Wii, XBOX 360, PS3 Update From My World

Ok, I went to Bowling Green Kentucky today. I went to target, bestbuy, and gamestop. At all these places I made it a point ot look for each of the consoles that are in the current console war. This is what found.

The Wii was not to be found any where. My goodness this console is either not being produced enough or it is simply being taken right off the truck to customers homes. I am in shock that I was only able to find five Wii-motes only in Best Buy and no consoles to speak of. I know it must be frustrating to people that want the console, but I think Nintendo hit this one out of the park and back again.

As for the XBOX 360, there are tons of these consoles of both varieties. They are piled up everywhere as if they were produced too much. I’m not sure what microsoft is truly thinking here. They seem to have at least a hundred on the floor in Best Buy and every other store had them in great quanitity as well. This is probably not good for the XBOX console either. It seems to be the exact opposite problem the Wii has. If you walk into a store and see 100 XBOX 360s laying around it seems like they aren’t selling. This might turn people away. Not that selling somewhere around 10 million consoles was bad, but if a smaller town like Glasgow KY has them in great numbers in a Wal-Mart how many are out there sitting in a store wishing and dreaming to ever be played?

As for the PS3, oh my god. Don’t get me wrong, I wish SONY the best and all, but I think the fat lady has sung. Yup I hear her now, singing away in between swigs of vodka and booze. Every store has everything you can buy for the PS3 including the consoles themselves. Plus I noticed that the displays of the PS3 are increasingly getting less and less play-time in the stores. There are Wii signs in the windows as well as 360 signs, but nothing on the PS3. I believe that retailers are all giving up on this hyped, over priced, pile of neatness. It is sad when Sonys newest console has 2 cubic feet of room for controllers and games in a game store. Sony, oh Sony, I pronounce your PS3 dream dead today at 9:14pm on Feb 24th 2007. I am sure we will be looking down on you, in your spot that Nintendo had been warming for you, for years to come.

The thing that Sony has going for it, if you can bend your brain this way for a second, is that it is now the underdog. What can the underdog do you ask? It can roll over and die, or beat the others to a bloody pulp in the future with inovention. I hope for the best because I am a gamer and a programmer. Good Luck SONY, hope you claw your way better than SEGA did, please follow Nintendos lead and give us a Revolution. There is always the next Generation.

PS3 Replaced in Wal-Mart with PS2

Here is an update on one of my prior posts about Wal-Mart pulling 90% of the shelf space of the PS3. The space is still pulled as of today. They have filled about 2/3 of it with more PS2 merchandise but no PS3 stuff. The PS3 just has a simple 1-2 foot space on an endcap and a small sign saying “We have PS3’s in Stock”

Seems from the store filling the space with more PS2 games and such that probably sony has some sort of contract for so much space in the store. Now in my Wal-Mart the PS2 section os about 8 feet wide the XBOX 360 about 6 feet wide and so forth.

Nothing has changed in the SONY world, they seem to have not reacted in the slightest, at least openly to the public. I am sure that the company will be firing many people that created the PS3 and restructuring to brace for the horrible losses being taken by that console. What the heck would you guys do if you were SONY? It would be a rough time. I think they have to have something good for E3 or they are out of the console business.

Project Motivation and Productivity

This is one simple thing that I do to make sure that my productivity is up and my moral is up when developing a project such as a game. I call it my design docs.

What this is, is simply small documents that I type up in Word to tell me what I need to accomplish on my next programming time period. These documents help keep me on track and give me simple easy goals to acheive on a daily basis.

You do not want to shoot for everything in one day so make these documents concentrated on a small goal. The smaller the goals the better. I usually try and develope a new game object or screen in one sitting or coding period. This allows for a simple means of feeling like you are even closer to finished on a large project. Setting very small goals keeps you motivated and feeling good about the progress of the project.

Nothing is worse than coding for days and not knowing if you are closer to done or not. Also, simply having what you want to get done in print form is very good for productivity. Since I started this practice I have increased my productivity by at least double. It will keep you focused and working right down the list. Plus, if you don’t manage to get the document coded you know exactly where you left off for the next time you start back up.

The key to completion of any project is keeping motivated and advancing through the project. You must stay on top of where you are at in the project at all times. Keeping good documents of your current goals and completed goals really keeps the project andvancing. I hope that this simple practice can help somebody else with a project they are trying to finish or even start.

If a game is made it will sell?

I was thinking. Yup I was. See there is no way to tell if something you put your time into will sell. But, I do it anyway. I am coding my second game now even before the first one has all its content ready for release. I figure that if I make them they will sell. This might not be the case, and in fact might just waste my time. But, one thing is certain, if I don’t make them they will not sell.

This keeps me going and enjoying what I do. I really cannot wait to release some of my ideas to the public and if it sells two copies it will be well worth the fun of doing it all. I guess I just look at my one-man crew of game making wackiness as a true way for me to give it a shot. I may never make the next DOOM or make one million dollars at game making, but that is not certain as long as I try. We should all be trying to create and make whatever we know and love.

PS3 Not Selling Enough for Shelf Space?

I went to Wal Mart today and brushed by the electronics section. I quickly noticed a six foot wide empty hole where the PS3 games and consoles used to be. My local Wal-Mart looks like it is consolidating all PS3 stuff to a two foot section which includes the dummy display model on an end cap. I personally was kinda shocked at first, but then saw that no nintendo wiis were available and no accessories for them were availble either.

I think Wal-Mart and probably most other retailers are going to start getting rid of stock for Sonys giant ball of goo. Unfortunately for the stores the stuff is not selling hardly at all so they will have their hands full of SONY junk for some time to come.

Here is what I think Sony will do. I believe that sony will release a new console within one to two years. I think they will make something basically like a PS2.5. This unit would probably play all PS2 games and replace their current PS2 model. It would be about like the Wii in performance or a little better. They will probably add an internal HD and some motion sensor stuff to that controller as well. Actually it will probably be able to use either PS3 or PS2 controllers. If Sony does not make a move like this soon I think they will die like SEGA. Good luck to Sony, and Wal Mart, trying to sell all that stuff nobody wants or can afford.