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THQ Has Natal Dev Kits But No Sony Wand Dev Kits |
THQ CEO Sees No PlayStation 3 Price Cut At E3 |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
Kotaku 
06/26/09
06/26/09
I imagine most launch titles will have relatively simple gameplay - which doesn't mean it won't be fun: I can see myself spending hours just fiddling with those skeletons from the E3 onstage demo.
I do love how this generation's systems keep improving little by little and finding new ways to play. I'm in no hurry for a PS4, Xbox2160 or Wiii.
06/26/09
06/26/09
Dev kits are only just rolling out, so the best thing for everyone, I imagine, would be for developers to concentrate on impleting simple but efficient things, instead of trying to make the ultimate Wand game right away.
And you're right, Sony Time means it'll be closer to the last day of Spring than the first - if, by some miracle, it doesn't get pushed back to September.
06/26/09
The PSN already has a few outstanding titles, it could be the perfect platform to deliver short-but-sweet games for the Wand - games that don't require huge development costs and large sales to recoup them.
06/26/09
Then you'll wonder why devs go on and on about how Natal is great to develop for, etc.
When looking at their attitude you'd almost feel like Sony is winning and Microsoft only sold 5 million 360 consoles.
I love my PS3, I love the games, and I love how Sony is handling most things this gen, but when they fuck up on small but crucial shit like this they really piss me off.
06/26/09
If the kits are scarce then THQ isn't top of the most wanted list.
06/26/09
But it's even more important than just THQ. Just the fact that Sony is splitting publishers between "important" and "less important" is a problem. It doesn't make further negotiations easier down the road.
And who says the killer app for the thing won't come from THQ anyway? We've seen stranger things this gen.
06/26/09
I also hope Sony doesn't end up calling their motion controller the "Wand"
Dad: What would you like for your birthday sport? A football, new bike, maybe some M-80s?
Son: I want the wand!
Kotaku headline: Father Abandons Son, Video Games Are Bad
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
"Activision threatens drop support for Sony if it doesn't receive dev kits for the new EyeToy based motion controllers"
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
If you're ignorant enough to say that Natal is pretty much a beefed up EyeToy, then you have to say that Sony's "wand" is a Wii-mote with a few more bells and whistles (actually, the only bell or whistle it has is video tracking, because the device itself is a redesigned Wii-mote).
06/26/09
This is undoubtedly the most idiotic idea to ever come after E3 this year. One would think it should gone by now, but it's still getting used as an argument...
Oh Internet.
06/26/09
06/26/09
I don't consider Natal a beefed up EyeToy because its concept and technology are substantially different. People only compare them because they are both cameras but while the EyeToy is the same camera you use in PC-to-PC videocalls, Natal is a cheap version of a MoCap camera.
Sony's "wand", though, IS a Wii-mote with light tracking via video capture. And I do mention Nintendo because the technology present in the "wand" is essentially the one present in the Wii-mote. The only thing it does better (and I do mean a LOT better) is the 3D space tracking via video capture. It is awesome tech but it's also just an evolution of the Wii-mote tech.
I don't mean to make people say stuff just to please me, mmkay? But if Natal is compared to the EyeToy, then the "wand" may very well be considered a Wii-mote rip-off.
That said, can't wait to try them off. Natal, to me, has the upper hand due to the possibility of using any kind of object as the controller.
06/26/09
Do some research. Here's a few places to start:
[kotaku.com]
You can't do that with a PC webcam. If the Eyetoy is a little too hard for you to digest, let's go with the PSEye then. While Natal's applications seem to go in a completely different way than the PSEye (which is why I and many others are so excited about it) and while the tech might be more advanced, this is where it came from.
No one is saying stuff to please you the wands are pretty much the Wiimote with Motionplus. They might be more precise, and have a few more features of their own, but they are also, an evolution of the Wiimote. We're not saying it to "win the Natal argument." It's just plain truth.
06/26/09
Actually, there are a lot of PC games that use webcams in the same way the EyeToy was used. Even web-based games. I did my research. The magic of EyeToy was in the software, not the hardware. The same cannot be said of Natal.
