I thought it was an Onion article at first until I double checked and it came from CNN...huh.

I see this as no different than the "We can't export these because the chip is so powerful that Saddam could gain nuclear technology with it." It seems pretty weak to me. And if it could really help cure those things, drug companies would gladly buy all 2 million that are suppose to be out by the end of the year at full price.

It's like people thinking that pop can tops can cure breast cancer.

People use their computers to do the same thing. Some researchers think it might reduce the time needed to find a cure for some forms of cancers.

I was told today that my local GS is going to let me reserve one of the 2 or 3 PS3's they think they are going to get. They figure the reserves will happen in the next few weeks. I am also going to preorder the Wii from them.

I hope the manager does not leave until the preorders happen.

Gran Turismo to ship with no cars and no tracks? :wtf: Probably bogus but read on for fun anyway.

Linky
Now that is taking microtransactions to a whole new level.

but who would possibly want *ALL* 750 cars?????

;)

I have a really hard time believing that is really the case. Nobody could possibly see that as a good business decision and it woul dmake far more sense to have 20 cars like that to test the waters. Then next iteration 50 and gradually acclimate people to that model. Switching to a new generation and dropping a bomb like that would be a very poor strategy.

Don't be too sure. This is coming from the same company that thought UMD movies would sell for $29.99.

rotfl

Seriously though I don't think there is any way they'll take the microtransaction thing that far. But you know damn well that this is how Sony is gonna get money out of their "free" online service. There will be cars and tracks packed in the game but you can bet there will be others available for purchase, but hey PGR3 did this also. The difference between the Sony service and Live will be....

Sony: Free to get online with the service and possibly play restricted online games but you'll most likely have to pay some sort of cost to unlock all of the online options for each game. And you will have to pay for additional content

MS Live: One fee for all games. And you have to pay for additional content.

Either way you look at it online gaming on both systems is gonna cost you money. Take COD2 for example sure you can play the game online without restriction on the live service, but if you don't buy the additional content people either have to not select the maps you don't have or you get booted from the match. While there were people that held out I think everyone has the maps now, it's a peer pressure system. No you don't NEED the maps but you will be getting them cause everyone else has them.

they make the cars for GT cheap at around fifty cents each cause they figure you'll buy a few that way. They make the tracks in the few dollar range each because they know you'll be forced to buy them.

Scary.

First Look At The PlayStation 3 Packaging
 

http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/top/fir...ing-202219.php

looks like it ready to ship.

click on the link to see pictures.

Interestingly those are 20gb versions. What are the odds of that :P

I still really hate the spiderman font. They should have come up with something more original than that.

I hate the Spider-Man font also. I'll never be able to think of anything else every time I see it.

From that link:

"Looks real to me. The only problem is that stack is the entire US allotment."

:lol:

As for the GT story, while I don't think it's true, I wouldn't be shocked at all to find out that they actually did that.

nothing ready to ship there but a bunch of empty boxes (at least those are ready). That guy is unpacking them to set up a display. Look at all the TV's on the wall in the background with "Playstation" written on the wall.

Look how the boxes are stacked (especially the ones on the top in the back), if these are 20+ lbs there is no way they wouldn't fall over. Plus, the PS3 that he is holding has the chrome/silver on the front, only available on the 60gb version.

I think he is setting up a display as well. What warehouse has a wall of TVs setup for the employees?

I find the fashion sense of the guy in the photos more funny than the PS3 responses. Jeans rolled up to his knees with hiking boots on. The only thing that would complete this getup would be a fanny pack.... oh wait...

There is a huge thread at GAF about that GT deal. It looks like it's 100% real.

The rumor was printed in Famitsu, which is HUGE in Japan.. and highly reputable.

That doesn't make it true, but it makes it likely.

I didn't mean that it was confirmed that it was going to happen, just that the story was true. Famitsu rumors seem to end up being true more often than not though. Would it really shock any of you if it ended up happening? I could see them making the "game" a pack-in with PS3 systems for free.

Maybe they're trying to avoid having to charge $100 per game. Maybe its the lesser of two evils?

if it is a pack-in game that would be a wonderful thing for Sony, but they need to announce that soon so as to not turn off the loyal fans who think they are going to take it up the butt this gen for having a PS3. Since it's a port of GT4 that wouldn't be a bad thing to buy the one or two cars you want for a couple bucks just to see the graphics capability of the PS3 but if you have to shell out $30-60 for this game and then buy the cars and the tracks it's a total ripoff.

If they are going to charge $100 a game just to get a complete game then not only is Sony screwed but so are we. I am counting on Sony pushing MS to lower the price on 360 games and hoping the Wii is popular enough to do the same. If PS3 games are $100 you can bet the 360 game prices will creep up too, starting 3rd party (the age old development cost card) and then MS will raise theirs too. Prolly not to $100, but at least 70-80. I for one will not be interested in buying any games priced that high. In fact I was just posting in the 360 thread how I am going to start only renting most games since $60 is too high IMO. I know you get a lot of hours of entertainment out of the games, but if you can pay $12.99 a month and play any game you want 2 at a time, why pay $60-70 just to own the game???

That PS3 in his hand looks like a photocop. The guy is all out of the focus but the console seems to be sharper and from a higher resolution source or something. It doesn't seem to fit in his hand properly and in the second shot, I don't think anyone in their right mind would lift a pre-release PS2 like that. Maybe he was putting out a dvd player or something and someone edited the pic.

So, I don't understand. You buy Gran Turismo HD and get what, a menu? And the rest is downloadable for a fee? What if you aren't connecting your system to the internet? I'm so confused.

In theory it doesn't sound all bad. If my options were pay $60 and get 20 cars I don't want or $50 and buy the cars I do want, :shrug: maybe makes sense. Maybe. What doesn't make sense is who wants to pop in a new game and spend a half hour downloading shit before you can even play it?

But if the game comes with no cars and no tracks, what is going to be on the Blu-ray disc? Why not just make it all a download-only game? What is physical media for in this case?