Castlevania Dungeon Forums

The Castlevania Dungeon Forums => Hardcore Gaming 101 => Topic started by: Johnny on September 15, 2013, 05:19:08 AM

Title: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 15, 2013, 05:19:08 AM
Are there any on your list to pick up? Aside from Ouya (which I really didn't like) there's a couple out there that look kind of interesting. In addition its rumored that Apple and Google will be making consoles. I do love the potential of consoles to have a large number of self publishing indie games coming along. Its also kind of cool that some even have their own stores.

The thing I loved about Ouya was the fact that they had a strong community of indie developers. Bad part though is Julie and people at the top screwing people over. I think its great to have more community, indie and fan oriented gaming. Also many open qualities which break free from the closed end of gaming. I just hope the indie gaming community doesn't ruin this movement and cause another video game crash that was caused in 1983 with loads upon loads of shovelware.

With that I think I'm leaning towards getting one of the variations of Steambox. What about you guys? Thought about getting an alt console?
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 16, 2013, 04:21:24 PM
A Android based console if really want indie games would be good, since Steam needs this greenlight thing that act as a quality seal, but sometimes hinders some good games too.

Anyway, these two seems to be a good idea. I dont think I would buy a Apple console with all of these politics that they have with their products and their high prices.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 16, 2013, 05:26:03 PM
Well yeah if you don't want to deal with Greenlight and like Android the Mad Catz MOJO (http://madcatz.com/m-o-j-o-android-micro-console/) looks pretty impressive.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 17, 2013, 12:30:04 AM
It would be good if they at least have given a release date or some more info.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Beaumont_Belmont on September 17, 2013, 07:25:45 AM
The current Big 3 weren't always the Big 3. First there was Atari, (Mattel) Intellivision, and Colecovision. Then it was briefly just Nintendo, with the Atari 7800 and Sega Master System a distant second. Then it was Sega and Nintendo and NEC, and then Sega, Nintendo, and Sony (and it was good). I kinda miss Sega being a major player.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Flame on September 17, 2013, 10:33:31 AM
PC. Huehue.

jokes aside, depending on how the next gen goes, Microsoft could drop out. This upcoming gen seems a sink or swim black and white race. Either be a hit in the long run, or fail. The xbone, for example, seems to already be sinking.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 17, 2013, 12:20:45 PM
It would be good if they at least have given a release date or some more info.

Very True. But by comparison to Ouya that fact that you could use the Google Play Store on MOJO as well as other Stores to get games gives it a fairly big library from the getgo. Only thing is Android games could never be as good as games on Steam because Android games are more limited. Steam usually uses Ubuntu which is a 64 bit Operating System, Android is only 32 bit. Also Steamboxes seem to be more powerful mini PC-like and Android boxes hardwarewise are pretty much tablet hardware in a case.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: X on September 17, 2013, 03:43:33 PM
I guess you could say the the Steambox is the new XBOX, just without all the bulls**t security issues.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 17, 2013, 06:19:30 PM
I guess you could say the the Steambox is the new XBOX, just without all the bulls**t security issues.

I suppose though for a long time indie gaming seemed to stay on the PC and wasn't on the home console. Once the Video Game Crash of 1983 came and Nintendo came along with the Seal of Quality, it required a publisher for any developer to have a game on a console. This was to prevent any floods of crappy games making their way onto the consoles. I think it was just recently with the introduction of the portable Apple products like IPhone and IPad that you started to see more self publishers make their way out there. Though I suppose Ouya is technically the first home console to do that even though it is horrid.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 17, 2013, 06:37:24 PM
To be honest, I wish only Nintendo, Sony and PC would remain, and that the only option of portable gaming would be Nintendo's and Sony's portable consoles.
I don't like how everything is everywhere, developers can make games for PC without any kind of restrictions, and everyone's got a PC, so why bother on miscellaneous consoles?
Phones are for calling and web browsers are for, well, browsing the web.
That's how it always was. That's how I like it.
And that's the way I see it.
Forgive if I sound grumpy. I fear for the future of Nintendo and Sony's consoles.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 17, 2013, 09:29:42 PM
I don't think there's any threat at all to the big 3. Mostly because it would be like saying a local burger joint near your house is a threat to McDonalds. These Micro Consoles and Steamboxes are closer to specialized PCs and Tablets than they are to consoles I think. Yes consoles have hardware in them similar to PCs but its the firmware and UI that makes them what they are.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 17, 2013, 09:52:56 PM
I think the mobile market is already a threat to home consoles and portables. And this isn't new. Companies have learned that casual people (I wouldn't even call them gamers) give them more money than real gamers, so they develop casual junk for them and they are already paying less attention to real games.
I don't know what the future might be, but Nintendo is in trouble, and if Nintendo falls, I think the whole industry will collapse.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 18, 2013, 12:25:47 AM
Future news:

(https://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fgame.watch.impress.co.jp%2Fdocs%2F20080529%2Frambo06.jpg&hash=3890a6d2c10bd5952af50531d1fccabcaae91d47)
Segata Sanshiro will invade and destroy Microsoft, after that he will revive SEGA.

How? Using a disguise he will enter easily
(https://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Ffuuka.warosu.org%2Fdata%2Fvr%2Fimg%2F0010%2F03%2F1376875653743.gif&hash=aac899e3b72021bf3b42df7c0c5c925606e1c6c9)


(https://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.gawkerassets.com%2Fimg%2F18374luab2l5vjpg%2Foriginal.jpg&hash=154d6ba061f26e66fcccdfe76804e7c4832aae51)

Then SEGA will do their own Super Smash Bros style game

(https://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.gawkerassets.com%2Fimg%2F18374lcivd99qjpg%2Fku-xlarge.jpg&hash=d4aefffd18aeac33039a6ab5be86c710e88c68d1)

(https://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.gawkerassets.com%2Fimg%2F18374lkf35u55jpg%2Fku-xlarge.jpg&hash=27aefb947f5f5c10894ab7a92829c9ef22d2b763)
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 18, 2013, 03:19:32 AM
That would be nice... well, I think such a game would be mediocre, but cute... like, well done, Sega, it's still bad, but congratulations for trying  :P
And it would be better than the horribly mediocre Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Beaumont_Belmont on September 18, 2013, 05:45:58 AM
All those Sega characters, no Gilius Thunderhead? Blasphemy.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 18, 2013, 01:43:23 PM
No Alice from Valkyria Chronicles, also.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: KaZudra on September 18, 2013, 02:36:20 PM
PC. Huehue.
Same, HUEHUEHUE
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 18, 2013, 04:27:59 PM
Yeah, I think it would be something like Sega All-stars Racing, mediocre but enjoyable :P

I want SEGA from Genesis/Mega Drive era back :(
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 18, 2013, 08:31:07 PM
I think the mobile market is already a threat to home consoles and portables. And this isn't new. Companies have learned that casual people (I wouldn't even call them gamers) give them more money than real gamers, so they develop casual junk for them and they are already paying less attention to real games.
I don't know what the future might be, but Nintendo is in trouble, and if Nintendo falls, I think the whole industry will collapse.

Well some people feel like the flood of any old person making a game for a console or even making consoles themselves isn't any good. Some people just feel consoles, games, etc should be made by large corporations and not in someone's basement. Mostly because the feeling behind that is that if everyone who made games were allowed onto all the consoles, it would be much harder to sort through all the crappy games to get to the good ones. However, call me rooting for the underdog, but I actually admire indie game creators. These are people who are gamers themselves so its even possible they may know more about what the gamers want rather than the people in the boardrooms who just throw a slew of Call of Duty and Halo clones out onto the market. It brings diversity even if a lot of the indie games aren't any good.

