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Video game industry thread: we're done here, move on to the next one

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Posts

  • RainbowDespairRainbowDespair Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    SD cards are relatively cheap so you could easily fix the 3DS storage problem with a quick trip to Best Buy or an order on Amazon. The bigger problem is what it shows about Nintendo's attitude - they still don't care about digital distribution. Whereas Sony has a lot of their PSP content available on the PSN and has frequent sales and promotions and Apple is entirely digital, it looks like the 3DS is going to continue where DSiWare left off - i.e. a small, hardly advertised service with little of worth.

    Everything else about the 3DS sounds awesome so it's a shame that it looks like they're dropping the ball here.

    RainbowDespair on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Taking bets that, despite all logical reasoning, young Lara will have a bigger bust than older Lara.

    I thought this was fairly typical of women in general, though? Bloom and then kind of stop unless you get pregnant? Or is that on a much longer term basis, 20 compared to 50?

    UncleSporky on
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  • Xenogears of BoreXenogears of Bore Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Most digital PSP games are sold on non GO PSP models, and those have exactly zero GBs of on board storage and work just fine. You're full of it.

    Xenogears of Bore on
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  • RainbowDespairRainbowDespair Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Most digital PSP games are sold on non GO PSP models, and those have exactly zero GBs of on board storage and work just fine. You're full of it.

    Which just reinforces my point. Sure, you could buy an old PSP and a memory stick and download games with that, but the PSP PSN itself was completely pathetic until the PSP Go came out. The arrival of a system with a large built-in storage capacity signified a huge shift in Sony's focus.

    RainbowDespair on
  • LewiePLewieP Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    We'll see, I agree that the size certainly indicates that Nintendo aren't intending on selling full games as downloads (assuming that 3DS games are likely to be bigger in size than DS games, especially the likes of MGS3) so you'd not fit many games on that 1.5gb.

    But they might still be enhancing the downloadable games in general.

    LewieP on
  • UncleSporkyUncleSporky Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    It does give them room to bump it up when new models come out, though that's certainly not something they're known for yet.

    But really they've only had once chance to do that so far (DSi to DSi XL).

    UncleSporky on
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  • LewiePLewieP Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    It does give them room to bump it up when new models come out, though that's certainly not something they're known for yet.

    But really they've only had once chance to do that so far (DSi to DSi XL).

    I'm really surprised that they still haven't introduced a premium Wii, with the same basic design but more storage space and maybe a few other things changed.

    Even if it was just as an excuse to be able to charge people more when it was selling out.

    LewieP on
  • The WolfmanThe Wolfman Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    The Go and iPod need the higher storage though, because they're 100% digital. Whereas the primary use of the 3DS is still going to be via an external game pak. And besides, if anybody is going to be doing a massive amount of digital downloading with the thing, they're going to be getting an SD card for storage anyways.

    I suppose it remains to be seen just how big 3DS downloads are and how long the space lasts, but I'm betting 1.5 gigs is going to be more than enough for the average user. And because they already have an upgradeable SD slot in the thing anyways, I think it's more sensible to keep the internal memory down and keep the cost cheap. Better than paying more for space I may not even need in the first place.

    The Wolfman on
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  • Santa ClaustrophobiaSanta Claustrophobia Ho Ho Ho Disconnecting from Xbox LIVERegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Warlock82 wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    According to someone in the Move thread, a best buy store only got in six Move controllers and six Move bundles.

    I swear, Sony isn't even trying.

    Or maybe they are "trying" to copy the Wii launch! :)

    Maybe they can offer another bounty if you can find it on the shelf?

    Santa Claustrophobia on
  • slash000slash000 Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    It's pretty clear Nintendo has decided that the 3DS isn't the time for primary digital distribution, but rather digital distribution is better suited for pick up and play, smaller games.

    The Iphone is always used as example of how portable gaming should be all digital, but Nintendo probably sees it as an example of how digital distribution is great for those small, inexpensive, quick pickup/play games. And that there is still a place for the "bigger" more traditional games distributed through physical media.

    Perhaps Nintendo sees the PSPGo as an example of "Hey yeah full-on digital distro really isn't that big yet." As well.

    slash000 on
  • slash000slash000 Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Warlock82 wrote: »
    cloudeagle wrote: »
    According to someone in the Move thread, a best buy store only got in six Move controllers and six Move bundles.

    I swear, Sony isn't even trying.

    Or maybe they are "trying" to copy the Wii launch! :)


    Maybe the stores only ordered a few based on moderate, rather than massive, sales expectations for the product.

    slash000 on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    When is Kotick just gonna jump the shark and say he's bigger than The Beatles, thus, bigger than Jesus?

