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So what? Even if a contract existed, it was not involved in this particular lawsuit. Read the article. Look for any mention of a contract. You're not going to find one.

Here's a quote from :

Sony declined to comment directly on the case. However, a spokesperson did tell GI.biz: "The law is clear; grey importing PS2, PSP or PS3 into the EU, without the express permission of SCE is illegal. Therefore, we will utilise the full scope of the law to put a stop to any retailers who chose to do this."

He continued, "Ultimately, we're trying to protect consumers from being sold hardware that does not conform to strict EU or UK consumer safety standards, due to voltage supply differences et cetera; is not - in PS3's case - backwards compatible with either PS1 or PS2 software; will not play European Blu-Ray movies or DVDs; and will not be covered by warranty."

Forgive me if I don't trust the Sony spokesman's interpretation of "the law," considering that everything else he said was a blatant lie. That idea's simply too fucking absurd to be a law -- even if Sony does have trademarks on the PSP (obviously it does), by selling it to Lik Sang -- or anyone -- the doctrine of first sale says that it's given the buyer permission to redistribute that instance of the trademark. This blatant stupidity (the lawsuit, that is) is certainly consistent with Sony's Bizarro-world view of economics (and the same rationale that's behind DRM), but it's completely divorced from reality.

Think, for a second, about what life would be like if everything worked like this: you buy a Ford car, but don't get the right to redistribute the emblems etc. on it. What happens when you want to trade it in? You can't! Why? Because selling it would include selling the blue oval badges too, and that's a no-no. Next, what happens when it finally dies completely, and you want to have it hauled off to the junkyard? You can't! Why? Because even if no money is exchanged, you're still trying to transfer ownership of the damn decals! Now, is that a world you'd want to live in? Does the idea of it even make sense?!

Come to think of it, Lik Sang is the least of our worries! If this kind of shit doesn't get stopped, the concept of real property (as opposed to the fake -- I mean, "intellectual" variety) will be completely destroyed. Somebody needs to smack the judge (and all the other judges that have committed stupidity regarding EULAs and such) with a clue-by-four before it's too late!

Besides, even if it was a contract dispute, completely barring Lik Sang's sale of an item in that country is not a reasonable remedy. At most, Sony could be awarded monetary damages, and the contract could be rendered void (forcing Lik Sang to buy future Sony products at full retail, or from another middleman).

"Lik-Sang did not contest this case (i.e. they did not turn up and therefore incurred no legal costs). We have been awarded substantial costs against Lik-Sang which have not been paid," the statement claims. "We would therefore strongly deny that our actions have had anything to do with this website closing (we assume the legal entity is still trading), and would suggest that this release is sour grapes on behalf of Lik-Sang which is aimed to belittle Sony Computer Entertainment and the British judicial system that found against them."

The mention of "substantial costs" suggests the size of the judgment may have been what caused Lik-Sang to close its doors.

The Xbox 360 is supporting 1080p following the fall 2006 update, which I believe is scheduled to be distributed prior to the PS3 launch. If that's a result of the competition from the PS3, great. But it really isn't a selling point right now.

What was the original MS attitude towards 1080p support in games? Well, their initial take on the 1080p support is "basically impossible", see Xbox exec on PS3: "1080p... will be basically impossible". As late as Aug 17, 2006, they were still saying No 1080p games for PS3 this year, 'Don't get sucked into the hype'. Then why suddenly just prior to TGS 2006, they announced 1080p support? As we now know, it's because Sony will be able to ship 1080p games at launch, see Harrison confirms 6 1090p games for PS3. Should I be worried about how committed are they to 1080p in 360?

Since no one will actually do the search, I did one. And it won't be a Sony-branded upgrade you need to buy, it can be any ATA drive that fits the physical spec. There's this article which quotes Phil Harrison:

"You can upgrade to whatever size of drive you like. You can put in any drive that you like - it is a computer, after all." (referenced interview here.

