You might recall it took me a while to pick which platform to buy Grand Theft Auto IV on. I discussed, mulled the various benefits of each, and then decided.
...What the hell have I done?
Seriously. I went to a Rockstar event last night and played the cool DLC and then had to embrace the sad fact that I'd have to buy the game all over again if I ever wanted to download it. At the time I bought the game, it's true I didn't think I cared about DLC. But now I'm having a hard time understanding where my head was at.
What were the benefits of getting it on PS3, again?
Of course, I might be bristly about this just on principle. I finished GTA IV shortly after it came out and I haven't really gone back to it, so it's not like I'll suffer enormously. The more salient conclusion here is how it's become harder and harder for me to muster up an argument that explains my longstanding appreciation for the PS3.
Coincidentally or not, just as I was writing this post, the following Onion video link popped up in my email. You know how I'm not real into passing along negativity and blah blah, and the humor's not even continuously applicable to Sony's video game console, but this was just a bit too funny (language not appropriate for office environment/children, use headphones).
It's the kind of thing that will probably put frothing Killzone 2 fans into a coma (oh my gosh, have you seen some of these Killzone 2 fans?)
Guess I'll go download Flower now. Sigh.
31 comments:
Two things have me thinking about the ps3.
First are the PixelJunk games, which were were the few dev awards nominated games I wasn't able to play. It feels excessive to pay $350 for some downloadable games, though.
The other game, if it were to exist, is a first party game by the Ico/Shadow of the Colossus.
Even that feels a little foolish, it's hard to support getting both HD consoles at this point. I'm not being fanboyish about the 360, I don't think. I think that if I had a PS3 today I'd be listing a couple of games that I wish I'd been able to play, and lamenting that it didn't make sense to buy a 360.
The same goes with games that have different DLC on the two consoles, or different characters or features. Ultimately you'll have buyer's remorse either way.
I want Flower :(
By all accounts the best version of GTA IV is on PC (the horrific R* Social Club/GFWL kerfuffle not withstanding). 32 person multiplayer is an absolute riot. So if you were going to buy it all over again that's the version I'd recommend you pick up.
As for the PS3, I have no love for it or its games. I want it to succeed and I want the games on the platform to be great, because that means more competition in the market and the industry which is good for gamers.
But I think Sony have made some seriously questionable decisions in bring it to market that are continuing to handicap the console. A too-high price point compared to the competition, a continued emphasis on Blu-Ray and HD when few consumers are embracing the technology, the lack of several truly mass market franchises (MGS4, you could argue, is one, but there's precious little else).
Killzone 2 is being hailed as the second coming of the PS3 for the same reason Killzone 1 was hailed as the ultimate Halo beater on the PS2 (despite being rubbish). We're well into the console's lifespan now and it has yet to play host to a truly great game with wide ranging appeal. I've no doubt K2 is a solid shooter, but it's obvious is lacks the appeal, hype and personality (maybe?) of shooters like Halo on the 360. I think people who bought a PS3 out of some misguided sense of brand loyalty are still searching for that one awesome game to justify their purchase. And it hasn't materialised. So K2 is seized as the nearest thing and defended rabidly. It's all they have.
1) That video is hilarious
2) I'd really like to say that post like this didn't discourage me from getting a PS3 for my birthday in spring...but it does.
3) What do I do leigh...continue to play my PS2 games? Get a Wii so I can play 8 games on it? Get an Xbox and get a lot of boxes and packing paper prepared for when it crashes multiple times? Or do i get the shiny PS3 that has so much shit in it, half of which i may never use in order to be 'gamely-entertained'?
From where I stand I'd get most EA games on the PS3 because that's where the DLC goes mostly thanks to them having more sales on Sony, I'd get most Ubi games after I hear announcements from publishers, Crystal Dynamics seem to be more 360ish, Capcom have decided to port everything(cept the downloadable titles) for the PC so there's no need to get games that are probably not as fun on a console on a console, N-B games are probably better for the 360 except the fighting ones, Square probably depends on the title, you can bet some are ported and if they're using the Unreal 3 Engine probably better to get that one for a more PC like version, Sega is good for any platform it releases so go with the flow. Rockstar depends on the initial announcements, Bethesda 360 - so on and so forth. And of it's valve - just play it on the PC.
As for consoles, honestly I'd pick a PS3 over the 360 (not because mine RRODed twice) but because this year there seems to be more exclusives I like on it - If it was last year I'd have said the 360, probably would have a different answer in 2010.
I like the market to be competitive and all but in the end publishers need to just put out games on most platforms if they're 3rd party developers and include DLC for all otherwise there's some portion of your gamers that would be missing out. Sure it's a money making business but doing it this way is sort of like saying OK thanks for watching the movie so far - the next bit is in 'inset dead language' and we've got no subtitles so we won't show you, instead you can ask your friend who lives in 'x' to tell you what happens (whatever happens is inconsequential but to find out they'll let you know).
That video was funny though :).
