Friday, March 30, 2007

Three (3)

There are three gaming communities built around three companies, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo. It is interesting how there are distinct similarities yet striking differences between the ways these communities form and interact with itself and others.

The Nintendo communities I have seen are, as a matter of fact, populated by kids, mostly below the age of sixteen. I know I'll be copping some negative flack for this but this is how it seems to be in the majority of cases. Consequently I could say that the Nintendo communities is the most immature, ironically it extends beyond just members of a public web forum and can cause problems in higher levels of said forum, such as moderators and admins not knowing how to deal with such persistent issues of immaturity. With the young age there was also a nice side effect - over optimism, Nintendo fanboys are the most bloody optimistic bunch of all three fanboy groups, this optimism did on occasions become too optimistic to digest, 'HD for Wii!11!11!1!!!!!1'.

For instance on one forum that was pretending to be even across all three consoles had a very heavy Nintendo bias, very heavy. The demographic consisted of mostly below sixteen year olds, Sony bashing was extremely rife to the point (above sixteen year old) moderators had given up trying to quell the Sony bashing, I am almost convinced the mods actually like it but never took part in the behavior the younger members did. Either that or they are incompetent.

This didn't extend to all web communities centering around Nintendo, however the general 'feel' of a Nintendo biased community was very much exaggerated on the aforementioned forum. Granted there were a few adult Nintendo fanboys and these adults were far more mature than most fanboys from Sony and Microsoft they were few in far in between, mostly they were people brought up as Nintendo fanboys from a young age. These older people also tended to own multiple systems, Wii60 being the most popular combination of all but I did find the occasional Playstation 3/Wii combination.




Point By Point, Nintendo Fanboy Communities:
  • Are the most immature, most of the core fanboys are below 16 and have the maturity of kids half their age (wouldn't be surprised if they get bullied in the real world)
  • Have the most flaming/trolling
  • Have some of the most mature members but are few and far inbetween, these members also tend to own multiple systems
  • Can sometimes admit to faults in their systems

Arrogance is something that extends beyond Sony's PR and goes all the way to the communities, I literally laughed out loud when a Sony fanboy repeated Kaz Hirai like some lapdog on how Blu-Ray would give developers more 'freedom' despite the extra cost (and the fact most developers might not want the extra 'freedom'). Other wonderful comments these fanboys like to spout out include 'Blu-Ray is the future' and 'CELL is the future'. Justifying the heavy price of the Playstation 3 is something these folks have nailed down to a science, 'it has a built in Blu-Ray player on its own hence it's worth it and CELL will guarantee it has a future beyond 2 years and Killzone 2 will be the Halo killer and OMGWTF!? SIXAXIS ROX!' was the general consensus. Everything bad about the Playstation 3 and Sony in general was spun to make it look good, everything good about the Playstation 3 was used as an argumentative point against the competition (i.e. Microsoft and Nintendo).

Justification is key in the Sony forums, unlike other fanboy communities they justify everything, including what cannot be justified about the Playstation 3, from SIXAXIS to Blu-Ray, if you say anything slightly, remotely negative about the Playstation 3 you'll be beat down for it for blasphemy, even something simple like 'I'd prefer the Wii-Mote to SIXAXIS' was enough to really start the fires.

This arrogance they hold seems to precede everything else, even games themselves, seems like they don't care how they play their games or watch their movies so long as they do it on the Playstation 3, when the GTA 4 trailer was finally released one of the first topics on note was how the trailer was 'obviously' running on the Playstation 3 and the game would also (rather 'obviously') look like crap on the Xbox 360.

The difference between Sony fanboys and Microsoft fanboys is arrogance, literally. I'm sure not all Sony fanboys can be described as above but by god most of them can be, Sony fanboys just love to spin the negatives of the Playstation 3 and bash the competition with the cool features the Playstation 3 has, it's like the only reason they want the Playstation 3 to do well is so they can rub it in other (non-Sony fanboy) peoples faces.

It's a pity that Sony fanboys can't keep to themselves, I've seen them troll like crazy on Nintendo and Microsoft biased forums. On Nintendo forums the reaction was often anger and flaming that lead to more flamewars while on the Microsoft forums things were a lot cooler.




Point By Point, Sony Fanboy Communities:
  • Are by and far the most arrogant
  • Is the only community that will not at all ever admit to any fault in the Playstation 3 or PSP at all and would rather justify said faults and spin them as best they can
  • Have the highest rate of trolling and flaming
  • Care more about owning a Playstation 3 for the sake of a Playstation 3, games, services and all that take second place
  • Love to bash other systems and seem to only own a Playstation 3 for the sake of bashing other 'inferior' systems. Truly if the Playstation 3 had no games five million fanboys would buy it to bash its competition

Surprisingly (or perhaps not so surprisingly) the Microsoft biased community was overwhelmingly the most mature and level headed. I never would have thought I'd see the day were a moderator on an Xbox 360 fanboy site would openly scorn Xbox fanboys from bashing Sony for no real reason, or even Nintendo for that matter (granted anti-Nintendo tripe was far less common).

I guess what Microsoft fanboys want most is to see their console improve, they don't justify failings of the 360 or try to spin it (unlike Sony fanboys), for instance since the announcement of the Elite 360 there has been a massive uproar for severel reasons, including price, lack of built in HD-DVD drive and HDMI 1.2 amongst other things. I'm not saying all those complaints are justified but I for one am bloody well surprised of all three communities the Microsoft one happened to be the most open and self critical of all.

