Let's paint a dystopian future: What if the Wii reaches PS2 levels?

My recollection of the situation was one of relative doom for Nintendo. The powerhouse of home console gaming was going to extend their grasp and they could not falter. I'm sure there were people who thought both were silly as well.

GBA still selling like hotcakes, its up on the PS3 two months in a row in the U.S. now :D
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']My recollection of the situation was one of relative doom for Nintendo. The powerhouse of home console gaming was going to extend their grasp and they could not falter. I'm sure there were people who thought both were silly as well.

GBA still selling like hotcakes, its up on the PS3 two months in a row in the U.S. now :D[/QUOTE]

Makes you wonder if it will ever end...Nintendo pulled the plug pretty quickly on the GBC when Advance came..but seriously..the GBA is still keeping on..

I seriously though D/P would be like Mystery Dungeon, one DS and one GBA...I kind of would prefer a quick pokemon game on the Micro.
 
One last post.

Can we not compare console sales with handheld sales.
They're completely different.

Especially comparing a $60 GBA with a $600 behemoth. Hehe.

I wasn't talking about just your cheapness DKM, but America's in general. The average family out there.
I realize you're not cheap though, just have a very, VERY specific taste.

Ok that's it. I'm off to bed for real.
 
[quote name='sarausagi']First of all, as for HD-TV....

there are 19 inch LCD HDTVs with one ATSC tuner and 1 component input for $249 out at stores right now. Circuit City, Fry's, even Wal-Mart, their main electronic shift is HDTVs....look at floor space..look at advertising: you have to be crazy if you think HDTV won't be relevant at all. With marketing, the sheer fact that Wal-Mart is the only place you can really get a piece of shit analog TV, and the FCC rules about digital TV and HD as standards coming into place soon: there's no way HDTV won't be relevant at all.[/quote]
There are no government rules about HD as a standard. The goverment mandate only says that broadcasts must be digital, which includes SDTV. A broadcaster can fit several digital SDTV stations in the same bandwidth as 1 HDTV station, and you can bet many are going to take advantage of that.

It's also worth keeping in mind that nothing much is going to change for cable and satellite TV users, who at most will need to swap out their set-top box. The switch to all-digital broadcasts doesn't mean that everything's suddenly going to be in HD, or that everyone is going to run out and buy an HDTV. Only about 17%* of US households currently have HDTVs, and a lot of people aren't going to upgrade until they have to, so it's probably going to be quite a while before most households have one.

* http://www.avrev.com/news/0107/11.hdtv_research.shtml
 
[quote name='sarausagi']Sly, Jak, Dexter, and Kratos would have a problem with this. Hope you don't find yourself a sheep or mauled by the Blades of Chaos.

How in the world could anyone say Mario Sunshine was way better than every single solid PS2 platform? And while I am loving Ninja Gaiden Sigma, is it really fair to say Ninja Gaiden makes every other action game look like shit? I've never played God of War more than 10 minutes but I'd say it definitely is up there with Ninja Gaiden. The PS2 was/is pretty much king for every single genre.[/quote]I certainly wouldn't say "all those games are crap," but I would much rather play Mario Sunshine again then think about playing a Jak game again. And personally, I feel like comparing God of War to Ninja Gaiden is kinda like comparing someone who beats their fist into the button arrangement on the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 arcade cabinet with someone who can artfully craft combos and just delves deeper and deeper into the game. Ninja Gaiden is far deeper than any other action game out there.

But, as I asid originally, those are just my opinions. Disagree if you want, but there's no arguing who's "right."

Carry on with your regularly scheduled thread.
 
The assumption that the Wii will have no "traditional" games is just misguided at best. For example, Namco has announced that they now have 37 Wii games in development this fiscal year. Compare that to 25 PS3 games and 26 360 games - following a public statement that the lack of PS3 sales has hurt their financials. You really think all 37 of those games are going to be licensed waggle-fests or something? Dear Lord.

I'll be honest, when I first heard about the classic controller, I was less than thrilled - I wanted developers to be forced to use the remote in its entirety. But as time has gone on, particularly when looking at how the DS has evolved, there are just some things that either don't need innovative control, or I don't want it to have innovative control. And for that, the classic controller makes things very simple. If Namco wants to put the next Tales on the Wii and they can't really think of a good way to incorporate the remote (though I don't see how it would be a big problem, you don't tend to need a dozen buttons), then by all means, use the CC.

