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Guillaume Patry is another professional gamer who was a StarCraft champ in South Korea. We did an interview with him last year and his view was particularly interesting as someone who was nearing the end of his gaming career.

The thing that I find interesting is that like Wendel/Fatal1ty, Patry/Grrrr was also an athlete before he got into gaming. In Patry's case, he was a competitive skiier.

It's hard to imagine anyone keeping a straight face while applying for a patent on something as trivial/universal/obvious/pre-existing as as a method of traversing a linear menu.

Everything is obvious once someone else has done it. It's how you transverse the menu. Duh. Apple invented a great way to do it, (the clickwheel), and patented it.

Every MP3 player I've owned, going back to the RIO 300 used a variation of a thumbwheel and click menu. How did Apple decide they "invented" this?

Because they invent it and you are full of crap on other players having a clickwheel? Merely having your controls laid out in a circular fashion does not a clickwheel make. Having a touch sensitive circular disk with buttons on it makes it a clickwheel. And as Apple has a patent on this (the article is about a software patent for the GUI) no other players are going to have one anytime soon.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

After scanning through the comments on today's duplicate post I still don't see any mention anywhere of the problems we experienced with the Nintendo DS, probably because most people who have one don't know anyone else who also has a DS to try the wireless network games and functions with.

I'm wondering if the problems that we encountered on a few Nintendo DS units were anomalies or if the problem was addressed with updated firmware. Please comment below if you are experiencing any of the same issues we saw, or new ones.

The details below are crossposted from the original, in the spirit of dual-screen/dual-posting goodness.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

A month ago, after spending a couple of hours with the hardware and games, we published our Nintendo DS hands-on review / preview that includes discussion of some problems that we haven't seen anyone else mention even once.

We previewed and played Nintendo DS games Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We've been testing out the production models of the Nintendo DS for about a week now. When we've put the DS through a few weeks of use we'll let you know how how it rates.

AP reporter Matt Slagle has his review of the device as well, and he loves it (the headline is Nintendo DS a Sleek Powerhouse, also at USA Today), although we are a little more reserved until we see how it holds up, if the problems are persistent, and until we see some more applications that support and take advantage of the platform, and live up to the hardware's potential.

Have experienced any of the crashing described towards the end of this article? I seriously doubt Nintendo would ship a system that crashed. Must be awesome getting to be one of the first to work on a new piece of hardware. Can you talk about what you're doing with it or what it's like to work with, or do you have to be hush hush?

They say it was a pre-release version, but concidering IGN got theirs two weeks after, and the release is two weeks after that, that means Nintendo was manufacturing release versions at that time. If they fixed the bugs then that means they gave what they knew to be buggy units to geartest even though fixed ones exist. Not likely.

But does it still crash more than Windows 95?

The Nintendo DS locked up completely about a minute into the PictoChat session. It gave no indication of the problem. The only method of unfreezing and recovering from the system error was to shut down and reboot the machine.

In the span of an hour, three of the six Nintendo DS units froze in a similar manner while running three different applications

Since Nintendo was undoubtedly manufacturing the DS's at the time of the article, that means completed versions exist. If Nintendo fixed the issue in the final version, that means they knew of the bugs. If they knew of the bugs, why would they have given a known buggy version out for review?

We spoke with some people in Nintendo's media/analyst relations department as well as a vice president who said that the company is shipping 1 million units for Nov. 21. This shortage doesn't appear to be an illusion.

If demand really is so high that retailers are stopping pre-orders then there may be a problem on the manufacturing side with a possible component shortage, or a simple lack of manufacturing capacity to produce more. There are a limited number of suppliers for some of the components that go into the DS and those suppliers have other customers besides Nintendo.

A few weeks back, we spent a couple of hours in a hands-on preview of the Nintendo DS and previewing/playing Metroid Prime Hunters: First Hunt, Super Mario 64 DS, Spider-Man 2 DS and the onboard PictoChat instant messaging software.

We also checked out a few more titles yesterday, and will publish first impressions of those games soon.

Sony supports MP3 on its CD products, but not in its best digital products which is what most people think of when it comes to MP3/music players.

