It amazes me how many people around here don't use these terms correctly, or don't fully understand them. It also does not surprise me that so many companies like Sony and Microsoft intermix these terms to make the sales of a product look better... knowing full well that most people just look at the number without thinking about it.
As such, I will break down the meaning of both terms, and give some words of warning in their interpretation when you read/watch that next press release boasting product sales.
"Units Shipped"(aka: shipped to vendors): This represents units of a product that are SOLD from the parent company (example Sony or Microsoft) to retailers (example - your local gaming store).
When MS says that it *shipped* 8 million Kinect units in 2010, it means that it SOLD 8 million kinect units to retailers. However, this number does NOT represent product bought by end-using customers (me and you), even if some ambitious fanboys or PR types would like you to think it does. But remember, as far as a companies financial statements are concerned... these are units sold, and the company has its money.
"Units Sold" (aka: sold to consumers): "Sold to consumers" means that a product has been sold from a vendor to a customer like you or I for personal use. The vendor makes it money off of the sale, but the producing company does not (it got its money when it sold the unit to the vendor). This number is important because it is a better representation of the true popularity of a product than units "shipped" since it represents actual product in actual end-consumer hands.
It should be noted that "sold" could have the same intended meaning as "shipped" as above, depending on the context, or what sales data was based on, thus it is a term that is often misused/abused (especially in PR events when a company is trying to give numbers that sound the most impressive).
*A word of warning*
In the wold of PR, companies want everyone to think that their product is the next best thing, and will often use whatever number looks the best (i.e. the largest number). A good example is of the reported "sales" of Kinect and Move. MS said that it sold 8 million Kinect by the end of December. This was later clarified to be units "shipped". Thus we still don't really know how many Kinect units are in the living rooms of consumers (a better representation of popularity). Still, this number can be useful, because if we know how many units were shipped say 3 months prior... you get an idea of how quickly vendors are selling their product.
A very confusing number was the 4.1 million units shipped (to vendors) that Sony used for Move earlier this Fall. At the same time, Microsoft reported 2.5 million Kinect units Sold (to end users). The Microsoft numbers were easy to understand, but the Move numbers were not. First, as we now know, shipped does not mean units in your living room, just units in stores. Second, Kinect is one component making one unit. Easy. Move has 3 components to make one unit. Was the 4.1 million that Sony reported based on numbers of components sold, or based on number of units (of 3) sold? Was a combo pack of all three units reported as one sale, or three sales? Was a single pack counted as an entire unit sale, or 1/3 of a unit? Sony did not say. Tricky. So depending on how Sony plays with the numbers, they could have sold as few as 1.37 moves (one unit being three components), or as many as 12.3 million units (1 unit representing 1/3 of the move controllers).
Also remember that units sold does not take into account for people who get a unit, but don't like it and stop using it/trade it in/sell it/etc. That is where the number of units software sold per console becomes valuable. And as PS3 fanboys will be quick to point out... units sold does not take into account for units that need to be replaced due to hardware failure.
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Showing posts with label Pertti Saariluoma. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Pertti Saariluoma. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2011
Why you should play Morriwind if you have only played Oblivion.
If you have only played Oblivion in the ES series I would strongly advise you to try Morrowind, the GOTY edition can be found cheaply and many fans feel it is as good/better than oblivion and here is why.
Firstly the environments are much more varied: Swamps, Deserts with towns made out of giant shells, mountain ranges, caves, a snow island (in GOTY) and robot fortresses to name a few, the game is very alien compared to Oblivion which has forest, Oblivion realm, caves and Mountains.
The main quest is different with you being the main focus instead of a helper to the heir. You character is viewed differently by various NPCs as the quest goes on and you fulfill the prophecy.
One point that can be good/bad depending on how you view it is that there is no voice acting for conversations (there is some in game though) so there is much much more dialogue and exposition than you would get with Oblivion.
The leveling system is better as enemies don't scale to your power. In Oblvion you are always on a level playing field and by the end of the game common bandits have the best weapons/armor just to match you which is very unlikely. In Oblvion most bandits would be equipped with glass armor while there is only 1/2 sets in the whole game in MW and are very hard to get hold of. In Morrowind the start of the game is a real challenge with even small enemies posing a challenge but after a few hours you can cut your way through much more enemies and that gives you a much better feeling of getting stronger.
For side-quests I would argue Morrowind is better due to the fact it doesn't hold your hand, Oblivion has some great quests (going into the painting) but most are follow the quest marker and kill enemy, Morrowind has no quest marker which means you have to follow directions to reach your target and searching for hidden objects actually takes a lot of effort, this makes quest much less boring as you are more involved.
Weapons, magic and armor in MW are much better, there are far more kind of each in both type and material. You can use crossbows, spears, throwing knives/stars to name a few. There are also more weapon skills. The same applied for armor as you get light, medium and heavy. This all allows for a much greater degree of customization than in Oblivion. There are more spells that make the mage class more fun such as flight and blinding.
The guilds in MW are better by a wide margin than Oblivion, firstly there are far more of them and you need to be good in their class to advance, no longer can a swordsman become the grand mage. You can join the imperial legion, various churches and cults, an assassins guild who are the Dark Brotherhood's mortal enemy, vampire clans, elven houses and trading companies to name a few.
