G4 Cube gone horribly wrong (1 Viewer)

[Iain Lambert]

Oh, and thanks Brian, I was fairly sure this was the case, which is why the comment about Nintendo trying to control releases seemed odd. I suppose that this way they control the manufacture as well as the game itself, which makes homebrew coding a bit of a nightmare.

 

[Todd H]

That thing is just FUGLY!!! What was Panasonic thinking?

 

[Iain Lambert]

As I said, take a look on the Panasonic site at their other micro systems; they are all this nasty looking. Its not Nintendo's fault, except for agreeing the design.

 

[Bryce D]

ARGH!!! I had a nice long message typed out, i opened up a seconed window to open a link a friend sent to me, a stupid X10 add popped up, and instead of hitting the X in the upper right, i accidently slipped and missed which opened the X10 hompage in THIS window, which cleared the message box....ARGH!!! Ok...enough of my ranting.
Anyway, aparently i need to be a bit more descriptive for those that choose to quote, and read out of context.
Of course Sony and MS are going to profit from people developing games for their system, thats a given, everyone does it, but thats not even close to what im saying.
What i AM saying is that in the case of Sony and MS, they use a standardized DVD format. Aside from buying the media through them (i.e. Sony's blue CD's etc.) the CD's can be pressed at ANY facility that produces DVD media. Simply becuase the media doesnt have any special tricks or strange raw data formats (like GD-ROM type of stuff).
So what Nintendo is doing with a propriatary media, with a propriatary format, is no differnt then what they did on the N64 with carts. So while a disk media looks good on paper as an "envouge" media, in reality its not much to look forward to. Becuase just like a cart the media must be made by Nintendo, as well as manufactured by Nintendo. So you end up back at square one. So a developer has to go through nintendo for the entire put to market process, which means more $$$$$$ to do it. Which means that the cost of producing a GCN game (at least to the developer) will be greater then for the PS2 or the X-Box simply on the media production costs. Which WILL make the GCN games more expensive then PS2 or X-Box games on average. Simply becuase the developers need to try and recoup the cost of going directly through Nintendo to get their games to market rather then being able to do buy blanks from the hardware manufacture and roll their own.
Thats what im saying, and i thought i made that relativly clear enough so that someone with at least a bit of knowledge of how the industry works would be able to pick up what i was saying...obviously, once again, i set my expectations to high.

 

[Richard Kim]

Bryce, what you're forgetting is that although the GCN's media is not standard like CD or DVD, it's still an optical medium and much cheaper to produce than cartridges.

 

[Jesse Leonard]

Bryce,
You are making it sound like development houses for the XBox and the PS2 can completely cut those companies (Microsoft and Sony) out of the distribution loop. The developers are not going to make games and then go into their back room and start cranking out disks. They have to submit their games to Sony/Microsoft for licensing. They then must find a pressing house to make their games. Most of these developers are small companies that are VERY reliant upon Sony/Microsoft. In most cases I am sure that Sony and Microsoft are setting them up at pressing facilities anyway.
The game industry is a very slim-margin industry for developers. They don't really care who is pressing their discs, only that the making of the disc/cartridges are not cutting deeply into their bottom line (as was the case with the expensive N64 carts).
I would be willing to guess that since Nintendo is probably going to take care of pressing all games for the GameCube, they can probably get them pressed for a very comparable price to an XBox/PS2 game (and lets face it, none of us really knows how difficult it is for a "regular" DVD manufacture to switch over to GCN discs).
In the end I do not think that Nintendo using a proprietary disc is going to cost developers any more in the long run.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Bryce-
The GCN is a preferrable console over the XB for many reasons. I was saying that most of its features will go to waste in the kid's room, which is what the games are made to use, which is part of the price you pay. If you want your kids to get your moneys worth, get a GCN. If you want your home theater system to get your moneys worth, get an XB.
The mini-DVD format gives Nintendo multiple advantages. They don't have to explain a lack of CD or DVD play, its harder to copy, it holds a lot of data in a small space, and long games requiring multiple discs can be stored in one case because of how tiny the discs are. The PS2 discs aren't all DVD-Roms, and the DC discs were GD-Roms, which is why they are easier to crack than some of the DVD PS2 games.

 

[David_LM]

Oh, I see. You want your kids to have a console that has some very complex and adult oriented games coming out for it in the next few months that is huge in size with controllers that won't fit in anyone's hands until they are at least a teenager so that your kids don't take full advantage of the console's capabilities. That makes sense.

