OK, so what is left for this gen?

[ryu]

i still haven't played a lot of ps3 games i've been interested in, so this gen's definitely not dead for me. i'm also still waiting for persona 4 arena's european launch - and for persona 5 to potentially not suck if it is released for ps3.

there's no real need for either the ps4 or x720 imo. it's pretty obvious that sony and microsoft just feel pressured into releasing new consoles due to competiton.

[Jonathan Ingram]

PS3: Hmm, this is where it gets tricky. Final Fantasy went multi-plat this gen, so that's a huge shift. If you're being really fussy, you could say they work better on there. I personally enjoyed them on Xbox. That leaves... SEGA's Valkyria Chronicles and now right at the end, the Ghibli game.

I`ll fill in for you if you don`t mind(on the topic of Japanese games on the PS3): 3D Dot Game Heroes, Demon`s Souls, Tales of Xillia 1-2, Tales of Graces F, Tokyo Jungle, Metal Gear Solid 4, House of the Dead IV, Time Crisis 4, Razing Storm, Aquanaut`s Holiday, Ryu ga Gotoku 3-5, Ryu ga Gotoku Kenzan!, The Legend of Heroes: Sora no Kiseki First Chapter & Second Chapter, The Legend of Heroes: Sen no Kiseki, Boku no Natsuyasumi 4, Railfan, Folklore, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 1-2, Legasista, Disgaea 3-4, Disgaea D2, Initial D - Extreme Stage, Wangan Midnight, Gran Turismo 5, Romance of the Three Kingdoms XII, Nobunaga no Yabou, Wizardry: Labyrinth of Lost Souls, Way of the Samurai 3-4, Red Seeds Profile: Director`s Cut, Monster Hunter Portable 3rd HD, E.X. Troopers.

There are many others, of course, but these are the best, more or less(not a fan of Tales of... games though; not sure what people see in them).

[R79]

Yeah, plenty of killer apps in there, for sure.

[EmperorIng]

Way of the Samurai 4 might be worth it alone for the character of Melinda Megamelons.

[ST Dragon]

What ever happened to Gradius VI ?!

And its surprising that no Macross / Robotech title has been released on the PS-3 / Xbox 360 so far...

[ST Dragon]

i still haven't played a lot of ps3 games i've been interested in, so this gen's definitely not dead for me. i'm also still waiting for persona 4 arena's european launch - and for persona 5 to potentially not suck if it is released for ps3.

there's no real need for either the ps4 or x720 imo. it's pretty obvious that sony and microsoft just feel pressured into releasing new consoles due to competiton.

Interestingly enough though, the PS-3 lasted longer (7 years) compared to the previous 2 SONY consoles (6 years each).

[Friendly]

What ever happened to Gradius VI ?!

And its surprising that no Macross / Robotech title has been released on the PS-3 / Xbox 360 so far...

Gradius VI was cancelled years ago, where have you been?

There are two PS3-exclusive Macross games. Macross Trial Frontier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqtt5tarfc and the upcoming Macross 30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovuY36fT30k

There is also another Japanese PS3 game which features some mecha from Macross (and Gundam): Another Century's Episode: R http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Ce ... Episode:_R

[ST Dragon]

What ever happened to Gradius VI ?!

And its surprising that no Macross / Robotech title has been released on the PS-3 / Xbox 360 so far...

There are two PS3-exclusive Macross games. Macross Trial Frontier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqtt5tarfc and the upcoming Macross 30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovuY36fT30k

There is also another Japanese PS3 game which features some mecha from Macross (and Gundam): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Another_Ce ... Episode:_R

Awesome looking games, especially that Macross 30 looks great. I've been a bit behind I guess, last game I tried was SDF Macross and Battlecry on the PS-2, which bored me after 2-3 levels of play.

I still consider the 1992 SDF Macross on the arcades, the best macross game to date.

That Another Century's Episode: R looks promising, as it's created by the same company (Banpresto) that made the 1992 SDF Macross on the Arcades.

[Friendly]

Good timing, by the way. Macross 30: The Voice that Connects the Galaxy will be released in Japan the day after tomorrow:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macross_30 ... the_Galaxy

[EmperorIng]

Macross character designs given a modern makeover = :(

[Ed Oscuro]

I still consider the 1992 SDF Macross on the arcades, the best macross game to date.

I can't quibble with your choice there. Gem of a game and a great scoring system too.

[Friendly]

Macross character designs given a modern makeover =

Yeah, it's sad. Haruhiko Mikimoto ftw.