Some negatives to MW are that the combat is pretty bad, your chance to hit with a weapon is limited by your weapon skill so at the start you will freqently miss with any weapon, even an arrow will miss at point blank.
The game is also harder to get into as you are dumped into the world, given some cash and a place to go and then you are on your own from there on and this can be quite confusing.
Firstly the environments are much more varied: Swamps, Deserts with towns made out of giant shells, mountain ranges, caves, a snow island (in GOTY) and robot fortresses to name a few, the game is very alien compared to Oblivion which has forest, Oblivion realm, caves and Mountains.
The main quest is different with you being the main focus instead of a helper to the heir. You character is viewed differently by various NPCs as the quest goes on and you fulfill the prophecy.
One point that can be good/bad depending on how you view it is that there is no voice acting for conversations (there is some in game though) so there is much much more dialogue and exposition than you would get with Oblivion.
The leveling system is better as enemies don't scale to your power. In Oblvion you are always on a level playing field and by the end of the game common bandits have the best weapons/armor just to match you which is very unlikely. In Oblvion most bandits would be equipped with glass armor while there is only 1/2 sets in the whole game in MW and are very hard to get hold of. In Morrowind the start of the game is a real challenge with even small enemies posing a challenge but after a few hours you can cut your way through much more enemies and that gives you a much better feeling of getting stronger.
For side-quests I would argue Morrowind is better due to the fact it doesn't hold your hand, Oblivion has some great quests (going into the painting) but most are follow the quest marker and kill enemy, Morrowind has no quest marker which means you have to follow directions to reach your target and searching for hidden objects actually takes a lot of effort, this makes quest much less boring as you are more involved.
Weapons, magic and armor in MW are much better, there are far more kind of each in both type and material. You can use crossbows, spears, throwing knives/stars to name a few. There are also more weapon skills. The same applied for armor as you get light, medium and heavy. This all allows for a much greater degree of customization than in Oblivion. There are more spells that make the mage class more fun such as flight and blinding.
The guilds in MW are better by a wide margin than Oblivion, firstly there are far more of them and you need to be good in their class to advance, no longer can a swordsman become the grand mage. You can join the imperial legion, various churches and cults, an assassins guild who are the Dark Brotherhood's mortal enemy, vampire clans, elven houses and trading companies to name a few.
Some negatives to MW are that the combat is pretty bad, your chance to hit with a weapon is limited by your weapon skill so at the start you will freqently miss with any weapon, even an arrow will miss at point blank.
The game is also harder to get into as you are dumped into the world, given some cash and a place to go and then you are on your own from there on and this can be quite confusing.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Console Disappointments: The PS3 Web Browser
Welcome to the first in a possible series of submissions – if not articles depending on actual approval – about my opinion about certain aspects of this console generation. Perceived disappoints to be exact. I’ll try to keep them short, sweet and hopefully thoughtful.
First up: the PS3 browser. Something that I’ve defended on more than one occasion, given suggestion for sites to visit, but can only admit has problems. And while its far from being as good as the worst browser on a PC you can think of, as a casual use application I’ve found it good enough for an evening of Youtube rather than a few minutes in a chair and a monitor smaller than my TV. Accepted the reality it crashing for no real reason because as system updates came, the browser became more stable.
It also, at least on a site which is in assumed partnership with Sony, has allowed for direct video downloading from the console, become less accessible. Videos cannot be voted or comment on, searches can be run but anything other options also call up a search, direct management of personal accounts is impossible, and really oddly, videos in channel pages wont run. There also seems to have been a drop in picture quality which becomes obviously noticeable when an ad run at a higher resolution.
There is the alternative of YoutubeXL which was supposedly made specifically for the PS3, but its exactly as worthless as the main site has become. Useable but non-interactive. A problem that Youtube proper started to have soon after XL was introduced, and really strangely, one that kept recurring after a PS3 system update seemingly fixed the issue. In other words, the site went from working as it would in any other browser, to having function become inactive, to working properly once more after an update before turning semi-inactive again. To within literal days with updates eventually having no effect.
It took the rumored announcement of Youtube looking into the creation of an app similar to Netflix and Hulu for all consoles to suggest the obvious: that it was Youtube itself which was limiting the PS3’s browser to their site. From a business standpoint, especially if they decide to go with some pay-based model or limited exclusivity with this app they may eventually make, having one of the three gaming systems already having free and decent access would put them in a weak bargaining position. And blocking it overnight, suddenly reducing access to its actual current state, would just piss people off while telling them exactly why they were doing it. Better to lower the bar early.
BlipTV and Dailtymotion are other little mysteries that come to me. Don’t know if they both use the same streaming player, just that were once I could watch videos from them and associated sites directly, I haven’t been able to do so for close to two years. MP3 file content can be directly downloaded, but anything else has to be streamed from PC. Old phased out web code is likely to blame, but like the issues with Youtube there was a period where an update fixed the issue. Then another happened which brought it up again.
So where I’m sort of pointing a conspiratorial finger at Youtube for pulling a semi-Hulu, I’m outright stabbing it at Sony. Given that both sites host pirated content along with tons of legitimate web-shows – Spoony, That Guy With the Glasses – its not to far a stretch that such was done to control what content gets onto the PS3. And again, both these sites are about as well known as Youtube.
