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[URL]http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4270302.stm[/URL]
Hopefully this won't be bad news for the gaming industry.
Hopefully this won't be bad news for the gaming industry.
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WòókieeMøn§†€® wrote:
> EyeToy (motion-tracking in 3D space).
But, the Eye-toy is only tracking movement in a 2D plane.
The revolution controller can be useful for funky mini-games because it can be put into the base controller and can be romoved from it when you've got some little unique things to be doing.
It strikes me as being a controller for Mario Party and they'll figure out what else to do with it later, though :-).
There are plenty of design issues which any developer will need to work around to get it roigh though, just stupid things like an adult having an advantage over a child because they can't move their arms as far from left to right. All of this is important when looking at 3D tracking and trying to get a balanced experience for everyone.
> EyeToy (motion-tracking in 3D space).
But, the Eye-toy is only tracking movement in a 2D plane.
The revolution controller can be useful for funky mini-games because it can be put into the base controller and can be romoved from it when you've got some little unique things to be doing.
It strikes me as being a controller for Mario Party and they'll figure out what else to do with it later, though :-).
There are plenty of design issues which any developer will need to work around to get it roigh though, just stupid things like an adult having an advantage over a child because they can't move their arms as far from left to right. All of this is important when looking at 3D tracking and trying to get a balanced experience for everyone.
Bonus wrote:
> It strikes me as being a controller for Mario Party and they'll
> figure out what else to do with it later, though :-).
Exactly. It's not exactly a general purpose controller. I can't imagine it being very useful for, say, a racing game - even with the analogue stick attached.
> It strikes me as being a controller for Mario Party and they'll
> figure out what else to do with it later, though :-).
Exactly. It's not exactly a general purpose controller. I can't imagine it being very useful for, say, a racing game - even with the analogue stick attached.
I can imagine it being used for a racing game quite easily actually.
You steer the car by pointing left/right on the screen.
You steer the car by pointing left/right on the screen.
IGN's version:
" "PSP, PS3 Priority in Sony Reorganization
Company to cut jobs, close plants and reprioritize.
by Juan Castro
September 23, 2005 - Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer unveiled plans to reorganize Sony at a recent conference in Tokyo, Japan. Stringer acknowledged that smaller electronics companies had chipped away at Sony's hold over the television and portable audio markets, while also promising that Sony would once again bring "champion products" to the marketplace.
Best known for its Walkman line of music devices and Trinitron TVs, Sony has lost its place in the market due in part to Apple Computer's iPod players and low-cost Chinese TVs. And since consumer electronics makes up 70% of Sony's annual $67 billion revenue, Stringer has said that the division has now become Sony's number one priority. The restructuring will result in a 6.6% reduction of Sony's global workforce and the closing of 11 of the company's 65 manufacturing plants. Furthermore, Sony plans on nixing 15 of its 130 product categories and 20% of its 3,000 product models.
Some analysts are skeptical the proposed changes will have much effect.
"We all went through this more than a year ago," said Richard Doherty, an analyst with Envisioneering Group. "There isn't a radical difference between what was said today and what was said last year under a different chairman and CEO."
Stringer plans on doing more than closing plants and laying-off employees. He pointed to Apple's joining of the iPod players to the iTunes music store as an example of the kind and level of integration Sony itself needs.
"Apple would not have sold its devices if they didn't have their agreements with music companies," said Stringer, "Sony did not do that, even though we own the music business."
He went on to highlight the PSP as a good example for company cooperation. It's designed to play games, listen to music and watch movies. And its online capabilities will allow Sony to sell music and other products or services directly to the user whether home, or not.
While certain analysts doubted Stringer's plans for company organization, others agreed with Stringer's praise of the PSP and its potential.
"Creating a seamless link between the device and the service is crucial," said Mike McGuire, an analyst with Gartner Inc. "That's what Apple has done, and that's what Sony wants to do with the PSP. Consumers are nothing if not foragers of digital content. With the PSP, you can connect to the Internet, browse and download content other than games."
