PS3 not to play used games?

[HaemishM]

There have been other technologies similar to this.  I remember reading a while ago about movies that would only play once (or a limited number of times) that video rental places could sell and the user wouldn't be responsible for returning the movie.

DVD-X or something like that. Lasted all of 5 minutes.

DivX. The original use of that name, not the video codec they use now. Some people, like my dad, actually bought it, and for him it was a decent product since he doesn't watch movies repeatedly. Thankfully, it got shitcanned.

[Jain Zar]

Is this where I jump in and say "ha ha, Nintendo ftw"?

But, seriously, if Sony does the "no secondhand market" trick plus their apparent lack of interest in online gaming, they will end up as the next generation's Dreamcast.

The Dreamcast was LOVE.  Corporate anti consumer assfucking is NOT love. 

[Kairos]

Is this where I jump in and say "ha ha, Nintendo ftw"?

But, seriously, if Sony does the "no secondhand market" trick plus their apparent lack of interest in online gaming, they will end up as the next generation's Dreamcast.

The Dreamcast was LOVE.  Corporate anti consumer assfucking is NOT love. 

Absolutely. I picked up a used Dreamcast and some games a couple weeks ago. Been having more fun with that than I've had with my PS2 in months.

[Azazel]

Wow, it seems that Sony really doesn't want me to buy a PS3..

[MrHat]

Revolution won't be high def.

[Merusk]

Being unable to read Japaneese, all I can guess is that the comments in the above-linked IGN article are from the IGN writer.  Comments about IGN writers and mental retardation aside, I'd just like to point out one thing.  Just because you have a patent doesn't mean you have to use it.  Companies patent stuff all the time and don't use it, because if they hold the patent they get the royalties if anyone ELSE uses it.  It's just good business sense.

Also, as there are so many problems - that you all have pointed out - with using this in conjunction with a console, the execs and legal department would both have to have anyurisms before they put this in place.  The amount of bad press and potential for lawsuits just don't make this worth it. (The right to resell Music & Games has been upheld before, yes?  So anything that prevents that in the US is going to go against precident and put a very large burden of proof on SCE. )

[HaemishM]

Revolution won't be high def.

Who fucking cares? Seriously, who the fuck cares? I'm so sick of HD being touted as a feature. It's not. I don't own an HDTV and don't plan to for another year or two. Why? Because there are too many fucking acronyms and buzzwords to learn, and they are too fucking expensive. Let some other sucker buy it, not me.

[OcellotJenkins]

Revolution won't be high def.

Who fucking cares? Seriously, who the fuck cares? I'm so sick of HD being touted as a feature. It's not. I don't own an HDTV and don't plan to for another year or two. Why? Because there are too many fucking acronyms and buzzwords to learn, and they are too fucking expensive. Let some other sucker buy it, not me.

I care, and you probably will also in "another year or two" when you have an HDTV and Robot Jesus 4.0 Deluxe is released on all 3 consoles.  The Revolution's version won't cut the mustard.  Bad move on Nintendo's part.

[Shockeye]

I care, and you probably will also in "another year or two" when you have an HDTV and Robot Jesus 4.0 Deluxe is released on all 3 consoles.  The Revolution's version won't cut the mustard.  Bad move on Nintendo's part.

Robot Jesus 4.0 won't be released on the Revolution. That's what Nintendo is trying to get across. They want games that are specific to the Revolution and its style of control. Not a dumb move at all. Let Sony and Microsoft battle it out with essentially the same system, Nintendo is going for something completely different. Good on them.

[Yegolev]

Revolution won't be high def.

Who fucking cares? Seriously, who the fuck cares? I'm so sick of HD being touted as a feature. It's not. I don't own an HDTV and don't plan to for another year or two. Why? Because there are too many fucking acronyms and buzzwords to learn, and they are too fucking expensive. Let some other sucker buy it, not me.

I care, and you probably will also in "another year or two" when you have an HDTV and Robot Jesus 4.0 Deluxe is released on all 3 consoles.  The Revolution's version won't cut the mustard.  Bad move on Nintendo's part.

