[Devil's Advocate]

Originally Posted by Pash Master

Actually console wise (haven't checked the game sales yet) it is going rather well. The price cuts for Sony were just at the right time to boost them high up. Although the PSP GO isn't included in the sales, it's still going good.

Remember not to be shortsighted. These past two months are also hot off the heals of the worst losses the industry has suffered in years. As far as the PS3's numbers, like I said before. Prior to the price cut the PS3's numbers were very low, and it is experiencing a surplus of sales because of that. The industry as a whole is down a couple billion from last year. I would love to see the book that says that is good.

[Dustin]

Probably. But I don't really find Natal to be all that interesting, however. If you were to use Natal on a game like Call of Duty, it'd be like you're playing Time Crisis.

...

No wait Time Crisis was one of the funnest FPS's I've played in forever what am I saying

Time Crisis was and still is one of Namco Bandai's better series.

I'll half psyched for Project Natal.

also the PSP GO doesn't seem to have all that much going for it, last I read in an article. Why does it seem like the companies are just making the smallest adjustments and addons to their handheld systems now?

[RX-78MajiGundam]

Originally Posted by Dustin

Probably. But I don't really find Natal to be all that interesting, however. If you were to use Natal on a game like Call of Duty, it'd be like you're playing Time Crisis.

lol if it were that simple, that would mean its a total useless rip of the wii

Originally Posted by Dustin

also the PSP GO doesn't seem to have all that much going for it, last I read in an article. Why does it seem like the companies are just making the smallest adjustments and addons to their handheld systems now?

Because i am one of the many people who do not own it. i think the small add-ons and adjustments are targeted to the many people who thought about getting it but didnt. like the ps2 to ps2 slim, the ds to ds lite to dsi, the ps3 to ps3 slim ect. i can name many who own a ds lite, ps2 slim, or dsi before owning the original. also because its just a small change, they dont have to raise the price too high. psp Go is set to turn the heads of some ds fans lol

[Dustin]

Ha

marketing plots

gotta love em

[Pash Master]

Originally Posted by RX-78MajiGundam

i think we might need to see a price cut with that because 250 is pushin it lol. its ashame thought. i was really looking forward to getting that but the price threw me off completely.

i noticed that too. but i also noticed that the ps3 never really showed any commercials before the price drop. im pulling this out my ass, but maybe the next thing microsoft wants to advertise is natal. so its theyre savin there cash for.........the secret weapon.

Well Project Natal isn't supposed to be release until the hardware and games are ready for it, so at least 2 to 3 years. I don't think Microsoft are doing price cuts until then

Originally Posted by Devil's Advocate

The industry as a whole is down a couple billion from last year. I would love to see the book that says that is good.

What I mean is the industry is going up again. It might of been a rough year, but now it's starting to get better.

[RX-78MajiGundam]

Originally Posted by Pash Master

Well Project Natal isn't supposed to be release until the hardware and games are ready for it, so at least 2 to 3 years. I don't think Microsoft are doing price cuts until then

2 TO 3 YEARS!?? can they hold up against the ps3 for that long??. im not tryin to start a console war on this thread but with devopers like naughty dog just realizing the power of blu-ray, isnt it a dangerous spot for microsoft?? and it seems like more than half the gamer population now has a ps3 because of the price cut. so exclusives is not going to be money issue neither. 2 to 3 years seem like a huge risk for 1 project.

Originally Posted by Pash Master

What I mean is the industry is going up again. It might of been a rough year, but now it's starting to get better.

lol nice pic. the last line came from gundam wing right?

[Pash Master]

Originally Posted by RX-78MajiGundam

2 TO 3 YEARS!?? can they hold up against the ps3 for that long??. im not tryin to start a console war on this thread but with devopers like naughty dog just realizing the power of blu-ray, isnt it a dangerous spot for microsoft?? and it seems like more than half the gamer population now has a ps3 because of the price cut. so exclusives is not going to be money issue neither. 2 to 3 years seem like a huge risk for 1 project.

Nah, Microsoft just want to release it when everybody is ready for it. That means games have already been made for it, hardware has been checked, etc.

Microsoft's got more tricks up its sleeve. After all, they have their own line up of great game companies such as Bungie releasing Halo Reach next year, and others to follow.

Although I'm real excited to see Naughty Dog back there in the playing field. I haven't heard from them for ages, at least not since Jak X on the PS2. And now they've jumped back in with Among Thieves, and also rebooted the Jak and Dexter series with a new title for the PSP. Having played the old Jak games, you have no idea how happy this makes me.

lol nice pic. the last line came from gundam wing right?

Hehe, nah it's from Ahmed the Dead Terrorist.
Just a quick 10 min photoshop I did in some spare time at lunch today

[Devil's Advocate]

It is technically the holiday season. Every industry is on a up swing but thats to be expected, that is the pattern after all. I'm not so willing to say this is a real change for the better. Not until I see this momentum carry into April and May of next year. That will be a real show of improvement.

As far as Project Natal goes. People can bring their assets from games they are working on now and code it to work using Natal. Thats easy enough and can be done inside a few months. So I think Natal will be out in time for next September since that seems to be the hot month as of late. But some of the facial and voice recognition stuff will indeed take longer, but they aren't the only games on Natal so thats not going to hold up any kind of launch.

But I digress. How Bamco ties into all of this? Well right now the Xbox is the company's worst performing platform. Thats only going to get worse as D3 Publisher doesn't really touch the higher end platforms that often. But with everything being streamlined that could change, especially with Bamco wanting to increase their presence in the West.

[Eelcire]

As far as Natal is concerned, they had showed a demo of it running Beautiful Katamari. That seems like a game that could take advantage of what Natal is proposing to do; it looked pretty interesting in the videos.

The approaching holiday season should at least bring sales up for all parties involved. Unfortunately not much on Namco Bandai's platter in North America of interest to me (though there are titles in Japan I'd like to play). But they have just released Tekken 6 so hopefully that'll help them.

[teamobidel]

Hey, I've got a question towards the namcobandai reps., I read in a certain gaming magazine that the biggest complaint the game developers, publishers, and related contracted companies have is---with every game store selling tons of used games that is costing every game making company loads of $$$. And with the publishing/development companies, seeking through washington lobbyists, acts of legislation to in some way "curb" the particular practices of game vendors across the u.s. from focusing on trying to sell potental purchasers of newly released games, the old used games they have in stock, will this affect how we get our games(new or used) in the future. If the pursued legislation fails, will publishing companies begin to
a]shift a greater focus towards online gaming and away from the classic, tangible disc form?
b]have the new, unused games' prices at its high initial price when released for a longer period of time, even months and months after its released date? price tag being much more static, in other words.
c]become even more shrewd with the regioning and localization of games? In other words, being less daring in releasing a particular game across different regions and less daring in releasing a title in a limited amount for a secondary region. ex:arcana heart in u.s.
d]take less risks when it comes to backing the development of more "outside the box, not of the norm" games and gaming ideas? querky games like littlebigplanet, fat princess, patapon for ex:
And if some form of legislation passes, will there be
a] a change in how games get released and how long old, used games get "allowed" to be on a store shelf?
b] how a "about to be released game" gets promoted? will more games get advertising on tv, websites and magazines.
I know that namcobandai can't answer all of these questions, or even a few in some detail, but a few vague hints at what namco and the other publishing companies are proposing and planning to do next, would be nice to know. So that the rest of us can plan and prepare our gaming experience in accordance to what might happen next.