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What's all the crap I hear about Microsoft trying to monopolise the gaming market. They're "buying all the other companies" and "using their money to get what they want"... aparantly. I beg to differ.
To begin with, let's have a look at the above quotes.
Contrary to popular belief, MS have not bought any big games companies. They bought Bungie- who are so small the MS relocated every single person in the company- and more recently Rare- the tiny midlands developer. No sign of any big publishers yet. And what have they done with these companies? Microsoft allowed Bungie so many resources that Halo has been nominated for "Game of the Year" awards numerous times. Is this a bad thing?
At the same time, MS are throwing money at other publishers for exclusives. Which is exactly what Sony did with the PS1. In both situations the companies gave wods of cash, development tools and premade libraries to third party developers to produce exclusive games. This is how Sony wooed Konami, Square and Namco away from Nintendo.
And this all adds up towards a great thing for gamers. If the Xbox's successor gets nearer to Sony's sales figures then we will once more find ourselves in a console wars where it is the games that determine the outcome, and not company branding. Let's face it, the PS2 had no competition when it came out, and the quality of games was nowhere near as paramount as it had been in, say, the SNES vs Mega Drive days.
So, to those who curse the Xbox, think before you speak. MS have not bought out many companies, made any more third party deals than any other manufacturer (including Sega!), and are certainly not dominating the market. Competition is good.
Sonic
To begin with, let's have a look at the above quotes.
Contrary to popular belief, MS have not bought any big games companies. They bought Bungie- who are so small the MS relocated every single person in the company- and more recently Rare- the tiny midlands developer. No sign of any big publishers yet. And what have they done with these companies? Microsoft allowed Bungie so many resources that Halo has been nominated for "Game of the Year" awards numerous times. Is this a bad thing?
At the same time, MS are throwing money at other publishers for exclusives. Which is exactly what Sony did with the PS1. In both situations the companies gave wods of cash, development tools and premade libraries to third party developers to produce exclusive games. This is how Sony wooed Konami, Square and Namco away from Nintendo.
And this all adds up towards a great thing for gamers. If the Xbox's successor gets nearer to Sony's sales figures then we will once more find ourselves in a console wars where it is the games that determine the outcome, and not company branding. Let's face it, the PS2 had no competition when it came out, and the quality of games was nowhere near as paramount as it had been in, say, the SNES vs Mega Drive days.
So, to those who curse the Xbox, think before you speak. MS have not bought out many companies, made any more third party deals than any other manufacturer (including Sega!), and are certainly not dominating the market. Competition is good.
Sonic
Page:
see, they still haven't
gerrid wrote:
> I agree 100%, but you really should own Shenmue II, as that was far
> better.
> And if you didn't read DC-UK, you aren't a proper DC owner (those are
> the rules). I trust you did, and mourned it's loss with great sadness.
Oh yes, and ODCM (mainly for the demos though). I still have loads of issues somewhere in the loft. I still also have my Action Replay cart & Disc so I can play DC Quake and Megadrive/MAME emulators. Groovy.
> I agree 100%, but you really should own Shenmue II, as that was far
> better.
> And if you didn't read DC-UK, you aren't a proper DC owner (those are
> the rules). I trust you did, and mourned it's loss with great sadness.
Oh yes, and ODCM (mainly for the demos though). I still have loads of issues somewhere in the loft. I still also have my Action Replay cart & Disc so I can play DC Quake and Megadrive/MAME emulators. Groovy.
POP
yeah, it's funny, and he doesn't pop into any of the topics which prove that his beloved PS2 is rubbish and ridiculed etc.
I enjoy argueing with Top Score.
What I REALLY want to know, is why Update2.01 (I think it's DavidRJR in disguise) and Top Scor ethink the PS2 is the most superior console?
It's got an EXSHPANSHON BAY. Wow. That's Amazing. Though the GC and X-BOx don't need an expansion bay. It plays DVD's. Wow. It's what I always dreamed. Playing DVD's on my GAMES console. I couldn't care less, although thats what it serves as in most Japanese homes. It's got the best games. No. It doesn't. It's got more GOOD games, but in a ration of good games to bad ones, it's some thing like 1:8 whereas X-Box and GC have a healthier 1:3 ratio.
