LOL

Super Mario Galaxy is an automatic. Ditto for Geometry Wars. Resident Evil is a no brainer as well.

Look, the Wii doesn't get a lot of love for me in the discussions because I think it's won this round. I think it'll sell more than the other two. On the other hand, I don't think a game like Bioshock is possible on the Wii. So it's a great system, one which I play a ton, but when it comes to this discussion, it's already won the war. They'll release enough first party titles to keep it going strong and eventually some third party titles will start to pop up.

Metroid looks pretty good so far.

Actually, I'd find that a huge plus. I'll have to check them out.

That is a nice list. I'm also really intrigued by Fire Emblem and I'm starting to drop hints to my wife that I want a Wii for Christmas. Since she wants one too, I think chances are pretty good that I'll be getting it for Christmas if she can find one when she goes shopping.

Well done. Make sure that the Wii is officially her present so you can get something else as your official present. :)

Latest PS3 update might be of interest to some of you making the buy/hold off/don't buy decision on the PS3. Looks like there was a pretty large update to the backwards compatibility on the PS3's without an Emotion Engine. You're still better off buying the 60 GB machine at this point, but the backwards compatibility is better on the non-EE machines after this latest update.

"Haze" has gone gold, 2 1/2 months before its release date. Speculation is that the game will either be released early or that they will spend the extra time working on a demo to come out well in advance of the planned November release date. My guess is that they come out with a demo in October to help build further hype for the game. I personally think that, given the lack of PS3 titles, more hype and customer satisfaction would be built by just bringing out the game, but maybe that's just me.

CheapyD reported on this week's podcast that Microsoft is now using 7 day shipping on its warranty returns instead of the 3 day shipping that they were using previously. Probably nothing more than a cost cutting move, but it will result in an extra 3-4 days of down time on each leg of shipping to get any warranty work done on a Xbox 360.

One of the 'leakers' of the retail prices has stated that he is being interviewed by Bloomberg News for a story. CheapyD reported on the 'CAGcast' podcast that the Bloomberg News story will highlight the stories of 3 different people who leaked the prices and were fired from their jobs. One person was fired over complaints by Microsoft and the other two lost their job over complaints by Sony. Quotes from one of the people that was fired......

Man, there are a ton of FPS coming out on both the 360 and PS3 in the next couple of months. Can the market handle this many games of the exact same genre? I'm interested to see if some of the franchises don't sell quite as well and get weeded out to some extent.

Interview of COD4 developer.......

http://n4g.com/News-65137.aspx

COD is a "must buy" for me.

He's got to be shitting me, right? This is a lot of what's wrong in the world today. He has to be warned to not leak advertisement information by the company he works for? Look asshole you leaked the info and got caught, now pay the price. Don't come out with some "nobody warned me not to do it" bullshit so I shouldn't lose my job.

That would get me killed ;)

QFT.

I was watching "The Feed" for a few minutes this morning and they said the Wii outsold the PS3 in Japan 3-1 last month. Also, by most websites estimates, the Wii has already passed the 360 for units sold worldwide. I didn't realize that happened until I just looked it up. The Wii's sales have been amazing.

Not bad for a gimmick.

And I STILL can't find one on the shelves at the local stores to buy... ;)

/tk

Totally agree. I posted it because it's drawing a lot of attention in the media lately and there are several lawyers making some money off it. The obvious flaw in his argument is that he made sure that his leak of the prices was done anonymously. If he didn't think it was a issue, he should have had no problem associating his name with the info.

They're trying to make Sony and MS look like the evil empire in this case. This is one of the situations where I don't really see any problem with them being ticked off. The fact that these companies give pricing info over a month in advance to these companies should result in some level of trust that they won't leak strategic pricing info in advance to give the competition a chance to counter the move. But that may even be an idealistic thought to some extent as companies are always trying to get the jump on others.

The Japanese numbers dropped by 35,000 two weeks ago and everyone began to point to it as the big drop. The next week, it went up 45,000 and everyone found out it was a momentary supply drop that caused the change the week before. The Wii has found a price/demand sweet spot for the current market. Somebody in their marketing/pricing department deserves a monster bonus.

Not to mention they are coming out with a large number of fun games. Systems don't sell if there is nothing fun to play on them. ;)

The Wii's main strength is showing just how important a pack-in game that shows the strength of the system can be to the sales of a console. The games for the Wii have been a mixed bag at best. Some really good and some just awful. I've got 6 friends with a Wii. All except one of them still uses Wii Sports as their primary game of choice on the system.

