PS3: Good news and bad...

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 1:18 am

So, what's the verdict?? Is the PS3 going to be region-free, or not? The article Blade linked to says that it will be (at least with PS3 games), but there seems to be some disagreement on that.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:09 am

At this point there's only rumors, Dave. Sony and Napoleon Kutaragi haven't confirmed anything. I think the safest assumption is that they'll go the way that MS did: Leave the region coding up to the publisher.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Fri Jan 06, 2006 4:32 am

Turrican wrote:
UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:If they de-regionize everywhere, most europeans would be buying their shizz from Japan or USA since they usually get screwed with releases.
You mean: most europeans among the small, small minority who cares. Among the hardcore niche that would rather have a JRPG in full Japanese to avoid black bars...

No, I mean the group who will import from USA/Japan because their favorite game got f'd by borders and slowed down and it's in English anyways. Why do you think Europeans are going to share region with Africa? lol.

Blade · Post by **Blade** » Fri Jan 06, 2006 10:41 pm

I dunno man, you guys seem pretty jaded about this. I know SCEA has some issues what with their anti-3D policies, but I don't think Sony's going to be that hard of a sell.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 12:04 am

Well, sometimes it's hard for me, personally, not to be jaded about all three new consoles, to varrying extents.

Most of the 360 games I've seen don't look that much better then their XBOX counterparts-and I'm sure as heck not going to pay more money for the 360 rev. of a game like GUN, for example, just because it looks better on HD. (Same with PS2 games vs. PS3 games.) And the system should have been fully backwards compatible at launch. I don't give a rat's arse about Senko; it looks as much like a vs. fighter then a vs. shmup. True that Treasure have said that they will do a shooter for the 360-but "shooter" could mean borderliner; they've never specifically said it will be a shmup.

As far as the PS3 goes, there aren't too many releases I'm excited about, and it will probably be even more expensive then the 360. I don't think the PS3 will be that hard of a sell, in terms of anti-3D. Konami has already stated that they will do another Gradius-but since, IMO, Gradius V hasn't got squat, except for graphics, over Gaiden, I'm not exactly excited over this news.

So the Revolution is the best choice for me, pure and simple-especially since I don't own any old Nintendo hardware at this point in time. I just hope that we get most or all Nintendo licsensed games-but even that will be hard, because some of the companies, like Data East, and Taito America, who made games for older Nintendo consoles, are no longer even around. Add that up to the fact that there were a ton of 3rd party developers, for the NES in particular, and getting even a decent number of downloads could take quite some time.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:32 am

Pretty lame that dual shock controllers won't work on it. here's hoping they do some severe modifications to that Batarang monstrosity.

But yeah, if Arika gets to port Ketsui over to the system then this is definitely good news to a degree.

And even more so if older imports will play on all regions of the system (though that may be a tall hope).

gameoverDude · Post by **gameoverDude** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 2:52 am

Lack of region encoding thanks to Blu-Ray? It's about fucking time US and Japan end up in the same boat, but I pity Europe. If it turns out in the long run that the PS3 in fact cannot play other regions' games, I'm importing a Japanese one to hedge my bets. Cross your fingers.

Thank goodness the disc-franking thing is bullshit. SCE would be committing suicide if they tried it.

I no longer purchase commercial PC games because of shit like StarForce and SecuROM. I stick to the doujin stuff.

Windows Vista can go to hell. My next PC will be Linux- I'll be keeping this one to run as an XP system and for internet access, while having the Linux box around for XMAME.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 3:36 am

gameoverDude wrote:Lack of region encoding thanks to Blu-Ray? It's about fucking time US and Japan end up in the same boat, but I pity Europe. If it turns out in the long run that the PS3 in fact cannot play other regions' games, I'm importing a Japanese one to hedge my bets. Cross your fingers.

Thank goodness the disc-franking thing is bullshit. SCE would be committing suicide if they tried it.

I no longer purchase commercial PC games because of shit like StarForce and SecuROM. I stick to the doujin stuff.

Windows Vista can go to hell. My next PC will be Linux- I'll be keeping this one to run as an XP system and for internet access, while having the Linux box around for XMAME.

Read what Specineff wrote; all of this is mere conjecture at this point in time. And even if the PS3 turns out to be region-free between the US and Japan, that does not mean that the same will hold true for PS2 and PS1 games.

If it does turn out to be true, yeah, I will feel sorry for our European shmuppers, but they do have more shmups available for their PS2's, and even PS1's, then we do here in the US.

@Dylan1CC, it does suck about the DualShock2 not being compatible with the PS3-but I've heard that it has something to do with that lawsuit over the vibration motor in the DualShock2. And, in any case, the D-Pad on the DualShock2 sucks big time for shmups. Maybe the Saturn PS2 controller will be compatible with the PS3-if it's not, though, I'm sure some company will come up with a controller that has a bigger D-Pad then the PS3's.