I work at a developer and that Onion video has been making the rounds pretty quickly:)
Is there anything so sweet as watching the fanboys swarming around a review that doesn't cherish their latest game?
My favourite comment is the guy who says 87% is a low score.
The only winner in having the GTAIV DLC only on the 360 was Rockstar. Ultimately Microsoft paid too much money to have exclusivity and Microsoft would be hard-pressed to claim that this exclusive DLC sold 360s. The same goes for opting the PS3 out of the Fallout DLC. I do not see how even Microsoft can keep on throwing money down that hole. The bottom line is that the DLC helps sell games and not systems which means that this brief stint of exclusive DLC should be coming to an end.
Ahhh, I remember Sony fan girl Leigh reluctantly making jokes about how there really was no reason to own a PS3. Then she decided that hey nothings wrong witht eh PS3 and its my console of choice especially since its easier to get review copies for! (There seemed to be this thawing just before this one big game came out....)
Now its back to regret.
But no worries Leigh and her PS3 will always have MGS4 (well at least until Konami decides to boost their bottom line by releasing an enhanced version for the 360)
Don't get me wrong. I love my PS3. Love it blindly and stupidly.
AND KONAMI WILL NEVER DO THAT NO NO STOPIT
I'm going to comment for the first time just to say thank you for that Killzone 2 link. The sudden switch from perfectly reasonable comments about respecting different opinions and reviewing policies to "We all know that Guerilla's title is one of the best FPSs ever made; anyone who knows this industry and has a functioning brain will admit to this" is the kind of comedy you couldn't make up.
"Je regrette"
hilarious video.
thank you rem!
The three reasons I chose a PS3 over a 360:
1) Stability. The 360 still has an amazingly high hardware failure rate.
2) Exclusive games. The exclusives I had been following on PS3 were more interesting to me than the exclusives on 360.
3) Overall features. I have come to enjoy it as a blu-ray player, as well as a nicely upscaling DVD player, and I have especially enjoyed linking it to my multimedia server once I got past the configuration issues. On top of that, it is just very slick and stylish and has a veneer of quality that the 360 seems to lack.
Now, I have been working up to get a 360 at some point, particularly since I never owned an Xbox and missed out on some last-generation exclusives, but I love my PS3 for what it is.
Although for the past couple of weeks I have abandoned it, as I've become hopelessly addicted to The Witcher on PC.
Well, I guess, by now you've tried Flower too. I just did :D, and it certainly deserves the price it's up for since there's a lot of replayability - plus it's a great screensaver :D Oh and thanks for that Onion video.
Hello comment section. She is asking why the PS3 version of GTAIV, not the merits of a PS3 over the 360 in general.
To answer the question, apparently you thought you wouldn't want DLC . . . but other than that I have no idea why GTAIV would've been better on the PS3 than 360. I can't remember back that far. ;)
Although Sony is probably oblivious to people like me (who own a 360 and a PS3), they really need to start giving some incentive to purchasing multiplatform titles on their system. What gets me purchasing games like GTA or Fallout on the 360 is just how easily XBL integrates the online and offline experience. I think it's safe to assume that no matter what changes Sony makes to PSN, it's going to remain second-rate to XBL throughout both consoles lifespans. It's incredibly puzzling to me that while the PS3 was in development, Sony completely underestimated how important online gaming would be to this generation and they're now engaged in a constant game of catch-up.
The PS2 was sort of a slow burn for me too; I was still playing and preferring the Dreamcast a year or two into the PS2's launch. I suppose only time will tell whether or not my PS3 will become more than just a system for exclusives (like a Saturn/N64) and downloadable gems.
I'm in the same boat. I actually bought GTAIV for the 360 first, but it kept locking up, so I exchanged it for the PS3 version (about a week later, 360 #2 was off to Replacement Heaven -- it wasn't GTAIV that was locking, it was anything I put in the system).
I didn't think I'd care about the DLC either, but now I'm really intrigued and kind of bummed I won't have access to it.
While downloadable content is nice, I specifically try to avoid it, even when it comes out on a system I do own, because I don't really have the ability to back it up in the event that my system dies and needs to be replaced, or it stops being hosted on the company's server, or both. I have no problem with downloadable content on PCs because I can back it up however I want, but on consoles it is signed content registered to that particular unit, and while I imagine it's possible to restore content on a replacement system, there will be plenty of hoops to jump through, and (thinking ten years down the line) that is only if the company still supports the system. The only way out of this I can think of is if a homebrew developer comes up with a crack to remove the check for signed content, which may or may not involve major modifications to the system.
Basically, I want to be able to play all of my games and their additional content 30 years from now with a guarantee that it will work on a replacement system if my original dies, regardless of company support policies or event the existence of the company itself, and the current DRM scheme makes that highly unlikely, so I'd rather not get attached to DLC.
Its hard to believe in this day and age that some people still use the "no games" excuse to bash the ps3 but to each his own.