The article above also claims: "The only non-upgradeable feature of the 20GB configuration will be the HDMI output." However, the article was dated 5/16/2006 and last month at TGS it was announced that the $500 PS3 will include HDMI.

Regarding GP's "Are you claiming that the PS3's peripherals will be dirt cheap?" Which parent addressed succinctly, I should amend that the article addresses this also:

"you can always plug in any standard USB keyboard, which will work with any text entry field anywhere on the system, as well as with the web browser."

Since no one will actually do the search, I did one. And it won't be a Sony-branded upgrade you need to buy, it can be any ATA drive that fits the physical spec. There's this article which quotes Phil Harrison:

"You can upgrade to whatever size of drive you like. You can put in any drive that you like - it is a computer, after all." (referenced interview here.

The article above also claims: "The only non-upgradeable feature of the 20GB configuration will be the HDMI output." However, the article was dated 5/16/2006 and last month at TGS it was announced that the $500 PS3 will include HDMI.

Regarding GP's "Are you claiming that the PS3's peripherals will be dirt cheap?" Which parent addressed succinctly, I should amend that the article addresses this also:

"you can always plug in any standard USB keyboard, which will work with any text entry field anywhere on the system, as well as with the web browser."

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=2031 0
It seems like PS3 users will be able to chat with the PC community through Xfire. May not seem much compared to your idea, but it's a start.

He doesn't like the intergrated graphics chips that Intel do. Says they are holding back the industry.

See here http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 18292

Not to mention covering the massive ongoing costs of their profit.

At least remember to put the link in...

http://gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid=1983 6

Hmm, apparently Japan won't be getting the Wii until December 2.

But according to here, the downloadable games will be NES games for 500 yen ($4.25US), SNES for 800 yen ($6.80US), and N64 games for 1000 yen ($8.50US). They plan to increase their library by ten games a month, so it'll grow quickly.

A monthly unlimited plan would have been far more successful, but it's still cheap. I won't be buying my entire library of old games, but it's ok for a small handful of the best ones.

"General public's conception" is your perception, as revealed by your later statement "Whether or not this cable is required to play a BD-Rom game titles is unknown by me".

http://gear.ign.com/articles/709/709653p1.html
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 17211

The image constraint token that you previously worried about has been ditched/postponed, possibly due to negative consumer feedback, relating to the fears that you mentioned.

The system with the highest number of fun games always wins, and there's currently no reason to think that the PS3 will have less fun games than the PS2 did

There is ... You just refuse to see it

GOT GAMES? One troubling sign already indicates that the PS3 might not be quite the hit Sony expects. Game makers are steering development resources away from Sony and toward games for machines from Microsoft (MSFT) and Nintendo, says Hirokazu Hamamura, president of Enterbrain, a game-industry researcher in Tokyo. At its autumn games preview on July 13, for instance, traditional Sony ally Electronic Arts (ERTS) spent far more time showing off innovative Nintendo games than it did titles for the PS3. EA announced six Nintendo Wii launch titles and showed long working demos for two of those. But it offered only a short clip of a car-racing game for PS3. EA says it's still testing the potential of the PS3. "Many developers think the console's initial high price will lead to slow sales and are holding off on creating games for Sony," Hamamura says.

http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jul2 006/gb20060720_962759.htm?chan=innovation_game+roo m_top+stories

An SNK Playmore executive has spoken out about PlayStation 3 pricing, indicating that the developer may wait as long as four years to begin work on it - despite having already pledged titles to Nintendo Wii.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 18699

EA Support: 80% for Wii60, 20% for PS3
http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/10038/

I should have posted a link to this news. Basically, the deal states that (from the article) the two leading football titles from Electronic Arts and Konami will not be available for Sony's PlayStation 3 until at least twelve months after release on Microsoft's console

No word on the Wii at this moment.

If you ignore him, the uninformed people of the world will continue to listen to him. If you argue with him, you bring him more into the public eye and more uninformed people will begin to listen to him.

