- In gaming news, the one thing that everyone is talking about of course, is the new price structure for the Xbox 360. For those living under a rock, there are two packages to chose from; the first is the “core” package that gets you the system, 1 wired controller (the first sign of MS’s constant blabbering about wireless was total bullshit), and a standard AV cable for $299. Note that there is NO hard drive included. WTF indeed. The other deal, or the “premium” package, has the system, a 20 gig HD, 1 wireless controller, LIVE Silver membership, a headset, media remote, high-def cables, and ethernet cable for $399, an extra hundred bucks.
The reasoning behind this, right from the top, is to give those who don’t care about LIVE and all full fledge-features that the system can offer a chance to just jump in and play games, plus save some money to boot. Sounds like a swell idea, right? Wrong.
Because in America, people automatically go for the cheapest deal, period. So right off the back, almost no game companies will utilize the hard drive, which pretty much defined the Xbox experience in the first place. Without a HD, you really can’t do much in online games, where you absolutely need the space to download extra content and patches. And with MS’s whole “HD-era” mentality, along with their decision to go with traditional DVDs instead of much faster and high capacity media such as Blu-Ray, it ultimately means that the 360 will need a HD for streaming and other purposes far more than it did before.
Many are lamenting the fact that to play Xbox 1 games, you need to buy extra stuff, the HD, but let’s be honest, we all know that aside from Halo 1 & 2, there just won’t be any backwards compatibility (hence why I rushed out to get my Xbox 1 once it was apparent).
So, if someone can only spring for the core system in the beginning, why can’t they just get all the other bits and pieces later on, which MS is offering, anyway? Because its a total rip-off. For example, here just a few of the essentials and their prices:
? Hard Drive (20 GB) – $99.99 … Again, a 20 gig HD? In this day an age that’s far too paltry. And for a hundred bucks? Come on…
? Memory Unit (64 MB) – $39.99 … A cheaper alternative to the HD, but $40 for 64MB?
? Wireless Controller – $49.99 … Fifty bucks for a controller? It really is Dreamcast all over again.
And here’s the rest of the accessories:
? Faceplate – $19.99
? Play and Charge Kit – $19.99
? Rechargeable Battery Pack – $11.99
? Wired Controller – $39.99
? Headset – $19.99
? Universal Media Remote – $29.99
? Component HD AV Cable – $39.99
? S-Video AV Cable – $29.99
? VGA HD AV Cable – $39.99
? Wireless Networking Adapter – $99.99
… A faceplate for twenty fucking dollars? Who’s going to buy this? But the most insane has to be the wireless adapter for a hundred dollars, and not just because it looks like a $5 piece of Radio Shack junk, but the simple fact that both the PS3 and the Revolution will offer wireless right out of the box for no additional cost!
Also consider how the games will be $60 out of the gate, and you have a system that’s undeniably overpriced, and unjustifiably so. Imagine all the people that buy the core package in the holiday rush and how angry they’ll when they discover that they have to spend over $200 to get what they could have gotten with the premium pack. I also love how core system doesn’t even come with a friggin’ ethernet jack, that’s like literally $5! Then there’s the pissed off retailers that might find themselves with boxes of core packages cluttering up their inventory shelves. Now its looking like Sega Saturn all over again! The bottom line is that its amazing how far MS has gone in just one generation, and they seem almost eager to just piss their advantage away.
But now some are into a false sense of security that the PS3 will somehow be cheaper, and considering that you have the president of Sony telling everyone that “most people won’t be able to afford it”, I HIGHLY doubt that will be the case. This will easily be the most expensive next-gen war in many years. Hence why if Nintendo can deliver their hardware at a cheaper price, which is what the plan is I believe, they just might have the chance to take this one.
Back to MS though, many seem to agree that they’re already stumbling out of the gate.
- Speaking of wireless, its been announced that a proximity based instant messenger client is in the works for the DS and PSP. Its even suppose to support AIM, MSN, Yahoo, Jabber, and ICQ. And its from one of the folks who created Karnaaj Rally, which features the absolute worst box art ever.
- I forgot to mention this before, but there’s a big game convention going on right now in Europe (this where all the Xbox 360 news originates from). Well here’s some pics that just came from the Nintendo booth, which got everyone pretty hot and bothered. Here’s the info courtesy of one member of the GAF:
YESTERDAY AT THE NINTENDO BOOTH – FIRST MARIO 128 (REV) PICS SHOWN TO THE WORLD!
OK, not really.The first part is true, these pictures were taken at the Nintendo booth, but it was just a mini-game for the audience who should shout as loud as possible to change Lakitu’s direction. There were also some strange green tubes (I don’t know if people should scream into them?), but I wasn’t quick enough to capture this strange scenario on video. I really hope, this wasn’t some kind of test to see the public’s reaction to the interface of Revolution…
Also, take a look at this really strange video of a VR version of Super Mario Bros.
- Here’s the first two commercials in Nintendo’s upcoming Super Mario 20th Anniversary celebration. Its also been announced in Japan that the price of the Game Boy Micro will be about $110, with about three colors right out of the game, including a yet to be revealed Famicom model.
- This here is Ikusagami a game that features 65,535 characters on-screen at the same time, and its for the PS2! And it looks pretty damn good actually.
- Here’s the first ever report (at least to my knowledge) of a person being arrested in real life due to “virtual mugging”, that is beating up players in a game and stealing their character’s money. Only in Japan…
- And yes, I did hear that they’re making a Pac Man movie. And from what I hear, yes, it is going to be live-action. And yes, Hollywood sucks, and yes, I hope Uwe Bolle doesn’t direct it, but probably will.
- The other day I talked about religious games, and here’s another one, from Rebel Planet Creations. Its called Orion, and it may seem like any old fantasy game, but check out the description…
“Before the Great Flood of Noah, thousands of years passed of which we know virtually nothing. Civilizations may have risen and fallen – technologies discovered and lost. What little knowledge that has come down to us through the early chapters of Genesis reveals a world very different than our own. Myth and legend also point to an ancient past rich with history.
Enter the world of The Rebel Planet. Rebel Planet Creations has taken this mysterious world before the Flood and has created an imaginative fantasy world where the truth of Scripture is our foundation and theme, but only the minds? imagination our limit in telling the ancient tale of redemption and faith.
In our first tale, Adam is an older man hardened by centuries of dwelling on his own sin and the suffering he has brought upon the world. But into his world comes a young lieutenant named Orion (the biblical Enoch) whose own journey of faith will become the catalyst for bringing Adam back to a place of faith and hope. Indeed our first tale is ultimately the story of Adam?s conversion to faith and hope in the promised Seed to come.”
… If you check out the video, you’ll see the game’s character intermingling with… dinosaurs! Since I’m not very religious, I have to ask: do many Christians, specifically the ones that believe in the events from the Bible to a literal degree, believe that the dinosaurs were wiped out by the great flood?
Not to change the subject, but while we’re on the subject of the creation of man, I too believe that Intelligent Design should be taught in school. At least the one that theorizes that we were all created by the almight Flying Spaghetti Monster.
- Anyway, I’m a big fan of pixel art as mentioned in the past numerous times, and on the IC forums, another great artist was mentioned. His name is Paul Anderson and his stuff is pretty hot. In particular:
He also did a music video, Architecture in Helsinki‘s “Do The Whirlwind.”
- Finally, here’s a program that I just found out about that lets OS X users create their own games. I might have to give this a spin later this weekend.