Now, I’m only offering my own opinion and conjecture, but if what I’m suggesting is true then this has more validity then OtherOS. Is something Sony has offered as open, yet for whatever reason – changes in management and policy – have covertly scaled back and are controlling. It also occurs to me that if Geohot and Anonon were even a fraction of the everyman hero they think they are, they’d look into the PS3;s browser code to see why it is what it is.
Oh well, so much for short...
EDIT:
Please note I'm not talking about the overall quality of the PS3's browser, but that it can and has been manipulated. Certainly by Hulu and Youtube, but possibly Sony as well. That it is at the quality that it is because its manipulatable. That if at all possible this should be shown and Sony made to answer for it because - in spirit at the very least - it was offered as an open platform.
First up: the PS3 browser. Something that I’ve defended on more than one occasion, given suggestion for sites to visit, but can only admit has problems. And while its far from being as good as the worst browser on a PC you can think of, as a casual use application I’ve found it good enough for an evening of Youtube rather than a few minutes in a chair and a monitor smaller than my TV. Accepted the reality it crashing for no real reason because as system updates came, the browser became more stable.
It also, at least on a site which is in assumed partnership with Sony, has allowed for direct video downloading from the console, become less accessible. Videos cannot be voted or comment on, searches can be run but anything other options also call up a search, direct management of personal accounts is impossible, and really oddly, videos in channel pages wont run. There also seems to have been a drop in picture quality which becomes obviously noticeable when an ad run at a higher resolution.
There is the alternative of YoutubeXL which was supposedly made specifically for the PS3, but its exactly as worthless as the main site has become. Useable but non-interactive. A problem that Youtube proper started to have soon after XL was introduced, and really strangely, one that kept recurring after a PS3 system update seemingly fixed the issue. In other words, the site went from working as it would in any other browser, to having function become inactive, to working properly once more after an update before turning semi-inactive again. To within literal days with updates eventually having no effect.
It took the rumored announcement of Youtube looking into the creation of an app similar to Netflix and Hulu for all consoles to suggest the obvious: that it was Youtube itself which was limiting the PS3’s browser to their site. From a business standpoint, especially if they decide to go with some pay-based model or limited exclusivity with this app they may eventually make, having one of the three gaming systems already having free and decent access would put them in a weak bargaining position. And blocking it overnight, suddenly reducing access to its actual current state, would just piss people off while telling them exactly why they were doing it. Better to lower the bar early.
BlipTV and Dailtymotion are other little mysteries that come to me. Don’t know if they both use the same streaming player, just that were once I could watch videos from them and associated sites directly, I haven’t been able to do so for close to two years. MP3 file content can be directly downloaded, but anything else has to be streamed from PC. Old phased out web code is likely to blame, but like the issues with Youtube there was a period where an update fixed the issue. Then another happened which brought it up again.
So where I’m sort of pointing a conspiratorial finger at Youtube for pulling a semi-Hulu, I’m outright stabbing it at Sony. Given that both sites host pirated content along with tons of legitimate web-shows – Spoony, That Guy With the Glasses – its not to far a stretch that such was done to control what content gets onto the PS3. And again, both these sites are about as well known as Youtube.
Now, I’m only offering my own opinion and conjecture, but if what I’m suggesting is true then this has more validity then OtherOS. Is something Sony has offered as open, yet for whatever reason – changes in management and policy – have covertly scaled back and are controlling. It also occurs to me that if Geohot and Anonon were even a fraction of the everyman hero they think they are, they’d look into the PS3;s browser code to see why it is what it is.
Oh well, so much for short...
EDIT:
Please note I'm not talking about the overall quality of the PS3's browser, but that it can and has been manipulated. Certainly by Hulu and Youtube, but possibly Sony as well. That it is at the quality that it is because its manipulatable. That if at all possible this should be shown and Sony made to answer for it because - in spirit at the very least - it was offered as an open platform.
Improving PSN: Brand Name and the Three Factors Behind XBL's Success
While these days XBL has done less and less to justify its price and while Sony has caught up significantly with PSN, it's still a service that falls behind the brand name of Microsoft's product. All throughout this generation Microsoft has established itself as the dominant online service and Sony has lived in its shadow, playing catch up to XBL.
The most recent release of Cloud storage has helped Sony begin to take a more independent road towards the future of its network, and while this is something I'm hopeful Sony continues to do, there are a few suggestions I'd like to make that are either borrowed in part from XBL or are things I think that can help improve PSN
I think XBL mastered three factors that are important for online services on consoles: Community, Investment, and Accessibility. PSN has either had to catch up to XBL or needs to improve in these areas
What exactly are these three factors and what do they mean?
Community-- the sense of identifying yourself as an established online player within the network of the service as a member of a larger community. You have a name, a career of tracked accomplishments, and are involved within the network's universe in some shape.
Investment-- the features in the network that keep gamers coming back and showing loyalty to the service. These include the need to accumulate trophies/achievements, partake in events, etc.
