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[Monte Carlo]

Steam console, anyone?

[Morgoth]

Steam console, anyone?

Never gonna happen.

 

They can't even release Episode 3, how are they ever gonna be able to release hardware?

 

They're just too slow in everything they're doing. That's fine when you wanna make a quality game, but the hardware market is a fast cutthrought business. By the time they settle with something, the concept's probably already outdated.

[Orogun01]

Never gonna happen.

 

They can't even release Episode 3, how are they ever gonna be able to release hardware?

 

They're just too slow in everything they're doing. That's fine when you wanna make a quality game, but the hardware market is a fast cutthrought business. By the time they settle with something, the concept's probably already outdated.

Although, there's been a significant delay in next gen consoles. I don't think that Microsoft or Sony will be ready to release in 2014, so Valve is in a good position to take over the market. Their namebrand is strong enough to lend support to this idea and if the new console features Steam then I feel like that's going to give them a significant lead.

[Zoraptor]

I'd put money on both consoles being out next year. The market in consoleland is so shaky I cannot see how they can delay it further. It'd endanger a bunch of mid range publishers (not just THQ, if further R* titles sell like MP3 did 2k will be in very real trouble, Sega ain't in great shape either etc) and at the sales levels currently there probably ain't even generating that much in the way of tail end profits anyway.

 

Realistically the 'home console' model looks like a dead duck medium term. As soon as streaming services become mainstream the console market will become (more) unsustainable.

[Orogun01]

With tactics like these I don't doubt that the console market will fail

http://www.pcmag.com...,2402454,00.asp

 

Edit:mind you that its only a rumor.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Orogun01

[Morgoth]

There's already plenty of evidence that both MS/Sony are gonna release in Holiday 2013 their new hardware. Though the leap won't be as huge as it was from, say PS2 --> PS3. Also, pricing: Are they gonna put the budget in better hardware and just add a standard controller, or are they gonna go the Nintendo route: Cheap/underpowered hardware, but a special controller? Because having both will no doubt yield a $500+ pricetag, which nobody is gonna willingly to pay.

 

I'm pretty sure though the next home console generation won't be as huge as this one anymore. There's gonna be less Triple-A productions overall. Not that this is a bad thing, but the primetime for home consoles are over. Not that this is a bad thing, either.

 

Edit: Also as Orogun said, Steam like DRM/anti Used game mechanism, while currently only a rumor, ain't exactly help people to decide buying new consoles either.

Edited June 22, 2012 by Morgoth

[entrerix]

im just not seeing much of a reason to bother with consoles next generation

 

it used to be that games were either PC games or console games, so i had to have PC and consoles to play everything. but now most every game gets released on both.

 

if, years from now, there are 4-5 console exclusive games that i've been unable to play on pc, i might pick up a console to play them for cheap. but im not jumping on the next generation consoles at the beginning, not until I see what exclusive games will be made for them

[Labadal]

Dead State reached $150K today.

 

I am pleased.

[Calax]

Edit: Or rather. I no longer want a game that is written by Motomu Toriyama.

 

Except they weren't? Well, he worked on the scenario and probably wrote the original story and setting (the second being pretty good imo), but the Lead Writer for both games has been the same guy that wrote X, X-2 and XII. Daisuke Watanabe.

 

XIII-2 was pretty good imo, too.

 

And while 3rd Birthday was terrible I still really liked Bahamut Lagoon.

 

Edit: Also Versus is written by the same guy that wrote Advent Children and FFVIII. Personally, ranks lower by me.

 

The thing about FFXIII is that I actually thought the story could have been very interesting, Toriyama or not. They just waste it all by having most important bits in a codex. Other games have codexes, but they are there to flesh out story and lore. In FFXIII, they have all the important bits in the codex. I was lost before reading the entries you unlocked.

 

I can't comment on Versus yet, but if it lets me explore and not just run through (beautiful) corridors, I'll be happy. I don't care if they do it like FFXII or like the old FF games with a world map. All FF games are linear, but FFXIII took it to a new level in the first half of the game.

This might have more to do with the fact that the game was built graphics and scenes first, everything else later. I've seen a post mortem and from everything I read, they literally didn't know what each group was doing until they saw the deadline closing in and had to make a game out of what they'd built.

[Labadal]

I've read that post mortem too. It was mind blowing to read through. I still can't believe a proffesional company works like that. They had to cut a lot of stuff because a lot of it didn't fit the game.

 

Anyway, 3DS XL announced. I'd trade in my old 3DS for the XL, but no AC adapter is included. Lol?