When the GTA 4 trailer was released the Sony biased forums I visited were in uproar about how cool it was and how the trailer must be running on a Playstation 3 and not an Xbox 360 because obviously only the Playstation 3 can make graphics like that. I was shocked that all three Sony biased forums had this general push behind them, of all things, they were excited about the trailer not because it was GTA 4 but because they had convinced themselves it was running on the Playstation 3 and that it would look worse on the 360, at least that was their main driving point. None of the Microsoft biased communities had such a reaction, all of them were happy about the trailer and excited about the game, discussing what they saw in the trailer, the closest they came to touching the ps3 VS 360 flamewar was looking at the graphics and debating whether or not they were good without really bringing either console into the discussion.

Point By Point, Microsoft Fanboy Communities:
  • Are the most level headed
  • Have the least amount of flaming and trolling
  • Are the only ones who were open about every failing of their beloved console, be it justified or not
  • Don't hate the competition with a passion

Just for kicks I played Mr. Troll on Microsoft biased and Sony biased forums intending on receiving a large reception of come backs to see just how the communities differed.

On the Sony biased forum I put up a post about how much better Gears of War looked than Resistance: Fall of Man. The response was mostly flaming with the funniest comment of all 'you're a Nintendo fanboy, you don't know what good graphics are' (sic). He probably was right but what seemed to be getting most of them pissed off was the fact the Playstation 3 could have inferior hardware to the 360, that was what was making them most angry and thats why I was being flamed with the typical 'you don't know shit'. I even went out of my way to emphasize that just because Gears of War looks better doesn't mean the Playstation 3 has weaker hardware, but that didn't really help, once on a roll I guess...




I decided to put up a post on the Microsoft biased board about how Forza 2 was a graphical disappointment and how GT: HD looked really good and was light years ahead of Forza 2. I also compared Motorstorm to DiRT reasoning that DiRT looked better and was a multiplatform title.

Damn, was I in for a shock, unlike the Sony boards were I was flamed here I recieved a rational response for my first comparison, something along the lines of GT: HD just being a tech demo with only one car on a race track at anytime, and that the race tracks were static. Basically I got this response that I shouldn't compare the two because GT: HD wasn't really a game so much so it was a tech demo, I disagreed with that but no one cared to respond. The comparisons for Motorstorm and DiRT got an interesting response, just like comparing Forza 2 and GT: HD, that I shouldn't compare them because they are different types of games and despite a few similarities are still too different to do so, this despite my comparison favoring DiRT.

In conclusion Wii60 owners are probably the luckiest buggers in terms of finding a nice online community and having the best gaming experience, outside the core gaming at least.

The Real Life Actor From The GTA 4 Trailer

Starring in such great movies as 'Okhota na Piranyu' and 'Sirota kazanskaya' Vladimir Mashkov caught Rockstars eye when they modeled the Russian guy from the first GTA 4 teaser trailer.




Thanks to D23 for pointing that out

Thursday, March 29, 2007

Colin McRae DiRT In-Game Trailer

I'll wait until the HD trailer before I make the call of whether or not the in-game footage reached the target render, but I can say for sure it is darn close, if a bit better, or a bit worse. The best thing about DiRT is that it obviously is a next gen game, you know for sure it's next gen when the driver has all five fingers.


































Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Mexico Announces That it Will Swap Guns for Xbox's

Even Jack Thompson should see the irony, Mexico is planning on ridding streets from guns and drugs by offering to swap them with Xbox's and computers. No more shall 17 year old kids be outside gunning down police officers, they'll be in their houses doing it.

Of course theres a system in place to make sure all swaps are fair, machine guns and other high caliber weapons get computers and smaller arms get Xbox's in return for the exchanges, cash is also offered. Microsoft has graciously donated the software for the computers which cost about $700 US.

The claim is guns that are handed over is destroyed, I bet the metal will be re-used to recoup some of the losses on the PC's.

I wonder what Jack Thompson will say about this 'Kids stop killing cops, GTA: SA is 'mucho grandé''


Via zdnet

If I were SCE and I Had a Time Machine

Sony has made heaps of PR related mistakes over the Playstation 3, just one after another, it also made a massive mistake with the Playstation 3's marketting and SKU's.

The problem with Sony was its own arrogance, it had to have the bigger hard drive and it had to have the Blu-Ray player built in, it had to have its games on Blu-Ray and it had to not have rumble. It had to focus on 'cutting edge' entertainment and forget about the fun factor it had to as such set its goals up way too high only to disappoint severely.

Sony, or to put more specifically, SCE, made a few key PR and marketting blunders that tarnished the Playstation 3's strengths and exemplified its weaknesses.

Here are a list of things that I'd change if I had a time machine, both from a PR standpoint and marketing one.

E3: Both Nintendo and Microsoft opened up show casing games, the key to selling consoles, the unfortunate Playstation 3 audience had to sit through an extremely long monologue about how great the Playstation 2 is from a pink shirt wearing Kaz Hirai. This was the start of the terrible press conference that would seal Sony's fate up until the announcement of Playstation Home months later.

Price: I'm not going to say something as dumb as 'too expensive', but Sony could have done two things about the price. First, it should have cut off the two sku's and settled for the 20 gigabyte Playstation 3 with HDMI 1.3 as its only unit. By doing so the 60 gigabytes specialness becomes null and void, the only. Furthermore during E3 the price should have been aggressively justified, not just Kaz muttering 'yeah it's a big investment', an investment for what? Spell it out Kaz, it's a big investment but you get a Blu-Ray player, upgradeable hard drive and free online play, even if you didn't want the Blu-Ray player the free online play would have been worth it on its own. Also the advantages of online play on the Playstation network should have been spelled out, dedicated servers being the big seller (no P2P ala Xbox Live), something like 'and unlike our competitors, we will provide a more robust and solid online experience via the use of dedicated servers instead of peer to peer networking'.