Accessibility-- the ability of the service to make things as simple to use and effortless for the consumer. This includes features such as cross chat or ease of navigating the service's interface
All these help establish a Brand Name, which is crucial in establishing popularity. The online service is just as important as the name behind the hardware itself these days. By establishing a good brand name for your service you help identify it with consumers, and in order to do this, those three factors need to be worked on
I have a list of things I think PSN can improve to help master these three factors. And here they are:
Unlockable Avatars (Investment)
Xbox LIVE does this with their avatars via unlocking clothing to a system similar to achievements. And Sony should too. They could even tie this in with Trophies: if I get a platinum I should unlock exclusive clothing for my Home avatar and get a free avatar to use on my PSN Card.
A Revamped, Unique Trophy System (Investment)
While the Trophy System has a nice 4-split system to rank trophy unlocks, it's still a copy of Achievements in practice. And, like Achievements, it's not exactly a definition of skill but more a definition of hording. I think Sony can improve this in this way:
Though drastic, Sony should have a dynamic system that pushes gamers to improve a Trophy challenge. In other words, all trophies in a game do not have a locked rank of bronze, silver, or gold. Instead, all trophies have a 3-set requirement: say your challenge is to reach the end of the Corinth Highway level in Killzone. There are three ways you can do this:
a) Complete Corinth Highway with under 10 deaths on Hard difficulty (bronze)
b) Complete Corinth Highway with 5 deaths on Hard difficulty (silver)
c) Complete Corinth Highway with no deaths on Elite difficulty (gold)
Getting a bronze means you can improve that trophy to a gold, which is a better indicator of skill than the typical system
Focusing on Marketing PSN as a Brand Name (Community)
When you think “Xbox LIVE” you know what it contains. But PSN? It's hardly associated the same way XBL is. When you think XBL you think Achievements, Gamercards, Gamertags, Gamerscore, etc. Notice the focus on the word GAMER. This is what made Xbox Live so successful-- it was the focus of making online a community for gamers. There was an association with the terms, and it helped define the brand name of Xbox LIVE. Sony doesn't do that. We have a generic “PSN ID”, “PSN Card”, etc. A simple fix:
Why not focus the PLAY in PLAYStation? Instead of “PSN ID” call it “PlayerTag”, instead of “PSN Card/Profule” name it “PlayerCard”. I know it sounds a bit silly, but I think it makes the network more presentable and marketable, something Microsoft does much better than Sony
A Focus on Presentation (Community)
Speaking of which, why does Sony have such a terrible Facebook app compared to XBL? Why does it have a frankly helpless “What's New” section compared to MS's “Spotlight” that seems to showcase not just their games but a community of content associated with games (IGN's video plug in for example). It's what I feel Sony needs to do. The XMB just feels disconnected from the PSN in various ways. What's New, the News Ticker, and the ways Sony stuffs the PSN Store under certain tabs are ways in which they've tried to push the PlayStation network's content into the XMB, but it just doesn't work as effectively. For one, the news ticker lacks any descriptive information. It's largely ignored because of this. If Sony bothered spotlighting it a bit more and adding useful information, it'd be very useful. Then there's the Friends List. How about more character space? More backgrounds for PlayerCards? Such as, game themes instead of just solid colours? I like the trophy level that is included, but how about giving gamers a worthwhile profile? When clicking on their name I want to open up a wealth of information associated with that person: their name, a page that displays their trophies, their bio, their favourite game, their most recently played, their favourite genre, etc.
All we have is a profile page depicting a very brief “about me” bar with a list of our spoken languages... how is this useful to anyone, especially when tucked away in an obscure section of the network?
How about a way to organize friends into groups?
A Focus on Networking/Social Media (Community)
Adding Trophy levels on PlayerCards made them something we show off to our friends. Before this. Trophies were largely personal achievements that only we cared about. Sony attempted to glorify Trophies via Home's Trophy Room, but I don't know what became of that.
Why not give us a Twitter-like feed that updates our friend's latest collected trophies? Or how about a trophy leaderboard? OnLive has a great “Brag Clip” feature that allows gamers to actually record their game moments. How cool is that?
Such a system adds to the idea of establishing a profile for Players as well as giving incentive to play on the PSN. This is what Achievements did for Xbox; by establishing a community and building online profiles gamers get attached to the brand and this makes it harder for people to switch over. I know when I got my PS3 I swore to get all my multiplats for my PS3 solely because I had a Trophy collection I wanted to keep growing.
How about giving us an actual Facebook app? The one on XBL rocks. The service is actually streamlined right into the Xbox UI. On Sony, all you can do is upload Trophy Notifications. It's pretty weak. Why not give us a Youtube app? Allow us to log in to Youtube via an app, leave comments, favorite videos, rate, etc. Give us a Youtube app that is streamlined with the XMB interface, allowing us to search for videos and watch them in proper quality.
Simplifying and Enhancing the Small Things (Accessibility)
Cross Chat: It's a natural evolution of sending text messages, and supporting one without the other seems to make Sony look like they are stuck behind Microsoft. This is simply out of convenience, and that is something else Sony needs to work on. Give us the ability to instantly open messages when they appear, give us a different in-game XMB that is faster and easier to use, have a database for networking errors that helps users identify/troubleshoot problems instead of giving us some long list of numbers and letters that only leaves users in frustration, etc. There are so many things that seem small, yet can go a long way in making PSN a better service.
