Sony, Nintendo Announce 'Fixes' For Their Consoles 222
Gamasutra reports that both Nintendo and Sony still have a few kinks to work out from their newly launched systems. It may seem funny to an onlooker, but the spectacular Wii strap blowouts are being taken very seriously by Nintendo. People are evidently 'even more excited' by playing the little white console than the company anticipated, and they're investigating the possibility that the straps aren't strong enough. Meanwhile, Sony has updated the PS3's firmware to 1.30 in an effort to take care of the much-complained-about resolution scaling issues. Ars Technica (and several other sites) are saying that the fix doesn't really do anything, despite Sony's reassurances. From that article: "The priority of resolutions has been changed, putting 1080i over 720p. So if you prefer 720p as a resolution, be sure to uncheck 1080i as a possible resolution on your television, or else games that support both resolutions will automatically display at 1080i. Of course, if you uncheck 1080i as a resolution, your Blu-ray movies will display at 480p. So you'll have to just manually switch the resolution yourself depending on what you're doing ... If you have a 720p set, not only has Sony not fixed the scaling issues, they've made the process of playing games and watching movies less user friendly. Sony really wants you to upgrade into a 1080p set, and they seem to want to punish you if you don't have one."
Sony... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sony... (Score:5, Funny)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I think they're gambling that the hardcore, early adoption crowd will keep buying until they've sold enough to be able to lower the price, and there is no guarantee that they're wrong.
Re:Sony... (Score:5, Insightful)
Now, you may say that people who pay thousands of dollars for a game console are ridiculous, but people have been paying a hell of a lot more than that for gaming computers for years, and if you view the PS3 as a midrange gaming computer, it's dirt cheap.
Heh. I sound like a Sony fanboi...I have zero plans to buy a PS3/360/Wii any time soon, I just think they're taking way the hell too much flak for a price point that is selling out. That should be the goal for any company.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
For example, imagine Sony announced their new console at $2000. They might have still sold out. Let's imagine, for the purpose of example, they did. And imagine they then said "okay, now we're dropping the price to $600!"
First off, they piss off everyone who bought a console for $2000. Second, there will be a nontrivial number of people who think of the PS3 as "the two thousand dollar console" - even though it isn't. And
"even more excited" (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They should have play tested them alot more with American wiitards first. We seem to be the ones breaking the shit out of the controllers *cue youtube girl video*.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
I received the email that Nintendo sent out yesterday regarding safety information. The points that were made were:
Re: (Score:2)
Then you haven't been playing the same Wii Sports as I have. If I swing my arm really slow, the character will throw the ball very, very slow. If I swing my arm strong and fast, then the ch
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Back when Mario Party 1 came out, and there were the analog stick spinning games, Nintendo received many complaints from players getting blisters in the middle of their palm, since the fastest way to spin the stick was to put your palm on it and move your hand in circles. I myself go
Re: (Score:2)
But the real solution would have been to put a freely turnable section on the top of the joystick's... stick. That way the top remains static to your palm instead of turning around, which would the major blister-former.
Re: (Score:2)
In fact they gave each customer a glove, and asked you to specify if you were right or left handed. I thought that was extra amusing. I never saw the glove, but I imagined that it was white and covered in rhinestones.
But the real solution would have been to put a freely turnable section on the top of the joystick's... stick. That way the top remains static to your palm instead of turning around, which would the major blister-former.
That's a good idea, actually. Probably wou
Re: (Score:2)
The "intended purpose" is "Player holds the remote and moves it around while keeping hold of the remote". If player throws the remote around, it's not that the device is not fit for the purpose intended, it's that the player is too stupid to realize he shouldn't throw a remote at his TV.
It's time to stop the lawsuits (Score:5, Informative)
MOD PARENT UP (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:MOD PARENT UP (Score:5, Insightful)
I don't know why the other guy is laughing, but I'M laughing at the dopes with broken thousand-dollar TV's because they somehow thought that the motor skills they developed as toddlers were no longer applicable.
If you do not maintain a grip on an object in your hand, it will not stay in your hand. The wrist lanyard was never intended to be a primary restraint.
Re: (Score:2)
Funny anecdote: Apparently during testing, people playing the Tennis game would, during serves, throw an imaginary ball up in the air with their left hand before swatting it with the Wiimote.
Re:come on (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Interesting)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Funny)
How dare you insinuate I'm sue happy... you'll be hearing from my lawyer.
Re: (Score:2)
There's a warning screen before each game to tightly grip the Wiimote. I wouldn't blame Nintendo for my inability to grip an object. On a related note, society on the whole is far to sue happy and I'm of the opinion that they should institute a mandatory penalty for bringing frivolous law suits.
