DOAXVB: The Hype

<font color="lightblue">Xbox may be on its way to the morgue but it's not going to go quietly. Tecmo is trying to do interesting things for Xbox. Have you seen the latest hype on DOAXBV? They're pushing the ESRB to the next level... Believe that...

Click here to check out the rumblings at the TecmoInc.com Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Forum.

Let the comments commence! Peace...</font color>

 

That is so sad, Microsoft is desperatly clinging on for dear life and with the anouncement of this game it just makes it much more true. This is the most pathetic game I've ever seen. But there is a chance of a nude mode!! Yay!!! /versus/images/icons/grin.gif

 

It might be really good /versus/images/icons/laugh.gif Unfortunately I'm a one-console person...

Microsoft has a lot to thank Tecmo for.

 

I don't wanna play it, I wanna watch it. /versus/images/icons/tongue.gif

 

Well I just wantg to buy the new swimming suits /versus/images/icons/grin.gif

 

It would be nice to see DOA3 vs. VF4 volleyball. Yeah, that would be sweet!! /versus/images/icons/grin.gif (the women not men /versus/images/icons/mad.gif )

 

In that case I'd take Aoi and Helena in my team ^_^
Anyway we'd also need shower scenes!!! /versus/images/icons/grin.gif

 

Dying? Only in Japan, its CRUSHING everything else all over the world...and belive me, MS can throw enough money to force itself down people's throats...its not dying people, get over it.

 

Not likely...

<font color="lightblue">What are you smokin'? That's not what my reports say. This is taken from PSM May 2002 Issue: </font color>

<font color="white">"War Is Hell
According to sales figures published in late March, PS2 has sold more than 8.3 million unites in the U.S. (since October 2001) and is currently selling more than 65,000 a week. Xbox and GameCube havesold 1.4 million and 1.3 million systems, respectively, and are running nearly neck-and-neck in weekly sales at a pace of approximately 30,000 units every seven days. It's more important to note that the PS2 sold nearly twice as many systems during its first three months of sale (back in the fall of 2000) than Xbox or GameCube hve in their first four months -- despite shortages.

It would take a miracle for either to catch the PS2 at this point; Sony could lose half its weekly sales and still maintain a massive lead until the next generation. This is important for gamers, because game publishers (at least those who want to make a profit) are going to throw most of their weight (and games) behind the market leader. The fact that developers are now beginning to priase PS2's hardware and development tools rather than bemoan its difficulty to learn should also play a big role in broadening its already massive software library...

PS2
Current Weekly Sales: 65,000 Units
Total Console Sales: 8.3 Million Units

Xbox
Current Weekly Sales: 28,000 Units
Total Console Sales: 1.8 Million Units

GameCube
Current Weekly Sales: 32,000 Units
Total Console Sales: 1.5 Million Units

Xbox and GameCube are both selling at less than half the rate of PS2 on a weekly basis. This is partly due to the lack of any really must-have games for either system, but mostly due to the Sony having already cemented itself as #1 in the minds of consumers..."</font color>

Click this link for Magicbox.com Japan Report on 2002 Video Game Console Sales.

<font color="white">"Playstation 2
May 27 - June 2 Sales: 56,772
Total Sales in 2002: 1,875,385

GameCube
May 27 - June 2 Sales: 4,118
Total Sales in 2002: 441,087

PSOne
May 27 - June 2 Sales: 3,729
Total Sales in 2002: 137,983

Xbox
May 27 - June 2 Sales: 5,912
Total Sales in 2002: 222,601"</font color>

Click here for another North America Video Game Console Report.

Click here for the Europe Video Game Console Report.

<font color="lightblue">If you have more current numbers, JUST BRING 'EM! No one cares if you whine but don't have anything to back it up. I own both Xbox and PS2. </font color>

 

Re: Not likely...

Having lower sales doesnt mean youre DYING .
After all look at the lead the PS1 enjoys over the N64 yet the N64 is still seen as a succes .

 

Re: Not likely...

<font color="lightblue">If "N64 not being made anymore while PSX/PSOne live on" = "success", then OK...

If "Xbox being outsold by PS2 in Japan 9 to 1" = "success", then OK...

