In console gaming, there is a legend known as the Third Console Curse. Most consoles are not successful enough to receive a follow-up. If they are, then a third console is still not guaranteed. It is a hard industry not only to break into, but sustain a market share in. Yet something happens with the third console every time. It fails to meet the company's initial goals. Maybe it still sells fine, maybe the console has a wonderful library of games. Even if that is the case, the company loses market share and is in a worse spot at the end of the console's life than they were going into it. It could be arrogance from success. It could be a lack of perspective from being too used to success. Maybe it's just rotten luck. But it's consistent.
After a very long hiatus, PixlTalk is back for Episode 83. For now, you'll only be able to watch this episode on YouTube, but soon the RSS feed will be updated appropriately in order to bring all of the PixlBit podcasts together into a single feed. In this episode, Nick discusses the state of the industry after both Sony's digital-only announcement and Microsoft's huge layoffs, the games he's been playing recently, and a little bit of site information and where things are going next. Tune in to hear more in this reboot of PixlBit's original podcast!
For years Microsoft hoovered up more and more of the games industry. It was shocking when they purchased Bethesda - a huge third party publisher and development house. By the time they secured the deal to buy Activision-Blizzard, it was much less so, and it was clear that Microsoft believed they could buy all the properties they needed to make GamePass a success. It didn't take long to see that their strategy wasn't working.
Yesterday, Sony dropped a few bombs on the gaming world - first, they are discontinuing support of the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita stores by next year, at the latest, with support ending immediately in some areas. Second, they will cease production of physical games by January 2028 for all releases on PlayStation consoles, leaving only another year and half before you'll no longer be able to grab the latest games pressed to a disc.
Going down the top ranked on Metacritic for that year, these are what I played a lot within console generation 7,
The first thing that comes to mind is changing my Xbox gamertag. I got one in 2004 when Xbox Live Arcade dropped but a mini-game on an Official Xbox Magazine demo disc was giving me trouble in '07, and I thought a new gamertag would solve it. Well, it did solve it, but I lost touch with my old gamertag over time, and now it's probably been deactivated along with the few games I bought under it. It'll be 20 years on my current gamertag next year. It could've been 23 years if I'd stuck with my original one.
I ripped through a lot of stuff this week, being impatient to get through it all, the slightest annoyance sending me to the next game in my collection. But, I had a lot of good experiences anyway. I'll break these 360 games into two categories, physical and digital only (or, Xbox Live Arcade as it used to be called).
Idealized because I don't own all of these yet, at least, not in physical form.
It's fun to go down the list of best of all time on Metacritic and make a personal list of favorites. Here are mine for the original Xbox.
I dug into any Nintendo stuff that fits my brick-breaker/fixed screen shooter theme. Then I started a new game list and played what I could without spending anything. Then the usual backups.
Really, two weeks of stuff here. I swap out consoles like they were cakes on display at a cake shop except for the Xbox Series S, which is always hooked up.
I finished the main story of Ni No Kuni II. I kept going for a good long while after that too, wracking up about 60 hours of gameplay but ultimately stopped when a sale for Dragon Quest XI happened. I'm back into that now, probably for the rest of the month. Darn these games are long.
Only one more half-day game-day left for me this month, Monday. I've been deep into Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel this week but also other stuff. Here's 'bout.
Most of my gaming time has been Mad Krammer and I playing the Wizardry remake, but I squeezed in a retro game and the usual Game Pass Rewards game. I also traded some old games I don't like to Game Junkies and picked up some others. Game Junkies is becoming my regular Friday morning haunt of late.
I'm going to focus on the three titles that grabbed my attention, and most of my time, this week. Also a surprise new purchase at the end.
This was another week in Gen 2, tunes on Xbox, a new process to include current games, and I solved my rewards problem.
Not the losers of the World Series but the ones drawn by Osamu Tezuka and animated in a tv series - you know, the really important stuff. Not having the 1963 series, I watched some episodes of the 2003 Astro Boy. It's pretty good. Great animation. Sometimes a very kids oriented story in some episodes but still enjoyable to aged me. Mad Krammer just bought the '63 series, so I'll get to that soon. Anyway, gaming.
2010 was certainly the year of the Wii even though it came out in '06. The top four spots for world wide sales are Wii games with Wii Sports being number 1. Microsoft and Sony tried to imitate Nintendo's success by putting out motion control devices this year with Kinect and Move respectively. Niether did much for thier respective systems. I started blogging this year at 1UP.com. Here are some stuff I played that I would replay and some stuff I missed I'd like to play.
Pokemon finally got topped in sales by Grand Theft Auto this year with Vice City #1 and GTA III #3 in the U.S. . Critical acclaim went to GameCube's Metroid Prime and Zelda: Wind Waker. The Sims topped all-time PC sales beating out Myst this year. Microsoft bought Rare and Gametrailers began online. Remember Gametrailers? I used to check out that site all the time. Now for games I wouldn't mind playing again or for the first time.
I watched some Mobile Suit Gundam Wing and MSG SEED on youtube. I only found a few episodes dubbed into English, most are with subtitles, which I like to avoid. It's a neat show. I'm constantly reminded of US IPs like Halo and Pacific Rim while watching it. GUNDAM just basically means the neural interface with a robotic battle suit, like with Master Chief and Cortana or the piltos and Jaegers of Pacific Rim. Seems this show, just like the hair styles, like their robots all spikey. Fun stuff, and complex. The stories in MSGW are deep in polical intrigue, Earth vs. Rebels, not unlike the colonial uprisings in the Halo universe. I enjoyed it in between lots of gaming that happened during Labor Day weekend as outlined below.
2000 was the year of the PS2. Remember the lines as people wanted not just a game system but a DVD player? I got one later. However, Pokemon still ruled home game sales: Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver and Pokemon Stadium all contributed. Microsoft bought Bungie and PopCap was formed. Mad Krammer and I were really into the Dreamcast, and I bought a PC I could finally call my own. Here is a list of stuff I've played or want to play today in 2023 (darn it, that's 23 years ago!).
I played a lot on Xbox Series S this week, but also used my DS, Swtich, PS4 and Retron 3. Gaming breaks included watching another episode of Mighy Orbots, Return of Ultraman, and Dragon Ball Season 2. Also saw a variety of short youtube videos.
Welcome to a big edition of Nerds Without Pants! It’s a slow news week, but that’s okay, because we have a lot to say about Final Fantasy XVI, and a good amount of emails. Enjoy!