And I'm not saying "tech X is great and tech Y is awful". I just dislike the sentence everyone is using these days: "Natal IS, essentially, EyeToy..". That's what started my commenting spree. I'm not trying to prove which is better because, frankly, I'm pretty excited about both.
06/26/09
I agree that the software is what separates the Eyetoy from its competition, just like Natal's potential awesomeness is tied to what devs do with it, not with the hardware itself. If all they do is PS2/PSN-like games, it will be a huge fail. I see Molyneux has a different idea, and that makes me very, very happy.
Finally, I agree completely about your last point. It's not "essentially, an Eyetoy." I like to say it's an evolution of the Eyetoy, but as Milo shows, Microsoft has much bigger ambitions than the Eyetoy. Even if it were just an exact copy of Eyetoy hardware-wise, it would be different because of the direction of the software. I support this point.
But Eyetoy on its own was pretty amazing technology in its time, and it had a lot more applications than the common webcam.
06/26/09
Isn't that what customer service is all about anyway?
Also, still not interested in becoming a controller.
06/26/09
I am at some point...just not like the fool in the picture above. Maybe when we have more tech to enhance the visual experience.
06/26/09
06/26/09
Truly, that will be the swan song of planet earth.
06/26/09
06/26/09
Heyo!
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
Petz: Broken Promisez
Watch in amazement as buggy code allows you to get the same Ubisoft 'Why doesn't anything work right?!?!?' feeling that you would normally get out of a controller, WITHOUT the controller! Using our years of experience in the casual games market and inane Wii waggle, we put you, the user, in CONTROL (of nothing)!
06/26/09
06/26/09
06/26/09
05/06/09
I'm still quite upset with Sony for creating such a fractious hardware family, actually.
And no, I don't expect a PS3 price-cut. It's far too logical to work.
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
This is stupid, why would Sony announce a price drop now rather than closer towards Christmas when the majority of sales hit. All they would be doing is showing their cards to Microsoft too early.
If they are going to drop the price this year, expect it to be around September/October/November.
05/06/09
Let's look at the PS2 history of price drops:
North America US$299.99 (October 26, 2000, Launch Price)
US$199.99 (May 14, 2002)
US$179.99 (May 13, 2003)
US$149.99 (May 11, 2004)
Clearly Sony believes May to be the best time to drop prices.
05/06/09
I suppose with the way the economy is it'd be good for consumers but aside form that, is it's price still high?
(I know, I could just Google it but this is a conversation starter!)
05/06/09
05/06/09
It's the same price most these folks bought a 360 for. Plus, there are constantly deals going on to get one new significantly cheaper. The Answer is no.
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
Read my fortune next. ;)
05/06/09
05/06/09
To be honest neither are the target market. The only people who will get hyped over a price cut are hardcore gamers, who are a minority, and probably most of which already own PS3's.
Sorry, no hype except for Playslaves
05/06/09
"Announcing something at E3 does not create hype"
I... uh... what?
05/06/09
What good is a price cut for people who already own the system? A price cut benefits people looking to jump in, not people who already have one.
05/06/09
Perhaps you've missed the pletora of articles just here on Kotaku mentioning only speculations about pricedrops.
@Arch Sweden recieved a sneaky pricedrop a few weeks ago. However, it seems to be GONE now, for God knows WHAT reason.
05/06/09
05/06/09
6 different people who don't understand what hype means. To answer you all.
1. I never said that announcing something at E3 doesn't create hype, but announcing a price drop now will not build up hype for E3.
2. Price drop = increase in sales, not increase in hype
3. I didn't make any anti-PS3 comments, it seems some people need to relate success of the console they bought to success in there own lives. "Backing the right horse" does not apply in this generation, neither MS or Sony are going to fold. Be less concerned with the sales of your console of choice.... MS and Sony pay people to do that.
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
05/06/09
Build hype for the system, which a price cut would clearly do.
05/06/09
I checked your ID