May Console Sales Thread (E3 this week!)

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Microsoft reiterates that they need to do much better in Europe.

http://kotaku.com/5020135/we-are-goi...-win-in-europe

Summary of console sales to end of May is now available........

http://www.gamepro.com/news.cfm?article_id=195568

Wii: 28 million (18 months)
360: 19 million (30 months)
PS3: 14 million (18 months)

Firmware 2.4 for the PS3 has been confirmed for release on July 2nd. Upgrades will include in-game XMB and Trophy system. Friends list has also been bumped to 100 (will be interesting to see if MS does this on the 360 as users have been begging them to do) Info was released on the Playstation Blog (http://blog.us.playstation.com/)......

Hello again, everyone! Very recently, we demonstrated a major new function enabled in PLAYSTATION 3 firmware v2.40: XMB access in-game. But that’s only part of the story, as the next system software update also introduces the Trophy system to the PS3. This video demonstration shows the system in action.

Super Stardust HD, a PLAYSTATION Network-exclusive released in June 2007, will be the first game to leverage Trophies and will offer a variety of trophies. Trophy support in Super Stardust HD will be available for first-time users who purchase the game soon after firmware v2.40 is released, while those who previously purchased and downloaded the title will be prompted to install a free patch.

PS3 users can expect to see additional games bringing Trophies support to their feature sets through 2008 and beyond, providing even greater opportunity to showcase their accomplishments and compete with friends. The following first-party games are also slated to offer Trophy support:

BUZZ! Quiz TV
LittleBigPlanet
MotorStorm Pacific Rift
NBA 09 - PS3
PAIN
PixelJunk Eden
Resistance 2
SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation
Warhawk

To further emphasize the community aspects of this system software update, the amount of people you can add to your PSN friends list has been doubled, to 100.

The update also adds a mini-control panel that you can use while playing music and an internet search feature powered by Google that allows you to initiate search directly from the XMB (similar to what we added to the PSP recently). In addition, when you’re using the XMB or accessing the XMB from in-game, the current time and date will be displayed in the upper right hand corner. There are a few more minor enhancements included in this update, once the update is live you’ll be able to read about them here.

Firmware v2.40 will become available for download on July 2nd. We hope you enjoy these much-requested features, and look forward to your feedback.

[spleen1015]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

I also picked up Uncharted. While not the best game, it is a cool adventure/puzzle game from what I have seen so far.

I beat this last night. It took me less than 9 hours to finish. I am a little disappointed. While the game was fun to play, the time I put into it isn't worth the $60 I spent. The most challenging part of the whole game is some of the gun fights.

I guess I will use it in trade for part of my Civilization Revolution purchase.

[Calis]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/885/885168p1.html

Rock Band 2 coming out this year. Looks like September for the 360 and a little later in the year for PS3.

A bit quicker than I'd thought or hoped for, but it looks like they're playing it nice at least and saying the DLC will work with it, and the instruments.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Calis

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/885/885168p1.html

Rock Band 2 coming out this year. Looks like September for the 360 and a little later in the year for PS3.

A bit quicker than I'd thought or hoped for, but it looks like they're playing it nice at least and saying the DLC will work with it, and the instruments.

I like the fact that the instruments have been redesigned to be a bit quieter and more responsive. I'm going to wait to see the feedback on the Guitar Hero instruments as well since I haven't bought Rock Band yet. If one of the sets is compatible with both games, I'll likely lean in that direction.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Some early comments concerning Trophy system from IGN editors who have already had hands-on trial...........

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/885/885177p3.html

What Sony showed us of 2.40 looks awesome. I never really missed custom soundtracks, but the Trophy stuff is fantastic. I'm a big fan of the 360's Achievement system, not for overall points, but rather to show how much I've done in a single game. Sony's version looks to cater to my tastes better than a somewhat random number scheme, which is great.

Also, the Level system is brilliant. My Xbox 360 GamerScore is somewhere close to 17,000 right now. If I get an Achievement worth 10 points, that doesn't mean a whole lot at this point. But on the PS3, if I'm at Level 12, I know that every Bronze Trophy brings me one step closer to Level 13. In the scheme of things, it still doesn't mean anything in the overall betterment of my life (getting to Level 50 won't earn me a pay raise at work or a free dinner), but it is one more little thing for me to obsess over and will start getting me to prefer playing the PS3 version of a game rather than its all-things-equal 360 counterpart.

Once this Trophy thing gets going, I'm done with Achievements.

