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Media Create Sales 12/17 - 12/23 2007

test_account

XP-39C²
ethelred said:
Imagine if a new Virtual Boy were released and it outsold everything else in the market. :O

Hehe, that would be cool :) I'm pretty sure i would buy it then. I love the 3d effect in that.. some old plastic toy that you put cardboard wheels with pictures in and when you press a button the wheel turns and shows you the next picture, anyone knows what i mean? If this was implemented into games with full colors it would most likely be damn cool :)
 

ethelred

Member
bmf said:
It would have to have some new unique control method. Like brainwaves.

Think of it. Lying in bed, VB Specs on, playing a Super Mario first person platformer.

Or maybe something even crazier, like a screen that you can touch.
 

jarrod

Banned
test_account said:
I wouldnt say its the same.
No, but closer than the PS2/PS3 comparison rather obviously. You could also go for Genesis and Pico if you'd like, both stand alone console platforms built around games, released sequentially, from the same maker, but with pretty clearly different intentions and goals.


test_account said:
Virtual Boy was a system like any other system, in the terms of having 3rd party games etc.
Actually, Pokemini had contracted 3rd party R&D courtesy of Jupiter Corp (who made about half the games for it). Nintendo never opened the platform up to other publishers, but then it was a limited release experiment. It's also not the only Nintendo format to only see 1st party publishing releases exclusively (64DD).


test_account said:
What i'm saying is that both GB and VB can in my opinion easily be compared due to both being portable systems with full 3rd party support (well.. VB didnt see too much support, but if it was more popular i'm sure it would have). The VB is not a spinoff or anything like that, it is a own fullblooded system that was released after the first Gameboy. VB did had potentials and it could have been a hit with a few ajustments like having color screens instead of red/black and cost around $99 (having 2x color LCD screens and being $99 would probly not be possible at the time though, but in theory). I wonder how a system like this would preform today.
The inherent flaw with VB I think is that it's a "portable" system that's really anything but... it's actually pretty cumbersome and limited in terms of portability in terms of formfactor, setup, etc. Really, it's even less "portable" than a PSone with the LCD and a battery pack... maybe we should start stacking PSone up against PSP then? :lol
 

test_account

XP-39C²
jarrod said:
No, but closer than the PS2/PS3 comparison rather obviously. You could also go for Genesis and Pico if you'd like, both stand alone console platforms built around games, released sequentially, from the same maker, but with pretty clearly different intentions and goals.
Pico was aimed to small kids, just like Pokémon Mini is aimed to Pokémon fans, so its not the same. I dont think VB were aimed to any specific groups like this. Afaik VB was not intended to be a primarily system with games only from Nintendo. Its not build around anything, it was intended to be a system like any other system where every developer could release any type of games for it.


jarrod said:
Actually, Pokemini had contracted 3rd party R&D courtesy of Jupiter Corp (who made about half the games for it). Nintendo never opened the platform up to other publishers, but then it was a limited release experiment. It's also not the only Nintendo format to only see 1st party publishing releases exclusively (64DD).
I dont know much about it, but all i know is that the games are all Pokémon related :)


jarrod said:
The inherent flaw with VB I think is that it's a "portable" system that's really anything but... it's actually pretty cumbersome and limited in terms of portability in terms of formfactor, setup, etc. Really, it's even less "portable" than a PSone with the LCD and a battery pack... maybe we should start stacking PSone up against PSP then? :lol

Sure, VB isnt really a convenient portable system since it is rather large (no pocket size here, unless your pocket are huge hehe), but it is primarily made as a portable system due to the standard use of batteries. Why is less portable than a PSone with a LCD screen? Its about the same size so you can carry it around the same what, that way its about the same portability yes, but i'm pretty sure you need a power outlet for it so the portable usage is far from the same. And the reason why Nintendo called it Virtual Boy would make me assume that it was intended to be portable, just like Gameboy is portable. Wasnt VB also marketed as a portable system?

PSone with LCD screen did not have build-in battery pack afaik. It was made more for car usage and easy to bring around. But even if it did have batteries, PSone is not primarily a portable system like the PSP. The console itself its just a normal PSone (which is not a portable system in the first place) with a LCD screen attached to it. You can make every system portable to some extend, hell, there is even a LCD screen for PS2. So if you want to compare i.e a GBA to a homemade portable SNES, then go ahead hehe :p

Did you understand my point in my previous posts, or are you arguing against me just to argue? :p
 
If one were to make a properly portable Virtual Boy like system, you'd probably have to put all the hardware in the controller/s and have a HDMI like interface connecting to the headset.

It would be kind of cool.
 

madara

Member
ethelred said:
Imagine if a new Virtual Boy were released and it outsold everything else in the market. :O

I do wonder what they could do with one now yes. I would hope it would be able to have colors now, even slightly above snes visuals but with holograms I be there day one.
 

SovanJedi

provides useful feedback
DeaconKnowledge said:
Methinks quite a few of you are missing Ethel's point.

Wow, and I was beginning to think I was the only one that got the point.