I personally think the best thing to do is give Jack enough rope and he will eventually hang himself. At least one family advocate group has not only distanced itself from Jack, it flat out told him to never reference them again. Of course Jack's stance on that whole deal is that the National Institute on Media and the Family didn't really want to make a difference and that they were actually in bed with the games industry.

Jack has proven time and again that he isn't particularly intelligent and I'm sure he will prove it again. The primary reason the National Institute on Media and the Family distanced itself from Jack is the statement he made in the letter referenced in the above article:

Walsh's letter comes just days after Thompson issued an open letter to the videogames industry in which he outlined his idea for a game where the CEO of fictional company Take This, Paula Eibel, is murdered along with her husband and children. Should any developer agree to make the game, Thompson will donate $10,000 to the charity of choice of Paul Eibeler, the CEO of Take Two.

The interesting thing was when the gamer community made exactly what Jack asked for, he refused to pony up with the $10 large. So, Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins (Penny Arcade for those living under a rock)donated the $10,000 that Jack wouldn't...in Jack Thomspon's name! You can see the the scans of the letter that Jack subsequently sent to Gabe and Tycho demanding they be arrested for harrassment here AND the check that Gabe and Tycho wrote to the ESA. Make special note of the memo on the check.

In the "Manhunt" case it was the victim who played the game.

source

Interestingly, the BBC website has plenty of coverage of the case but doesn't mention this vital fact. I thought they were better than that.

You're quite right about piracy. I would have no reservations whatsoever in warezing a game I couldn't get legally anyway, and would probably make a point of distributing it to any less connected friends just to show them what the government considers worth banning. If I thought it was genuinely unjustified I might even leave some CD-Rs in, say, the local pub :)

I'd wait. I didn't want a white one either but I'm quite happy with it. Thing is if you import you won't have a warranty and there is a small percentage of them having problems with the hinge cracking. (Nintendo claims it's only .02% of them but there have been quite a few reports (with pictures) of the problem so I dunno)

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 18478

In the US the DS has been struggling to win over the audience, but this, and countless other threads I've seen like it make be believe that the DS has made a lot of headway. I believe with the DS Lite launch that March/April/May hardware numbers for the DS all were low as people waited for the newer prettier system. When the June numbers are released in a few days I think that it will come as a surprise to most (including the analysts). Clearly a launch month is important, but this isn't a new product. Of course perhaps I'm wrong, but I'm very curious to see if the numbers echo what most of us have seen throughout the net (as expected). Software has already shown the DS as selling far above the competition. As a secondary note, the website referred to has incorrect Japanese numbers according to media create. I'm not sure where they came from. Even Enterbrain (the more conservative of the two companies that track Japanese sales has DS sales at 3.8 million this year...nearly twice what the website above lists - http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 18190)

Somebody mod this idiot down--he doesn't know how to read anything, much less the fucking article. I swear, has the Internet killed the reading comprehension skills of everyone or is he just a 12-yr old Sony shill (they're all over these Sony articles on Slashdot)? It's the only explanation to his gross misread of the article on Gamasutra (or the original that I read regarding this topic: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 18038) For once, Slashdot's summary is correct and he's completely wrong, trying to make it like Activision came out of nowhere and started this issue. Activision is merely mentioned in the linked article but not in the actual interview of the Sony executive bullshitter #8302849020480934. The comments are from a magazine as mentioned in the fucking article:

"as part of an interview printed in the August issue of consumer publication PSM Magazine."

So it's his own fanboi magazine telling him it's all Sony and he STILL tries to make it sound like it's Activision or someone else. This is an interview, not some response to Activision. Sony is trying to screw you, once again. Honestly, is this what we get for establishing Japan after WWII? Fucking arrogant lying bastard companies that install rootkits and publish bogus shipped numbers as sales figures??? I can't wait until Sony goes under. It's sad, too; I have a lot of great Sony electronic products from the past. They've gone downhill ever since getting into the video games business in 1995--if not sooner. "Sons a bitches." It's time for America to take back the industry we created (look it up). Project Midway, indeed.

