Sports all that great, although mostly because it was too casual/arcadey for my tastes. I'd much prefer the gameplay of MLB The Show over it (beyond just the graphics and framerate). I think there is some other baseball game, MLB Power Pros or something like that, which is more of a sim. I haven't had a chance to check it out yet, but I suppose that if it offers a lot of the great features found in The Show (RTTS mode please!) and combined it with the Wii's control, it would probably be the best gameplay for a baseball game. Minor sidenote, but assuming Blizzard used M&KB controls, I'd probably be OK with that. Maybe throw in mod support for good measure. There will probably be a new SKU that replaces the 80GB SKU, although I don't know with it will support PS2 games. If I had to guess, I'd probably assume it wouldn't, although there really aren't many details to go on. It isn't official or anything, but I don't see why Sony wouldn't be working on enabling PS2 compatibility for all PS3s that didn't originally support this feature. They were planning to use this method in the beginning, so they had to have made some progress in the area. Unless they drop all PS2 hardware in new PS3s (which is possible), this would save them money, another motivating factor. I'd imagine the idea of selling PS2 games (through digital distribution) would motivate them as well, if not for the PS3 then for the PS4 (or PSP2! ). It might not be priority #1, but I would think this is something Sony is certainly dedicating some resources to. Of course, it is easy for me to be confident in this when I own a nice 60GB PS3 that is nearly 100% BC with PS2 games.
I think the new PS3s do have BC but ts done via sftware so its not 100% wherreas the original PS3s basically had an actual PS2 inside it for full BC
80GB PS3 (about to be discontinued probably): No PS2 CPU, but it still has the PS2 GPU and some other parts I think. The PS3 emulates the PS2's CPU (so a hybrid software/hardware solution). BC is around 85% IIRC, maybe a little higher. 40GB PS3: No PS2 hardware at all. No PS2 playback at all. Eventually, I think the 40GB PS3 (and any future SKUs that are made similarly) will use 100% software emulation, although compatibility could be somewhat limited, at least at first. For reference, the 20GB and 60GB PS3s contained the PS2 CPU (along with the other stuff), making it a full hardware solution. The PS3 didn't really need to do any software emulation in that case. edit: BTW, if it wasn't obvious, the PS2's GPU is probably the problem. It is pretty weird and unlike most modern GPUs, making it somewhat difficult to emulate AFAIK.
it's also false, just as calling Blu Ray and Online play a 'gimmick' is false. Though JayZ750 explained it better than I.
Really, why? Why are people buying the Wii? Because of graphics? Media capabilities? Online play? Depth and variety of games?
Bingo. And why are they fun? Because of that controller. Outside of the Nintendo brand and first party games, it's the only thing that sets it apart from the other systems. (Unless weirdly deformed Japanese looking Miis are your thing)
they are not fun because of the controller. they are fun because they are good games. Ahh...but it is exactly those first party games that makes people want to but nintendo
I went ahead and got the 80gb for the simple reason that I have never owned a PS2, and I wanted to at least have the ability to play some PS2 titles without having to buy the console. And I am so weak. On my entertainment center: 360 (with HD DVD unit) WII - 4 controllers + 4 Nunchucks PS3 Upstairs: XBox Gamecube Dreamcast Don't know why I never got a PS2 though.. I just realized my wife loves me a whole lot...
The better rated games on Wii are just really fun to play. The price that it sells at also makes it very attractive. It's a great thing to have at parties as well. Pretty much anyone can pick up a remote and start playing Wii Sports, Mario Party etc, and have a good time. They have simple and casual games that appeal to everyone. Try giving a Xbox controller to some girls or much older people and start playing Halo 3. I'm pretty sure you aren't going to have fun playing with someone who has no clue as to what's going on, and they probably aren't going to be into it as well.
If we're throwing out first party stuff (cause if you like Nintendo stuff you'll buy it anyway) and you're throwing out the controller...what point is there to even having these "fun" games on the Wii? If they're not taking advantage of it's defining characteristic, why would the game be any better on the Wii than another system? If that controller isn't making the game fun, then I'd suggest going 360 or PS3...at least you'll get better graphics and online gameplay...
This is why operating systems come with games like Solitaire - it's easy and it's familiar. But it's not a very immersive experience, it doesn't tell a story, and it really doesn't make you breathlessly anticipate the next opportunity you get to play it. Same with the ultimate all-time 'casual' game, Tetris. No character, no stories, but still highly addictive. Then you pick up a game like Dead Rising, or Assassin's Creed, or Call of Duty4 and you experience not only good gameplay, but incredibly deep, detailed and immersive storytelling and compelling characters. You pick up Ratchet & Clank Future and see a new console really spreading its wings and showing off what it can do. But you don't still get to really truly experience that 'simple and addictive' gameplay anymore on these powerhouse consoles anymore. On Live, you get a few that are worth downloading and buying, like Zuma, and Geometry Wars, and especially the Pinball game, and on PS3, I have been absolutely loving Stardust, so those console owners still can get some of that particular flavor, but the barrier is that you have to be an owner, and that means that people who would only ever be defined as 'casual' gamers are simply left out in the cold. Nintendo's strategy was clearly to capture the imaginations of those casual non-gamers, and it has worked. As much as I enjoy messing around in Bioshock, or Area 51, or Heavenly Sword, I also love to stick in Wii Sports and play a few games of bowling. It's all fun. The only thing which concerned me about the Wii, and which still does, is that if the Wii is the ONLY system someone has, then they will probably pretty soon have plumbed the rather shallow depths of a lot of the games, as fun as they are. So they will try games like Twilight Princess (which I have but still have not managed to really get into), or Mario Galaxy (which the kids love), and enjoy those quite a bit. But it won't be long after that until they begin to realize that they have also tried some stinkers, and that Nintendo has been pretty much the only game maker which has really made satisfying games for the system. The 3rd-party developers just seem to be as devoted to the idea of making sterling Wii games as Nintendo themselves are. It's the control scheme. You can be a developer who makes a game liek Call of Duty 4, and you know that your development efforts, your *creation* of the actual GAME, will be rewarded by sales on multiple platforms - PC, 360 and PS3. You can safely invest time and money in that effort because you know that you have an extremely wide installed base, across a spectrum of customers, all of whom have heavily invested in their hardware. But if you want to design a good game for the Wii, you have to design it from the ground up for the Wii's peculiar control scheme, and ONLY for the Wii. If you're a company like, say, Activision or Bioware, and you are a strong company BUT you also still operate with limited time and resources as a matter of course, you are not likely to devote your focus and energy on creating a custom Wii-specific game. It just doesn't make financial sense. Plenty of game-makers have tried 'ports' of their standard-controller games onto the Wii, but most have been dismal failures. So it's nice that the Wii's have sold so well, and frankly I have been delighted with ours. I just worry about the future - it gives me the same kind of vibe that the early days of the Mac had - for a long time there it was a mutually-exclusive club, and never was the PC and the Mac to intertwine. Maybe Nintendo can thrive in an environment where it will be the only legit developer of games for the system for a few years, until some company (perhaps ex-Nintendo people) decides to dedicate itself to ONLY making Wii games. But the more Wii's that Nintendo sells, the more pressure they are going to be under to come out with more and better games as well, and U just don't know how long we can keep playing Mario games before we get sick of him.
The Wii does have online gameplay. It isn't as detailed and deep as LIVE but you are still able to play games online
once again, i would have bought a nintendo because i enjoy their first party games, motion control or not. i'd get better graphics and online gaming (debateable with ps3) but not necessarily better games (especially with ps3)
