Hey savagehenry - thanks for the thoughtful response. Regarding MGO I probably should have been clearer. I was actually condemning Konami's convoluted sign-up process and not the actual experience of eventually playing the game online. The thing I like about Live as that every game is required to support voicechat and they all do it the same way to avoid these types of situations.
I've owned all of the systems the past two generations because I'm a sucker and this is my main hobby, so there is certainly no malice intended on my part either - all systems offer their slant on gaming and have their respective strengths and weaknesses (dont' get me started on 360's reliability). I have just grown increasingly frustrated with Sony's hubris this generation and sincerely hope that they've been chastened by their precipitous loss of market share and improve their performance next gen.
@savagehenry - the success of 360 achievements is attributed to the meta aspect of the system. All games contribute to your score and, more importantly, it is easier to find like-minded friends by checking out the games they've played and how they play them (based on their achievements). This is why there is no point to releasing a trophy system 2 years after launch and why Sony should have had website integration from launch too.
I have both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and enjoy buying and renting HD movies. However, I have no false illusions about the long-term viability of the "winning" format. I fully expect Blu-Ray to be a short-term placeholder while broadband speeds standardize and become ubiquitous enough that most content will be streamed/downloaded. The recent Netflix integration with 360 is just the latest sign that technology is getting to the level where hard formats will become obsolete. Whether that is good or bad for consumers has yet to be determined.
My gripe with Sony is they have a disturbing record of releasing hardware before the software is ready for it. Both Blu-Ray and PS3 launched without baseline standards for things like online and we now have segmented and scattered implementation of features when they finally do trickle out. This laissez-faire approach has resulted in frustration and confusing approaches to online (just look at Konami's disastrous MGS4 online offering and how many PS3 games don't even support voicechat). Contrast that with HD-DVD and 360 which had robust, standardized featuresets resulting in broad adoption and ease of use.
Sure, it didn't work out for HD-DVD (for other reasons) but it seems to be working quite well for 360. They still have the flexibility to expand on the featureset, but it launched with at least some standardization resulting in a vibrant, coherent atmosphere.
This is pointless (no pun intended) since there is already a 2 year game library that doesn't support trophies. Just another example of Sony dropping the ball and releasing the PS3 (and Blu-Ray for that matter) without firm and universal standards.
@Huw Jass - 360 is built around online, which is precisely why MS doesn't include WiFi in the box and openly discourages it by pricing the WiFi add-on so high. Anyone who is serious about online gaming knows to avoid WiFi. Anything other than direct Ethernet connection is going to lessen the experience for everyone else in the game - not to mention yourself.
Regarding NXE, I don't think it's really going to have much of an impact expanding the 360 demographic. I think that comes down to advertising in other areas (Women's and Kid's tv shows and magazines) and emphasizing the features and library 360 already has that can appeal to those users when reaching out to them.
While most hardcore gamers (myself included) resent Nintendo for talking past us this generation, there is little question that is the secret to their success with the Wii and DS. They could care less about the hardcore gamer and spent more resources advertising to seniors and Mom's.
More than anything, these weekly hardware numbers demonstrate how increasingly irrelevant Japan has become to the home console market (although still a factor in handhelds).
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grognard66's Comments
Hey savagehenry - thanks for the thoughtful response. Regarding MGO I probably should have been clearer. I was actually condemning Konami's convoluted sign-up process and not the actual experience of eventually playing the game online. The thing I like about Live as that every game is required to support voicechat and they all do it the same way to avoid these types of situations.
I've owned all of the systems the past two generations because I'm a sucker and this is my main hobby, so there is certainly no malice intended on my part either - all systems offer their slant on gaming and have their respective strengths and weaknesses (dont' get me started on 360's reliability). I have just grown increasingly frustrated with Sony's hubris this generation and sincerely hope that they've been chastened by their precipitous loss of market share and improve their performance next gen.
@savagehenry - the success of 360 achievements is attributed to the meta aspect of the system. All games contribute to your score and, more importantly, it is easier to find like-minded friends by checking out the games they've played and how they play them (based on their achievements). This is why there is no point to releasing a trophy system 2 years after launch and why Sony should have had website integration from launch too.
I have both Blu-Ray and HD-DVD and enjoy buying and renting HD movies. However, I have no false illusions about the long-term viability of the "winning" format. I fully expect Blu-Ray to be a short-term placeholder while broadband speeds standardize and become ubiquitous enough that most content will be streamed/downloaded. The recent Netflix integration with 360 is just the latest sign that technology is getting to the level where hard formats will become obsolete. Whether that is good or bad for consumers has yet to be determined.
My gripe with Sony is they have a disturbing record of releasing hardware before the software is ready for it. Both Blu-Ray and PS3 launched without baseline standards for things like online and we now have segmented and scattered implementation of features when they finally do trickle out. This laissez-faire approach has resulted in frustration and confusing approaches to online (just look at Konami's disastrous MGS4 online offering and how many PS3 games don't even support voicechat). Contrast that with HD-DVD and 360 which had robust, standardized featuresets resulting in broad adoption and ease of use.
Sure, it didn't work out for HD-DVD (for other reasons) but it seems to be working quite well for 360. They still have the flexibility to expand on the featureset, but it launched with at least some standardization resulting in a vibrant, coherent atmosphere.
This is pointless (no pun intended) since there is already a 2 year game library that doesn't support trophies. Just another example of Sony dropping the ball and releasing the PS3 (and Blu-Ray for that matter) without firm and universal standards.
@Huw Jass - 360 is built around online, which is precisely why MS doesn't include WiFi in the box and openly discourages it by pricing the WiFi add-on so high. Anyone who is serious about online gaming knows to avoid WiFi. Anything other than direct Ethernet connection is going to lessen the experience for everyone else in the game - not to mention yourself.
Regarding NXE, I don't think it's really going to have much of an impact expanding the 360 demographic. I think that comes down to advertising in other areas (Women's and Kid's tv shows and magazines) and emphasizing the features and library 360 already has that can appeal to those users when reaching out to them.
While most hardcore gamers (myself included) resent Nintendo for talking past us this generation, there is little question that is the secret to their success with the Wii and DS. They could care less about the hardcore gamer and spent more resources advertising to seniors and Mom's.
More than anything, these weekly hardware numbers demonstrate how increasingly irrelevant Japan has become to the home console market (although still a factor in handhelds).
All grognard66's Comments