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Super Long Email Of the Week Thread
8 posts • Page 1 of 1
Super Long Email Of the Week ThreadThis is where I'll be posting the super-long but awesome emails! I've got a backlog, so give me a fews days to get them up.
I am very sorry about the length of the email.
It's been a long, grueling journey ever since we saw the first mention of the Playstation 3. Ever since then, we have been wondering what was coming from the company named Sony. Then E3 2005 came, and Sony blew us away. Trailers like Motorstorm and Killzone left us wondering was that really in game or just another CG trailer. Time went by and TGS came and the man named Kojima showed us Metal Gear Solid 4, another game that was plain irresistible. By this time, the Sony executives were going around basically saying that the Playstation 3 was the best thing since sliced bread, condemning Microsoft for putting out 2 versions of the Xbox 360, claming 120fps in games, and announcing special deals with game publishers. That was the end of 2005. Spring 2006 came around and we were wondering what happened to the Playstation 3. It was supposed to be launched in Japan around this time.Sony claims to be waiting for the finalization of the Blu-Ray spec. Now E3 2006 came around and Sony trying to be the showstopper that they are came running out of the gate and tried to wow us again with their Playstation 3. Unfortunately Motorstorm became just another demo kiosk in Sony's booth and Killzone was missing in action. Nevertheless, Sony did wow us, but this time it was the price. $600 USD for a fully spec'ed out PS3 with 60GB HD, HDMI, Wi-Fi, and memory card reader, $500 USD for a stripped down PS3 with 20GB HD and that's about it. The later months ahead were bad with Sony, really bad. There execs became more like uncontrollable showboating blockheads, spitting such phrases as "The next generation starts when we say so" and calling the PS3 a computer and being affordable. Game journalists, Bloggers, and the public were furious. The more Sony said was the more we hated them. We ranted, accused, and just plainly gave them the big FU. The final nail in the coffin was the expected units being shipped around the world. 100,000 for Japan and 400,000 for North America with the US getting most of the shipment. That was over the summer. Now it's October, with the preeminent launch of the Playstation 3, and with the combined hatred against the Sony juggernaut, did Sony did anything right? I say yes. That may be a shocker since I even wrote a piece earlier called," *Is it too late for Sony?* ". And basically said how Sony can turn their image around. A lot has been said since, and Sony really hasn't changed but they did do some right things. The price drop in Japan may be brushed off as a sign of weakness and can be considered desperate and many people's eyes but this was the icing of the cake in Japan with the Sony fanboys. Lets face it, Japan is a very high tech society and the Playstation 3 is very high tech. this just makes it more desirable in Japan, albeit not much. Also the inclusion of the HDMI port on the $500 model makes that model more attractive and I was very lad that they included that in. Finally the final thing they got right is in the publicity department. All of the negative press, the quotes, the accusations, the analyzing, the rants, made the Playstation 3 well known. All publicity is good publicity and that's what Sony is banking on. Sony has known this from the very start, wouldn't you think that they would have actually let Ken, Kaz and that other guy in Europe say that they would have said unless there was some crazy plan set in place. This was their plan all along, say the craziest thing that can think of, and watch the masses talk. Publicity sells things; it's the nature of the business, even if it's bad business. Sure it sounds crazy and hell, I think they are crazy, but at least we were talking about it… and in ad revenue, talk is very expensive, it's a money maker. So now what? Of course the fan boys will camp out in the middle of the night, waiting for their PS3's and we'll probably buy one eventually so that we can play our MGS and FF and what ever else that comes out for Sony. All this talk about the PS3 being an N-Gage is a bunch of bull, Sony will never give up on this, they will drag it out to the cold, bitter end if they have to and they will do it too. Other than that, we don't really know, we'll just have to find out at launch. Thank you for your time. Michael "gs191' D. P.S. Tell gs68 to change his signature on the forums, we all know by now that we are not related. Hell, I don't even have a brother or a sister!
I would direct anyone who enjoyed that letter to this sorta-old thread over in Random Chatter.
Good letter though, gs191. Sony's strategy for the PS3 does seem rather spread out over several years, and you've really hit on all the points they've covered since the announcement of the system. Yeah, we'll definitely have to wait until launch to see what happens. Man, it feels like that ALWAYS how it goes when a new system comes out. WTF? :) And DarkSakura, feel free to delete this post if this thread is just meant for posting the emails, and not discussion... I wasn't sure. Thanks!
Yeah, Sony has been around the place these last couple of years. BTW, I watched some footage from TGS and compared it from E3 and thought they really came a long way. Also I thought it would be kind of fun to write in the defence of Sony for a change, it actually really wasn't that hard at all. I'm not a fanboy but I think it was time for somebody to at least step up and try to not point out the already blatent flaws of the console, but the good points.
