Crowbar Man

I wouldn't exactly call PS4's library stellar just yet. Most of the launch items are pretty lackluster and/or ports unfortunately. It is a pretty decent lineup though, and will definitely improve. Though at least the ports are better than the previous gen and not worse, in the Wii U's case :/ It'll be just like last gen, I don't think anybody did their main gaming on the Wii. It was mostly a 2nd console for the Nintendo stuff, or the rare times a 3rd party made something interesting with it. The big difference here is that they don't have a massive amount of casuals & hardcore alike buying their console for a new gimmick putting its numbers through the roof like they did last gen. It will probably sit in last place unless someone really messes up and gives them a chance to rise to 2nd. But as long as it does better than the GCN Nintendo will be fine. They still have plenty of heavy hitters to release What I'm more interested to see is how XBO numbers match up. How many people have decided to stick with MS after the whole DRM debacle? Those numbers will be interesting to see

I'm still super excited for 3D World, but looks like I was kinda right about "SM3D" titles being a sub series like NSMB (though much better than NSMB). A "main" Mario game looks like it is still in development, though I hope it is something new and not just a Galaxy 3 (though I wouldn't mind that either, Galaxy was amazing). Not sure if "Galaxy" is used as a place holder here Super hyped about next week!

Amazing work danimal!

G-Mixer: XBO has its problems and PS4 is obviously the better choice and the one I am picking up sometime next year, but just sitting around saying something "sucks" over and over as a reason is lame =P

Oh man, I still can not WAIT for 3D World. EXCITE!

And I'd like to point out that I can pay $15 or less for $60 games that came out just a few years go. Brand new amazing indie games cost anywhere from $5-15. And that I've probably played all these games a billion times, when they came out, and on emu $5-10 for a ROM in an emu is pretty steep if you think about it. Especially considering there still is no account based system for Wii/eShop. Heck they even charge you extra to "upgrade" (just stick the ROM in the Wii U version of the emu). In some cases back on the Wii they were even too lazy to get the emu working with all features, like Star Fox's lack of rumble and Mario Kart 64's lack of Ghost Saves (both you can get with non-Nintendo emus). No idea if they plan on fixing those issues with the "upgrades" Plus, EVERYTHING is on a static price, no matter the quality, so even garbage you wouldn't pick up at a garage sale for 0.10 is $5-10. I just think just about all the VC games should start about half their prices to make them worthwhile. A $1.50 discount isn't much to celebrate. In Comparison: Sony only charges $6 for PS1-era games, have an account based system, AND they work on PS3, PSP, Vita, and hopefully PS4 once they port the emu. That is a value/service worth paying for.

Brandon: NES games have been $5 since the original Wii (a price I've always thought too high IMO, especially since it doesn't vary depending on quality) $3.50 is its sale price... which honestly isn't much of a sale IMO, should be like $.99 but meh, cheapest it'll probably get if you want these. Plus... Zelda DX and Zelda I are amazing games. Zelda II is an odd one but decent. Worth it I guess if you haven't played it a billion times already

Sometidbits: Zelda & Mario Party stuff (both come out on 11/22) Bravely Default Feb 7th Professor Layton & The Azran Legacy Feb 28th 3DS & Wii U eShop balances can be combined to your Nintendo ID in next month's update! Miiverse on the 3DS!

Also, though this would kinda be news for 3DS more than Wii U: eShop balances for 3DS and Wii U can be combined into your Nintendo ID following an update that will be released next month. Finally! Now... if only they had stuff tied to an account... come on Nintendo! Also: Pikmin 3 DLC Mission Mode Round 3: 4 New Treasure stages and 4 new Enemy stages, featuring brand new levels instead of remixed old ones and play as Captain Olimar & Louie! (You have to find/rescue Louie in the stages and he becomes a Captain afterward!). Getting really addicted to the Mission Mode, wish they had some new story DLC though. After the update, 2 of the 8 will be available for free!