That, and large parts of the classic Xbox architecture are patented by NVIDIA, which is unwilling to license them to Microsoft for use in an ATI based console at any price short of 51 percent of market cap. Besides, do you see working PS2, GameCube, or Xbox emulators on modern PCs? Emulation generally needs a gap of two console generations to work well, outside of special cases that can be High-level Emulated. Microsoft's goal in Xbox-on-360 emulation is to make each game such a special case.

What is Zonk going to do when PS3 is released and is a sucess? I think the real story is why everyone out to point to anything they can find to "prove" the PS3 is a failure. I hear a lot of things that aren't true repeated over and over. It's people like Zonk that enable various rumors that have been proven untrue to persist. What does Zonk get out of it? Is it some kind of false nationalism? The PS3 is a Japanese console. The PS2 continues to be a sucess, and outsells all other consoles each month even in the US. After Zonk started trolling blogs, and reporting them as facts recently I have a very poor opinion of him. He can't even bother to post an update or retraction. How about some facts?

PS3 owners won't pay for online services, says Kutaragi
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 17618

Blu-ray regions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Region_c odes

Top developers slam PS3 "broken" allegations
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 17547

Personally, I can't wait for PS3. I like to import games and movies from Japan, and with a PS3 I don't have to modchip anything. I can play all the games and movies, and not worry about if they'll play or not. Also I don't have to pay a monthy fee for matching, etc -- just like my PC. How many people pay Xbox Live fees just for matching and other services besides marketplace? You never hear anyone saying Xbox Live is outrageously expensive. Do the math. The PS3 is cheaper than an Xbox 360 with an HD-DVD addon (using the estimated pricing from Microsoft) and Live. It's not the price then... Zonk why do you hate PS3? You'll do anything for page hits, or do you have another agenda?

What is Zonk going to do when PS3 is released and is a sucess? I think the real story is why everyone out to point to anything they can find to "prove" the PS3 is a failure. I hear a lot of things that aren't true repeated over and over. It's people like Zonk that enable various rumors that have been proven untrue to persist. What does Zonk get out of it? Is it some kind of false nationalism? The PS3 is a Japanese console. The PS2 continues to be a sucess, and outsells all other consoles each month even in the US. After Zonk started trolling blogs, and reporting them as facts recently I have a very poor opinion of him. He can't even bother to post an update or retraction. How about some facts?

PS3 owners won't pay for online services, says Kutaragi
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 17618

Blu-ray regions
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blu-ray_Disc#Region_c odes

Top developers slam PS3 "broken" allegations
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 17547

Personally, I can't wait for PS3. I like to import games and movies from Japan, and with a PS3 I don't have to modchip anything. I can play all the games and movies, and not worry about if they'll play or not. Also I don't have to pay a monthy fee for matching, etc -- just like my PC. How many people pay Xbox Live fees just for matching and other services besides marketplace? You never hear anyone saying Xbox Live is outrageously expensive. Do the math. The PS3 is cheaper than an Xbox 360 with an HD-DVD addon (using the estimated pricing from Microsoft) and Live. It's not the price then... Zonk why do you hate PS3? You'll do anything for page hits, or do you have another agenda?

Sony has repeatedly confirmed that the PS3 backward compatibility includes PS2 and PS1 games.

Unfortunately, they haven't confirmed this means all PS1 and PS2 games.

They also, keep in mind, haven't confirmed or even commented on the rumors in this article...

Since the update is loaded to the Bios for lack of a better term. It's available for core systems with no hard drives. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 17508

You are judging Nintendo's launch plans against a number you picked absolutely out of thin air. Let's look at some more realistic numbers.

The Sony PS3 will launch at roughly the same time as the Wii, and 6 million units is the exact same number of units Sony says they want to ship by next March.

The XBox 360 shipped about a year before the Wii will. By the beginning of this May, it had shipped about 3.3 million units.

