Ask questions to The Digital Bits team (Bill Hunt, Jeff Kleist et.al.)

[Jeff Kleist]

You just sound bitter to me. Like you've been gaming for so long that its just lost the appeal to you. Thats just how I see it.

My wallet WISHES it would lose appeal. You just feel I'm bitter because I don't like the games and have blunt opinions about them. Wait till you hear what I think of Final Fantasy 8 and up, that'll really bring the haters (and that's with friends of mine having worked on the games)

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Probably been playing games since before you were born. Started on my grandfather's Pong machine at 3. Apple 2, C64, Texas Instruments, Coleco, 2600, Intellivision, 5200, 7800, Atari 800, IBM 286-Core2Duo, Master System, NES, Genesis, Sega CD, SNES,Saturn, Dreamcast,PS1, PS2, Xbox, 360, SUPERGUN

But no, I'm not much of a gamer at all

Hm. I started on some Atari Pong thingy that had muiltiple games, including Breakout (and I was a bit older than 3), then Atari VCS (2600), 400 then 800, 5200, 800XL, 7800, 130XE. Then NES, SNES, N64. Sega Genesis, then CDX w 32X attachment, then Saturn, then Dreamcast. Sony PS1, (skipped PS2), now PS3 (w PS2 compatibility). MS XBOX, now 360. Not to mention my IBM PC I've built & upgraded for nearly 15 years now.

Originally Posted by Doctorossi

So? The Phantom Menace was a "AAA" movie- that doesn't mean it doesn't suck. Just because something has broad appeal doesn't mean one who doesn't enjoy it doesn't have taste or passion for the medium.

This goes against "popular" fanboy thinking (and I am one of the biggest SW geeks of all) but I don't think Episode I sucked. There, I said it.

[MerrickG]

Guys give it a rest.

I don't have a problem with Jeff not liking Splinter Cell or God of War.

I enjoyed the God of War Collection quite a bit since it was my first experience with God of War, but I did find that there were some parts of the game that were more frustrating than fun and frankly I wish the developers would realize that there is a difference between making something challenging and annoyingly frustrating. A lot of games have this issue though.

Heavy Rain could end up being a title to watch.

[spartanstew]

Originally Posted by GGX

Wow you are not much of a gamer IMO.

The majority of people over the age of 19 would consider that a compliment.

[Doctorossi]

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

This goes against "popular" fanboy thinking (and I am one of the biggest SW geeks of all) but I don't think Episode I sucked. There, I said it.

Regardless of your radical stance, you do understand what I was getting at, I trust.

[Agent Simth]

Jeff have you heard anything about Armageddon and Tombstone coming out this year?

[jdc115]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I don't know who would own the rights. Middle east definately has some tricky censorship laws and high piracy rates, i'd try going for imports as much as possible, though I understand that customs may be crooked.

Jeff,

Don't think ever think of trying to drop the prices in order to combat some of the piracy? I import 100% of my BD due to the high local prices but I know many people are not considering BD at all due to the high price plus most countries do not have a "Netflix" type of service. I still know many people that buy VCD's cause they are $3-4 and DVD's are $10-20 but then BD jump to $50 in local Sing Dollars. When I traval to other SE Asia countries, the prices are usually even more where most of the piracy is taking place.

For now, I pay US$5+ shipping per disk and order from Amazon and it is still a lot cheaper then buying them locally.

[doctorsteve]

BUMP for Jeff or Bill...

Originally Posted by doctorsteve

Hi Gentlemens...

The February release of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas - a straight H-DVD port, or has it been remastered/cleaned/audio remixed/etc.???

Cheers,

Doc

Basically wondering if there's any upgrade over the previous encode to take advantage of greater BD Gigabyte-age. I do see it's DTS-MA instead of True HD, but any greater depth of info you have would be great. (video encode, extras, etc.)

[Jeff Kleist]

The majority of people over the age of 19 would consider that a compliment.

I think you'll find the majority of gamers to be mid 20s+, which is why people get mad when a politician goes back to the "violent/sex games destroying our children" well, as rock, comics, jazz and I'm sure there was something before that, and before that and so on.

Jeff have you heard anything about Armageddon and Tombstone coming out this year?

Reply hazy, ask again later

Don't think ever think of trying to drop the prices in order to combat some of the piracy? I import 100% of my BD due to the high local prices but I know many people are not considering BD at all due to the high price plus most countries do not have a "Netflix" type of service. I still know many people that buy VCD's cause they are $3-4 and DVD's are $10-20 but then BD jump to $50 in local Sing Dollars. When I traval to other SE Asia countries, the prices are usually even more where most of the piracy is taking place.