Games: What made those early pre-rendered trailers of games like Killzone or Motorstorm so exciting was not the fact they were on the Playstaiton 3 but that they looked genuinely exciting. This is what gets peoples attention, to this day nobody cares on what system they are playing on, even after years of market dominance the Playstation brand does not hold its own. This isn't fashion accessories or Stephen King novels, this is gaming and despite the fanboys by and large the generel consumer is interested in getting entertainment and getting it cheap from wherever. So focus on games, no more monologues from Kaz Hirai at E3, change it with another spectacular trailer, maybe of Metal Gear Solid or Final Fantasy 13, or heck, how about another pre-rendered Killzone trailer, who gives a damn?

Ken Kutaragi: Cut him from PR duties, no interviews, no word with the outside world, when that man claimed people should take out extra jobs to be able to afford the Playstation 3 he should have been bound and gagged, preferably sent to sleep with the fishes. Nothing is worse than that particular brand of arrogance, it turns people away in disgust, it's worse negative PR than if a competitor just nicked your biggest exclusive franchise.

SIXAXIS: Cut the crap, put in rumble, stfu.

Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Ripe For the Picking

Take Two delayed its annual board meeting by six days which happens to be the same date as the debut of the GTA4 trailer and same time(ish) of the second 'big' announcement from Microsoft, Take Two's excuse for delaying the annual board meeting according to a press release is,
...to review the proposed actions of the shareholder group and also to evaluate alternative courses of actions that could potentially be presented to the shareholders, including a possible sale of the Company.
Possible sale of the company? Well granted it is possible, probable even. The person, or company, that owns Take Two will also happen to own the company that publishes 'Grand Theft Auto'. It would also provide much needed life support for Take Two as a company which is in the very real threat of being broken up and sold off in smaller chunks.

The reason for the delay may in fact be two fold, one, to cover up the behind the door exclusivity deal of the game before the first official GTA4 trailer debuts and the second being to shock investors in a good way (for a change).

Obviously Sony and Microsoft would be most interested in buying up Take Two, then again, Nintendo really wants GTA on the Wii, imagine GTA4 being an exclusive Wii game! ... or not... The date shifting may be complete coincidence or to just serve as a pretty demonstration during the annual shareholders meeting.

Monday, March 26, 2007

Retro Gaming Ads: The Legend of Zelda

Retro games and retro TV commercials, 'your parents help you hook it up' is probably the single greatest marketing catchphrase in history, it was uttered in the original 'Legend of Zelda' TV spot.




There were other commercials, lest we forget,




'A Link to the Past' arguably had the most laughably cheesy TV commercial ever. Were not talking emo 'Tears of War' stuff here, were talking 'so bad, it's hilarious'. But hey, the techno theme music was a nice touch,




I don't know what happened, did Nintendo make a deal with the devil? 'The Ocarina of Time' TV ad was nothing short of amazing, at least when compared to its prequels,



'Willst thou soar?' ... 'or willst thou suck?'


We all know 'Majora's Mask' centered around the end of the Earth, something that Nintendo's marketing took a little bit too seriously. At first I thought it would have been better if the adverts were more tongue in cheek, now thinking about it they were pretty clever,



The Last Starfighter: The Game

"Greetings Stafighter, you have been recruited by the Star League to defend the fronteir against Zur the Kodan armada"

Back when I was ten years old and I saw 'The Last Starfighter' for the first time since I was four I loved it. I think it was one of the first sci-fi movies to use CG special effects, to that end the Starfighter games graphics rival and probably exceed that of the original CG.

It is amazing how faithfully the game replicates the actual arcade in the movie, as dumb as it sounds I definitely don't want to see this thing remade with better graphics, when I was 10 this is how I saw the game running and this is how I want to play it.




Download the Game or Visit the website

Playstation 3 Selling For $200 Less Than Retail on Australian eBay (*gasps*)

Kind of expected actually, about a month after the Playstation 3 launch in North America and Japan I could have purchased a brand new console and have it shipped here for less than the Australian retail price and about as much as the US retail price.

If eBay is anything to by (and it is) the only Playstation 3 consoles that have any bids on them will be selling for less than retail price.



Not difficult considering the retail price is $1000 AUD ($850 US). Given the Playstation 3 is region free I may be able to import one from North America for less than buying it off of eBay downunder.

So why are Nintendo Wii's still selling for a good $200 over retail price? Sucks.

The Pee Ess Triple

Wassup Beeeches, 'Everyone knows the ps3 makes da best games... y'know what I mean nigga?' This guy is either Sony's favorite type of fanboy or just a real good actor, a good actor who plays dumb people flawlessly.






The obligatory 'feed the troll' response,

RSX is a Washout

From early screenshot comparisons of games such as Ridge Racer 6/7 and now with Elders Scrolls: Oblivion the apparent difference is the washed out look of the Playstation 3 versions. Of course this can be good or bad depending on your personal taste and the games it is used in.

Games focusing in and around urban-esque environments such as Half-Life or Ghost Recon would look better with the washed out (i.e. stale) look, other games such as Fable or White Knight Story may look more appealing with brighter colours. In both instances it is all about the atmosphere the developers are trying to create.

The washed out rendering of RSX was first seen and simultaneously made infamous with the Ridge Racer 6/7 comparisons,


The most obvious example of RSX' washed out rendering that also happens to be the most spectacular display of what will probably become the main graphical difference between the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 is present in Armored Core 4. The game is a clear example of how personal preference will divide peoples opinions on which version looks better.

These screenshots were taken from the GameTrailers HD Comparison Video of Armored Core 4,






Sunday, March 25, 2007

More Sony PR Goodness: 'We Done it Three Years Ago!'

SCE Australia's Managing Director Michael Ephraim when asked about the Wii-mote and criticisms against SIXAXIS due to the distinct similarities responded by claiming that Sony had done it first, three years ago.