The Nintendo DS, the effective successor to Nintendo's enormously successful Game Boy, took about 14 months to sell 6 million units.

So: Nintendo is planning, by March, to ship about twice as many units in this console generation as the Gamecube's closest competitor has in the same period; and about the same number of units as their most successful competitor, the one who sold five times as many units as the Gamecube, will in the same period. And they're expecting these units to sell roughly 3 times as fast as Nintendo's last video game system did.

Let's ignore, for a moment, the very real question of whether it's even possible for Nintendo to manufacture more than 6 million units by March. Let's furthermore ignore the opposite and equally real question-- whether Nintendo has the option, if it becomes clear they have not been sufficiently optimistic about the Wii, of increasing that number to more than 6 million units by March. (Nintendo did in fact do exactly this with the DS-- a month or two before launch it became clear they'd understimated demand, so they rushed to increase the number of production lines and met demand just barely.)

If you compare Nintendo's launch numbers to the actual video game market, instead of comparing them to "the population of Japan", 6 million in the first few months is an extremely optimistic number-- and if Nintendo manages to meet this number in sales, it will be a major coup.

You are judging Nintendo's launch plans against a number you picked absolutely out of thin air. Let's look at some more realistic numbers.

The Sony PS3 will launch at roughly the same time as the Wii, and 6 million units is the exact same number of units Sony says they want to ship by next March.

The XBox 360 shipped about a year before the Wii will. By the beginning of this May, it had shipped about 3.3 million units.

The Nintendo DS, the effective successor to Nintendo's enormously successful Game Boy, took about 14 months to sell 6 million units.

So: Nintendo is planning, by March, to ship about twice as many units in this console generation as the Gamecube's closest competitor has in the same period; and about the same number of units as their most successful competitor, the one who sold five times as many units as the Gamecube, will in the same period. And they're expecting these units to sell roughly 3 times as fast as Nintendo's last video game system did.

Let's ignore, for a moment, the very real question of whether it's even possible for Nintendo to manufacture more than 6 million units by March. Let's furthermore ignore the opposite and equally real question-- whether Nintendo has the option, if it becomes clear they have not been sufficiently optimistic about the Wii, of increasing that number to more than 6 million units by March. (Nintendo did in fact do exactly this with the DS-- a month or two before launch it became clear they'd understimated demand, so they rushed to increase the number of production lines and met demand just barely.)

If you compare Nintendo's launch numbers to the actual video game market, instead of comparing them to "the population of Japan", 6 million in the first few months is an extremely optimistic number-- and if Nintendo manages to meet this number in sales, it will be a major coup.

What you also have to consider, is that the wii-mote is expandable. The nunnchuck is just one usage of the expansion port. I'm fairly confident additionbal buttons can be very easily added. Hell, look at the retro controller they also announced.

Back in 2004, there were many rumours that Nintendo was going to announce a new peripheral add-on for the Gamecube that would add new functionality and possibly extend the life of the Gamecube. Let's assume that this peripheral was the "Wii-mote".

So let's put all this logic together about 6 months after this announcement:

1) The Gamecube never really got it's established fanbase.

2) Around the same time, Nintendo launches the DS. The "Wii-mote" would have distracted Nintendo from the DS launch.

3) Let's say that had trouble making the "Wii-mote" work... say... the Gamecube lacked the CPU horsepower, or they needed to "refine" the controller more.

4) Sony and MSFT both announces their next-gen consoles at this same time.

So, you have this potentially revolutionary controller. Why try and compete against Sony and MSFT with the dying Gamecube? Add some horsepower to the Gamecube. Add a new GPU, and voila... you have a new console.

Therefore, it doesn't surpise me that they COULD have a "pushed" Gamecube at E3 to demonstrate Wii's capabilities.

1) It explains the un-exceptional graphics... or at least graphics the Gamecube could do.

2) It explains the huge amount of games demoed at E3.

3) It explains the "Gamecube" housings.

4) It explains how "polished" the demos were, and how refined the Wii-mote works.

