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"The one way road into the future"

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Wed 03/04/02 at 22:09
Regular
Posts: 787
Remember the scene about two years ago? On the brink of the 128 bit console age, we begin to hear about the new crop.

Promised are some of the greatest gaming innovations of all time. Just as the 32/64 bit age introduced us to 3D gaming, this age was to realise online gaming, give us photorealistic graphics, introduce handheld-console link ups and advance games to the emotional level.

Imagine that- playing a game that would evoke real emotions when you were playing! Sony even called their console's processor the "Emotion Engine" to point this out!

So, here we are, two years later, and what's happened?

Online gaming has collapsed. The Dreamcast's user base was far too small to warrant serious research in online gaming, and the lack of a standardised modem in the PS2 and GC will lead to a similar disinterest in the area. Even MS, with their huge wallets, haven't capitalised on the online idea yet!

In fact, all the other innovations promised have failed to be released except for one: better graphics.

Whereas the actual nature of games- their gameplay, originality and emotional content- has remained unchanged, the graphics used by them have increased enourmously.

If anything, ideals such as gameplay have actually been worsened by the graphics-driven game market. When was the last time you played a game as perfectly balanced as Street Fighter 2 or Mario Kart (SNES)?

So it would certainly appear that the future is indeed a one way road centred on graphics. There's not even any incentive to do anything differently: game sales are getting higher and higher- if it ain't broke don't fix it! Where will it all end? Perhaps when photorealistic graphics are reached at the end of the decade, then developers will begin to focus on gameplay and emotional content more?

Sonic
Sat 06/04/02 at 21:38
Regular
"---SOULJACKER---"
Posts: 5,448
I completely agree... that was the point of the topic- all manufacturers have fallen short on their promises!
Sat 06/04/02 at 21:12
Regular
"Gamertag Star Fury"
Posts: 2,710
Okay Sonic, I actually said there was the vision of broadband being widely available and if you have a problem with that then you better look at your beloved Microsoft becuase they have the impression Broadband is available to everyone because it's the only option for the X Box. So again it's not just Sony who are being widely over optimistic.

You're right about the claims made for the PS3- sory about that I couldn't find them on the Sony site but i'll beleive you - but you've also got MS officials claiming that Metal Gear is goingto be on the X Box....which is news to Konami by the sound of recent reports in Xgamer #1 and Gamespot.com.

I never expected Ridge Racer 5 to be amazing, but I've always liked Ridge Racer games and I knew that better was on the way. Most gamers know to ignore the hype and judge for themselves the quality of a game. I was under no illusions that the launch line up was amazing for the PS2 but it was good enough and the gameplay was there.

Optimism isn't confined to Sony. Micorsoft are making wild claims about downloadable content for games with no evidence apart from DOA3 add ons that Euro gamers have already. Plus we're going to need Broadband to get anything that does appear...and is Microsoft mentioning they're going to charge for using online services.... Sony have been straight from the beginning, they've said that Broadband would be best (OPSM2 #15) but that many users dont have it so they will go for the inferior 56k as well. Sony are only saying you can surf the net and play games and are letting developers talk about additional content, unlike Microsoft.
Sat 06/04/02 at 19:49
Regular
"---SOULJACKER---"
Posts: 5,448
Belldandy, have you missed the whole conversation?

I concede that Sega, and almost everyone else, has hyped their consoles with lies. However, in the case of the PS2, the whole thing is a circus show. They promissed gaming with emotions, a massive online capacity and photorealism- EVERY screen from the first PS2 demonstrations was photorealistic! They even gave fake development kits to developers so that they could make these fake screens.

Indeed, almost every single thing that Sony said before the actual first playable games were shown on the console was a complete lie!

OH, and the figure of the 1000 times more powerful PS3 IS OFFICIALLY FROM SONY! A month BEFORE the release of the PS2, Sony held a conference to show their future plans. They announced the console would be 1000 times more powerful than the PS2, and lots of other info that you can find in my topic in the Sony room on the matter (might be back one or two pages now). They have even quoted these figures several times since then.

As for your optomism that we will have broadband by the time the PS3 comes out, thus making networking a possibility, this is a joke! Even if we did, would Sony upheld their promise? Well, based on the fact that every pre-PS2 launch news from Sony was a lie, then I wouldn't bet on it!

Oh, and if there is one thing you said that I REALLY laughed at, it was the last paragraph. You bought the PS2 after seeing Ridge Racer 5. It was no better than RR4 in any way, and the jaggie graphics were SOOOO far off the promised photorealistic demos that Sony showed off for months!