I think the one interesting thing this generation, if the Wii were to dominate as is being hypothetsized, is Square. With their new strategy to try to prevent console domination by supporting everyone (sure would have been nice if they had done that last gen), they seem to be the only company really obsessed with giving the PS3 exclusives, thereby giving it the hope of being buoyed by system sellers. But whether that will be enough remains to be seen.
 
I've heard of just 3 games that are confirmed to have the option of using a regular controller instead of Wiimote out of the more than 100 announced.

I really really really hope there will be more than that.
 
Just because it uses the Wiimote/Nunchuk doesn't mean it's a random waggle heavy game. There are buttons on those controllers.

Games like Guilty Gear, RE4 Wii, Godfather, and Zelda have all proved that traditional games can be done well. That isn't really argueable. The wii can play a traditional 3rd person action game just as well as the GameCube/PS2 could, and we never had any problem with their ability, right?

I really like Nintendo's strategy of staying just a bit behind the curve. Because when we see the next nintendo console, they'll adapt even more of what was cutting edge today, for an affordable price, probably less than the 360/PS3 have gotten to, except Nintendo can market their system as new, which is an advantage to them.

And sarasugi, I appreciate your post, and your opinions, but saying that because Nintendo has captured the mainstream, their console isn't relevant is just plain dumb. Nintendo is laughing, laughing all the way to the top. I'd wager to say that joe wal-mart shopper (the very demographic which gave Sony its success PSOne and PS2 generations) is now a PS2/Wii owner, and will not be a PS3 owner. Not anytime soon. This is so ironic, because Nintendo is now doing to Sony what Sony did to Nintendo about decade ago with the playstation. Nintendo fans cried the same way about diluting the market, and the poisoning influence of the mainstream.

Comparing an $80 portable that's been selling very well for 6 years, without nearly any software coming out for it to a brand new, high def, multimedia gargantuan like the PS3 is not exactly fair, but it's telling of what people want.

I think the biggest effect that the Wii is going to have on the future is reduced emphasis on hardware, and maybe longer generations before a platform upgrade. Although you could attribute the second one to the PS2 as well. I think they're both good ideas. You don't see a new movie format coming out every 4-5 years, or new music formats..

Who knows, I just find it interesting to think about what the future will hold. I'm drooling over Halo 3 and MGS4 just as much as anybody, but I've gotta admit that things are getting out of hand cost-wise.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']Did Nintendo change gaming? Every time you pick up your non-rumbling PS3 controller and tilt it, you know the answer.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't call motion control something that's changed gaming. It's an utterly useless feature so far on the PS3 and on the Wii, it's the biggest problem with a lot of games.
 
I think another big issue is, as Dr. Mario Kart said, that people aren't going to buy both a 360 and a PS3.

The problem that Sony and Microsoft have is that their consoles are too similar, no matter how much spin they try to put on the fact. They're both marketing to the same people, they're offering practically the same features, and the only major differences are the first party games, and the third party games, which will not stay with a console for long if it doesn't survive.

People will, however, buy both and Wii and a 360 or PS3.

Price drops may help the PS3 and 360, but they'll do just as much to help the Wii. Nintendo is in the best position to slash prices out of all of the console makers. While Sony is losing bleeding money with every console sold and Microsoft is just now starting to make money, Nintendo was making money from the start. While a $200 Xbox 360 might sell fantastically, by the time Microsoft can do that, Nintendo can sell their console for $100, or even $50. It's going to incredibly hard for Microsoft and Sony to compete with that. Nintendo may have overpriced their console by a bit, but it was a genius move. They probably knew they could sell all of their consoles to hardcore gamers early on, no matter how expensive it was (within reason). So now, there's no reason to cut the price of the Wii right now. Why make less money selling something you can't keep in stock? Until Sony or perhaps Microsoft makes the first move and cuts the price of their console, or should the Wii falter in sales, Nintendo doesn't need to cut the price. Just as long as they can keep up this kind of momentum, they can keep it at this price.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']I wouldn't call motion control something that's changed gaming. It's an utterly useless feature so far on the PS3 and on the Wii, it's the biggest problem with a lot of games.[/QUOTE]

Number of times I've used motion control on my PS3: Once, to shake a dude off of me in Resistance.

I do think all this arguing though is pointless until about next year when we have some major market penetration going on.

No wait...the arguing will still be pointless...
 
[quote name='Chacrana']I wouldn't call motion control something that's changed gaming. It's an utterly useless feature so far on the PS3 and on the Wii, it's the biggest problem with a lot of games.[/quote]Motion sensing and Wii Sports has sold 3 consoles to my friends / family in evening play sessions since launch to people who wouldn't ever even consider buying a game console. It may not have changed gaming, but it's certainly modifying the demographic span. You may (rightly) argue that all of Wii Sports could be done on a traditional controller. But that would be neither as fun nor as system-selling at the Wiimote is.

I somehow doubt that motion-sensing will be the next analog stick, but it's certainly a blast when implemented properly. The SIXAXIS is too limited in its hardware to do much along those lines, but the Wii, should someone really take advantage of it, could really, really change the way games are played, or make new games possible that we never had before.

I'm interested to see how everything pans out in the next year or two as more of the top tier teams at different developers get into Wii development.
 
I think we should all take an oath to not discuss teh console warz for another year.
 
[quote name='Apossum']I think we should all take an oath to not discuss teh console warz for another year.[/quote]Why? It's obvious that every 3 days new developments come out that are vital to the life of all three systems! They must be discussed!!
 
[quote name='daroga']Why? It's obvious that every 3 days new developments come out that are vital to the life of all three systems! They must be discussed!![/QUOTE]


The DS is a gimmick
The Wii is a fad
The 360 is cheaply made and breaks when it gets updated
The PS3 is too expensive

They're all going to fail. There it's settled. Get a job hippies!
 
[quote name='Apossum']The DS is a gimmick
The Wii is a fad
The 360 is cheaply made and breaks when it gets updated
The PS3 is too expensive

They're all going to fail. There it's settled. Get a job hippies![/quote]:(
 
[quote name='daroga']:([/QUOTE]


I'm sorry. but you'll thank me later for this.





or....something. :)
 
I don't know why people become loyal to one system then get their panties in a bunch when something negative is said about them. Unless you don't have a good paying job, or have bills out to wah-zoo, just buy all of them.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']I don't know why people become loyal to one system then get their panties in a bunch when something negative is said about them. Unless you don't have a good paying job, or have bills out to wah-zoo, just buy all of them.[/quote]Some people have more important things to do with their money than blow $1250 on video game hardware. Buying them all at full price is hardly prudent. Evenutally, down the line, owning all three when some of them see price drops makes far more sense.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']I don't know why people become loyal to one system then get their panties in a bunch when something negative is said about them. Unless you don't have a good paying job, or have bills out to wah-zoo, just buy all of them.[/quote]Now now, let's not go down that path. There's a difference between being poor and spending money on stuff you don't need. If you look at my spending tab, I'm $1300 in the black this year. So I could buy 2 PS3s, or a PS3 and 360, and a few games, and still have made a profit on the year. But that doesn't mean I would get enough out of a PS3 at this point to make it worth $600, same for the 360. The whole reason I want a lot of nice RPGs and whatnot to show up on Wii is so I don't have to buy a whole new system just to play them. Yeah, I could easily afford to do so, but I'd rather not have to.
 
Did I say anything about blowing money at once? Budget people. It's pretty easy to do.

Now if you don't want a particular system that's fine, but people like that aren't who I'm talking about.
 
Money is one thing, time is another. It's absolutely foolish to buy all three systems this early. Who has time for everything? Especially us CAGs, who tend to buy more cheap games than we have time to play. I've still got a 20 hour save on FFXII lingering, not to mention 15 hours into TP that needs to be picked up sooner rather than later.

Anyway, this thread has some good discussion, I just wanted to see what people thought about this kind of backwards future, which has never happened before, but is a very real possibility this generation.
 
[quote name='Strell']A few things.

