AndrewTS

In the US, they did a test run in Hawaii, but opted against doing it in the rest of the US. $50 of trade ins. Ha! That's well over $100 in real value.

Ahhh yes KH2. Forgot about that one. At this point I'll probably just wait until it hits best-selling status then get it for 20 bucks. I don't know if that will happen any time soon. The game is really popular, enough for them to justify selling it for pretty much full price still even though it's been out for like seven months. It isn't Greatest Hits because GH status in the US requires: a) selling 400,000+ b) being out 9 months. KH2 hit the first requirement a hell of a long time ago (within the first week, IIRC), but it only came out late March. So it *can't* go GH until December. I may buy Bully at least partly as a big finger to Jacky boy.

There were a few games that had drastic differences--like the Splinter Cells. Also some games really took advantage of the xbox to make a much improved game (the souped up GTA3/VC). However, for the most part, the MO was "let's make a PS2 game...and oh yeah, smooth a few textures and throw it on Xbox, too." Of course Sony's overwhelming market leader position lead to that, it seemed. Why put in the extra work when most people are going to buy the PS2 version anyway?

You'll never see a difference in gameplay? Between 360 and PS3 maybe, but one of those and Wii? Hello Assassin's Creed, which ain't happening on Wii at all, and not because of exclusivity agreements. It's not just a difference in power, its 360/PS3 doing stuff that Wii flat out can't do, like all the AI for the dozens and dozens of NPCs.

The 50's b-movie cliche aspect of it makes it gold. Oh well, I thought we were on a roll of *actual discussion*, but this is ok too.

Some people were fooled, yeah, but not as much. When you read previews on early PS3/360 stuff, it seemed the reporter was always looking for reason to believe the game "footage" was a fraud. Remember all that "it's real time, really!" baloney that Sony was yelling last year? Of course, yeah--not all gamers are skeptical geeks. I'm surprised how many people seem to be completely oblivious to the fact that the Wii is *not even close* to the capabilities of Wii/PS3, even though Nintendo itself admits it.

Agreed, and even if it were, it's not like back in 2000 when everyone wanted a DVD player and the PS2 was an easy way to get one. The demand for Blu-ray isn't even there. Ok, the availability may be one thing, but this is absurd. The essence of the Playstation 3 DNA is real change, and the consumers are ready. Didn't you listen to Kaz? I think Blu-Ray is a part of it, but that's not where Sony intends to stop. They really, really want to make the PS3 the media set-top box that PS2 never came close to being yet was supposed to be. Not that anyone cared about that--it was all the really pretty graphics they showed in their smoke n' mirrors show that sealed the deal. However, bullshots are no longer so easy to trick people with, actual PS3 graphics are on par with 360, and Sony has done a really crappy job of communicating to gamers what they really can offer with PS3--with or without HDTVs. Of course, Lee Iakoka could shit better PR mouthpieces than Sony. It seems like the marketing heads of each and every region has had at least one attack of The Stupids. Nintendo's PR guys either come off as goofy, humble and optimistic (Miyamoto, Iwata), or with just enough swagger to be likable but not unlikeable (Reggie). On MS' side, there's Peter Moore, who is funny even when he's really, really off-base (and even though he looks like Beelzebub in the right light). Plus, they have Bill himself who can work a crowd, and that XTREEEEEEEEEEEME marketing dude you don't see much of anymore. Sony has: Kaz, Man of a 1000 YTMNDs; Phil Harrison, who hasn't really contributed much to this whole fiasco other than look like an ass at E3. Then there's the horribly dull, metaphor-spewing, walking cloud of smug Krazy Ken, who thinks that engineering blather and reassurance that you're getting a total steal! is enough to get through to people who were won over by Sony just delivering good games in the past.

The way it is looking with the hybrid chips, it seems like neither Blu-Ray or HD-DVD will be the "winner." They'll be the next DVD+ and DVD-. PS3 isn't a real option as a "cheap Blu-Ray player" until mid-2007 when you can actually buy one without bribes/Ebay/clotheslining a dozen fierce soccer moms outside Wal-Mart.

From the rather dubious GameFAQs, here are some games early adopters have to look forward to: Yeah--a full year from now for GTA4. For those wondering, Metal Gear Solid 4 is released God Only Knows When, Final Fantasy XIII and Assassin's Creed in "2007," and Too Human on Who Honestly Gives a Rat's Ass? Eve.