Conclusion:
In my opinion, Xbox Live has managed to become a brand name that associates with itself a sense of communal identity for gamers. PSN on the other hand has either played catch up or has done things in a manner that hasn't been as effective. I like that we are seeing Sony include their own unique features like Cloud storage. While Home was something Sony put all their eggs in, it's not exactly a feature that is as accessible as the features we find on the UI that all gamers use. I'd like to see Sony push more things for PSN. I think these things are steps in the right direction and can help establish the PSN as a brand name
The most recent release of Cloud storage has helped Sony begin to take a more independent road towards the future of its network, and while this is something I'm hopeful Sony continues to do, there are a few suggestions I'd like to make that are either borrowed in part from XBL or are things I think that can help improve PSN
I think XBL mastered three factors that are important for online services on consoles: Community, Investment, and Accessibility. PSN has either had to catch up to XBL or needs to improve in these areas
What exactly are these three factors and what do they mean?
Community-- the sense of identifying yourself as an established online player within the network of the service as a member of a larger community. You have a name, a career of tracked accomplishments, and are involved within the network's universe in some shape.
Investment-- the features in the network that keep gamers coming back and showing loyalty to the service. These include the need to accumulate trophies/achievements, partake in events, etc.
Accessibility-- the ability of the service to make things as simple to use and effortless for the consumer. This includes features such as cross chat or ease of navigating the service's interface
All these help establish a Brand Name, which is crucial in establishing popularity. The online service is just as important as the name behind the hardware itself these days. By establishing a good brand name for your service you help identify it with consumers, and in order to do this, those three factors need to be worked on
I have a list of things I think PSN can improve to help master these three factors. And here they are:
Unlockable Avatars (Investment)
Xbox LIVE does this with their avatars via unlocking clothing to a system similar to achievements. And Sony should too. They could even tie this in with Trophies: if I get a platinum I should unlock exclusive clothing for my Home avatar and get a free avatar to use on my PSN Card.
A Revamped, Unique Trophy System (Investment)
While the Trophy System has a nice 4-split system to rank trophy unlocks, it's still a copy of Achievements in practice. And, like Achievements, it's not exactly a definition of skill but more a definition of hording. I think Sony can improve this in this way:
Though drastic, Sony should have a dynamic system that pushes gamers to improve a Trophy challenge. In other words, all trophies in a game do not have a locked rank of bronze, silver, or gold. Instead, all trophies have a 3-set requirement: say your challenge is to reach the end of the Corinth Highway level in Killzone. There are three ways you can do this:
a) Complete Corinth Highway with under 10 deaths on Hard difficulty (bronze)
b) Complete Corinth Highway with 5 deaths on Hard difficulty (silver)
c) Complete Corinth Highway with no deaths on Elite difficulty (gold)
Getting a bronze means you can improve that trophy to a gold, which is a better indicator of skill than the typical system
Focusing on Marketing PSN as a Brand Name (Community)
When you think “Xbox LIVE” you know what it contains. But PSN? It's hardly associated the same way XBL is. When you think XBL you think Achievements, Gamercards, Gamertags, Gamerscore, etc. Notice the focus on the word GAMER. This is what made Xbox Live so successful-- it was the focus of making online a community for gamers. There was an association with the terms, and it helped define the brand name of Xbox LIVE. Sony doesn't do that. We have a generic “PSN ID”, “PSN Card”, etc. A simple fix:
Why not focus the PLAY in PLAYStation? Instead of “PSN ID” call it “PlayerTag”, instead of “PSN Card/Profule” name it “PlayerCard”. I know it sounds a bit silly, but I think it makes the network more presentable and marketable, something Microsoft does much better than Sony
A Focus on Presentation (Community)
Speaking of which, why does Sony have such a terrible Facebook app compared to XBL? Why does it have a frankly helpless “What's New” section compared to MS's “Spotlight” that seems to showcase not just their games but a community of content associated with games (IGN's video plug in for example). It's what I feel Sony needs to do. The XMB just feels disconnected from the PSN in various ways. What's New, the News Ticker, and the ways Sony stuffs the PSN Store under certain tabs are ways in which they've tried to push the PlayStation network's content into the XMB, but it just doesn't work as effectively. For one, the news ticker lacks any descriptive information. It's largely ignored because of this. If Sony bothered spotlighting it a bit more and adding useful information, it'd be very useful. Then there's the Friends List. How about more character space? More backgrounds for PlayerCards? Such as, game themes instead of just solid colours? I like the trophy level that is included, but how about giving gamers a worthwhile profile? When clicking on their name I want to open up a wealth of information associated with that person: their name, a page that displays their trophies, their bio, their favourite game, their most recently played, their favourite genre, etc.
All we have is a profile page depicting a very brief “about me” bar with a list of our spoken languages... how is this useful to anyone, especially when tucked away in an obscure section of the network?
How about a way to organize friends into groups?
A Focus on Networking/Social Media (Community)
Adding Trophy levels on PlayerCards made them something we show off to our friends. Before this. Trophies were largely personal achievements that only we cared about. Sony attempted to glorify Trophies via Home's Trophy Room, but I don't know what became of that.