I'd honestly rather have someone making a game who cares about my input and how I feel than a large corporation who could care less and have their own agenda when they make games.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Beaumont_Belmont on September 18, 2013, 10:09:38 PM
Indie game creators are important. Not all indie games are great- Stugeon's Law applies just as much as indies as to AAA, but they keep supposedly dead genres going and introduce some awesome original stuff. What are we going to remember in 10 years, the nth Beige Military Shooter or something like Minecraft or The Binding of Isaac? Most AAA games are just shovelware with nice production values.

I don't think the console market is threatened as much by the "casual" mobile market as we like to think. 20 years ago the games you find in the App Store would have been arcade games instead of phone games. The only difference is that the technology is reversed, the  arcades typically had better tech than home consoles could provide, and phone tech lags behind console and PC tech. I just wish that game journalists would stop treating the two markets as the same. It's like treating the market that buys Budweiser for a party as the same that tries a new craft brew every week.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 19, 2013, 12:33:10 PM
Indeed. Indie games are important, though most of them aren't very good. But there's always some hidden gem. The thing is that I don't want to lose my big console games. But I was referring to things like Candy Crush saga when I said something like casual junk.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 19, 2013, 05:41:47 PM
Indeed. Indie games are important, though most of them aren't very good. But there's always some hidden gem. The thing is that I don't want to lose my big console games. But I was referring to things like Candy Crush saga when I said something like casual junk.

Oh yeah those games theres way too much of. "Get all the stars, items, etc and complete the levels." Like Angry Birds, Farmville, and Bejeweled clones. I hate those types of games. Why do you think I hated Ouya so much. Also I hate the fact that you also have to buy in game items in a lot of those crappy games. Ugh.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Intersection on September 19, 2013, 06:46:33 PM
Oh yeah those games theres way too much of. "Get all the stars, items, etc and complete the levels." Like Angry Birds, Farmville, and Bejeweled clones. I hate those types of games. Why do you think I hated Ouya so much. Also I hate the fact that you also have to buy in game items in a lot of those crappy games. Ugh.
Indeed.
Some of these games can offer a good, casual, if occasional distraction. I actually rather like some of the simple, unobtrusive brain-teasers you can sometimes find on mobile systems ( I'm particularly fond of Flow) -- they're very useful for passing time, and can even make for some enjoyable mental exercise.
Yet the great majority of "casual" games you'll find don't allow that; instead, most games are so charged with artificial requirements and constraints that you'll soon find yourself bending to the game's expectations, rather than the other way around. You end up preoccupying yourself unnecessarily for a simple distraction that should never have been on your mind in the first place. The game is there to fulfill your needs -- you should always be entirely free of choice as to when and how you will play it. Yet games that truly allow this are becoming increasingly rare on the market today, and I utterly resent that.
Farmville falls into yet another category of parasitic games. Like in countless other cases, it places real time limits on virtual items or events, and restricts your progression for increasingly larger time intervals. This forces you to bend to the game's own hours, rather than letting you choose your own. It's vicious cycle that eventually robs you of all enjoyment, and, in most cases, the only way to escape it is to... pay.
And no, none of them are ever free. No matter how much time you dedicate to a game, you'll always find yourself confronted, some time or another, to a paywall. You're not powerful enough; you need more time; you don't want to wait; you want to "unlock" extra content. It's always there, that shameless grab for money. And it's the reason why I've all but given up on this form of mobile entertainment. Nowadays, unless I know exactly what it is, I don't even consider a game that's devoid of a price tag. Alas! It's the sad reality of today's industry.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 19, 2013, 09:13:35 PM
I think that we can call these games as "social games". Indie games are cool, but social games rarely are good. If EA at least tried to be smart, they would do a game like The Sims 2 for facebook instead of this half-assed The Sims. It could be like The Sims Online, imagine how cool it would be to actually see your friends and chat with them in your virtual house.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 20, 2013, 05:29:37 PM
That's asking too much from EA, one of the shallowest companies ever.

