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4 Feb 05
Don't forget to get your contest entries in. In case you missed them, I've added all the prizes to that link. I'm hoping for a few good stories. I just hope I can handle the truth.
I wanted to talk briefly about a topic I've touched on before, backwards compatibility. I don't have quite the time I used to to scour the net for information, but it seems there's an odd thing going on. There seems to be a revived interest in classic Playstation games. You hear people looking for games like Vagrant Story, Valkyrie Profile, Chrono Cross, Bushido Blade, Parasite Eve, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Final Fantasy Tactics and many more. It seems a bit odd now when people are looking ahead to a new, even more powerful generation of consoles.
I think everyone goes on a history kick once in a while at least once you start getting older. You keep hearing about the great, classic games to the point they achieve near legendary status in your mind. What backwards compatibility does is let you play those games if you can get your hands on them. Thanks to the internet (especially EBay), it's almost always possible to do so. Also used PSX games are dirt cheap if you find them at a Gamestop or EB.
The point is that new consoles coming mean price drops on current consoles. When someone has waited this long to buy a console, they're probably not going to be rushing out to buy a bunch of $50 games. Even with Greatest Hits going for $20 just imagine how many classic used PSX games you could grab for the price of two or three greatest hits titles. If you're already two or three or five years out of date, why not make it a few more and play the games from that era that are so fondly remembered. They must be good to survive the test of time.
Sony has stated they expect the PS2 to have 4-5 more years of working life in it. Well there won't be any new PS2 releases by then, but there will be dirt cheap old PS2 greatest hits. It seems like backwards compatibility is a way to keep expanding your base even after you've moved on to the next generation. That's got to be a good thing. Of course then you can't do a Nintendo and re release NES classics for $20 a pop on the GBA. Interesting.
Jason
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3 Feb 05
Just a quick update today. Score for today, Baby David 21, Jason 0. Oh well. He did flash me a cute victory smile. It could have been gas.
There's a patch out there for our Game of the Year: Rome: Total War. Check it out at the Usual Suspects.
Before I crash, I wanted to give you the rest of the First Anniversary of Talk Strategy contest prizes. I'm sure there are a few people out there that have been a little disappointed in the prizes. Hopefully today's entry will put a smile on your face. Remember this is still a small community so your odds of winning are disproportionately high. And a free game is a free game.
Next up we have Ground Control 2. Putting a little strategy back into real time tactics by letting you call in reinforcements based on how well you're doing, Ground Control 2 sticks to its battle centered vision. It's a beautiful game that really gives you the feeling of dynamic destruction. The sides are well balanced, but thanks to the unit morphing of the Virons, feel very different in play.
So what could the last games be? Well, we have Silent Storm. It's the import Gold Edition so it includes the Sentinels expansion which I still don't believe has been released stateside. This game captures all the fun of blowing things up without ever feeling out of control. It's turn based, but the world and action are so alive that it keeps your pulse pounding especially during enemy turns. I've said it before, but it reminds me of Xcom. If you haven't tried it, get to writing so you can get your hands on a free copy.
Finally, I'm sure you can't guess the last prize. Yes, it's Rome: Total War, our Game of the Year. I'm not usually one to repeat myself, but Epic. There, I've said it again. You can lead great ancient powers trying to unite the Mediterranean under your banner. Whether you want to focus on management of cities, building armies and navies, diplomacy or tactical combat, this game has it all. Don't forget it's top notch eye candy to boot. Many times it's as fun to watch as to play. Let's just say that wasn't our Game of the Year for nothing.
Well, there you have it. There are no more prizes to be announce, but that's not too shabby for a poor little website. Now it's your turn. Get to writing and get your entries in to contests@talkstrategy.com right now. Check out the full details Here. If you're thinking about how long 100 words is. This little entry is 444 words.
Jason
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2 Feb 05
Happy Groundhog day everyone. I haven't been overwhelmed with contest entries yet. In fact, I've yet to see one. I'm not too worried yet as the prizes haven't all been announced yet and I'm sure there's both polishing and procrastinating going on. Just make sure you meet the deadline.
To entice you, I've got some more prizes to announce. So you say you want to win as well, but you don't have the latest beefy rig to play the latest eye candy? Well, not all strategy will crush your venerable rig. We've got a couple of prizes for you. First is a classic. It's Homeworld 2. It's Homeworld with better graphics, streamlined play that lets you focus on strategy and tactics as well as a neat campaign.