So tell us boys, why is it superior? It has sold the most? Well, maybe 2 years unopposed (the Dreamcast was wiped out in 6 months roughly) and a brand name which soon may well belong to Nintendo?
Come on, I wanna know
It's got an EXSHPANSHON BAY. Wow. That's Amazing. Though the GC and X-BOx don't need an expansion bay. It plays DVD's. Wow. It's what I always dreamed. Playing DVD's on my GAMES console. I couldn't care less, although thats what it serves as in most Japanese homes. It's got the best games. No. It doesn't. It's got more GOOD games, but in a ration of good games to bad ones, it's some thing like 1:8 whereas X-Box and GC have a healthier 1:3 ratio.
So tell us boys, why is it superior? It has sold the most? Well, maybe 2 years unopposed (the Dreamcast was wiped out in 6 months roughly) and a brand name which soon may well belong to Nintendo?
Come on, I wanna know
And don't even argue with Update 2.01. He is a man after DaveRJRs heart.
Ah, DaveRJR, the legend lives on. I hope his marriage to Top Score is going well.
Ah, DaveRJR, the legend lives on. I hope his marriage to Top Score is going well.
pb wrote:
> Loads of clever things about the DC being great.
I agree 100%, but you really should own Shenmue II, as that was far better.
And if you didn't read DC-UK, you aren't a proper DC owner (those are the rules). I trust you did, and mourned it's loss with great sadness.
> Loads of clever things about the DC being great.
I agree 100%, but you really should own Shenmue II, as that was far better.
And if you didn't read DC-UK, you aren't a proper DC owner (those are the rules). I trust you did, and mourned it's loss with great sadness.
In reply to BellDandy who thinks my comments are
" utter cr**"
I stand by my comments, I have noticed the PS2 is still leading the market and I have noticed that in the short term there are benefits to Microsoft entering the market. Increased competition has lowered game and console prices, however nobody can deny that the Xbox is simply a cut down PC running a basic operating system, that was designed around Direct X 8. My point is since the Xbox is simply a PC, eventually if Microsoft succeeds then the PC and Xbox successor(s) will simply become indistinguishable. Nintendo will be dead, and there will only be two companies in the field Sony and Microsoft. Since the Xbox will always have games so long as the PC is around eventually Microsoft may stop bribing companys to make Xbox only gamers leaving gamers worse off.
" utter cr**"
I stand by my comments, I have noticed the PS2 is still leading the market and I have noticed that in the short term there are benefits to Microsoft entering the market. Increased competition has lowered game and console prices, however nobody can deny that the Xbox is simply a cut down PC running a basic operating system, that was designed around Direct X 8. My point is since the Xbox is simply a PC, eventually if Microsoft succeeds then the PC and Xbox successor(s) will simply become indistinguishable. Nintendo will be dead, and there will only be two companies in the field Sony and Microsoft. Since the Xbox will always have games so long as the PC is around eventually Microsoft may stop bribing companys to make Xbox only gamers leaving gamers worse off.
BEfore I begin, I think Sideshow Buzz made the best points. The worst points come below:
Update2.01 wrote:
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors. It will buy up the software houses,
> but in the immediate future, the games will remain on their existing
> platforms. But when the game comes round for an upgrade, it will
> almost certainly go XBox only. Eventually, this will happen to so many
> games you would have no option but to buy an XBox.
Actually, this is rubbish. Sony own far more developers than any other manufacturer, and have massive shares in companies like Square. In addition, the number of PS2 units out there, and selling weekly, is many, many times larger than the number of Xboxs and GCs PUT TOGETHER. As a result, most of the big games will be released on the PS2.
You seem to be in the mind that updates to games will go to the Xbox because, perhaps, it is "more powerful". However, not only has the PS2 got a far bigger market, but if you release a game on the PS2, it's sequel will also be on the PS2 (in most cases) because that's where the main audience for the game is. (Ignore minor cases where this has not happened)
>
> Microsoft does lock us into one technology with little or no room for
> innovation from out side. Those of us old enough remember a thriving
> home computer market - with different formats and lots of different
> software. Anyone remember the Amiga 500 and Atari ST, no to say
> anything of the Camadore series. Once the PC with DOS/Windows swamped
> this market, there was no turning back. Everything for
> "home" computing is now stuck with the PC and Windows
> combo.
