What will Sony do ?
 

Xbox is coming with 2 games and a controller, Game Cube will be coming with Mario Sunshine...What can Sony do?

I say a bundle is in order...maybe gta3, ffx...but this is wishful thinking

{Obviously hasn't seen the Gran Turismo 3 bundles out for the past year}

For less than $200?

I knew about the GT 3 bundles, but frankly this isn't that exciting because you can get GT3 for 20 bucks now...just a thought.

Also the MS and the Nintendo deals include newer games, and are an attractive option for people who are looking to get an additional system. GT3 just isn't that great of an option, especially when it is on the discount rack now. I would like to see Sony market a competively priced bundle with a newer game, which would be an incentive to me to buy it instead of a sunshine bundle.

They don't need to do anything. They are well established as the market leader.

That said if they sold a bundle with a PS2, extra controller, DVD remote, GTA3, and FF X for $149 they'd grind the competition into the dust.

Well, I have a feeling they'll soon be bundling the network adapter with it but a game would be nice.

Of course, a $50 price drop would be even better but I doubt that will happen this year.

Yeah, I'm thinking they're going to bundle the network adapter and maybe a game, though I'm not sure which game, considering I don't care for online console gaming so I don't keep up with it. I really doubt a GTA3 bundle though, considering it's a Mature title.

They already have. Where ya been. :lol:

Yeah i have to agree with Drexl, ... THe network adapter will soon become part of the package. The only thing that might prevent that, is the fact that its selling fine as a stand alone.

You'll never see a GTA3 or FFX bundle. A: Those are third party games. B: One is a mature title C: FFX's RPG style doesn't appeal to all players

I pointed out the GT3 bundle, but you're right, its only 20 bucks now. I purchased my system as part of a GT3 bundle last year. But i would have loved a "hardware bundle." I think if you are going to see a GOOD PS2 bundle, it would be the system, network adapter, memory card, and two controllers. All official Sony stuff. That would be better than a 50$ price drop or a game bundle in my opinion. It would save gamers about 80-90 bucks when purchasing the system, and only cost sony about half of that. It would also give gamers THE COMPLETE PACKAGE out of the box. Online ability, Memory for saving game, and two controllers for head to head gaming.

Whatever happened to the days of the "NES home entertainment system" A dual-game, the system, a light gun, two controllers?

I doubt we'll see a price drop this year. Why should we? The ps2 is selling fine without the drop, and 199 is a pretty good price point.

My imaginary bundle was $100 wishful thinking, and not based in any way on reality. :lol: Wouldn't it be great, though?

So are the Sega titles to be bundled with the XBox for an as-yet-uncertain period of time.

whats this gc bundle with mario...and how much is it? im looking to buy a gc soon, but am thinking/hoping it hits like $99 soon. Also, isnt there a new color coming?

GC Bundle is Indigo GC, Mario Sunshine, 1 controller, 1 mem 59 card.

The new color is platinum, and it's coming out "limited edition" sometime this fall.


As for Sony, this is what I think we'll see.

PS2, Dual Shock, Network Adapter, Twisted Metal Black online.

They don't need anything to help sales out, but their online gaming could likely use a kick. This could do it, and they're already giving away Twisted Metal Black Online, so that's no extra cost to them.

SOCOM would be another possibility, but I doubt that as they're not desperate to pick up sales.

I could also see them waiting and just doing a online gamers bundle with the network adapter and hard drive.

I thought they didn't make enough of those NA's though? Aren't they going to be in short supply through Xmas? In that case, the bundles would be tough to get.

Thats why they might be short on them,they may need alot to cover for the console bundle deal in time for Xmas.

The first shipment did sell out of network adapters but aren't they starting to appear again? I thought I saw them listed on eb. One more thing, please explain josh how the sony online plans "could likely use a kick" when they are the only ones online right now? Socom, Madden, Tribes, TWB: Online are all online right now. Socom is always filled with people, Madden same thing, Twisted Metal Black I just got but there was no problem finding players earlier today. Why even make a comment like that if you don't know the situation? The online gaming is going great for PS2 so far. How many other systems can say the same thing? None.

Because everyone thinks Sony's plan to not charge, but let the game company choose to charge, is worse than the XBL plan. They're probably thinking that all the companies will start charging a fee because they can, and I doubt that will happen.....

It doesn't need a kick. My local EB got 5 adaptors in yesterday and they sold out in an hour. Sony's online plan seems to be really doing fairly well.

I agree a Sony online bundle is probably in the works though.

Yeah, my Best Buy last week got a big shipment of NA's, and they were down to one just a couple days later when I went by there.

There are FFX and MGS2 bundles available in Australia. I picked up the FFX one.

:p

Chris

I wonder which system will be the leader this holiday season?

New color or Metal Black or Ocean Blue.And maybe the Broadband adapter.I have not seen any new plans here in Tokyo for PS2.So far.

I'm not so sure Sony needs to do anything except keep pushing the online games out the door. I was reading in the thread abotu xbox live experiences and there seems to be a lot of negative experiences and people having to boil the discs to get them to work right. What exactly is this boiling the discs about? Microsoft still has a month to work out the problems but if people are having to boil the discs for some reason that might not be enough time.

I hate to swing this off-topic...

But I have had a lot of problems with SOCOM online so far. I get kicked off the game (it crashes) at least once every couple of hours. On Friday nights it's a lot even more often. The voice is flakey, especially when someone is booted. Overall it feels more like a beta test than the actual game. Overall it is very crashy, buggy, and the lag really sucks (I see lag almost every time I play now).