And I did enjoy things like Defend Your Castle and Pop in WiiWare, they were funny games with very little to offer, but you just kept playing.

But those low budget games with over thinking and over worked stuff don't fulfill their role of quick fun, neither are they great games like they try to be, or good retro games for that matter.

They are just... that. IDK how to call them. That's why I said casual junk.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 20, 2013, 06:37:34 PM
I will leave it here and run since it can be a bomb (!)
http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/ (http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/)
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Beaumont_Belmont on September 20, 2013, 09:14:03 PM
I don't know about calling EA shallow. They're a business. And a big one. Just like Nintendo, they're about what will give them the biggest bottom line. Nintendo swells their bottom line by pandering to their fanboys, EA swells theirs by catering to the Battlefield and Madden markets. *shrugs* Guess I don't see a difference.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 20, 2013, 10:07:54 PM
Difference is that EA did this:

DRM: So you really isnt the owner of your disk, they should choose in how many computers you can have it. If at least it was for digital games I could "try" to understand.

Origin: I only see people telling bad things about it, please if someone here had a good experience with it let me know, so I can remove this bad impression of Origin.

Offline games that need to stay online: Sim City, why they would want you to always be online to play Sim City? People have proven that its possible to fully play it offline if you hack the game, so it obviously is a enhanced DRM thing, even more intrusive.

Also this, maybe the worse and discovered it by acident now:

Accusations of spying[edit source | editbeta]

Origin's end-user license agreement (EULA) gives EA permission to collect information about users' computers regardless of its relation to the Origin program itself, including "application usage (including but not limited to successful installation and/or removal), software, software usage and peripheral hardware."[28] Initially, the EULA also contained a passage permitting EA to more explicitly monitor activity as well as to edit or remove material at their discretion.[29] However, this section was removed following an outcry over privacy implications. That outcry was fueled in part by pictures and video captured by several German gamers which showed Origin accessing tax programs and other unrelated software,[30] as well as a report by the news magazine Der Spiegel investigating the allegations.[31][32] In response to the controversy, EA issued a statement claiming they "do not have access to information such as pictures, documents or personal data, which have nothing to do with the execution of the Origin program on the system of the player, neither will they be collected by us."[33] EA also added a sentence to the EULA stating that they would not "use spyware or install spyware on users' machines," though users must still consent to allowing EA to collect information about their computers.[34]


Apart from all that, their fanboys doesnt help EA anymore simply because they've lost a lot of their fanbase because of these bad things. Any company in right mind wont will abandon their fans, since they are the people that gives them money. Look at Capcom, they neglected fans for so long that now they are almost going bankrupt, atleast Monter Hunter 4 is saving them for a vrief time with it high sells.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Beaumont_Belmont on September 20, 2013, 10:24:18 PM
Origin is pretty much a middle-of-the-road digital distribution system. It doesn't have Steam's sales, community, or fun, but it also doesn't totally ruin your experience like GFWL or uPlay. The DRM thing has been going on for a while- first with SecuROM and later with other ones. I have mixed feelings on EA. Sometimes they do some heinous crap- they've run several companies and franchises I loved into the ground.

But at the same time, they do a lot of the same stuff other companies do, but get much more heat for it. As far as Nintendo is concerned, I think they're holding onto their core fanbase- but they're not bringing anyone new in. The same people that bought the last Pokemon are gonna buy the new one, and new people aren't all that interested.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 20, 2013, 10:34:07 PM
Well, lets see if that PokemonAmi thing attracts tamagotchi fans xD