You really don't get it, do you. During the PS1 years, Sony had almost complete domination of the market. Before the Xbox they also had near complete domination with the PS2. Now they STILL have almost complete domination with the PS2. You liked the early home computing days because the competition forced companies to strive to be the best - and now that there is direct competition for Sony in the console market they too must strive for excellence. They will be forced (in the next console era hopefully), to put more money into small developers (like they did with the PS1 launch), and produce better development kits. All this will promote better gaming.. just like when the SNES and Mega Drive went head-to-head in the West.
>
> But Microsoft have got to deal with Nintendo and Sony. And from the
> latest UK sales figures, Microsoft only sold about 21k, while sony
> shifted about 71k. Nintendo GameCube failed to make an impact with
> just 10k sold. Microsoft knows it can't win people over just by the
> strength of it's XBox (and games), that is why it has to buy the
> market out.
IT HASN'T BOUGHT THE MARKET OUT! MS have 2 developers worth naming - FAR less than Nintendo (who a dozens of the things), and sony (who own dozens of them!). In fact, when Sega launched the Dreamcast, they bought many developers to ensure first/second party support (just as Sony did with the PS1, and MS are doing with the Xbox). This is something that goes on all he time in gaming... why don't you do some studying instead of blaring away about MS buying the market out!
Sonic
Update2.01 wrote:
> Microsoft DOES wan't to buy up the entire market. It want's market
> dominance, with no competitors. It will buy up the software houses,
> but in the immediate future, the games will remain on their existing
> platforms. But when the game comes round for an upgrade, it will
> almost certainly go XBox only. Eventually, this will happen to so many
> games you would have no option but to buy an XBox.
Actually, this is rubbish. Sony own far more developers than any other manufacturer, and have massive shares in companies like Square. In addition, the number of PS2 units out there, and selling weekly, is many, many times larger than the number of Xboxs and GCs PUT TOGETHER. As a result, most of the big games will be released on the PS2.
You seem to be in the mind that updates to games will go to the Xbox because, perhaps, it is "more powerful". However, not only has the PS2 got a far bigger market, but if you release a game on the PS2, it's sequel will also be on the PS2 (in most cases) because that's where the main audience for the game is. (Ignore minor cases where this has not happened)
>
> Microsoft does lock us into one technology with little or no room for
> innovation from out side. Those of us old enough remember a thriving
> home computer market - with different formats and lots of different
> software. Anyone remember the Amiga 500 and Atari ST, no to say
> anything of the Camadore series. Once the PC with DOS/Windows swamped
> this market, there was no turning back. Everything for
> "home" computing is now stuck with the PC and Windows
> combo.
You really don't get it, do you. During the PS1 years, Sony had almost complete domination of the market. Before the Xbox they also had near complete domination with the PS2. Now they STILL have almost complete domination with the PS2. You liked the early home computing days because the competition forced companies to strive to be the best - and now that there is direct competition for Sony in the console market they too must strive for excellence. They will be forced (in the next console era hopefully), to put more money into small developers (like they did with the PS1 launch), and produce better development kits. All this will promote better gaming.. just like when the SNES and Mega Drive went head-to-head in the West.
>
> But Microsoft have got to deal with Nintendo and Sony. And from the
> latest UK sales figures, Microsoft only sold about 21k, while sony
> shifted about 71k. Nintendo GameCube failed to make an impact with
> just 10k sold. Microsoft knows it can't win people over just by the
> strength of it's XBox (and games), that is why it has to buy the
> market out.
IT HASN'T BOUGHT THE MARKET OUT! MS have 2 developers worth naming - FAR less than Nintendo (who a dozens of the things), and sony (who own dozens of them!). In fact, when Sega launched the Dreamcast, they bought many developers to ensure first/second party support (just as Sony did with the PS1, and MS are doing with the Xbox). This is something that goes on all he time in gaming... why don't you do some studying instead of blaring away about MS buying the market out!
Sonic
Page: