Sonys Current Output, Deary Deary Me.

CiDeRmAn

Went to a Sony Do, thingy in the RDS the other night, and the worst thing, apart from the blasted bar running out of free hooch too soon was the range of titles on display on the various pods around the floor.
There were PS2s with eyetoy and singstar paraphenalia, PSPs and standard PS2 pods also. Problem was it was all so boring, pretty much the same as last year for the PS2 stuff, just add 1 to the suffix on the games on display, so Tekken 4 becomes Tekken 5 and so on. And this was the best they had to show? No Shadow of the Collosuss, no PS3 footage, just the same old crap, they even had Ratchet and Clank 3 for gods sake! Very disappointing for an old gamer like myself, the Eyetoy pod just confirmed my feeling for the format, unless you have a couple of floodlamps handy the camera won't pick up half of your moves and is useless, the Singstar pods just made you look like a pratt and its hard to see anyone but 12 year old girls playing it. The PSP stuff was the gear on current release, themselves just reheats of gaming meals you have already digested on the PS2.

I tells ya, if this is the next 12 months of PS2 ahead then roll on the PS3, and the Xbox 360 for that matter, I think we have seen the best of original gaming output on the PS2 over the last 12 months, apart from the ICO sequel there isn't anything for this old gamer to do but go back into the PS2 back catalog and pick up cheap the titles he has missed over the last 5 years or so.

At least at the Xbox party in November Microsoft will have some playable 360s in the house. Of course hope to have squeezed one out of them by then!

Kristok

The ps3 will just have tekken 6 etc and the 360 is going to be pretty much the same thing as the current xbox. The problem is not that there is nothing new on the current consoles but theres just not really much more than can be done apart from make things look better. Maby the new nintendo can do something, i like the concept of the new controller hopefully they do something worthwile with it other than the usual mario etc sequals.

Retr0gamer

It's just developers playing it safe. Just look at Katamari Damacry and God of War to see what a developer can make when they are allowed to make the game they really want to make.

It's disgraceful that Sony didn't anything new. Collossus has a demo out in America. No excuses not to be showing it.

BlitzKrieg

its more of a *Do Sony care about Ireland*

like retro said. They are playing it safe. Why show off some brand new super hit in a country who's entire population is less then any major american city.

rainbow kirby

What was more disgraceful about that night was queuing for 50 minutes at the bar to get free booze!

projectmayhem

look at the roster of games right now, it's useless. on all platforms. there's nothing out because all focus has switched to next gen, and sony are going to use ireland as a platform to show off ps3 stuff as there's practically no press for it (i.e. no benifit)

steviec

It's not so much that developers have done all they can do with current gen, they've just done all they want to do and the focus has shifted to next gen. The most interesting releases in coming months to me all seem to be on PC and handhelds. FFXII is probably the only really absolutely huge PS2 game still to look forward to, although I'm sure there'll be a few more pleasant surprises and I'm delighted a Katamari game will finally be released in Europe.

A telling sign is that even the ever efficient Madden and FIFA 2006 have lacked some of their polish compared to previous years, showing a shift in resources towards the new platforms. The new platforms are going to take a while for developers to get used to too, so it could be a lean year all round, but things will pick up again.

LookingFor

If anything I think publishers are being very slow about moving off the PS2, relative to how quick the transition was from PS1 to PS2. I'd say most publishers are still quite firmly focussed on the current systems - most of the multiplatform X360 games, for example, are simply ports-up from the current systems. I think the real shift will happen next year, a lot of publishers seem to be waiting for PS3 before moving their multiplatform titles to "from scratch" next-gen development.

From TGS there were a lot of new PS2 announcements.

Personally I've a lot of PS2 games I'm looking forward to:

Shadow of the Colossus
Kingdom Hearts 2
Okami
FFXII
Rogue Galaxy
SOCOM 3
Soul Calibur 3
King Kong
Gun
Ace Combat Zero (who thought there'd be another on PS2?)
Polyphony's new Motorcycle game (again, who thought they hadn't moved straight onto PS3?)