EA announces that Mercs 2 has been delayed on all platforms until 2008.........

http://www.totalvideogames.com/news/...073_6491_0.htm

Kids, this is what's called "leaving yourself wide open for the nutshot."

Don't do that. ;)

I've already posted what I found when looking through the review scores on Metacritic. I don't think I need to regurgitate that info every time I post an opinion based on that. I don't think there's any question that the Wii selection overall has left a lot to be desired outside of the few major first party titles that did well and the one third party title in RE 4 that did well.

I guess they don't like to play good games.

More pricing articles. Multiple analysts believe a price drop to $499 for 80 GB PS3 this year is likely with a further price drop to $399 early next year (probably timed with the MGS4 release in March). They also discuss that data suggests that the 360 will outsell the PS3 by a 2 to 1 margin this holiday if Sony doesn't move their price........

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=15347

Even at $499, these things aren't flying off the shelves. I don't expect to see any significant change until the price drops to $399.

Agreed. Gamers and analysts have been saying for several months now that they have to get it down below $400 at a bare minimum. I understand that Sony doesn't want to lose more money per unit, but they're going to lose a whole lot more than that if they don't get it to the $399 price point in a hurry.

Here's the list of playable games for the PS3 at the Tokyo Game Show. Haven't seen a 360 or Wii list as of yet.........

Agarest Senki (Idea Factory)
Spiderman 3 (Activision)
Transformers (Activision)
Pirates of the Carribbean (Disney)
Fifa 2008 (EA)
NBA Live 08 (EA)
Need for Speed Pro Street (EA)
Harry Potter (EA)
Railfan [Taiwan Railway]
Devil May Cry 4 (Capcom)
PixelJunk RACERS (Q-games）
Unannounced Title (Q Entertainment)
Taiwan Jockey 4 2007 (Koei)
Dynasty Warriors 5 (Koei)
Oblivion (Spike)
Tony Hawk Project 8 (Spike)
SEGA RALLY (tentative title) (Sega)
Imabikisou (Sega)
BuuBuu Cocoreccho! (SCE)
Eye of Judgement (SCE)
echocrome (SCE)
Go! Sports Ski (SCE)
Heavenly Sword (SCE)
Little Big Planet (SCE)
Lair (SCE)
Warhawk (SCE)
Uncharted (SCE)
GT 5 Prologue (SCE)
Mainichi Issho (SCE)
Rachet & Clank (SCE)
Shirokishi Monogatari (SCE)
Ratatouille (THQ Japan)
Dark Sector
Time Crisis 4 (Bandai Namco)
Assasin's Creed (Ubisoft)
GRAW 2 (Ubisoft)

Yeah, I knew you were only putting out the information and weren't supporting his argument. There's just so much of this "it's not my fault" or "nobody told me" shit going on that I couldn't let it pass without comment;)

I almost posted in my original message that if it was so above board why didn't he give himself credit by using his real name? Why try to hide it?
IMO he's just some small timer trying to impress people on a message board, with his inside information, and got caught:D

As you like to say, most of those games are available on the 360 as well. I'm sure most of them will be playable as games have been appearing more on 360's at these events than the PS3.

Yeah, I was moreso looking for the exclusives. I just cut and paste the entire list because it was included in the press release. Also, I know that MS tends to not have a huge presence at this show for the simple fact that they don't see much of a return in Japan even if they do show a lot of things. They may not be showing that much similar to past shows in Japan.

It's amazing how little I had to change to reflect what I meant about leaving yourself wide open. ;)

Seriously. This isn't "Josh the Editor" talking. This is "Josh the Retail Wage Slave" who sees what gets bought on a regular basis for all the different systems. For PS3, the vast majority of the sales are Resistance, MotorStorm, Ninja Gaiden Sigma, and then it's a fairly steep dropoff to the second tier - the Clancy's and Godfather - and then a steeper dropoff to "everything else."

You might criticize the strength of the Wii library, but the PS3 is susceptible to the same criticism...and doesn't have the ridiculous sales momentum going for it.