PSX lives on in PSOne. It's 10+ years old and it still competes with Xbox? Xbox is dying...

IMO Xbox needs Japan deserately. Japanese software and hardware companies are making more and more plans not to support this system heavily. Check it out:</font color>

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE CONSOLE WIRE/BLOOMBERG REPORT

<font color="white">"Investors already think Xbox is irrelevant in the Japanese market,'' said Makoto Suzuki, who helps manage $1.1 billion in Japanese equities at Chuo Mitsui Asset Management Co. "Sony is now the maker of choice among owners of home-use game consoles.''...

"It's a certainty that the Xbox isn't a threat anymore to Sony's PlayStation 2,'' said Toshiyuki Fukushima, who helps manage 250 billion yen in Japanese equities at Sumisei Global Investment Trust Management Co. "I'm interested in how this will affect the parts suppliers for the Xbox.''

<font color="lightblue">That showed at Bloomberg, fer cryin' out loud! They are talking @#$& about Xbox over there and that cannot be good for the life of the console...</font color>

 

OK, Let's Get at the REAL Issue Here...

<font color="lightblue">All right, gang! Here a question open to everyone and the REAL reason (go ahead and lyao, ahm cool wit dat) why I posted this thead:</font color>

<font color="yellow">Do you think this game will get an M Rating or an A Rating?</font color>

<font color="lightblue">I've been trying to get at a deeper issue than flesh colored/shaped polygons: Tecmo is testing the limits of the ESRB rating system here. This is landmark case if ever there was one! Violence is zero in this game, nudity will be as well depicted as, if not better than, any game before it. Sounds like an M rating to me. But the ESRB is made up of types who will rate a non-violent sex movie with an X and that is the ESRB equivalent of an A rating...</font color>

Click here for the ESRB Rating system.

<font color="white">Mature (i.e. M Rating)
Titles rated "Mature (M)" have content that may be suitable for persons ages 17 and older. These products may include more intense violence or language than products in the Teen category. In addition, these titles may also include mature sexual themes.

Adults Only (i.e. A Rating)
Titles rated "Adults Only (AO)" have content suitable only for adults. These products may include graphic depictions of sex and/or violence. Adults Only products are not intended to be sold or rented to persons under the age of 18.</font color>

<font color="lightblue">Here's Brian's quote again from the TecmoInc.com Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball Forum for your entertainment and analytical review:</font color>

<font color="white">"We're creating a Beach Volleyball game that we invisioned a long time ago. Yes, it will have beautiful women and some objectionable material. We're creating the game the way we want it to be, we are not striving for a Teen or Mature rating. Whatever ESRB gives us, is what we have to live with. We will not have any Sexual Intercourse or Penetration in the game, that is the only thing that can make it a Adults Only game. Having nudity will not neccessarily mean will receive a Adults Only rating. Rated R movies is like having a Mature rating in a way."</font color>

<font color="lightblue">Can you dig it? I know that you can... Again, all comments are welcome. Thanks for playing along...

Ready, go!</font color>

 

Re: Not likely...

The N64 wasn't to far behind when it came to the number of systems sold. It was enough to keep them in the business. But, microsoft is barely staying afloat in Japan, not even sega's biggest video game franchises are selling well. It'll be a while longer till it catches on in Europe and North America.

 

Re: Not likely...

People the acceptance rate of the XBox is higher then that of the snes and genesis were, its higher then that of the PS1, yeah its running third, but gloabaly the difference is not that big with the GC .
Why dont we hear people declaring the GC DoA ?
The PS1 took a year to reach a million in the US, the xbox did it in a few months .
So what if it doesnt have Japan, it never stopped the megadrive/genesis from becoming a global succes .

Regardles of all this, MS themselves expected even before the XBox was released to lose money on it till 2005, they commited themselves knowing they would have problems breaking even on the project over its entire lifecycle .
The XBox is meant to be the foot in the door and the catalyst for the next generation of hardware and in that respect its doing incredibly well in showing MS dedication and willingnes to incur heavy losses in an attempt to enter new markets .

Just look at the handheld PC market, MS lost shitloads of money and it took em 6 years to move up from less then 2% of the market to having around 50% .