Analysts also chimed in on the PS3.
"Given the fact that PS3 means much more than just video gaming, it's going to be important to all their media studios," said P.J. McNealy, an analyst at American Technology Research. "This comes at a time when all internal content — whether or not it's music, movies or games — will be important to the PS3." "
" "PSP, PS3 Priority in Sony Reorganization
Company to cut jobs, close plants and reprioritize.
by Juan Castro
September 23, 2005 - Sony Chief Executive Howard Stringer unveiled plans to reorganize Sony at a recent conference in Tokyo, Japan. Stringer acknowledged that smaller electronics companies had chipped away at Sony's hold over the television and portable audio markets, while also promising that Sony would once again bring "champion products" to the marketplace.
Best known for its Walkman line of music devices and Trinitron TVs, Sony has lost its place in the market due in part to Apple Computer's iPod players and low-cost Chinese TVs. And since consumer electronics makes up 70% of Sony's annual $67 billion revenue, Stringer has said that the division has now become Sony's number one priority. The restructuring will result in a 6.6% reduction of Sony's global workforce and the closing of 11 of the company's 65 manufacturing plants. Furthermore, Sony plans on nixing 15 of its 130 product categories and 20% of its 3,000 product models.
Some analysts are skeptical the proposed changes will have much effect.
"We all went through this more than a year ago," said Richard Doherty, an analyst with Envisioneering Group. "There isn't a radical difference between what was said today and what was said last year under a different chairman and CEO."
Stringer plans on doing more than closing plants and laying-off employees. He pointed to Apple's joining of the iPod players to the iTunes music store as an example of the kind and level of integration Sony itself needs.
"Apple would not have sold its devices if they didn't have their agreements with music companies," said Stringer, "Sony did not do that, even though we own the music business."
He went on to highlight the PSP as a good example for company cooperation. It's designed to play games, listen to music and watch movies. And its online capabilities will allow Sony to sell music and other products or services directly to the user whether home, or not.
While certain analysts doubted Stringer's plans for company organization, others agreed with Stringer's praise of the PSP and its potential.
"Creating a seamless link between the device and the service is crucial," said Mike McGuire, an analyst with Gartner Inc. "That's what Apple has done, and that's what Sony wants to do with the PSP. Consumers are nothing if not foragers of digital content. With the PSP, you can connect to the Internet, browse and download content other than games."
Analysts also chimed in on the PS3.
"Given the fact that PS3 means much more than just video gaming, it's going to be important to all their media studios," said P.J. McNealy, an analyst at American Technology Research. "This comes at a time when all internal content — whether or not it's music, movies or games — will be important to the PS3." "
lcarus wrote:
>
> Though a crude assessment, is that really surprising? Don't forget
> they co-developed a new chip with almost all new architecture.
Which when held up to it's rivals specs produces a bit of a shrug as there's little difference between the two except it's likely the development cost Sony a hell of a lot more money.
And if
> you were running a company, those game profits would be seen as a
> natural reinvestment for future products. In fact, the "loads of
> money" made recently were nothing compared to the total
> investment in next gen products.
But the shareholders would no-doubt like to see a return on their investments. The way they've approached R&D seems to be quite wasteful as they've tried to make it do a lot of other things other than simply play games. In many ways they're putting all their eggs into one basket.
If people just want to play games and not make use the other features on the PS3 then there could be a problem.
> Sony could have gone the MS way and
> asked for a slightly modified CPU, but that would make identikit
> console specs.
As opposed to spending a lot of money and getting something that's almost equal to MS's offering anyway? Doesn't seem a very smart approach.
>
> Though a crude assessment, is that really surprising? Don't forget
> they co-developed a new chip with almost all new architecture.
Which when held up to it's rivals specs produces a bit of a shrug as there's little difference between the two except it's likely the development cost Sony a hell of a lot more money.