Dylan1CC · Post by **Dylan1CC** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:29 am

Steve: yeah, I would imagine they wouldn't want to tempt the patent holder people to sue again. Lose lose for us.

Specineff · Post by **Specineff** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:50 am

Speaking of controllers, I think that MS has Sony licked in that regard. I just held a 360 pad in my hand, and that thing has the most comfortable and dynamical feel since the venerable Saturn pad.

UnscathedFlyingObject · Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:56 am

Geezuz, this is it. How can you know the Batarang will be uncomfortable to hold? It isn't even out. You'll see it'll be the best one to throw around [snickers].

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 3:12 pm

Wow that Sony batarang controller might suck goat balls but think of the possibilities. Whenever you get mad at a game, you could just throw it and it'll stick in a wall some place. During home burglaries, you can bust out a couple Sony batarangs and send those blokes running for momma. It's not a gun either so it's cool for our european posters! Krazy Ken should be hyping this.

judesalmon · Post by **judesalmon** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 4:14 pm

One thing good about the PS3 controller is that it should be comfortable for any hand size.

Post by **system11** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 5:57 pm

dave4shmups wrote: Most of the 360 games I've seen don't look that much better then their XBOX counterparts-and I'm sure as heck not going to pay more money for the 360 rev. of a game like GUN, for example, just because it looks better on HD. (Same with PS2 games vs. PS3 games.) And the system should have been fully backwards compatible at launch.

Yeah - I hear you on the backwards compatability thing. I was totally gutted when I plugged the 360 in. A small robot jumped out of the USB port hatch, ran across the lounge floor, and punched holes in my old Xbox until it stopped working. Screw you, Microsoft

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:46 pm

bloodflowers wrote:
dave4shmups wrote: Most of the 360 games I've seen don't look that much better then their XBOX counterparts-and I'm sure as heck not going to pay more money for the 360 rev. of a game like GUN, for example, just because it looks better on HD. (Same with PS2 games vs. PS3 games.) And the system should have been fully backwards compatible at launch.
Yeah - I hear you on the backwards compatability thing. I was totally gutted when I plugged the 360 in. A small robot jumped out of the USB port hatch, ran across the lounge floor, and punched holes in my old Xbox until it stopped working. Screw you, Microsoft

Seriously, who, besides someone who has the money to knock down an extra wall, has room enough for both consoles? The 360 is smaller, but it isn't THAT much smaller. And my point about paying more for the same blasted game is valid-there aren't that many original titles out for the 360. Or consider the fact that a lot of people consider Geometry Wars the best 360 game-and it's an XBOX Live Arcade game, not even a "regular" 360 game. (Whoops, I forgot that you can also download it on XBOX live; but it won't look as good-big frickin' deal.) It's mad fun, but not worth $400.00.

In an interview with EGM recently, Peter Moore vaugely reffered to technical issues that prevent all the XBOX's games from working on the 360. Please, if Sony can develop a console that has a WHOLE NEW DVD FORMAT and still make PS2 games and PS1 games work on it, then I'm pretty sure that Microsoft could've done the same. Call it a wild guess, though.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 6:50 pm

UnscathedFlyingObject wrote:Geezuz, this is it. How can you know the Batarang will be uncomfortable to hold? It isn't even out. You'll see it'll be the best one to throw around [snickers].

A better question would be who the hell comes up with controllers called "Batarangs" or "Nunchaku"?! Boomerangs and nunchakus were usefull weapons in old tribal societies; that doesn't mean that they will make for decent controllers.

I don't know how comfortable it will be to hold, but I do know, as someone else pointed out, that the D-Pad will be on a curved surface, which will screw up control with that royally. Of course, IMO, only the PSP and the first PS1 controller have/had decent sized D-Pads. I agree with Specineff, the XBOX controller's D-Pad is excellent (although I find it to have a tighter feel then the Saturns').

The n00b · Post by **The n00b** » Sat Jan 07, 2006 8:09 pm

dave4shmups wrote:
bloodflowers wrote:
dave4shmups wrote: Most of the 360 games I've seen don't look that much better then their XBOX counterparts-and I'm sure as heck not going to pay more money for the 360 rev. of a game like GUN, for example, just because it looks better on HD. (Same with PS2 games vs. PS3 games.) And the system should have been fully backwards compatible at launch.
Yeah - I hear you on the backwards compatability thing. I was totally gutted when I plugged the 360 in. A small robot jumped out of the USB port hatch, ran across the lounge floor, and punched holes in my old Xbox until it stopped working. Screw you, Microsoft
Seriously, who, besides someone who has the money to knock down an extra wall, has room enough for both consoles? The 360 is smaller, but it isn't THAT much smaller. And my point about paying more for the same blasted game is valid-there aren't that many original titles out for the 360. Or consider the fact that a lot of people consider Geometry Wars the best 360 game-and it's an XBOX Live Arcade game, not even a "regular" 360 game. (Whoops, I forgot that you can also download it on XBOX live; but it won't look as good-big frickin' deal.) It's mad fun, but not worth $400.00.

