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Top 15 Biggest High-Tech Flops of 2008
- Thread starter Zombie James
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Baron Doggystyle von Woof
Member
theBishop said:
u for reals?
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
theBishop said:
Ok, for the OLED camp, here is what they had to say. Might be important since people seem to keep jumping all over it:
"Organic LED (OLED) displays deserve a place in our list of the flops of 2008. Aside from a few telephoneswhere their advantage is not at all clear at first glanceOLED displays are most conspicuous by their absence. With Sony's 11-inch TV at $2,500, OLED is not exactly what youd call a sales stimulator. Even though the technology does have potential (Ed.: we saw plenty of it on display at CES this year), its high cost and its limitations (in particular its life expectancy) have kept OLED from breaking through."
And that 11-inch Sony DID come out this year.
Vast Inspiration
Banned
theBishop said:
Obviously not in most consumer's eyes. Maybe not even in most hardcore gamer's eyes.
Zombie James
Banned
About the little PS3 debate, by every single measure the system had a much better 2008 than 2007 (sales, game quality and quantity, firmware system improvements, etc).
Buckethead
Banned
rex64 said:
No it's not.
This has nothing to do with Mac vs. PC bullshit, but it's fucking horrible.
Compatibility issues, driver issues, average GUI (at best), poorly copied widgets, and all this rounded up by the fact that Windows is still running off of an evolved platform. They didn't re-vamp the code in any way.
Vista is the equivalent of my grandfather dressing "scene" in order to try to get in with the kids. And when you fuck up gaming, the only undeniably superior thing it has going for it, you fuck up your install base and any enthusiasm about the product. And don't get me started on those Seinfeld and "I'm a PC" bullshit ads.
Don't get me wrong when you have a good PC, Vista works fine, but most people don't. The reason Macs can perform high-end graphics, animations, etc. is because the hardware on all Macs are quite good (albiet overpriced). But dishonest campaigning and forced upgrades is like telling your customers to "fuck off".
It's a lazy evolution of the Windows platform. I expected more out of Billy Gates, someone I immensely admire. It's "not that bad" to you, someone I assume who has a decent amount of disposable income to game and spend on technology, but to businesses and less tech savvy people, this is another thing entirely.
So is Windows Vista the apocalypse and the end of Microsoft? Obviously not. But it's a failed operating system for many reasons and it's a marketing nightmare. Regardless of whether they *patch* anything, it's supposed to work out of the box. It comes down to supply and demand. If your going to release a "prettier UI" but not make any big changes that will help people do their jobs more efficiently or some pre-installed word processors, the average joe could care less. Good luck selling that to colleges or small businesses. Not to mention it hardly counteracts the "Mac Revolution" on college campuses or amongst a good amount of teenagers. Gaming is a very small facet of the population. (Once again this has nothing to do with Mac vs. PC, this has to do with business and overall worth of a product).
Coupled with all the issues it's faced, it's a flop. In every way.
thewhiterabbit
Member
_leech_ said:
That is not what he said. I feel 2008 was better but they did not have the best lineup over the 360 this year. The problem is its been discussed on the gaming side and thebishop has different gaming tastes. Which is hwy he is entitled to his opinion but as was pointed out the collective gaming opinion was different. Thus why the ps3 has struggled to sale better than last year during the holidays.
Buckethead said:
So basically your pc could not run it?
I got vista day one. yes it sucked day one. But in its current state its a very solid OS. In many aspects better than xp. Now. Not day one. Sorry you felt MS should redesign the wheel for you but its flopness comes directly from the mac vs pc debate and advertisements. Thats why apple spent the money on those ads.
Once again it is a very good OS. Any pc built in the last 2 years can run it no issues. Its safer and more stable than xp.
Buckethead
Banned
thewhiterabbit said:
Mine could run it fine, but a handful of businesspeople that I know had plenty of troubles as their PCs were older.
And no morality campaign of "this is better than that" matters in the customer's eyes. It comes down to perceived worth and Vista is very, very low on the totem pole. And like I said, it doesn't matter if it's been patched, it's the fact that it came broken on launch day.