Why not give us a Twitter-like feed that updates our friend's latest collected trophies? Or how about a trophy leaderboard? OnLive has a great “Brag Clip” feature that allows gamers to actually record their game moments. How cool is that?
Such a system adds to the idea of establishing a profile for Players as well as giving incentive to play on the PSN. This is what Achievements did for Xbox; by establishing a community and building online profiles gamers get attached to the brand and this makes it harder for people to switch over. I know when I got my PS3 I swore to get all my multiplats for my PS3 solely because I had a Trophy collection I wanted to keep growing.
How about giving us an actual Facebook app? The one on XBL rocks. The service is actually streamlined right into the Xbox UI. On Sony, all you can do is upload Trophy Notifications. It's pretty weak. Why not give us a Youtube app? Allow us to log in to Youtube via an app, leave comments, favorite videos, rate, etc. Give us a Youtube app that is streamlined with the XMB interface, allowing us to search for videos and watch them in proper quality.
Simplifying and Enhancing the Small Things (Accessibility)
Cross Chat: It's a natural evolution of sending text messages, and supporting one without the other seems to make Sony look like they are stuck behind Microsoft. This is simply out of convenience, and that is something else Sony needs to work on. Give us the ability to instantly open messages when they appear, give us a different in-game XMB that is faster and easier to use, have a database for networking errors that helps users identify/troubleshoot problems instead of giving us some long list of numbers and letters that only leaves users in frustration, etc. There are so many things that seem small, yet can go a long way in making PSN a better service.
Conclusion:
In my opinion, Xbox Live has managed to become a brand name that associates with itself a sense of communal identity for gamers. PSN on the other hand has either played catch up or has done things in a manner that hasn't been as effective. I like that we are seeing Sony include their own unique features like Cloud storage. While Home was something Sony put all their eggs in, it's not exactly a feature that is as accessible as the features we find on the UI that all gamers use. I'd like to see Sony push more things for PSN. I think these things are steps in the right direction and can help establish the PSN as a brand name
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Which is the best seventh generation gaming console?
"There are different gaming consoles from different brands which compete against each other.Playstation 3 is by Sony,Wii is by Nintendo and XBOX 360 is by Microsoft.They have certain competition but in my view Wii is the best Gaming console.
Wii
Wii:This video game console was developed by Nintendo and released on 19th November,2006.Wii has features slightly better than PlayStation 3 and xbox 360 like it has a wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and detects movement in three dimensions.
It also has WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode.It is the most successful video game console compared to xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.Over 86 million units of wii has been sold worldwide. It also supports over hundreds of eyebrow raising games which makes it distinguishable gaming consoles than others.
GAMES: There are many games which are compatible in Wii. Some names are -
AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack,Academy Of Champions: Soccer,Action Girlz Racing,Active Life: Outdoor Challenge,Active Life: Extreme Challenge,Adventures of Pinocchio,AFL,Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None,Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun,Lawn Games,Legend of the Dragon,The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon,The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night,The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess,The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword,Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole,Lego Batman: The Videogame,Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4,Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures,Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues,Lego Rock Band,Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga,Let's Tap,Line Attack Heroes,Line Rider 2: Unbound,Link's Crossbow Training,Need for Speed: Carbon,Need for Speed Hot Pursuit,Need for Speed: ProStreet,Need for Speed: Undercovering's Story and over five hundred games.Though there are brands which give competition to wii ,no brand has passed its record of most selling units of a seventh generation gaming console this decade.
COMPARISON WITH OTHER LEADING BRANDS:
PlayStation 3:It is the third part of the PlayStation series.This gaming console was developed by Sony entertainment networks.After the huge success of PlayStation 1 and 2,it was succeeded by PlayStation 3.As of April 2011,over 50 million units were sold out from which almost 30 million were sold in Europe and America.
The PlayStation 3 was first released in Japan on November 11, 2006. According to sources within 24 hours of its introduction in Japan 81,639 PS3 systems were sold.It was the fastest spreading gaming console ever.In japan, Ridge Racer 7 was the top-selling game.During the first week of sales Resistance: Fall of Man from Insomniac Games was the top-selling game in North America.It was heavily praised from numerous game website.Game spot gave them the best game of the year award.As of September 30, 2010,over 350.6 million games sold for the PlayStation 3.There are various 3-D games as well which are compatible with PlayStation.
There are over 100 hundreds of games which are compatible in PlayStation 3.some of which are Auditorium HD,Call of Duty: Black Ops,Mortal Kombat,James Cameron's Avatar: The Game,Motor-Storm: 3D Rift,Prince of Persia Trilogy,Resistance 3,Ridge Racer 7: 3D License Version,Virtual Tennis 4,Top Darts,Gran Turismo 5 Prologue,The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, F.E.A.R ,Sonic the Hedgehog,Formula One Championship Edition, MotorStorm ,Virtual Fighter 5,Resistance: Fall of Man,MotorStorm.
XBOX 360:This gaming console is another created a major revolution in gaming history as it has some features like its integrated Xbox Live service that allows players to compete online, download arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, music and movies and its Windows Media Center multimedia capabilities.The xbox 360 is a console manufactured by Microsoft.
