While its true that over time, the price of gaming consoles are usually slashed as they become cheaper to mass-produce, it seems that the waiting time for these markdowns has gotten longer and longer.
Video game consoles have been around well over 25 years now, and of course, when you factor in such things like market influctutation, etc. ...many would say gaming consoles are priced about the same now as they were back years ago.
Maybe Im a stickler,..Im one of the ones who vies for a system to reach that favorable $99.99 price point. This is fading farther and farther away from happening to many systems as the components that make up each system get more expensive and more complex.
In 2001, The XBOX debuted in the late fall, and had a sticker price of $399.99. Today, the original XBOX is no longer packaged as brand new on retail store shelves. Microsoft took a different route from other traditional game manufacturers like Nintendo, Sega, and Sony, as they never let the XBOX hit the $99.99 price point. Microsoft also never introduced a slimmer, cheaper, or redesigned model of the XBOX either. Nintendo redesigned the NES, and SNES into slimmer models. Sega did the same by bringing out Genesis 2,..then later 3. Sony had PSOne, and the PS2 notebook model.
Sony's last effort below the $99.99 price point was the PSONE at $49.99... This was in the early part of the new millenium. Nintendo's last effort was the N64 at $99.99, and now the Gamecube at $99.99.. (it seems like I recall the N64 even being cheaper than that...anyone care to verify it for me?). As far as I know, (and not including handheld models..such as Gameboy advance, etc) This was the last time any home video game console was priced at or below $99.99.
If you want a Ps2 new...its priced now at $129.99. Its possible Sony may slash the price by $30.00 to bring it down to $99.99. But that hasnt happened yet. Microsoft never plunged that low with the Xbox. It seems that the Xbox's lowest price point was a matching $129.99...then Xbox disappeared..only to be found at places like Gamestop for $109.99,..and sometimes $99.99.
So Ive covered a great deal on consoles and their correlating prices. Now, lets talk about how much technology is really needed to play a game.
When you look at the graphic resolution of video game consoles over their extensive history,.its a lot like looking thru the lens of a camera and focusing it. You start out with consoles like Intellivision and Atari, and the resolution is very blurred. All you can see is heavy pixelization,.you can see shapes but cant really make out too much of what things are supposed to be, without occasionally referring back to the game's manual.
You adjust the focus a little bit,.now enter into the realm of 8-bit systems. This is brought on by Nintendo's NES console.and then challenged by the Sega Master system. The resolution still isnt all too great, but you can kinda make out what things are now.
You adjust the focus some more..and things are beginning to look much sharper...enter now are Super NES, Sega Genesis,.and Turbo grafx. Basically, the more you adjust,..the better the focus improves. But is it really just great graphics that draws us to invest in new gaming machines every time?.....
.....NO. Its the increased artificial intelligence as well. Games are ever being designed with higher levels of artificial intelligence. Going out the door are yesteryear's predictable enemy patterns, and attack waves. Many games now can "learn" from your moves, and then challenge you to your best.
With the increased visual capabilities of modern games, it has provided insight to game developers to incorporate CGI film sequences into the games. While this is a good idea, some games have taken this to overkill, as the game becomes more movie than game, robbing the gamer of challenge and alienating them sometimes making them feel less like they are an integral part of the game.
Peripherals are always interesting. They have been around forever, designed to experiment with games in non-traditional ways. Everything from the Power glove, to the power pad, to the DDR dance pad and Nintendo's Wii controller. These intuitive devices explore many possibilities of challenging the gamer.
But with every aforementioned being considered, its dawned upon me as I ask, how much technology do I really need to play most games?
