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"Add-ons, Optional?"

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Mon 19/02/01 at 20:18
Regular
Posts: 787
Consoles are becoming more and more advanced and more add-ons are being, well, added on. I have don't have any problems with this as long as the people buying the consoles don't mind it.

The PS2 has DVD capabilities, the Dreamcast has internet access. I agree that this is definitely the way forward but what about the customers who don't want internet access through their games console? There stuck with it, maybe they can't afford it, maybe they've already got it. They don't have to use it but just it being there has bumped up the price of the console.

Imagine how much cheaper the Dreamcast would have been origanally if it didn't have the online capabilities. True now it's come down to £99.99 it's a hell of a good deal, but more people would have been tempted if the price wasn't so steep. So what can we do to solve this? We can make the add-ons optional!

Think about it. How much better would it be if you could simply plug in the Xboxs hardrive and take it out when you didn't need it? If you have no interest it's pretty pointless having a DVD player, isn't it? So why can't you just by one and plug it in if you decide you would rather watch DVD's than VHS's? Nintendo have kind of done this with the 4 Meg expansion pak but no one seems to have caught on to the idea.

If online multiplayer is the future of gaming, then plug in peripherals are the future of add-ons!

RBS
Mon 19/02/01 at 20:18
Regular
"You've upset me"
Posts: 21,152
Consoles are becoming more and more advanced and more add-ons are being, well, added on. I have don't have any problems with this as long as the people buying the consoles don't mind it.

The PS2 has DVD capabilities, the Dreamcast has internet access. I agree that this is definitely the way forward but what about the customers who don't want internet access through their games console? There stuck with it, maybe they can't afford it, maybe they've already got it. They don't have to use it but just it being there has bumped up the price of the console.

Imagine how much cheaper the Dreamcast would have been origanally if it didn't have the online capabilities. True now it's come down to £99.99 it's a hell of a good deal, but more people would have been tempted if the price wasn't so steep. So what can we do to solve this? We can make the add-ons optional!

Think about it. How much better would it be if you could simply plug in the Xboxs hardrive and take it out when you didn't need it? If you have no interest it's pretty pointless having a DVD player, isn't it? So why can't you just by one and plug it in if you decide you would rather watch DVD's than VHS's? Nintendo have kind of done this with the 4 Meg expansion pak but no one seems to have caught on to the idea.

If online multiplayer is the future of gaming, then plug in peripherals are the future of add-ons!

RBS
Mon 19/02/01 at 20:37
Posts: 0
Its a balance, if you dont build things into a console as standard far fewer games come out that take advantage of the device/whatever youve put in.

If Dreamcast didnt have a modem as standard then we probably wouldnt be seeing quality online games like Quake III and Phantasy Star Online.

The real question is if console manufacturers should add on hardware thats not needed for Gaming, i.e. The PS2s DVD player!
Mon 19/02/01 at 21:50
Regular
"Fishing For Reddies"
Posts: 4,986
The thing is, having internet access on the Dreamcast is a good thing and optional as well I mean just because people buy a Dreamcast doesn't mean that they HAVE to go on-line and play against Ms Miyamoto and the pink patrol! It is there purely to add extra fun to the games and the browse the web whilst doing so!

The chances are that if people can afford a Dreamcast they can afford to spend and hour or so on a Saturday on the Dreamarena, having said that, the Dreamcast being the price it is anyone could be buying one,...What Value!!!!

But back to the topic, I don't think that the Non-gaming PS2 DVD idea is bad either, I think that in the not too distant furute games and movies will be interacting, and if they can do this on the PS2 with say tomb raider and The Matrix (when it comes out) then in turn all of these 'add-ons' will be beneficial to the Future of Gaming...Gaming Can't Lose!!!

...at least that is how I see it!

The Game
Mon 19/02/01 at 23:06
Regular
"Eric The Half A Bee"
Posts: 5,347
Didnt the Dreamcast shoip with a 33.6 Modem?...

You can buy 56K modems for less than 25 two years ago... I dont think that really affected the price of the box?

...

New Jimmy wrote:
The real question is if console
> manufacturers should add on hardware thats not needed for Gaming,
> i.e. The PS2s DVD player!

Taking thje Microsoft point ofView huh? :)

I reckon over the next year or so, once Sony have released a an optional Hard Drive, Keyboard'n'mouse, then they'll start making a lot of games that eith need the addons to run... or run like a dog without them...

This means the'll force people who want to keep playing into buying further hardware.

And since they will be the only produces of certified kit (Sony HD, etc) then they can charge as much as they like for it...

I'll predict that a Sony harddrive costs 3 times as much as its PC equivelent, despite being pretty much the same piece of kit?
Mon 19/02/01 at 23:27
Moderator
"possibly impossible"
Posts: 24,985
Is it just me or has this topic been done to death recently. I'd swear I've seen virtually the same thing written in slighty different ways at least 4 times in the last month.

Perhaps it's just me, if so ignore me.
Mon 19/02/01 at 23:44
Regular
"Eric The Half A Bee"
Posts: 5,347
Topics seem to do that here... they jump around under loads of different names, all discussing the same thing, with everybody repeating what they had said before, then after a while everyone becomes sick of the whole thing and starts again with something new...

mmm... kinda like the gaming world?!?!
Tue 20/02/01 at 00:01
Regular
"---SOULJACKER---"
Posts: 5,448
Yes, but one of the DC's selling points was free (not completely true) access to the net. In america they only advertised the online game aspect when they came out (maybe we should have done the same too!)

SonicRav
Tue 20/02/01 at 00:09
Regular
"Eric The Half A Bee"
Posts: 5,347
SonicRav wrote:
> Yes, but one of the DC's selling points was free (not completely
> true) access to the net. In america they only advertised the online
> game aspect when they came out (maybe we should have done the same
> too!)

Did you have to pay a monthly charge... or just call time?...

If it was line rental, then the wouldnt have to pay, so for them at least it would have been completly free...
Tue 20/02/01 at 07:56
Regular
"not dead"
Posts: 11,145
Armatige Shanks wrote:

> with everybody repeating what they had said before,

I bet if you read half of my posts my opinion swings wildly from one side to the other over the different topics.

For some reason I always manage to convince myself that blue is black, but blue IS the new black.


So add-ons are the future then?

How about a Mega-CD or a 32x for you?
Tue 20/02/01 at 11:53
Regular
"Fishing For Reddies"
Posts: 4,986
I know, I think addon's are a waste of time too, I think they should all be inside the console, but then again if they released something later on ouy'd be screwed!

Rastabilly...I mean uh----oops

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