I’ll be frank and honest… I’ve never played a Metal Gear game, and I’ve never wanted to. I tried one out about 7 years ago at my cousins house. He was all into the game, and I just didn’t get it. MGS4 is now coming, and people are hailing it as the second coming. I still don’t get it.
Graphics: The graphics are great, but nothing we haven’t seen before. Don’t get me wrong, the graphics are good, but they don’t make the game stick out (and yes, I watched the HD 720p video).
Gameplay: Again, I don’t see anything to write home about. Not only is the stealth ridiculous and unrealistic (pretend to be a statue? turn argyle and dry hump the floor… and you are completely invisible to the enemy? squeeze a guys balls to knock him out? turn into a barrel and roll around?), but it looked pretty boring to me.
Homoerotics: Probably my biggest qualm is just how gay the game looks… literally. Am I the only one that DOESN’T want to look at Snake’s ass in those tights for a prolonged period of time? Not only is the statue camouflage gimmicky, does he need to grab the statues package? Does he need to look like he is humping the floor when he crawls? Is the “judo” hump kill necessary? Again with the packages… can you stay away from the enemies balls?
And no, reading porn mags in-game doesn’t hide your homosexual tendencies. Again, another WTF moment.
I get it’s suppose to be humorous. The impression that I’m left with is that this game is a joke.
Oh yes… MGS4 is going to be online! Oh… no it’s not. Metal Gear Online will be online. Why not split the multiplayer mode from a game and sell it as it’s own game. We can milk those Metal Gear fans dry!
Please let me know what I’m missing.
And before you start flaming, I do have a PS3. I’m dying for some good games (LBP couldn’t get here sooner).
If there is any inkling of truth here, this is just downright devious.
While the $100 price cut of the 60GB PS3 may seem like a good gesture and an attempt to move some stock, SCEE president David Reeves tells us a different story. He told GameIndustry.biz:
Well, [U.S. customers are not really given the option to pay a lower price], because what the US are offering from the 1st of August is a USD 599 version with one game. All they’re doing is taking their stock in trade that they’ve got at the moment of the 60GB model, marking the price down and it will all be gone by the end of July.
Whaaaa?? Slow that down. GameIndustry followed up, “So once the 60GB is gone, that will be the end of the 60GB then?”
In America, yes.
Straight out of the president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe’s mouth: Sony is dumping its stock of 60GB consoles at $499, and once they are gone, you will only be left with the $599 80GB model. Effectively, there is no price cut. Don’t look at me, I didn’t say it.
The scary thing is, the logistics make sense. I couldn’t understand the logic of creating a new SKU for $100 more than the 60GB model, with only a measly 20GB and Motorstorm to gain. Who would want that? Apparently anyone who wants a PS3, because it very well may be the only option.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out. Is this just one European exec venting at the fact that Europe isn’t see a price cut, too? If it turns out to be true, it will forever be remembered as “the great PS3 price cut conspiracy of 07.” Until then, keep that grain of salt in hand.
So the big three conferences are over. What did you think? There weren’t any ground rumbling announcements. No 360 or Wii price cuts. No major losses (or gains) of exclusivity. No new tattoos. We saw all the games we expected, and that was pretty much that. There were a couple so-so (aka who cares) announcements.
I don’t feel we are in much a different place than we were 24 hours ago. You can bet Wii will sell well through the holidays, as well as 360. Halo 3 will definitely move some systems, as well as GTA4 on 360 and PS3 alike. I think PS3 has gained some face amongst all its adversity. The “price cut” should help move some systems, and I am happy for them that didn’t lose MGS4. I think everyone is pretty happy with where they are. More importantly, I think as gamers, we should be happy where WE are. It’s a pretty damn good time to be a gamer. You better start saving that bank for this holiday season, ’cause there are some kick ass games coming out.
If you didn’t happen to catch the craptacular footage from the Microsoft conference tonight, Ubisoft is still keeping their baby under wraps.
What the dilly-yo? The footage we received tonight was almost identical to last years E3…The protagonist Altair was shown jumping from wooden planks (not unlike Prince of Persia). And the fighting system…still looks weak.
Producer Jade Raymond has promised over 800 moves for Altair, yet maybe only two were showcased during the battle sequence.
Now if Ubisoft doesn’t deliver some sort of “next gen” gameplay by November like they’ve promised, I say bah to this game.
Quit wasting our time with your meaningless hijinks. There are plenty of other fish in the sea. (ehhmm…Resident Evil 5).