It has been released in different dates in different regions like in united states it was released on November 22, 2005 as well as in Canada,in Europe December 2, 2005 and December 10, 2005, in Japan. xbox 360's best-selling game for 2005 was Call of Duty 2 which sold over a million copies.Games like Ghost Recon Advanced War fighter,The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,Dead or Alive 4,Saints Row,and Gears of War.The best selling game of xbox 360 was halo 3 which sold over 8 million copies.There are over 500 games that are compatible in xbox 360."
Wii
Wii:This video game console was developed by Nintendo and released on 19th November,2006.Wii has features slightly better than PlayStation 3 and xbox 360 like it has a wireless controller, the Wii Remote, which can be used as a handheld pointing device and detects movement in three dimensions.
It also has WiiConnect24, which enables it to receive messages and updates over the Internet while in standby mode.It is the most successful video game console compared to xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.Over 86 million units of wii has been sold worldwide. It also supports over hundreds of eyebrow raising games which makes it distinguishable gaming consoles than others.
GAMES: There are many games which are compatible in Wii. Some names are -
AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack,Academy Of Champions: Soccer,Action Girlz Racing,Active Life: Outdoor Challenge,Active Life: Extreme Challenge,Adventures of Pinocchio,AFL,Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None,Agatha Christie: Evil Under the Sun,Lawn Games,Legend of the Dragon,The Legend of Spyro: Dawn of the Dragon,The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night,The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess,The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword,Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole,Lego Batman: The Videogame,Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4,Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures,Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues,Lego Rock Band,Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga,Let's Tap,Line Attack Heroes,Line Rider 2: Unbound,Link's Crossbow Training,Need for Speed: Carbon,Need for Speed Hot Pursuit,Need for Speed: ProStreet,Need for Speed: Undercovering's Story and over five hundred games.Though there are brands which give competition to wii ,no brand has passed its record of most selling units of a seventh generation gaming console this decade.
COMPARISON WITH OTHER LEADING BRANDS:
PlayStation 3:It is the third part of the PlayStation series.This gaming console was developed by Sony entertainment networks.After the huge success of PlayStation 1 and 2,it was succeeded by PlayStation 3.As of April 2011,over 50 million units were sold out from which almost 30 million were sold in Europe and America.
The PlayStation 3 was first released in Japan on November 11, 2006. According to sources within 24 hours of its introduction in Japan 81,639 PS3 systems were sold.It was the fastest spreading gaming console ever.In japan, Ridge Racer 7 was the top-selling game.During the first week of sales Resistance: Fall of Man from Insomniac Games was the top-selling game in North America.It was heavily praised from numerous game website.Game spot gave them the best game of the year award.As of September 30, 2010,over 350.6 million games sold for the PlayStation 3.There are various 3-D games as well which are compatible with PlayStation.
There are over 100 hundreds of games which are compatible in PlayStation 3.some of which are Auditorium HD,Call of Duty: Black Ops,Mortal Kombat,James Cameron's Avatar: The Game,Motor-Storm: 3D Rift,Prince of Persia Trilogy,Resistance 3,Ridge Racer 7: 3D License Version,Virtual Tennis 4,Top Darts,Gran Turismo 5 Prologue,The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, F.E.A.R ,Sonic the Hedgehog,Formula One Championship Edition, MotorStorm ,Virtual Fighter 5,Resistance: Fall of Man,MotorStorm.
XBOX 360:This gaming console is another created a major revolution in gaming history as it has some features like its integrated Xbox Live service that allows players to compete online, download arcade games, game demos, trailers, TV shows, music and movies and its Windows Media Center multimedia capabilities.The xbox 360 is a console manufactured by Microsoft.
It has been released in different dates in different regions like in united states it was released on November 22, 2005 as well as in Canada,in Europe December 2, 2005 and December 10, 2005, in Japan. xbox 360's best-selling game for 2005 was Call of Duty 2 which sold over a million copies.Games like Ghost Recon Advanced War fighter,The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,Dead or Alive 4,Saints Row,and Gears of War.The best selling game of xbox 360 was halo 3 which sold over 8 million copies.There are over 500 games that are compatible in xbox 360."
Why I think Modern Warfare 3 will Suck.
This blog post has alot of personal opinions that many will not like You've been Warned.
Call of Duty was one of my favorite shooters alongside Battlefield a few years back but their is something that is pulling me away from the next iteration.
I've use to always enjoy Call of Duty, working hard to get a 7 killstreak to get my Chopper/Dogs in cod 4 and Waw helping my team win and trying to not die to cost the game which by the way happened plenty of times.
Call of Duty does one thing right, throws you into a easy to play shooter and you will have fun in killing games like Tdm And Free for all but what does it do wrong?
Call of duty is not the best game to have objective gamemodes in, the only good ones are Sabatoge and Search and Destroy but the rest are really bad.
Why do i think that? It's not necessarily that they are bad ideas, they are very good infact and have alot of potential but they need some work. Specifically Domination and Demolition.
What are the problems you may ask? Well Call of Duty never had much of an empasis with teamwork which is a big problem if you want to win a game. The people that play Call of Duty never try to Capture Objectives and when then do want to they do nothing to defend these points, you may see one guy defending while alot of people are attacking and ultimatly you will lose that point in domination because of lack of communication that the community that call of duty has. But that's not even the worse part because if you play with friends you can do very good in all gamemodes if you all communicate very well which is very rewarding.
