kittynboi

Oh, these religious types have done this kind of thing for a long time, trying to be hip and to appeal to the young crowd and all. This is just getting attention because Halo is in the news right now because of the release.

As for the idea that Halo is somehow biblically themed or owes some great deal to the bible for its story, I don't think so, because the biblical "references", like many of the other mythological and cultural referencces in the game, are pretty shallow, no more deep than every other piece of media to try and go for some sense of depth by having religious parrellels.

""""54. For anyone over the age of 22, this is sort of the Castlevania announcement we've been waiting for since the internet became commonplace and we found out what we had been missing. God damn it, now I have a reason to buy a PSP. What next, a reason to buy a PS3?""""

Yeah, you hit it perfectly. I really do wonder how old some of the people hating on this game are, and dismissing it as just a "port", and all that. They seem wholly ignorant of the history of this particular game and how it has been regarded over the years, not to mention how many fans have waited and waited for a release of some kind in the U.S.

A lot of these people who hate this game are either too young to remember the excitement over the game, the let down of the SNES version, and how much SOTN's backstory made everyone want this game, or they are people who never started gaming until Halo, XBOX, and all these other newfangled summer blockbuster games came along.

As for the PSP vs DS issue;

I have about 17 DS games to 11 PSP games (and not one of them is some GTA crap.) There are many mroe games for DS I would like, but only half as many for PS I would like, this of course is counting only currently available games, not upcoming releases, but even still, I doubt the ratio would be terribly different if I did include upcoming or planned releases.

The PSP has some good games, even some more elite games that normal people can't like which I gravitate towards, but the DS tends to have a wider selection in this area. But the PSP has some amazingly strong showings with Lumines, EEE, Exit, etc. Another problem is that, my 17 or so DS games are all really good, but of my 11 PSP games, there are some mediocre titles in there. Sure, I have greats like Metal gear Portable Ops and the Gradius Collection, but there are some mediocre ones such as Metal Gear Acid and PoPoLoCrois. They're not bad, just not great.

I also want to say that I am sympathetic to those who wish this was on PS2 as opposed to a handheld, as I too miss seeing classics and classic-style games on a larger screen. That is one reason I bought the Genesis Collection for PS2 instead of PSP. When it comes to nostalgia for old games I've played, I would rather, given the choice, experience them on a T.V. as I did in the olden days.

You people dismissing Castlevania and games like this while talking up GTA and Madden are really showing your age. Damn whippersnappers.

I don't see what else they can do with these two games. Graphically, what else can be done without making it 3D?

And it sounds like, content wise, there isn't very much new. Just the gallery/extras that aren't a part of the game itself.

I might buy it, I'm not sure yet.

But at this point I see nothing else that can be done to these two particular games that can justify buying them yet again.

""""Maybe Snake and Raiden will hit the showers together in this installment...I can't wait!!""""

That would rule.

But back to the topic at hand.

I just can't help but comment on how similar Wii vs PS3 is to DS vs PSP.

1.The wii/ds was/is "underpowered" and derided for its "gimmicky" interface.

2.People said the DS would just be for "kids" while "hardcore" gamers would go for the PSP.

3.Both the PSP and the PS3 are pushing unproven movie formats.

4.Both the PSP and the PS3 are media convergence type devices. People have shown little interest in the media capabilities of the PS3, which many people expected would justify its cost to consumers. A similar fate could befall the PS3.

5.Just as people said developers would never catch on to the DS interface and thus it would fail (nelson laugh-HA-HA), people are saying the same thing about the Wii.

6.The DS faced an even more limited number of releases in its first year than the Wii looks like it will, but it still pulled through.

As I've said, I want the PS3 to do well.
I guess that, as someone who has been a gamer since before the NES, since I was very very young, I just trust Sony and Nintendo more than Microsoft, because I loathe shooters so much. But regardless, I think Nintendo's more exclusive focus on game systems that play games and do little else will probably turn out to be the right decision, especially if the PS3 tends to crash and burn. A failure on the part of the PSP AND PS3 could easily make them the poster children for what happens to game systems when they try to spread their focus too thin and forget about games.

The 360 will only prove itself to me when it has a PS2-like library of games that includes things like MGS4 and FF13 and lots of japanese titles, rather than sports games and American shooters. The 360 may be the current console for most American gamers, but its not for me.

