E3 2008 Coverage

[Jingo Jaden]

Nintendo did not have much to show this year sadly. I am hopeing they will make some games that truely takes advantage of the wiimote controls in an FPS/Fighter types of games. They also need to dare explore the borders a bit more now that they first have their successful and innovative controls. The motionpluss does not seem bad, but its a sad fact that they did not have that to begin with. I was hopeing they would show what they are doing with the next Zelda game and if its something that will be focused on the Wii or possibly their next console.

The 360 showed an impressive display yet again in terms of the games they seem to pull out of nowhere. Left 4 Dead, Fallout 3, Fable II..... The list goes on. Left 4 Dead sounds like a great deal of fun. If they AI they talk about is as impressive as it sounds and not just some gimmicy add on that is predictable. Then blasting zombies will be even more fun.

The PS3 also showed an impressive display of games. However I have a fear that Square will continue their trend to give their main characters of FF zero personality. Of course, it could be that they have skipped this. However if I see another Vaan/Tidus then I am going to get angry no matter what. Last FF was not as enjoyable as I had hoped and the majoritiy of its reviews quite overhyped. I guess I will do some research before actualy buying this one. Square did not present much FF info aside from this game featuring on the 360. Caused an uproar with some fans, but I don't care. I just want to see where the game goes in terms of character development.

[Kingdom]

Hey go find what makes you happy and play it, that's what I do.
good luck to you all.
I hope the gaming industry fills all your needs.. and that Nintendo picks it up!

[Mr. SmartyPants]

It's the Gamecube all over again, a good first party game comes out and the system gets worked out for a few weeks, and then it's back to the old Playstation while the Nintendo does nothing for a year until the NEXT first party game comes out.

Come to think of it... The Gamecube was a much more fun system than the Wii..

That's kind of sad.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I definitely got more use out of the gamecube than the wii. Even with the wii, what games I've bee playing were mostly GC games, ironically.

I wouldn't say Square's trend for FF has been main protagonists with no personality. For the probems I had with 12, I will say that was honestly not one of them. The characters were just fine, I just didn't find most of them to be interesting in any sense. The only game to really feature a personalitiless main character would be 8, I'd say.

Edit: Just found somethin' for ya, Bob.

[Bobtheduck]

Edit: Just found somethin' for ya, Bob.

I've read that before, actually...

Star ocean 4
Infinite Undiscoveries
Timed exclusive on Last remnant
Oh, and their promises for the last couple years that FFXIII was PS3 exclusive...

Then there's the interview with the Squ'eenix president I can't find at the moment (I'll post it when I do) but what essentially happened is the interviewer said if they're so interested in going multiplat (same question to ask Capcom) then why do they have 2 exclusive and one timed exclusive going to 360, and only one for the PS3? The squ'eenix pres said even though they want everyone to be able to enjoy their games, that sometimes this isn't possible, and then he said "next question please" (no joke) That phrase along spoke volumes.

Along those lines, Capcom has 10 exclusive wii games, 2 exclusive 360 games (one not out yet) and 0 PS3...

The PS3 has been gaining on the 360 worldwide. 360 started with a 10+ million system lead, it now has about a 5. So, you can't say it's simply install base... It's simply Microsoft doing what they do best, that is hauling around the dump trucks of money, on a field on which Sony can't fight back.

Squ'eenix and capcom won't state the rather obvious because they want to gloss it all over and make it look like they're looking out for the gamers everywhere... That's just not the case. The day that they even the field (either they both give PS3 2 exclusives, or nullify all their exclusives for the 360 and PS3) is the day I'll retract what I've said here... I don't see that happening.

EDIT: Found the exact quote:

[quote="Whatifgaming"]WhatIfGaming: But in order to share as much of its games as possible, wouldn’]

http://whatifgaming.com/whatifgaming-e3-08-final-fantasy-xiii-sit-down-with-shinji-hashimoto

Similar him hawing about this came from the Capcom people in the whole DMC4 multiplat thing.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

Oh c'mon. You can't tell me that Sony doesn't have the dumptrucks of money as well. Keep in mind that yes, Microsoft does some stuff with computers, but Sony actually makes computers as well as any other number in demand electronic items. Sony is a household brand where a person is far more likely to own more Sony products simultaneously vs the one or two Microsoft installs.

This isn't exactly Wal-mart versus the tiny charming Mom and Pop store. They're both giant "evil" conglomerates.

[Bobtheduck]

Oh c'mon. You can't tell me that Sony doesn't have the dumptrucks of money as well. Keep in mind that yes, Microsoft does some stuff with computers, but Sony actually makes computers as well as any other number in demand electronic items. Sony is a household brand where a person is far more likely to own more Sony products simultaneously vs the one or two Microsoft installs.

On some other forums I've gone over this many many times, as have other people with more backing and research than I could possibly have, but yes, I'm saying exactly that... Sony doesn't have the money to waste and experiment with that Microsoft does.

While many people may own 2 or more sony products, a greater number don't own any, and there are very few who don't own any MS products, in fact very few who don't update them, and that includes big businesses... All Sony has in the business world, as far as i know, is Betamax... Beta is still alive in the video recording business (now in digital form), but that doesn't compare to office suites and proffessional vistas and microsoft servers and nearly every computer now, even macs, having MS operating systems on them, at LEAST as a secondary, and all Sony computers have MS operating systems on them, all schools license the full office suite in addition to XP pro...

