The Official "Console War" and Video Game Thread

[Skullface]

Sony's official announcement of the PS3 price drop & 80GB HDD model:

http://games.ign.com/articles/802/802334p1.html

[markatisu]

To check if you have this problem, try games like New Super Mario Bros and Super Mario 64, and make Mario run and jump, you'll see he leaves a ghost behind (more evident with his hat). I know this isn't normal, because my original DS doesn't do it and my first DS Lite (which I sold because of a cracked hinge) didn't do it either.

I will have to check that on ours, we got New Super Mario Bros with our DS (the original one) but have only been plaing Pokemon on the DS Lite.

Symbols???
Is that the sub-mission where you run around collecting the 20 cubes under a certain time.

No the symbols are autobot and decepticon shaped and float off the ground like the energon cubes and sometimes are hard to see because they are on top of buildings or near shadow'd areas.

I can pm you a list of where they are located, I can usually find 3 out of the 5 in each mission but there are always 2 that I either just miss or plain cant find.

I still dont know what the submissions purpose is lol

[hemanrep]

Just waiting for the 360 to drop in price so I can buy Blue Dragon next month! Microsoft, don't let me down!!!

[GR81]

GR81 says:

I still dont know what the submissions purpose is lol

I guess its to unlock some bonus stuff
Do you need to get 5 out of 5 to unlock a G1 ?

[markatisu]

Do you need to get 5 out of 5 to unlock a G1 ?

You have to unlock 5 out of 5 in every mission (there are 4 missions for each side Autobot and Decepticon) which totals 20 when the game is done.

Once you unlock 20 Autobot symbols you get G1 Prime model to use and 20 Decepticon symbols gets you G1 Megatron.

[GR81]

GR81 says:

You have to unlock 5 out of 5 in every mission (there are 4 missions for each side Autobot and Decepticon) which totals 20 when the game is done.

Once you unlock 20 Autobot symbols you get G1 Prime model to use and 20 Decepticon symbols gets you G1 Megatron.

Boy this is going to take forever to find
And once you do get the skin, what then...i mean, does it replace the movie prime skin in the game?

[markatisu]

And once you do get the skin, what then...i mean, does it replace the movie prime skin in the game?

You go into Bonus and you have to turn it on, once you do that whenever you play a mission with Prime you will be the G1 model (the short fat truck)

Which is cool because as soon as you beat Mission 2 "More than Meets the Eye" and you go back to it you always start off as Optimus since he was the character who ended that mission.

Not sure if this makes a difference but several sites are reporting the 80gb PS3 will be the revamped emotion engine removed version

The new 80GB PS3 that we've seen today has a catch: it has ditched the Emotion Engine chips for software emulation, just like we've seen in the PAL-version PS3s. Yes, software emulation is coming stateside, and it looks like a matter of time until the Emotion Engine chips are kicked out of our 60GB models

[GeologyMule]

I just got the TF game for the 360, can't wait to get home and play it.

And Hemanrep I don't think microsoft will drop the price of the 360 considering they just launched the bigger version, plus the hardware problems they are having...but if they want to stay ahead of Sony....ya never know.

[ehenyo]

Is there a chance that, in the long-run, software emulation will be better than the emotion chip? You can upgrade software through online updates, but you can't physically swap out the chip to something better through an online update.

[markatisu]

I just got the TF game for the 360, can't wait to get home and play it.

Hope you have as much fun as GR81 and I have had with it! Which version did you get? Regardless if you start off with the camera at low sensitivity and then increase it as you play I think you will find the game much more enjoyable.

Is there a chance that, in the long-run, software emulation will be better than the emotion chip? You can upgrade software through online updates, but you can't physically swap out the chip to something better through an online update.

It is up in the air, Sony admits that without the emotion chip less software will run (as of now) and that with the chip the rate of compatability is 98%. However, since they were able to upscale PSX and PS2 games to 1080 I would suspect that much like the 360 a simple update or firmware patch would allow for great compatability. There are some that say PS2 games should run better under PS3 software emulation since the processing power of the PS3 is so much greater, it should be a non issue.

[mannyscollectibles]

Sony's official announcement of the PS3 price drop & 80GB HDD model:

http://games.ign.com/articles/802/802334p1.html

I guess Sony hasn't figured out already that either way that you make the PS3 wether it is a 80G model for 599 or a terabyte model they are still going to loose money on every system. Sony must think consumers are stupid into buying a PS3 for 499 or 599.

Words of advice to Sony, stop the insanity while you can. Drop the console to the 300 dollars range and you just may start selling more consoles. Then again how much more money is Sony willing to loose with this overpriced piece of technology called the PS3. You get greedy, you loose.

[markatisu]

Guitar Hero III Wii Guitar Revealed!

Big pic here:

http://www.gaming-age.com/cgi-bin/im...july/gh3/6.jpg

2nd pic :

That looks sweet

[ehenyo]

Sony must think consumers are stupid into buying a PS3 for 499 or 599.

