The $300m space invader

[admin]

A COMPUTER game about a rebel group of humans fighting back against evil aliens who have taken control of the Earth could this week become the biggest phenomenon in entertainment history.

Microsoft - the creator of Halo 3 - is confident worldwide sales could top $300 million by the end of its release day on Tuesday.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/biztech/the-300m-space-invader/2007/09/22/1190486139025.html

[admin]

New video game could outsell top-grossing films (Australia)

THE first-day takings of alien-shooting video game Halo 3 could beat the highest-grossing opening day of any film released in Australia when it goes on sale tomorrow.

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/new-video-game-could-outsell-topgrossing-films/2007/09/23/1190486137340.html

[Chewy]

at 100$(aus)/200$(deluxe edition)

but will it be enough to catch back up to Wii?

[admin]

I don't really think Microsoft or Sony care about the Wii, mainly because it's aimed at an entirely different type of gamer. Hardcore gamers are not likely to be fully entertained by the Wii, and you won't get games like Halo 3, GTA IV, Assassin's Creed on the Wii. And in reverse, people who buy the Wii (mums and dads, grannies, a lot of people who have never played video games before) would not have necessarily bought an Xbox or PlayStation.

The Wii is a perfect "companion" console to have in addition to a "real" next-gen console like the Xbox 360 or PS3 and that's why Nintendo is doing so well. The Wii is pretty useless as a media hub/video player though.

[drfsupercenter]

Why do you need to use a PS3/Xbox as a DVD player when everyone already owns a DVD player? (Unless you need it for up-sampling, but that's a different story!)

[admin]

They are both media hubs (UPnP clients), which means they can also streams video, audio, pictures from your PC over your existing wired network (or wireless if you have the add-on accessories). The Xbox 360 has a HD DVD add-on drive that you can buy and the PS3 has a built-in Blu-ray to give you HD movie viewing. Plus, both do DVD upscaling to 720p/1080p (VGA and HDMI only for Xbox 360/Elite, HDMI only for the PS3).

[drfsupercenter]

The Wii can play videos, you just have to convert them first. Same goes for pictures, except no conversion needed.

And why not just hook your TV up as a monitor if you wanna stream so much stuff? I think the whole "The Wii is bad beacuse it doesn't have a DVD player" thing is stupid really... most of the people saying those already have a PS2/Xbox/DVD player anyway.

[BR7]

Well they sure as hell are not going to impress people by putting out scratched discs

Well, nothing is ever perfect. Halo 3 is by far the biggest release of the year, but this massive launch hasn't been without its complications. The most significant of which is the many reported disc scratches in the Limited Edition, which has caused some major boo-hoo-ing from die-hard fans who dropped the extra money.

But good news: Microsoft has tackled damage control very quickly and are now offering free replacements for any scratched discs caused by "shoddy limited edition packaging." If you're one of the unlucky ones, simply send in the damaged discs along with a disc replacement form by December 31, and you will get a brand new - and guaranteed unscratched - disc in return. This special replacement deal waives the typical $20 fee charged to replace other scratched discs, but hey, this is Halo 3 we're talking about.

Link to story

[admin]

The Wii can only play M-JPEG videos (guide here), which isn't very good for anything - and you can't even play it through a network, it has to be on a SD memory card that you purchase separately. It can also play flash based videos through the Internet Channel, so it opens up streaming possibilities with Orb (guide here). The biggest fault of the Wii is that it can't even play DVDs, although I will argue that the Wii is not intended for people that want a video player/hub, it's just a fun game console for the whole family.

Speaking of media hubs, the Xbox 360 can also act as a Media Center Extender, allowing you to operate your MCE PC through the Xbox 360 interface (record programs, watch TV, plus all the usual media sharing).

Anyway, back to Halo 3. The scratched disc problem is quite stupid ... whoever was in charge of this should be sacked right away. Still, the launch was an amazing success, the highest in history of any video game or even movie releases, with $US170 million sales in the first day alone. Compare this to the movie box office record of $US59 million, set by Spider-Man 3 not too long ago.

[drfsupercenter]

The biggest fault of the Wii is that it can't even play DVDs, although I will argue that the Wii is not intended for people that want a video player/hub, it's just a fun game console for the whole family.

But as I said, I don't know anyone who has a Wii and not a DVD player. Why not just use a settop DVD player, they're cheaper anyway!

[admin]

I think most people feel that since the console has a DVD drive, and the media used is DVD based (althought it uses a different file system), that DVD playback should have been included. Nintendo has said that they will release a version of the console with DVD playback, which suggests existing consoles won't be able to be upgraded (through software) to play DVDs, which is a shame as it introduces a new version of the console with additional features that us older owners will miss out on.

[drfsupercenter]

I'd rather use my settop anyway.

Put it this way, say your Wii breaks and you need a replacement, you've lost your only DVD player if you rely on that method. Same reason I don't buy TV/VCR or VCR/DVD player combos. If one breaks, you lose the other.