5) It explains why the Wii development kits are so cheap... they are probably very much similar to the Gamecube.

So it doesn't surprise me that the Wii was disguised in the Gamecube housing. In the end, does it really matter? I'm still buying one at launch.

Phil Harrison: .. If you're a complete music fan and video fan, and you want to have huge amounts of digital content, then you can upgrade to whatever size of drive you like. You can put any in that you like - it is a computer, after all.

gamesindustry.biz: So that hard drive is a standard PC drive?

Phil Harrison: ATA, bog standard, yeah.

gamesindustry.biz: You're not going to be selling Sony drive upgrades?

Phil Harrison: We've got no plan to. We may offer something, but we have no plan to at the moment.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 16969

the xbox 360 is selling here in the states, but its being met with tepid reactions abroad. that does not make for a success. the time lead is negligible as well; theyve only dropped two AAA titles. theres alot of x360 promise, but honestly they only have another two AAA titles on the horizon. unfortunately, those titles havent pushed that many additional x360 sales, since the hardware just isnt available. in almost a year, theyve only sold 3.3 million consoles worldwide. thats highly underwhelming. http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 16706 the psp, the ds, ps2 and even the gba are trouncing x360 sales in almost every region. dont believe the hype; look the numbers up yourself.

i think sony may have shot itself in the foot at that high a pricepoint, but we have to wait and see what consumers think once this fall rolls around. its a given that the ps3 will sell out, but if sales dont keep at a steady clip, sony may have lost this generation.

Through modification of the code, nudity is available. This is a modification of the content, and must be downloaded after market, or explicitly written by the user. I don't believe the ESRB has the right to change the rating of a product based on what people in the market can do after the product's release, but should stick to rating what the product actual does do. Otherwise, they are no longer of use to anyone.

The only way I can see a justification for the action they have taken (and this is a slim chance) is if they are including the construction kit in the rating evaluation. Because with that, any user can modify the game's content, using software (more content) that shipped with the product. But this still would not justify the rating change on the xbox 360 version. I see no reason for that change other than fear of Hilary Clinton and her political agenda. I don't own Oblivion, so I am not aware if the construction set is a separate download or not on the PC version.

According to http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 16600, the BBFC sees it this way as well.

I agree completely with this statement, although I disagree with your conclusion. As I understand it, the ESRB exists to warn consumers of potentially offensive material and allow them to make a more informed purchase. This rating is based on the content of said purchase. I assert that this content includes multimedia assets and game code/instructions. I do not believe you can separate the two and rate the game based on one or the other, but instead must judge the product as a whole, as it is available to the end consumer.

Through modification of the code, nudity is available. This is a modification of the content, and must be downloaded after market, or explicitly written by the user. I don't believe the ESRB has the right to change the rating of a product based on what people in the market can do after the product's release, but should stick to rating what the product actual does do. Otherwise, they are no longer of use to anyone.

The only way I can see a justification for the action they have taken (and this is a slim chance) is if they are including the construction kit in the rating evaluation. Because with that, any user can modify the game's content, using software (more content) that shipped with the product. But this still would not justify the rating change on the xbox 360 version. I see no reason for that change other than fear of Hilary Clinton and her political agenda. I don't own Oblivion, so I am not aware if the construction set is a separate download or not on the PC version.

According to http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 16600, the BBFC sees it this way as well.

In the dawn of the PS3, the system specs were all powerful. The almighty Cell processor has 8 SPEs and would take advantage of other Cell processors on the network, such as those in your TV. It was kind of like Devastator, the processors combining to become even more powerful.

Then we find out that Sony is having trouble making Cell chips with 8 working SPEs. So the PS3 is promised to only have 7 working SPEs for each system.

Today we find out that the OS will always consume an SPE and has the right to abduct another when necessary. This reduces the potential number of SPEs that a developer can reliably count on for a game to use at all times is reduced to 5.

