



What Analysts Will Be Buying For Christmas 54
Gamasutra's 'Analyze This' gets opinions firsthand from analysts examining the gaming industry. Today they have up a piece looking at gaming purchases that are good Christmas buys. Unsurprisingly, many of them focus on the next-gen consoles, with a few looking 'back' to hot sellers like the DS and Guitar Hero II. From the article: "We feel that Nintendo DS will perform strongly this Christmas in all major territories while PS2 software, nowadays largely ignored by the mainstream media, will continue to sell in significant volumes until 2008. PS2 software will generate around $5.2 billion in software sales in 2006, down from $7.6 billion in 2005. Although new hardware launches are exciting, it is easy to forget that launch performance is not indicative of longer term results. The first meaningful indications as to how the next generation will shape up will not emerge until late 2007. - Ed Barton, Screen Digest"
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Mac minis are sexy, yes. I'll wait till the mythical "Mac TV" box shows up, though.
As for the Wii, there's very little stopping Linux from booting. You have local storage (SD/Flash), and Linux has been running on the GC since forever.
More importantly (like the PS3 and Mac) you have bluetooth. That means (theortically) you have mice and keyboards.
*If* the remote could get it's protocol reverse engineered (technically only need button presses), and *if* you could boot off of the SD card with little more tha
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Its worth noting however that the PS3 seems to have the leg up for linux
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And yes, before anyone asks, I would like to contribute. But all my software experience is nowhere near the bare metal, so there isn't much I can do.
Diigital siignature (Score:2)
Not even digital signatures? Look at the Nintendo DS; without a NoPass style mod chip [pineight.com], you can't load binaries that aren't signed with Nintendo's private key over DS Download Play, and anything you load from the GBA slot will run in GBA compatibility mode. It took a year and a half after the DS was released before NoPass became available for sale, and there's no guarantee that anything like it will be made for Wii.
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PS - I don't hate Sony for the rootkit thing, though I think it was rather foolish on some individual's/small-groups part. I've had many happy hours from PSX and PS2 (and I consider the music branch separate from the ones that made the PSX and PS2...). I've always intended on buying a PS3, though them delaying it's launch in the UK means that I've alrea
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Company A produces Product B at Price C for Cost D.
Consumer E buys 5 units of Product B from Company A - cost to Company A is 5 times (D-C) - at $240 loss, this LOSES $1200 for Company A.
Consumer F buys 10 units of Product B from Company A - cost to Company A is 10 times (D-C) - at $240 loss, this LOSES $2400 for Company A.
Assuming both Consumers buy zero games and Blu-Ray movies from Company A, then Company A has lost a lot of money, and makes none back.
If all such Produc
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That's easy... (Score:1)
Analysts? (Score:5, Insightful)
I have seen analysts spout garbage like "The PSP will dominate the Nintendo DS starting in 2006" and "The Nokia N-Gage will reduce Nintendo to a fraction of their handheld marketshare". All analysts do is make up predictions and try to justify them without any real understanding on why people buy the products they do, and most of the time they're wrong. I'm willing to bet that the average slashdotter has more accurate predictions than these analysts.
Re:Analysts? (Score:5, Funny)
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I don't think the title is relevant, it sounds like it should be talking about what the analysts will buy their families for christmas.
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More like Season's Beatings! I mean -- straddling-the-cutting-edge Fedora? You could at least act like you cared, and get her something like Ubuntu...
Seriously! (Score:3, Insightful)
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It sounds nice to have a developer constantly put out unusual games, but they do have bills to pay. They can't count on every one of those games being a success, regardle
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You're correct in saying the Xavix doesn't get the attention the Wii does because the Wii is developed by Nintendo, but the reason for that is different than you would think. Nintendo will bring attention to the Wii because you know that f
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1. the graphics look like ass
2. only sports games?
Sure the Wii has sports games, but it's also got a lot of power and the potential to play other types of games - games which are proven to be fun, and can now be made more realistic by using a more natural input method. The fact that it's by Nintendo is good for everyone, as the developers know the system will sell, and the
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1. Sony loses a few more high profile exclusives
2. POSSIBLE Microsoft XBox 360 Price Cuts http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=1335 1 [gamedaily.com]
3. eBay shows slow demand for ebay crash in PS3 Prices http://www.gamespot.com/news/6162338.html [gamespot.com]
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Hey, give them some credit. 999/1000 is still a fraction.