1. I loved Luigi's Mansion, but I know I am in the minority. It didn't do anything new at all, but it looked great, was fluid to control, and had a lot of little touches that I really enjoyed. I hope every day I'm going to hear about LM2.

2. Super Mario Sunshine: see above.

[/QUOTE]
When my 360 died recently, I went to Gamestop and bought a few used Cube games to keep me entertained. Luigi's Mansion, Mario Sunshine, Pikmin, and Resident Evil 4. Guaranteed fun simply based on the track record and pedigree.

Fun fact - Super Mario Brothers sold nearly 900,000 copies sometwenty years after its original release when they ported it to the GBA.
 
[quote name='jer7583'] It's absolutely foolish to buy all three systems this early...tend to buy more cheap games than we have time to play. [/QUOTE]

I just found that funny.

:cool:
 
[quote name='Chacrana']I wouldn't call motion control something that's changed gaming. It's an utterly useless feature so far on the PS3 and on the Wii, it's the biggest problem with a lot of games.[/quote]

Yeah because Wii Sports isn't one of the greatest games of all time (in my humble opinion). When this generation is all said and done, we are going to look back and see that Wii Sports changed sports video games for the better (at the VERY LEAST sports games).

That is the definition of "changing gaming"
 
[quote name='schuerm26']Yeah because Wii Sports isn't one of the greatest games of all time (in my humble opinion). When this generation is all said and done, we are going to look back and see that Wii Sports changed sports video games for the better (at the VERY LEAST sports games).

That is the definition of "changing gaming"[/QUOTE]

Wait, my sarcasm meter is broken. Are you saying that it actually is one of the greatest games of all time?

Because... I mean... That's a very bold claim. Almost certainly too bold to make at this point in time.
 
[quote name='Halo05']Wait, my sarcasm meter is broken. Are you saying that it actually is one of the greatest games of all time?

Because... I mean... That's a very bold claim. Almost certainly too bold to make at this point in time.[/QUOTE]

I just don't know if it is sarcasm or not..

Surely..I know there are addicts to the Wii Sports games, but...I'm pretty sure no legitimate long time gamer seriously considers it to be one of the greatest games of all time. Like I've said before, Wii Sports plays EXACTLY like Xavix Games. Best Buy was clearance pricing them about a year ago, and they look about the same graphically too.
 
[quote name='schuerm26']Yeah because Wii Sports isn't one of the greatest games of all time (in my humble opinion). When this generation is all said and done, we are going to look back and see that Wii Sports changed sports video games for the better (at the VERY LEAST sports games).

That is the definition of "changing gaming"[/QUOTE]

Spotty motion detection that replaces a button isn't exactly "changing gaming" and if it is... well, I have no doubt I won't be gaming for long after this gen is over.

I do, however, agree with daroga that the motion controls are definitely making an impact on the gaming demographic though.
 
[quote name='sarausagi']I just don't know if it is sarcasm or not..

Surely..I know there are addicts to the Wii Sports games, but...I'm pretty sure no legitimate long time gamer seriously considers it to be one of the greatest games of all time. Like I've said before, Wii Sports plays EXACTLY like Xavix Games. Best Buy was clearance pricing them about a year ago, and they look about the same graphically too.[/quote]

You must be kidding. You are comparing Wii Sports to that crappy Xavix that used to be at Best Buy?

And yes I do consider it to be one of the best games of all time. In terms of depth? No. In terms of graphics? No. In terms of the amount of playtime and FUN I have gotten out of it? Most certainly. I am hard pressed to think of a game I have enjoyed more in a long long time. Resident Evil 4 I would say I have had more fun playing, but I can't think of any others.

Put aside your notions about what you think a typical game should be and I bet you would be hard pressed to find a game that is more fun than Wii Sports. Maybe Im wrong about what you think, but for me, I haven't found much better.

To Chacarana, if swinging a controller like a bat, swinginng a controller like a hockey stick, swinging a controller like a tennis racket and throwing punches in boxing isn't "changing sports gaming", what the hell do more can you expect them to do? Throw in an Ice Rink for you to skate around on? It is a VIDEO GAME, there are limits to how real it can seem.
 