Dude, I can hear you say, that's ancient. Well, yes it is from 2003, but in the 1950's they expected flying cars by 2003. Anyway, so what's more recent that will play on a vintage system? Our next prize fits the bill. It's Warlords Battlecry III. Yes it's still 2D, but so is Starcraft and millions of Koreans can't be wrong. It's got a deep new campaign, improved hero development and new races to play with. They've also improved the AI for more of a challenge. Did I mention dragons? We should have some more prizes tomorrow.
I had a couple more thoughts to wrap up my console kick. First, if Microsoft ever ponders cutting the Xbox line because it's not bringing in the money, I think there's something they should consider. There is now something called a Microsoft fanboy. It used to be that most everyone who didn't work there hated Microsoft. The Xbox has generated passionate support which is something their arguably higher quality and better selling products don't do. There were once huge crowds cheering on the legal systems of the world threatening to tear apart Windows and Microsoft. Do they really want to go back to that.
Finally, I think Take Two has put itself in an interesting position. Some people claimed that their third party exclusivity contracts were worthless. A first party could just work with EA to put out MVP baseball and circumvent it. I guess maybe Nintendo could do that, but not the other two. After all, Take Two does wield a pretty big ax called Grand Theft Auto. Long term GTA exclusivity doesn't make sense for them unless they perceive a first party as being directly hostile to them. Work with EA to circumvent the contract and they may become the GTA Nazi. "No GTA for you."
Jason
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1 Feb 05
First, the Game of the Year voting is over. Rome: Total War squeaked out a narrow victory. So Rome and Silent Storm went 1,2. That's the same as I would have put it. So congratulations to The Creative Assembly and Activision on winning the first Talk Strategy Game of the Year Award.
Oh, a little contest business now. I promised to start updating the prizes as they came in. Here's the first one for you. It's CDV's Wargamer's Choice Strategy Six Pack. Yes that counts as one prize. It includes No Man's Land, Strategic Command, Cossacks: Back to War, Combat Mission: Beyond Overlord Special Edition, American Conquest and Sudden Strike II. That's a lot of gaming for one little box. If you can't find something there that interests you, you might want to turn in your strategist card. I'll update the contest page as prizes are added. Don't forget to get your entry in.
Back to the console situation. I think the big question will be how Nintendo and Microsoft define their next generation entries. All three will be using proprietary graphics chips and chipsets. Assuming Sony doesn't screw up their middleware/development tools again, why should developers and gamers take a chance on one of the others?
Nintendo is an interesting case. They've shown they can appeal to the Japanese market. They have a stable of familiar characters. The have several proven design teams. But they're promising something that will make gaming very different on the Revolution than on the other consoles. We'll see what that is probably around E3, but I'm not too confident. Their last two innovations seem to me to be missing the mark. People weren't really looking for GBA connectivity or Dual Screens with a stylus. I really think the more powerful engine and the wireless capabilities are what's selling the DS right now. Once the PSP and the next Gameboy come out, I don't predict the long life for the DS that its siblings have enjoyed.
Anyway I think Nintendo has proven that they can make solid consoles, with a few great titles. I think that will be enough to keep them in the next generation. I also happen to be one of the few people who think the market is big enough for three major competitors. Still, Nintendo's next big move better be correct if they want to stop the hemorrhaging of shelf space to their competitors. And, of course, they have to keep up in the features, usability and power arenas. If they really do something odd (especially with the controller) that prevents multiplatform games from being ported to the Revolution. I think they're shooting themselves in the head.
Microsoft's current philosophy seems to be that they launched a year behind the PS2, and that even though they had the better console, they couldn't overcome that head start. Now they want to leverage that image of power into their own head start. If they don't have a strong start, Sony could even delay the PS3 tweaking up the processor(s) speed and memory to create a power gap of their own.
I still think Microsoft will launch the Xbox 2 with Halo 3. There is the risk of backlash if fans become convinced they were robbed of part of Halo 2 to rush Halo 3 to the next generation. Even so it's probably a good move, but once again it will have to be a graphical powerhouse that really shows off the horsepower of the next generation. And despite the increase in HDTV's, it will have to do so at every resolution.
There's another risk for Microsoft. Sony buffered the transition costs of the PS2 by continued support of the PS1. Thanks to backwards compatibility developers weren't panicked by the thought of releasing a PS1 game after the PS2 launch. The market was still huge and, to their eyes, growing. Microsoft has sort of downplayed backwards compatibility. That could be misinformation, but signs seem to indicate that Microsoft will be focused on only the Xbox 2 after the second quarter. If backwards compatibility is a no show, Microsoft must aggressively manage the release stream. That means quality games coming out regularly the first year. If not, they risk having a first year where there are more high profile PS2 games coming out than Xbox 2 games. That won't build the base.