Then again, Ethel did use a :O face, which might've thrown people off a bit, so it's fair enough.
 

jarrod

Banned
test_account said:
Pico was aimed to small kids, just like Pokémon Mini is aimed to Pokémon fans, so its not the same. I dont think VB were aimed to any specific groups like this. Afaik VB was not intended to be a primarily system with games only from Nintendo. Its not build around anything, it was intended to be a system like any other system where every developer could release any type of games for it.
Virtual Boy didn't have a specific targeted genre base like Pico (educational games) but it was still a diversionary platform. Pico also had full 3rd party licensing structures in place, in fact Nintendo was a 3rd party publisher for it even. And if we're going to get in the muddy "aimed at children" argument... uh.. weren't all Game Boys also essentially aimed at children for the most part?

Pico had an optional touch pad interface too iirc... maybe that's where Nintendo got the idea? ;)


test_account said:
I dont know much about it, but all i know is that the games are all Pokémon related :)
But some were made by 3rd parties... which, somewhat invalidates your claim of the whole platform being an internal affair.


test_account said:
Sure, VB isnt really a convenient portable system since it is rather large (no pocket size here, unless your pocket are huge hehe), but it is primarily made as a portable system due to the standard use of batteries. Why is less portable than a PSone with a LCD screen? Its about the same size so you can carry it around the same what, that way its about the same portability yes, but i'm pretty sure you need a power outlet for it so the portable usage is far from the same. And the reason why Nintendo called it Virtual Boy would make me assume that it was intended to be portable, just like Gameboy is portable. Wasnt VB also marketed as a portable system?

PSone with LCD screen did not have build-in battery pack afaik. It was made more for car usage and easy to bring around. But even if it did have batteries, PSone is not primarily a portable system like the PSP. The console itself its just a normal PSone (which is not a portable system in the first place) with a LCD screen attached to it. You can make every system portable to some extend, hell, there is even a LCD screen for PS2. So if you want to compare i.e a GBA to a homemade portable SNES, then go ahead hehe :p
VB requires an elevated surface to play on so you can sit eye level with the goggles, and the angle isn't adjustable.... basically you had to play on a counter or table. PSone doesn't, it's also smaller (when folded), lighter and the additional battery packs you could buy lasted longer than the VB's ~2-3 hours iirc.

With the right additional equipment, PSone can definitely be considered a "portable" games platform, if you'd consider Virtual Boy to make the grade.


test_account said:
Did you understand my point in my previous posts, or are you arguing against me just to argue? :p
Being honest, I don't see much point? When looking at platforms that took a PS3 comparable tumble... well, one offs like Mega CD, 32X or Virtual Boy don't seem really appropriate due to their far lower bar for expectations. What you should compare are main line core legacy platforms, like GBA, N64 or Saturn.
 

donny2112

Member
Stopsign said:
I'm guessing there will be no numbers this week. Right?

Via my googlized understanding of the 2ch thread, it looks like someone said the numbers didn't come today. Probably due to it still being part of the New Year's holiday. I was hoping it was automated, so the holiday wouldn't have played into it. However, that appears to not be the case.
 

tanod

when is my burrito
donny2112 said:
Via my googlized understanding of the 2ch thread, it looks like someone said the numbers didn't come today. Probably due to it still being part of the New Year's holiday. I was hoping it was automated, so the holiday wouldn't have played into it. However, that appears to not be the case.

So no leaked numbers this morning or no new numbers tonight? Which one?
 

donny2112

Member
tanod said:
So no leaked numbers this morning or no new numbers tonight? Which one?

"Leaked numbers" are the Famitsu ones from 2ch. "Numbers tonight" is the rounded look at the top 30 from Media-Create via gpara.

I don't have experience with the leaked Famitsu numbers around holidays, but the Media-Create numbers are usually delayed until the following week. Last time they were delayed, we got the gpara data on Monday, full Media-Create on Tuesday, and then full Media-Create again on Thursday. Cheesemeister did say that we might still get the Media-Create numbers this week, though, since the New Year's holiday lasts three days and that finishes just before the normal release time for the Media-Create numbers. That would be Thursday night, though.
 
donny2112 said:
I don't have experience with the leaked Famitsu numbers around holidays, but the Media-Create numbers are usually delayed until the following week.

Next Famitsu chart is planned for 11 January and it will include both week ending on 23 Dec and week ending on 30 Dec.
But maybe tomorrow or friday we can get data from Yahoo or Oricon sites (just top20).
 
jarrod said:
VB requires an elevated surface to play on so you can sit eye level with the goggles, and the angle isn't adjustable.... basically you had to play on a counter or table.
Not quite always. In the days before GB was lit, I once took Virtual Boy on vacation and played it in the back seat on the long drive by having it sit on a bag in my lap, screens pointing up, which I would then lean into. Not something I would recommend for long, though!
 
JoshuaJSlone said:
Not quite always. In the days before GB was lit, I once took Virtual Boy on vacation and played it in the back seat on the long drive by having it sit on a bag in my lap, screens pointing up, which I would then lean into. Not something I would recommend for long, though!
I used to lay down face up and lean the whole works on me. Worked alright.
 