The Ancient, Decrepit PS2 (Score:4, Insightful)
Beginning to thing that the PS2 is a missing part of the conversation about the PS3; perhaps the reason Sony aimed so damn high with the spec is that they already have a low-end console with a massive library that sells like crazy. They can probably take the brunt of the parts shortages and bad vibes up front by riding on the PS2's shoulders for at least another two years.
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From a market share and revinue perspective Sony will be fine for a couple of years with how the PS2 is performing. The question is how healthy will the PS3 be in 24-36 months (from a software line-up) if it is consistently outsold by both the Wii and XBox 360 (hypothetically speaking of course)? When has a console that is trailing (by a wide margin) ever recovered
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Add in that the 360 has very good graphics and you could have Sony falling in to third place.
Mod Parent Up (Score:1)
If I remember correctly, isn't the PS2 outselling the PS3, 360, and Wii combined (and is above the XBox)?
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Probably. Much like the NES outsold the Genesis for a long time also. But getting sloppy and complacent about providing an upgrade path is a surefire way to lose lots of market share, because the old systems aren't going to sell forever.
PS2 vs XBox 360 (Score:2)
http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?s
The PlayStation 2 came in at around 235,000, with the Xbox 360 slightly disappointingly selling just under 220,000 units.
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owning one compared to 39% with an Xbox and 27% with a Gamecube. A
small, fanatical number, 8%, own all three consoles."
BBC News: 8 April, 2005 - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4423365.stm [bbc.co.uk]
Damn it, I'm a generic fanatic apparently.
I don't care. (Score:1, Flamebait)
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Good News For Sony,Bad News For Microsoft,Nintendo (Score:1)
"Our purchase intent study shows that immediate purchase intent for the 360 is pretty low, while a good portion of those interested in purchasing a 360 are waiting for a price drop. Microsoft may have tapped out that less price sensitive early adopter portion of the market."
"the Wii has the lowest level of awareness of the three systems, but a similar level of future purchase i
Re:Good News For Sony,Bad News For Microsoft,Ninte (Score:1)
I agree the 360 needs a price drop. But, then, so does Sony's PS3
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There was one guy a week ago who wanted a PS3 - but he was going to wait until January when they're easier to get. Mind you, he had a 1080i HDTV, so maybe he could appreciate the difference.
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Make 1,000 random phone calls and ask people "Which of the following next generation gaming systems do you intend to purchase, Sony's Playstation 3, Microsoft's XBox 360 or Nintendo's Wii?" and I'm willing to bet that most people who answer with (something like) "Oh, I own a PS2 so I'm going to buy a PS3!"
Now, if you created a selection of qualifying questions to see how inform
Funny but. (Score:2)
It is just too expensive.
I have heard that the PS3 lacks a down converter so if you don't have an HDTV that supports 1080p you only get 480p graphics.
If that is true then it will be a long time before I get a PS3. 1080p TVs are still very expensive.
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The ps3 won't convert 720p to 1080i. That's the only conversion issue, and it may be fixed with firmware update. In other words, if you're playing a 720p game on a 720p set, no problem, 1080i game on a 1080i set, no problem, etc etc.
As for '1080p tvs are still very expensive', 37" 1080p lcds can be had for under a grand now. If you're buying a ps3, that is not 'very expensive'.
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I do disagree with the concept that $1000 for a TV is not very expensive.
Buying this XMas - PS2 & DSLite Games (Score:2)
Jonah HEX
Re:Buying this XMas - PS2 & DSLite Games (Score:2)
I brought a PSP when it was first released (in Japan). It is only now that a couple of games have come out that I actually like. I'm going to wait several years before going next gen., then there might be some decent games at a fair price.
All I know is what all the dads around are saying (Score:1)
That and snowsuits and hip waders here in Seattle.
But some of the DS games are cool, as are some of the PSP ones.
Nobody seems interested in the Zune here - my sister phoned from Cali to ask if it's any good, I told her it had decent hardware.
So, I'd look for more Apple iPods, lots of games for the Wii console, extra controllers for the Wii console, SD cards, that kind of thing.
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BTW, it's even colder and snowier on the east side.
I might try to get a DS for myself too.
If you're interested in something a little more robust and definitely different than an iPod, check out the Creative Zen Sleek. It'
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They sold out any they still had on Black Friday early on.
And the games are in such short supply that they can't even stock a full shelf, cause they keep selling out.
Same at many stores.
What Analysts are Eating for Breakfast! (Score:1)