PS2 games- too clever for their own good.

[WoD]

Interesting statistic on the EA price structure for the madden game Pyro.  $30 (just over ?15 at today's exchange rate).  If it was matched over here (or even sold at ?20-?25) I'd buy it now.  And to add some weight to that...I don't really like sport games, have never bought a madden game before, but I have read good reviews and would like to try the onlone functions of the game.  So, if they did change the pricing stance (on this particular game) in the UK, they would get one extra sale at least.

[UZI 4U]

I've never bothered with pirate games before but if I'm honest that's not 'cos of the moral implications.  I only usually buy certain types of games so choice is pretty limited for me anyway. I buy genuine games because they work properly, aren't in japanese and I can get them as soon as they're released. If they're well made,ie- replayable with multiple scenarios/endings,bonus weapons, etc then I consider them reasonable value for money if you add up the hours spent on them compared to money spent in the pub or whatever. Also I've seen enough people balancing their chipped stations on edge and generally buggering about to make them work and I can't be arsed with that. The downside of genuine games is that if you fork out for one and it turns out to be crap then it's a real pisser!
Pirates are probably financially worthwhile if you buy a lot of games anyway but personally I've never really had to consider the moral implications of them. That said, I've never been overly concerned about copying music CD's but when someone's marketing a 50p product for 15 quid then it's tough tit really.
Steve I'm assuming you work in the games industry so is it technically feasible to let the customer designate their own configs or are we forever stuck with the limited menu system? Just wondering.
Regards Jim.

[Max Kon]

If i could buy new games for under ?20 I would be buying more than a couple of games a year. But at ?30 I'd rather replay a game and have the cash than play something new, and I rarely buy new games, I often wait a few months till it's in a sale somewhere.

[The Amstor Computer]

I buy very, very few games at full price. I make an exception for big titles (GTA: San Andreas, Pikmin 2, Metroid Prime etc...) that I know will offer be the greatest value for my money. Aside from that, I tend to buy most of my games pre-owned from game stores. I can go in with ?100 and come out with anywhere from 5-10 games, typically in near-perfect condition. It does mean I'm normally behind the curve on most new releases, but I end up building a decent library of titles & you often find some real bargains.

[GordonR]

>>That said, I've never been overly concerned about copying music CD's but when someone's marketing a 50p product for 15 quid then it's tough tit really.

I've always thought that was a bankrupt argument.  When you buy a CD, you're not paying for a 50p piece of shiny plastic, you're paying for what's on it - ie. someone's (in some cases, possibly alleged) talent and creativity.  Not to mention paying for all the costs involved in recording that music.  Studio hire, backing muscians, producers fees, songwriting royalties etc.

Meanwhile, back at the games industry...

Games developers are starting to panic slightly at the prospect of what the coming next generation of consoles are going to be able to do.  Using them to their full capacity means thousands more man-hours going into a game, which means hiring lots more programmers and artists.  They can't suddenly massively hike up the price of the game in the shops - the consumer won't pay more than ?40-?50 for a game at maximum - so how are they going to cover their increased development costs?

[Pyroxian]

>I buy very, very few games at full price.

 Yeah, same here. I probably only buy one game at full-price a month on average (which is very, very few for me, honest :) ), which tend to be games I really really want to play (which of late has been Halo 2, Half-life 2, Doom 3 and  Sega Superstars for Eyetoy). The rest of the time I'll wait until the game comes down to about ?10-?20 and buy it then.

>so how are they going to cover their increased development costs?

More unpaid overtime >:(

> is it technically feasible to let the customer designate their own configs or are we
>forever stuck with the limited menu system?

Technically, yes it is - The game I'm working on now will do :)

   Steve

[Something Fishy]

i've never tried the PS2 one but i do find the Xbox one pretty good.

Getting old though is a problem, i am so bloody slow i get mangled by all the kiddies.. my 6 year old reacts far quicker than me.. Part of it is that he doesn't think about it,he jus reacts.

I find PC games with a mouse are easier for old me.

