Yeah I think I'll do the same thing for the slime.  I just can't give it to my son. When he was born I bought him a Healie Slime from some anime store and gave it to him so that his first stuffed animal was from Dragon Quest (start them while they're young).  My wife didn't like it and a battle ensued that eventually ended with the Healie Slime going into the garbage one day while I was at work.  It's easily the saddest story ever.

PS1 and 2 were piracy havens, not so much downloading (that's more for the PC side, you need to be somewhat versed in PC ways to do it at least) but actual non-legit copy sales and sharing, depending on the country in question. It contributed to the hardware sales, even, similar to the PSP, yet software didn't seem to suffer much, so there are more factors than piracy for systems' failures, you can't just say PSP or Saturn or Dreamcast were killed by piracy when other systems with the same problem were very succesful. As for file sizes, I don't think most PS3 games are much bigger than 360, especially with so many being multiplatform anyway. There's probably a lot of junk data that could be cleaned before upload. The release of a new system earlier is up to many more factors than just piracy, if it's ever even possible. All Nintendo haldhelds were piracy prone for example, many of them on a variety of platforms rather than just the system itself, but that didn't make them any less successful or longlasting. Besides, to release a new system you have to convince people to buy it, it can't just be a knee jerk reaction to piracy or any other such incident. I doubt PS3 will be hit so hard anyway really, it's too late for it to become common user knowledge and it seems like it will be quite fiddly at the moment.

I wasn't suggesting that the piracy threat alone was the reason that would force them into releasing a PS4 early, but it might be a tipping point for the decision to do so if it gets to the point where it has affected the Wii and 360.  Piracy as you said is nothing new, but based on what I've seen over the years the general public is a lot more savy to piracy techniques than they were 5 years ago. It's not just a select group of my tech enthusiasts anymore. I've seen several kids in this neighborhood with R4 cards for their DS.  That means either they or their parents know what's going on.

So if you add the piracy factor into the equation Sony has less to cheer about. The 360 is the clear choice for HD consoles in North America. The handheld market has completely trumped the console market in Japan. Move didn't really catch on. And now their vaunted "impossible to crack security" is gone.  They're not in bad shape per say, but Sony is not the kind of company that will quietly in 2nd or 3rd place, but at this point they're probably not going to take the lead from MS or Nintendo in the East or West.  Corporately they've been tough to predict lately, but I don't see them sitting idle and waiting for Microsoft to make the move to the next gen. I think we'll see it in 2012. Maybe not for sale, but at least the announcement for it.

Archangel3371 said:

Next gen MGS? Oh hell yeah! So by my guesstimation of a PS4 in 2013 I will say MGS5 in 2015 .........

I think it means more the next genereation of MGS games, no longer following the old storyline kind of thing. Not that it will be on new systems though it probably will be.

Dvader said:

If The Last Story doesnt get a western release it will be a travesty. But I am sure it will.

he if it doesn't come out west i'll no longer support nintendo on the console level

So GG leaves and the spammers come out to play.  Coincidence?  I think not!

NPD day!  Just in time for the podcast.  Can one of you GAFers bring us the goods.

=-=-

Oh and, listening the the ultra-dull (this week) gamespot podcast.  Letter of the week from from "Leo in NY" -- was that you Leo?

Ripped off from GAF's thread:

December 2010 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC)

01. Call of Duty: Black Ops** (360, PS3, Wii, NDS, PC) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

02. Just Dance 2 (Wii) UBISOFT

03. World of Warcraft: Cataclysm** (PC) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

04. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood** (360, PS3) UBISOFT

05. Donkey Kong Country Returns (Wii) NINTENDO

06. Disney Epic Mickey** (Wii) DISNEY INTERACTIVE STUDIOS

07. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP) ELECTRONIC ARTS

08. Michael Jackson The Experience** (Wii, NDS, PSP) UBISOFT

09. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, Wii, PSP, PS2, PC) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE

10. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (360, PS3, Wii, PC) ELECTRONIC ARTS


**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)



Annual 2010 Top 10 Games (New Physical Retail only; across all platforms incl. PC) Rank Publisher

01. Call of Duty: Black Ops** (360, PS3, Wii, PC, NDS) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

02. Madden NFL 11 (360, PS3, Wii, PS2, PSP) ELECTRONIC ARTS

03. Halo: Reach** (360) MICROSOFT

04. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii) NINTENDO

05. Red Dead Redemption (360, PS3) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE

06. Wii Fit Plus** (Wii) NINTENDO

07. Just Dance 2 (Wii) UBISOFT

08. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2** (360, PS3, PC) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD

09. Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood** (360, PS3) UBISOFT

10. NBA 2K11 (360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, PC) TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE


**(includes CE, GOTY editions, bundles, etc. but not those bundled with hardware)



Hardware

Xbox 360 - 1.9 Million (+42%, best ever sales by 460k units)

Hardware

Nintendo DS - 2.5 Million (-24%)

Wii - 2.36 Million (-38%)

Xbox 360 - 1.86 Million (+42%, best ever sales by 420k units)

PS3 - 1.21 Million (-11%)

Data care from EviLore at GAF.