There are others, there are sequels in there too , but when you look at the total lineup still to come, it's very large and varied. Pity Sony weren't showcasing that at their party though, of course.

monument

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Went to a Sony Do, thingy in the RDS the other night,

The thing in the RDS wasn’t a showcase event, it was a party. A combination of their annual party and their 10th birthday. Grove Armada played. I don’t remember anything on the invite to suggest it was anything other then a party. And no, unlike any upcoming MS event it was not a launch party.

While the lighting at the party wasn’t the best for eyetoy, your comments on that and the Singstar look to be down to personal preference.

Out of interest, how did the 1,000 or so people get invites, was it mostly a case of giving a load to retail staff? The friend I brought along was a bit shocked at how many good-looking women were present at a games related event.

rainbow kirby - Even the vip bar had slow service at one point, but I don’t complain about alcohol when it’s free, although I did get a bit narky when I had to drink the piss water that is Bud before the bar restocked.

rainbow kirby

I just don't like queuing... though I was very quick to grab when the barman put a 6-pack of Bulmers on the bar in front of me

Lemlin

Out of interest, how did the 1,000 or so people get invites, was it mostly a case of giving a load to retail staff? The friend I brought along was a bit shocked at how many good-looking women were present at a games related event.

Sony have an event like this every year. I was at it two years ago in Spirit. Its basically just an event to keep retail staff happy. I think Sony pretty much have the opinion that if you get the staff drunk for free, they'll like you and sell your products!

The tickets are distributed to retail stores and then passed onto staff. Its not a launch event or anything like that, just a glorified piss up.

Lex_Diamonds

rainbow kirby wrote:

...the barman put a 6-pack of Bulmers on the bar in front of me

Classy!

evad_lhorg

tbh I thought it was a great night. alright music(not amazing).

about the drink running out? it looked like it happened a few times but they always brought more out. myself and my two managers went straight to the bar and whoever was beside me at the bar said theyd give me the six pack of bulmers so i thuogh "excellent", then my two managers also wanted a six pack each so i walked away from the bar with 18 bottles of bulmers i love fleecing sony. another memory was walking around the place with two and a half six packs all to myself. I was well twisted leaving the polace but amazingly i didnt fall over or fell the need to.

and yes these things are not about games. they are about free booze.

monument

Lemlin wrote:

The tickets are distributed to retail stores and then passed onto staff.

Yeah, was thinking as much. Been invited the last year or two, this was just my first time actually going.

Lemlin wrote:

Its not a launch event or anything like that, just a glorified piss up.

That was what I said, just a little more delicately.

CiDeRmAn

I was lucky to have a mate or two in the VIP area, I haven't worked in games retail for a no. of years but still get myself alonf to the partys, hooray.
Comments about the future games output was not resting on the games on display on the night but rather a poor PAL release schedule ahead.
As for the quality of the party, it was my 8th Sony do in as many years and at least it was slightly less of a cattle market then it had been on previous occasions, the one in the Red Box was a particular mess but at least I could get drink.
Still wound up pissed though, happy days.

I never thought of it being any kind of launch event though, I'm not that bloody green!

Best ones of the lot were the Dreamcast Party a number of years ago in the Capital Bar and the first Xbox one in the Vault under connolly station, very cool indeed.

And my comments on the eyetoy are pretty well reflected in the sales, not to mention the no. of people who continue to play them after buying them.

I am also not so green as to believe that the "next-gen" of machines will herald a "quantum leap" in gaming, but at least the launch titles have some promise of the developers pulling out all the stops to produce a cracking game, if only in a conventional genre, such as PGR3, Perfect Dark Zero etc.
We can expect to see a range of games that at least visually will compare to the high end output on the PC right now.

And yes, I do reckon that Nintendo could very well break this reheat and eat cycle to video games with the Revolution and that controller, looking forward to seeing what can be done wih it.

monument

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Comments about the future games output was not resting on the games on display on the night but rather a poor PAL release schedule ahead...

I never thought of it being any kind of launch event though, I'm not that bloody green!

