Are Sony devs aiming higher?

[TheChefO]

Passion, zeal and ambition?

Agreed. I'd like to think MS will be diving* into the more "experimental" side of gaming (via Arcade or DVD) when their foothold in the market is more secure. As it is, I think they have done a good job at providing quality content in spades, culminating in this years releases.


*funding or encouraging

 

[Bigus Dickus]

What the hell is Mass Apeal? Is that a game, or a distasteful play on Mass Effect?

I think the truth is that fanbois see the world colored a certain way because of the glasses they wear, not because the world is actually that color. Sad, but true, and even in a fairly civil thread like this one that truth underpins many of the posts.

 

[mckmas8808]

What the hell is Mass Apeal? Is that a game, or a distasteful play on Mass Effect?

I think the truth is that fanbois see the world colored a certain way because of the glasses they wear, not because the world is actually that color. Sad, but true, and even in a fairly civil thread like this one that truth underpins many of the posts.

Bigus you got to trust me man. Blakjedi is NO WHERE NEAR a Sony fanboi. Not even close.
He is honestly speaking his mind.

 

[TheChefO]

What the hell is Mass Apeal? Is that a game, or a distasteful play on Mass Effect?

I think the truth is that fanbois see the world colored a certain way because of the glasses they wear, not because the world is actually that color. Sad, but true, and even in a fairly civil thread like this one that truth underpins many of the posts.

Funny thing is: if it was a play on words, I don't think it accurately fits. Mass Effect will appeal to a subset of gamers and I don't think it is a broad system seller. Impressive as it looks and sounds, I think the appeal is somewhat limited by the interface and ironically, scope.

This opinion is based on what I've seen of the game so far which obviously isn't the full game and they could do great in addressing these concerns in the final build but as it is it seems too hardcore to be labelled "Mass Appeal".

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Funny thing is: if it was a play on words, I don't think it accurately fits. Mass Effect will appeal to a subset of gamers and I don't think it is a broad system seller. Impressive as it looks and sounds, I think the appeal is somewhat limited by the interface and ironically, scope.

This opinion is based on what I've seen of the game so far which obviously isn't the full game and they could do great in addressing these concerns in the final build but as it is it seems too hardcore to be labelled "Mass Appeal".

You really think that? To compare it to some other "similar" titles:

Knights of the old republic 1 & 2 sold close to 4 million combined.
Oblivion is at 2+ million right now.


Mass Effect has the graphics, the scope and the hype to become one of the most important system sellers for MS imo.

 

[TheChefO]

You really think that? To compare it to some other "similar" titles:

Knights of the old republic 1 & 2 sold close to 4 million combined.
Oblivion is at 2+ million right now.


Mass Effect has the graphics, the scope and the hype to become one of the most important system sellers for MS imo.

Yes, I do unfortunately.

Oblivion sales were fairly large due to: being an impressive title for the time and a limited library.

KOTOR sold well as well, but I don't think it was/is a "system seller".

Don't get me wrong, I'm not stating Mass Effect will not sell well. I just think it will not be a title which will draw gamers in significant numbers to the platform.

Titles like GT3 or GTA3 are mass appeal. They are easy to understand, easy to sell the concept, and easy to pick up and play. On top of these points, they were also impressive for what they were compared to their competition.

When I think "Mass Appeal" that is what I think about.

 

[ImaginaryIndustryInsider]

LBP comes out of nowhere and shocks people with its graphical style (the lighting, textures, animations and physics are amazing frankly) designed for online.... Where is the creativity in the 360 dev pool that has prevented something like this from being produced in the last two years? Or Afrika?

To be disappointed with 360 developers for not coming up with the idea first is just...

Great "why didn't I think of that" ideas are fickle, and come from a variety of different factors. Just because MS is really focused on Live, doesn't mean they will always come up with the best online oriented games, the process is just too organic for your kind of draconian logic.

There are just too many talented hungry developers for one anybody to always have all the good ideas, regardless of how focused they might be in "any" given area, and that's a good thing, it's keeps everybody on their toes.

This is no disrespect at all to the resident 360 devs here (Fran and cloudscapes and i think shootmymonkey come to mind). Its just that passion, zeal, optimism and ambition that i hear from folks like Marco and DeanoC for their hardware of choice seems to be something I read in most devs interviews who work on Sony's platform. Why are the 360 devs so mum?

I just don't agree with this.

I see plenty of passion/zeal/optimism from Frankie/Bungie every Friday, and when he posts on GAF. Heck, Peter Molyneux was nearly in tears talking about that dog in the Fable 2 presentation...and just because a developer doesn't show a crazy amount passion/zeal/optimism in posts on one forum, or even during a interview, doesn't mean it isn't there.

Personally, rating developers on what passion/zeal/blood-alcohol level they're showing is kinda of pointless, let the final product speak for them.

 

[chris100]

Why people think PS3 Afrika has revealed some really interesting idea?

Until now,this game only showed a short film about vivid wild animals in Africa.NOthing about gameplay and design concept.

 

[LogisticX]

But it looks pretty!

And Afrika is going to be THE wildlife simulator. At least until Microsoft comes up with something like.... say......Australia.


I think it was just good foresight on Sony's behalf to snatch up the guys who demoed off the LBP idea way back when. I'm hoping it gets the success I'm sure it deserves, and I can't wait till it comes out. That said, I think like most things this generation, its way too early to say any other company doesn't or won't have something unique and exciting up their sleeve.

 

[blakjedi]

To be disappointed with 360 developers for not coming up with the idea first is just...