Welcome back, Marvin! Early adopters can look forward to ClassActionStation3--then Sony will fix 'em.

I had a friend go up to my EB at 8 AM (my EB opens at 10...), and when he arrived there was a line of 40+ people. There were only 30 Wii reserves available. Do the math. I'm going to have to freakin' camp out for the Wii now. Damnit!!! This is not a big town either--unfreakin'believable. I have no Gamecrazies or other close Gamestops, so I best go shopping for some new gloves soon.

I'm a big critic of the game, but also a huge fan (Kingdom Hearts). I know exactly what you mean; there's so many things that could be improved, but at the same time you still can't help but love the game. I'm amazed at how the games get such consistently high scores, though. I'd think more game mags/sites would be down on the gameplay flaws more.

Funny how DS has no (released) Zelda games, has only just now gotten a "real" Pokemon game, and didn't get Metroid Hunters until early this year. Although Wii will apparently have one of each within the first 6 mo. of release. Funny how one of the main pitches for the hardware is ease of development for 3rd parties. Plenty of Mario tho (one of which has sold metric assloads). Funny how XBox 360 still doesn't have a real Halo game and won't have it until at least next year. Lots of space marines in games, though.

I mistakenly thought I posted the link to the site, but I didn't. Basically, the EB/GS folks got a letter saying to open at normal times. The jury seems to be deliberating on Red Steel; it isn't utter crap anymore, it seems, but I'm not sure it'll be the home run the system could *really* use.

EB/Gamestops open at normal hours. Stop calling, geez. I'm a tad worried, because it figure reserves would *have* to happen on a day I'm working. I've got a friend who is going to reserve it for me, but he's not exactly the kind I can count on to be up and in front of EB Games at 10 AM. However, unlike PS3 there's going to be a pretty good supply, and reserves aren't going to be done almost exclusively by people looking to hock the system on Ebay. However, I *will* have a Wii on launch day. There's no damn way I'm going to be looking at a Twilight Princess disc with no system to play it on. I will ditch work if necessary.

That's why I was discussing that accessory that lets you connect up to a vga monitor, since I'd have to buy it extra. Yeah, technically offtopic, but there's a wii thread and ps3 thread but no general 360 topic.

You're still gonna buy five copies of it aren't you. She swears she'd only get 1 (PS2) version this time. "I know Goru/Johnny Cage is another one." MK meets 4chan? Ohnoes!

According to the usual blogspects (and GoNintendo), Wii preorders are a go for this Friday in the US. Early reports indicate a $50 minimum. Stores open their "normal times."

Everybody with a CRT, at least. The cable itself has the pins sticking out too. I googled up as much info as possible. Teamxbox.com reviewed a 3P cable, and came up with this: "One thing we noticed is that Monster Cable has not included a male-to-female adapter, such as the one included with the Microsoft Xbox 360 VGA cable. Even if most LCD monitors have a female VGA input, some CRT monitors don’t have such a connector and instead have a cable that ends in a male connector. In that case, you’ll need a male-to-female adapter." So that's what I'd need. What kind of annoys me is that I'm unable to see mention of any such adapter except for that teamxbox review. Not on Bestbuy.com, not on xbox.com, not on Gamestop.com/ebgames.com, wal-mart.com, etc.

So still no answer for me?

It's Virtual Boy without the helmet and headaches. You couldn't possibly be more wrong. Virtual Boy was rushed through development and thrown onto a market that was hostile from the moment the concept was first made known. It was also incredibly impractical, ridiculous, and potentially hazardous to most peoples' health. By that statement don't think I'm down on the Wii; I just have certain expectations that are a bit more realistic than many other folks'. I guess we can assume that online-only thing for Twilight Princess is staying for Japan? There are still tons of Americans who have GC Twilight Princess preorders down. EDIT: Oh yeah--all reports so far only mention Japan.

One of the best, most fun shooters on SNES. Shockingly, it was a licensed game in Japan (based on an anime/manga).

I'd take that as a "yeah", Scrob. Anya forgot to mention that UMK3 is in the game. And the "secret" characters can only be unlocked with a can't-save-to-memory set of UKKs. Because Boon is stupid.

Sort of, but just really crappy.

Not hard when you have less than 1/2 a million units for an entire continent, and millions of people who see the system launch as a way to make a quick few hundred bucks on Ebay.