Another problem is the spawn system in call of duty. Generally the spawn system is decent in game modes like Tdm and Free for All but in game modes like Domination and Demolition they are plagued with spawn campers. This is really one of the worst parts about this game and is a reason that i say call of duty is for people that only want kills. In domination a good squad will generally take over 2 points and spawn kill everyone at the third point and they will all spawn in a certain area which people have locked down and ruins the hole game and i know from experience it's no fun getting spawn killed.
What can they do to fix this problem? Well having more spawn points will cause everyone to spread out more during spawns partially elimating spawn camping and by making people not spawn if someone spawn in a certain area if their is an enemy looking at that spot.
For people to have a bigger emphasis on teamwork i think what should be done is to reward people a much bigger amount of points when defending and less for attacking. Give people points when they're defending someone with a flag/Bomb even if they don't kill anyone just following the guy is enough and will help the team alot because if someone does try to kill him you will ultimatly help
A few other things i don't like that really should be removed is Chopper Gunner type killstreaks. To make it less cheap they should make it so when they are shooting at us they don't see a Red Square Box marking where we are at, i know they have a perk for this but you have to get it pro (in black ops/Mw2) which is a hassle if your a begginer starting off because it's almost impossible to attempt to blow up the gunner without dying.
Maybe the removal of controlled perks will be good as well.
Make maps that are less campable as well because we all know this is a problem in all Call of Dutys which is a reason i like Battlefield alot because in that game we can blow up their hiding spots.
Remember Call of Duty Mw3 has yet to be released and we have barley any details about the multiplayer until May 23 and i can't wait to take a peek at that and see if they fixed any of the issues adressed.
I am expecting an epic Campaign and Spec op in this game i want to add multiplayer to that list.
*Some of the things i say arn't really a big issue as i make it out to be but they do exist*
Hopefully you all liked my Blog and expect to see more like this at least once a week.
Let me know your opinions about everything i said, i am open to everything and love critisism.
Call of Duty was one of my favorite shooters alongside Battlefield a few years back but their is something that is pulling me away from the next iteration.
I've use to always enjoy Call of Duty, working hard to get a 7 killstreak to get my Chopper/Dogs in cod 4 and Waw helping my team win and trying to not die to cost the game which by the way happened plenty of times.
Call of Duty does one thing right, throws you into a easy to play shooter and you will have fun in killing games like Tdm And Free for all but what does it do wrong?
Call of duty is not the best game to have objective gamemodes in, the only good ones are Sabatoge and Search and Destroy but the rest are really bad.
Why do i think that? It's not necessarily that they are bad ideas, they are very good infact and have alot of potential but they need some work. Specifically Domination and Demolition.
What are the problems you may ask? Well Call of Duty never had much of an empasis with teamwork which is a big problem if you want to win a game. The people that play Call of Duty never try to Capture Objectives and when then do want to they do nothing to defend these points, you may see one guy defending while alot of people are attacking and ultimatly you will lose that point in domination because of lack of communication that the community that call of duty has. But that's not even the worse part because if you play with friends you can do very good in all gamemodes if you all communicate very well which is very rewarding.
Another problem is the spawn system in call of duty. Generally the spawn system is decent in game modes like Tdm and Free for All but in game modes like Domination and Demolition they are plagued with spawn campers. This is really one of the worst parts about this game and is a reason that i say call of duty is for people that only want kills. In domination a good squad will generally take over 2 points and spawn kill everyone at the third point and they will all spawn in a certain area which people have locked down and ruins the hole game and i know from experience it's no fun getting spawn killed.
What can they do to fix this problem? Well having more spawn points will cause everyone to spread out more during spawns partially elimating spawn camping and by making people not spawn if someone spawn in a certain area if their is an enemy looking at that spot.
For people to have a bigger emphasis on teamwork i think what should be done is to reward people a much bigger amount of points when defending and less for attacking. Give people points when they're defending someone with a flag/Bomb even if they don't kill anyone just following the guy is enough and will help the team alot because if someone does try to kill him you will ultimatly help
A few other things i don't like that really should be removed is Chopper Gunner type killstreaks. To make it less cheap they should make it so when they are shooting at us they don't see a Red Square Box marking where we are at, i know they have a perk for this but you have to get it pro (in black ops/Mw2) which is a hassle if your a begginer starting off because it's almost impossible to attempt to blow up the gunner without dying.
Maybe the removal of controlled perks will be good as well.
Make maps that are less campable as well because we all know this is a problem in all Call of Dutys which is a reason i like Battlefield alot because in that game we can blow up their hiding spots.
Remember Call of Duty Mw3 has yet to be released and we have barley any details about the multiplayer until May 23 and i can't wait to take a peek at that and see if they fixed any of the issues adressed.
I am expecting an epic Campaign and Spec op in this game i want to add multiplayer to that list.
*Some of the things i say arn't really a big issue as i make it out to be but they do exist*
Hopefully you all liked my Blog and expect to see more like this at least once a week.
Let me know your opinions about everything i said, i am open to everything and love critisism.
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