[entrerix]

i just dont understand why it lacks the second thumbstick

 

i still have plenty of games to play on my ds, so i dont need to upgrade portables yet though, i play them rarely and have 5-6 games for my ds that i havent even opened yet

[C2B]

I've read that post mortem too. It was mind blowing to read through. I still can't believe a proffesional company works like that. They had to cut a lot of stuff because a lot of it didn't fit the game.

 

The whole thing is partly the fans fault, imo. Focus on graphics and cutscenes by demand that carried over from the PS1 era. It's still happening if you just look at the reactions to the Agni's Philosphy tech demo. I'm hopeful (due to XIII-2) that they learned their lesson though but you never know.

Edited June 22, 2012 by C2B

[Labadal]

i just dont understand why it lacks the second thumbstick

 

i still have plenty of games to play on my ds, so i dont need to upgrade portables yet though, i play them rarely and have 5-6 games for my ds that i havent even opened yet

 

I never owned a DS, but I have lots of DS games I'm playing on the 3DS. I only own one actual 3DS game and it's a port. I can understand the disappointment regarding the lack of a 2nd stick*, but it doesn't bother me. No AC adapter is crazy. Had Sony done this with PSVita, the press would be raging.

 

i only play RPG's or 2D platformers. All the games I'm looking forward to don't need it. (Fire Emblem, Bravely Default, Castlevania and Paper Mario)

 

[Labadal]

I've read that post mortem too. It was mind blowing to read through. I still can't believe a proffesional company works like that. They had to cut a lot of stuff because a lot of it didn't fit the game.

 

The whole thing is partly the fans fault, imo. Focus on graphics and cutscenes by demand that carried over from the PS1 era. It's still happening if you just look at the reactions to the Agni's Philosphy tech demo. I'm hopeful (due to XIII-2) that they learned their lesson though but you never know.

 

I don't blame the fans. They've shown incompetence on more than one project. Look at the mess that was FFXIV. Besides, FFXIII was announced before they had something to show other than CG. There was no actual game.

[C2B]

I've read that post mortem too. It was mind blowing to read through. I still can't believe a proffesional company works like that. They had to cut a lot of stuff because a lot of it didn't fit the game.

 

The whole thing is partly the fans fault, imo. Focus on graphics and cutscenes by demand that carried over from the PS1 era. It's still happening if you just look at the reactions to the Agni's Philosphy tech demo. I'm hopeful (due to XIII-2) that they learned their lesson though but you never know.

 

I don't blame the fans. They've shown incompetence on more than one project. Look at the mess that was FFXIV. Besides, FFXIII was announced before they had something to show other than CG. There was no actual game.

 

What's your point here exactly?

 

Also, yes. Square Enix does what market (fans) demands and from PS1 to PS2 that was graphics to cutscenes. Which was the complete wrong decision for the PS3 era. The whole thing was a time and moneysink as in the post-mortem resulting in the designers and writers beeing constraint by it with no way to change or adjust stuff.

 

 

I agree in general of course, that there were several incompetent and dumb decisions made (XIV being the prime example as you said). Funny though since its basically just a repeat of XI just on a much larger scale (from what I hear at least). As in: First version terrible, apology, then gradually improved.

Edited June 22, 2012 by C2B

[entrerix]

i liked the experimentation done in the final fantasy series during the ps1 era, new sub-systems, new gameplay hooks, very unique stories. i did NOT like the changes they made later on, axing the world map, getting rid of prerendered backgrounds, switching completely away from the ATB system

 

i want the next final fantasy game to bring back world map, prerendered backgrounds (complete with all the character and detail from the golden age of the series), and atb system

[WorstUsernameEver]

axing the world map, getting rid of prerendered backgrounds, switching completely away from the ATB system

 

All good choices, if you ask me. I'd be iffy about the world map, but the last Final Fantasy I played was X and it still had it, even though it unlocked rather late. ATB was awful and I never understood its success. Lacked both the strengths of real-time and turn-based.

[entrerix]

im pretty sure that ff10 didnt have a world map, it just had some little beacon things you clicked on teleport to a corridor with either a jungle, beach, or ruins skin over it.

 

 

running down corridors outside of a town is not a world map imo

[Labadal]

I've read that post mortem too. It was mind blowing to read through. I still can't believe a proffesional company works like that. They had to cut a lot of stuff because a lot of it didn't fit the game.

 

The whole thing is partly the fans fault, imo. Focus on graphics and cutscenes by demand that carried over from the PS1 era. It's still happening if you just look at the reactions to the Agni's Philosphy tech demo. I'm hopeful (due to XIII-2) that they learned their lesson though but you never know.