[ST Dragon]

I still consider the 1992 SDF Macross on the arcades, the best macross game to date.

I can't quibble with your choice there. Gem of a game and a great scoring system too.

By the way, has it actually been fully emulated on MAME? Last time I tried it years ago, it had various issues with the sound. I had read that it was a case of the ROM not fully dumped, because of copy protection encryption on the original hardware...

Those huge hand-drawn bosses looked awesome!

[ST Dragon]

Interestingly enough, true photo-realistic 3D graphics in real time are still a long way to go by the looks of it and it won't be possible in the next-gen consoles. I'm not sure is that either? Is it a case of lack of hardware prowess to achieve such a feat, or software limitations?

When we see such a thing, then I'll buy that console.

Wow well, maybe when the PS-10 is released...

[Ganelon]

There are two PS3-exclusive Macross games. Macross Trial Frontier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqtt5tarfc and the upcoming Macross 30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovuY36fT30k

There's one more: Macross Last Frontier, the game side of the Macross Ai Oboeteimasuka (Do You Remember Love?) Hybrid Pack. The PS3 Frontier games play fine but they're more HD tech demos (of the much more comprehensive PSP Frontier titles) than full games.

That Another Century's Episode: R looks promising, as it's created by the same company (Banpresto) that made the 1992 SDF Macross on the Arcades.

From Software has been the developer of the ACE series. Incidentally, most fans—myself included—actually criticize Banpresto's over-involvement in ACE R, blaming it for questionable changes (e.g. dumbing down boosting).

Interestingly enough, true photo-realistic 3D graphics in real time are still a long way to go by the looks of it and it won't be possible in the next-gen consoles.

All bottlenecks are in hardware right now. Even TB-sized discs won't help.

As for how close we are, consider that top-of-the-line modern computers still take hours to render a single ray traced frame of animation. Now imagine squeezing 30fps of ray tracing in real-time. And that's only 1 facet of photo-realism.

[BryanM]

Hurm. The threeway Titan thingy gets presentable (>40 fps) performance on 3D Mark tests, which is comparable to prerenders of ~eight years ago.

Simulated radiosity is crazy easy to parallelize, and probably the most notable benefit from the current "moar coressss" gimmick.


... but christ would that be expensive. Imagine if every character took this much work to make. You'd have to only have like 3 characters. And uh, I guess they'd have to play ping pong or something. Inside a dark void.

... the poor bastards never have enough money to finish the ears for these things, and that's for still images! ;_;

[ST Dragon]

There are two PS3-exclusive Macross games. Macross Trial Frontier https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOqtt5tarfc and the upcoming Macross 30: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovuY36fT30k

There's one more: Macross Last Frontier, the game side of the Macross Ai Oboeteimasuka (Do You Remember Love?) Hybrid Pack. The PS3 Frontier games play fine but they're more HD tech demos (of the much more comprehensive PSP Frontier titles) than full games.

That Another Century's Episode: R looks promising, as it's created by the same company (Banpresto) that made the 1992 SDF Macross on the Arcades.

From Software has been the developer of the ACE series. Incidentally, most fans—myself included—actually criticize Banpresto's over-involvement in ACE R, blaming it for questionable changes (e.g. dumbing down boosting).

Interestingly enough, true photo-realistic 3D graphics in real time are still a long way to go by the looks of it and it won't be possible in the next-gen consoles.

All bottlenecks are in hardware right now. Even TB-sized discs won't help.

As for how close we are, consider that top-of-the-line modern computers still take hours to render a single ray traced frame of animation. Now imagine squeezing 30fps of ray tracing in real-time. And that's only 1 facet of photo-realism.

So the ACE series is nothing more but a rewarmed up combination of Gundam, Macross and various other Mecha anime series in one game.
I see the developers today lack originality, have run out of ideas and are just recycling the same old stuff over and over again.
No wonder so many gamers (Me included) didn't bother with the current gen consoles PS3,Xbox360,Wii, etc...

And what is that huge chain thing launched by that mech against the flying mother-ship? It looks silly.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q50v5Q_O6Xg

So what kind of hardware and what type & media size do you reckon is required to achieve photo-realistic 3D mealtime graphics and how far away are we from that?
I personally believe that the CPUs / GPUs released each year, have all ready been developed years ago by the companies and they're just releasing them slowly for marketing reasons. All for the $$$

[Ganelon]

I think the ACE series is great, just not the PS3 installment. ACE wasn't the first to add different mecha series together in an action setting but it was the first to be praised for doing so (play Banpresto's home-grown action game Real Robot Regiment or fighters Super Robot Spirits and Real Robots Final Attack to see why). ACE 2 and 3 are some of my favorite 3D mecha action games.