Great, so if you're ever in the position where you have a legitimate gripe, and you need to take it to court to settle it - but the defendants manage to make it appear that your gripe is totally petty and frivolous, then you get penalized. Certainly sounds like it makes your (already expensive) prospect of getting your legitimate gripe resolved just got a whole lot more risky, huh?
no lawsuit but a fix is needed. (Score:3, Insightful)
If Nintendo is smart they will milk this for all that
Cushy retirement job (Score:5, Funny)
So it went from a minor annoyance to a severe problem?
Who put Don Rumsfeld in charge of patches?
Re:Cushy retirement job (Score:5, Funny)
-- D. Rumsfeld on the Sony high-def concerns
Oldie but Goldie (Score:2, Interesting)
You know... (Score:5, Insightful)
I am a PS3 owner. Wake up, Sony.
Re: (Score:2, Interesting)
It's their software that leaves a lot to be desired. I shall leave it to other slashdotters to make a list of all the things Sony does wrong on the software side (beginning with DRM...)
Re:You know... (Score:4, Insightful)
You don't have anything from the Playstation product line I take it?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:You know... (Score:5, Interesting)
Here's what Sony needs to fix that I've uncovered so far.
1. Allow background downloading from the PS3 network. Every device known to man that's internet-enabled can do more than one thing at a time. There's no excuse for this.
2. Upscale my DVDs. I know, you want me to buy Blu-Ray discs, and I plan to, but meanwhile I have a whole library of titles that are constrained to the shitty 480p resolution. Why? Everyone and their dog makes upscaling DVD players nowadays. All I'm asking for is 720p.
3. Upscale my PS2 games. I don't want to play Final Fantasy XII or anything else in 480i or 480p, so why force me? Also can you do something about the fact that all the games look *worse* than the original PS2?
4. Fix the bluetooth controller issues. More than once I've been in a firefight in Resistance, only to have my dude stare at the ground and strafe hard left. Unacceptable. In NES parlance I'd call it a controller-thrower moment.
5. Is there even one good reason why every video I watch, be it Blu-Ray or DVD, needs to be letterboxed? Hello..there are like 80 lines missing from the top and the bottom of every movie. Widescreen video on widescreen set should not equal letterboxing.
6. Digital optical audio output. Why is this such a problem on the PS3? Sometimes I get no sound..most of the time I do. I was playing 2 player coop with my friend on Resistance..and one level had no sound except for a dude yelling commands/comments at us in game. The next level, the sound was back. WTF?
This is about all I can think of right now. Some should be easy fixes, others who knows.
Blame CinemaScope (Score:3, Informative)
Your TV is 1.78:1. A lot of widescreen movies are shot in 2.40:1 and transferred to DVD with black letterbox bars to pad it out to 1.78:1. Blame CinemaScope for introducing 2.40:1.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
I don't think anyone was saying it wasn't good (Score:2)
It wouldn't be a problem if Sony didn't promise the Sun and Stars all the time. If they had told the truth that the graphics would be competitive with
Re: (Score:2)
I agree, their hardware usually is top notch. (except for a few flaming PS2s.)
Even in the Home Audio/Video market they do a great job.
However when it comes to software, they either fired or screwed over all the talent the company had.
Look at some the Epic crap of the last couple of years.
- Root Kit CDs, it don't get much wors
Heh... (Score:5, Funny)
Even by Zonk standards, this is some impressive spinning -- it's not a defect, it's just that the fantasticness of the Wii is so all-encompassing that the designers couldn't have anticipated how much players would love it!
Microsoft should have come up with that: "Players are so exhilarated by the 360 that they can sometimes set the carpet on fire!"
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Nintendo execs have acknowledged media reports of uncoordinated gamers causing damage to televisions, furniture and even fellow players.
But NOT to the wiimote which goes flying at high speed -every- time this happens and causes the whole damage to hardware and wetware mentioned! Now that's some bulletproof device!
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
Re: (Score:2)
I didn't back Bush (Score:2)
I didn't go behind a Bush in the 2004 election; why should I now?
Re: (Score:2)
It must not have gone in nose first, I'd expect the cover on the IR camera to be the least durable part of it.
I thought that was pretty intense. though of course, comes with all the skeptic
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2, Offtopic)
damn, that's a good post LOL
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I don't even use the strap and have yet to come close to doing something which would require a strap to prevent from throwing the Wiimote. You would have to be doing something pretty stupid ( http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/29 [penny-arcade.com] ) to put enough force behind the Wiimote to throw it, break the strap and break your TV.