Its like you guys want the XBox to fail and would actually prefer a Sony monopoly .

 

Re: Not likely...

Read this if ya wanna know my toughts, theyre from e3 2k1 but still valid :

The smoke has cleared the dust has settled bridges have been burned and the face of the gaming industry has changed forever .

Sega has effectively ceased production of the Dreamcast , Nintendo introduced a new handheld as well as a new dedicated games console , Sony s PS2 honeymoon period is over , a bullish Microsoft has entered the console arena and the Worlds biggest gaming trade event passed just a month or so ago .
During the span of a few days the above companies as well as hunderds of others were supposed to impress us , introduce us to levels of graphics and gameplay previously unheard of , keep us excited in the future of gaming so we will continue to pump oure Dollars , Yen , Euros etcetera in the industry wich they represent .
All the ingredients for a big menu to feast on were there yet somehow almost all companies involved screwed up and ended up serving us a happy meal instead of a rich buffet .

The reactions after the show however from both the general public as well as the press sickened me .
They proved to me what I had been thinking all along .
The videogame industry as the last bastion standing against the borg has been assimilated as well .
No longer does quality and reality matter , its all about perception and being part of a certain group in order to give oneself an identity to feel part of a bigger being and attach ones ego to the succes of that being .
It was a slow and lengthy process but it has now been completed , the videogame industry pretty much like the rest of the entertainment industry is now fully assimilated .
Oure oppinions and feelings are being marketed in a sickening way , every counterreaction is being absorbed by the borg and marketed back to us and as such it is being turned into the mainstream .
Insane Clown Posse as well as Gangster rap and others in previous years are perfect examples of how the borg see something wich is getting attention from rebelious people and finds a way to turn it to mainstream succes thus killing the purpose of those people and turning a rebelious attitude in yet another marketing gimmick .

So what was it exactly that made the show and the subsequent reporting below par , what was it that made me feel hungry and unsatisfied with the served portions ?
Imo it was the fact that no one in contrast to previous years was trying to change the status quo, everybody played nice and almost no one rebelled .

Ill try to explain company by company .

The dissapointments .

1 : Sony .

Sony as the clear cut market leader had strength in numbers , arrogance reigned supreme and the bigger third parties are forced to make theyre biggest games for the PS2 platform or face lower sales then previous years .
Sony knows this and acts acordingly by bullying retailers and third parties ( carry Bleemcast and they will lower the alotment of PS2 consoles for instance , on the third party side Working Designs had to delay the US version of Sylpheed the lost planet several times becouse Sony didnt feel like approving the title and instead kept on demanding small changes to the game wich had been approved for Japan a long time prior yet in the end when it was finnaly approved the game had very few changes compared to the Japanese release ) .
Sony s arrogance was further heightened by the fact that Sega is now a partial ally instead of a competitor , Nintendo doesnt seem interested in putting up a fight and Microsofts inability to captivate audiences .
But more about that in the segments about those companies .
As I mentioned in the intro Sony s honeymoon is over , the PS2 has been released and its time to impress with the actual product and content and sadly Sony as always didnt have much to show .
The company is still relying on its third parties ( many of whom are unhappy but have no real alternatives ) with few exciting products of its own .
Sony is well aware of theyre weakneses , sadly they also know that theyre strengths ( name recognition and user base mainly ) are bigger then theyre own actual lack of content so they dont really care about providing developers with the tools they crave to make more exciting games nor do they care about providing quality content themselves ( not to the level of a Sega or Nintendo or even some of the bigger third parties annyway ) .

2 : Nintendo .

Nintendo , the company that everyone loves to love was considered to have a good showing at E3 and this was hightened by the praise Nintendo received from press and public alike .
Yet those who cared to look behind the hype the GC and GBA were receiving saw a company stuck in its old ways , a company wich could be so much more then it is today yet refuses to change its ways .
Those who looked at Nintendo as just another company exhibiting instead of having theyre views distorted by the love they might feel in theyre hart for the company saw a Nintendo that has seemingly learned nothing from the past .
I came away from the Nintendo booth with a feeling of deja vu , Nintendo still treats its third parties ( apart from a few minor preffered ones ) as shit and simply doesnt seem interested in providing a real challenge to Sony , instead opting to extend on theyre N64 busuines model ( thank God Nintendo now has some select Sega teams at its side who will provide the sort of games otherwise sorely lacking from Nintendo s own line up ) .
In fact most of theyre games at the showfloor were looking and playing like N64 games running in a higher resolution or simple upgrades from games we played long ago .
Even the much touted Pikmin was nothing more then a Lemmings update for the new millenium .
GBA Nintendo s freshly released cash cow didnt help matters .
Instead of the killer portable we were promised we got a machine that at best is comparable with the 16 bit home consoles of over a decade ago .
The games as well mostly consist of cheap ports of decade old games wich are being sold at full retail price .
In the 16 bit era Nintendo had fierce competition from Sega so they were forced to give people theyre moneys worth , people wanted more Mario so Nintendo gave them Mario All Stars a compilation of 4 older Mario games enhanced for the Snes .
With the GBA Nintendo simply doesnt have ANNY competition to speak of so we get Mario 2 a 15 year old game , supported by a league of other 16 bit classics like Mario Kart , FZero etcetera all at full price with little to no extra s added .
Nobody understands the art of riping people off as well as Nintendo ( no not even Sony or Microsoft ) does and no other company can get away with it like Nintendo can .

Microsoft .

Microsoft the company that everybody loves to hate wasnt able to captivate audiences like they should have .
It wasnt the hardware since that is a step above the Gamecube wich in itself is a step above the PS2 .
It wasnt the software either since Microsoft had a lot of games in either playable form or on video ( manny of wich are in fact excellent as games or looking way ahead of the games on other machines graphically ) , manny more in fact then Nintendo had this year or indeed Sony had last year .
Games like DoA3 and Jet Set Radio Future upped the bar graphically and have no peers on other machines , games like Gun Valkyrie and Project Gotham feature unique and innovative gameplay and there are anounced but not yet shown high potential games like Crazy Taxi next and Panzer Dragoon as well as high profile ports like Onimusha or Silent Hill 2 .
Yet where Nintendo and Sony were aplauded Microsoft got the cold shoulder .
So what was it then that Microsoft did wrong , that left a bad impression with the attendees ?
I am from the opinion that Microsoft was considered to have had a bad show simply becouse it was Microsoft , not becouse of a lack of good games or bad hardware or whatever but simply for being Microsoft .
Seemingly Microsoft has taken Sega s place as the company that just cant get anny respect .
With the PS2 sweeping the marketplace and the Gamecube and Gameboy Advance on attendees minds people are unwilling to give the XBox the chance it deserves simply becouse its a Microsoft product .
Microsoft with the XBox at E3 was unable to convince people to judge the machine and its games , instead people judged the company behind it and as such Microsoft failed by default .
Regardles of the above Microsofts own games were generally dissapointing as well wich is never a good thing .
In fact the most exciting products coming to it seem to be the anounced Sega games and unless Microsoft gets its act togheter the XBox stands the chance of becoming a money pit of epic proportions wich will make Sega s losses seem like pocket change .

The press , attendees and general consumers ( yes YOU ) .