The best gaming device out there right now is still the DS.

Now, as for the arguments about whether or not people will pay 500-600. I certainly see what vicious means about people spending more money than they have. They do it all the time. I don't know if its as many people as he implies, but I think its more than 1% of the population as well. And lets not forget how many pople foolishly put things on their credit cards. Thats even easier than forgoing expenses such as rent and food, since the issue is out of sight and mind for at least a few months.

And yes, people spend nearly as much on phones, tv's, and cameras. But those things are a bit easier to justify as neccesities, at least moreso than a game system.

Another reason not to expect media capabilities to sell the PS3 is that probably 99.99%, if even that few, of people buying a PS3 have a PC in their homes. With the exception of the blu-ray player, any standard PC will fill most all the multimedia functions the PS3 can, and will usually do it better and easier.

Blu-Ray probably won't help very much. DVD did help the PS2, but there are some differnces in the two situations.

1.DVD was introduced in roughly the 96-97 timeframe, and was already showing up on shelves before the millineum was over. The PS2 was not released until 2000, well after DVD was already becoming known and was on its way to replacing VHS with no real competition. Blu-Ray, however, did not hit the shelves until roughly the same time as the PS3. There was already a demand for DVD and DVD players by the time the PS2 came to the market. Not only that, but DVD had time to prove itself. People still know little about blu-ray.

2.As someone else pointed out, the leap from VHS-DVD was much larger and more beneficial than the leap from DVD-Blu-Ray. Dvds were smaller, easier to store, and in aaddition to picture and sound quality that surpassed VHS, as well as the extras included on DVD releases such as deleted scenes, DVD's also made owning an entire TV series on DVD feasible in both economic and storage terms. Blu-Ray, so far, is only offering improvements in audio and video quality, and then only if you have the proper setup with which to view it. If either HD-DVD or Blu-Ray become the new standard, I think it will take another 3-5 years, because I don't think the public will be as easily sold on the formats as a/v nuts and tech heads will.

You can go on about picture quality of Blu-Ray and how the PS3 is a cheap blu-ray player and all that, but Joe Average consumer isn't as knowledgeable about these matters as those of us who have nothing better to do than hang around forums like this one and evaluate tech specs of the latest impulse buys and fad gadgets.

The only thing that can keep the PS3 afloat are games, plain and simple.

I'm on my second PS2. I never had to replace my Gamecube. I never bought an XBOX.

I have no idea who will win the console war this generation.

I think the article is stupid and this guy doesn't seem to have more than a superficial knowledge of gaming history.

I'll probably get a PS3 at the end of Jan.

Still no definitive plans for a 360, since there's only one game on it I really want (Dead Rising) but I'm still wary of that save system and how the game can sort of let you mess everything up and have to literally start over.

My DS ownz. Got it at launch.

Its funny. N64, DS, and Wii are the only three systems I've ever bought at the launch. And all 3 are Nintendo products. But its just a coincidence.

Can the PS3 be saved? Probably.

Everyone seems to keep forgetting theres the $500 version. I'll probably get that one. Yeah, $500 is still high, but its only $100 higher than a Premium 360, and given the choice I would go with the PS3 just because of MGS4 and FF13.

I doubt my own consumer tendencies are reliable predictors of anything.

I can't comment on any Gamecube hype since I was out of the loop and in deep darkness, despair, and mired in eldrich horrors unspeakable when the GC launched.

As for the PSP, I knew from the beginning it would not be able to be the DS, because I have yet to see a media convergence device like that be truly successeful, and I found it difficult to believe that people would want to watch films on a tiny screen.

I do think its possible that people might warm up to the $500 PS3 model, given some time.

Part of me just doesn't want Sony to lose because I don't like the idea of an American company so focused on shootes and multiplayed to dominate the console market, since I don't like either of those latter two things and I fear what dominance by the 360 would mean for titles like Metal Gear and Final Fantasy, considering how poorly the 360 is doing in Japan.

