Rumor--Suikoden VI for Wii

[Bodhesatva]

Words Of Wisdom said:

Bodhesatva said:

I'm not saying you're talking about sales, I'm saying that I am. This conversation was started by me, and it is a discussion about sales and the viability of genres in the current (and future) market conditions. You don't get to change a topic you didn't start. You decided to respond to me -- talk about what I'm talking about, please. Understand what I am saying.

The generalization you are making about graphical possibilities on the PS3 is your own. I do not agree with it, and I specifically chose my language to avoid that very generalization. If I DID want to make that generalization, I just would have said "the PS3." But I did not say that, because it is not what I meant. Let me say this again, directly, for your benefit: I am not saying that the PS3 is not capable of Wii-level graphics. I am using the term "PS3 level" to indicate a specific level of graphical and technical complexity that has a certain developmental cost inherently associated with it. Acknowledge this difference please, because I have now explained it to you twice.

The point here is simple, Words of Wisdom: graphics of the quality we expect from PS3 games -- and beyond, in future generations -- cost a lot of money. Lots of tried-and-true genres such as jRPGs by and large do not produce enough revenue to warrant the development of the graphical and technical assets necessary to produce them.

Why did you start "a discussion about sales and the viability of genres" in someone else's thread in the wrong forum for it?

I understand what you are saying and what you are defining "PS3-level graphics" as. I am telling you that is a fallacy and a set of blinders that is going to hurt the PS3 in the long run. As long as people continue to assume a certain level of graphics from the PS3 and assume that all its games must, by necessity, be high budget and graphics masterpieces they set an artificial standard that does not need to exist.

You say that games on the PS3 that cost a lot of money are not viable for all developers as they are prohibitive due to cost; I say that the the expectation on your part that all PS3 games must be so costly that they are prohibitive is a set of blinders.

 You do realize that I, personally, do not care, correct? I may be the most emphatically anti-graphics-whore person in this forum. My most played games, to this day, are Counter Strike 1.6, Starcraft, Chess, and World of Warcraft. You do not have to convince me that lower-level graphics are okay, and again, I certainly udnerstood that the PS3 would be capable of a game with lower-end graphics; for the nth time, that's why I used the phrase "PS3-level graphics." That phrase was repeated multiple times in my first post (the one that spawned our current conversation) and it was chosen precisely because I'm aware that the PS3 doesn't technically require graphics of that calibur.

However, since we're now on an off-off-topic, there are lots of other people who disagree, and Sony certainly hasn't helped. Their entire marketing strategy is based around convincing people the PS3 is big, new, with better graphics and lots of amazing new features; Kuturagi has made preposterous claims about the system's power and significance; Jack Trenton has specifically stated that he believes their job is to provide gamers with "epic, expensive" games (or something very similar to that; I can't find the quotation right now. But he said it). Furthermore, Sony has specifically used the technical power of their system to attract people; they've lampooned the Wii for its low end graphics, and even tried consistently to use the slight advantage they have over the 360 in terms of power to convince people that their system is, in fact, the best.

Sony has worked tirelessly to convince people that they should expect flashy, expensive, epics like Heavenly Sword, Uncharted and upcoming games like Killzone 2. It is not surprising, then, that the owners of their system are, by and large, particularly concerned with receiving games of that graphical quality.  There are people who do not care so much about graphics and production values -- and guess what systems they're buying? The PS2 and Wii.