Pugger said:
Phil, at the moment we have no idea who is supporting Xenon with software and who isn't. We do know that EA will certaintly be releasing its most important franchises on Xbox2 and considering EA are the biggest driving force in terms of software and thus to a certain extent consoles, this is important for MS. Remember EA eclispes the JPN developers although its obvious MS needs some big JPN developers on board for any chance of succsess in that territory. In terms of additional support what type of games are you pointing to? Xbox has got FPS covered its got racing genere covered and although admittley late its got some excellent RPG'S. Its also got some left of centre support from JPN in the form of Otogi and niche titles from Sega.
True, we really don't know. But it is my perception that there is still a big uncertainty regarding Xenon's specs and launch details among many 3rd party developers. I wouldn't be surprised if only a handful of trusted, exclusive developers are working on Xenon hardware at the moment, simply to avoid unnecessary information slipping out into the public about the console's abilities and a few tricks it may have up its sleeve. While this is certainly good in order to keep details under wraps and leaks at an absolute minimum, it also means that a big portion of developers have no idea and have little to start work on, other than the sparse information that's already available (3 dual core's etc..).
Another reason, which I pointed out in
this long post, is that an early launch is running danger of losing the support of those very PS2 focused 3rd parties because the PS2 will be at its most lucrative point, competing for resources.
Pugger said:
I really don't understand what PS2 has got covered that Xbox hasn't bar for the fact PS2 has quanity (although certainly not quality). The only significant area of software coverage PS2 has got over Xbox are cartoony platforms and the obvious JPN centric support.
It's the belief of many on this forum that games like Halo 3 and many other big Xbox games will lure people into getting Xenon, which I'm sure will have
some effect one way or the other. On the other hand, how many people are likely to go out and buy a Xenon for Halo 3 if they already didn't give a damn about Halo 1&2 on Xbox in the first place? And the same applies to all other Xbox franchises as well. If they effectively want to attract more sales
by PS2 supporters, they effectively have to give them the kind of software that they want. There are quite a few 'million sellers' on PS2 this generation that can be considered "hardware-movers"... starting with Final Fantasies, Metal Gear Solids, Grand Theft Autos, Gran Turismo's... there are many reasons why people buy into the PlayStation brand. I think one of the prime reasons (if not THE reason) was the very successful PlayStation console that sold up to 80 million units
before the PS2 even launched. People that supported the PlayStation at the time probably had quite an extensive library of games they liked - it certainly helped knowing that those games that made the PS so popular would remain on the PS2. Arguably, one of the games with the biggest impact is the Final Fantasy series that, if I remember correctly, influenced PS sales greatly at the time.
My point is that the factors that made the PS2 the top selling console of this generation will also be the prime reason PS3 will remain the top selling console ->
Popular belief that games that influenced sales for PS2 this generation will remain on the PlayStation brand.
How will a Xenon launch with Xbox popular franchises change anything? If those franchises should be reason enough, why aren't people buying into them
today? And if they're not buying into them today, how will they effectively make a difference at launch with Xenon?
There's really no criticism towards Xbox franchises on my side, other than that they won't be very useful in garnering sales by PS2 supporters. Heck, Xbox franchises will be a great thing in its own right to secure sales by Xbox supporters! I'm just merely pointing out that an early launch won't make the difference with the same kind of Xbox-esque software. Admittedly, the only game in Xbox's library that I see might have somewhat of an impact on PS2 supporters is Halo 3 - seeing that Halo 2 was responsible for quite a few hardware sales, at least in America. It's also a genre that is underperforming on PS2 - while being the PC's strongest supported genre. KillZone unfortunately didn't have that kind of an impact that it would have shifted focus (despite quite good sales, in Europe anyway), so Halo 3 might make a difference.
So to answer your question -
I really don't understand what PS2 has got covered that Xbox hasn't bar for the fact PS2 has quanity -
what the Xbox lacks is the name-recognition/support of those big games/developers that people are expecting to see continued on their choice of console. This will certainly prove to be the deciding factor for myself in deciding which console I'll be supporting next generation.
Pugger said:
however I see nothing on the PSP that isn't on the PS2 already, in fact many of the games are virtually direct ports yet you will still buy one. So is software really the driving force early on, or is it the fact that its a sexy looking peice of new technology which is a must have?
As I said, it's a mix between price (<$200), features (mp3, movie, games), appearance (incredibly sexy-hightech looking), game support (software I like given it's supported by PS2 developers), future integration (PS3 <-> PSP connectivity).
Just because the current PSP lineup is flodded by ports, doesn't mean it will
only feature ports. In fact, given its PS2 similar architecture, I expect developers to make reasonable progress and be able to make exciting new software for it eventually -> actually, the two games I'm interested in the most currently is undoubedly Wipeout Pure and the Marble Madness similar game (too lazy to look up the name) - both which aren't ports.
Pugger said:
This is what MS is trying to do with Xenon, make its desirable as possible (which obviuosly means it can't look like a brick). Then it needs to convince people such as yourselve that its software support will contain a variety and wide ranging range of titles including games from the big JPN developers. At the moment we have no idea who MS has on board.
As I said, I'm open for surprises. Given the reasons I listed above - mainly being (1) the early launch with lack of "good" support because resources are allocated to a lucrative PS2 userbase, (2) no Xbox2 at GDC and (3) sparse information on detailed Xenon hardware (I'm sure leaks would be common if more information were available among developers) - I think I am voicing valid
concerns in that the current Xenon lineup is
probably not much more than Xbox franchises at this point.
If this turns out to be true, I'll be left wondering why an early launch was necessary and the resulted drawback in launching with most-likely inferior hardware (I do expect a PS3 launching a year later to have somewhat of an advantage due to a better process being available). IMO, one of the best things for Xenon and its early launch would be a PlayStation typical game at launch (or making a huge appearance for launch shortly after) for Xenon, i.e. a Tekken game or something (of course, a big Konami title like a MGS title would have a huge impact as well - or the sensation of a Final Fantasy making an appearance) - but, do I see this happening? Not a chance, for obvious reasons. Feel free to disagree.