Do you know, I'm still struggling to identify a PS3 game that's out *right now* that I actually want to spend money on? There's some amazing stuff coming that I can't wait to play, but right now, the PS3 position vis à vis other consoles really ought to be "let your walkin' do the talkin'," because Microsoft's got both systems beaten stupid on library quality, and Nintendo's making both of them look silly on sales. Lay low until the major exclusives start hitting, and THEN stick the head back up aboveground.

Your entire post is built on the assumption that I criticized the Wii library to somehow make the PS3 library seem better. That wasn't my intent in any way. I'm a Wii owner of several months now who purchase the Wii because of the big hype surrounding the system, only to end up with the first $250 sports demo I've ever purchased. I'm not interested in any platform Mario games, Mario Party is very disappointing, Mario Strikers has had mediocre reviews, Zelda is a great game at first but gets old relatively quickly, and there's no 3rd party titles outside of a PS2 RE port that are much good.

I was looking forward to the new bowling game, but it's just bombing in early reviews. I'm hoping (and possibly praying) that the new MLB Japanese-style baseball game finally gives me something to be excited about on the Wii. I'm honestly really disappointed. I haven't even turned it on in 2 months now. I can certain feel buyer's remorse on the Wii independent of my praise/criticism of any other consoles. I'm getting the feeling that I bought a system that I may end up selling to one of my friends due to lack of interest in most of the games on the system. Also, as you well know, I may end up having to keep it just for my work on the side.

As far as games on the PS3, Warhawk has been running non-stop this week on my PS3. I'm really glad there's a good new game out because my copy of MLB '07 was likely wearing out. I've been playing that a ton for lack of other games on the PS3 that carry my interest. Thankfully the holiday season should cure that drought.

You're a funny guy.

You failed to mention the best game on the system, Metroid Prime 3. Surprising.

An 80 on gamerankings does not constitute mediocre reviews. Reviews aside, Mario Strikers Charged is a lot of fun especially if you are playing online or against a friend, it's not one of those games where you play tons of games against the AI which admittedly can be lousy/cheap or both.

Trauma Center and Excite Truck are both good games if you haven't tried those.

You should try and get over your aversion to Mario platformers in the next two months, you might miss the game of the year.

The key is that the Wii is targeted at FAMILIES and non-hardcore gamers. It doesn't surprise me that people here would go "eh" at the Wii's library. It's not targeted at you, but there are millions of buyers out there who it IS targeted at that seem quite happy with the game selection.

If Mario Strikers is getting mediocre reviews, ignore them. Better yet, mark down the sites that are giving it mediocre reviews as sites you can't trust. Mario Strikers is currently my favorite game. I'm playing it more than Metroid Prime 3, which is stunning.

Also, recommendation: if you don't like Mario games, Nintendo consoles may not be your best purchasing choice for the future. And, yes, there are many great Wii games. The fact that you and your friends can't find anything but Wii Sports to play on it is baffling. Well, maybe not, actually.

Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for the PSP rocks.

Mario Strikers received a Metacritic review score of 79 (a compilation score of all reviews). That's a really bad score for a Nintendo-developed title as most of them generally get the reviewing equivalent of a hall pass simply because they are first-party Nintendo games.

And these "many great Wii games" that you speak of? Where are they in this list? These are the major exclusives for the Wii with Metacritic scores listed on the right (I tossed out a few games that had brutal scores that no one bothered buying)........

1. I'll grant you Metroid. Not my cup of tea, but I've heard it's good.

2. I don't disagree with you that 80 is not a bad score, but others would likely disagree given the hype placed on Mario Strikers pre-release.

3. Trauma Center and Excite Truck are average games at best. I have Trauma Center for the DS and wouldn't even touch the Wii version with a 10 foot pole.

4. I'll fall over dead laughing if Mario Galaxy is the 'Game of the Year'. Fun addition for Nintendo fans, but not even close to a GOTY candidate.

Mario Strikers is a 'fun' game imho and its finally got my son playing a soccer game so I'm obliged to like it for that reason.

However as a 'game' for an adult its horrendously flawed gameplay mechanics don't make for a lasting experience imho (ie. the game consists of run around until you foul enough people to create an opportunity for a 'power strike' and scoring 4-5 goals at once).

That being said imho 35 year old men aren't its target audience and my son loves it (apart from when he's losing ;) ). The main problem with games review sites imho is that some of them review games as if every game was targetted at 'that' reviewer and this is one of the reasons why traditionally 'girl' games got bad reviews - give your average 28 year old reviewer a 'My little Pony' game to review and he's not going to particularly love it* ;)

I think the Wii is a great console and has some very good games on it, especially those which are enjoyed by all ages - I view those style of games as being on a par with 'Shrek' they bring families together with a shared experience they all enjoy.