Anyway, I wouldn't blame developers nowadays for issues with originality. For non-indie developers working at established firms, costs are through the roof so huge risks would put the whole company in jeopardy. For example, even a relatively low budget game such as Skullgirls cost $200,000-250,000 per character (appears to be prorated to cover all other costs): http://www.siliconera.com/2013/02/25/sk ... s-cheaper/

As for technology, any guess on my part would be pure conjecture. I definitely don't believe in any conspiracy theory there though; there's too much money that could be stolen for Intel and friends to hold back. Folks in the last few years have been saying that Moore's law is approaching its end so it's not even a given that the technology is possible. Plus, chances aren't helped by all the clamoring for higher and higher resolutions.

[dave4shmups]

For the love of mercy, I hope video game developers do away with quick-time events. Yesterday, I finished the campaign in Battlefield 3-by pressing the right buttons and pulling the right triggers, in the game's final "battle". Seriously, it's getting ridiculous.

[ST Dragon]

I think the ACE series is great, just not the PS3 installment. ACE wasn't the first to add different mecha series together in an action setting but it was the first to be praised for doing so (play Banpresto's home-grown action game Real Robot Regiment or fighters Super Robot Spirits and Real Robots Final Attack to see why). ACE 2 and 3 are some of my favorite 3D mecha action games.

Yes and if memory serves me right various Super robot Wars by Banpresto of questionable quality, were released on the Saturn as well...
I checked all the ones you mentioned in Youtube, they look good, but for some reason even though I love 2D Mech oriented games and Mech Anime, all these 3D Mech games just don't feel right. The only one I partially enjoyed and completed, was Zone of The Enders 2. All the others I tried, ZOE1, Omega Boost, Armored Core, Mech Warrior Series, SDF Macross & Battle Cry on the PS2, etc...I dismissed them all after a few levels of play. They just didn't feel like I was controlling a mech.

Even the 2D Gigantic Army felt lacking because of that timer limit, no idea how good the latest Gunhound EX is though...?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... I9nZoVpprU

Personally the only Mech oriented games I've deeply enjoyed over the years and actually felt like you were battling against over-whelming Mechs, were 1945 Strikers I & II, RayStorm and SDF Macross (1992)

Interestingly enough, Another Century's Episode 3 on the PS2 is titled as "The Final"
But yet another installment was released for the PS3 (which you don't like)...

Anyway, I wouldn't blame developers nowadays for issues with originality. For non-indie developers working at established firms, costs are through the roof so huge risks would put the whole company in jeopardy. For example, even a relatively low budget game such as Skullgirls cost $200,000-250,000 per character (appears to be prorated to cover all other costs): http://www.siliconera.com/2013/02/25/sk ... s-cheaper/

250k$ for each of those poorly designed characters?! That's insane!!!
I still feel most modern games are rushed & soulless and made poorly compared to previous generations, where the developers actually put some feeling into their creations.

Just look at some fan-made "what-if" art of various famous games:
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Do-a-B ... -145465993
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Somewhere-153122851
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Anothe ... -132647260
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Eighti ... -157814806
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Toxic-Planet-123100963
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Crysta ... -133446942
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Break-111715622
http://orioto.deviantart.com/art/Milky-Sky-94232743

Or Sonic 2 HD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QA5XqON9OcI
and Sonic Remake
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYtkArZBZKQ

And compare them with the actual inferior commercial products...
and the recent Sonic 4:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DRs1BqezP-I
This commercial version is indeed inferior and appalling. Let alone the scandalous money-making episode system like Half Life. Sorry, too small too late.

So, I'm sure the developers could have released games such quality with far less cost. I think the companies & developers are just being greedy and lazy. Quick and easy profit. And as long as gamers continue buying sub-par products and don't demand for the games and hardware to be pushed to their limits, this won't be changing any time soon.

As for technology, any guess on my part would be pure conjecture. I definitely don't believe in any conspiracy theory there though; there's too much money that could be stolen for Intel and friends to hold back. Folks in the last few years have been saying that Moore's law is approaching its end so it's not even a given that the technology is possible. Plus, chances aren't helped by all the clamoring for higher and higher resolutions.