XBL on the other hand <i>is</i> doing a <b>beta</b> test. I'm not sure how you can get on their case when it's expected to not run smoothly while SOCOM online (as fun as it is), is really a buggy and flakey SOB. This is probably the only Sony online game I'll be getting thanks to the voice communicator showing me that's the only way to play games online.

I dunno about you Slammer, but thanks to SOCOM I'm really looking forward to Ghost Recon now (whenever it comes out). Full duplex communication (which is definitely needed in sneaking, pushing the speak button goofs up the gameplay -- eg, you are holding the voice button and end up in a firefight and get killed), Buddy lists, limited number of gamer names (ie you can make a million different ones in SOCOM and end up playing with a jerk over and over again when he has different names.. not that likely but still) no 56K people hacking into it, muting jerks, better graphics and larger levels and more realistic gameplay (and I prefer the controller too)... I'm really looking forward to it. Don't get me wrong, I love SOCOM, I'm addicted to it... but it does have a lot of drawbacks. Luckily the pros outweight the cons, but I definitely think I'll make the switch (I was on the fence about XBL but SOCOM has me jazzed up now).

Correct me if I'm wrong - there never was a beta test for SOCOM online, therefore, it is somewhat undergoing a "beta" itself, working all the bugs out. XBL people are paying to do a beta test, SOCOM people are getting to play for free, with a crash "every couple of hours". Wow, that sounds like ANY online game I have EVER played - not once in all my years of internet gaming have I been able to play a single night and not have a crash. Lag happens, broadband or not.

Personally, if I ever saw someone wearing a headset while playing a game and talking to their console and yelling at the TV, I'd ship them off to a mental institution.

There's the upfront cost of getting the kit, which isn't any different than having to buy SOCOM before all of its bugs are ironed out. The subscription period for XBox Live doesn't begin until after the beta test has ended, so the beta testers now have effectively just pre-paid for their subscriptions, which will last as long as those who pick up their kits on day one of the national rollout...they just have the added benefit of playing online a bit earlier.

Problem is if you are unhappy with the Xbox Live while Beta testing you are still out $50 since there are no refunds. I would much rather be unhappy with Socom or any of the other free to play Sony online games and just sell them and the adaptor to get most of my money back than to be unhappy with Xbox Live and still be out $50.

Once you register Xbox Live you are pretty much stuck with it. Luckily I found this out and sold my Beta kit without even using it.

Remember also that Sony did a Beta test before launching their network. Like MS the beta testing only includes a few games so games that are released later may run into problems.

I think the biggest problem with Socom is the popularity. There are at least 20 people I know playing this game nightly. Sony may be getting more online users than they expected.

I don't think SOCOM is perfect, but most of the "flaws" you mention aren't flaws at all.

You getting booted "every couple of hours" isn't a function of the game. It's your connection with the game server, which is someone else's PS2, being severed. If Xbox Live uses people's Xboxes as game servers for any games, it will have the same problem. It will also have lag. Online gaming is not a uniformly smooth and perfect experience, and if Xbox live makes it one I might might have to buy an Xbox. SOCOM is very well tested, and I've encountered few real bugs.

The issue of unlimited names is a small one. Every online game ever has had that problem. Xbox Live's uniform name service will be good for keeping in touch with buddies across a range of games, but it won't be good for banning out griefers, because there are just too many of them. The subscription model might help some, but it didn't keep them out of Everquest.

The 56Kers may be annoying in SOCOM, but they can play Frequency perfectly well, and the support of 56kers may be the trump card that makes Sony's plan more successful than Microsoft's. MS seems to be betting on a lot of people getting broadband really soon.

My main complaint is the Counterstrike style "die and watch" dynamic, which generally keeps me on servers that have 6-8 players, rather than the larger games. The quality of one's teammates and one's competition determine the quality of a given match.

I don't know about this whole Socom bad/Socom good thing. I think the game is just so good and so popular that people are playing the He** out of it. There is lag sometimes but not that bad most of the time. The worst I saw was Saturday nigth but it was very busy. So far Socom is no different than any other game I have played online, you must have friends or a group/clan or else it just isn't as much fun. Playing with foklks from the dvdtalk clan has been a blast even when it got laggy. I don't want the mic on all the time either, that would suck. having to listen to the other players the whole game would suck. I haven't had the problem yet where I was talking to someone and got killed for it, I have bneen switching grenades and guns and been killed though.

Can someone please explain to me though, why are xbox players having to boil discs? I was thinking about getting a box with the new bundles or refrub/used prices and now I am worried about it. I do not want to have to boil a disc to play a game. WTF is the deal here?

http://www.dvdtalk.com/forum/showthr...hreadid=227679

Now a tasty in-joke.

Well, I take it that it is not just the demo discs if people are having issues with Fever and Revolt. Is this something to be expected from all online content games or just the first few released?

I'm sure its just a bad pressing of discs. MS will work this out I'm sure. Biggest problem is Fever and Revolt are barely worth playing when your discs do work.

Whacked and Moto GP will be the real pack in games once Xbox Live officially starts. Not the greatest games in the world, but compared to Fever and Revolt they are a big improvement. Hopefully those discs will work fine.

I did the beta test for Sony's Network Adaptor and the games that came with it or later on were Gameday, Frequency, Twisted Metal Black Online, and SOCOM. So it did go through testing, although the process was simply play it, then fill out a survey.