[quote name='schuerm26']
To Chacarana, if swinging a controller like a bat, swinginng a controller like a hockey stick, swinging a controller like a tennis racket and throwing punches in boxing isn't "changing sports gaming", what the hell do more can you expect them to do? Throw in an Ice Rink for you to skate around on? It is a VIDEO GAME, there are limits to how real it can seem.[/QUOTE]

I'm assuming you're talking to me. And maybe I was happy with the controls I have right now. Maybe I don't necessarily need everything to be new and innovative.
 
[quote name='Chacrana']I'm assuming you're talking to me. And maybe I was happy with the controls I have right now. Maybe I don't necessarily need everything to be new and innovative.[/quote]

Im sure there are tons of people that are happy with PS3 and 360 controls. All I know is that after playing Wii Sports, I no longer enjoy playing your typical button baseball games. After playing Tiger Woods on the Wii, I no longer enjoy playing your traditional button golf games. After playing Madden on the Wii, I no longer enjoy playing your typical button football games.

I know a lot don't agree, but for me the Wii has changed the type of games I like for the better. That's not to say I don't have any use for my 360 though.
 
[quote name='schuerm26']You must be kidding. You are comparing Wii Sports to that crappy Xavix that used to be at Best Buy?

And yes I do consider it to be one of the best games of all time. In terms of depth? No. In terms of graphics? No. In terms of the amount of playtime and FUN I have gotten out of it? Most certainly. I am hard pressed to think of a game I have enjoyed more in a long long time. Resident Evil 4 I would say I have had more fun playing, but I can't think of any others.

Put aside your notions about what you think a typical game should be and I bet you would be hard pressed to find a game that is more fun than Wii Sports. Maybe Im wrong about what you think, but for me, I haven't found much better.

To Chacarana, if swinging a controller like a bat, swinginng a controller like a hockey stick, swinging a controller like a tennis racket and throwing punches in boxing isn't "changing sports gaming", what the hell do more can you expect them to do? Throw in an Ice Rink for you to skate around on? It is a VIDEO GAME, there are limits to how real it can seem.[/QUOTE]


If other games build off of that concept and improve it, then maybe it'll be seen as a trailblazing kind of game (even though it is an obvious choice.)

For one thing, golf just doesn't work. Boxing isn't intuitive at all--there's a specific way to play effectively, and it's much subtler than what you are lead to believe by the instructions. Tennis is pretty much broken-- if two people who are good at it are playing each other, it's a battle of patience, whoever gets bored as hell and stops swinging first loses. Baseball was alright but even then, it's pretty spotty considering it randomly decides when it lets you get a base or when it decides to throw you out. Bowling is alright though.

I had fun with it, my family likes it, it's a good game, but does not sell me on the idea of the Wii-remote being a superior method of control.
 
I am amazed people can't get Golf and Bowling in Wii Sports.

My nieces are 3 and 4 respectively and they figured it out. They even managed to not let go of the controllers.

All of my friends - who tend to only play RPG games - could figure out golf without issue. Some of them even thought it was the best game of the five.

So I have a real hard time believing these two games are that broken when I see so many people having a lot of fun with them and not complaining.

That doesn't make them the greatest thing ever. But it does have me very worried about the "hardcore enlightened" sector, which seems evident by the wildly varied scores a lot of these games are getting during reviews.
 
Ok, I used to be an avid wii supporter but now I'm more against it, however I do see it having a good amount of the market during the next 1-2 years. However, when HD finally starts burning, it'll be lost in the dust. THat and the fact that the wii can be seen as a tool to get someone into gaming. " I loved the wii and I just got a new TV, maybe I should get an Xbox 360 or a PS3 to take full advantage of it Ganes and Blu Ray?!! Oh WOW!!". Maybe i'm just seeing things the wrong way here but who knows? It could happen.

Oh, and I do love it when people describe the gameplay that they loved just a year ago as boring and played out when in defense of the Wii. Not talking about anyone specifically in this thread, just putting it out there.

Oh, oh, back to predictions. I can see the 360 definately being held down becuase of it's unreliable hardware. I think they CAN make a revision and such in the future, that's the only thing that can save them from the bad publicity they have at this point.