You can't compete with free (or nearly free). Honestly places like Lebanon are too unstable for any real release efforts, what you're mostly seeing is some middlemen who have a license to import, sell and promote the titles in your territory. They're buying the discs from Europe, shipping them in and paying import duties on them, and then they need to make money. There's no way they can lower the prices enough to make it worthwhile. The only reason the Chinese are getting their early, dub-only discs is because the studios can't bring themselves to abandon a market of 1.4 billion people (and I half don't blame them). Frankly I expect DVD-9 720p AVC capable DVD players to show up in East Asia any minute now.

Oracles are closed on things like Fear and Loathing basically until next week when people come back from vacation. (It's Christmas, 2 days off and maddash CES, THEN vacation)

[blindcat87]

I started with a little gadget with a handful of games that were selectable by switches. It looked like a walkie talkie until you detached the control wheel from the bottom of the unit. It was a lot of fun. I moved on to an Atari 2600 and an Apple IIe. After my RP was diagnosed I crammed as much gaming in as I could and did not quit until my vision hit the point that gaming was more frustrating than fun, the last systems I owned were a SNES and a Playstation. I miss it sometimes, but OTOH, my budget for movies goes a lot further since I don't have to save money for games and consoles.

On the corrupting the youth topic, I think the new thing destroying the younger generation probably goes back into antiquity. Pipe organs were once condemned as works of the devil, pure instruments of evil that would bring down all who listened to or played them.

I also am in the Ep 1 didn't suck crowd. I didn't love it, I think it is the weakest installment in the series, I think aspects of it absolutely sucked rocks, but I still enjoy more of it than I loathe when starting a SW marathon. with it.

Chris

Originally Posted by PeterTHX

Hm. I started on some Atari Pong thingy that had muiltiple games, including Breakout (and I was a bit older than 3), then Atari VCS (2600), 400 then 800, 5200, 800XL, 7800, 130XE. Then NES, SNES, N64. Sega Genesis, then CDX w 32X attachment, then Saturn, then Dreamcast. Sony PS1, (skipped PS2), now PS3 (w PS2 compatibility). MS XBOX, now 360. Not to mention my IBM PC I've built & upgraded for nearly 15 years now.



This goes against "popular" fanboy thinking (and I am one of the biggest SW geeks of all) but I don't think Episode I sucked. There, I said it.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Probably been playing games since before you were born. Started on my grandfather's Pong machine at 3. Apple 2, C64, Texas Instruments, Coleco, 2600, Intellivision, 5200, 7800, Atari 800, IBM 286-Core2Duo, Master System, NES, Genesis, Sega CD, SNES,Saturn, Dreamcast,PS1, PS2, Xbox, 360, SUPERGUN

But no, I'm not much of a gamer at all

I won $100.00 in a Baseball world series.

[SquidPuppet]

Originally Posted by GGX

You just sound bitter to me. Like you've been gaming for so long that its just lost the appeal to you. Thats just how I see it.

What the . You a mind reader?

[Jeff Kleist]

I also am in the Ep 1 didn't suck crowd. I didn't love it, I think it is the weakest installment in the series, I think aspects of it absolutely sucked rocks, but I still enjoy more of it than I loathe when starting a SW marathon. with it.

That's cause you didn't see it Jar-Jar can only fully destroy your soul if you can see him step in the poodoo

[wallendo]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

I think you'll find the majority of gamers to be mid 20s+, which is why people get mad when a politician goes back to the "violent/sex games destroying our children" well, as rock, comics, jazz and I'm sure there was something before that, and before that and so on.
...

I once read that the majority of people buying "Gaming PC's" were in their 30's and 40's (apparently the consoles appeal to a somewhat younger crowd, it had also been a number of years since I read that). Most gamers I know are in their 30's (although they frequently act 18).

[MerrickG]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

That's cause you didn't see it Jar-Jar can only fully destroy your soul if you can see him step in the poodoo

Honestly Jar Jar didnt drive me as crazy as everyone else with all the silly dialogue and Jar Jar Binks has NOTHING on Mudflap and Skids from Revenge of the Fallen.

Apparently Transformers 3 is being pushed forward far sooner than expected.

Im not sure this is a good thing...

[Elandyll]

Originally Posted by merrick97

Guys give it a rest.

I don't have a problem with Jeff not liking Splinter Cell or God of War.

I enjoyed the God of War Collection quite a bit since it was my first experience with God of War, but I did find that there were some parts of the game that were more frustrating than fun and frankly I wish the developers would realize that there is a difference between making something challenging and annoyingly frustrating. A lot of games have this issue though.