Its particularly relevant cosidering that Microsoft has yet to completely shake the image of its console as the console for sports games, shooters, but little else. Which is what makes me, and others who don't like those genres, not nearly as enthusiastic about the 360 as others are. There are many, many people who have been playing games their entire lives, but are not stumbling over themselves in the rush for Gears of War, Halo 3, or the latest Madden. People so obsessed with those games may be hardcore gamers in the respect of being hardcore fans of those franchises or genres, but there are other gamers out there just as devoted, if not more, to other types of genres, especially rpgs and fighting games. Many people I knew did not want the original XBOX because there was indeed widespread perception that if you were not a die hard shooter fan then there was little the console had to offer you. Whether this was true or if it was just a failure of marketing to get the word out on other games, it undeniably had an effect on the way the XBOX was perceived.

One reason the PS2 was a hit was because it had such a diverse library of games. The XBOX had Halo, some other shooters and sports games, but was known for little else. The Gamecube had the first party Nintendo titles and the "family friendly" games aimed at younger players, but was known for little else. Most players knew that, whatever type of games they liked, the PS2 was very likely to have something for them.

Thus far, none of the new consoles have really established themselves in this regard. The Wii and PS3 haven't had a chance to do so yet, having only been released in November. In any case, whichever console establishes itself as the console that has a handful of games for just about every taste is the console that is likely to come out ahead of the others. How far ahead is another matter entirely.

People are trying to gauge how worthwhile the current consoles are based on how much computing power or multimedia stuff you get for your money, which is a mistake. The PS2 and PS1 did well not because people thought the technology was worth the money, but because they had the most games that people wanted to play.

The Gamecube and XBOX were, in the end, closer to niche consoles aimed at specific markets. That worked out fine for MS and Nintendo, if thats all they were aiming for, and it probably was what Nintendo expected anyway. But the console that takes to lead is going to have to expand beyond any niche. Nintendo is at least trying with the Wii, and Microsoft sort of seems to be trying, but they don't seem to know exactly how to get it right. Sony did it twice already, so we'll have to see if they can do it again.

The only real stumbling blocks toward the PS3 repeating the success of the PS2 are the price point, and the ill-will geared towards Sony, which is largely their own fault for hiring idiots to work in their PR department.

Nintendo is more or less doing things right at this point, we just have to see if the public accepts the Wii.

Sony, to win, needs to address the cost issue and try to put out some of the anti-Sony fires with some good PR that doesn't come across as insulting and patronizing.

Microsoft has the chance to really take the initiative, they just have to work on the image of the XBOX brand name, and convince people its not just for "hardcore" gamers, and try to build a library of games of the same caliber and diversity as the PS2.

At this point, the 360 will do as well if not better than the original XBOX, but how much better is up to Microsoft. If they want to be the new #1, they have some work to do. Or they could make the 360 another learning experience like the XBOX was, and not have a chance to be the leader in sales until the follow up to the 360 in 4-6 years.

Essentially, what I want is for whoever wins to have as good a library as the PS2 did. I think the Wii and PS3 could manage that, but I'm concerned about the ability of the 360 to drastically expand beyond the niche the XBOX brand has grown in to.

I've always loved Nintendo, and I would like to see the Wii come out on top, but I'm not opposed to any of the three consoles winning the race, just as long as the games are good and there are a lot of different genres available, at least as much as in the PS2 era.

I don't expect any of the three to fail, and certainly no company will pull a Sega.

Right now, I think one of the best things that could happen for the 360 would be Sony losing out the exclusive MGS4. That could potentially trigger a seismic shift, but I'm not optimistic that it will happen.

If you want to know why I'm giving so much detail as to what I like, I suppose I just want to add something thats more than "OMG MICROSOFT ROLZ SONY IS TEH SUX0RZ TEHY ARE LAEM".

I want to at least explain my position. Besides, explaining yourself is fun.

It doesn't really matter to me anymore which system "wins", as long as I can get the games I like somewhere. Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Silent Hill, Tekken, Fatal Frame, Katamari, Mana, Castlevania, etc. Thats whats important to me. As well as the "quirky" games for the DS like Electroplankton, Cooking Mama, etc.

I would like to see more side scrolling shooters, Graidus style games, but even if those are still released anymore they seem to be exclusivev to Japan.

I want more survival horror games, more graphic adventures, more puzzlers.

Really, I just like everything EXCEPT sports and FPS'.

I'll own all three consoles in time. PS3's are already starting to show up on shelves and remain there for long periods of time, so hopefully I can get one sooner rather than later, and I want a 360 for Dead Rising.