    Henroid on
  • cooljammer00cooljammer00 Hey Small Christmas-Man!Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Henroid wrote: »
    When is Kotick just gonna jump the shark and say he's bigger than The Beatles, thus, bigger than Jesus?

    Didn't Activision already brag that GH5 did better than B:RB when that's not necessarily how it went down?

    cooljammer00 on
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  • RakaiRakai Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    He said that CoD is the Star Wars of the new millennium so he's close.

    Rakai on
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  • CantidoCantido Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Rakai wrote: »
    He said that CoD is the Star Wars of the new millennium so he's close.

    Kotick = Lucas? Well they both are out of their minds.

    Naw, Lucas contributed something good at one point.

    Cantido on
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  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Minecraft is doing well.
    http://twitter.com/xnotch/status/25166473830
    Seriously, people are buying the game faster than paypal can manage! It's queuing up purchases!

    Couscous on
  • GibbsGibbs Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Darlan wrote: »
    It has an SD slot, you could have 32 gigs of space pretty cheaply nowadays. And (I guess depending on the limited specs and RAM), you could always stream it ala Netflix.
    Oh I know, it just seems like a really limiting factor for exposure and getting more casual people to try it. How many fewer copies of VC games would the Wii have sold if you HAD to have an SD card, for instance?
    Huh? The Wii only has 512 megs of internal storage. The 3DS is a huge step up from that.

    I'm pretty confident that if there are any movies for 3DS, they'll be streamed.

    Even though I'm always hearing that flash memory is cheap, Nintendo has the goal of making a profit on every unit moved and remaining affordable to the consumers.

    1.5 gigs might just one part of making sure that happens.

    Gibbs on
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  • CouscousCouscous Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Every company skimps on RAM.

    Couscous on
  • agoajagoaj Top Tier One FearRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    That's more ram than the Gamecube had.

    agoaj on
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  • jothkijothki Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Couscous wrote: »
    Minecraft is doing well.
    http://twitter.com/xnotch/status/25166473830
    Seriously, people are buying the game faster than paypal can manage! It's queuing up purchases!

    The game did so not need more than one PA comic, not at the scale it's being developed.

    jothki on
  • jothkijothki Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    slash000 wrote: »
    It's pretty clear Nintendo has decided that the 3DS isn't the time for primary digital distribution, but rather digital distribution is better suited for pick up and play, smaller games.

    The Iphone is always used as example of how portable gaming should be all digital, but Nintendo probably sees it as an example of how digital distribution is great for those small, inexpensive, quick pickup/play games. And that there is still a place for the "bigger" more traditional games distributed through physical media.

    Perhaps Nintendo sees the PSPGo as an example of "Hey yeah full-on digital distro really isn't that big yet." As well.

    Which actually makes me kind of nervous. Looking back at the fallout from the Sega CD, I'm worried that Nintendo might be about to make a similar mistake.

    jothki on
  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    What's this about the Sega CD?

    Henroid on
  • UltimanecatUltimanecat Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Which actually makes me kind of nervous. Looking back at the fallout from the Sega CD, I'm worried that Nintendo might be about to make a similar mistake.

    That's an interesting opinion yet I have no idea what reality it is based on. What analogy are you drawing?

    All signs point toward the 3DS becoming the de facto lead platform in Japan as its predecessor did before it.

    Ultimanecat on
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  • GibbsGibbs Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Which actually makes me kind of nervous. Looking back at the fallout from the Sega CD, I'm worried that Nintendo might be about to make a similar mistake.

    That's an interesting opinion yet I have no idea what reality it is based on. What analogy are you drawing?

    All signs point toward the 3DS becoming the de facto lead platform in Japan as its predecessor did before it.

    I'm having a hard time picturing how an add-on for a first/second place system that was part of the FMV-craze which was quickly followed by another add-on that was supported even less than the first add-on can compare to the successor to the first place handheld.

    Edit: Wait, are you comparing 3D to FMV?

    Gibbs on
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  • SirUltimosSirUltimos Don't talk, Rusty. Just paint. Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I think what he's saying is that Nintendo didn't adopt CDs for the N64 largely because of the failure of the Sega CD, and he's worried they're not adopting Digital Distribution for the 3DS due to the failure of the PSP Go.

    SirUltimos on
  • UltimanecatUltimanecat Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    That makes quite a bit more sense.

    I think a mixed DD and store-bought solution is still probably the best route for a consumer game console. If you really want retailers to get behind selling your hardware, you either need to let them have a markup, or (just like the iPod) make sure there is plenty of high-margin stuff that people will buy along with it.