The real story here is shift in business strategy. Sony was the king of portable music after the introduction of the Walkman, but has seen its share slip. It seems that someone at Sony has realized that using a closed, proprietary standard and forcing customers to listen to their music collections how Sony wants them to quickly turns them into ex-customers.

That is big news for Sony. The Sony PSP is coming and Sony has decided to introduce yet another proprietary standard: the Universal Media Disc, which will be hardly universal if Sony is the only one that uses it.

Original post follows:

2004-09-22 16:20:39 Sony to Support MP3 (Index,Music) (rejected)

CNet/ZDNet reports that Sony has confirmed 'it is working to add native MP3 support to its portable music players,' reversing its previous strategy of native support for its proprietary ATRAC music file format only. Currently, MP3 files must be converted into ATRAC format to listen to them on Sony music players. MP3 support will be included on upcoming flash memory-based players, with a decision on hard drive based music players to come later, but there's no word if the Sony Connect music store will offer anything but ATRAC-encoded music. The strategy reversal is seen as a way to compete with Apple's dominant iPod, which supports both MP3 and its own proprietary Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) format. The story was originally reported by ZDNet France (French) reporters Christophe Guillemin and Pierre Labousset. The move comes on the heels of an IDC study that projects a $58 billion MP3 player market by 2008, with the greatest growth coming from flash memory players (press release).

The following business reasons might explain why they are releasing the Nintedo DS in North America first:

2004-09-21 09:42:51 Nintendo DS to Launch in N. America Nov. 21 @ $150 (Index,Games) (rejected)

John Markoff at the New York Times (mirror at CNet) reports that the Nintendo DS handheld game system will launch in North America on Nov. 21 with a retail price of almost $150. Apparently Nintendo hopes to avoid a direct sales confrontation with the Sony PSP, which will launch in Japan later this year. However, Walmart still lists availability of the Nintendo DS Platinum on Nov. 30 for $199.82. The retailer was probably caught unaware since Nintendo published its press release on BusinessWire at 1:30 AM Eastern Time.

Apologies for the cross-post but it seems relevant here.

The following business reasons might explain why they are releasing the Nintedo DS in North America first:

2004-09-21 09:42:51 Nintendo DS to Launch in N. America Nov. 21 @ $150 (Index,Games) (rejected)

John Markoff at the New York Times (mirror at CNet) reports that the Nintendo DS handheld game system will launch in North America on Nov. 21 with a retail price of almost $150. Apparently Nintendo hopes to avoid a direct sales confrontation with the Sony PSP, which will launch in Japan later this year. However, Walmart still lists availability of the Nintendo DS Platinum on Nov. 30 for $199.82. The retailer was probably caught unaware since Nintendo published its press release on BusinessWire at 1:30 AM Eastern Time.

Apologies for the cross-post but it seems relevant here.

Here's a bunch of links to the New York Times/ CNet, our games pages and the Walmart site which lists some differing information in a rejected post from VERY early this morning:

2004-09-21 09:42:51 Nintendo DS to Launch in N. America Nov. 21 @ $150 (Index,Games) (rejected)

John Markoff at the New York Times (mirror at CNet) reports that the Nintendo DS handheld game system will launch in North America on Nov. 21 with a retail price of almost $150. Apparently Nintendo hopes to avoid a direct sales confrontation with the Sony PSP, which will launch in Japan later this year. However, Walmart still lists availability of the Nintendo DS Platinum on Nov. 30 for $199.82. The retailer was probably caught unaware since Nintendo published its press release on BusinessWire at 1:30 AM Eastern Time.

Here's a bunch of links to the New York Times/ CNet, our games pages and the Walmart site which lists some differing information in a rejected post from VERY early this morning:

2004-09-21 09:42:51 Nintendo DS to Launch in N. America Nov. 21 @ $150 (Index,Games) (rejected)

John Markoff at the New York Times (mirror at CNet) reports that the Nintendo DS handheld game system will launch in North America on Nov. 21 with a retail price of almost $150. Apparently Nintendo hopes to avoid a direct sales confrontation with the Sony PSP, which will launch in Japan later this year. However, Walmart still lists availability of the Nintendo DS Platinum on Nov. 30 for $199.82. The retailer was probably caught unaware since Nintendo published its press release on BusinessWire at 1:30 AM Eastern Time.