With one morning meeting, Sony has made me ready to buy every cross-platform title on the PlayStation 3 instead of its Microsoft-bred competitor. Sure, points are nice, but now I'm Leveling up? You mean to tell me that Sony's turned my gaming into an RPG of its own? You mean that everyone's going to be starting from square one and have an equal chance at being king of Trophies?

Sign me up.

Seriously, everything I saw during our eyes-on with 2.40 impressed me. The ability to play custom music looks like it'll be fun, the in-game XMB works just like you think it should, and Sony honestly seems like it's ready to improve the feature as it goes. Sure, it's weird that calling the XMB up doesn't automatically pause the game and I'd like to see the Levels of my friends when I glance at the who's online section, but during our session, Sony was already talking about Phase Two and Phase Three additions and plans.

It's nice to know that it's committed.

Sadly, it's going to suck waiting for developers to get Trophies in their games, but the promise of Stardust and every major first-party, 2008 release being ready to roll with the system is a nice silver lining. Plus, they're working on a Warhawk Trophy patch, so I'll be set once that hits.

I'm excited. Really, really excited. Since the PS3 launched, I've been waiting for Sony to say "This is why you should play games on our system." The independent, original award system 2.40 is implementing is a great first step towards an answer to that question.

The PSN is about to become a community.

[Kodos]

Am I the only one who doesn't care about achievements, gamerscores, or trophies?

[Logan]

I really don't mean to be a dick, and I'm sure it's more that I'm just not the targeted audience...but if this trophy system has anywhere near the draw that the writer and his huge hard-on seem to think it will have, I will really lose faith in humanity.

Edit: Thanks kodos for restoring my belief that even people who hang out on text sim message boards aren't nerds to this degree.

[Calis]

I'm firmly in the camp that doesn't get it. I don't care about achievements on the 360, and the addition of trophies to PS3 games means absolutely nothing to me. I guess it does have that "Pokemon" effect for lots of people though.

The hype on that article did make me a little sick though.

[hukarez]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/30/ps...d-the-belated/

Our feelings about this latest PS3 update are mixed. On the one hand, there are handy features such as the ability to communicate with friends without quitting your game and on-the-fly accessory adjustments. On the other, the update still seems decidedly behind the curve in several areas. There's no private voice chat across games, no auto-pause when the XMB is triggered, custom soundtracks are not available in all games. Given the time that Sony has had to study its competition – namely Xbox Live – we'd expected to finally see at least a one-to-one match in terms of basic features.

Sony remains adamant that it will continue to "evolve" the features introduced in the 2.40 update across future firmware revisions. We hope that the key areas we've mentioned get attention sooner rather than later.

...I was really hoping for private voice chat across games. Here's hoping for the update after 2.40, I suppose.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Calis

I'm firmly in the camp that doesn't get it. I don't care about achievements on the 360, and the addition of trophies to PS3 games means absolutely nothing to me. I guess it does have that "Pokemon" effect for lots of people though.

The hype on that article did make me a little sick though.

Legitimately nauseous.

And just for the record, it bothers me on the 360 too so it's not a shot at Sony. I know MBBF won't like hearing this, but of all the things that could have made me stop playing Madden last year, that god damn "trophies won" graphic that you would have to sit through after games came closest.

[gstelmack]

Originally Posted by Logan

I know MBBF won't like hearing this, but of all the things that could have made me stop playing Madden last year, that god damn "trophies won" graphic that you would have to sit through after games came closest.

That was fun. I loved the "nothing but reputation on the line here" speech when my superstar just won the Super Bowl...

Well, that and the e-mail every year telling me I'd been picked in the draft...

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Logan

Legitimately nauseous.

And just for the record, it bothers me on the 360 too so it's not a shot at Sony. I know MBBF won't like hearing this, but of all the things that could have made me stop playing Madden last year, that god damn "trophies won" graphic that you would have to sit through after games came closest.

Quite the opposite. Just because I post it doesn't mean I agree with it. I'm in total agreement with Kodos. I don't get the wild excitement over what basically amounts to a geek race to see who can pile up the most nerd points (I hear chicks dig it). It seems moronic to me, but evidently there must be some market for it. Otherwise, they wouldn't do it.

[Logan]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Quite the opposite. Just because I post it doesn't mean I agree with it. I'm in total agreement with Kodos. I don't get the wild excitement over what basically amounts to a geek race to see who can pile up the most nerd points (I hear chicks dig it). It seems moronic to me, but evidently there must be some market for it. Otherwise, they wouldn't do it.