I think Microsoft's final hurdle will be Microsoft itself. They have a history of shutting down quality product lines if they don't make money. Microsoft expects to make money this coming generation not just one good quarter, but quarter after quarter. They're doing some things to help this on the hardware side (although I still think multiple feature sets/price points is a bad idea), but the only real solution is growth. They have to have enough users buying products on a regular basis to keep the income flowing. There are still people out there unsure if Microsoft is committed to this for the long haul. It's hard to get people to hitch their wagon to you if they're unsure of your commitment level. People are sure about Sony and Nintendo so Microsoft can't waiver.
Jason
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31 Jan 05
Let's recap a bit on the console situation. I went over my view of the current generation Here. Bill put up his view of things to come Here. I'm still feeling contrarian, so I'm taking the opposite view. Actually, I'm more of defending the analysts he skewers.
Ok, we'll start with the big question of when they'll get here. The current thinking is the Xbox 2 will launch in late fall 2005. The PS3 will launch in Japan in the spring of 2006 with the US launch either late Spring or fall 2006. Nintendo has said they'll launch with the PS3. If Nintendo does a worldwide launch when Sony is only launching in Japan that could make things interesting.
So is that good timing? Microsoft wants to launch first and there's nothing stopping them. The trick is to keep the excitement focused on their console and not have gamers looking down the road to all the greatness of the competition. That will probably mean a strong launch line up.
There is a down side. The strength of the Xbox was the easy transition from PC to Xbox programming while having the most powerful hardware. MS has dealt with this through their XNA tools. They should help ease simultaneous PC/Xbox 2 development. That could be an advantage if Sony doesn't improve on their middleware for the next Generation. The other half is problematic. I'm sure each side will claim they're the most powerful console, but Nintendo and Sony will have a chance to examine the final Xbox 2 specs before they have to finalize their own. It shouldn't be too hard to spot the biggest bottleneck. Then they have to see if they can improve there.
The other thing is the feature list. You can bet that Sony won't be behind the Xbox 2 in features. They'll be able to do some late matching at the end if necessary. I'm sure we'll see improved HD monitor mode support, surround sound and storage capacity (at least on the Sony/Nintendo side). If it comes down to pure rendering power instead power plus a feature gap, that just makes the Xbox road a little harder. Overall the safe move was to wait and launch with Sony, but Microsoft is taking the initiative. That's a good attitude, but if they come out underpowered, it will be a flawed strategy.
Will HD sets be a driving factor for the next generation? Yes and no. The capability to support the modes must be there (that's a given). The problem is that a lot of the low end sets that are driving the market don't support all the modes. There are quite a few 4:3 aspect ratio sets being sold. What does 720p mean to people whose set doesn't support it? In fact, something simple like HDMI cables might end up being more important. Regardless, the main driving factor has been and will be the games.
That brings us to backwards compatibility. Sony is the only player who has said anything positive in this regard. Launch libraries have to be small. If you can increase the number of games playable on the console from the get go, it's an easier purchase. For multiple console owners, it means freeing up space and inputs. Then there are simply more games out there for the PS2. The greatest hits library is huge and chock full of quality titles. Ultimately it will be a small advantage, but if the features are very close, that could make a difference.
The next question is the status of Sony. Is the leader stumbling? Well, they've sold about 75 million PS2 units. The Gamecube and the Xbox have both sold around 20 million with the Xbox having a slight lead over the cube. So Sony has about 65% of the installed market. But that's this generation. How are they doing lately?
If you looked at the headlines you might think they're stumbling. After all, the game division showed reduced profits by 23%. Sony claimed that was due to hardware shortages caused by the shift from the PS2 to the PStwo. If that's true, you'd expect to see software sales growing even though profits are down. That, in fact, did happen. Sony sold 109 million units in the last quarter of the year up from 104 million the previous year. Since the console side of the industry sold about 161 million units in the US in 2004, that means that Sony is still dominating software sales. I wouldn't call that stumbling.
I've got a little bit more for tomorrow, but I don't want to delay the game of the week. It's Galactic Civilizations 2: Dread Lords (official site) from Stardock. It's the sequel to the surprise 4X game that was closer to the game fans thought Masters of Orion 3 was going to be than MOO3 was itself. The sequel makes the move into 3D, promises improved AI, opens all the factions for user play, and features dynamic empire borders. Planets now have a limited number slots determined by their class. Perhaps most promising, Stardock is offering ship design, a favorite feature from the earlier MOO entries. Look for GalCiv 2 in early 2006.
Jason
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