His genius at work,

There's been a lot of negativity surrounding the Sixaxis controller in comparison to the Wii remote. Do you think it is unjustified?

Motion-sensitive devices are a good feature as we evolve the product. You know, we can easily say that the EyeToy camera, and SingStar and Buzz to a lesser degree, that we were doing this kind of family fun that Nintendo is positioning, we were doing that three years ago. To be honest I don't see that there's a major issue. Their technology is a bit different, they have their stick and nunchuck, and we have motion sensitivity in our controller. I don't know why there's such sensitivity that we have something and they have something that is similar, I really don't understand why it is an issue.





The Full Interview;

Getting busy?

(Laughs) Nah, we just sitting around drinking Red Bulls and chilling out. Yeah, we've been busy but it's all going rather smoothly I must say. We're all getting very excited. It's all going extremely well.

Can you understand the anger and disappointment from some people about the backward compatibility change? What can you say to people concerned they are paying more for less than their Japanese and American cousins?

Let me first of all say that I apologise for the communication on this matter. There has been a stop/start. But when we step back, you saw the announcement from Phil Harrison that over a 1000 games are backward compatible and they are working through this until the day of launch when there will be a web site. There's about 2000 games that have been released on PS2 so we're up to 50 per cent compatibility. With working on it through the launch period, I'm very confident that the percentage of games that are backward compatible is going to be higher than 50.

After launch they will keep working on making more of the catalogue backwards compatible and obviously what they're doing right now is looking at the games based on sales and the desirability to play these games again. We can debate how important backwards compatibility is, but let's not go there because we said it was, but I'm very confident that by the time we launch it won't be an issue.

The reasons for it (the change) I think are sound, it's to cut costs and eventually pass that onto the consumer. If you can do backwards compatibility through software emulation instead of a chip, it does save cost. I'm confident that the reaction from consumers, which I totally appreciate, will almost be a non-event by the time we launch because 50 per cent of games are backward compatible and that number will only grow.

What do you think are the chances that we will see rumble and force feedback return now that a settlement has been reached with Immersion?

There were two issues, the legal issue with Immersion and whether Sixaxis and rumble could co-exist together. Based on my discussions with senior management, they are definitely looking at the whole scenario. I really can't make a statement whether rumble will come back or not, but one obstacle is out of the way.

Now it's a question of the feasibility of Sixaxis and rumble. But as you know Jason, a lot of this will be driven by the publishers, both us and the third-party community, to then decide whether to include those features in games. But they (Sony and Immersion) came out with a statement that they will now look at the whole issue.

There's been a lot of negativity surrounding the Sixaxis controller in comparison to the Wii remote. Do you think it is unjustified?

Motion-sensitive devices are a good feature as we evolve the product. You know, we can easily say that the EyeToy camera, and SingStar and Buzz to a lesser degree, that we were doing this kind of family fun that Nintendo is positioning, we were doing that three years ago. To be honest I don't see that there's a major issue. Their technology is a bit different, they have their stick and nunchuck, and we have motion sensitivity in our controller. I don't know why there's such sensitivity that we have something and they have something that is similar, I really don't understand why it is an issue.

I can understand why there's no HDMI cable in the PS3 box because it is still reasonably uncommon for TV owners, but why no component cable? One of your competitors managed to ship with a dual Composite/Component cable. It seems like a cheap omission given the quality of the rest of the package.

HDMI is growing interface and there's also component, S-video and composite all available. We thought that the consumers would choose. There's obviously a cost factor and we thought "Why build up the cost?" If people want to go straight to HDMI then a component cable isn't as relevant. It's allowing the consumers to choose depending on what technology people have at home.

And there is a strong focus from Sony on PS3's Blu-ray movie playback capability - why not include a remote control in the box? We will see bundles with the remote?

I think you'll see different channels positioning the machine in different ways, from a games machine to a full-blown digital hub and Blu-ray player. I think Blu-ray is growing in acceptance and based on a US study 75 per cent of PS3 owners intend to use PS3 as a Blu-ray device. Again, it's a cost factor, why put it a remote if someone is buying it as a games machine? We don't want to increase the price for something that some people might have no use for.

The remote is priced in my opinion very well for what it offers, it's a standard consumer electronics type of controller and functionality. It's really for the consumer to choose but yes, I would assume that retailers who are positioning PS3 as a Blu-ray player will bundle it with a remote to make it more affordable for people to buy.

You spent a fair amount of money in Australia in the early days of the PS2 online service, what are you going to be doing locally to make sure that the PS3 online experience is superior to the PS2's offering?

First of all, the PS2 online service and the PS3 online service will be chalk and cheese. PS2 was a dress-reversal. The device had capability for internet gameplay but it wasn't the primary purpose of the device. If you look at where the PS2 has gone onto become, it's still a great videogames machine with Final Fantasy XII and God of War II, those kind of great games, but its also gone into home entertainment. It's well documented how successful Buzz, SingStar and EyeToy have gone.

PS3 is a different kettle of fish. There's a big focus in the company to deliver great online gameplay. Ted Price stood up there (at the recent Australian PS3 media launch) and Resistance: Fall of Man will be an amazing experience with online play.

We're also working very hard to ensure the (PlayStation) Shop is dynamic and offers things that consumers want. Of course there's a learning curve, but we think with free game demos, free movie trailers, the ability to buy PSone games to play on your PSP, the ability to buy arcade-style games that you can download, and the opportunity to augment your disc-based games with new levels and so on, we think that's a pretty broad offering. It will be a very different experience to PS2.