I'll take one of my favorite games for example: Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. Its out for Xbox and Ps2. Ive always wondered how well a translation of the game would work on different systems. Is it possible that this game could be ported to the Super NES? I know it wont look the same or feel the same...but most of the game's mechanics would be there..making for somewhat of a similiar experience. Now youre laughing at this..but Im not the only who thinks like this,.take a kid named Brian Provinciano who decided on his own to make an 8-bit version of Grand Theft Auto and call it GrandTheftendo. He had a website called www.grandtheftendo.com that featured his progress of the game development, but it seems to be down currently.
this was one of the few sites i found that has screenshots from the actual game he is developing: http://forevergeek.c...o_8_bit_nes.php
I think the point Brian is making, is the similiar one I am making. How much technology does a game console need to make a certain said game enjoyable? I wont lie...The GTA series shines brilliantly on the Ps2/Xbox compared to the Psone,.or even brian's port. But Brian is utilizing the 8-bit system to its fullest, incorporating all of the basic game mechanics of GTA into his 8-bit salvo.
What really gets me is when a certain game is released across many consoles, and one of the consoles is much superior to the other consoles. This was the case for Tony Hawk's Project 8, as it was released for XBOX, PS2, PS3, and XBOX 360. Other than graphic resolution, are there are other major differences that would compell me to shell out money to buy this game on say,.PS3,..when I know I can get it for less money on the Ps2? After all, the PS2 is pretty high tech,..or it was when it was released. I remember there was much hoopla about the ps2's capabilities,.some saying it could launch missles, etc. No,.I really did hear about this,..not making it up.
If the ps2 can launch missles,.what can a ps3 do? Im scared to ask.
I would like to see more fan-created ports of current games onto previous consoles. I wonder how well Halo would fare on the Sega Genesis. I wonder if a Metal Gear Solid title could be somehow possible to be ported on the Atari 2600. Yeah, I know that is way damn crazy,..but it would be interesting to see. Believe it or not,.The Atari 2600 even had a Double Dragon and Mario Bros. game made for it before it died out.
atari 2600 double dragon screenshot:
http://www.atariage....wareLabelID=152
atari 2600 mario bros. screenshot:
http://www.atariage....wareLabelID=286
theres something to me about seeing how much a video game console can be "pushed-to-the-edge" before its demise ( and even after its demise)
I personally think that some of the best video games ever made are at the tenure of a console's life. This is especially true with the Super Nes, which released Donkey Kong Country, Killer Instinct, and Contra III:The Alien Wars ( I know, 2 of those were RARE titles)
Its like, when a new console is released, there is always a ton of hype about it. "Oh wow,.the system has the coolest graphics" "It can do this and that" "it supports 4-player and.." "The launch titles look so awesome, I have to buy this!"
So, you have these extremely long lines that are built up. Some of the lines are actual physical lines comprised of people waiting in line for many hours,..sometimes even camping out the night before at Best Buy, Circuit City, etc,..waiting to buy the next greatest console. Others, who are a bit wiser have placed their pre-orders many months in advance to places like Gamestop, etc.
And these people acquire their much-hyped systems, become fanboys of it, rave about a certain game for it, and finally after many years, their love of the system slowly dies. Then along comes a group of kickass developers that totally reignite and infuse new outstanding life into the console by working tidiously on the development of a new game that destroys previous thinking and judgments of what people had previously thought their system was capable of. This was the case on many times for the Super Nintendo, as Nintendo was looking to retain much of their gamer base as possible, and not lose it to competing consoles, until the N64 was released.
But speaking of game developers,.is that what really makes a console shine? Some would say so,.and if thats the case, it would be interesting to see what the world's best game developers and programmers could come up with as "fan-made creations" of today's games on outdated systems. I would love to see them port over some of todays games onto older consoles. "Kingdom Hearts" for SNES. "Manhunt" for Sega Genesis. "SOCOM" for Atari 2600. To see them really push a system to its absolute edge is so cool. i know there are many games that already do this..I wish there was many more that did this. It would give less compelling reasons for everyone to invest in the next generation of console systems,.until some truly major technological change came about, and not just a few minor tweaks to A.I. and graphic capability.
This post has been edited by mireaux7: 25 April 2007 - 04:54 PM