Enjoy some context (not intended as a criticism). Part of the reason is demographic trends and part of the reason is financial. The ideas in the article seem to support a shift to creativity as discussed in an article with some game industry experts last year.

Reuters reports on the crisis of creativity in games 'as aging gamers' tastes increasingly shift toward sequels and games based on movies'. The supposed crisis was discussed by industry participants at the Game Developers Conference 2004. 'The gaming industry will shrink unless we start to see new games,' warned Pac-Man creator Toru Iwatani. Sony's Ryoichi Hasegawa said, 'Core gamers are advancing in age and they are becoming more conservative'.

As the GDC panel sees it, the other big problem is the cost of producing games which encourages publishers and developers to 'take less risks on new, innovative titles.'

The argument for creative new games and game types echoes an article we ran last year where experts say game industry trends favor a shift to creativity and creative talent. Iwatani appears to agree, saying he had seen periods that lacked creativity in his 20-year career but 'new and revolutionary new games appear in a two- to three-year cycle.'

Bishop, some of your comments ring true and are worth further discussion.

There are many sites that will post reviews made by people who recently purchased a product. These reviews are rarely objective. For one thing the author will rarely have anything to compare the new product to. For a second thing, far too often the review is merely an editorial in which the author tries to justify to themselves the purchase of some new, and expensive kit.

This is exactly the reason why we at Geartest.com don't buy any products for review purposes.

In the linked write-up, VL/ViperLair/Hubert Wong says of running his site (emphasis added):

"... there are plenty of costs involved. Everything from the hardware purchases (not everything is free..."

There is a psychological phenomenon called "buyer's remorse" that product marketers and salesmen try to take advantage of. It's a subconscious type of anxiety-based self-hypnosis. The principle hinges on an individual's desire 1. not to be wrong when making a purchase, 2. to have made a sound buying decision and 3. to get the best deal. Buyer's remorse tends to manifest itself most strongly on high-ticket items.

By making a personal (financial or emotional) investment in a product, you are much more likely to have a favorable opinion of it. Remember that the next time a salesman tries to get you to agree with him about the positive aspects of a product (car salesmen are notorious for this). It lowers healthy consumer skepticism and inclines you toward a positive opinion of a product. That's exactly why anyone who does reviews should never purchase products for reviews and expect to maintain any credibility.

Read several sources.

That should go without saying. What I would add is that you should read critically and keep in mind the biases that each of those sites have. There is no such thing as a completely objective review. Reviews are subjective by their very nature. The best you can do is try to determine which reviews are fair and honest, then filter out any inherent biases.

Trust the numbers more then the comentary. It is harder to be biased with numbers.

Numbers are not the be-all and end-all. For example, we have seen how numbers can be manipulated with recent benchmarking scandals. How many times have you read comments here on Slashdot where people are sick and tired of the same sites running the same benchmark tools, then posting the results here, presumably just to drive up their traffic numbers? They don't add anything useful. Everyone here can download those same benchmarks and run them.

With the exception of the hardcore technical reader, the majority of consumers out there -- who look to reviews to help them make decisions -- do not have the knowledge or background to properly or usefully interpret or understand those results, even when explained in plain language.

It's fair to say trust the numbers, but only to a point. If you have made buying decisions based on a review, and you find that a site has a good track record, stick with it, but don't stop reading critically. The people who write reviews are just as human and fallible as you are. The commentary and interpretation that come with a review are at least as valuable (if not moreso) than raw statistics. Numbers do not tell the whole story -- they are only part of it.

The rest of Bishop's tips are good to keep in mind.

One thing I would add. Stop supporting/giving patronage to sites that pander or otherwise offer skewed reviews and little value.

Support those that offer fair, high-quality reviews and information. It's the only way to guarantee that the best sites stay online and the manufacturers provide access to those who offer you the high-quality content that you want.

When you say "honest review sites" the only way to truly judge if a site is honest or not is to follow its coverage over an extended period of time and see if the reviews match reality when you go out and buy a particular product.

At the risk of being repetitive, I've made some comments before about so-called "reviews" and so-called "review sites" that are really run by fanboys who spend most of their time trading/posting links to other fanboy sites. I'll leave it to the intelligence of the Slashdot reader to figure out the obvious example(s) that are right under your nose.