And with the whole "re-invent the wheel" comment is silly because firstly Microsoft themselves put out a bunch of stuff in the press claiming how great it was and secondly because people have come to expect big things from them. And for the first major release in YEARS, people expected a little more.
The PS3 may have come along way from the E3 2006 Conference and Uncharted may be one of the greatest games of this gen, but most people still remember that conference and this all doesn't matter: they're still in last place. And by that same token, most people still want XP and still dislike Vista.
zoku88 said:
Durr hurr. Thanks for the insight, fuckstick. My personal thoughts of Vista aside, the business part is right on. Go cry a river if it's not competing like you want it to. Anyway, this is off-topic, so let's just move on....
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
Onix said:
We've had this discussion before, and as I said earlier in the thread, I'm trying to not rehash the CES thread. But, did you read why they put it on their list? I even quoted it a few posts up. They clearly said it's a flop because of it's absence from the market, despite the fact that we've been told it's coming for a long time. There were very few options for consumers to go buy it this past year, and that is why it made it on this list.
I know that you personally disagree with that, but OLED did "launch" in effect this year, just in a very small way. I think we all agree that it's going to get better, and more affordable, but it has been a buzzword for several years now, without really making any kind of real splash on any level.
As I said, we've gone around on this before, and I know your position. I'm not critical of the technology at all, which is pretty awesome, just more of the hype machine that hasn't really delivered anything yet. That's why it's listed here more than anything else.
thewhiterabbit said:
Of course I have my own opinions. But if you look at Metacritic, it's not like I'm out in left field claiming schlock games are good. My opinions are pretty much in line with critical consensus.
Exclusives (> 75%):
360:
Gears of War 2 (93)
Left 4 Dead (90)
Fable 2 (89)
Viva Pinata 2 (82)
Ninja Gaiden 2 (81)
Tales of Vesperia (81)
Banjo Kazooie (79)
Lost Odyssey (78)
XBLA
Braid (93)
Geo Wars (90)
Rez HD (89)
Castle Crashers (82)
PS3
LittleBigPlanet (95)
Metal Gear Solid 4 (94)
Valkyria Chronicles (87)
Resistance 2 (87)
MLB 08 The Show (85)
Motorstorm Pacific Rift (81)
Gran Turismo Prologue (80)
Disgaea 3 (78)
PSN
Wipeout HD (87)
Pixeljunk Monsters (83)
Echochrome (81)
Pixeljunk Eden (80)
Siren Blood Curse (78)
Crash Commando (78)
Ratchet and Clank Quest for Booty (76)
ChoklitReign
Member
WTF? Is the author an ATI fanboy? The 8800GT is selling like hotcakes. The 9 series is the useless series, it's just the 8 series rebranded. What the fuck indeed.
A successful service pack comes out, and nonetheless is a flop? I don't think so.
From the hype point-of-view I agree; but from a technical point-of-view Saints Row 2 will stand as a historical example on how not to port a console game to the PC. I hope THQ goes bankrupt this year, virtually nothing good comes out from them.
Decent list but those were my biggest objections.
ChoklitReign said:
I believe the author was referring to the GPUs for laptops (hence the 8M series), which have been failing left and right.
thewhiterabbit
Member
theBishop said:
Did you just go all list wars? Really?
No metacritic is not the end all of consensus. Sells of systems and software tend to be. and in that case the ps3 failed to do better than last year during the holidays at the same price point. While both the 360 and wii had growth over last holiday.
Now your opinion may differ. And your entitled to your opinion. But sales suggest something was wrong.
thewhiterabbit
Member
Buckethead said:
Your the only one crying a river with a wall of text. I already stated vista was crappy day one but as of today its a better OS in many aspects than xp.
Next i stated the bad rep is directly tied to the ad blitz apple ran against vista. A very catchy successful ad blitz. Its why marketers get paid millions and Obama spent nearly a billion dollars running for president. Ads shape public opinion and help foster stereotypes. Not taking anything away from mac or apple but they did a good job attacking what turns out to be a solid os. And imho in its current state better than xp.
theBishop said:
Like I said you are entitled to your opinion. But if its gaming library was the best of 2008's they would have sold more than they did holiday 2007. So some where something is wrong. Your gaming tastes and habits aside the market as whole felt less compelled to buy ps3s this holiday.