And if
> you were running a company, those game profits would be seen as a
> natural reinvestment for future products. In fact, the "loads of
> money" made recently were nothing compared to the total
> investment in next gen products.
But the shareholders would no-doubt like to see a return on their investments. The way they've approached R&D seems to be quite wasteful as they've tried to make it do a lot of other things other than simply play games. In many ways they're putting all their eggs into one basket.
If people just want to play games and not make use the other features on the PS3 then there could be a problem.
> Sony could have gone the MS way and
> asked for a slightly modified CPU, but that would make identikit
> console specs.
As opposed to spending a lot of money and getting something that's almost equal to MS's offering anyway? Doesn't seem a very smart approach.
Hedfix wrote:
> As opposed to spending a lot of money and getting something that's
> almost equal to MS's offering anyway? Doesn't seem a very smart
> approach.
This is the same situation as with the PS2, though.
With the PS2, games have progressed as time has gone on as developers have squeezed more and more out of the machine. Xbox games, on the other hand, look no better now than they did at launch. I said this at the time and people rubbished it, but it has proven to be the case.
Same with the next gen. You know what you've got in the 360, and you know what it can do before it's released. There's little room for improvement.
With the PS3, it's already comparable to the 360, but again developers will squeeze more and more out as they get used to the system. That's when the development cost will pay dividends.
> As opposed to spending a lot of money and getting something that's
> almost equal to MS's offering anyway? Doesn't seem a very smart
> approach.
This is the same situation as with the PS2, though.
With the PS2, games have progressed as time has gone on as developers have squeezed more and more out of the machine. Xbox games, on the other hand, look no better now than they did at launch. I said this at the time and people rubbished it, but it has proven to be the case.
Same with the next gen. You know what you've got in the 360, and you know what it can do before it's released. There's little room for improvement.
With the PS3, it's already comparable to the 360, but again developers will squeeze more and more out as they get used to the system. That's when the development cost will pay dividends.
Riiiight.
So Xbox games haven't progressed graphically at all since launch?
As far as 'room for improvement' goes, the smarter approach would be the Nintendo one. Their machines always ship with extra ports for add-ons and potential add-ons (The 4mb upgrade for the N64 was a particularly good one).
This cost isn't passed onto the consumer at launch though, add-ons are launched later and the materials for these add-ons are cheaper than they were at launch so the company can get them out for less of a cost to themselves.
At the moment it seems the PS3 is going to be a very expensive multimedia machine. The trouble is: I already have a PC and all I want is a console that plays games without much extra cost.
I want to be able to choose add-ons for my console rather than having to pay for a lot of them at launch.
So Xbox games haven't progressed graphically at all since launch?
As far as 'room for improvement' goes, the smarter approach would be the Nintendo one. Their machines always ship with extra ports for add-ons and potential add-ons (The 4mb upgrade for the N64 was a particularly good one).
This cost isn't passed onto the consumer at launch though, add-ons are launched later and the materials for these add-ons are cheaper than they were at launch so the company can get them out for less of a cost to themselves.
At the moment it seems the PS3 is going to be a very expensive multimedia machine. The trouble is: I already have a PC and all I want is a console that plays games without much extra cost.
I want to be able to choose add-ons for my console rather than having to pay for a lot of them at launch.
No, not in any significantly noticable fashion. There's not much that looks significantly better than the original Halo.
You may not fancy a PS3, but it's quite evident that there are very many who do.
As for the Nintendo approach - smarter or not, it hasn't done them any favours in the past, as they've been convincingly trounced by both of the new kids on the block.
You may not fancy a PS3, but it's quite evident that there are very many who do.
As for the Nintendo approach - smarter or not, it hasn't done them any favours in the past, as they've been convincingly trounced by both of the new kids on the block.
There's 'not much'?
So by your own admission there is 'some' then?
Case closed.
So by your own admission there is 'some' then?
Case closed.
Yes, but it's marginal. Certainly nowhere near the improvement that there has been in PS2 games.
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