On the subject of honest/fair reviews, I invite you to check out Geartest.com Technology News & Reviews. We try to summarize our philosophy in our motto: Real Gear. Real World. Real Reviews. They are long-term reviews, in a real production environment, with retail versions of products (something we specify and insist upon since we do not review prototypes or pre-production models), all without any pandering.

This type of review and testing can be exceedingly difficult to do for a number of reasons:

• Most manufacturers do not simply send hardware products for reviewers to keep. Those units tend to go to the largest sites with millions of page-views in the case of online publications.
• Manufacturers tend to provide review units on loan for a specified period, usually two weeks or less. Geartest.com insists on a minimum of 30 days of continuous use with any given product for an initial review. Most manufacturers are not willing to provide units for that period of time. We often find problems during the extended period that we do not find in the first two weeks.
• Manufacturers often manage their review unit programs through PR agencies whose job it is to get positive press for their clients. This can be problematic especially when you give a client's product a critical review.
• Because the pool of review units is often limited, it can be difficult to re-acquire a given product for the longer-term tests. Those reviews are point-in-time and not based on continuous use. It is far preferable to continuously use the same product for a year, so you know what wear and tear it has suffered.
• PR agencies and product manufacturers have come to expect a large degree of pandering from so-called "reviewers", who are really just fanboys. The result is that you may find yourself cut off from future product releases when you don't pander (we have experienced this).
• Often the review units are shared between media, retailers and channel partners, and the supply of units is too low. Last year I spoke with the review program manager for a Japanese global consumer electronics company. She told me that she often gets no more than three units of any given product to share between all media, retailers and channel partners. That obviously explains why review unit loans are so short.

The frustrations with the lack of high-quality reviews is very much one of the reasons why we started Geartest.com. I don't like to spend my hard-earned money on a new piece of equipment only to find it falls far short of expectations and "reviews" by so-called "reviewers."

Many manufacturers were taken aback by our comparatively rigorous review policy and outright refused to participate. Others ignored us after learning of our review policy, even after initially agreeing to provide review units.

We must be doing something right because we have seen our traffic grow steadily with plenty of positive feedback from readership. Traffic has grown to the point where manufacturers have become much more responsive. They see the value proposition of having an unbiased, long-term review, even if they view it as a low-cost form of product research and testing for next-generation improvements. It seems some of those manufacturers who were initial doubters are starting to see things our way.

After taking a hands-on look at the pre-release version, we were going to add a preview of the RCA Lyra Audio/Video Jukebox to our MP3 / Music section but decided against it.

Because it was a pre-release version we looked at it as an unfinished product, especially due to the number of menu items that came up with the "Feature will be available in future upgrades. Visit www.rca.com/lyra-avdownloads for details" message. After reading Stephen Manes' Forbes article, it might not be a bad idea to publish it just so people can see what they'll be getting.

I didn't think that RCA would ship the A/V Jukebox with those menus as they were. The RCA Lyra download site wasn't even working when we were examining the product.

Until this, most of the big criticisms have been about the size of portable media players.

I agree that a dedicated device like this should be fully functional out of the box, especially considering the price. A great user experience is part of what made the iPod such a massive success and more companies should take a lesson from Apple.

But we differ on one point. The average person WILL put up with a LOT of abuse and poor functionality when it comes to computer-related devices, and we've seen the proof with countless (nameless) hardware and software companies. Most of us use their products every day. The early-adopter consumer is the typical Slashdotter who is also the primary market for this type of product: someone who likes to fiddle with technology. The mass market version will probably / had better be a complete product.

The concept of "good enough" seems to be creeping further and further toward shipping de facto beta versions of everything. But there really isn't an excuse for shipping a dedicated device like this as a finished product, when in reality it is a beta.

Any of us who have worked in the technology industry know about the time pressures and the strong imperative to ship "good enough" versions of everything from software to hardware to services. That may fly in the enterprise space (even though it shouldn't) but to bring that approach to consumer electronics...? That attitude isn't good enough anymore.

Before you start, you might want to read an article we published earlier this month about game careers in which Scot Brew (LucasArts), Josh Druckman (Brainbox / Digital Extremes) and Nathan Sorenson (independent / university student with two games published by Take-Two) all give advice about how to get into the games industry and how it is changing.