The true power of the PS3 keeps being reduced the closer to launch it becomes. Additional features have already been dropped. How many more will evaporate before the PS3 becomes a real device you can go to the store and buy?

"Cell will create a new extensible computing platform. A set-top box containing a Cell chip could, for example, combine to share processing power with a Cell-powered high-definition television to render the graphics of an animated movie."

"A game console might use a chip with 16 cores, while a less complicated device like a set-top box would have a processor with fewer"

"It will have the ability to do north of 1 trillion mathematical calculations per second, roughly 100 times more than a single Pentium 4 chip running at 2.5GHz."

http://news.com.com/2100-1001-948493.html

Don't you think someone should be asking these questions?

"MPEG2 and all MPEG related standards are "owned" by MPEG LA, who licenses the technology. It would be one thing if Microsoft deployed a product with MPEG2 playback capabilities without paying the license, but then where is Lucent in all this? Is this some crappy dredge up of a vague compression scheme like Unisys pulled?"

The patent covers one implemntation of encoding/decoding MPEG2 video, not the actual formating of the data in the file like the UNISYS case. The lawsuit is definately real and it looks like Microsoft is going to be handing a wad-o-cash to Lucent for this.

Think what would have happened if Jack Bresenham had patented all of his work...

Top 40 All Formats All Price

There aren't very many GTA's out there, and that's not about rating either. Attempts to imitate GTA in the "gritty, urban" style tend to fail badly.

If you follow the link to the full interview, he just used LIVE as an example , his comments were about "consoles" in general.

So, there need to be some changes in the business model, and we're keeping an eye on the technology - but we love console games, and I'd love to see Guild Wars on an Xbox [360] or a PlayStation 3.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 14931

Size doesn't matter as much as yields, and according to IBM, they seem to be pretty confident in them. Saving a tiny bit of extra silicon (the SPE's take up a little over half the silicon, so removing two would be somewhere between a 13% and 15% reduction) doesn't hurt as much in the long run as losing the extra power and versatility. Not to mention that's likely the form IBM and others want their server architectures/etc. to take right now, so the extra design and manufacturing processes for a different configuration wouldn't make much sense.

I don't think they've stumbled in that perspective, but I do think it will take longer for developers to take true advantage of the software, and like the shoddy PS2 tool support, Sony will still have the ability to mess up further development on their own machine. It also, in the meanwhile, gives their competition more time to distinguish themselves in other ways. (Those "other ways" that are way more of a deciding factor than silicon will ever be, regardless. ;-) )

Xbox Live! has, roughly, 1 million subscribers. There's been a pretty steady state number of subscribers since people would run out of interesting games on Live!, leaving a drought before the next set of interesting titles. Deathmatch, Team Deathmatch, and Capture the Flag became boring after a while.

Might want to check some of your facts next time before you post. Live hasn't had a pretty steady state of subscribers. Back in July it was above 2 million subscribers. And looking at a random list of the 25 most played Xbox Live games, the categories of play you list don't even exist in roughly half of them. It's been growing since it launched.

And I think you are confusing your Nintendo numbers, too. Last week their UK office said they think worldwide they have gotten about half a million users. Your million number is presumably an earlier example of number of total connections. This number is now up to three million, which is actually pretty pitiful compared to Live. It's hard to pick a specific number to compare fairly, but Halo 2 alone saw more than 300 million games in less than a year of release, and each of those of course has quite a few connections involved (I'd guess an average of six, but I have nothing other than experience to support that). And each day sees more than 300,000 unique players.

But like others have mentioned already, the numbers shouldn't really be compared anyway. The DS online service is shockingly limited compared to even the original version of Live. Nintendo still hasn't even talked about unified friends lists, has it? There doesn't seem to be any real ability to stop players using hacks to screw over Animal Crossing, etc. players who put their friend code online. Anti-cheat protection is one of the things Xbox Live is most popular for. And the DS only offers a handful of online titles, right? It's certainly a nice first step on Nintendo's part, but beyond offering some basic form of online play the two services have nothing in common.