We are working very hard in Australia to ensure the structure of the service, in terms of both content and where it's located for gameplay, is as good as online gamers expect. We are very, very focused on delivering the PlayStation Network as something that people see is a real added benefit to PS3, or actually as a mandatory feature. I'm confident that we will deliver a service and a product that people will enjoy and there are some things planned that will see this evolve over time that are innovative, areas of the online space that have never been done before.

What do you say to those people who were actually hoping to buy the cheaper 20GB PS3 model? I understand that the decision to drop it came from the retailers, but how are you going to know that there is consumer demand for it without testing the market by releasing it?

We know from the experience in the US. In the early days when there was no stock on the shelves people bought whatever they could find - the 20 or the 60 Gig. When stock become more available, quite a few consumers were taking back the 20 Gig SKU and saying "Here's 100 bucks, give me the top-end SKU".

At the end of the day, a lot of the value for PlayStation 3 is all the applications you can do. You have great gaming, we think the new IP Resistance and MotorStorm speak for themselves, and then digital pictures and all the rest. But wireless internet is also a big function for people and something that the 20 Gig did not have, it did not have the SD, Flash and Memory Stick slots.

So based on the US experience, based on discussions with retailers, we feel that the value is there and that consumers wanted the higher SKU. People that are coming into the platform in the early days are probably the people that want all these applications and they want it working out of the box. So we didn't think it was necessary to release the cheaper version because for the difference in price, the 60 Gig SKU would be a complete experience and early adopters want all the functionality.

It doesn't mean we're never going to come out with the 20 Gig SKU, we'll listen to the market and to consumers, but based on the US and Japan, and if you look at the Xbox business via the GfK figures, 96 per cent were of the top-end SKU.

There is a lot of negativity on the web surrounding Sony and the PS3. Do you feel that some of it is fair criticism or just tall poppy syndrome based on your success over the last decade? Are you concerned about it?

Yeah, of course we are. The consumer is king and we've been accused of maybe not thinking that way. But you know, there's such high expectations for Sony. When you look at our history and what we've done, we have been innovating in this industry since day one.

I think a lot of the cynicism comes from the price issue. When a company really innovates, comes out with a product that is quite different, evolving or innovating in a category, it takes time for people to really understand what we're trying to do here. I think price has been at the top of the list, there have been other issues, but price has been the major thing. But I'm very confident, and we've been doing this a lot with retailers and journalists and we'll sit down with anyone for half an hour to do a demo, that when people see how unique this product is, and how easy it is to do communication, gaming, entertainment, how intuitive the Cross Media Bar is, I think maybe in hindsight that when people realise what this product can do for me and my life that the price issue will go away.

If Blu-ray gets up as a standard, which we are very confident that it will, it is already starting to pull away in the US, right away that justifies the price. We know a lot of people don't understand all the benefits of PS3 just yet, even when we present to stores like EB who are gamers they are saying "we didn't know it could do that, we didn't know it could do this."

When you innovative you have to step of the edge and take the flack. I think people will not be as critical, but we don't live in an ivory tower, we admit there are a few things that we could have done better. It's not something that we take lightly, but I think a lot of the flack has been price and that issue is unjustified in the sense that people don't really know what this device can do for them in their home. I hope when that happens we win back some of the consumer confidence.

PS2 is still going strong, how long does Sony see PS3 as a viable console?

PS2 just had one of its biggest Christmases seven years later, and that came through innovation in the content with Party Starters, and there's still incredible games like Final Fantasy XII and God of War II as well. With PS3, with the firmware upgrades and the capability to keep enhancing applications, I don't see this product lasting less than PS2. With the Cell processor in the PS3 its got the grunt power to do a lot of new applications, so we wouldn't think that it would be any less than seven years and we think it will remain relevant for at least a decade. We've been able to keep the offerings fresh for PS2, and knowing the capabilities of the PS3, we think a decade is a very reasonable amount of time to think that it will still be relevant.

With the launch of PS3, will there also be a renewed PSP push? A lot of Screen Play readers were critical of the recent sneaky mock blog campaign. Should you do more marketing that simply and plainly presents the strengths and features of the console?

I think PSP is an incredible device with incredible features. I've been very candid about this. We had a brilliant product and there a lot of digital products out there that are trying to define the space. I think we now understand a lot better what PSP can deliver and will work towards marketing those points.

We still think it's a great games machine, it needs as much new games as possible to support that. Ratchet and Clank coming out in a few months we think is a brilliant game that will solidify it as a games machine. The price has come down so it's now more affordable. And like what you said before, there's the relevance to PS3, like bringing content off your PS3 through wireless, and at a later time to be able to do that over the internet, I think that makes PSP very relevant. Talking to consumer electronic and computer-type channels, they see a lot of benefit to promote the complementary features and the interoperability of PS3 and PSP.

If you look at unit-wise, PSP last year was the third best-selling format. I agree Wii, which was fourth best-selling, was totally supply constrained, but it shows that the product is still relevant. It's a brilliant design, the screen is amazing, the gameplay is the best out-of-home experience on any device, but there are things to be done. And I think PS3 will elevate PSP's appeal when people understand its interoperability. So yes is the long winded answer to your question, but we have to look at it very carefully because it can be a games machine, a digital multimedia device and it can be a digital satellite for PS3 in the home to access your content.

Could there be any PS3/PSP bundle or discount to promote dual ownership?

We're talking to retailers, and especially the ones in the consumer electronics/IT space, the bundling opportunities with PS3, PSP, Memory Sticks, flash cards, digital cameras, Walkman, MP3 players, the amount of products that are relevant to a PS3 that can plug in and transfer content or access your content from, is pretty exciting. PSP is just one of those things.

We're working now very closely with Sony, and I think you're already seeing it with retailers such as Domayne with Bravia TVs, which are the number one selling flat-screen in Australia, in high-definition I might add. We're seeing that already happening with Domayne doing PS3 and TVs and surround sound, and you'll see it happening with a lot of products because PS3 is compatible with a lot of digital devices that enhance the experience. Everybody is very keen to look at all the opportunities.