Another relevant feature we did last year is about games industry trends with insights and advice from the technology director for Electronic Arts, a vice president at CGI company CORE Digital and a high level specialist at 3D tools maker Side Effects.

Everyone seems to want to get into games and it's a more and more competitive field with better-qualified people than just a few years ago. The job growth opportunities are also shifting so you may find that your skills are suited to a different part of the industry that you may not have considered.

Before you start, you might want to read an article we published earlier this month about game careers in which Scot Brew (LucasArts), Josh Druckman (Brainbox / Digital Extremes) and Nathan Sorenson (independent / university student with two games published by Take-Two) all give advice about how to get into the games industry and how it is changing.

Another relevant feature we did last year is about games industry trends with insights and advice from the technology director for Electronic Arts, a vice president at CGI company CORE Digital and a high level specialist at 3D tools maker Side Effects.

Everyone seems to want to get into games and it's a more and more competitive field with better-qualified people than just a few years ago. The job growth opportunities are also shifting so you may find that your skills are suited to a different part of the industry that you may not have considered.

Judg3, welcome to your life as an exclusive reader of Geartest.com! :)

We do exactly what you have described above as a "Car and Driver" review which we try to summarize in our motto: Real Gear. Real World. Real Reviews. They are long-term reviews, in a real production environment, with retail versions of products (something we specify and insist upon since we do not review prototypes or pre-production models), all without any pandering.

This type of review and testing can be exceedingly difficult to do for a number of reasons:

• Most manufacturers do not simply send hardware products for reviewers to keep. Those units tend to go to the largest sites with millions of page-views in the case of online publications.
• Manufacturers tend to provide review units on loan for a specified period, usually two weeks or less. Geartest.com insists on a minimum of 30 days of continuous use with any given product for an initial review. We often find problems during the extended period that we do not find in the first two weeks.
• Manufacturers often manage their review unit programs through PR agencies whose job it is to get positive press for their clients. This can be problematic especially when you give a client's product a critical review.
• Because the pool of review units is often limited, it can be difficult to re-acquire a given product for the longer-term tests. Those reviews are point-in-time and not based on continuous use. It is far preferable to continuously use the same product for a year, so you know what wear and tear it has suffered.
• PR agencies and product manufacturers have come to expect a large degree of pandering from so-called reviewers, who are really just fanboys. The result is that you may find yourself cut off from future product releases when you don't pander (we have experienced this).
• Often the review units are shared between media, retailers and channel partners, and the supply of units is too low. Yesterday I spoke with the review program manager for a Japanese global consumer electronics company. She told me that she often gets no more than three units of any given product to share between all media, retailers and channel partners. That obviously explains why review unit loans are so short.
• The extended tests you describe are often prohibitively expensive and time-consuming considering the previously described constraints. The costs of setting up and maintaining that type of technical test lab also tend to be prohibitive given the same considerations.
• Most people are not willing to pay for (i.e. fund) extended tests because they are used to getting information for free. You are one of the few people who are willing to take that extra step, but there don't seem to be enough people like you out there.

If we see enough demand for the extended tests you describe we may implement them on a limited trial basis, but our pre-launch program showed that few were willing to pay for such a service.

The frustrations with the lack of high-quality reviews you describe is very much one of the reasons why we started Geartest.com. I don't like to spend my hard-earned money on a new piece of equipment only to find it falls far short of expectations and "reviews" by so-called "reviewers."

Many manufacturers were taken aback by our comparatively rigorous review policy and outright refused to participate. Others ignored us after learning of our review policy, even after initially agreeing to provide review units.

We must be doing something right because we have seen our traffic grow steadily with plenty of positive feedback from readership. Traffic has grown to the point where manufacturers have become much more responsive. They see the value proposition of having an unbiased, long-term review, even if they view it as a low-cost form of product research and testing for next-generation improvements. It seems some of those manufacturers who were initial doubters are starting to see things our way.

We spent some hands-on time with a pre-release build of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge a few weeks back and although the multiplayer/Xbox Live play wasn't up at the time, the single-player game wasn't bad. We'll be publishing more detailed impressions of some of the pre-release builds of games coming out this fall as part of our X03 feature (more coming soon), but in the meantime you can look at some screenshots of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and a few other new games.