That's right. However, Reggie Fils-Aime himself mentioned that a redesigned model was forthcoming - it was never a rumor. The brief anouncement was made off the cuff at some convention keynote, around the same time the limited edition Nintendogs bundles were starting to sell out last year.

But that's par for the course when it comes to the gaming press. Critical thinking just isn't a prerequisite like it is in the mainstream press. Here's another example of a gaming journalist inferring incorrect conclusions from vague corporate statements.

Former Gizmondo exec Stefan Eriksson had links to the mafia (http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid =12547) - and he wasn't the only one - so I for one am glad to see the handheld fail

Also because y'know, it's a bit shit and the handheld market is pretty full already

In all likelyhood, the specs will never be completely revealed. However, third party developers with access to hardware documentation say it will be 2.5 times more powerful than the GameCube.

What was that Asshat?

Driv3r controversy.
 
This report makes the online review sites sound more honest than print media which I don't think is all that true these days. (Yes, web sites with massive flash ads every 5 pages and their software bundled with games, I'm talking about you.) It was fun watching the people from the UK's biggest games magazine publishers getting caught in their lies in the forums though.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?sect ion_name=pub&aid=1868

How much is the PS3 going to cost?

KK: Oh, it'll be expensive.

Well, how expensive?

KK: Well we aren't going to say yet, but trust me, it'll be expensive.

Can you give us a ballpark?

KK: [Thinks]Well, you probably can't afford one... maybe if you get a second job. It'll be worth it for the PS3...

Well, like $400? $500? More?

KK: You don't want to know.

etc...

Sony issues recall for overheating PS2 AC Adaptors
Latest PS2 has compatibility issues
Read Disc Errors
Not to mention the Y-plug mouse and keyboard issue...

Nope, nothing wrong at all...

In an interview with Bloomberg, Gates claimed that the software giant's second attempt at capturing the videogame console market is spearheaded by "the hottest product we've ever had." - http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 13231

I don't know if I'd call them safe, because this lawsuit will cost big bucks to defend, but I think the consequences of Amazon backing down would be severe both to their reputation and the overall cause of free speech on the net.

In a trial related to the content of this book, the judge has threatened to disbar Thompson. In response Thompson has withdrawn from the case.

With that kind of record, I don't even need to read the reviews to know the book is bad. And yet there they are. I read the first 30 of them and not one of them defended the guy. One said his writing was not that bad, but that the arguments were poor. In my book, if the arguments are poor, that's bad writing.

D

Hrm, if your main concern is backward compatability you might want to rethink your position on the PS3 in light of this

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 12554

"Isn't this the sort of copyright abuse that would have all of Slashdot up in arms yelling 'Fair use! Fair use!' if it were being employed in any other context?"

Fair use is absolutely irrelevant here.

Fair use is about allowing _private_ individuals to make single copies for backup purposes. Making a copy of the Lord of the Rings DVD so you're not screwed if your original gets scratched is fine. Making thousands of copies of a science teaching guide to distribute state-wide is NOT covered under fair use. Stop shouting hypocrisy where none exists.

The National Academies' National Research Council and the National Science Teachers Association hold the copyrights to the science instruction guides, and they can at whim (unless they signed a prior contract with the Kansas School system) stop licensing their material. In this case, it seems their decision is perfectly reasonable, since they don't want themselves linked to a science curriculum that's closer to the 12th rather than 21st century. Why should they license their legitimate teaching guide to an institution that's opposed to the very principles they believe in? It's their copyrighted material, and their choice. Your comment about Scientology are entirely irrelevant; the Scientology lawsuits had absolutely nothing to do with withdrawing licensed material.

A more appropiate analogy would've been the National Institute on Media disallowing Jack Thompson to use their name because the man has gone batshit crazy.
Link: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid= 12259

Given that someone was killed by someone who played Manhunt,

Except this was tabloid hysteria. According to GamesIndustry.Biz The victim played manhunt, and police were quite certain games had nothing to do with the murder.