I don't care.  I have a HDTV.  Denon receiver, two big-ass amps, 5.1.  I have my Cube, Xbox and PS2 all connected via component video and optical sound (no optical on Cube).  However I am tired of looking at games whose only selling point is high resolution titties and explosions.  I will eventually get a 360 and a PS3, but the only console I plan to get at release is the Nintendo's.  I happen to agree with Miyamoto-san, and not just out of fanboi-ism, that the focus on graphics is diverting resources from making good games.  Sure, I wish it would have graphical bells and whistles, and it could very well be a marketing mistake... time will tell.  I sumbit that HD support won't matter if N gets its act together and fills its library with quality titles.  They have a lot of work to do and I am glad they aren't wasting their efforts by programming tit-jiggle or modeling camel toes.

[Yegolev]

Robot Jesus 4.0 won't be released on the Revolution.

/agree

I would like to point out that there is a difference between "Looks Like Robot Jesus 4.0" and "Plays Like Robot Jesus 4.0".  In that regard, I have high hopes of the Second Gameplay Coming on the Rev.

[voodoolily]

Amen!

[HaemishM]

Robot Jesus 4.0 won't be released on the Revolution.

Robot Jesus 3.0 (Resident Evil 4) was released on the Gamecube. They could do it.

[Yegolev]

Robot Jesus 4.0 won't be released on the Revolution.

Robot Jesus 3.0 (Resident Evil 4) was released on the Gamecube. They could do it.

Eternal Darkness could be Robot Cthulu....

[schild]

Robot Jesus 4.0 won't be released on the Revolution.

Robot Jesus 3.0 (Resident Evil 4) was released on the Gamecube. They could do it.

Won't happen. No reason. Console won't be out in time, won't be enough to sell. Remember, to play games like that on the revolution, it's going to require an additional contoller peripheral.

 Resident Evil 5 is going to be 360 and then the PS3.

[Yegolev]

N stated that the nunchaku will ship with the base unit.  You should be able to play RE4 and Metroid Prime on the Rev using the shipping controller.  There is also the traditional-controller-shell addon, for those of you who like to rub the Dual-Shock 2 across your genitals.

[schild]

N stated that the nunchaku will ship with the base unit.  You should be able to play RE4 and Metroid Prime on the Rev using the shipping controller.  There is also the traditional-controller-shell addon, for those of you who like to rub the Dual-Shock 2 across your genitals.

If the N can "figure out" how to make aiming easier - aside from motion tracking (which WILL get tiring) - then I'm all for a donle. I just hope it's a mouse and keyboard dongle. But that's wishful thinking.

[Yegolev]

I do agree with you... but I am not going to buy the Rev so I can play FPS games.

[schild]

Revolution won't be high def.

Who fucking cares? Seriously, who the fuck cares? I'm so sick of HD being touted as a feature. It's not. I don't own an HDTV and don't plan to for another year or two. Why? Because there are too many fucking acronyms and buzzwords to learn, and they are too fucking expensive. Let some other sucker buy it, not me.

I do, as someone who plays a lot of RPGs, I'm tired of huge menus with giant soft-edge fonts. I never want a character to have to be huge to be detailed again (see: Kingdom Hearts, where half your screen is normally covered by a body part - though that can be attributed by the camera as well). I'm tired of pretending HDTV's aren't necessary. They are. Too many genres hurt because of low resolution. Meters in racing games are too big, hell, UIs in general take up too much of the screen. With HDTV they can be smaller and clearer and still be easy to read - to anyone. Though Riddick and King Kong are showing us UIs aren't even necessary with a super clever art department. Ironically Call of Duty 2 has no life meter but the fucking UI takes up every corner of the screen. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

[OcellotJenkins]

Revolution won't be high def.

Who fucking cares? Seriously, who the fuck cares? I'm so sick of HD being touted as a feature. It's not. I don't own an HDTV and don't plan to for another year or two. Why? Because there are too many fucking acronyms and buzzwords to learn, and they are too fucking expensive. Let some other sucker buy it, not me.

I care, and you probably will also in "another year or two" when you have an HDTV and Robot Jesus 4.0 Deluxe is released on all 3 consoles.  The Revolution's version won't cut the mustard.  Bad move on Nintendo's part.

I don't care.  I have a HDTV.  Denon receiver, two big-ass...

Have fun playing your games in stretched wide screen.

[HaemishM]

Revolution won't be high def.