Like previous years press and public had chosen theyre favourites well before E3 and few things at E3 could have changed that .
Sony and Nintendo won and Microsoft lost becouse it had been decided long in advance that that would be the picking order .
Like I mentioned at the start , perception is more important then reality .
Never mind the fact that Microsoft had a showing that was much better then that of Sony a year prior , people have short memories .
Nevermind that people were complaining about the framerates of some XBox titles or the fact that the games were not complete yet and then went on to defend Gamecube titles becouse they are not complete yet while claiming to honestly not see the low framerates in some Gamecube titles .
Nevermind the fact that people call the XBox a PC or a port box yet when it gets exclusive games say they wont remain exclusive and they will just wait for a PS2 or Gamecube version .
Nevermind the fact that people wouldnt have given Pikmin a second look if it had been a game featured in the Korean games booth in Kentia hall yet hailed it as the second coming becouse Miyamoto is producer .
Nevermind all that becouse it was decided by the Borg long ago .
For further proof of that look at last year when Sega s games on DC were kicking the pants of the half finished crap in Sony s booth and in the booths of Sony s third parties .
Yet it was decided BEFORE E3 2K that Sega had no chance against Sony so almost everyone declared a non playable trailer to be GAME OF THE SHOW .
Half assed tech demo s and unfinished games wich later turned out to be crap were touted as killer titles ( The Bouncer springs to mind as does Zone of Enders wich was being called a Virtual On killer despite being nothing like Virtual On ) .
And as such the sentiment before E3 and the subsequent reporting made for a self fullfilling prophecy , Sega failed last year becouse people wanted Sega to fail , Sega didnt have a chance becouse it wasnt given a chance despite theyre monumental efforts .
Now Microsoft is in the dangerzone Sega used to be in and it remains to be seen just how much they can bounce back .
Difference is Microsoft can financially handle it and they werent annywhere as good as Sega was last year .
By acting within this frame and reacting within the confines set up by the Borg YOU have allowed the assimilation of this hobby .
You as a consumer , member of the press , retailer , developer , publisher or whatever are as guilty for the situation we are in as the Borg and whats even worse most of you dont realise it and hapily go on evangelising the word of the Borg as if youre lives dependet on it .
For those still wondering what I mean with the Borg ill explain , its like a huge maelstrom wich decides what happens the maelstrom consists of us yet despite it consisting of us we cant control it and instead it controls us and instead of realising it most people choose to believe that its them controling the Borg and not the other way around becouse oure fragile ego s cant handle the truth , we cant comprehend oure own insignificance in the neverending movement of the larger ego .
An ego that is not ourse yet who we trough conformity or non conformity try to make oure own so that oure own ego s become nonexistent and oure entire way of life and way of thinking ends up being controlled by the Borg .

Other smaller annoyances .

Sega s appointment only policy and show presence : Altough I can understand Sega s reasons ( after all no company ever gave as much as Sega did last year without getting so little in return ) for keeping its booth closed to the general attendees ( and apparently even people like Miyamoto and Molyneux ) I still feel it was a bad move since this way the people who will actually sell theyre products ( retail clercks ) had no chance of seeing and playing the games they are supposed to sell for Sega , bad move .
Sega also decided to showcase fewer games compared to previous years , a few XBox games , a few Gamecube and Gameboy Advance games , NO PS2 games at theyre own booth and most of the DC games coming in the next few months .
Dissapointing as well was the fact that all of the Sega games on other platforms were either ports ( from arcade or DC ) or sequels to established franchises .
No original content was shown for anny machine apart from Dreamcast .
One of the things that made Sega so great was that they were never affraid to take chances and in doing so made games that influenced the entire industry ( even more so then Nintendo ) , goin the third party route however might change this .
Iff Sega stops behing the innovative creator they always have been and becomes a third party like Konami or EA the entire industry will suffer .

The death of PC : Fewer PC games then in previous years coupled with mega projects wich seemingly take decades to finish ( yes Gathering of Developers thats you im talking abouth )

Minors at E3 : Minors have no place at E3 and IDSA advertises with an ABSOLUTELY NO MINORS policy yet hand them the money and you can buy badges wich allow minors to be admitted .
Last thing a crowded trade show needs ( apart from Nintendojo guys who think they know Japanese ) are spoiled little brats .

Fanboys , ebay swag auctions , E3 food quality and food prices , Vic Ireland , missed apointments , 15 houre flight time to reach LA , overpriced dollar making everything super expensive for me etcetera .

Some good stuff .

Looking past the numerous dissapointments and the ever present Borg E3 for me still managed to have its moments .
Mostly in things that are rarely publicised by the Borg controlled press and im sure that some of these things will grow in the coming years so that the Borg will have no choice but to take notice and assimilate them as well .

Korean Games booth : Tucked away in Kentia hall was the Korean Games booth ( Kentia hall is the part of E3 wich the Borg dont care about ) featuring some of the best online games , PC adventures , arcade cabinets and innovative games and accesories of the entire show .
As I said before , iff Pikmin had been here at this booth nobody would have cared about it .
The Koreans are coming and im sure that they will continue to grow to become an international force in gaming instead of a regional as they are now .
It has already begun as a Korean company had licensed Grandia2 for PC for the Korean market and began programing it and when Ubisoft saw the stellar work they were doing they decided to pick it up for a Western release .