The video is probably one of my favorite videos out right now though.
But like i said on that site you linked to, to me its not the score it was given for Killzone 2, its the fact that the review feels somewhat lacking in providing information for its lower score. They could have gave it a 1 as long as they provided more in depth reasons for it. But what do i know? im not a reviewer
If they docked the score for its story, i find it hard to believe other top notch shooters get a pass, Gears 2 to be exact, because as much as i love that game (its what finally made me take the plunge and get a 360) the story is typical B movie rubbish thats in most shooters. But to be honest, as much as the reviewer hated the story i was expecting a lower score than what it got
For it to get a 7 out of 10, i was kinda expecting a more detailed explanation as to why instead of the somewhat vague review that was put up. Like with Fallout 3, which also got a 7/10. In that review, they got their point across as to why they felt it got the score it deserved and even though i love Fallout 3, i could see where they were coming from and i liked the review.
On topic: Just buy another copy of it, its not like its still $60. I personally think it was foolish of them to pay so much money for it because im doubting it moved consoles, it just moved games on one system moreso than the other one, rockstar wins, MS not so much with that deal in my opinion. I would definitely grab it myself, IF i had enjoyed the actual game, but i kinda didn't
"But to be honest, as much as the reviewer hated the story i was expecting a lower score than what it got"
Just to clarify, when i said this, i meant i was expecting killzone 2 to get a lower score, not gears 2
I own both a PS3 and an Xbox360 and I've found my purchasing decisions are based entirely on if the game I'm getting has a multiplayer component that my friends are interested in. Most of my friends got Xbox360s before the PS3 got its act together, so if a game comes out that we all want and has an extensive multiplayer componenet (i.e., Gears of War 2, Call of Duty 4, etc.) then I'll get it for Xbox360.
Otherwise, I purchase mainly for my PS3. I just end up liking the system's stability (waiting for my Xbox360 to RRoD), the Dualshock 3, the systems interface (absolutely hate the NXE), and I've never had my PS3 eat a game like my Xbox360 did to Dead Rising.
Also, I'm not entirely convinced this DLC will remain exclusive based on past experience. My guess is that we'll see this stuff on PS3 within 6-10 months.
I have a PS3 in my house because I wanted Disgaea 3. ;)
I'm still stuck back in 2004, though: the game I'm currently playing through is Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne.
I hate DLC. Especially the extra levels and window dressing that should have been in the original game to begin with. I hate the PSN too, but I feel justified in doing so because the PSN hates me back - whining that its features 'are not available in my region' all the time. >:(
I was laughing at the Onion video until the last line, the 800 gb joke. That brought back the pain of the PS3 with a much bigger hard disk that came out not 3 months after I bought mine, with duel shock and cheaper too. There's still a dent in the shop window from where I bashed my head against it for three hours.
I hate console exclusives too, as they're simply a form of reducing players' gaming options. Andrew Ryan wouldn't like it, and nor would Solid Snake, or Fallout 3's hero's father James. I especially hate that greedy companies change their franchise console midway through a great series.
Oh, and Leigh, don't beat yourself up; hindsight's 20-20. :)
The PS3 made sense for me & my wife -- because ours is a super-PS2 with bluray. We've only played three PS3 games on it (Disgaea 3, Rock Band, Valkyria Chronicles), and I assure you, we've spent more time playing PS2 (or PS1!) games.
So, PS3 made sense for us, but I have a hard time recommending it to other people.
Oh my, the nonsense found at that link makes me ill.
The worst part is that these people have no idea just how much of a fanboy they really are.
I laughed, and I cried.
I just wanted to say how sad I find that link to the kids bitching over the EDGE review.
I played the demo of Killzone yesterday and didn't think too much of it, my brother on the other hand loved it.
What irks me about the fanboys isn't the irrational anger (that's to be expected), but that many of them believe that games should be reviewed solely on a graphics/sound quality basis. One of them goes on to say that hey, he may not have liked the Harry Potter films, but because of the quality of special effects and editing, he would HAVE to give it a high score as a reviewer.
What?
Ouch :(
I'm sorry to hear that you grabbed GTAIV for the PS3. I personally took the 360 one.
But I hope to hear from you about Flower, seems like a neat alteration of Flow.
Haha, thanks for the link. I especially liked the complaints that the Edge review is badly written because 'This... is... a ... lie!' is obviously more literate than 'Killzone 2 is a testament to craft and imagination, if only because one is so immaculate while the other barely exists.'
I gotta admit, that GTA4 ending, got me so pissed, both of them did: Target Achieved- They got me to remember the game.
Think about it, arent you tired of the usual "Happy ending" ? Everything ends nice and life goes on? Choices have consequences and we cant all have that happy consequences, i think they tried to get that sad message across and it somewhat hit its mark. Yet i personally dont like getting screwed over with the game choices, tough its a hard think to consider and program without 2-3 studios.
Yet my question for you is:
Are you getting street fighter 4 and killzone 2?
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