Brief thoughts, week of August 12

Rage to require 22 GB install on XBox 360: The game is also shipping on three discs: two for the main game +1 for multiplayer. My understanding is that Rage will still be playable from disc, albeit with a notable performance hit. It's a little silly to be outraged by this (no pun intended), despite Microsoft's ludicrous price-gouging on hard drives. The existence of the hard drives always made this sort of requirement a temptation, and PS3 owners have already "enjoyed" mandatory installs for some games. The next generation of consoles will all have hard drives, because we're reaching an era where the performance hit due to streaming data from disc is becoming noticeable. Given the increasing penetration of broadband and wi-fi, and the growing (publisher-side) popularity of "always on" DRM, as well as their desire to squelch sales of used games, the total abandonment of optical media may be nearer than we think.

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Brief thoughts from July

Nintendo drops 3DS price by $80: It had to be done, given the below-expectations sales numbers and widespread hyperventilation over them. The DS also had a slow start, in terms of both sales and software, but that was before mobile phones were the most widespread handheld platform. As such, a price cut may not be enough to save the 3DS. The new price certainly doesn't do much for me: my only experience with the handheld gave me a splitting headache, and the lineup of games includes exactly one thing I want to play (and even then, I'm satisfied with OoT's original graphics). As for early adopters, the free virtual console games they'll get should take away a bit of the sting, but they probably feel a bit betrayed. While the price drop may shore up 3DS sales, it may adversely affect the Wii U launch. It would only make sense to hold off on buying a new home console, after all, given Nintendo's demonstrated willingness to burn its most loyal fans. Speaking of which...

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