Sonic
Sat 06/04/02 at 18:07
Regular
"Gamertag Star Fury"
Posts: 2,710
Gar-J wrote:
Now the
> X-Box and Gamecube are being released they're doing it again - Playstation 3 is
> going to be 'networked' so that it will share it's processing between many
> consoles. Who exactly is going to buy 2+ Playstation 3s? Or, who is going to buy
> one and use it to power someone else's game? I don't see that happening. They
> also claim it will be 1000 times more powerful than Playstation 2. I just hope
> this time people won't believe the hype, but they are sure to as Joe Public is
> pretty gullible.

The idea of networking is similar to the many screensavers such as the SETI and Cancer research ones where people run them when they aren't using their PC and a big load of data is processed faster. The vision is that by the time PS3 is along that all the consoles will be able to be on a broadband connection so will in theory be always connected to the Sony network unless they are unplugged. Such an idea could be the one that takes gaming into the next step.

Sony aren't the only ones who have engaged in dodgy tactics, indeed Sega themselves were the masters back in the 1980's when they faced up to rival Nintendo and later on with the 32X (they used star wars arcade machine screenshots to show the 32x version in one case) and the Mega Cd, and the Saturn.....basically its all marketing and all the gaming industry uses it, not just Sony. There is no reason why the PS3 cannot be 1000 times more powerful as you claim, and I'm yet to see an official statement to that effect on any official Sony site. you're accusing "Joe Public" of being carried by the hype but U'd look closer to home first......:)

>Please kids, don't believe everything you hear. Just look at your
> PS2, look at what Sony said it could do, and go cry in a corner.

Tears of joy surely ? X Box is failing already and Gamecube doesnt have the style of games many want. I'm not saying they are bad consoles, just that they don't suit what many gamers are looking for. Technically X box is brilliant but its relied on too few games and a high price is preventing the creation of a wide user base. Metal Gear Solid 2, GTA 3, Time Crisis 2, Virtu Fighter 4, GT3, FFX, and many more have all delivered on Sony's promises along with many other titles. Many PS2 games are being converted to other formats so surely this is proof again that Sony created a good machine in the PS2 ? No console has tons of blindingly brilliant games on its launch but relies on a small number of users to begin with who see something they like. Ridge Racer V may not be everyone's cup of tea, but it convinced me I wanted a PS2. Your picking up on Sony's dubious methods of showing games but these promotional videos show graphics - not gameplay.

Gameplay is all that matters in the end to those who buy any console, not the graphics.
Sat 06/04/02 at 17:48
Regular
"---SOULJACKER---"
Posts: 5,448
Nah... I waited for the PS2 price to drop before buying it... mainly use it as a DVD player these days mind!
Fri 05/04/02 at 18:51
Regular
Posts: 402
Never mind mate, as long as you didn't fork out the cash for one (a PS2), at least you won't feel a complete idiot for believing the hype. :o)

As for my membership - I joined ages ago as you see, posted once and then forgot all about it. Think this time I will be a regular though. :o)
Fri 05/04/02 at 18:33
Regular
"---SOULJACKER---"
Posts: 5,448
Well, it's got over 50 posts now! Hey... how long does it say you've been here!? That's longer than most site members!

Anyway, the PS2's hype was riddled with lies. As Sega set about launching the DC in America (where it did extraordinarily well) Sony gets Namco and co to make demos for the PS2... on powerful computer servers!

Not only did this mean that the "demos" could be near photorealistic, it meant that they were going to be nothing like the finnished product! Never before has a console been THIS hyped!

Sonic
Fri 05/04/02 at 00:43
Regular
"Peace Respect Punk"
Posts: 8,069
yeah, the stats are not updated continuosly, not exactly sure when they get updated, but check tomorrow...
Thu 04/04/02 at 23:22
Regular
Posts: 402
By the way

Anyone know why my stats says I've only posted once?

I've posted a lot more than that!

Does it only update at midnight or something?
Thu 04/04/02 at 23:17
Regular
Posts: 402
Thanks :o)

Was worrying in case I'd put in too much too soon - once I wrote in one forum I saw another I wanted to write in.

Seen a few forums about but this one seems to be the best one, and most populated!

But the way Sony tried desperately to dent Sega's sales wasn't on - perhaps I'd have been less annoyed with it if they could actually deliver their claims. But they can't.

Now the X-Box and Gamecube are being released they're doing it again - Playstation 3 is going to be 'networked' so that it will share it's processing between many consoles. Who exactly is going to buy 2+ Playstation 3s? Or, who is going to buy one and use it to power someone else's game? I don't see that happening. They also claim it will be 1000 times more powerful than Playstation 2. I just hope this time people won't believe the hype, but they are sure to as Joe Public is pretty gullible.

So, I'll be back here soon enough telling you about Sony's claims that Playstation 4 is so poweful it can play football with Jupter, which will obviously be 'leaked' on the release of Xbox 2 and Nintendo's next machine.

Please kids, don't believe everything you hear. Just look at your PS2, look at what Sony said it could do, and go cry in a corner.

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