Who fucking cares? Seriously, who the fuck cares? I'm so sick of HD being touted as a feature. It's not. I don't own an HDTV and don't plan to for another year or two. Why? Because there are too many fucking acronyms and buzzwords to learn, and they are too fucking expensive. Let some other sucker buy it, not me.

I do, as someone who plays a lot of RPGs, I'm tired of huge menus with giant soft-edge fonts. I never want a character to have to be huge to be detailed again (see: Kingdom Hearts, where half your screen is normally covered by a body part - though that can be attributed by the camera as well). I'm tired of pretending HDTV's aren't necessary. They are. Too many genres hurt because of low resolution. Meters in racing games are too big, hell, UIs in general take up too much of the screen. With HDTV they can be smaller and clearer and still be easy to read - to anyone. Though Riddick and King Kong are showing us UIs aren't even necessary with a super clever art department. Ironically Call of Duty 2 has no life meter but the fucking UI takes up every corner of the screen. Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh.

Except you won't get it, because they'll have to support the lower resolution standard TV's. They'd be cutting their own throats if they didn't. Balls would be to tell us plebians without HD to go fuck ourselves off to the last generation console.

But Microsoft pretty much did that already with the "Ur X-Box shit will play on our system, maybe, possibly... nah, fuck you."

[Jain Zar]

Fuck HD anyhow.  The only sets worth a damn are the CRT ones which have the problem of being heavier and more expensive.
Plasma and LCD mostly blow.  Joe Sixpack isn't gonna see enough change to buy it, and then have to pay MORE to see TV
shows in HD, even if he doesn't need to buy a reciever to go along with his 600-2000 dollar set.

Why do you think the HD date has been pushed back to around 2010?  The things are still too expensive, the technology
is still iffy, and the cost/benefit ratio isn't that great.

Besides, I don't see how people can think games on the current X Box look all that bad.  Or the Gamecube.
The Resident Evil remake STILL looks better than 90% of the stuff on a decent PC.  Hell, the Rogue Squadron games
on the Cube blow most stuff away.

And Nintendo Revolution is the only system I might get on day 1.

[OcellotJenkins]

Fuck HD anyhow.  The only sets worth a damn are the CRT ones which have the problem of being heavier and more expensive.
Plasma and LCD mostly blow.  Joe Sixpack isn't gonna see enough change to buy it, and then have to pay MORE to see TV
shows in HD, even if he doesn't need to buy a reciever to go along with his 600-2000 dollar set.

Why do you think the HD date has been pushed back to around 2010?  The things are still too expensive, the technology
is still iffy, and the cost/benefit ratio isn't that great.

My wife works in the cable industry and I've had a chance to drink beer with some of the people that are working to get HD versions of programming up and running.  I can assure that it is well on it's way and most of the networks will be offering their content in HD much sooner than 2010 (serveral are coming online in 06 that I specifically know of).  I try not to darken the doorstep of Walmart very often but the two or three times I've been in there this past year, I've seen Joe Sixpacks hauling RPTVs and plasmas out to their dooleys and SUVs.  The price of the TVs are dropping rather dramatically.

Just for shits and giggles, and because I'm bored on this friday afternoon, I'd love for you to explain why "Plasma and LCD mostly blow".  Is it the price barrier for you that blows or the technology itself?

[MrHat]

Most games on the XBox were high def enabled.  And the difference between non-high def and high-def is roughly equivalent to the difference of playing at 800x600 and 1280x1024.  Night and day for the reasons that Schild said.

[Merusk]

  I can assure that it is well on it's way and most of the networks will be offering their content in HD much sooner than 2010 (serveral are coming online in 06 that I specifically know of). 

Fantastic! We're only 6 years behind the original schedule for HD, then.  There were, what, two push-backs, until they finaly conceeded the point and made it 2010?  Even in 2010 you can bet there will be a significant portion of the populace that will be pissed then they non-HD signals are turned off and all of the sudden they can't watch televsion.

When I first started hearing about the 'HD revolution' back in 1998/9 I recall speaking with people who had no intention of buying a new TV until their current one bit-it.  Their reaction when I said they'd be completly screwed because they didn't have an HD reciever was not only disbelief, but bordering on anger that they'd be forced to upgrade anything. I'm not talking Joe Sixpack, either.  These were college-educated professionals.  I'm more apt to believe Pat Robertson will get an honorary doctorate in progressive cultural studies from Berkley than TV being all hi-def by 2010 at this point.

