GDC News: Sony slashes PS3 price (sort of), Microsoft smack talks, PC rules?
- March 24, 2009 00:00 AM PST
Here's the latest update on the headlines coming out of the Game Developers Conference.
Not exactly the price cut we wanted
The best parts of GDC are the ones you'd probably find the most boring. They're spent hunkered in crowded, slightly gamy smelling rooms listening to panels of game celebs wax prolific about anything from high-definition physics and platform-independent shader development to tongue-tanglers like "Riding the Waves of Change: How Video Game Companies Can Flourish in an Environment of Relentless Volatility and Flux."
And then you get headline-grabbers like these...
Sony Cuts PS3 from $10,250 to $2,000
The debugging Reference Tool, that is. Yeah, $10,250 mazuma for one of those bad boys. Not to be confused with the debug units we in the press use to access non-retail review discs, these things look like brick houses (see pic at top) or the sidewise desktops we used to prop our CRTs on. The new ones apparently look just like regular PS3s. The reason that drop's important, is that it's essentially Sony dialing the air with one finger and silently mouthing the words "Call me."
Microsoft claims Final Fantasy XIII will sell better on Xbox 360
Yeah, well, claims are free, but results cost in cachet. Microsoft knows no better than you or I or anyone else what the multi-platform performance of a game like Final Fantasy XIII is going to be. To claim (confidently) otherwise is either evidence of hubris, paranormal superpowers, or — you smelled it — marketing. With Capcom's Street Fighter IV selling nearly as well last month on the PS3 as the 360 despite the 360's nearly double unit footprint in the U.S., MIcrosoft ought to be a trifle more cautious. In fact what the company ought to be talking about is what it's going to offer along with Final Fantasy XIII to make an Xbox 360 purchase more compelling. Unique DLC? Themes? Avatar accessories? Time-exclusive demos? Developer interview clips? Come on guys, competition on the field of services, not hyperbole.
The PC Gaming Alliance releases a report stating that the PC is the "No. 1 platform for gaming world wide."
No arguments here, though how your arrive at that number is partially a question of how you define the term "game." If you're counting freebies like solitaire and minesweeper and not restricting your benchmark to revenue, the only way the champ could ever not be the PC would be the total implosion of Microsoft Windows...which has roughly as much chance of happening as confirmation of aliens among us. That said, according to the PCGA report, "the PC is the largest single platform for games with annual worldwide revenue of about $11 billion." That's more than any competitor, be it the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, or...yes, even the Nintendo Wii. I've got the report in hand — it's full of all sorts of fun facts — and I'll be back to say more about this shortly.
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Comments [34]
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- Mar 24 2009 at 02:26:53:PM PST
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I am sorry I just don't see FF13 selling better on xbox360.
When most of the fans I hear on final fantasy XI have bought a ps3 for the soul purpose of the game.
not that people got a 360 for the same thing though, when it was first exclusive only to ps3 I went and got a ps3.
just to wait for it.
Pc is a computer no shit it is gonna be better, why would you compare that to a console, though pc for me is just steam and ps3 and my other consoles for me to play, I have fun with consoles than I do with pc.
well I dont know what to say to ps3 price cut, just that people who want it who dont have it complain.
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ZanonX wrote:
I am sorry I just don't see FF13 selling better on xbox360.
When most of the fans I hear on final fantasy XI have bought a ps3 for the soul purpose of the game.
not that people got a 360 for the same thing though, when it was first exclusive only to ps3 I went and got a ps3.
just to wait for it.
Pc is a computer no shit it is gonna be better, why would you compare that to a console, though pc for me is just steam and ps3 and my other consoles for me to play, I have fun with consoles than I do with pc.
well I dont know what to say to ps3 price cut, just that people who want it who dont have it complain.
QFT
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I guess MS execs are the new Sony in showing arrogance and putting out dumb comments like those. Why not talk to me about the things that will interest me, affect me as a gamer, and make my gaming experience better. Don't bother me about your fortune telling powers and tell me my console will sell more games of < insert name > than the other.
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I guess MS execs are the new Sony in showing arrogance and putting out dumb comments like those. Why not talk to me about the things that will interest me, affect me as a gamer, and make my gaming experience better. Don't bother me about your fortune telling powers and tell me my console will sell more games of < insert name > than the other.
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man i just want jak and daxter 2 come bak!Also i wanna kno what team ico is doing.(Ps3 needs some more rpgs 2)
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How the crap does MS come to that conclusion?! Sony has enjoyed FF exclusivity (console-wise, that is; crappy Crystal Chronicles aside) for almost 12 years, and because of that, most gamers think of the PlayStation brand when they think of Final Fantasy (I'm an old-school gamer, having owned FF "III" for the SNES, and I still think of PS when I think FF).
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The new Jak and Daxter game is supposed to be called Jak and Daxter: The Final Frontier, but that's just a rumor.
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Wow, well I guess it's microsoft's turn to be the bully. The only reason it would most likely sell better is due to their higher install base. Once this comes out it will probably show how many people on xbox like RPGs. Most of my friends with 360s prefer shooters, so who knows. It has potential to go either way
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Final Fantasy XIII will sell better on 360 what planet is this Microscum on and i'm not saying it'll sale better on PS3 which i think it will. i think Microscum need to take a look at how much The Last Remnant sold and how much Star Ocean:The Last Hope will sale before they boldly make a statement like the one he's saying that's two dumb things in two weeks from that company. the only way FF XIII may sale better if Microscum try and pull off a TIMED EXCLUSIVE like they always do.
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LOL! Microsoft is becoming even more desperate for gamers. First they said that LaD WOULD'VE sold better than KZ2 if it was on a disc. Now they're are PREDICTING that FFXlll will sell more copies on the xbox 360 than the ps3. Notice that both of those statements are GUESSES! A desperate economy and desperate times calls for desperate measures, i guess.
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