Sorry, I worded that poorly...I meant you wouldn't like that my only reason for not playing Madden was the "trophy" feature .

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Logan

Sorry, I worded that poorly...I meant you wouldn't like that my only reason for not playing Madden was the "trophy" feature .

Good to see you managed to find one thing wrong with Madden.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Walkthrough of preview build of 'Too Human'..........

http://blog.wired.com/games/2008/06/...-hum.html#more

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Logan

Legitimately nauseous.

And just for the record, it bothers me on the 360 too so it's not a shot at Sony. I know MBBF won't like hearing this, but of all the things that could have made me stop playing Madden last year, that god damn "trophies won" graphic that you would have to sit through after games came closest.

The trophies thing was #3 on my list of things I didn't like about Madden last year. #2 was that they showed Profile Records before games in franchise mode instead of the records of the teams.

#1 was that the game pretty sucked.

Edit: And while I'll find myself sometimes going after achievements in games, I don't care at all about my Gamerscore or online ranking or anything like that.

[MJ4H]

Trophies and acheivements and that stuff has always baffled me as well.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Am I the only one who doesn't care about achievements, gamerscores, or trophies?

Nope. I couldn't care less about them.

[Kodos]

They might matter if you could turn it into currency toward purchasing games or something -- otherwise, it just makes no sense to me. People actually play games they don't like just to get achievements. WTF?

[Karlifornia]

I found a screenshot of the final trophy..the "ultimate achievement" or whatever:

Image Removed

[Logan]

Prediction: This won't end well.

[Kodos]

I would've expected a bigger trophy.

[SackAttack]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Am I the only one who doesn't care about achievements, gamerscores, or trophies?

I don't mind the idea of achievements in the sense of 'recognition of difficult or time-consuming tasks." If you want to call those achievements, trophies, gold stars, whatever. Fine.

It still comes down to Pavlovian reflex. Do the task, get the treat, and there are plenty of people who like that sort of a system. It's instant gratification on the way to the larger goal of completing the game, and lets people feel like they're making progress and/or doing well.

But the important thing is not to make more of it than it is. For PlayStation 3 owners, it's important not because of what it actually does, but for more symbolic reasons - a slight narrowing of the platform feature gap, and one fewer thing their system "doesn't do."

Go back to your childhood, those of you who are young enough to have started playing home consoles when you WERE eight years old. That was a pretty big damn deal then, whose system was better, and there's a sizeable contingent of people for whom the discussion is still life and death.

(Some of us have graduated from arguing over console merits to arguing over corporate decision-making, but it grows from the same seed).

Microsoft, Sony, etc., are in the business of making people want to buy their game system, because then those people have a vested interest in buying their games. For some of those people, the way you get there is quality hardware and versatility. For some of those people, a killer library is the hook.

For some of those people, it's about what the system will or won't do, whether or not that actually means a damn in the larger scheme of things. Those people tend also to be the greatest evangelists of their platform of choice. They're the early adopters and the die-hards. They're the ones who never miss a chance to tell friends and family how great the system they bought is, and word of mouth is the most powerful motivator there is in this industry.

That's who the trophies are aimed at, Kodos. Not you.

[Big Fo]

Every time I read about achievements I think of this picture:



As others have said, these are some positive steps for Sony but cross-game voice chat would have been nice. The gushing preview from IGN's PS3 department was embarrassing IMO.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

As others have said, these are some positive steps for Sony but cross-game voice chat would have been nice.

The developers have already hinted that feature is already being developed in an article I read. I believe their focus was to get the main features implemented ASAP and then tack on additional stuff when it's ready. Voice chat was one of those likely upcoming features.

[Kodos]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Every time I read about achievements I think of this picture:

Wow, is that sad.

[Cringer]

It looks like Rusty from European Vacation.

[Kodos]

"Look Dad! Bedpans!"

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Kodos

Am I the only one who doesn't care about achievements, gamerscores, or trophies?

hi,

i don't either.


all they do is serve to show how much of a loserish nerd you are, spending all that time on a game. i play video games to have fun, not brag about my pixelated trophies or gamerscore.

ok bye.

[spleen1015]

Does anyone know when games will start using this Trophy feature?

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by spleen1015

Does anyone know when games will start using this Trophy feature?