In an interview with EGM recently, Peter Moore vaugely reffered to technical issues that prevent all the XBOX's games from working on the 360. Please, if Sony can develop a console that has a WHOLE NEW DVD FORMAT and still make PS2 games and PS1 games work on it, then I'm pretty sure that Microsoft could've done the same. Call it a wild guess, though.

Wow that sounds almost as bad as the ps2 launch where the only game worth playing was SSX. Relax Dave, the ps2 turned out well after that launch fiasco so I'm not too worried about the 360.

Is backwards compatibility that big of a deal anyway? If you want to play xbox games, why don't you just buy an xbox? It's cheaper than a 360 and there's more games to play on it. You're always complaining about the 360 including HD functionality when that's just an extra for those with HD tvs and doesn't affect you in any way whatsoever. Just buy an xbox and be done with it already, Dave.

I forgot to mention that in case you tell me that "but then I'll waste money buying an xbox AND a 360 to play 360 games and xbox games." Well Dave you said it yourself that there's not many original titles out for the 360. Well by the time some titles do come out for the 360, your xbox purchase will be 8+ months in the past. It's only 150 bucks too, Dave. It's even cheaper used.

dave4shmups · Post by **dave4shmups** » Sun Jan 08, 2006 12:02 am

The n00b wrote:
dave4shmups wrote:
bloodflowers wrote: Yeah - I hear you on the backwards compatability thing. I was totally gutted when I plugged the 360 in. A small robot jumped out of the USB port hatch, ran across the lounge floor, and punched holes in my old Xbox until it stopped working. Screw you, Microsoft
Seriously, who, besides someone who has the money to knock down an extra wall, has room enough for both consoles? The 360 is smaller, but it isn't THAT much smaller. And my point about paying more for the same blasted game is valid-there aren't that many original titles out for the 360. Or consider the fact that a lot of people consider Geometry Wars the best 360 game-and it's an XBOX Live Arcade game, not even a "regular" 360 game. (Whoops, I forgot that you can also download it on XBOX live; but it won't look as good-big frickin' deal.) It's mad fun, but not worth $400.00.

In an interview with EGM recently, Peter Moore vaugely reffered to technical issues that prevent all the XBOX's games from working on the 360. Please, if Sony can develop a console that has a WHOLE NEW DVD FORMAT and still make PS2 games and PS1 games work on it, then I'm pretty sure that Microsoft could've done the same. Call it a wild guess, though.
Wow that sounds almost as bad as the ps2 launch where the only game worth playing was SSX. Relax Dave, the ps2 turned out well after that launch fiasco so I'm not too worried about the 360.

Is backwards compatibility that big of a deal anyway? If you want to play xbox games, why don't you just buy an xbox? It's cheaper than a 360 and there's more games to play on it. You're always complaining about the 360 including HD functionality when that's just an extra for those with HD tvs and doesn't affect you in any way whatsoever. Just buy an xbox and be done with it already, Dave.

I forgot to mention that in case you tell me that "but then I'll waste money buying an xbox AND a 360 to play 360 games and xbox games." Well Dave you said it yourself that there's not many original titles out for the 360. Well by the time some titles do come out for the 360, your xbox purchase will be 8+ months in the past. It's only 150 bucks too, Dave. It's even cheaper used.

All good points man-if all that doesn't affect me, then why bother caring. It's just hard for me to decide what to buy when I like to keep one foot in the past, and another in the present, in terms of gaming. That's why I'm so excited about the Revolution.

I do indeed intend to get an XBOX, but not until I've gotten another job. They are cheap, but I'd break the bank if I got even a used one, and some games to go with it, right now.

zaphod · Post by **zaphod** » Mon Jan 09, 2006 11:19 pm

Backwards compatibility on the xbpx360 is so bad because they htotally changed gGPUs. they went from nvidia to ATI. oddly enough ps3 willhave nvidia, and may actually be abel to emulate the x-box better then the xbocx 360 does (!).

THAT would be a coup (laugh)

BUt seriously, the blu-ray moving of japan and asia to region 1 has othign t do with the coding for GAMES, which don't use the same region coding that movies do.

However, it was speculated, and not disproven yet, that because hdtv isa global standard, that ps3 games, which already have to support multi-res and refresh rate for backwards compatability with non HD tvs, will end up being universal games, not locked to a specific region.