I'm considering buying it at the 499 mark, and I don't consider myself stupid.

[markatisu]

EA has really picked up the ball on taking the Wii online, check this out.

First details on NBA Live 08 for Wii:

http://wii.ign.com/articles/802/802392p1.html

Where NBA Live 08 really sold us, however, was in the online portion of the package. Details are still pretty sparse due to the game's level of completion, but EA did share an interesting note with us. NBA Live 08 supports console vs. console play, which means up to eight players can go online and face off against each other. Since there are only two Wii systems connecting EA treats it as a "team vs. team" situation, so you can play online with either one, two, three, or four controllers supported on each console. There was also rumblings that once connected consoles could actually change players on each team, so you could go online with a group, and then trade players pre-game and do a little mixed online competition. We'll wait to see that one in practice, but according to EA it's entirely plausible. Regardless, four-on-four online is confirmed, so get your teams ready, organize tournaments on the message boards, and kick a little ass via eight player online.

Hand's on with almost final release of Lair for PS3

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/801/801928p1.html

[mannyscollectibles]

I'm considering buying it at the 499 mark, and I don't consider myself stupid.

Sorry dude it wasnt meant to be like that.Im sure people buy it at that price I just think and this is my opinion that it is too much to pay for a console at $499. Now $399 may be a better option for Sony. Again my sincerest apologies for the out of context post

[markatisu]

Since we were discussing the unlockable G1 models in the TF game, I thought it might be easier to explain via video

There are 3 repaints in the bonus section (Robovision Prime, G1 Starscream, and G1 Jazz) these are simply repaints over the TF Movie models.

However there are two G1 new models for Prime and Megatron

G1 Optimus Prime


G1 Megatron


Hope that clears up any confusion over whether or not the G1 models are just repainted movie models or not

[PanMan]

EA has really picked up the ball on taking the Wii online, check this out.

First details on NBA Live 08 for Wii:

http://wii.ign.com/articles/802/802392p1.html



Hand's on with almost final release of Lair for PS3

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/801/801928p1.html

That's good news, but wasn't that expected? How good is Xbox Live? I'm sure they have complete online tournaments and such (like Season mode and stuff), right? Maybe when they come out with something like that for Wii I will be excited (possibly next year?)

[markatisu]

That's good news, but wasn't that expected? How good is Xbox Live? I'm sure they have complete online tournaments and such (like Season mode and stuff), right? Maybe when they come out with something like that for Wii I will be excited (possibly next year?)

I think next year we will see a more enhanced online with the Wii, seems EA is not using Nintendo's network anyway since you have to have an EA username (as you do on all their products). It will be interesting to see how the online for Madden and NBA play out this year for the Wii.

But then again Xbox Live you pay for so its always bound to have more features, I dont think Nintendo will ever go to a pay online system given they have been against it for years (probably not cost effective or something of that nature).

Here we go with E3 coverage!

Nights Trailer!!!

http://www.gamespot.com/video/938874...cial-trailer-1

Gameplay: http://www.gamespot.com/video/938874...meplay-movie-1

[Spidey]

GR81 says:

TF the game rules....playing Optimus Prime is sooooooo Cooll...

I am at mission 3 with bumblebee markatisu

And yes, i do see the bonus stuff now...no G1 charactors yet

Yes I agree this is the most fun I've had with a game since zelda! Can't put the darn thing down! Lol

Brace yourself for the level where you have to take the all-spark before megatron wakes up, that one was a bi.. And a half! I'm at the last fight with prime against megatron and my favorite level so far is playing with jazz against starscream and blackout, it doesn't get any sweeter than beating 2 decepticons at once!

[Skullface]

Apparently the PS3 price drop is successful for the day - the PS3 jumped from not having sold a single unit on Amazon.com in the last 4 months to being the #1 item on their site today.

I guarantee that will be part of Sony's press conference on Wednesday.....

I'll admit, I'm more tempted to pick up a PS3 myself now, but then I remind myself that currently, the only "exclusive" disc-based PS3 game I'm interested in is Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Though buying a re-revamped version of a 3-year old game is what I keep telling myself to keep me on the fence. (I already have the Xbox "Black" version from 2 years ago....) And I currently have no interest in Blu-Ray - I've got WAY too much invested in standard DVDS to consider upgrading anytime soon....

Come Ratchet & Clank, God of War 3, & MGS4, I'll be more inclined to make to jump.....

[markatisu]

Apparently the PS3 price drop is successful for the day - the PS3 jumped from not having sold a single unit on Amazon.com in the last 4 months to being the #1 item on their site today.

The guys over at neogaf are having a field day with that stat, its not as impressive as it sounds but I agree that Sony will probably put that in their pr spin machine

I think it wont mean much, without the games it will sell on par with what it has been selling imho. E3 should shed some light on whats coming but as far as we know Lair and Assasins Creed are the only bright spots and it will be at least another 60 days before that has any effect. If MS announces a price drop this week (which is rumored by some analysts) it will destroy the thunder of the PS3 announce.