Some will start using them tomorrow. There's a list of those games on the Playstation Blog. A portion of the old games will receive patches in the upcoming months. Sony has mentioned that the use of trophies in the games will be mandatory for PS3 games later this year. Even though it's not mandatory, I think you'll see a lot of developers putting in patches on their games to get it done. It provides a new reason for people to buy the old games and also gives people that own the games a reason to play them again, which could generate added revenue if they decide to buy any add-ons.

[Big Fo]

Man these HD consoles could have used another year in the incubator to make them slightly more powerful for around the same cost. Soul Calibur IV will require the a hard-drive on the 360 version. For the PS3 version it takes a 6.7 GB install plus another 2.0 GB for the save file, which is absolutely ridiculous. Maybe Namco just sucks at optimizing their games or something, but all these mandatory installs make me glad I have a 80 GB PS3.

games listing on xbox.com

yesasia.com page for SC4 (you can see the 6700 MB in a sea of Japanese characters)

[Calis]

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/ctds/

Teaser site for what is obviously Chrono Trigger DS. That's pretty exciting news to me as that stands as one of my favorite console RPGs.

I hope they don't upgrade it to 3d like the Final Fantasy one. I don't understand the need for that. I think 3d on the DS just looks horrible, and the graphics from the SNES games would hold up just fine.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Calis

http://www.square-enix.co.jp/ctds/

Teaser site for what is obviously Chrono Trigger DS. That's pretty exciting news to me as that stands as one of my favorite console RPGs.

I hope they don't upgrade it to 3d like the Final Fantasy one. I don't understand the need for that. I think 3d on the DS just looks horrible, and the graphics from the SNES games would hold up just fine.

Is it going to be a port to the DS, or a completely new game?

I hope it's a port, as they have a tendency to dumb down their old franchises in order to pander to the < 12 year old demographic ala Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced. (Still bitter about the fact that everything that made FFT great was gone in that game)

[Calis]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

Is it going to be a port to the DS, or a completely new game?

I hope it's a port, as they have a tendency to dumb down their old franchises in order to pander to the < 12 year old demographic ala Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced. (Still bitter about the fact that everything that made FFT great was gone in that game)

Not much info out about it yet, but I found this on 1up that seems to think it's going to be a port.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3168511

I'd love just a straight port to DS. Nothing fancy added, just put it on there.

[Neon_Chaos]

Originally Posted by Calis

Not much info out about it yet, but I found this on 1up that seems to think it's going to be a port.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3168511

I'd love just a straight port to DS. Nothing fancy added, just put it on there.

Agreed.

A straight port would be wicked.

[sterlingice]

CT hasn't gotten the facelift a lot of the FF games have over the years so a direct port would be neat. I'd be ok with a 3D version, ala the new FF's, as well.

I love comments like this on 1up: " I CANNOT BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS BETTER THAN FIVE NEW ZELDA GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!! YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I mean, I love the game, too, but, c'mon- I'm pretty sure 5 new games of a premiere series are better than a 10 year old port but whatever.

SI

[Big Fo]

Yay for Chrono Trigger. There will be some added stuff apparently, hopefully they add some cool things while keeping the graphics 2D.

[Neon_Chaos]

We're all screwed if they change it into some kiddified version of CT. Similar to FFTA, like I said earlier.

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Looks like the 20 GB Xbox 360 will soon be gone. Price cut is expected on the machine and it will be discontinued once stock is depleted. Rumor states that it will be replaced with a 60 GB unit.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thum...m-for-60gb?bub

[Cringer]

Originally Posted by Mizzou B-ball fan

Looks like the 20 GB Xbox 360 will soon be gone. Price cut is expected on the machine and it will be discontinued once stock is depleted. Rumor states that it will be replaced with a 60 GB unit.

http://arstechnica.com/journals/thum...m-for-60gb?bub

I love reading through the comments from the different fanboys of systems. It seems the MS haters are trying to pile on about no changeable HDs on the 360, and how they gouge the buyer for their HDs and on and on. Then you see actual 360 users post saying 'Hey, I don't really need my HD that much, it's only half full after two years.'

That was what I was thinking, especially after someone's comment here the other day about the PS3 loading. 360 doesn't load 5+ GBs of crap onto my HD just so I can play a game, so I don't really need an HD as much as PS3 owners. I have my 20 GB HD from launch, and I don't think I have more then a couple GB filled up. (I know, I don't go online so that is a big part of that).

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Originally Posted by Cringer

I love reading through the comments from the different fanboys of systems. It seems the MS haters are trying to pile on about no changeable HDs on the 360, and how they gouge the buyer for their HDs and on and on. Then you see actual 360 users post saying 'Hey, I don't really need my HD that much, it's only half full after two years.'