I'm less concerned with which console comes in which place than I am with the growing popularity of things like Halo and Madden. I'd hate to see these sort of games get so big that interest in JRPGs, puzzlers, and all the kind of games I mentioned above wanes and we get as few RPGs from Japan as we did prior to the PS1 era. Essentially, I worry that the American market will become dominated by American games like Halo and Madden and their ilk. I've never liked sports games, and I've been playing shooters since Wolfenstein 3D was brand new, and with a few exceptions, I've been tired of them for about as long.

Maybe after all this time, it would be better for someone like me to simply ignore much of the American market and just start importing the games I like that don't require me to know too much japanese. Hell, even if its a dialogue heavy game, I would enjoy playing it and having no clue as to what is going on more than I would playing any sports game or a Halo-GOW-big summer action shooter.

I've been playing videogames nonstop since before the NES was released, when my older brother gave me his Atari 2600, and not a generation has gone by where I did not own at least two of the current consoles. So I can, by no means, be dismessed as not being a "hardcore" gamer, unless that term means something that has nothing to do with how long you've been playing games and how devoted to it you have been.

At this point, I know what I like. So far, of the current gen consoles, there are a few things I know I like, a few things I might, but not a huge glut in any area. Of course, its far too early to tell with the PS3. I know I'll like plenty of things for the Wii, since I've been playing the flagship Nintendo series like Metroid and the like since the NES days.

Actually, the system that has yet to win me over, entirely, is the 360. While the PS3 has earned my ire, that has more to do with Sony being idiots than the system itself. Its expensive, yes, but I'll manage in that area. But I know that the PS3 will probably have more of the type of games I want than the 360, assuming the PS3 has a similar library of games as the PS2. If Halo/Madden/Gears type games are the first major selling point of the 360, the second seems to be the online features. Aside from downloading old games from it (which does appeal to me, as I saw a friend downloading 1942 or one of those old overhead shooters, which piqued my interest), nothing else in it appeals to me. Acheivement points don't sound to great, and I don't like multiplayer in general because I don't play well with others, so to speak.

But I also like b-movies and horror enough that Dead Rising alone sells me on the 360, as I see that game as pure pure gold, its small text notwithstanding. I'll probably treat the 360 like the Gamecube. For the 6th generation, going by the generational scheme used by wikipedia, I had a PS2, Gamecube, and GBA. I played my GBA and PS2 the most, and the Gamecube got little play since I only bought it for a few games. (Metroid and Zelda, really.) So, unless more things that come out for the 360 appeal to me, I'll probably get it for Dead Rising, and whatever backwards compatability allows me to play that I missed out on the XBOX.

How do I think this generation will play out?

I have no idea.

At this point its kind of a toss up, and we're still just days away from xmas. I think seeing how sales work out over the course of an entire year will be far more useful than basing it on a single holiday season. I realize this might make some of you wait a while to gloat and thump your chests at your apparent victory for backing the right console, but no one will have a good idea until the end of 2007 or later.

Even if the PS3 is getting off to a rocky start, the life remaining in the PS2 can, I hope, pick up some of the slack until the PS3 is able to carry itself more effectively.

Right now, all I have is a Wii, and I love it. Of course, I'm not so focused on graphics as others are. If I were, I probably wouldn't still love the old Atari games and infocom text adventures as much as I do.

Maybe this will turn out to be the generation of the handhelds.

I'll never see the appeal of online games. I've been playing video games since the days of Atari, and I've never enjoyed any kind of two player mode in games, nor have I enjoyed multiplayer over the internet when that became viable in the 90s.

I see gaming as a solitary experience, something to let me unwind, and something to do when I don't want to deal with other people.

""""I'm glad that I'm not alone in my dislike of that lousy anime artwork that the Castlevania franchise has been stuck with for the past decade.""""

ITs only had anime artwork since 2005.

The previous artwork was not anime influenced in any way whatsoever and does no resemble anime at all.

That was one of the whole points of this post, that the anime artwork was only adopted for the two most recent games.

@ 34.

Exactly. And you hit on something that people here seem to be missing; Everyone is wondering why us in the manly man west are able to accept feminine male leads, as if this is unprecedented, but the popularity male feminine beauty has had a long history in the west.