DeaconKnowledge said:
Teleroboxer is the game that made me want a Virtual Boy (though I never got one).

The concept was WAY ahead of its time.
Teleroboxer was visually very cool, but gameplay it was just a bit iffie. Red Alarm was the opposite. Visually it was sketchy but the gameplay was great fun.
 
Segata Sanshiro said:
Teleroboxer was visually very cool, but gameplay it was just a bit iffie. Red Alarm was the opposite. Visually it was sketchy but the gameplay was great fun.

From what I remember of people's impressions at the time, the Virtual Boy only had a handful of games that were playable. Red Alarm, Mario Tennis and Wario World (was that the name?) being the most notorious ones.

I played Wario World at Zellers and Woolco eons ago. I'd love to see a successor with similar gameplay, even if just a Wiiware title.

edit: thinking about it, Super Paper Mario does have similar gameplay in spots.
 
DeaconKnowledge said:
From what I remember of people's impressions at the time, the Virtual Boy only had a handful of games that were playable. Red Alarm, Mario Tennis and Wario World (was that the name?) being the most notorious ones.

I played Wario World at Zellers and Woolco eons ago. I'd love to see a successor with similar gameplay, even if just a Wiiware title.

edit: thinking about it, Super Paper Mario does have similar gameplay in spots.
Mario Tennis was good but hasn't aged well at all. Teleroboxer is neat for a game or two, that's about it. Red Alarm is fun if you can get past the wireframe visuals. Wario Land VB is a good full-fledged platformer. Galactic Pinball and Golf are both serviceable VB versions of their respective games. Vertical Force is a pretty fun top-down shooter with an okay gimmick. Mario Clash is a ridiculously fun 3D version of the original Mario Bros. I love it love it. Panic Bomber doesn't use the gimmick very well but was a fun enough falling block game. And speaking of, V-Tetris was alright.
 
Segata Sanshiro said:
About 150k in NA if I remember right.

There weren't many shipped, but the demand was somewhat offset by the fact that fucking nobody wanted them, haha.
Ah I forgot about demand, only 150k and they didn't even have a sell out? Epic failure.
 
BishopLamont said:
Ah I forgot about demand, only 150k and they didn't even have a sell out? Epic failure.
I believe the first month or three months was like 60k in sales. They burned most of the rest of the stock by blowing it out for $29.99 at Blockbuster.
 

test_account

XP-39C²
jarrod said:
And if we're going to get in the muddy "aimed at children" argument... uh.. weren't all Game Boys also essentially aimed at children for the most part?
If theres anything in this discussion that is crystal clear then it is that Sega Pico is a system thats aimed towards young kids. In Japan it even had "kids" in its name, so that argument is not muddy at all :) Gameboy was not aimed mainly for children no, but most players of it (atleast back then) might have been kids. Its like the same "cliche" (or what i shall say) that Wii is for kids, but its aimed to everyone, both young and old. Nintendo never marketed these systems specificly aimed to kids.

jarrod said:
Pico had an optional touch pad interface too iirc... maybe that's where Nintendo got the idea? ;)
Hehe, who knows. I havnt tried the Pico touch pad (or Pico itself for that matter) so i have no idea how well it works, but if its anything close to the DS one it must have been great :)


jarrod said:
Being honest, I don't see much point? When looking at platforms that took a PS3 comparable tumble... well, one offs like Mega CD, 32X or Virtual Boy don't seem really appropriate due to their far lower bar for expectations. What you should compare are main line core legacy platforms, like GBA, N64 or Saturn.
I have written alot of arguments, if you havnt seen them you havnt read my posts. As said, i never said that VB is the successor to GB. Even if its not a direct successor it can still fail hard compared to a previous product in the same genre, and in this case, even from the same company. Nintendo made Famicom/NES, GB and SNES which were all really popular, then they make a system, Virtual Boy, that unfortunately fails. Sony made PSX and PS2 which were (PS2 still are) popular as well, then they make a system, PS3, which is looking to be a failure (altho i think VB is a bigger failure). Do you see the simularity on my comparison here? Also, i never compared the GB and VB as the same as PS2 and PS3. I've stated that earlier.

My points still stands, in my opinion the VB is a system of it's own on the same line as every other "normal" systems, its not a system that was aimed specificly to i.e kids like Sega Pico was. I also think its too early to label the PS3 as histories biggest failure eventho things arent looking so good right now. Can it be the biggest failure in history? It depends on what you put in failure, smallest amount of consoles sold, most money loss, most marked share loss etc. etc. (these things were discussed earlier).

Anyway, to be honest i dont know why we are discussing this. In the first place all i said was that VB was a failure compared to GB, and that i concider it a bigger failure than the PS3 since i think its too early to say PS3's final outcome. After this a long discussion starts. Now i feel its just a discussion about disproving eachother points because we dont agree. If we dont agree, that is fine of course, but this discussion isnt really going anywhere, which gets me abit "exhausted/tired" or what i shall say so i have to end it from my side. If people want to agree or disagree, no problem, but now i've said what i mean and i dont think i have anything more to say in this case.

:)
 
Get banned for a joke like this?
ugly.gif
 
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