Although I do agree with the point that Call of Duty 2 wouldn't have sold as well alongside GRAW, I think that's also a damn shame, because I thought Call of Duty 2 was an incredible title. Could've used some more polish in some spots (game length, tank sections, Live multiplayer), but I've never played such a solid World-War-shooter. Of course, I'm a nut for the Halo-type health system, so I'm a bit biased there. CoD2 was a WW-game to beat all WW-games, IMHO. It's too bad that so many people still just see it as another face in a see of similar titles.
And Sony enjoyed too much positive press ever since people didn't hold them responsile for their original PS2 e3 showing by my measure. They promised the world, they promised reality in game form, and delivered turdbricks complicated by insane shortages. People still say Ridge Racer "saved" the launch- I didn't know a single PS2 user who even owned any game at all in the first year or so. Two people I know paid over $500 for launch systems and wound up using them as N64 stands to play GoldenEye until decent games arrived (for one of those people, that was over 2 years into the system's life). It wasn't about games AT ALL- people wanted a PS2 because it was a PS2, and that was the end of the story. In my own experience, anyway. How Sony kept their loyalty so securely while delivering such crap is something I'll never understand. But I saw it firsthand.
Now all you have to do is compare Sony's 2005 showing to 2006, and it's an absolute farce. Not a single game that's remotely playable looks anything like anything that was at 2005, and nobody's being held responsible. Tekken 5 looked like real people were filmed in 2005, and now it can barely compete with DOA4 on 360. Warhawk was supposed to be photorealistic, now it's put to shame by Crimson Skies. There is just no end to it.
There are a few exceptions, such as PSM showing off Warhawk on PS1 with (Pelican's?) motion-sensing controller. But largely, Sony just isn't being held accountable. People are now writing off 2005's showing as "obvious CG" and "it was only target footage" when last year you can READ the same people defending Sony's every frame as nothing but real on-system footage. Incredible.
And in case you think this is all just a coincidence, look again at my classic example: Anyone remember the PSX media center console? Sony already released a $500-ish console that could "play all your media" and "would render your PC obsolete", and it was such a failure that people don't even place it IN the console wars. People don't even TALK about this console anymore. And it's certainly never (or at least, incredibly rarely) ever mentioned when people talk about media center functions on the PS3. Which is too bad, because it's basically a roadmap of potential failures for the PS3 which Sony isn't following at all.
PSX on Wikipedia:-Both include a hard drive.
-Both use the "Cross-bar" interface.
-Both have had video recording promised at one point or another (er, does PS3?)
-Both link to the PSP.
-Both backwards compatible.
-Both are very expensive.
-You get the idea.
Way to learn from the past there, Sony. Thank God nobody is really taking you to task on this.
very good points and i agree with no one holding sony accountable which is what i touched up on before.
Also i understand your reasoning for waiting for a bigger install base before releasing a game, but you have to look at the bigger picture of future potential. regardless of install base both CoD2 and GRAW both enjoyed profitable and commercial success and these titles can build up sales and word of mouth over the course of the system's life until their sequals come out to make them forgotten. After the initial demand for the title has calmed down, the publisher can look forward to releasing sequals a plenty through-out the system's life-cycle that are almost guaranteed to sell well from the hype and brand name alone. while these two titles were well known before their next-gen debut, many other titles would have gotten overshadowed in an overcrowded library such as condemned. Basically i see more benefits to launching a title at launch which will accumilate sales over time rather then waiting for a larger install base.
as for the PSX, i do remember that debacle. You know it was a bad idea if it flopped in japan. however that stunt can not be directly compared to what sony is trying with the ps3. What killed the PSX is that sony tried to make the ps2 a multi-media hub but very few people didnt care to have such a unit, with a MUCH cheaper stand alone system there was very little need to purchase a more expensive gaming entertainment hub. Now though, things are different. Sony is not giving a cheaper option to the consumers so the price of the ps3 will have little effect on the initial sales IMHO.
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Topic: Ps3 Game Cancelled Due To High Dev. Cost? (Read 120 times)