Nintendo's prices have been really terrible, as much as I'd love for them to improve I wouldn't hold my breath. At least they finally merged the 3DS and Wii U eShop into one balance.. baby steps I guess. Next stop is to tie digital games to an account... you know something we've had since 360 was introduced :/ But yeah... MS and Sony are the leaders in console space for digital distro. Sony has definitely been ahead of the game since the PS+ was introduced. Hopefully they will continue. Still wish brand new games were cheaper digial than physical... the problem with all 3 digial shops on consoles is half the time i can find the physical versions cheaper (on top of being you know... physical, Automatically better IMO) Though, I am happy the share feature is available for the PS4. I can definately make use of that for sharing between family members and friends. As far as Steam not being fair to compare to... Steam is technically edging its way into "console space" (Steam Machines). PSN covers more than just a single console (PS3, Vita, PS3), and Sony has been talking about the possibility of bringing PSN content to platforms beyond Sony's (Mobile, PC, etc) so... its a battle of digital services in general now really. Steam, PSN, XBL.. heck maybe even eShop (probably not) could all be competing across multiple hardware one day. Something to think about at least

PSN is decent but its nothing compared to the awesome deals you can get everywhere on Steam (Amazon, Greenman, HumbleBundle, etc). Not sure why you mention the eShop, Nintendo is far behind in the digital distro realm, not leading the pack. Steam is obviously the leader there. I'd love for the day that console game prices get as flexible as what Steam offers. Sony is definitely stepping in the right direction here though! ocre: Kinda what I was afraid of with Knack. It didn't particularly look grasping from the small amount of actual gameplay footage they've released. :/ Ah well, I'm sure Insomniac, Naughty Dog, Media Molecule, etc will come up with something amazing sometime in the future

Sony announced that you can now buy PSN games/DLC through Amazon (for PS3/Vita/PS4). This is pretty interesting, because if Amazon can set their own prices it could lead to more sales/discounts for digital downloads which is sorely needed in the console digital realm. We'll see how this turns out They also work on PS3 and a PC (if you use a USB cable, not wireless)

Fun PS4 Stuff: Free Stuff: PS4 comes with 30 days of PS+, 30 days of Sony Music Unlimited, and $10 in PSN Credit! Digital Sharing (Downloaded titles): You can assign one PS4 as a "Home" PS4 which anybody signed into that PS4 can play the the games you've purchased (They can also play online if you have PS+). Your PSN account can also sign into any PS4 and play your digital library as well . So someone can sign into your "Home" PS4 to play a game, while you sign into another PS4, and you can both play the game (even online if you have PS+.) Not drastically different than PS3/360/XBO, though I think PS3 was more flexible with two "Home" consoles. PS4 has party chat now! Cross game chat, the feature sorely missed in PlayStation land if you've ever used XBL is now finally here. Up to 8 people can chat no matter what they are doing on the PS4. You can double Tap the PlayStation button to quickly flip between two apps. "Play As Guest" to log into someones PS4 temporarily, and automatically remove any of your data from that system when youre done. Trophies will cross over from PS3 & Vita, and a new "Rarity" meter will be added to Trophies indicating how many people have earned that trophy USB Charging in standby mode! (For some reason you had to keep your PS3 on to charge stuff... very annoying) Seems like the PS4 is really shaping up!

I think it all boils down to when you're younger you have more time and less money so doing EVERYTHING you can and gets you more entertainment / value. When you get older, you have more money to buy games but way less time to play them, so all the side hunts etc become "probably never going to do it territory" as you stick to mostly just going through the "important" stuff to you. Could be a modern gaming issue too, they pack so much useless stuff in games these days as "filler" for content :/ As with anything, it all depends on what you're doing because gaming is wide spectrum. Like fighters and what not: If you often play competitively, in tourneys or with your friends, learning everything about it can be fun because well.. winning is fun. If you mostly just play casually, there isn't a lot of point to learning every move in the skill set, unless its just something you personally enjoy. But yeah... like most people say: Not all hobbies lead to something productive. As long as YOU enjoy it, that is all that matters.

Psst... nooww I could be wrong but looks like joke article for some of you posting serious responses

http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/11/ps4-gallery/?viewall=true http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2013/11/playstation4-teardown-video/ A tear down of the insides of a PS4 for those who are into that sort of thing. (Meee) Um... spoiler if you want to take your PS4 apart?