From "My Little Pony killer":
A few comments on the November 12th show... Firstly, the Dreamcast-PS2 thing is very different from the 360-PS3 thing, for a few key reasons. Although the Dreamcast had online play, it harnessed a technology that was dying, namely dial-up internet connections. The 360 uses a popular type of internet connection, which has a strong installed user base and is not going to be replaced anytime soon. Also, the Dreamcast was Sega's first attempt at an online service, whereas Microsoft has had an entire console generation to streamline their online service, and it turned out extremely well. Another popular reason why the Dreamcast failed was because it didn't have DVD playback. As you said on the show, the PS3 has blu-ray playback, but the DVD format had basically no competition, as the other formats were woefully inadequite. Blu-ray, however, has a major competitor, HDDVD, and they are on basically the same footing. That is not to mention that the 360 also supports HDDVD, and will possibly support Blu-ray if it becomes the dominant format. In addition, the 360 has already sold enough units to keep it alive through at least 2008, and Microsoft certainly has the money to pump into it, and, unlike Sega was, is not at risk of going bankrupt over the system. Secondly, on the topic of video game related violence: as you said, it really is dependent upon the person. I, for example, have played some of the more violent games out there, and , to the best of my knowledge, I turned out okay. My friend, however, became noticeably more irritating and violent since he started playing games, but interestingly enough, when he got a gaming PC, he reverted back to his old self... Lastly, my opinion of Gears of War, and my criticisms of it. It is a superb game, but not what everybody says it is. The single player is too easy on casual, but is too hard on insane, and on insane, you really do need somebody else playing with you, either over xbox live or on your system. Otherwise, the enemies are actually intelligent, and do feel like what real people would do. At least that's what I thought before I got onto the versus mode on multiplayer, and saw what people really did do. The multiplayer is leaps and bounds harder than the single player at first, as you start out with no knowledge of the maps or where the power weapons are, and you tend to die often. This however, says nothing about the game, which remains a superb game. I would give it, overall, a 9.5 or 9.6 out of 10. If you don't have Xbox Live, however, I would give it a 9.1 out of 10. That is all. -- Does anybody really know how Parliament works?
Well, hello there. Its really been a while since I have written anything out
to you all. Never the less, I am still an avid listener of the show, even though I haven't been able to be in the chatroom in quite a while. (You can blame my World of Warcraft guild and them pushing me to level my Gnome Mage to 70 so they can get another Croud Controler in the group, go figure...) Anyways, after sitting through all of the "big three" E3 press conferences, I do have some choice words about all of them. By the way, I have to give many grats to G4 for showing all the E3 press conferences for the big three with no commercials. I must say, it was quite nice to see them on a 50 inch plasma tv but standard definition ftl. First off, Microsoft. I must say, like last year, they were the strongest of the three. They did a really good job showing games for the core audience (Fallout 3, Fable 2, Gears of War 2, and Resident Evil 5), then moving on to the causal games, then ending on a real high note. They really pushed the aspect that the 360 is for everybody, not just the core gamer. Even though they pushed this same ideal last year, they really did reinforce this at this year's press conference. I must admit, i do like the idea of playing 1 vs 100 with 99 other people over Live trying to win real prizes. Who knows, maybe people will be playing for real money, I would like a shot of at it. I would like to say that I am really looking forward to the fall dashboard update, even though I would like to know if they would let us go back to the old blade GUI. The avatar system is meh in my opinion, its looks better than mii's but not as good as Home's avatars. Netflix on the 360 is a big plus, and I hope they really ramp up the selection of titles you can stream. Finally, Square-Enix. What more can I say? Final Fantasy XIII on the 360 is pretty mind blowing. That with the other 3 JRPG's that "Squeenix" mentioned, you can really tell that they are really hopping on to the 360 bandwagon. Overall, they really had a good solid conference and I am really looking forward to the games they announced, espically Fallout 3. Secondly, Nintendo. I'll keep it short, WHAT A FUCKING DISAPOINTMENT!!!!! They did not address the core audience what so ever for the Wii. They really pushed the whole "family" and non gamer segments with announcements such as Wii Sports Resort, Wii Music, and Shaun White Snowboarding. I know that they are some other games that I did not mentioned but it really doesnt matter. Sure Animal Crossing sounds great but I'm really not interested, sorry! GTA: Chinatown Wars actually sounds interesting, but thats about it. They really did nothing to address their core audence. I may be harsh on Nintendo this year, but come on, they can really do better than that. Now that I think about it, calling this a dissapointment is an understatement. Finally, Sony. I was mildly impressed with their showing this year. The most important thing that I got out of the conference is that they really do plan for the future. They mentioned the 10-year cycle, in which as the life cycle of the PS3 progresses, the games will get better and there will be more vareity. Its really just their way of saying, "please wait, please! just wait!" The demo of Resistance 2 was really mind blowing, the Little Big Planet demo showing their sales data was really impressive and quite cute i might add. Let me fast forward a bit here. The PS2 just wont die with the announcement of a new pack which is quite nice. The new Ratchet and Clank Future game looks impressive and if its a seperate game via PSN download proves that PSN can do alot more than Xbox Live Arcade. PixelJunk Eden and Flower looks interesting and beautiful. GTTV is a big WTF? and cool idea at the same time with the idea of maybe we will see more IPTV on the PS3 perhaps? Home = Nice, DC Universe Online = OMG! City of Heroes Killer, God of War 3 = about damn time!, Infamous = Looks very interesting, and MAG = very ambitious MMOFPS. Sorry I was getting a bit of ADD there but there was a lot of stuff to talk about. Out of all the 3 however, Sony is really getting better with their lineup. Like Jack Trenton said, "If this is what year 2 of the PS3 lifecycle looks like, imagine what years 3 and beyond will look like." I am really interested to see what the future holds for the PS3... Walking away from the press conferences, i'm very glad to know i made a good choice getting a 360 than the other consoles. A while back, I never considered myself getting a PS3 but i may reconsider that. As for the Wii, I just dont know as they didn't really show any titles that I was really interested in. Its still really considered a party system to me and nothing else. This year really reinforced that point for me. So thats it for now. As always, I enjoy your show greatly and please keep up the good work. -- ~~Michael "|gs191|" D. ~~This email is brought to you by the never ending dissapointment that is nintendo, wheres my fucking star fox remake for the wii!!
...families and casual gamers ARE the core audience for the Wii.
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