In your opening post you made a direct link between the party and the release schedule.

CiDeRmAn wrote:

And my comments on the eyetoy are pretty well reflected in the sales, not to mention the no. of people who continue to play them after buying them.

You'll have to add more proof then that, the article below and years of looking at similar stories makes me think you're wrong...

Another Eye Toy milestone as Euro shipments top 2m (18/12/2003)...

Eye Toy: Play has now shipped over two million units across Europe since its debut in July, and even through the busy festive season it's remained hovering around the UK top ten, making it into one of the most enduring successes of the year.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/news.php?aid=2733

CiDeRmAn

Well, all one could hope for there was that seeing as they had numerous pods out with demos in each that some of these demonstration titles would at least be some of the things we have been waiting for.
I know its not a show for the latest titles but I have on previous occasions been pleasantly surprised by what had been available for play at parties of years past, just a little dissappointed that nothing of note was to seen at this one.
Comments about future PS2 releases are, however, quite independant and I feel still valid.
Regarding the Eyetoy, I believe I am in the right there, certainly from anecdotal evidence from people who sell the games, they say that while people buy the eyetoy with a title initially, the uptake for further titles for the peripheral is poor. There presence on game store shelves more likely due to pressure from Sony reps to keep their merchandise in a highly visible space instore than any real demand. Again this is based on actual comments by friends who manage various stores around Dublin, but if you disagree then everyone is entitled to their own opinion, as am I.

monument

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Well, all one could hope for there was that seeing as they had numerous pods out with demos in each that some of these demonstration titles would at least be some of the things we have been waiting for.
I know its not a show for the latest titles but I have on previous occasions been pleasantly surprised by what had been available for play at parties of years past, just a little dissappointed that nothing of note was to seen at this one.

Are you not in any way impressed my Everybody's Golf, or Gods of War? Wipe Out Pure etc? Or is it just you've seen them before? If so, I think the reasons behind showing what Sony did was because they are pushing what's out now, not what will be out in a few months time or a years time (see here ) - to answer past of your first post, that would also be why they had no PS3 stuff even video at a party mainly for retail staff.

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Regarding the Eyetoy, I believe I am in the right there, certainly from anecdotal evidence from people who sell the games, they say that while people buy the eyetoy with a title initially, the uptake for further titles for the peripheral is poor. There presence on game store shelves more likely due to pressure from Sony reps to keep their merchandise in a highly visible space instore than any real demand. Again this is based on actual comments by friends who manage various stores around Dublin, but if you disagree then everyone is entitled to their own opinion, as am I.

I’m giving news stories on general sales figures, you’re giving the opinions of managers of a few games stores. My source is solid, yours is ‘anecdotal’. Yeah, I think then we can leave it at that.

CiDeRmAn

Well, no need to make it feel so, well, personal, I was after all just giving my opinion.
Regarding Eyetoy, it may sell well together as a pack in with a title for it but how well do subsequent titles do?
It was a minor thing and I don't think the world is about to stop rrotating because I think the peripheral is not as good as the initial premise indicated.
As for Everybodies Golf and Wipeout Pure, I have seen them before, I owned Wipeout pure from the US launch of the title, had the thing for a couple of weeks before I finally took delivery of my canadian PSP and while I liked it initally it wasn't as good as earlier titles in the series imho, such as Wipeouts 2097 and 3 special edition.
As for God of War, I am playing through it and there is very little there that really dazzles, apart from the visuals, the gameplay is a retread of Devil My Cry and all of the various clones we have seen since its release, just got Nightmare Before Christmas, and yes its a DMC clone too.
But I do accept that there a those who think its stunning and a tour-de-force fort he PS2, and good luck to them.
I guess I am looking for some originality in my gaming, Ico, Gregory Horror Show, Kula World and their ilk seem to have faded into the misty past and while it is still a pleasure to play new and exciting titles like GTA SA, Halo2 and Brothers In Arms, they are still but refinements of what has gone before, standing on the shoulders of giants as it were.
Perhaps we need some innovation in games technology beyond the graphics and physics to come up with some engrossing original way to lose ourselves in the world of videogames.