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
thewhiterabbit said:
Not that I want to drag this argument over from the Gaming side or anything, but you don't think that the price of the PS3 has something to do with why the Wii and 360 are outselling it? That's what it generally comes down to with consumers, especially when the economy is bad.
It's quite possible that a system has the best games of the year (hard to quantify, as we all have different opinions here) and not be the top selling system.
thewhiterabbit
Member
Kung Fu Jedi said:
I am sure its because of many reasons. Price point, crazy ads but more than anything a weaker library that gave new buyers no incentive to buy it. LBP rfom2 etc was not enough to get people to chose the ps3 over the 360 or wii. Now to a current ps3 owner there was some great titles out this year especially compared to last year. But to say it had the best lineup when sale suggest otherwise is opinion vs the only facts we have, Market acceptance.
Next my argument is holiday 2007 ps3 sales vs holiday 2008 ps3 sales. Ps3 sales were down while the wii and 360 increased. This so called awesome library of games was not enough to convince new owners to buy at the same price point this year over last.
thewhiterabbit
Member
theBishop said:
Good. Glad you have something to look forward too.
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
thewhiterabbit said:
I'd say the fact that the competition is several hundred dollars cheaper has a far bigger impact on why holiday sales are down for 2008, year over year. A 360 price cut, coupled with its existing library of games, and some great additions, goes a long way over a $400 machine that had a great year as well with software, but doesn't have quite as deep of a library yet, and remains at the higher price point.
Again, it's one person's opinion on whether or not the PS3 had a better library. I don't happen to share that opinion, although I do think the PS3 releases were spread out a bit better. My point is that the quality of a single year's releases is not an indicator of why a system sells the way it does. It takes a lot to turn around public perception.
thewhiterabbit
Member
Kung Fu Jedi said:
And a weak 2008 is why the ps3 was a flop to some people in this thread. theBishop replied the hate was not warranted as it had the best library of 2008.
My feeling is if this library was so good the ps3 should have seen its sales increase over the holiday before. Simple measure of the biggest sales months when the years releases would push hardware. And it sold less. Thus showing that theBishops gaming tastes do not match the general markets.
But this is getting off topic so we should just all agree to disagree on the ps3's flop status and library.
Kung Fu Jedi
Member
thewhiterabbit said:
I'm not even arguing that the PS3 isn't necessarily a flop. I'm just saying that it's possible that it had the best library for 2008 and still didn't see better sales. It can also be seen as an indicator of the quality of titles released in 2008 as a whole.
But no matter. You're right, since the PS3 isn't listed on the list, it's probably a bit off topic.
Mister_Mingi
Member
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DonasaurusRex
Online Ho Champ
lawblob said:
heh the segway was about as close to a the live action version the simpsons episode where homer designs a car, the build up and then final realization of the product may very well be the birth of wtf is this shit.gif....... that or the pontiac aztek debut lol wow someone was hittin the bottle with that one.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
In most cases, yes. But if you're rocking old hardware it's nightmarish. But that's mostly because of terrible driver support, which isn't necessarily Microsoft's fault.thewhiterabbit said:
Overall, Vista is pretty decent, but it is more of a refinement than an evolutionary step forward.
Learn2read
Member
I don't really see HD-DVD as being a flop, it was simply the loser in a race where one had to fail. It was never going to be a market where two could thrive. It didn't fail because it was a complete flop in the market, things reached the tipping point with the content providers and the dominoes fell.
SapientWolf
Trucker Sexologist
HD DVD flopping was one of the best things to happen to me last year. I got an HD DVD player and a really decent movie library for almost nothing. Planet Earth and Battlestar Galactica went from $70 to $9 :lol
dark_chris
Member
rex64 said:
I agree. I love my Windows Vista. It runs so nice for me and I haven't had any trouble with it that i can think of.
Diatribe1974
Member
Windows Vista at launch = it deserving to be on that list.
Windows Vista for the last 8 months (perhaps longer) = it deserving far more love than it gets
Windows Vista for the last 8 months (perhaps longer) = it deserving far more love than it gets
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