Next Gen Panel Discussion

[Johnny Awesome]

Arguing that online gaming is not important because only 10% of Xbox owners purchased Live is a lot like arguing that the Internet was not important back in 1995 when less than 5% of households were on the Net. The phenomenon is in its infancy and no one knows the limit to how far online console gaming will go. Maybe it's 10%, maybe it's 20%, and could be as high as 50%.

 

[mckmas8808]

They also didn't say HD will never, ever be important for all time and eternity. They just said it isn't all it's cracked up to be now. They may turn out to be right. If HD doesn't catch on en masse until the tail of next gen (like online did this gen), they may be glad they decided not to spend that extra money. If 60% of gamers have an HD set by 2007, they'll be eating their words.

You are right they didn't say HD was bad forever.

"Nintendo's Revolution is being built with a variety of gamers' needs in mind, such as quick start-up time, high power, and ease of use for development and play. It's also compact and sleek, and has beautiful graphics in which to enjoy innovative games," Kaplan says. "Nintendo doesn't plan for the system to be HD compatible as with that comes a higher price for both the consumer and also the developer creating the game. Will it make the game better to play? With the technology being built into the Revolution, we believe the games will look brilliant and play brilliantly. This can all be done without HD."


Nintendo, however, feels that it is appealing to the wider audience by not making Revolution high-definition compatible. The company suggests that while games will look better in HD, they will still look great in standard definition and that the cost, both for developers and consumers, is not worth the benefits. Nintendo's next-generation console is certain to be cheaper than the others, which may immediately make it an attractive option to buyers without a lot of cash to spend or for those who have not yet purchased a high-definition television.

"Companies focused on outdoing each other for technology's sake are using the power of public relations to confuse the media into thinking high-definition is a live-or-die part of the games of the future," says Kaplan. "It is a technological fact that games will still look incredibly beautiful and play incredibly well without the high cost of making them HD compatible. HD may be one of the technologies of the future. Is it the gaming industry's only future? We don't think so."

Link http://ps3.ign.com/articles/624/624517p2.html and http://ps3.ign.com/articles/624/624517p3.html

I just don't like the fact that they aren't giving the devs a chance to use HD. I'll pay $100 more dollars for HD games.

Something else fearsomepirate that you need to read.

Sales of HD televisions are already on the rise and analog standard definition sets on the decline. While only 12.5 percent of U.S. households own an HD set now, the Consumer Electronics Association forecasts that the number is going to steadily increase. In 2006, by the time PlayStation 3 and Revolution launch, nearly 30 percent of all homes in America will have an HDTV. That's already a significant audience, but it gets bigger. In 2007, almost 50 percent of all U.S. households will own an HDTV and in 2008, a whopping 68.1 percent, according to the CEA.

And you can trust the CEA. And you better beleive that out of those percentages for gamers thost percentages should be even higher being that they would buy HDTVs before the average everyday consumer.

 

[London Geezer]

Well in a short while ALL TVs sold will be HDTVs. Someone willing to buy a new TV will only be able to get a HDTV soon enough, whether he "needs" it or not.
And the difference on those TVs between PS3/X360 games and Revolution games will show big time.
Having said that, Nintendo might just provide such innovative and new and different gameplay mechanics that people won't care about graphics. That's quite a bold statement in my opinion, and much harder to accomplish than Sony and MS's plans (they just really want massive Media Centres with big specs and shiny graphics, which is relatively easy). If they can deliver, good for everyone, but they didn't really do anything particularly innovative this generation, i'm not sure what magical new thing they'll come out with in the next generation.

 

[mckmas8808]

Well in a short while ALL TVs sold will be HDTVs. Someone willing to buy a new TV will only be able to get a HDTV soon enough, whether he "needs" it or not.
And the difference on those TVs between PS3/X360 games and Revolution games will show big time.
Having said that, Nintendo might just provide such innovative and new and different gameplay mechanics that people won't care about graphics. That's quite a bold statement in my opinion, and much harder to accomplish than Sony and MS's plans (they just really want massive Media Centres with big specs and shiny graphics, which is relatively easy). If they can deliver, good for everyone, but they didn't really do anything particularly innovative this generation, i'm not sure what magical new thing they'll come out with in the next generation.

Is a complete change to gaming really needed? I guess you can type a 20 page report on this question if you wanted to. I don't think the people want a huge overhauling change to the way they actually play their games. But I guess we'll see come 2006.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Considering the majority of people don't play console games, if they can be attracted to it then I guess there's room for something different. Like football. There were lots of different football rules, and then Soccer was formed. This gave a popular game that people enjoyed. Then someone came up with Rugby Football. Why? Soccer was already enjoyed by millions? Who needs a new football game? But for those that don't like soccer, or also like something different, Rugby was worth developing, despite both being variations of the same original football concepts.

If the existing format for console games doesn't attract the majority of people, change the format to something that (Nintendo hopes) will.

 

[Magnum PI]

The phenomenon is in its infancy and no one knows the limit to how far online console gaming will go. Maybe it's 10%, maybe it's 20%, and could be as high as 50%.

As you say no one knows, that's just it's a little bit prematurate too to talk about an overhelming success, a flood of online gaming when 5% of console players use online service.. 5% = niche.

We can't really speak about a failure either of course, and I never claimed it was one, just putting things in perspective.

Like you say that's something in its infancy, at the beginning of its lifecycle. It could become the norm i dunno.

You can make fun of someone who seems to have downplayed Internet in 1995, but if you put his consideration into context it isn't be so stupid, at this time it was not so easy to guess it would become what it is now. Something that would attracts peoples outside the ring of the computer enthusiasts.. killer apps like p2p, IM..
It's so easy to guess something a posteriori

 

[mckmas8808]

As you say no one knows, that's just it's a little bit prematurate too to talk about an overhelming success, a flood of online gaming when 5% of console players use online service.. 5% = niche.

We can't really speak about a failure either of course, and I never claimed it was one, just putting things in perspective.

Like you say that's something in its infancy, at the beginning of its lifecycle. It could become the norm i dunno.

Well it sure wasn't a bad thing to have. I could have been that one thing that allow MS to sell more consoles than Nintendo this gen.

 

[Magnum PI]

If the existing format for console games doesn't attract the majority of people, change the format to something that (Nintendo hopes) will.

Not only that but it could also make some older player enjoy playing again. (I should qualify as one as I play for 25 years).

Even if graphics are improving, after having played a lot of titles of every predictable genre, you can be somewhat bored by the standard content. This is aggravated the age and the related changes in our life.

 

[Magnum PI]

Well it sure wasn't a bad thing to have. I could have been that one thing that allow MS to sell more consoles than Nintendo this gen.

Yes it didn't hurt, and we don't really know about the impact it had on xbox sales, so we can only conjecture, but too much conjectures gets tiring.

(it not like the only difference b/w xbove and gc was microsoft live).