[Bico]

'Games developers are starting to panic slightly at the prospect of what the coming next generation of consoles are going to be able to do. Using them to their full capacity means thousands more man-hours going into a game, which means hiring lots more programmers and artists. They can't suddenly massively hike up the price of the game in the shops - the consumer won't pay more than ?40-?50 for a game at maximum - so how are they going to cover their increased development costs?'

Offhand, I'd say they're already doing it - moving into online gaming, pushing it as the next big thing that you simply can't do without, then gradually reducing the single-player content of games that still cost ?40 to buy, but don't offer a week's worth of original single-player action (Halo 2, for instance), all the while building a user-base of suckers who are already used to paying for a service, and if that price goes up a bit here and there, well, it's just like paying for your mobile phone bill, isn't it?

Cassete tapes cost more to produce, yet cds came out alongside them on the shelves at a significantly higher price.  We were told the price was going down, yet still it goes up, while the record industry cries foul at pirates for stealing their music.  Greed decrying greed seems a bit hypocritical to me.  The price of producing albums can also run into the millions, yet they don't get sold for ?40, do they?  Games producers are 9-5 workers, not flighty artistic types who jet-set around the globe playing songs to jailbait - any game development costs are a part of a company's day to day running expenses, not expensive outsourced contracts.

Of course, now Gordon's looking for work writing game scripts, he'd *have* to take the side of THE MAN, wouldn't he?  Don't worry, Gordon, I don't blame you, your liver has to eat, too.  ;-)

[Bico]

Oh, and I find the PS2 pad to be my preferred layout for FPS's.  It HAS to be the L1/L2 buttons for firing, instead of the X button, since you're already using your thumbs to move the two analogue sticks.
How would you even HIT the X button?

[paulvonscott]

I literally don't have the skills to play them.  I walked around like a brain damaged orangutan while playing Judge Dredd.  And I appreciate those controls were simple for many people, but not for me.

However good Rogue Trooper is, I won't be able to play it!

[paulvonscott]

That should be "like a brain damaged drunken orangutan with a broken neck"

[UZI 4U]

Always been a tad sceptical about price justifications for CD's. 15 quid in the 80's was a lot of dosh, the music industries answer to this was to double the price of vinyl to make CD's seem a better deal! In any case the artist only recieves a tiny fraction of this while the record company trousers the lions share IIRC.
Prof, of course I can hit the X button as long as I can use the d-pad to move around instead of the nasty, twitchy sticks. R1 to aim,X to fire- you know it makes sense :)
Steve, hooray and thank Grud for that!
Regards Jim.

[Bico]

I used to feel the same way, and couldn't play Timesplitters as a result, because I couldn't use the D-pad to move my character about.  Once I forced myself to use the new layout, however, I've never looked back - it really IS superior to using the D-pad.

That last Tomb Raider game got right on my tits, though.  Six or seven other games that sold millions of copies, and what do they do for the next-gen console instalment?  Remap ALL the bloody controls, then fail to include a customiseable pad layout option in the game configuration screen.  WTF?  Change a control system that had been a staple of the franchise for each and every instalment?
GRRRR!

NOT.  MAKE.  SENSE.

[UZI 4U]

PVS that's just given me my biggest laugh today-nice one. I remember running in circles and shooting walls when I started out (and being verbally abused in a colourful manner by my ex's teenage son). It's just a case of practise and perseverence really, honest. Alas I'm now often in the same situation again 'cos of a trendy new development in game controls. Just when you've got used to pushing the stick forwards to make your character move forwards they alter the bloody goalposts. Now when you push the stick left and change screens you find the stick designations have changed and your character might be moving in any damn direction even though you're still holding the stick left. Aaaaagh! Bloody smart-arse developers.
Yours,running in circles whilst getting killed, Jim.

[UZI 4U]

Yeah Prof, that's half my problem with Resi Outbreak. Spent years honing my skills as a mean zombie killing muthafucka then they they change every sodding button- doh!
BTW, does anyone know how to get through the Stalingrad tractor factory level in Call of Duty as I'm proper getting my arse kicked here!
Regards comrade Tanya.