 

I don't blame the fans. They've shown incompetence on more than one project. Look at the mess that was FFXIV. Besides, FFXIII was announced before they had something to show other than CG. There was no actual game.

 

What's your point here exactly?

 

Also, yes. Square Enix does what market (fans) demands and from PS1 to PS2 that was graphics to cutscenes. Which was the complete wrong decision for the PS3 era. The whole thing was a time and moneysink as in the post-mortem resulting in the designers and writers beeing constraint by it with no way to change or adjust stuff.

 

 

I agree in general of course, that there were several incompetent and dumb decisions made (XIV being the prime example as you said). Funny though since its basically just a repeat of XI just on a much larger scale (from what I hear at least). As in: First version terrible, apology, then gradually improved.

 

"What's yor point here exactly?"

 

What I mean is that they had the CG movie prepared for E3 2006, right? But there was no actual game. FFXIII was first intended to be a PS2 game, but with the development hell FFXII was in (do we see a pattern?) and the delays it got, FFXIII was pushed to PS3. There are images FFXIII for PS2 and it looked very different from the actual game they releasef. Versus XIII is still not released. It was announced six years ago. It doesn't seem like we'll get it this year either. Type-0 was also in development for way too many years (I did like what little I played). And FFXIV was a mess. That's 5 games in the FF series that had and still have trouble in the development. 5 games considered to be mainline titles for the series. Then we have the Dragon Quest X MMO deal...

 

It's surprising to see such incompetence, because they seem to make good decisions like buying Eidios, but they can't take care of their own series anymore.

 

It's sad to see, because Square alongside Obsidian are my favorite gaming companies. (Bioware was also one of them, but after DA2 and ME3...)

[Monte Carlo]

I think that a Steam console might happen. Games 'consoles' will become small hubs that simply connect you to the cloud --- router / hard drive combos that simply hook you up with some bells and whistles. About the size of a tablet. Great for gaming on the go.

[sorophx]

I've heard rumors of a Steam console being in development

[entrerix]

i dont really like the idea of streaming all my games, at least not until internet gets way better. 10 more years?

[Calax]

im pretty sure that ff10 didnt have a world map, it just had some little beacon things you clicked on teleport to a corridor with either a jungle, beach, or ruins skin over it.

 

 

running down corridors outside of a town is not a world map imo

It did have one, but it was basically like the old command and conquer maps where it was just a 2d illustrated piece of parchment with dots for the various locations that you can go, and a dotted line from point a to b that traces where you went before getting access to the airship.

[C2B]

"What's yor point here exactly?"

 

What I mean is that they had the CG movie prepared for E3 2006, right? But there was no actual game. FFXIII was first intended to be a PS2 game, but with the development hell FFXII was in (do we see a pattern?) and the delays it got, FFXIII was pushed to PS3. There are images FFXIII for PS2 and it looked very different from the actual game they releasef. Versus XIII is still not released. It was announced six years ago. It doesn't seem like we'll get it this year either. Type-0 was also in development for way too many years (I did like what little I played). And FFXIV was a mess. That's 5 games in the FF series that had and still have trouble in the development. 5 games considered to be mainline titles for the series. Then we have the Dragon Quest X MMO deal...

 

It's surprising to see such incompetence, because they seem to make good decisions like buying Eidios, but they can't take care of their own series anymore.

 

It's sad to see, because Square alongside Obsidian are my favorite gaming companies. (Bioware was also one of them, but after DA2 and ME3...)

 

I agree, but that's the reality of modern game development. Time's are changing. And especially old-time japanese devs suffer from it. Look at Capcom, Konami and SEGA.

 

 

Also about those long-time taking Square games. It's to note that the developers in all of these projects have been working on other stuff as well in the meantime. So, it's not like these games were developed one at a time (Which may be one of the faults in development. Too many franchises made by the same few people).

 

Edit: Example on that: The World ends with You. Surprisingly the leading team on that hasn't had major work since.

Edited June 23, 2012 by C2B

[Orogun01]

Also about those long-time taking Square games. It's to note that the developers in all of these projects have been working on other stuff as well in the meantime. So, it's not like these games were developed one at a time (Which may be one of the faults in development. Too many franchises made by the same few people).

 

Edit: Example on that: The World ends with You. Surprisingly the leading team on that hasn't had major work since.

The one thing I took from my brief brush with discrete mathematics is that as long as the task are properly assigned, a few people can achieve results in the same amount of time than a larger group.

I wouldn't count Square Enix out yet, their Luminous engine shows a lot of promise and will likely sustain their projects.