Sony better hope the price sku change helps because otherwise they will be left with another 20gb/60gb fiasco onces the 80gb start flooding stores. They already dumped the 20gb, they cant afford to have to dump a 2nd sku

Wii Raw vs Smackdown Hands-On
http://wii.ign.com/articles/802/802607p1.html

Some highlights

THQ has again opened its doors to us, showcasing a slightly more in-depth WWE experience, and from what we've played thus far Wii owners may want to take note, as WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 is no penny-pinching Wii-make.

For our Pre-E3 demo of the game we had a chance to go hands-on with the latest build of the game, again in a Triple H vs. John Cena match-up. This time around, however, controls were far more involved, using Wii motion at nearly every turn. Players will select their fighter, enjoy in-game intro cinemas complete with the same motion-capture animations as the 360 and PS3 versions

Outside of the general gameplay, SmackDown vs. Raw 2008 still delivers a very strong Wii effort considering it's the first WWE title of the system, and it's still only 40% finished. The general graphical presentation is pretty solid, already comparable to Day of Reckoning 2 for GameCube (better in some cases, worse in others), as it has a more complete environment at the sacrifice of some jaggies on character models. In general though, it's a solid first outing, and it houses some of the better character models we've seen on Wii thus far. The screens really don't do it justice, as the game definitely has an edge on some of the PS2 content we've seen thus far.

The balance between strike, light grapple, and hard grapple, as well as the speed and precision of the game reminded us heavily of No Mercy and WrestleMania 2000 on N64, as it had the same risk/reward feel. Pull off a heavy move too soon, and you're going to get beat by a quick slap to the face, and nobody ("And The Rock means nobody!") likes that.

Things like the taunt system (pulled off by holding C and doing wrestler-specific motions) are already extremely entertaining, as you actually need to do Triple H's "suck it" motion or classic "You Can't See Me!" hand gesture of Cena to pull off taunts, and seeing the person physically do it in front of you certainly ups the competitive feel in the room a bit. In addition, some of the ground attacks or turnbuckle punches are pretty brutal as well, with Cena actually straddling a downed fighter and having each hand's swing convert directly into a punch, or the lifting of both hands to do a grab and head-butt, but we want to see more of that. 90% of the game's moves will be pulled off with motion control according to THQ

[hemanrep]

People seem to forget that the PS3 was already $499 eight months ago...it'll give Sony a temporary spike, but nothing more. It's still way too expensive for mass consumers to buy especially when (it will happen) Microsoft drops the price of the 360.

[ehenyo]

People seem to forget that the PS3 was already $499 eight months ago...

I know you're getting at something here, but if I take what you said in the literal sense, I can say that if it was $499 eight months ago, why is it that every store I walked into 2 days ago had it marked at $599?

[markatisu]

Interesting...

Konami sees little PS3 price cut impact

Kitaue said Konami may need to expand the target hardware for its blockbuster fighting game Metal Gear Solid, which has so far been developed for Sony's PlayStation machines, to other consoles in the future to recoup development costs.

"Since Metal Gear Solid was born for the PlayStation, we would like to keep it a PlayStation game. But we might have to take some steps," Kitaue said.

Micheal Patcher (video game analyst) expects MS price cuts

We think that the $499 PS3 compares quite favorably with the $399 Pro 360 model, which has only a 20Gb hard drive and no HDMI output. Because of this favorable comparison, we believe that Microsoft is all but compelled to cut prices, and we think the price cuts will come no later than at Microsoft's Tuesday night press conference.

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=14606

[Dynamo of Eternia]

I know you're getting at something here, but if I take what you said in the literal sense, I can say that if it was $499 eight months ago, why is it that every store I walked into 2 days ago had it marked at $599?

I think he's refering to the previous 20 Gig model that Sony stopped making since it wasn't selling well.

Sony better hope the price sku change helps because otherwise they will be left with another 20gb/60gb fiasco onces the 80gb start flooding stores. They already dumped the 20gb, they cant afford to have to dump a 2nd sku

I don't think there's much danger of that happening. Granted, this is all speculation on my part. But, I think the gap in hard drive space between the 20 Gig and 60 Gig probably seems like a much bigger difference to people than the difference between the 60 and the 80.

Plus, even putting aside the difference in hard drive space, the 20 Gig model was still missing other frills and aspects that the 60 Gig had. I think more people went for the 60 Gig because they feared missing out on some aspect of the experience.


This time around, it seems (as far as I know) that the only big difference between the two models is the 20 extra Gigs of HD space on the 80 Gig version. All the other frills of the system, itself, will remain the same. Plus, I think the really big difference between the two is going to be the fact that the 80 gig model comes with a game packed in. This could help sales to some extent, but not everyone will necessarily want Motorstorm, so they may opt for the 60 Gig model instead and just buy a game that they do want. And, the HD can be changed out, so someone buying the 60 Gig could make it larger down the road.