    Ultimanecat on
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  • HenroidHenroid Mexican kicked from Immigration Thread Centrism is Racism :3Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    SirUltimos wrote: »
    I think what he's saying is that Nintendo didn't adopt CDs for the N64 largely because of the failure of the Sega CD, and he's worried they're not adopting Digital Distribution for the 3DS due to the failure of the PSP Go.

    Oh, now that sorta makes sense.

    Thing is, digital distribution means memory space for all your content, in exchange for hard-copies. Fitting it inside the device could take up valuable hardware room, and it is also finite; when you start bringing memory sticks into the picture, maybe it's best to go with carts anyhow?

    Henroid on
  • GibbsGibbs Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    SirUltimos wrote: »
    I think what he's saying is that Nintendo didn't adopt CDs for the N64 largely because of the failure of the Sega CD, and he's worried they're not adopting Digital Distribution for the 3DS due to the failure of the PSP Go.

    Ok, that makes a lot more sense.

    To be fair, you could tie Nintendo's avoidance of disc media to several factors but that is most likely one of them.

    Gibbs on
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  • lowlylowlycooklowlylowlycook Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Couscous wrote: »
    Minecraft is doing well.
    http://twitter.com/xnotch/status/25166473830
    Seriously, people are buying the game faster than paypal can manage! It's queuing up purchases!

    Hmmmm, I wonder how his sales compares to Second Life.

    lowlylowlycook on
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  • Unco-ordinatedUnco-ordinated NZRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Darlan wrote: »
    Yes, but that is that 512 MB is enough to try the VC service, whereas 1.5 GBs doesn't seem like enough for even one 3D movie.

    Ninja edit response: Yeah, maybe streaming is in, but unless it has a 3G option, that's not very portable...

    I really doubt the movie service was much more than Nintendo posturing possibilities anyway, so I doubt it'll be an issue. Maybe I'll be wrong but I just can't really see Nintendo setting up an online video store.
    agoaj wrote: »
    That's more ram than the Gamecube had.

    Not to mention the same amount as the Xbox had and twice the amount the PS2 and PSP had(the PSP-2000 onwards had 64MB but that was just to speed things up, games can't really utilise it properly or they'd make their games incompatible with the original PSP). And unlike those systems, the 3DS doesn't rely on slow-ass disc drives. 64MB should be perfectly fine.

    Based off those specs, the only thing that really jumps out at me is that the GPU looks kinda slow. But then seeing as there's jack-all details, I think I'll just wait for the actual specs to come out, assuming Nintendo ever wants to release them.

    Unco-ordinated on
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  • plufimplufim Dr Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Give the smaller size of the 3DS screens, I'd imagine 3D movies aren't going to be as big as people are thinking. Plus the audio would probably be limited too.
    Couscous wrote: »
    Minecraft is doing well.
    http://twitter.com/xnotch/status/25166473830
    Seriously, people are buying the game faster than paypal can manage! It's queuing up purchases!
    Has paypal given him his money back yet?

    I'm glad it's doing well though. It has managed to get a bit of mainstream press coverage lately, so that seems to have worked out well for him.

    plufim on
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  • GibbsGibbs Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Every device you can carry in your pocket can do movies now. Just because the 3DS would have the exclusive (?) ability to do it 3D doesn't mean it should.

    Kind of like if it was a phone. Most people who want a phone will already have a device to be their phone. No need for another one.

    Edit: Though if I wanted any company to continually rape me on cellphone bills, it'd have to be Nintendo.

    Nintendo to buy Verizon in 5 years.

    Gibbs on
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  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Henroid wrote: »
    SirUltimos wrote: »
    I think what he's saying is that Nintendo didn't adopt CDs for the N64 largely because of the failure of the Sega CD, and he's worried they're not adopting Digital Distribution for the 3DS due to the failure of the PSP Go.

    Oh, now that sorta makes sense.

    Thing is, digital distribution means memory space for all your content, in exchange for hard-copies. Fitting it inside the device could take up valuable hardware room, and it is also finite; when you start bringing memory sticks into the picture, maybe it's best to go with carts anyhow?

    But the problem there is that 16GB micro SDHC sticks don't cost that much, are super tiny, and can store tons and tons of games. I hate having to keep track of DS/GBA games and would love to just be able to store them on a card in the system and never, ever have to find them again. Yeah, Nintendo already dominates the handheld market, but something like being able to store 20-30 different 3DS, DS, DSi, and GBA games all on the same system would be huge.