Here's the fork in the road. The PS3 and the Wii are at two compltely opposite sides of the gaming spectrum. Either the wii's innovative motion control and affordability will previal and will show that gaming doesn't need HD, or HD will really start burning up and people will want to buy a PS3 becuase they are gamers and want to get the best possible graphics using their TV, or get an HDTV so they can get the best possible graphics using the PS3, The price of the PS3 going down will also help this, too. if possible, I can see sony giving away PS3s with a purchase of an HDTV on the coming months leading up to that faithful day in 2009. It all depends on where the industry is going.

I don't want to completely rule the 360 out, though. It's just that they need to fix the hardware problem. THey won't get anywhere without fixing them. No extended warranties, no better warranty bullshit, they need to fix the hardware.

But in the far, far off future, I see Microsoft going all PC and Nintendo developing for sony with a Wii attachment.
 
[quote name='Punk_Raven']
But in the far, far off future, I see Microsoft going all PC and Nintendo developing for sony with a Wii attachment.[/quote]The rest of that is all well and good, come on: MS might actually make money with this Xbox, so why stop now? Their whole goal wasn't to be a gaming company but to get into the living room. And unless the Wii stops selling within the next 24 hours (and by that I mean not one more console leaves store shelves) they're not going to have much in the way of monetary incentive to stop making hardware.
 
I'm still amazed some people think that the general public is so knowledgable about HD and the like that it's going to factor into this current generation on a scale so grand it's going to affect the majority of purchases.

That is giving the public way too much credit.

Also, Microsoft going all PC? That's why they made the Xbox in the first place - so they didn't have to do that, and so a lot of PC content could be transitioned to the console arena easily, especially considering that the console arena spanks the PC gaming scene like a big titted bitch.

I'd again say Nintendo won't work for another company since they do shit their own way, but I think the keys on my keyboard might fall off from thinking "Why in the f*ck is he typing out that again?"
 
[quote name='Apossum']Tennis is pretty much broken-- if two people who are good at it are playing each other, it's a battle of patience, whoever gets bored as hell and stops swinging first loses.[/quote]I ahve to totally disagree with you on that. There's a lot of skill involved in Tennis, and it's all in the timing. Wii Tennis is all about getting the perfect swing that will veer the ball off to the left or right out of the reach of the AI-controlled scampering. It's not necessarily the most complex/deep game on earth, but I wouldn't call it broken, not by a long shot.
 
[quote name='Punk_Raven']
Oh, and I do love it when people describe the gameplay that they loved just a year ago as boring and played out when in defense of the Wii. Not talking about anyone specifically in this thread, just putting it out there.

[/quote]

Not sure if you have played Wii Sports Baseball or Tiger Woods for the Wii, but then you will probably realize why a method that seemed fine last year, just doesn't cut it anymore. Would I rather actually swing to hit the ball or would I rather push a button or flick an analog stick. For me the choice is obvious. I'm not saying the Wii way is going to be the best for all games. Not even close. Im saying that for Sports, I don't see much other way to play them now. EVEN if that old way seemed fine 1 yr ago.
 
What is HDTV saturation at now, anyway? It can't be more than 30% or so. Probably less.

Of course, gamers make up a large portion of that I'm sure. But there aren't enough of them to matter.
 
[quote name='daroga']I ahve to totally disagree with you on that. There's a lot of skill involved in Tennis, and it's all in the timing. Wii Tennis is all about getting the perfect swing that will veer the ball off to the left or right out of the reach of the AI-controlled scampering. It's not necessarily the most complex/deep game on earth, but I wouldn't call it broken, not by a long shot.[/QUOTE]


there in lies the brokeness...you shouldn't have to rely on AI to move your character. My friends and I stopped playing after I matches went on for longer than 10 minutes without a point...powershots and all.
 
[quote name='Apossum']there in lies the brokeness...you shouldn't have to rely on AI to move your character. My friends and I stopped playing after I matches went on for longer than 10 minutes without a point...powershots and all.[/quote]I still don't understand how that can be considered "broken." It's by design menat to be easy to volley so it's fun for everyone, but your volleys shouldn't be going that long, unless everyone's just hitting the ball to the middle of the court. That would kind of be like trying to win a fightning game by just using the block button. ;)
 
[quote name='sblymnlcrymnl']What is HDTV saturation at now, anyway? It can't be more than 30% or so. Probably less.