Great "why didn't I think of that" ideas are fickle, and come from a variety of different factors. Just because MS is really focused on Live, doesn't mean they will always come up with the best online oriented games, the process is just too organic for your kind of draconian logic.

Its not a function of the idea itself. Its the implementation of any idea that is so visually striking as to be undeniable regardless of which platform you support, in the same way as LBP seems to be. VP was interesting. Geo Wars has intoxicating vector graphics (BC again!) But nothing quite as nice a LBP. Thats my only point.

BTW I have never been classified as a Sony Fanboi before... is that compliment? Us Xbox guys see those as fightin words!!!

 

[scooby_dooby]

KOTOR sold well as well, but I don't think it was/is a "system seller".

You can debate that forever because everyone defines it differently.

But, bottom line is KOTOR was GOTY 2004 just about everywhere, it sold 2million on Xbox which puts it right up there with Fable, PGR, and Splinter Cell.

It is certainly capable of sellin systems and being a HUGE hit. If KOTOR could sell 2million last gen, Mass Effect should be able to destroy that number with the current purchasing trends on 360. You could argue it was the SW IP that sold the game, but the number of flopped SW games sortof goes against that argument.

And assuming it does sell better than KOTOR did, how can you saya game that sells to 20-30% of the install base is not a system seller?

p.s. If you want to go anecdotal, I would've bought a PS3 by now if Bioware were making their games on that system. KOTOR was the best RPG I've played in my life (Yes it beats FF6, FFX and Chrono Trigger), and the mere fact that Bioware was making exclsuive 360 games sold me the console day 1.

 

[Inane_Dork]

Are the developers who are making PS3 games aiming higher? I dunno. Maybe. I don't know how you could get a generally acceptable answer to that.

Are the developers who are making PS3 games aiming higher because they're working on PS3 games? This question, IMO, has a much more clear answer and that is "no." Even if there is a correspondence between PS3 and higher quality games, I very much doubt it is because of the PS3.

 

[scooby_dooby]

How would you hype a Xenos? There isn't much that is special about it. The Cell has hype outside of Sony and the PS3, hence it's relative name recognition.

Nothing special? It allowed a console created in 2005, designed in 2004, to compete with (and surpass for now) one launched at the end of 2006. That's pretty amazing when you stop and think about it. Especially when that console is from Sony, hardware is their forte.

MS owes ATI big time, it's ATI's engineering that has allowed the console to be as strong as it is.

edit - Oh, I just realized you were talking about Xenon. It's not anything to write home about, though probably stronger than people give it credit for.

 

[ImaginaryIndustryInsider]

Its not a function of the idea itself. Its the implementation of any idea that is so visually striking as to be undeniable regardless of which platform you support, in the same way as LBP seems to be. VP was interesting. Geo Wars has intoxicating vector graphics (BC again!) But nothing quite as nice a LBP. Thats my only point.

BTW I have never been classified as a Sony Fanboi before... is that compliment? Us Xbox guys see those as fightin words!!!

There have been very few games that are as striking as LBP is at first glance, and I doubt you'll see too many more titles that just "click" from the moment you look at it, but things that just click like LBP are as much chance as design choice, things just fall into place, and that has little to with what platform it's on.

I know you're not a Sony fanboi, having read your other threads/replies in my time here. I guess you could say it's a good thing some people think you're a Sony fanboi because it's shows you don't have a unilateral console agenda, just be careful how you word things...some of your points are similar enough to standard anti-360 flamebait to get some folks dander up.

 

[TheChefO]

You can debate that forever because everyone defines it differently.

But, bottom line is KOTOR was GOTY 2004 just about everywhere, it sold 2million on Xbox which puts it right up there with Fable, PGR, and Splinter Cell.

It is certainly capable of sellin systems and being a HUGE hit. If KOTOR could sell 2million last gen, Mass Effect should be able to destroy that number with the current purchasing trends on 360. You could argue it was the SW IP that sold the game, but the number of flopped SW games sortof goes against that argument.

And assuming it does sell better than KOTOR did, how can you saya game that sells to 20-30% of the install base is not a system seller?

p.s. If you want to go anecdotal, I would've bought a PS3 by now if Bioware were making their games on that system. KOTOR was the best RPG I've played in my life (Yes it beats FF6, FFX and Chrono Trigger), and the mere fact that Bioware was making exclsuive 360 games sold me the console day 1.

Perhaps I did not give the hardcore western RPG crowd enough credit. But IMO this crowd is already with xb360, isn't it? Again, not disputing it's ability to sell, just questioning it's ability to draw new people into the platform. (the combination of titles like these with a price drop however...)

 

[Todd33]

edit - Oh, I just realized you were talking about Xenon. It's not anything to write home about, though probably stronger than people give it credit for.

You referenced the Cell so I thought we were talking CPUs. The 360 GPU is top notch from what I read. I wonder if MS raped ATI on the price since MS owns the IP?

 

[blakjedi]

I list PGR4 as my killer tech 360 title of the year... every screen of that game gets better and better everytime I see it. Appears to be a spectaular use of the hardware... Kudos!

 

[iceberg187]

I list PGR4 as my killer tech 360 title of the year... every screen of that game gets better and better everytime I see it. Appears to be a spectaular use of the hardware... Kudos!

Kudos, lol. I know you didn't mean it as a play on words, or did you?

 

[crazygambit]

Kudos, lol. I know you didn't mean it as a play on words, or did you?

I think he just confused this thread with the PGR4 one. No play on words intended.

 

[TheChefO]

No.