Nintendo and their consoles tend to have more of these games than any other console currently which is one of the reasons I'm a wii fan :D

*Sorry I'll get down from my soap box now .... drifted off target a little there ;)

Odd, isn't it? Everyone harps on the "games make the system", yet the Wii is kicking the 360s and the PS3s butt with a dubious library of games.

Either the theory is wrong, or Nintendo, in their brilliance, just changed the paradigm.

I take issue with these reviewers based on the bold portion alone. I'd venture that Wii Sports would be the favorite game of Wii owners.

Forget the reviews. Especially Marc Vaughn's. It is a great game. I think we've gone over this great Wii games before and you basically poo-pooed my list. You basically just don't like Nintendo games as evidenced by your crapping on Galaxy as Game of the Year, which I think it has a very good chance of being. We get it. You don't like the Wii games. Lots of people do.

Some of the major reasons:

1) They hit the sweet spot on price.
2) They brought something "new" to the table. Innovative and fun. The Wii remote is something that can be used by 6 year olds and 92 year olds. No other system comes close to those types of demographic numbers. That increases their sales potential instantly.
3) While they don't have a ton of games, the good games they have are very, very good. Paper Mario, Zelda, Resident Evil, Metroid, Wii Sports. All are incredibly fun titles that aren't "over" in 2 days.

The innovation itself is good enough to get people excited about buying the system. The price point is perfect and the buzz has been there from day one. Keep in mind both MS and Sony helped this too. They were yapping about how the Wii would be a great "second" system for people. Well, they found out a lot of people bought it and decided that would be their only system.

They do need games out. No question about it. And EA has been very dissapointing with their titles on the system after a great start. (last year's Madden was incredible on the Wii) But in the meantime, they bring things to the table the other two don't. So they win. And will keep winning.

In my opinion the Wii has lots of positives which have helped its success:

* Its cheap (always helps ;)) .
* It was in limited supply initially (so had a 'prestige' factor for owning one, which is still there to a lesser extent).
* It is seen as more 'positive' by parents than other consoles because the adverts show active kids almost getting 'excercise' from their console.
* A fair few of the titles can be enjoyed by kids of any age (ie. Wii Play, Wii Sports etc. - I love the tank game on Wii Play incidentally).
* There are a few 'stand out' titles which show of its unique controllers (ie. Wii Play, Wii Sports) and give a real differential between the Wii and other consoles.
* Nintendo's advertising has been very clever and actually drawn a lot of people who were previously non-gamers into purchasing systems.
* the Wii HAS a great library of games for its target audience. As I mentioned in an earlier post a lot of reviews are aimed at 28 year old men (ie. the opinions of those people doing the reviews themselves) rather than the target audience for the games. A good example of this is 'Mario Party' - its a game which is huge fun when played in a 'casual' manner ... not at all something for a hardcore gamer.

He does the same thing with 360 titles Matt. Don't worry about it.

I do have to agree with him on Galaxy as game of the year. Bioshock has set a very, very high watermark. I have zero doubt Galaxy will be a spectacular hit. I'll be playing it day one. I do have doubts as to it being as good as Bioshock. That's strictly an opinion and not a slam on Galaxy.

Of course, B-ball hasn't played Bioshock so I'm not sure what he'd be saying is game of the year. You thinking Lair B-ball? :)

He'll be playing it before Christmas on the PS3. At least, that's what he said.

EXACTLY


I don't understand why you think it is flawed unless you are trying to compare it to the actual sport, which it is clearly not trying to represent at all. Your summary is a pretty strong oversimplification. Like saying Smash Bros is just running around beating up on people until they fall off the ledge.



Its target audience is people that like fun. Don't try comparing it to an actual sport.

So whaddayaknow, the Wii has 3 90+ AAA+ titles, the PS3 still only has 1...

And that 1 can be played on the 360 or that PC. Nothing special about the PS3.

I don't get why people are looking at game scores to completely judge a game? I've always read through reviews to see what exactly a game is all about rather than just look at the score, since everyone has a different opinion of what makes a good game for them. I guess the games that score high 90s are kind of guaranteed to appeal to most people, but other than that... it really is subjective I think, isn't it?

Yes.