Agetec : One of the few companies left that cater for the hardcore and bring games over wich other publishers wont give a chance .
Thanks Agetec for bringing Metal SlugX to Western shores , thanks for picking up Last Blade 2 for release on US Dreamcast at a moment when other publishers are dropping the little machine that could have .
I urge everyone to give companies like Agetec a chance and take the plunge with Metal Slug X on PSOne and Last Blade 2 on Dreamcast .
Both are killer titles for theyre respective platforms and companies like Agetec deserve oure support much more then companies like EA or THQ who have the financial power to market and sell whatever coockie cutter games they publish .

Conspiracy Entertainment and Crave : Another company that seems to cater for the niche hardcore market .
At Conspiracy I was casually checking out GBA Tiny Toons when Dan Jevons ( the executive producer formerly known as Knightmare ( from Gamefan fame )) spoted me and my company .
He started a 15 minute speach abouth how happy he was to have secured a 5 game deal with Japanese developper Treasure ( first Conspiracy/Treasure effort is a weird and wonderfull game called Stretch Panic , you can read lots more abouth it in GameGo magazine ) and how excited he was about working with those talented guys .
Genuine enthusiasm like that is a rare thing in this industry and im glad to see that Dan hasnt lost anny of his enthusiasm ever since he left the UK to work in America .
Dan this world needs more people like you , people who genuinly care about the games and who would rather have a moderate hit with a good game then a monsterhit with rehashed crap .

GameGo magazine : Eric Mylonas after the Express.com/Gamefan debacle has started a new magazine that will cater for people with differing tastes , for people who have grown wary of the mainstream press and are looking for something a little bit more different .
I wish them the best ( yes even you Shou-Sama ) and even tough I have my doubts about the long term viability of the magazine I hope Eric , Mat and the rest of the GameGo crew pull it of and can make a small difference .
Oh and guys , dont give in to the Borg .

Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences : The AIAS hands out the annual AIAS awards and strives to get more recognition for the people who make a difference in the gamesworld .
Sadly the annual awards ceremony was met with a lot of empathy by the companies who had received awards , most of wich didnt even bother to turn up to receive theyre awards .
The AIAS in Paul Provenzano has since last year a president who brings with him a lot of experience and from my interview with him seemed verry passionate and proffesional with a great understanding of the games industry .
Its always a pleasure to talk with people like that and I wish him the best of luck and hope he achieves the goals he set for himself and the AIAS .

Thanks go out to the following persons as well : Heidi thanks for acompanying me troughout the show , Juyi Naka for being a good sport and missing four taxi s to chat with Heidi and me , Jason Wilson from Tips and Tricks magazine , the TNL crew for having so much patience with me , Andrew Alfonso for being a good sport after I firmly planted my knee between his legs .............. repeatedly , the guys who s pizza I stole when I visited the TNL crew in theyre hotel , my roommates in the Hollywood Ramada for allowing me more financial breathing space , Peter Mui from NCS ( I dont know what would have happened iff you didnt retreive my passport just houres before my plane left ) , team Ninja s Itagaki , Sega/Smilebits Hiroko Yokosuka ( ill mail you soon I promis ) and countles others .
You people made my stay in LA bearable and almost worth the effort .

 

Re: Not likely...

Despite the shortages during the PS2 launch, it still sold a million units in a few months, More would've been sold if it had not been for the shortages.

The reason GC doesn't have DOA is probably because Nintendo has captivated young audiences who prefer "kiddie" games which is most desired among the GC audience.

Microsoft may have a slight chance of staying in the console race but it'll never be a big or as popular as the PS2. Though I highly doubt that the Xbox will last.

It's also a fact that no American made console has ever survived in Japan.

 

Re: Not likely...

I beg to differ, the VCS2600 did quite well in Japan .

 

Re: Not likely...

Can I ask, what the hell is that?

 

Re: Not likely...

Wow, you dont know what a VCS 2600 is ?
Dude its an Atari, the machine that started it all .

 

Re: Not likely...

Of course, I just never heard of VCS2600 before. I've only played it once before.