And Sony very rarely pays for exclusives. They won favor in the PS1 days for their better treatment of the third parties and for their decision to go with CD over the increasingly expensive cartridges. They won favor in the PS2 days because of the boost that Sega's (self inflicted) death gave them, not to mention both of those systems having two catalyst games (Metal Gear and Final Fantasy) that sparked the start of incredible catalogues for both (really, before 97 with FF7, the PS1 catalogue sucked... Really... really... badly... and MGS sealed the deal, same thing goes for MGS2 and FFX with the PS2 catalogue) Microsoft just pays... They pay money Sony can't afford to pay, though they tried with FFXIII... Sony couldn't pay enough.

As for the evil conglomerate thing, being big doesn't make you evil... What makes a company evil or not is the way they do business...

[Etoh*the*Greato]

I'm pretty sure that if they chose to do so they could in fact fund one or two exclusives. Sony's strategy instead seems to be to attempt what Nintendo is doing and create a solid line of first person games instead. Sony invested in twenty studios world wide to develop specifically for the PS3. Microsoft only has two: Lion and Rare. Jack Tretton to boot has been quoted as saying that you have to "Create platform defining franchises that you own."

Besides which, Sony isn't exactly the wounded puppy everyone made them out to be when the FFXIII announcement hit. They're standing on their own just fine as a company and as a console platform. The PS3 is doing well, it's picking up steam (and no one really seems to have noticed, but the 360 lost several good exclusives as well) Me? I would welcome more games going multiplatform. I've been playing blue dragon and the real crime about that game is that it's a good game, fun, and it seems no one played it! I want that game to go multiplatform because I want more people to enjoy Sakaguchi's work. The console business is changing much like the music business changed when Napster arrived on scene. Exclusives are becoming a harder thing to pin down, and though they might be good for the company I'm not entirely convinced they're good for the gamer.

[Bobtheduck]

I'm pretty sure that if they chose to do so they could in fact fund one or two exclusives. Sony's strategy instead seems to be to attempt what Nintendo is doing and create a solid line of first person games instead. Sony invested in twenty studios world wide to develop specifically for the PS3. Microsoft only has two: Lion and Rare. Jack Tretton to boot has been quoted as saying that you have to "Create platform defining franchises that you own."

Besides which, Sony isn't exactly the wounded puppy everyone made them out to be when the FFXIII announcement hit. They're standing on their own just fine as a company and as a console platform. The PS3 is doing well, it's picking up steam (and no one really seems to have noticed, but the 360 lost several good exclusives as well) Me? I would welcome more games going multiplatform. I've been playing blue dragon and the real crime about that game is that it's a good game, fun, and it seems no one played it! I want that game to go multiplatform because I want more people to enjoy Sakaguchi's work. The console business is changing much like the music business changed when Napster arrived on scene. Exclusives are becoming a harder thing to pin down, and though they might be good for the company I'm not entirely convinced they're good for the gamer.

Mistwalker is 1st party... They're owned by MS... It may be a temporary ownership, like Bungie was, but they own them for now. MS has more than Molyneux's studio and Rare... I could list all of their studios, but the reason you don't see them is because most of them were simply absorbed into MS's fold, they didn't retain their identity like Mistwalker and Rare and Molyneux's studio...

Oh, and SE4 is still 360 exclusive, so I'm wondering why you linked to that vid.

You're right, though. They have funded one or two exclusives... They're funding White Knight Chronicles, and they funded Haze... *cough* They can't afford to fund the sure hits, though, the way MS does.

You're right, though, that no one cares about the exclusives the 360's lost, because the 360's had them long enough that they don't matter... UT3 on the PS3 sold better than the PC version, but I don't think it's gonna do well on the 360, even with the added features, because it came out late (and, yes, the 360 version doesn't have mods.)

Mass Effect may hit the PS3, also, and to be honest, that may make a bigger splash than Bioshock (because that was an MS owned franchise before EA bought Bioware out from under them)

EDIT: http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/05/valve-left4dead-will-come-to-ps3-if-another-dev-wants-to-port-i/

So... Yeah, L4D isn't coming to PS3, then. Granted, with Valve, it's not MS moneyhats... It's just Gabe "donut time" Newell... So, I can't blame MS for THAT one.

[Etoh*the*Greato]

UT3 will do awful on the 360, particularly without the ability to use mods. there are too many other games that are just UT without mods on the system, so I suspect it will likely flop.

And yeah, it looks like Mistwalker is owned by Microsoft Game Studios (though I honestly didn't know). Doesn't decrease my desire for the game to be multiplatform, just means that desire is unrealistic.

Last I heard, SO4 was headed towards the domain of multiplatform. I'd heard it was an E3 announcement, but I seem to be having difficulty backing that up. However, as of 2008 the devs have specifically avoided any mention of 360 exclusivity and there have been the occasional mysterious job ad mentioning the ability to work multiplat.

Mass Effect is a good game and I encourage you to check it out when it comes out. I spent a lot of time bumming around on it. It's like a fun, cheesy, 80's sci fi movie.