I’m sure you’ve heard the 60gb PS3 price has been cut $100 to a more stomachable $499. And that there is a NEW $599 SKU which gives you… an extra 20GB and Motorstorm. I can’t help but agree with the commentary I’ve read. It’s seems Sony has put themselves right back where they were at launch. There are two price points at $499 and $ 599. Of course you are getting more for your money now, but I’m concerned about the perceived price and value. The 20GB PS3 was canned because no one wanted a gimped PS3 (although there is one collecting dust next to me). The 60GB PS3 definitely isn’t gimped, but with the added SKU, there is still the inhibiting $499/$599 price barrier.
I just can’t see the logic. The 360 is somehow doing fine with 3 SKUs, but at least there is a sizeable difference between them. I guess that’s the trick. You need them to be different enough the justify the price differences, but all must still appeal to a sizeable audience. With the 20GB PS3, most consumers saw how much extra you get for the $100, so it was a no brainer (why the 360 Core didn’t have the same fate, I’m still scratching my head). I would guess now Sony will have the opposite problem (you want $100 more for WHAT?!). All this coupled with the fact they haven’t escaped the $599 price point. Even if no one buys it, Sony needs to ditch that fatal price and get some good PR back.
Even the $100 cheaper 60GB will seem expensive if the rumors pan out true that the 360 is getting a price drop to $249/$349/$399. That puts it in Wii price territory.
All this, and I haven’t even mentioned the new PS3 is dropping the Emotion Engine so they are taking a step backwards in backward compatibility (even though in my opinion the last gen should be behind us, but it looks like the PS2 is selling better than PS3, and is getting more and better games). Oh, plus PS3 is losing exclusives and non-exclusives left and right (no Katamari for you). This should be an interesting E3.
After missing the delivery of my repaired 360 (note: signature in person required!), I drove over to my UPS to get the package. While waiting for the box to be retrieved, the customer service person noticed the shipper field on my missed delivery notification read “repair center.” With only that clue, she asked me, “does this happen to be for an Xbox?” I told her yes, and we both laughed. Apparently I’m not alone in my broken 360 woes. She informed me that she has seen hundreds of these 360 return boxes.
This just goes to show how widespread the problem is. Think about how many electronics there are, and how many repair centers there must be. UPS workers see “repair center”, and they assume its an Xbox. That’s pretty damn bad.
Dear Aaron,
You must think the gaming community is idiots, since you keep trying to justify the price of the 120GB by comparing it to external self powered PC drives.
If you compare what we are offering with a real plug-and-play drive the closest thing would be to take a 120 gig self-powered external PC drive and in that case we are seeing those retail at anywhere from $160 to $200 for comparable laptop sized external hard drives.
Well, for the sake of argument I did a quick search on Newegg for “120GB external” and the first match is this drive. It is 5400RPM (same as the 360 HDD), self powered, “pre-formatted,” and even has a one-touch OS backup feature. There goes your “you have to format those and figure out how you are going to move your content over” argument.
Oh, and did I mention this drive is HALF the price of the Xbox 360 120GB drive?
Seriously, anyway you try to spin it, the 120GB drive is a ripoff. Just because there are other overpriced drives on the market, doesn’t mean we are dumb enough to buy one. If you want to throw us a bone, how about release a drive bay in the form factor of the current drive, and allow us to swap in our own internal 2.5″ drive (ala PS3).
The more you read on the net, the more you sense this is NOT just an isolated incident. While luckily these guys find it comical, they are by no means alone. It appears Sony has launched an Xbox 360 EMP (I kid, I kid), because I have noticed a huge spike in the number of broken launch consoles. They are all now out of warranty, so tons of owners are SOL.
I will be posting my own experiences in the near future, because awareness needs to be escalated, and something needs to be done.
1. Why a third SKU? Sure, Microsoft is running a business. But it’s ridiculous to try and convince us it’s the only way they could have introduced a larger hard drive. Their argument is that by offering it as only an add-on, it would put new buyers in an awkward situation. If you want to get a new 360 w/ 120GB hard drive, you would either have to buy the Core + HDD and get skimped on the cables and wireless controller, or you would buy the Premium and have a left over 20GB HDD.
All true, and neither of these options are pleasant for a new customer. So why couldn’t you just absorb the extra cost and REPLACE the 20GB hard drive with 120GB? If you wanted to be really awesome, you could even throw that 20GB drive on the Core. Essentially the Elite would become the new Premium, and the current Premium would become the new Core. Sure, it’s not financially ideal, but last I checked your in the green for each console sold, unlike one of your competitors. Stay competitive! You could have used this opportunity to sway the decision of some people still sitting on the fence. Read the rest of this entry »
Sure, Microsoft is running a business. But it’s ridiculous to try and convince us it’s the only way they could have introduced a larger hard drive. Their argument is that by offering it as only an add-on, it would put new buyers in an awkward situation. If you want to get a new 360 w/ 120GB hard drive, you would either have to buy the Core + HDD and get skimped on the cables and wireless controller, or you would buy the Premium and have a left over 20GB HDD.