Anyway, as Haemish points-out, until HD is the 'standard' (or the developers just decide to give the non-HD crowd the old heave-ho)  lower rez is still going to have to be supported in the games.  That means the dev companies are either going to have to come up with 2 UIs or just go with the low-rez one.  Which do you think is going to happen?

[Margalis]

Resident Evil Remake was one of the best games I've ever seen graphically. Truly amazing what a little cleverness can do. (I'm talking about the use of animated textures and such)

HD support is cool but for most people it won't matter. Just like progressive scan is cool but I'm not going to buy a game based on whether or not it has progressive scan. It's just a nice addition.

[OcellotJenkins]

Even in 2010 you can bet there will be a significant portion of the populace that will be pissed then they non-HD signals are turned off and all of the sudden they can't watch televsion.

The old TV's will still work fine at that point, people will just need to purchase a relatively inexpensive converter box.  It's not going to be a big deal.

[Merusk]

Even in 2010 you can bet there will be a significant portion of the populace that will be pissed then they non-HD signals are turned off and all of the sudden they can't watch televsion.

The old TV's will still work fine at that point, people will just need to purchase a relatively inexpensive converter box.  It's not going to be a big deal.

That would be "they can't watch Television."  Yes, I know they can buy converter boxes.  However, you have to do it for every tv in your home... and "reletivly inexpensive" is variable to each homeowner.  The info I found listed them at $300 or so apiece.  You have to purchase one for every TV.. in my household that's about $1,000.  Uh. No, not going to happen, and we make above the median national income, and are below the median house & car payments.

Now, prices are likely to drop as more people are forced to buy them, but it's still going to fuck over more folks than not.

[Shockeye]

I am sure most cable and satellite companies will provide converter boxes.

[Jain Zar]

Yeah, they will rent them to ya, for a nice profit.

My father recently passed away and I have been going through the bills, since I have to.  I look at the phone bill and for a simple basic corded phone we have been paying 7.50 a month since 95 for a rented phone that might have cost 20 bucks TOPS.  You think these converter boxes aren't going to go for even greater consumer screwing?

Probably 20 dollars or more a month easy.  That's real fair.  And by fair I mean bullshit.

[Stormwaltz]

I am sure most cable and satellite companies will provide converter boxes.

I would be extremely surprised if these companies provided them for free, comrade.

As an aside, anyone who's deciding on a new console solely - or even mostly - on the basis of HD support should be smacked with a rolled-up newspaper and have their nose rubbed in my PC's 1600x1200 display. Consoles have never been about fabulous graphics, and HD will only bring them up to par with the gaming PCs of the late 90's. Consoles are about simplicity for the end user (integrating with existing home AV setups, providing "insert disc and start playing" games, and a single compact interface device) and the game catalogue (you can't get Xenosaga on the PC).

I think Nintendo is making a reasonable decision. Segregating users into HD-or-not camps cuts at one of the core strengths of consoles.

[dusematic]

It will be sad when we all buy Revolutions and are ultimately dissapointed.

[Margalis]

If the Revolution plays SNES, NES and N64 games that you can download I won't be dissapointed even if the Rev itself never has a single game.

I mean I could spend a couple months just playing through the SNES and the 2 N64 Zeldas. Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, here I come!

I expect the Rev to have a few really cool games. That's enough for me because I don't own that many games for any system anyway. If you need to get 3 or 4 games a month it's probably not going to be the system for you though.

[Merusk]

I am sure most cable and satellite companies will provide converter boxes.

I would be extremely surprised if these companies provided them for free, comrade.

Also, as of 2001, roughly 30% of the US wasn't connected to cable or satellite TV. Source

[dusematic]

If the Revolution plays SNES, NES and N64 games that you can download I won't be dissapointed even if the Rev itself never has a single game.

I mean I could spend a couple months just playing through the SNES and the 2 N64 Zeldas. Ninja Gaiden Trilogy, here I come!

I expect the Rev to have a few really cool games. That's enough for me because I don't own that many games for any system anyway. If you need to get 3 or 4 games a month it's probably not going to be the system for you though.

While that's a good point, I'm less stoked about emulation than I otherwise would be if I hadn't been doing it on my Xbox for 4 years.