Those experiencing input lag: Are you guys playing with 3D on? The game chugs like crazy with it on (framerate drops to slideshow). Could be effecting the input too somehow. Maybe try it without the 3D on and see if you notice any difference?

Brandon: Where are you even seeing the Nintendo fanboys saying this? Usually when I read comments in articles, its mostly XBO/PS4 people arguing back and forth. Those would be pretty deranged fanboys to think anybody is buying a Wii U for media services. Or that Wii U can land anywhere but 2nd or probably 3rd this gen :/ Though if Wii U does have those features (I wouldn't even know) why the heck is Sony sitting these out? I mostly find it aggravating they shoehorned their media services over a stand alone media player. That sucks, the 360/PS3/XBO? can do all kinds of media-ish type things so its a step backwards for us PlayStation owners. If XBO has these features (mp3, DLNA) that is just one more bullet point for XBO, though they need as many as they can at this point. Overall it is nothing major just odd and a step in the wrong direction. I'm never a fan of taking out functionality to shoehorn services. As mentioned, hopefully it will be added in a future patch. Because consoles these days (at least, Sony/MS land) are media devices and don't just play games anymore. PS4 does allow music playing, just through their Sony Music Unlimited subscription, not via your own collection of music like PS3 (or PS2/PS1 with yee old CDs) or other consoles (original XB, 360, XBO?). 360 and certain games on PS3 you could listen to your own music while playing games, certain games even allowed you to create custom soundtracks. EDIT: MS confirmed that the XBO does not do mp3 either, however, it does support DLNA and can stream music from another PC via MS Play To, and for some reason they actually included CD audio playing which... makes no sense why the mp3 was left out here either. Other than of course to push their music services as well. What a bunch of bullcrap from both sides EDIT2: Rumors floating around that mp3 support, legacy headset support, and suspend/resume will be added in the 2nd PS4 update sometime by the end of the year. No official confirmation of this that I can see though. If they do add it, no big deal after all then. But was this only being added because people complained? Fishy Now for some brighter news: Another advantage for PS4 vs XBO: COD: Ghosts is running in native 1080p on PS4 720p upscaled to 1080p on the XBO

A bit of odd / bad news for PS4 (Guess it wasn't all going to be roses!): At launch: PS4 will not support external HDDs (XBO does not at launch either, but they definitely plan on adding it later. This oddly is the only field Wii U is ahead in) PS4 will not support DLNA PS4 will not support mp3s (???), and actually will not have a music visualizer at all. No word on other music formats. Seems to suggest playing music at (at launch) requires use of Sony's Music Unlimited music streaming services Keep in mind these/different functionalities could be added in later, and aren't a big deal for most. Very strange the mp3 one though. I don't think anybody shed tears for CD compatibility, but mp3 is a pretty big deal.

So, some Digital Foundry videos / screenshot comparisons coming out for Battlefield 4: 900p on PS4 upscaled to 1080p 720p on XBO upscaled to 1080p, missing some very minor graphical features, and has slightly worse dips in frames (game is aiming for 60fps on both) They still MOSTLY look the same unless your paying super close attention and side by side, but looks like PS4 is showing some of its muscle right out of the gate. Nothing mind blowingly different but these are probably both super quick PC ports. We'll see as people tweak code down the years if this gap increases