Uh, my kids have played on PlayStation for two years. Their friends have either moved up to a PS2 or are considering an XBox. None of their friends have even mentioned a Cube, probably because of lack of features. If these kids can handle a TV, computer, DVD player, PlayStation, DBS, VCR, PVR, HT system, PS2 now a days, they should be able to handle an XBox. I did not plan on buying my kids adult oriented games, rather a couple of kids games, so do not insinuate that please. Who cares if the XBox is large, it is usually not intended to be a portable device but rather a stationary device. That is pure nonsense to state that the controller will prevent a kid from being able to properly play games and DVD. I have very small hands and have played with these controllers before and like them. Let's keep this simple: Kids like to play great games, kids like to play great games on superior consoles, kids like to play DVD, kids like to play games online, kids like XBox.

 

[Morgan Jolley]

Let's keep this simple: Kids like to play great games, kids like to play great games on superior consoles, kids like to play DVD, kids like to play games online, kids like XBox.

Kids like to play great games (which might or might not be on the XB but already are on the PS2 and will be on the GCN), kids like to play great games on superior consoles (the XB has slightly more power than the GCN, and the GCN has many benefits over the XB, so superiority is debatable), kids like to play DVD (but that doesn't come with the X-Box and adding it to the XB is $130 more than a GCN, $30 more than a GCN that plays DVDs), kids like to play games online (but might not have high speed internet and probably will end up playing FPS games online cuz I don't see any children's games for the X-Box being online yet or at least until next summer), kids like X-Box (cuz it has all those useless features when you stick it on the TV in their room and takes up a lot of space on the floor).
Overall, you made a decision and are wasting your money. Buy a GCN and get some games like Super Smash Brothers Melee or Super Monkey Ball and let the kids have fun. The XB will not offer the childish style of games that Nintendo will (even though they are often very good games) and most of the reasons that you will buy an XB will go to waste. If I were you, I would buy an XB and put it in the home theater or buy a GCN and put it in your kids' room.
BTW, how old are your kids? I just want to know what the target audience here is. I'm 15 and I'm going with the GCN because of the games, so I don't see what about the XB has your kids so excited (probably the raw power that only matters if its used correctly).

 

[Iain Lambert]

Actually, thats a sensible question. I'm trying to calm things down a bit if I can, so if you could tell us David how old your kids are then we can debate this on a better footing. 10 year olds would be much better off with the selection of titles announced for the Cube, but 15 year olds would get a good kick out of games like Jet Set Radio Future, Project Gotham and Halo, which are the main games I'm interested in getting a Box for. Also, in my experience mid-teens is about the age where kids are least likely to want anything that encourages accusations of being childish, so many will turn down even a great game like Mario64 or Mr. Driller because the graphics look cartoony.

 

[Dean Cooper]

You know, there are plenty of games that are suited for the "little gamers" for the Xbox. Heres a quick list, check them out:
Antz Racing
Amped: Freestyle Snowboarding
Batman: Vengeance
Cel Damage
Crash Bandicoot X
Dragon's Lair 3D
Fuzion Frenzy
Goblin Quest
Harry Potter
Jet Set Radio Future
Jonny Drama
Loons: The Fight For Fame
Mad Dash
Rayman M
Shrek
Simpsons: Road Rage
Spyro The Dragon
Stung!
Toxic Bunny 2
These are just the games confirmed to come out in the near future, there are many more that I missed.

Small hands and children's hands are different things. The controller is big and heavy, throw in a memory card and it gets heavier. Also, you may have liked it, but your kids might not.

Morgan, you're acting like there are no 3rd parties making different style controllers. Personally I don't usually care for them but do you think a kid would if it fit their hands better?
Dean
[Edited last by Dean Cooper on August 31, 2001 at 10:36 AM]

 

[Morgan Jolley]

I know that there are some third party controllers being made that will probably be more to my liking than the regular one, but I don't want to have to pay for the regular one if I don't like it. It all goes back to my old "dont want to pay for something I don't want" argument, so I think I'll keep it from flaming by saying this:
I'm out of luck, I will have to get used to the controller or buy a third party one.
There. All flame free.
One problem with third party products is that they might not be authorized by Nintendo/Sony/MicroSoft and might screw up your console. That has happened to many people with the PSX and a few people with N64. I'll just have to make sure the product I buy is licensed.