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Why is that just because one person doesn't have a particular issue, that means that anyone who does have the issue is either dumb or "doing something pretty stupid?" I mean, clearly Nintendo saw losing the Wiimote during play as a possibility or there wou
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3, Funny)
Re: (Score:2)
What spin?! (Score:5, Insightful)
This whole thing might convince me to put some adhesive rubber strips on the Wiimote for a better grip, (get your minds out of the gutter, guys...) but it's not Nintendo's fault if I act like a freaking maniac and the Wiimote flies out of my hand because I'm swinging it faster than I should or need to.
As far as I'm concerned, Nintendo is taking the high road by saying that they're going to look at making the wrist straps more secure whereas they could just as easily say, "The Wiimote wrist strap was not designed for people who don't know how to control themselves properly" and leave it at that.
And, no, that's not a troll or a flame. I'm just so tired of people pushing things beyond their limit of tolerance due to their own lack of self-control and common sense then blaming the manufacturer for it. If you buy a car, never take it out of first gear, red-line the engine by going 50 MPH, and end up in the hospital when the engine explodes, that's not the car manuacturer's fault for not making the engine more tolerant of your bad actions.
Nintendo just gained some credibility in my book.
As for Microsoft, I'm not as willing to let them off the hook. People have been putting consoles on the floor since the days of the Atari 2600, so that is not an unrealistic expectation. Yet Microsoft designed the 360 and its power supply to be a small toaster oven. They could have put a bit more planning into the heating/cooling system of the 360.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And I still don't define that as spin. People generally don't get "excited" if they're not having fun. (Take that statement as you wish.) Sounds more like a valid cause than a spin to me.
Re: (Score:2)
Amazing idea! (Score:2)
Just a wild thought, I know. No one would ever believe it.
Re:What spin?! (Score:5, Funny)
And then released it to the gaming public!! The height of irresponsibility!
Re: (Score:2)
Look, Nintendo clearly designed the thing with an inaccurate sense of what "normal usage" was going to be. I don't think it's at all a big deal, don't think they should have any legal liability and commend them for fixing it so quickly. But presenting it as "WII EVEN BET
Re: (Score:2)
Uhhh, because they should have tested it? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"Some people are getting a lot more excited than we'd expected," Iwata said. "We need to better communicate to people how to deal with Wii as a new form of entertainment."
As reported by Reuters and passed on by Fox News [foxnews.com].
Re: (Score:2)
"Legendary Nintendo producer Shigeru Miyamoto also commented on the problem, saying: 'We are encouraging people to understand that you really don't have to be so excited, but rather you need to understand the control and then you're going to be the best player. We are looking into the situation to see if there are additional methods to encourage people to ki
Re: (Score:2)
(In fact, I had thought that Miyamoto's comment was intended to be facetious and that you and Gamasutra had both missed it. At this point, I have no idea...)
Re: (Score:3, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
To dra
If you look... (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:If you look... (Score:5, Funny)
Ooh, I'm going to hear it for that one.
That's not fair! (Score:2, Funny)
Fix Your Wiimote (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Buying some grip tape from a sports store would probably be just as good.
Re: (Score:2)
This is not to say that a good workout is a bad thing but failing around in a room that contains fairly breakable things is asking for something to be broken. How many times have parents yelled at their kids when they are being overly active in the living room.
The issue of the strap aside, I can just see the litigation coming up when s
When you said 'fix'... (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
I do have to wonder why you've got a bunch of GC games you want to play, but no GC controller. I guess if you were buying a Wii and never owned a GC it would make sense to pi
Gripping an uncommon talent? (Score:2)
At least Sony wasn't lying... (Score:2, Flamebait)
Maybe the next patch will be the start of next generation gaming. Or the patch after that. Hey, somewhere in there the next generation will definitely start.
Fix the Wii`s European Virtual console (Score:5, Interesting)
As much as I am a nintendo fanboy, I really must admit they badly botched the it on this one...
So please make eu games run @60Hz and use the overscan... pretty please?
Re: (Score:2)
He also said the Wiimote seemed laggy at 50hz too.
Personally.... (Score:2)
Nintendo cares, Sony ignores? (Score:2, Troll)
Sony got it right - for me (Score:3, Informative)
I'm a little miffed that when a patch comes out they force me to install it before I can log into the playstation network. This patch had nothing to do with networking. Of course, the 360 works the same way.
Not a big deal (Score:2, Interesting)
Almost every TV on the market can scale down from higher resolutions (or from interlaced to progressive and vice versa) to its native resolution and refresh rate with (in my opinion) no visual effect. Most cable HD comes in 1080i as well and I don't hear the conspiracy theorists talking about that.
Re:foobar (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:foobar (Score:5, Insightful)
How long before the first console game that requires patches just to get rid of all the v1.0 gameplay bugs?
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
HTH
HAND
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Most people probably still have standard-def analog sets, which are 480i, not 480p.
Re: (Score:2)
Nintendo has promised that a new, more reliable finger-holster is already on its way to your home.