Pre-emptive Sony News thread.

[bluestarultor]

Originally Posted by NonCon

Hey, remember when that was kind of my fucking point? No? Read again.

No. They're promising full 1:1 and have shown their tech demo has it... maybe...

I welcome you all once again to the point I was making about how publishers lie to you, and so do tech demos. DUN DUN DUNNNNNNNN

Okay, so let me get this straight. You think that developers are going to do SO POORLY with this that they can fuck up both hardware and a software package they didn't make? Granted, maybe someone WILL dick around with the software that makes the system tick, but that kind of defeats the whole purpose of having it unless you know you have something to add and requires permission to add it. That would be like someone deciding they didn't like the way a conventional controller operated and messing with it. If you want to modify a control scheme there are MUCH easier ways of doing it.

Okay, so let me get this straight... because I don't want to get anything wrong here... but if you're saying what I think you're saying... that's a pretty terrible argument there Blues.

You're claiming that what we were shown in the tech demo wasn't what we'll actually be getting. So, what they showed during the tech demo doesn't exist... not really. What we're getting is something different that promises what was shown in the tech demo. I remind you that this is a tech demo that, despite being built around "Hey guys look at this awesome glowing dildo and all it can do!", looked like shit. Your argument in support of the product is that the tech demo showed that it can do what they promise, yet you follow that with "Well complaining about the tech demo is dumb because that isn't the real product."?

So... in short... I can't bitch about the tech demo because that product doesn't exist, but it still proves that what they're selling will work?

Maybe I need to clarify. What I'm saying is that the tech demo was there for the sole purpose of showing off the hardware and software behind it. It was there solely to express the basics. What they did could best be compared to making a piano and hitting every key to show that it works. It's not the music that's going to be eventually played on the piano. Same thing here. They showed off the basics of the control system and it's up to someone else to write some real content for it. You have a piano and working keys, but someone else is going to write the songs.

I have an anecdote for you all. One time I said that most of the software for a product would be shovelware, because purchasers of shovelware were the prime demographic. I take this moment to remind you that although the Wii has the shovelware market cornered pretty well, meaning that most shovelware software will be for the Wii, it is not the only console with shovelware. Anyways, I also made a point to mention that there would probably be good games that took advantage of the Arc. However, I followed that with the statement that the Arc controls would most likely be inferior to the standard controls. Why? Because this is something we observed on the Wii, and since the Arc is a very similar product, it's safe to say that that will probably carry over. My anecdote concludes with Blues ignoring all these points because he has JOY and WONDER and apparently that's enough to discredit reality.

Nonsie, buddy, if you think any system will ever be safe from shovelware, you are far more optimistic than I. I'll admit to having missed you saying there will be good games for the arc, probably because I read it as being very backhanded in a fast transition. The fact of the matter is that it doesn't even make financial sense to continuously write shovelware for anything but the Wii because nobody who owns anything else is going to BUY it. The Wii has marketed itself as a casual system, where the 360 and PS3 have catered MUCH more heavily to a hardcore audience who simply won't put up with that shit. Any attempts to flood either system with shovelware are likely to result in dismal failure because the people who are willing to pay the price tags of the systems are the people who know what's going on in the market.

Basically, shovelware is unlikely because of:
- prohibitive costs
- which are unlikely to be recouped
- because of a hardcore ownership

The developers working with the Arc are in essence going to have to be DAMN sure they make their money back, and the games they write are probably going to rely pretty heavily on the Arc's capabilities. But you know what else? They're still going to have to be playable with normal controls. Sony seems set on making the Arc an equal partner to the normal controller. And they have some pretty hefty guidelines to determine what does and doesn't get published. Companies are going to have to put EXTRA time and money into making the Arc work with their games, meaning the stakes for writing a game around it are that much higher.

With the Wii, the gimmick controls were the default. With the PS3, they're not. The Arc is in every way a risk to a developer, because if they don't utilize it well, it's a LOT of time and money down the drain. The fact of the matter is that there's absolutely nothing stopping people from not developing around it, so the people who do are more likely to either do a damn good job with it or pay the price if they don't.



I really do take offense at your indication I don't know reality. As a person who would like to enter the industry, I have to think about this kind of shit. Maybe I just have a better understanding of it or maybe it IS a matter of joy and wonder, but you can't deny I have a valid argument.