Of course, gamers make up a large portion of that I'm sure. But there aren't enough of them to matter.[/quote]
Not only that, but how many people who have an HDTV actually view HD content on it? I'm sure that there are many people who never view HD content on HDTVs because all big (and many smaller) TVs these days are HD, and they don't care about HD. Until I got my 360, my parents didn't have anything that could produce a HD signal attached to their 51" HDTV.
 
[quote name='sblymnlcrymnl']What is HDTV saturation at now, anyway? It can't be more than 30% or so. Probably less.

Of course, gamers make up a large portion of that I'm sure. But there aren't enough of them to matter.[/QUOTE]

Look at TV sales for today and you will see that HD is a big deal. Go to any television dealer and look at the amount of HD set for sale compared to SD sets.
 
[quote name='rodeojones903']Look at TV sales for today and you will see that HD is a big deal. Go to any television dealer and look at the amount of HD set for sale compared to SD sets.[/quote]Kind of irrelevant. Even if retailers only sold HD sets, I still know some people who don't even have cable (obviously older people). If they need to get a new TV, I guess in that case it would be an HDTV. But does that mean they care that they have an HDTV? Not particularly. Hell, I'd say the fact that so many retailers stock such a large amount of HD sets, and yet the penetration rate is so small tends to lend more credence to the fact that people don't really care yet.

I'll even use myself as an example. One of my TVs crapped out a week ago, so some wedding money will be put towards a new HDTV in a few weeks. And yet the only video source that will see any benefit of this TV will be my 480p Wii.

Then there's the whole analysis of screen size vs. viewing distance, where in a lot of cases, your eye doesn't notice any improvement beyond 720p (or even 480p) unless you have a tiny living room or a huge TV.

In other words, the HD argument could go on forever.
 
I have to chime in here.

WII SPORTS IS STUPID!

I played with it for 15 mins when I first got the Wii.
Awkward controls, mildly fun.

I took to this over to a friends place, my guy friend hated it, felt it was stupid and wanted to play Smash Bros. instead.
And the girl of the group even hated it, she wanted to play Guitar Hero instead. What a joke. I thought she'd go crazy about this game.

I like the Wiimote controls for some games, Wii Sports isn't one of them.
So far, they've worked best in Trauma Center. That game could only work on the DS or Wii.
Zelda was ok, but I wouldn't have said no to a GC controller option.
 
[quote name='botticus']Hell, I'd say the fact that so many retailers stock such a large amount of HD sets, and yet the penetration rate is so small tends to lend more credence to the fact that people don't really care yet.[/quote]
That's pretty backwards. We have MILLIONS of people in the US.
That penetration rate is low, and slow, but growing every day. It's going to take a bit. I'm glad they've stopped selling TVs without digital tuners already. They're now banned.

I'll even use myself as an example. One of my TVs crapped out a week ago, so some wedding money will be put towards a new HDTV in a few weeks. And yet the only video source that will see any benefit of this TV will be my 480p Wii.
Click to expand...
Hehe, that's barely making full use of it. I'm pretty sure the TV you get is going to have a built in HD tuner, so you will get 1080i and 720p network programming, and even more if you have cable.
Also, don't you have a DVD player? Time to use the widescreen function!

Then there's the whole analysis of screen size vs. viewing distance, where in a lot of cases, your eye doesn't notice any improvement beyond 720p (or even 480p) unless you have a tiny living room or a huge TV.
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Whoa whoa whoa.
No freakin' way. Maybe you haven't seen real HD programming before?
I now have two HDTVs, and one is a tiny 27" LCD. There's a huge difference between HD and 480SD. It doesn't matter where you are in the room.
Not to mention that wide factor.


Believe me, you WILL enjoy that new TV. Have fun with it!
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']According to this guy on the internet, its 17%, mostly upscale households

http://www.avrev.com/news/0107/11.hdtv_research.shtml

I just dont see why HD penetration should make any difference. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the info. I don't know how correct that number is, but it's better than nothing.

Because HD won't matter at all until a majority of people have HDTVs, and actually care about HD content.
 
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