TeKKeNForever606

Damn, you guys sure own a lot of games. Myself, I can't dedicate that much time so I only own a few... Playstation 2...(I dare any Xbox owner to tell me that PS2 isn't the greatest 2D/3D fighting game console out there...) Tekken 5 Tekken 4 Tekken Tag Tournament Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution Soul Calibur II Katamari Damacy Killzone The Urbz: Sims in the City MLB2006 Nintendo Gamecube... Resident Evil 4 Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Animal Crossing Mario Party 6 Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker Fire Emblem (via GBP) Advance Wars 2 (via GBP) PC... The Sims 2 The Sims 2: University Sim City 4 Deluxe Edition Fallout Fallout 2 Fallout: Tactics Doom 3 Scrapland Warcraft III Really, c'mon Blizzard, where is Starcraft:Ghost at already! Interplay, c'mon now, we need Fallout 3.

Well, I'm not going to argue games, that's all a matter of opinion and we all know what opinions are like...Kutagari was not demoted, he was simply passed over for the CEO position and he is currently head of Sony's gaming division. Rumors, hearsay, and whatever you may read in articles about Sony leaving the gaming industry are simply rumors, because with dominant market share in place, no company will simply leave a sector. Profitibility will always dominate any decisions and no one can predict the kind of profits the PS3 will make but you can bet that if Sony continues to make money (software, hardware, and liscensing), they will continue to manufacture and support the Playstation format. Halo this, and Halo that, sure, it's a good game, but is that the only exclusive that Xbox fans have to argue with? Sure, it's a high selling title, but so was Sony's Getaway:Black Monday and we all know how horrible that was. Even The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was a high selling title and it was not enough to save the Nintendo 64. Exclusive titles will become a thing of the past and I think the formula Namco used for 2002's Soul Calibur II and EA's The Urbz in 2004, versions featuring exclusive features for specific consoles will dominate. Sure, the Xbox 360 may attract hardcore and super enthusiast gamers with features like Xbox Live, microtransactions, and other features, but it's well known that the consumers who purchase the majority gaming hardware and software are casual gamers, the kind of people who also read books, watch TV, and go to movies and do not dedicate their leisure time to simply playing games. I am that kind of consumer and during the current console phase, the Playstation 2 has provided better titles in a larger library. Sure, Jade Empire was a great game, but it's difficulty and complexity turn off many casual gamers. But look at Namco's Katamari Damacy, it's easy gameplay, simplistic controls, and innovative mechanics have made it a staple for casual gamers, male and female alike. And speaking of Namco, where is the Japanese support for the Xbox (and the upcoming 360?) Microsoft can talk all they want, but until we see Japanese titles other than those made by Tecmo, who is going to believe them? (512K of RAM is all anyone will ever need!). Sure, Xbox has Halo, but they don't have Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, God of War, and so on...And finally, let's talk fighting games. It is not possible to defend DOA against a series like Tekken. Sure bouncing boobs and multiple levels may attract some but the fighting mechanics are mediocre at best. You may call Tekken a 'button-masher' but the control layout is a button for each limb, basically, it's been that way sine 1994 and in fact it's quite complex and satisfying for those who understand the timing and mechanics. And then we have Soul Calibur III, a series many praised as the ultimate multi-platform fighter but Namco pulled the plug on everyone else, because they know that for worldwide sales success they only need to tap into the fighting game console of choice, the Playstation 2. Does this show great Japanese support for the Microsoft platform, when one of the largest publishers out of Japan supports you and suddenly decides to drop the sequel as an exclusive for your competition? Sure, Xbox has, in my opinion, the best FPS to hit shelves in a long while exclusive to it's system (Doom 3), but that decision was only made due to the technical shortcomings of the PS2, if you think Quake 4 and other iD games will be exclusive to Xbox 360 you're crazy, because publishers are about the money, and in this next round of consoles, if the cost to develop for all three platforms is well within reason, expect to see less exclusives.

Sure, this is an old thread, but I just finished Doom 3 and WOW, I mean WOW. Sure, it's simplistic shooting, but it's utilization of DX9, the terrific story, and atmospheric horror that rivals some of the greatest Italian horror flicks ever made make this the pinnacle of PC gaming. Sure, Doom 3 has been around of PC for quite some time, but it is the standard for gauging your gaming PCs performance. When this game was announced, I was setback by iD's decision to go DX9 instead of OpenGL, considering all the great support iD gave to the OpenGL community but any doubt was extinguished upon playing this game. As a casual gamer, I like games that are simple and easy to get in and out of, and Doom 3 was it. Sure, it needs a lot of power, but it runs great on my Celeron D 2.93, Geforce FX 5200 Ultra, and 512MBs of PC2700, 1024x768 with medium details, good enough for me. I love the addition of Ultra settings for down the road when you want to revisit Mars, hopefully on a 1GHz+ GPU with 1024MBs of RAM.

Bungie Software is known for it's storylines, what a joke. How many games do they have under their belt, a handful of the same space shooter bullsh*t. Marathon and Halo, same crappy themes, different platforms. I really think Japanese support will be the critical issue with the next round of consoles, and until Microsoft shows us some real support at the end of the Xbox's product cycle and early on with the 360, no one is going to believe their 'Japanese support is coming' hype. Namco, Capcom, Konami, the list goes on for Sony. And you can't count out the PSP. Connectivity will emerge as a feature wanted by many players and by the PS3 launch we may be in store for a serious price drop. Sure, Xbox live is great but online gaming has yet to emerge as the focus of console gaming unless you like shooters and sports games. Sony dropping out of the console market is just speculation and honestly with control over so much market share, do you really think that is going to happen? The PS2s product cycle has been around 5 years, and expect the PS3s to be around the same. I'm sure as long as the software profits stay in place Sony will be unwilling to simply leave the market. You can talk about upcoming titles, hardware, and specs all you want but this industry is all about boardrooms, financial numbers and shareholders. Really, 4 years after the Xbox launch Microsoft will release it's replacement. If you really think developers are going to continue to support the Xbox well into 2006 you are crazy, it's a known fact that most of the releases for the PS1 after 2000 were sports games, or Japanese titles developed for Japan, translated for US releases and the Xbox is very slim in the Japanese title department. Besides, so far the 'exclusive' titles for Xbox that many fanboys (and girls) like to defend many arguments with eventually end up on PC and it looks like the Xbox 360 is just another DirectX engine, so what's going to stop the publishers from cashing in on inexpensive ports to attract the real hardcore gaming segment? Just like Xbox and PC owners patiently await the arrival of Grand Theft Auto for their platforms, non-Xbox PC Gamers wait for games like Knights of the Old Republic and Halo to eventually end up on the store shelves. Besides, Kratos could kick Master Chief's sorry ass anyday. PS3 all the way.

Sure, graphics are nice but for a console developed game like GTA:San Andreas, it's not like Rockstar developed any special Direct X 9 lighting and transform for the PC version. It's simply just a console port. Sure, maybe with the right setup you can get higher resolutions and some antialiasing but the fact of the matter is you're just looking at textures developed for PS2s Emotion Engine and GPU, without any engine enhancements, it's like paying a PS1 game with Bleem. You're gonna get some graphical enhancements, but it's not going to blow you away like Doom 3 did. Besides, San Andreas is old news and the PS2 version will always have the edge over everyone else becuase of the release date timeframe. Sure, mods are fun and add life to a game but you will never see a Rockstar developed expansion pack for the PC version. Same deal with Vice City when it was release for PC and Xbox, if you don't own a PS2, you're just playing last year's rehash on a different format.