    Not to mention the fact that pirates have been able to do that crap for years so there's no good reason not to make it an official part of the system. Just give people the capability already because the people who are going to pirate are going to pirate anyway regardless of how great you the system.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • GuekGuek Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Not to mention the fact that pirates have been able to do that crap for years so there's no good reason not to make it an official part of the system. Just give people the capability already because the people who are going to pirate are going to pirate anyway regardless of how great you the system.

    o_O

    i...don't think that'd be a wise decision. if nintendo decides not to let you store your full cartridge games to your sd card, it'll be precisely because they want to discourage piracy. sure, it would be great for honest consumers, but i think it's a little too much to ask them to not see PSP (and DS) piracy as cautionary tales.

    while it's unfortunate, i think it's completely understandable. they should be allowed to protect their back end from what would certainly be a huge piracy problem.

    Guek on
  • Undead ScottsmanUndead Scottsman Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Couscous wrote: »
    Minecraft is doing well.
    http://twitter.com/xnotch/status/25166473830
    Seriously, people are buying the game faster than paypal can manage! It's queuing up purchases!

    Did he get his money back from paypal yet?

    Undead Scottsman on
  • DritzDritz CanadaRegistered User regular
    edited September 2010
    I think people completely misunderstood Nintendo's stance on movies on the 3DS. They made it pretty clear that they are gonna be as lazy as possible in courting studios to bring movies to the system. Rather they want studios to come to them. Least that is the impression I got from E3. Nintendo will never be actively for something other than games.

    Dritz on
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  • BTPBTP Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Okay, NPD-and-similar maniacs, I've got a question for you: Does anyone have LTD's for PS2, OXbox, Gamecube, Game Boy Advance, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, DS, and PSP.....in Worldwide, NA, Japan, and Europe?

    Yeah, I know, I'm asking a lot. But if you got it, please share it. Thanks.

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  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Guek wrote: »
    Not to mention the fact that pirates have been able to do that crap for years so there's no good reason not to make it an official part of the system. Just give people the capability already because the people who are going to pirate are going to pirate anyway regardless of how great you the system.

    o_O

    i...don't think that'd be a wise decision. if nintendo decides not to let you store your full cartridge games to your sd card, it'll be precisely because they want to discourage piracy. sure, it would be great for honest consumers, but i think it's a little too much to ask them to not see PSP (and DS) piracy as cautionary tales.

    while it's unfortunate, i think it's completely understandable. they should be allowed to protect their back end from what would certainly be a huge piracy problem.

    But that piracy is gonna happen no matter what. Piracy which will do that exact thing. So if it's going to happen either way, why not give the consumers a great feature? I just do not see any way whatsoever that Nintendo will be able to keep the 3DS from being heavily pirated, so there's simply no reason to keep a great feature limited only to people who are just going to steal the games anyway. Nintendo can't stop the piracy, but they can add something to the system which only people with hacked system have had for years and years.

    Ninja Snarl P on
  • GuekGuek Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    so you're saying because piracy is already an issue, they should just go ahead and make it easier to do? just because they can't stop piracy doesn't mean they should throw caution to the wind and not care whether it happens or not. if you think ease of piracy never affected a platform's success, my friends the dreamcast and the psp would like to have a word.

    Guek on
  • Ninja Snarl PNinja Snarl P My helmet is my burden. Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered User regular
    edited September 2010
    Guek wrote: »
    so you're saying because piracy is already an issue, they should just go ahead and make it easier to do? just because they can't stop piracy doesn't mean they should throw caution to the wind and not care whether it happens or not. if you think ease of piracy never affected a platform's success, my friends the dreamcast and the psp would like to have a word.

    The DS has been a huge success despite the relative ease of piracy. Cart piracy cannot be prevented, so as long as Nintendo makes pirating games to the system memory at least as difficult as DS pirating is right now, then they've lost nothing they wouldn't have lost anyway and the consumers don't have to suffer for the actions of pirates.

    Also, the DC got hammered by piracy because I doubt Sega had any idea how widely prevalent CD burners were and didn't account for that; the PSP's relative failure has little to do with piracy and a lot more to do with abysmal support and poor game selection. Not to mention that even when somebody buys a DS to hack it, Nintendo still gets profit from it. The PSP, however, is a lot more expensive to make and Sony sold at a loss for a long while.

    And there are definitely options for allowing people to store games to the 3DS memory while still combating piracy. One easy way is to simply require people to be connected to Nintendo servers while copying in order to prevent people from just passing a game around. But leaving off the ability to store games to the 3DS memory won't do a single thing to fight piracy which means all that choice would accomplish is making the system not as good.

    Frankly, being able to save entire games to the 3DS may very well be a dealbreaker for me. Having to carry around the system and a game case completely defeats the point of having a portable system to me. Considering my cell phone has gigabyted of storage thanks to a cheap memory could, we're way past the point where portable game system should just be able to store software without having to haul around physical copies of the game.

    Ninja Snarl P on
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