Wonderful 101 was also timed poorly... releasing it at the same time as Pikmin 3, obviously people mostly went with Pikmin 3. Pikmin 3 did pretty well for itself, those aren't COD/GTA5 or even Pokemon numbers but considering how many Wii Us are out there it did pretty well. Its only a few months old and its sold nearly half of the total worldwide sales of Pikmin 1 did its entire GCN lifecycle, and there were 20 million GCNs... there are "only" 4 million Wii U's so far. System sales spiked a bit in every territory it released, it just didn't stay that way unfortunately. Also, the whole "release games on other consoles/systems" probably isn't going to happen any time soon, if ever. Nintendo has stated in the past they would rather close up shop than that happening, and despite the low sales, they are still doing well for themselves. They are very profitable in their business. After all the money they made with the success of the DS/Wii last gen they could probably suffer through a couple of generations of "failures" before worrying. 3DS for example is doing great right now What probably should happen IMO is for next gen Nintendo should release some sort of hybrid console/handheld that is completley portable but can still properly hook to a TV (and can use additional controllers, etc), pulling all their strength & IPs into a single focus. Right now they have an incredible lineup on the 3DS and a pretty weak one on the Wii U. Heck, they'd sell more Wii U's just having a 3DS adapter at this point. If people could go to ONE spot to get ALL Nintendo stuff, and that platform had both benefits of console AND handheld, that platform would be awesome. One can dream... I'm still rooting for the Wii U though. Mario 3D World looks fantastic, and then we still have Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, and most importantly, the next Zelda. Tons of other Nintendo IPs that can be brought back to life, or even new IPs are possible. Biggest issue we're still having is the same issue Wii U has been plagued with this whole time: Not enough Nintendo.

I think 3D World will definately be a system seller. Heck, I wouldn't of thought Zelda WW HD would of pushed consoles but Wii U sales spiked pretty big with the release.. could of had to do with the price drop too though. We'll see how sales are when Mario 3D World comes out, but.. they've timed it against the release of PS4/XBO. That is some pretty poor planning IMO, it should of been this month to lure people away, not the same month/week/DAY. Pretty dangerous gamble The Zelda bundle or the Mario (NSMBU+SLU) bundle, and Mario 3D World is a pretty powerful combo overall for the holiday, just unfortunate the big guys are unloading all the next gen this holiday too. Heck, lots of AAA titles across ALL platforms new and old are being released near the same date. Budgets can only be stretched so far

Hmm I can't remember details exactly since its been forever. (Probably just skip this post because its a trip down memory lane) I remember in 1999 listening to tons of MIDI/remixes on VGMusic.com (Powerlord's website I believe) on my WebTV... at some point I believe I stumbled upon Overclocked.org (Pretzel's website/comic) and a real computer. Sometime after, when mp3s were still pretty new, I stumbled upon OCRemix whenever it was created (maybe overclocked.org linked it probably? Maybe VGmusic? Maybe RPGamer, another site i went for remixes). MOSTLY just listened to the music and never participated/lurked in the community (whenever that started). Always a fan of videogame music & remixes so I came back often. I found many, many years later when I was heavily playing TF2 (around 2008? maybe '09) that OCR had a TF2 server, joined that and had some pretty awesome times hanging out with some pretty cool people, including some of my favorite remixers. Then while Minecraft was still getting super popular, We're Meeting Gman and I joined the server Fireslash had setup for OCR at some point shortly before it was going to be shut down. I decided to step in to provide a place to fuel our MC addiction (both ours and the OCR crew that played it) and we ran the OCR MC server for a short while. Joined the forums (11/2010 according to my profile), hung out when even more cool people. Some unfortunate drama later, I passed the MC server torch to Abadoss/phil. Now everybody pretty much hates me (and my terrible opinions) and I'm just lurking on the forums like a cranky old man. Still think this place is awesome though So, that is the story nobody probably cared about

On November 1st, the US Deluxe model (32 GB Black + Extra Stuff) bundled game (previously Nintendo Land) will be replaced with the Super Mario Bros U + Super Luigi U. Nintendo Land is dropping form its (insane) $59.99 price tag to $29.99 ... which is still pretty expensive IMO. (Should of still of been included at least digitally in the Deluxe model IMO too) Sadly, Wii Party U reviews coming in are not showing good signs. Not sure if anybody has picked this up to confirm. Looks another case of "You are basically buying another controller and get throwaway game" :/ I was hoping for a really nice Mario Party successor. ND Cube has been having a hard time taking over the "Party" series.. I miss Hudson Also... not that I wasn't half way expecting it... bad reviews pouring in for Sonic Lost World (Which is out in PAL & Japan territories... US at the end of the month). What a let down. But Super Mario 3D World continues looking more and more fantastic so can't wait!

BTW: X/Y have hit 4 million units sold in 2 days. While not GTA5 numbers, those are some fantastic figures