That was what I was thinking, especially after someone's comment here the other day about the PS3 loading. 360 doesn't load 5+ GBs of crap onto my HD just so I can play a game, so I don't really need an HD as much as PS3 owners. I have my 20 GB HD from launch, and I don't think I have more then a couple GB filled up. (I know, I don't go online so that is a big part of that).

While there are some users like you who don't go online and don't use a lot of your HDD, there are other user who do use downloadable content and rental services who need adequate HDD space. MS has to cater to all 360 users, not just certain segments.

[MJ4H]

Hooray for CT DS! This is better than 5 new metal gear solids.


Seriously though Chrono Trigger is one of the only RPGs I've ever liked. That and Skies of Arcadia.

[Daimyo]

I'd take CT DS over five new GTA games!

[Mizzou B-ball fan]

Evidently, the Bioshock simultaneous release rumors were correct after all. Bioshock was never supposed to be a 360 exclusive. The plan was to have Venom Games create the PS3 version and release it on the same date as the 360 version, but the developers couldn't get it done. Also lends a lot of credibility to the rumor that Bioshock 2 will be released on both platforms on the same date.

http://www.computerandvideogames.com....php?id=192136

From the article.......

Interestingly, we've also learnt that Venom Games was originally asked to handle the PS3 version of BioShock (to be released at the same time as the 360 version) but its coders said it wasn't possible. The PS3 version is now in development at 2K's Marin studio.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

We're all screwed if they change it into some kiddified version of CT. Similar to FFTA, like I said earlier.

FWIW, the classic ports tend not to be kiddied up, though they did murder the original Final Fantasy's difficulty level on the port.

Heh, don't even talk to me about FFTA or FFTA2. My esophogus still burns with bilous rage at the thought of them and I long for the day when we'll get a -true- new FFT.

[Big Fo]

Originally Posted by Izulde

FWIW, the classic ports tend not to be kiddied up, though they did murder the original Final Fantasy's difficulty level on the port.

Heh, don't even talk to me about FFTA or FFTA2. My esophogus still burns with bilous rage at the thought of them and I long for the day when we'll get a -true- new FFT.

Reviewers have said that the FF4 DS port coming this month is quite difficult FWIW. I've never played a game in the main Final Fantasy series and will be picking that one up, it seems like a good as time as any to see what all the fuss is about.

edit: Just read that CT DS will indeed be 2D with the same graphics as the SNES game, so that should ease some fears.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by Neon_Chaos

We're all screwed if they change it into some kiddified version of CT. Similar to FFTA, like I said earlier.

Seriously? Really? It *is* a kiddified game. It's lighthearted, especially for an end of the world plot, not super complicated, and not all that difficult. How do you make it more kiddie? FFTA was definitely "kiddified" but, really, is that even a criticism you can level at CT?

SI

[cartman]

Sounds like the new PS3 firmware is bricking some systems, and Sony has pulled the update.

http://www.informationweek.com/news/...ion=Cybercrime

Sony Confirms Pulling PS3 Firmware Update

Sony (NYSE: SNE) on Wednesday confirmed that it has pulled the latest firmware update for PlayStation 3, because of reports from customers that it has caused their systems to stop working.

Sony released firmware 2.40 Tuesday, and reports of problems started flowing in soon after on the official PS3 message board.

"I downloaded version 2.40, put in Metal Gear Solid 4 [video game] and I get a black screen forever," one customer wrote. "I can't even get demos to start."

A Sony spokesman confirmed that the company pulled the firmware off its servers while it investigates the problem, which he said was experienced by a "limited number of consumers."

"In order to further assess the issue, we have temporarily taken the firmware offline for further testing," the spokesman said in an e-mail to InformationWeek following a request for comment. "We are working diligently to isolate the problem for those few consumers and to identify a solution before we put the firmware back up."

The problem was first reported by the video game site Joystiq.

[Izulde]

Originally Posted by Big Fo

Reviewers have said that the FF4 DS port coming this month is quite difficult FWIW. I've never played a game in the main Final Fantasy series and will be picking that one up, it seems like a good as time as any to see what all the fuss is about.

edit: Just read that CT DS will indeed be 2D with the same graphics as the SNES game, so that should ease some fears.

That's ironic because FF4 was incredibly easy on the SNES, probably the single easiest of the series.

4's got a nice story and characters, though I like 6's characters the best (including two in particular).