I remember a day when old RPG games had either a level cap or a definite ending. From Pool of Radiance to Secrets of the Silver Blades to Final Fantasy the game had a final boss or stage and often had some type of level cap. Today, gamers don’t want it to end, they’d rather have the option to wonder around aimlessly or completing minor quests in order to soak up every ounce of money they spent on the title.
Now even Bethesda is saying “we’ve learned our lesson” from the whiplash of ending their game title and capping levels. Gamers want to go back and re-try content they missed, they want to run side quests and talk to everyone in the world they want to grind themselves to über powerful levels and become a god in their fantasy world. Can you blame them?
You can’t really blame them for wanting to maximize the content, although it’s slightly more evolved than RPG’s of old. Perhaps it was World of Warcraft and other MMORPG’s that brought us to the stage in life where we all want to squeeze every last RPG dime out of the title. As a kid I wondered the world of Hyrule and covered every tile of graphical color, burned every bush, bombed every stone looking for all the content. However, even Zelda had an end with scrolling credits – you didn’t just land on a platform with your master sword and a dream.
Other titles have used level caps to limit you and draw you into the next release of the game. This was popular in the D&D world because the game is designed to target specific levels of difficulty. They may only allow you to gain level 10 because the enemies are no tougher than level 13, allowing the challenge to be good but not overwhelming. If they allow you to get to level 50 they’d have to design the game so all the enemies grow powerful along with you — that’s not always a desired result.
Final Fantasy is a popular franchise that typically allows you to grow infinitely powerful depending on how much time you want to spend repeat killing the same enemies. Gamers aren’t always into the grind, they just want to grind “enough” to make the challenges a little more do-able.
Today, however, with larger storage capacity, larger development teams and the desire to build more value into your gameplay experience titles have dozens of side quests and sub-plots that are totally optional. The result of so many sub-quests results in a player who is much more powerful at the end of those quests compared to a player who sticks to the narrow path of the main plot. So, games much grow dynamically challenging to keep the fun per dollar high.
Do you like your RPG’s to have a definite end and a high but capped level?
The obvious answer is no, Sony don’t NEED theese 2 games to drop in the 2009 calendar year.
If you take a look at the games that are CONFIRMED to hit before 2010:
Killzone 2
White Knight Chronicles (US and EU release)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Yakuza 3 (Japan)
Infamous
Final Fantasy XIII (Japan)
Heavy Rain
New Ratchet & Clank
Gran Turismo 5 (Possibly)
That’s more than enough to offset anything that Microsoft/Nintendo can conjure up. Even if Microsoft were to shock everyone by releasing Halo 4 and Gears Of War 3 (Har har) Sony would still outshine them without the two games you mentioned.
Personally, i probably won’t even be picking up MAG and God Of War 3 is an afterthought for me. The game i’m most looking forward to is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
The obvious answer is no, Sony don’t NEED theese 2 games to drop in the 2009 calendar year.
If you take a look at the games that are CONFIRMED to hit before 2010:
Killzone 2
White Knight Chronicles (US and EU release)
Uncharted 2: Among Thieves
Yakuza 3 (Japan)
Infamous
Final Fantasy XIII (Japan)
Heavy Rain
New Ratchet & Clank
Gran Turismo 5 (Possibly)
That’s more than enough to offset anything that Microsoft/Nintendo can conjure up. Even if Microsoft were to shock everyone by releasing Halo 4 and Gears Of War 3 (Har har) Sony would still outshine them without the two games you mentioned.
Personally, i probably won’t even be picking up MAG and God Of War 3 is an afterthought for me. The game i’m most looking forward to is Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
With the inevitable price cut supposedly sometime this year, i think sony can hold off GOW 3 and MAG at least till next year.
The PS3 seem to be coming alive and starting to gain some real momentum and i think a $100 price drop might just seal the deal and save them from utter failure and embarrassment.
Microsoft has already got their install base sewn up hence only need to worry about selling software. Sony on the other hand have the harder task of marketing what seems like a luxury brand (to most people) in a recession. Many people simple can’t justify spending that much on what is primary a game console. (blue-ray simply doesn’t cut it Sony)
At the end of the day it comes down to Two words, PRICE CUT, and they better do it quick.
With the inevitable price cut supposedly sometime this year, i think sony can hold off GOW 3 and MAG at least till next year.
The PS3 seem to be coming alive and starting to gain some real momentum and i think a $100 price drop might just seal the deal and save them from utter failure and embarrassment.
Microsoft has already got their install base sewn up hence only need to worry about selling software. Sony on the other hand have the harder task of marketing what seems like a luxury brand (to most people) in a recession. Many people simple can’t justify spending that much on what is primary a game console. (blue-ray simply doesn’t cut it Sony)
At the end of the day it comes down to Two words, PRICE CUT, and they better do it quick.
The price cut would have been announced today had there been one. Sony’s losing too much per unit still.
The price cut would have been announced today had there been one. Sony’s losing too much per unit still.
The “Rumoured” PS3 price cut isn’t supposed to take effect until April………so why would they have announced it in March??? LOL………….
The “Rumoured” PS3 price cut isn’t supposed to take effect until April………so why would they have announced it in March??? LOL………….
The rumored price drop was March.
http://www.gamestooge.com/2008/11/25/playstation-3-march-2009-price-drop-rumor/
The rumored price drop was March.
http://www.gamestooge.com/2008/11/25/playstation-3-march-2009-price-drop-rumor/
Another rumor:
http://www.gamestooge.com/2009/03/07/more-ps3-price-drop-predictions-by-analysts/
This one was shot down by Sony as well.
Another rumor:
http://www.gamestooge.com/2009/03/07/more-ps3-price-drop-predictions-by-analysts/
This one was shot down by Sony as well.
LOL…..as the link you just provided proves, the price cut isn’t expected to take place until April at the EARLIEST.
Better learn how Sony’s FISCAL year works……..it runs from April through to March of the following year. It makes far more sense for Sony to cut the price at the start of a new fiscal year rather than at the very end of one.
LOL…..as the link you just provided proves, the price cut isn’t expected to take place until April at the EARLIEST.
Better learn how Sony’s FISCAL year works……..it runs from April through to March of the following year. It makes far more sense for Sony to cut the price at the start of a new fiscal year rather than at the very end of one.