And seeing as I started this thread, I reckon I can decide when I should, as you put it, leave it at that.

But thank you for the interest in the thread, seeing as everyone else seems to have gone off to talk about the Xbox360 and PSP/PS3 some more.

monument

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Well, no need to make it feel so, well, personal, I was after all just giving my opinion....

And seeing as I started this thread, I reckon I can decide when I should, as you put it, leave it at that.

I might have had my imaginary debating hat on, as such, but I wasn’t getting personal.

Also, I wasn’t telling you to end the thread, but just pointing out that we’re kind of entrenched and going in circles with the eyetoy part of our talk. It’s possible I was also being a bit like “I’m right, your wrong” – because your view is based on ‘anecdotal’ evidence, while mine is based on solid sources (and now also the anecdotal view of one retailer).

CiDeRmAn

Fair enough, we will drop it, but I would be interested if there are any users out there who bought an eyetoy with the bundles software and used it past the first couple of weeks, also if they bought any more software to play on it, I never went back to the game after the initial 2 weeks, still have it but never use it. Same with Samba De Amigo and the maracas, played it initially but never played it again, still have it and its a good talking point but never use it. I guess extraordinary add-ons have never been accepted into the wider gaming audience, they are popular with non-gamers who only see a vidoegame when they come over and I show them my collection, but gamers don't usually find them engaging at all. The only add-on that I ever used regularly was the Neg-con on the PS1, and lately the Steel Batallion controller but none of the other ones and I have many across many formats.

And although future output on the ps2 is a little thin I guess its just the format winding down, Its still the console out of my 25 others that is getting the most play, God of War, Nightmare before Christmas and Manhunt at the mo' not to mention the wealth of cheap 2nd hand classics from the last 5 years.

Still, I guess we can look forward to the next gens golden age of games about 2 years into the consoles lifetime, when the developers get there teeth into the various possibilities the new tech holds for them, maybe in and around 2007/2008, until then I guess they will be bringing us current concepts wrapped up in spangly new graphics, PGR3 and Halo 3 anyone? Maybe all the games have been made and all else is just plagarism and polish.

I for one can't wait for Mario Kart DS, Gameboy Micro and the aforementioned PGR3 along with the console Xbox360, no brand devotion here, just game devotion, the brand is irrelevant. Although Ubisoft should get back original games again and if I may suddenly contradict myself give us sequels to XIII and Beyond Good and Evil.

ONe other thing, reckon I was the only person to play and finish and love Haven: call of the king? Its sweet and available for your PS2 for about the price of a damp ham sandwich! Get yours today, along with a copy of Metal Arms, evryone should play that game.

monument

CiDeRmAn wrote:

but I would be interested if there are any users out there who bought an eyetoy with the bundles software and used it past the first couple of weeks, also if they bought any more software to play on it, I never went back to the game after the initial 2 weeks, still have it but never use it.

To answer your question, yes there is....

(And the next eyetoy/Singstar thing for the PS2 looks as if it'll sell just as well or better... "BUZZ - the Music Quiz" is a game show on PS2 comes with four buzzers.)

The Christmas rush starts this Friday with the release of Pro Evolution Soccer 5. And, after having played a review copy for the last month, I can vouch for its brilliance. It's a grittier, more realistic football simulator and I can't wait to get stuck in on Xbox Live this Friday. But after speaking to some friends this weekend it seems the game they are looking forward to most is Singstar '80s. Sony's karaoke-style music series is, in my experience, the one thing that gets everyone playing, especially post-pub (or wine in front of telly, if you're a parent...) I know of at least four friends - of both sexes - who have bought a PS2 just to play one of the Singstar games. The latest version, out next month, is Singstar 80s, with Duran Duran rubbing shoulder pads with Wham and co. Don't go expecting any Gang of Four here - the choice of tracks is overly obvious - but do expect to be hollering at the telly with this at some point over Christmas.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/games/archives/2005/10/18/sing_synth_star.html