NaCl

@EeTMeeL said:

@trophyhunter: Who should I care who J Allard is? Oh big deal, Mr Clean put on a sweat shirt and and sports coat and is now selling Microsoft swill.

Unless you are an MS/xbox fanboy, you don't. He is not even that famous.

They should have picked a more famous and note worthy person or at the very least a platform neutral one.

Dumbest one in the achievement.

Maybe. There are a lot of advantages to online distribution, it really saves on the logistics of distributing games.

@Contrarian said:

I will bet anyone a large amount of money that if PS4/Xbox Next is digital only and Wii U has discs at stores, the Wii U will win so easily it won't matter.

Here is something I never see anyone talking about - We know many people have crap broadband. I get a 3Gb limit a month and downloading games iss out of the question. Why don't they have an internet connected unit at major department stores that downloads games to disc on the spot and the store just has a display of the games available. You get the disc printed on the spot with a printed surface and a printed sleeve to go with the case that comes with it. The cost of the sleeve, case and printed disc is part of the game cost. The store gets a handling fee. I would use that service. All they need is to ensure is security is embedded in the code against piracy (that will eventually be bypassed - as usual). I would use that and there would be no waste as games are made and sold on demand. It can't be that hard right?

The B&M retailers won't be a problem if you play it right. e.g. the PSV.

While B&M retailers will lose revenue due to online distribution, Sony is making it up to them by letting them sell high marked up memory cards which the download games will reside on, keeping Sony on their good side.

I can see the shift to flash memory if they get cheap enough - we are already using flash for portable gaming at 1-2GB per game after all. Optical disc are capping out in the transfer rate department, non-solid state hard discs are not improving much either. Flash on the other hand you can read several hundred of MB per second.

You want to prevent school shootings? Stop the bullying. It's that simple.

@uniform said:

Squaresoft. Sorry, I know it's not going to be a popular answer, but it was once upon a time.

Yupe, a pity they upped and vanished after releasing Final Fantasy X in 2001.

@Aoi said:

Also out of curiosity, since nothing was referenced with the comment, I'm wondering how the UMD Passport program was a big mess in Japan. It seemed pretty straight forward (other than the varied price of course).

Probably licensing related. Sorting out the licensing stuff for the US is probably going to be a headache several magnitudes larger.

@skrutop said:

@NaCl said:

@RareMonkey said:

That seems like a good thing, but you still have to buy two copies of the games right?

Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Also this is Cap-ILOVEMONEY-com we are talking about here. It's fucking miracle Sony convinced them not to gouge us.

It's a bit unfair to expect a company to give out a free copy of a game on the Vita just because you bought it for the PS3.

Well, technically it's the same game. Kind of like watch a movie on both your iPhone and on your TV - format shifting.

But ya you are right. However, plenty of people here with self-entitlement complexes don't think so though.

As for the free MvC3 DLC, you're making a big assumption that Sony convinced Capcom to offer that.

Wait. You think Capcom will give up an opportunity to squeeze their customers for a little bit more money? Capcom?!

Let be honest here, the only company that benefits from "cross-platfrom freebies" is Sony. Capcom ain't their "friend" - there is no such thing as "friends" among "maximize shareholder value at all cost" corporations. There is no reason for Capcom to give away ANYTHING for free.

@RareMonkey said:

That seems like a good thing, but you still have to buy two copies of the games right?

Talk about looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Also this is Cap-ILOVEMONEY-com we are talking about here. It's fucking miracle Sony convinced them not to gouge us.

@Galiant said:

@NaCl said:

@Galiant said:

@pyrodactyl: They really, really, don't need a "JRPG guy". Just like they don't need a "sports guy". They'll keep doing what they've been doing, which is why the site is so popular.

If you want to listen to people talk about JRPG's specifically, that go beyond the interests and knowledge of the Giant Bomb crew, there are a number of sites out there where you can find it.

I don't really understand this view.

What's wrong with adding people, with interests (like JRPG or sports) which are different from theirs, so they are a little more well rounded with their coverage? It's not like they are going to stop covering what they are covering now.

No, that's true, there's nothing wrong with that. But I don't feel that it's needed. My main concern is the Bombcast. Would they get along well with the current crew? How many people would they add? One for JRPG's, one for sports? Where does that end? I don't like the sound of that. I like my Bombcast the way it is, and adding too many people to it would change it too much...I don't feel that Giant Bomb needs to cover everything. They cover the big titles, and things they find interesting. That's enough for me.

Now do you understand my point of view? =P

You worry too much. The guys at GB are professionals. I'm sure they can handle their own personnel management.

I will be honest with you, I don't listen to the bombcast. If the newcomers are unsuited for it, they can just don't do it.

Where does it end? When they run out of money. Basically as many as GB can afford. And note, these guys aren't just going to ONLY review JRPGs/sports, it's just that if there is a JRPG/sports that needs reviewing they will be the go-to-guy for it - better than forcing someone who has no interest in said genre at all ramble cluelessly through a review/Quick Look.

Personally I want GB to cover as much as possible. They are a general site, not a specialist one, after all. In doing so they can broaden the gaming horizons of their readership, introduce new genres to them. By covering only the big titles, that other sites are already covering anyway, GB will be nothing more than an "echo chamber" that re-enforces the popularity of already popular titles - while "obscure but good" games remain stuck in obscurity. IMO gaming needs more variety - something that has been declining in the recent decades; I swear 90% of all AAA games now are fucking shooters or shooters-with-icing (e.g. Mass Effect, Skyrim, The Darkness 2).

@rebgav said:

Dude, they could hire a specialist for every genre and every sub-set of those genres and try to cover every release in the world - but who would actually benefit from that? GB doesn't cover a lot of handheld games because the interest isn't really there on either side of the equation, niche genres are an even smaller market with even more specific needs/desires. It would be great if GB could cover everything with the same sort of depth that they devote to the games that they are personally interested in but that isn't ever going to be possible, regardless of how many people they have on staff. They could certainly expand their coverage of games beyond their current abilities but I think it's realistic to expect them to expand their coverage of popular games and genres before attempting to cover genres which have less consumer interest and less use for criticism.

Who would benefit? We would. Of course, covering everything would be impossible. But I don't see why they shouldn't (competently) cover as much ground as they can and why some of you guys are so opposed to it.

It's kind of chicken and egg. No coverage -> no interest generated -> no coverage -> ... Obscure genre remains obscure. Echo chamber here we come.

PS: It also could be argued as to how reviewing popular games that everyone and their mother is already reviewing is "more useful".

@rebgav said:

Do they really need to hire a dude to hold your hand and tell you that JRPGs are still a relevant and interesting genre? Maybe they could hire an RTS guy and an Adventure Game guy and Flight Sim guy as well so that no-one feels left out?

I'm going to guess that people who are really interested in Japanese RPGs know which upcoming games have their interest and whether or not they intend to buy them, no hand-holding necessary.

Strawman much.

As I said, I don't see a downside in them expanding and having more even coverage. What's wrong with having people on board with "competence" in other genres?

Also it beats having Quick Looks where the previewers have no interest in and have no idea what the fuck they are talking about.