I've written a few pieces recently about the state of the official magazines. Do you think Official Australian PlayStation Magazine has a future? We've seen the official magazine in the US close, with Sony saying discs are out and online is in. Can the Australian magazine last?

It's a good question. As people more and more get their information online, and as discs get less appealing and more expensive, then over a matter of time, and I don't know whether that's two years, three or four years, then disc-based demos might not be ideal. There's also the timing on content for disc space, you have to plan ahead for a long time, manufacture the discs, ship it to the publisher, they have to mount it on the mag, and then sell it. Online content you can refresh in 24 hours.

So no doubt there's a shift happening, but talking to our publisher they are still very excited about the PlayStation Magazine, which now talks about all the three formats we have. It's a space that we'll keep our eye on, keep talking to our publisher and see how long a disc-based mag will last.

I totally agree with you that there's a major change happening, but when will it become completely antiquated to have discs on the cover, I don't know. The next-gen consoles are all about connectivity, so once you start connecting then all, then disc-based magazines probably become redundant. It's a question of connectivity and when we can communicate through an online operation instead of a disc-based one. But there's no doubt it there will soon be digital online magazines.

There seems to be a shift in attitudes towards the Xbox 360 in Japan. Microsoft's certainly done a good job of evangelising the machine to developers, and it's having some impact on sales. How is Sony going to tackle this? Do you think you might have to increase your first-party offerings, as the days of big exclusives from third-party seem over?

First of all, I don't know about the advancement in Japan by 360. All my numbers don't show them lifting dramatically. I know that in the US Xbox 360 has a good showing, but in Japan they've only had a pick-up off a very, very low base. So I'll leave that alone and focus on the question about games.

I think that with the formation of (Sony Computer Entertainment) Worldwide Studios, headed up by Phil Harrison, we now have all the studios working in conjunction so that we can eliminate doing six racing games or seven role playing games with five of them only relevant to the Japanese market. The resources of the global network are now ensuring that we put our resources, our money, our focus, on what the consumer wants for PS3.

I totally agree that first-party product will become more instrumental. I'm not sure we can write-off exclusives yet, although with so many formats available publishers are looking to maximise their IP. Clearly the structure of a worldwide studio where you have all the studios in Japan, Europe and the US under one head and one direction, we can better utilise our resources instead of coming up with multiple games that might even compete with one another.

I'm not saying however that we are going to do all global releases, Phil is very clear that there are cultural differences in US, Japan, Europe and Australia that require different content. But by eliminating duplicity on genres and titles and not green-lighting titles where they only have a very, very niche market, we can spend more money and time on delivering some brand new IP. I think MotorStorm is one of those games that will set the PS3 aside. That's the direction Phil is taking Worldwide Studios, so I'm confident that with that infrastructure and focus we will keep delivering brilliant IP for PS3.

(Picture) I Am a Software Engineer

Mighty proud of it too...

RE: The Theist's Guide to Converting Atheists

I found 'The Theist's Guide to Converting Atheists' to be an interesting article and while it did have some typical Atheist thinking it did touch on subjects that I would like to respond to.

Bare in mind this is just an intellectual exercise, I am not trying to convert anyone to any religion of any sorts, just going through the point by point article.

As a Muslim I'm often frustrated by Atheists blanket labeling religious people, actually, as a Muslim I'm tired of people blanket labeling people period. I would just like to say I am not prepared to lie or make up half-truths, I'll endeavor to write what I know to be fact from my knowledge, if I'm not sure I'll simply say so, I do not want to think of myself as 'ignorant' but rather cautious, unlike an Atheist I believe I have to answer for what I do in this life to a higher power and am not prepared to make stuff up out of conveniences sake at the same time I am willing to 'concede to parts I don't know a correct response to however I won't be conceding in the sense that I'm simply 'giving up'. I only know so much of my religion and it certainly doesn't make me a failure if I'm unsure about any one aspect of it.

The article goes point by point so I'll attempt to reply to it as such,
The article asks for 'Verified, specific prophecies that couldn't have been contrived' to this I have the following verse from the Quran,
The Romans have been defeated in the nearest land (to the Arabian Peninsula), and they, after their defeat, will be victorious within bedd’ (three to nine) years....

Quran, 30:2-4
Detailed Explanation

There are many more such examples, and Hadeeth of prophecies that came to pass, I don't have the sources with me hence I won't go into them.


Next point the article asks for 'Scientific knowledge in holy books that wasn't available at the time'. Islam is built on faith and on fact, on miracles and on science, my faith is equal parts just sheer (blind if you will) belief and scientific fact.

There are several verses referring to science which I believe to be very strong and not vague, however if you are to see these verses as vague it is purely your choice.

I'll take verses from the Quran which anyone can verify for themselves, the interpretation is from my version, it is more detailed than other condensed versions.

On the Human Embryo,
We created man from an extract of clay. Then We made him as a drop in a place of settlement, firmly fixed. Then We made the drop into an alaqah (leech, suspended thing, and blood clot), then We made the alaqah into a mudghah (chewed substance)...

(Quran, 23:12-14)
(alaqah has three meanings: (1) leech, (2) suspended thing, and (3) blood clot)

Detailed Explanation


On Mountains,
Have We not made the earth as a bed, and the mountains as pegs?

(Quran, 78:6-7)


And He has set firm mountains in the earth so that it would not shake with you...

(Quran, 16:15)
Detailed Explanation


On The Origins of the Universe (No, I don't believe the Galaxy is 6000 years old, if I did I wouldn't be much of a Muslim)
Then He turned to the heaven when it was smoke...