In my opinion, we'll actually see photo-realistic 3D graphics in real-time, when they finally develop holographic projection devices and all current 2d & Pseudo-3D TVs & Projectors are sent to oblivion. I don't think (And hope) that prospect is that far away...
We'll see...

Anyway its interesting reading your opinions.
You are actually one of the few cool & sane posters here that make sense.
And your avatar is cool and imposing! Isn't that the sorcerer / knight from Langrisser (Can't remember his name...)?!

And so are:

BIL
BPzeBanshee
captain ahar
Ceph
CMoon
Ed Oscuro
gameoverDude
it290
Joeyxp2
louisg
ptoing
Specineff
Sturmvogel Prime
Turrican

And of course BulletMagnet for his iconic and comico-tragic avatar & nickname

Albeit some haven't posted anything here for a long time...

[louisg]

For the love of mercy, I hope video game developers do away with quick-time events. Yesterday, I finished the campaign in Battlefield 3-by pressing the right buttons and pulling the right triggers, in the game's final "battle". Seriously, it's getting ridiculous.

I agree completely. Like I finally got around to trying God of War, and everything remotely interesting that my character was doing was happening in a QTE. I feel like it's a symptom of bad game design: "We can't figure out how to come up with consistent controls for a character to do this, so we'll just do a cutscene with random button presses"

[R79]

QTE is kinda garbage in anything not made by Sir Yu of Suzuki. I was frankly sickened by it's constant appearance throughout large chunks of Resident Evil 4 on the Gamcube. Who knew a mechanic from a horribly underexposed SEGA exploration game 13 years ago would come to dominate Western game 'development' so heavily today?

[Ganelon]

Yes and if memory serves me right various Super robot Wars by Banpresto of questionable quality, were released on the Saturn as well...

I like pretty much all of the normal turn-based Super Robot Wars games (I do prefer top-down over isometric and sprites over polygons) but all of the 32-bit iterations have heavy load times if battle animations are enabled (including F and F Final on SS). I wasn't really considering them though since there have been quite a few multi-series anime RPGs.

I definitely prefer 2D over 3D as well (esp. the 2D Gundam fighters) but ACE is among my favorites of the latter. I do enjoy Fist of Mars a lot (it's easy but who cares?) but neither 3D ZOE sits that well for me. I'd much rather play Armored Core (pre-AC4). But I certainly won't claim that AC is a series that would suit everybody looking for 3D action. It actually took me awhile to appreciate the mechanics since the characterization is so lacking. No portraits in the series still bugs me.

There are quite a few great mecha shooters but for some reason, I find myself easily losing track of what shooter bosses actually are—whether they're ships, mecha, tanks, fish, etc. Dennin Aleste (Robo Aleste) and Bari Arm (Android Assault) are 2 of my personal favorite shooters and ones I always connect to mecha for some reason.

And yeah, my online avatar since 2001 is based on Boseru from the Langrisser series. He went by Ganelon—a reference to a mythological character—in Treco's Warsong localization.

[ST Dragon]

Gradius VI was cancelled years ago, where have you been?

I just didn't keep track.
But I'm not aware if any official Konami announcement regarding the cancellation of Gradius VI.
Links please...

[NTSC-J]

Earth Defense Force 4!

[Obiwanshinobi]

QTE is kinda garbage in anything not made by Sir Yu of Suzuki. I was frankly sickened by it's constant appearance throughout large chunks of Resident Evil 4 on the Gamcube. Who knew a mechanic from a horribly underexposed SEGA exploration game 13 years ago would come to dominate Western game 'development' so heavily today?

QTEs are the core mechanics of Viewtiful Joe (pretty good game at that).

[dave4shmups]

I would LOVE to get a PS3 right now, but I can't understand why Sony is keeping the prices so high! They have new bundles for $299.99, and they're going to sell the PS4 for $399.99? I don't understand that!

At Radioshack, you can get the 160gb "original slim" model for $249.99, but that still seems too high. I don't know if getting a used PS3 from Ebay would be safe, even from a top-rated seller. Because there's a LOT of PS3 games that I'd like to play!

[ryu]

probably because it's expensive to produce. $250 is still less than half the console's launch price, mind you

[Pretas]

QTEs are the core mechanics of Viewtiful Joe (pretty good game at that).

Except they're not? None of the VFX powers take away control from the player.

[dave4shmups]

probably because it's expensive to produce. $250 is still less than half the console's launch price, mind you

True, I have to keep things in perspective.