I've discovered today that Desura has been sold to the same company that did Second Life, a week ago. Its a good or a bad thing? You already can see the name of he company if you scrool down the page.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 21, 2013, 11:08:20 AM
I don't know about calling EA shallow. They're a business. And a big one. Just like Nintendo, they're about what will give them the biggest bottom line. Nintendo swells their bottom line by pandering to their fanboys, EA swells theirs by catering to the Battlefield and Madden markets. *shrugs* Guess I don't see a difference.
Metroid + Mario + Zelda + many more VS. sports games and whatever. That's how I see it.
I don't mean it in an offensive way, I just believe Nintendo's quality can't be matched when it comes to games.
I hope all Konami games were like the good CV's, but they aren't. And that applies to all companies. Except Nintendo, you have a base quality assured, even in their worst games.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: KaZudra on September 21, 2013, 11:28:39 AM
EA is shit, Every IP in their possession, every developer under them has went so down-hill that I doubt anyone else would take em.



uPlay is so fucking retarded, I have to get uplay and register for it just to play a DEMO, a FUCKING DEMO, so I have steam running, the uplay, so I have to login to login, run not one but two DRM services to run a DEMO, I love Ubisoft, but their PC division is beyond retarded.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 23, 2013, 02:41:48 PM
I don't know about calling EA shallow. They're a business. And a big one. Just like Nintendo, they're about what will give them the biggest bottom line. Nintendo swells their bottom line by pandering to their fanboys, EA swells theirs by catering to the Battlefield and Madden markets. *shrugs* Guess I don't see a difference.

Still EA does what Nintendo and a couple of other companies don't do which is if you buy a used game, you have to pay to use the online features or you get punished in some way or another.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 23, 2013, 03:02:30 PM
Still EA does what Nintendo and a couple of other companies don't do which is if you buy a used game, you have to pay to use the online features or you get punished in some way or another.

Remember when that old story, when a company called Microsoft said that Xbox One wont would accept used games, so you would need to pay a tax that costs almost the value of a new game? That story makes me laug everytime.

Bad thing about it is that it was a real story and wasnt even old.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 23, 2013, 03:47:05 PM
I really don't care about that, 90% of what I play are downloaded roms from the internet.
Where I live, if you aren't millionaire, if you want to play and have a good life at the same time, you have to rely on piracy.
Consoles cost more than a monthly salary, and games are sometimes like a quarter or a third part of a monthly income. And that's if you have a decent job (in money terms).
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 23, 2013, 03:53:30 PM
I really don't care about that, 90% of what I play are downloaded roms from the internet.
Where I live, if you aren't millionaire, if you want to play and have a good life at the same time, you have to rely on piracy.
Consoles cost more than a monthly salary, and games are sometimes like a quarter or a third part of a monthly income. And that's if you have a decent job (in money terms).

Described Brazil at the same time with this.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 23, 2013, 04:14:35 PM
I know. It's really difficult to buy original games, and more difficult to buy consoles when they are new.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Johnny on September 23, 2013, 04:17:14 PM
Remember when that old story, when a company called Microsoft said that Xbox One wont would accept used games, so you would need to pay a tax that costs almost the value of a new game? That story makes me laug everytime.

Bad thing about it is that it was a real story and wasnt even old.

True and I'm sure EA and Microsoft aren't the only companies either out there with an abundance of stupid ideas. Its just those two companies in particular don't seem to learn from their mistakes. If they do learn, they just make bigger ones later on along the way.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Lelygax on September 23, 2013, 07:39:54 PM
Yes, its seems that these new consoles will cost almost if not more than R$2,000 here. This can sound a low price for some americans, but think about a country where a standard work pays R$800 monthly and more or less R$100 is used to pay bills (Im only counting water and energy in that).
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 23, 2013, 08:24:39 PM
In my country a good salary is about 500 euros. Imagine my surprise when I learned what PS4 will cost.
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Neobelmont on September 23, 2013, 08:26:32 PM
Has any one mentioned wonderswan? I'm more interested in the crystal and color more than anything and I want dat Final Fantasy edition.  ;D
Title: Re: Alternative Consoles (Consoles not made by the big 3)
Post by: Pfil on September 23, 2013, 09:00:01 PM
You can find Wonderswan in e-bay these days.