Quran, 41:11


Have not those who disbelieved known that the heavens and the earth were one connected entity, then We separated them?...

Quran, 21:30
Both the above verses are alluding to hydrogen ('smoke') and how everything came from this smoke, the earth and the heavens (i.e. planet Earth, the stars).

Detailed Explanation


Other scientific revelations in the Quran, Cerebrum, Deep Seas and Internal waves and Clouds.

Furthermore Islam is hardly a religion at war with science, as scientists have commented favorably on the Quran. Historically Islam is full of scientific discoveries and even god asks Muslims to learn about the world around them to better understand how he created everything.


The next point the article asks for is 'Miraculous occurrences, especially if brought about through prayer', for our time the only Miracle that Muslims have that they can and should rely on above all else, (including trees that bend down as if in prayer) is the Quran. Muslims are not magicians, were as human as every other human on earth, we don't believe in psychic powers or telling of the future through star signs (it is actually a grave sin to do that), we believe in God because of the Quran and its Miracles, not because of so-called 'miracles' that could be attributed to any number of natural phenomena or just plain coincidence. This is null and void when applied to Islam, perhaps it looks like a conveniant escape, and it probably is, but as Muslims we are not to look for 'miracles' besides the Quran simply to strengthen our faith as this is not the way to do so and would lead us down the wrong path. As such the only Miracle I have is the Quran. Believe what you want from this and take what you want from it.


The next thing the article asks is for 'Any direct manifestation of the divine' and refers to old times, such as Moses who 'knew him (God) on a first-name basis'. This goes back to the above, it is essentailly asking for a Miracle, I cannot provide that and the only communication God gives us is the Quran which is the word of God (word for word), it's as close to hearing the words of God as you'll get, as before, believe what you want of it.


'Aliens who believed in the exact same religion' is a rather interesting proposal, God says that Islam is the final and complete religion for all mankind but does not refer to Aliens. Theoretically speaking if we ever meet with Aliens that are human (i.e. 'man') then if they aren't Muslim I think their history will indicate traces of Islam, and as crazy as it sounds they will have an exact replica copy of the Quran. Of course this is sci-fi, pending we find aliens we'll see how it goes, I'm just guessing here for my own amusement.

The only interesting point I can make here is that Muslims believe in 'Jins' which are invisible beings that share the same religion of Islam and follow the same messengers (including Muhammed). Before anyone jumps on the 'supernatural' bandwagon we as Muslims should not go about looking for them, their world is seperate from ours and they can have as much physical interaction with our world as we can of theres, virtually nill. The only advantage they have over us is that they can see us and we can't see them, but that is basically all there is to it, given they share the same messenger as we do (the exact same one) we have to leave them be. No, they won't be peeking at you while you're in the shower or anything like that :-)

The Jin aren't our concern nor are we theirs, this is just an interesting fact I am bringing up to illustrate the point I'm trying to make, that if we do come into contact with an extra-terrestrial civilization I will be somewhat disappointed but not fully shaken in my faith.


Now the article moves on to the 'circumstantial', not required but would be strong evidence to support a faith.

'A genuinely flawless and consistent holy book' I'd say the Quran is genuinely flawless and consistent however this is up to the minds of people and the way they wish to interpret the verses. This is another case of 'to each his own' as is pretty much all of religion in their own relative ways, in the end the question is if you can find the one that makes most sense to oneself. Personally I think anyone who doesn't accept Islam is mistaken however I as a Muslim am obliged to respect peoples decisions.

'A religion without internal disputes or factions.' Muhammed said that near the end of time there would be many different sects of Islam and only one sect would still be on the correct path, and that is the path of those who follow Muhammeds teachings and hadeeths (i.e. Sunni's). Politics has found its way into Islam and now we can't simply say 'Muslim, non-Muslim', the only way you can be sure that you are a Muslim is if you still follow the Sunnah. It is difficult for me to explain this in a short amount of space so I will leave it as it is.

The articles writer reasons that if God is perfect hence has created the perfect religion that no one would argue over aspects of and everyone would agree on the same points, however the writer failed to take into account peoples imperfections. Greed, envy, pride and arrogance are the bigger problems in Islam that has led to the massive divides between Muslims and the so-called 'internal' conflicts.


'A religion whose followers have never committed or taken part in atrocities' I can tell you for sure that according to Islam any and all forms of deliberate or careless actions that lead to 'collateral damage' of a civilian population be it Muslim or non-Muslim is punishable by death. Simple as that. So while Muslims may misguidedly partake in such actions they will be held accountable for their deeds on judgment day. Like I already mentioned it is the failings of people who follow the religion, not the religion itself, that is the problem. Don't judge a people by the actions of the very few, thats what being a Muslim in the current political climate has taught me really well.


'A religion that had a consistent record of winning its jihads and holy wars.' Without boring with too much details the first war that was fought under Islam was won, the second was lost. God wanted to teach the Muslims a lesson, that victory is never guaranteed. However on the whole during the early days of Islam there were many great victories, but looking at it as a Muslim a victory on the battlefield is either winning the war or dying for your country and religion. So it is a great honor to die for your faith and that is seen as a victory in itself. However, like all things, God doesn't guarantee Muslims anything without the trials of failure. If every war Muslims went into back so many years ago was won what point would it serve? It would weaken them in both their strengths and faiths. God asks us as Muslims to earn our dues, nothing is free in Islam.


The article goes on to speak of things that won't work in convincing anyone, I agree with it, I don't base my faith on blindness or other peoples stories and I really don't expect anyone to do so.