Heavy Rain could end up being a title to watch.

I think the reaction of people is just coming from Jeff seemingly dismissing the PS3 this gen as a platform that has no exclusive games worth playing.
At $299 now and with Uncharted1/2, LBP, WipEoutHD, MGS4, Killzone2, Valkyria Chronicles, White Knight Chronicles, and the big AAA coming (GoW3, Heavy Rain, The Last Guardian and GT5), it just seems weird. Almost like Jeff -used- to be non partisan but was absorbed by the tranches war mindgame the MS vs Sony attitude has furthered this gen, and he seems to be on the "other" side of the fence
Oh, and inFamous was -way- better than what Yahtze would make it sound btw

[Jeff Kleist]

I once read that the majority of people buying "Gaming PC's" were in their 30's and 40's (apparently the consoles appeal to a somewhat younger crowd, it had also been a number of years since I read that). Most gamers I know are in their 30's (although they frequently act 18

PC gaming market is 20% of the console market, and pretty much isolated to a few genres. Only people in a stable job can keep up with the $300ish investement every year in keeping your PC up to date if you're a frame-hog.

Honestly Jar Jar didnt drive me as crazy as everyone else with all the silly dialogue and Jar Jar Binks has NOTHING on Mudflap and Skids from Revenge of the Fallen.

Tell me about it. My friend asked me if it was a minstrel show, and the gold teeth really was the end of it for me. And they won't show Heckle and Jeckle cartoons anymore, but they'll drop double-digit millions putting even more offensive stereotypes onscreen. I love Bay movies, but Bayformers 2 was insufferable from start to finish as a standalone film, well before it took a dump on the head of the franchise (which it did)

I think the reaction of people is just coming from Jeff seemingly dismissing the PS3 this gen as a platform that has no exclusive games worth playing.

Not no exclusive games worth playing. No exclusive games worth dropping $300 just to play. There's a difference.Uncharted and potentially Heavy Rain are the only ones on your list I'd play. If I wanted a realistic car experience, I have one in my driveway. If I want to play a car game, Daytona USA is the best one ever made (can't wait for the remake they're working on (no Daytona license or probably the songs though, boo!) with Crazy Taxi a close second (OK not really a car game per say). I was excited about MAG until I played it and realized that it's basically Battlefield with the persistant world I had in Steel Battalion:Line of Contact slapped on, modernized and prettied up (and that was pretty cool in 2003 mind you), and not done as well (that would be PC Battlefield, not the lame console versions)

I'm not partisan. I bought an Xbox to play Sega games. I don't like Final Fantasy. There's nothing _I_ want to play, and I might add, Splinter Cell is an Xbox exclusive Both companies make plenty of terrible games not worth playing. But I paid $275 for a 360 in late 2007 (yay Kmart coupon!) when PS3 was still $500, and it had a pile of games i wanted to play to PS3's virtually zero. Today, there's a handful of exclusives, just like with Xbox, worth my time to play. In fact a quick look through my scorecard shows that I only have 4 exclusive Xbox games that aren't from Arcade. Mass Effect, Gears of War 1/2 and Fable 2 out of about 50 total retail games played. So if that's evidence of my partisanship, by all means hang me from the yardarm.

[PeterTHX]

Originally Posted by Jeff Kleist

Not no exclusive games worth playing. No exclusive games worth dropping $300 just to play.

Little Big Planet
Motorstorm 1 & 2
Uncharted 1 & 2
Resistance 1 & 2
Killzone 2
Metal Gear Solid 4
Gran Turismo 5
God of War III

Don't forget I have a 360. The only system I don't do is Wii.

[Doctorossi]

I guess I'm with Jeff- the only PS3 exclusives I'm interested in are Uncharted, Wipeout and whatever Team Ico comes up with next. Meanwhile, I'm all over the 360 line-up.

I'd like to give those exclusives a shot, but to save myself a $400 investment, I can very happily miss two or three games.

[Jeff Kleist]

As I said, nothing worth investing $300 in. And yes, it'll be a cold day in hell I buy a Nintendo console. I still can't figure out why anyone is making games for it that isn't Nintendo. All the major retailers at least have put out a general notice that party/minigame shovelware that doesn't start with "Mario" is no longer welcome on their shelves.

The Doctor about sums it up. Many worth playing? Sure. Worth dropping $300 just to play, when the other 90% of what you want to play is already accessible? Not really. So when I do pick up a PS3 I'll have a great array of much lower priced games waiting for me to play on my new console. Seems like a win-win to me (But I still won't play GT5, LBP, or let MGS4 keep interrupting my movie with silly sneaking around cutscenes )