So this is the end of my response. When I started writing it I was not under the illusion I would convince anyone to convert to Islam, I was simply doing this as a bit of an intellectual exercise and I stand by it. If anyone has any questions they can ask (email or comments here). If you believe the scientific facts are too vague to call on and are literally expecting as the original article suggests "Verily, verily, I say unto thee that thine energy is as thine mass times the speed of light multiplied unto itself" then I can't help you here, call me an ignorant religious fundamentalist but I wouldn't feel too comfortable with such a thing.

What a Joke! - Woman Swallows Spoon During Intense Laughter

A woman in Sydney (Australia) swallowed a tea spoon during a laughing fit while eating spaghetti. Her laughing was so intense she didn't manage to gag before the spoon stunk all the way to her stomach.

Obviously doctors were thinking 'what the!?' looking at X-Rays of her stomach showing the little teaspoon. Most doctors who looked at it suggested surgery, but two doctors, to fine doctors knew better. Yes, they would, Dr. Bernard Bedholm and Dr. Alice Lee wanted to 'spare' the patient of intrusive surgery.



So they drugged her up, told her to open wide and say 'aaaaah' and tried in several ways to take the spoon out of her stomach. After 90 minutes of trial and error with various techniques (and 'great difficulty') they succeeded by using snares to lasso both ends of the spoon and pull it up laterally through the oesophagus.

Viacom's Bluffing

It's time for Google to call Viacom on its bluff, Viacom only benefits from YouYube and definitely does not want its YouTube presense removed. The Viacom lawsuit claiming "massive intentional copyright infringement" is just one gigantic bluff, Viacom simply wants to have its cake and eat it too.

If Viacom is really trying to create its own equivalent counter to YouTube then they are giving a decisive edge to all its competitors who would rather strike up a deal with YouTube. Since YouTube is purely a free content host it doesn't charge royalties for hosted videos. Media companies that are willing to work with YouTube don't have to pay server costs, web development or anything else like that, nor will they have to create any community from scratch.

Perhaps Viacom is trying to end or at least damage YouTube's standing so that its own iFilm can get a step closer to market dominance. Of course this creates the double edge sword, if YouTube is infringing on copyright how come iFilm isn't? Unless of course the hypothetical content screener is advanced enough to catch all copyright material before long (which is next to impossible).

Viacom insists YouTube is a media company, as such is obligated to pay royalty fees in the tune of 1 billion dollars and/or install some sort of software filter to remove and prevent the uploading of Viacom content. Viacom probably doesn't think it is technically feasible to install such a filter and simultaneously doesn't want to lose its significant YouTube presence hence it has a win-win situation here. I would even hazard to say all the take down notices Viacom has been hitting YouTube with is part of the bluff Viacom intends to take to the courtroom.

Of course Viacom can't get the 1 billion, hence will rely on settling out of court with Google, obviously Viacom will still gain from it. What Google should do is trump Viacom, if it is possible, install the software filter, then cut Viacom completely from all services including Google search. If Google is a media company then it is in their right to do (even if it isn't, but this gives greater legal standing over Viacom).

When Viacom starts losing ratings, hence profits due to this cut off from the Google empire a lawsuit won't get them anywhere given they have already declared YouTube, and as such the entire Google empire, as a Content Generator, not Content Host. Hence to get back with Google Viacom will have to pay royalties to Google, to regain its place in Google's search engine and hosting on YouTube.

Of course this is an ideal situation, in the real world Google will suffer massive negative backlash if it cuts a company from its search outright, however it will prove itself as an important case study (if you would like to call it that) to big businesses that they do in fact require Google to stay competitive.

Saturday, March 24, 2007

Nintendo 64 Tech Demos

The Nintendo 64 was the most powerful game console ever with the most potential when it was released. Popular franchises such as Final Fantasy and The Legend of Zelda wowed people with the amazing graphics made only possible with the power of the Nintendo 64, other tech demos and crazy propaganda also did their part.





When everyone thought Final Fantasy was still a Nintendo exclusive the tech demo got them all drooling with anticipation,



Of course The Legend of Zelda was generating far more hype. Even if the following is a rather primitive display of what the game turned out to be it should be noted the metallic sheen was not in real time,



Earthbound 64 (Mother 3) looked like it would be one hell of a graphical power house... if only it was released.



Those were the good old days, pity it was when Nintendo finally fell from grace, the Nintendo 64 was an awesome console but the reliance on cartridges was an Achilles heel. It lost Final Fantasy as a direct result from the lack of an optical drive and as such pretty much blew away all of Nintendo's chances at regaining top spot, conceding it to Sony.

Friday, March 23, 2007

Tiger Woods Hits a Bogey With PAL Wii

Looks like EA is short changing Wii owners in PAL regions, Tiger Woods is almost unplayable on large HDTV's due to the lack of 480p. While in NTSC regions Tiger Woods supports 480p and 16:9 aspect ratio in PAL regions it is only 576i 16:9.

So what of it? Well you can barely read text on TV screens at 576i on a larger HDTV, if games don't support progressive scan it won't be a matter of 'won't make the most out of my HDTV and the Wii' it will be a matter of 'I can't play this game'.

Heres an email from EA's customer support when asked about 480p,
Tiger Woods does not support EDTV or HDTV resolutions. The EDTV logo has not been included on the Game Pack for this reason to indicate that there are no Hi-Def functions in this iteration of the title.

I hope this answers your question.
Regards,
Jody
Customer and Community Services, UK and Ireland
http://electronicarts.co.uk
http://electronicarts.ie

———————————

Customer 03/23/2007 03:26 AM

Q: Is TW2007 for Wii (PAL-version) able to run in 480p on not?

For the record:

- My other games works perfect in 480p on my Wii, always.

- I only have problem with 480p on TW2007, so in my case it IS only with your title and NOT a problem with my Wii in general.

Thanks Petter.


Via WiiNintendo