To call it a sleeper is pushing it a little. Even casual gamers were aware of the Crimson Skies franchise because of Microsoft's marketing campaign for the original PC game and it's clear there is a core of support for the franchise. The PC version obviously had enough success for Microsoft to invest in and complete an Xbox version, otherwise the project would have been killed long ago if the original Xbox game was as bad as described.

We'll reserve final judgment until we get a look at the gold/release version.

We spent some hands-on time with a pre-release build of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge a few weeks back and although the multiplayer/Xbox Live play wasn't up at the time, the single-player game wasn't bad. We'll be publishing more detailed impressions of some of the pre-release builds of games coming out this fall as part of our X03 feature (more coming soon), but in the meantime you can look at some screenshots of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and a few other new games.

To call it a sleeper is pushing it a little. Even casual gamers were aware of the Crimson Skies franchise because of Microsoft's marketing campaign for the original PC game and it's clear there is a core of support for the franchise. The PC version obviously had enough success for Microsoft to invest in and complete an Xbox version, otherwise the project would have been killed long ago if the original Xbox game was as bad as described.

We'll reserve final judgment until we get a look at the gold/release version.

We spent some hands-on time with a pre-release build of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge a few weeks back and although the multiplayer/Xbox Live play wasn't up at the time, the single-player game wasn't bad. We'll be publishing more detailed impressions of some of the pre-release builds of games coming out this fall as part of our X03 feature (more coming soon), but in the meantime you can look at some screenshots of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and a few other new games.

To call it a sleeper is pushing it a little. Even casual gamers were aware of the Crimson Skies franchise because of Microsoft's marketing campaign for the original PC game and it's clear there is a core of support for the franchise. The PC version obviously had enough success for Microsoft to invest in and complete an Xbox version, otherwise the project would have been killed long ago if the original Xbox game was as bad as described.

We'll reserve final judgment until we get a look at the gold/release version.

We spent some hands-on time with a pre-release build of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge a few weeks back and although the multiplayer/Xbox Live play wasn't up at the time, the single-player game wasn't bad. We'll be publishing more detailed impressions of some of the pre-release builds of games coming out this fall as part of our X03 feature (more coming soon), but in the meantime you can look at some screenshots of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and a few other new games.

To call it a sleeper is pushing it a little. Even casual gamers were aware of the Crimson Skies franchise because of Microsoft's marketing campaign for the original PC game and it's clear there is a core of support for the franchise. The PC version obviously had enough success for Microsoft to invest in and complete an Xbox version, otherwise the project would have been killed long ago if the original Xbox game was as bad as described.

We'll reserve final judgment until we get a look at the gold/release version.

We spent some hands-on time with a pre-release build of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge a few weeks back and although the multiplayer/Xbox Live play wasn't up at the time, the single-player game wasn't bad. We'll be publishing more detailed impressions of some of the pre-release builds of games coming out this fall as part of our X03 feature (more coming soon), but in the meantime you can look at some screenshots of Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge and a few other new games.

To call it a sleeper is pushing it a little. Even casual gamers were aware of the Crimson Skies franchise because of Microsoft's marketing campaign for the original PC game and it's clear there is a core of support for the franchise. The PC version obviously had enough success for Microsoft to invest in and complete an Xbox version, otherwise the project would have been killed long ago if the original Xbox game was as bad as described.

We'll reserve final judgment until we get a look at the gold/release version.

That's interesting that simoniker mentions TeamXbox as having the first look since (bragging rights alert) we had our

• first look at the Xbox Wireless Adapter including a
• preview article with the MN-740's details
• Xbox Wireless Adapter external photos and even the
• Xbox Wireless Adapter internal photos which all true geeks love

In fact, Microsoft's lawyers visited our feature and thoroughly examined it, after which we got a message from our friendly Microsoft PR agency expressing some concerns (as noted on the home page).

I know that it must be a little troublesome for Microsoft that they weren't able to introduce the product to the world as they would have liked but that's always a risk, especially when regulatory approval requires that the product becomes part of the public record.

That's interesting that simoniker mentions TeamXbox as having the first look since (bragging rights alert) we had our

• first look at the Xbox Wireless Adapter including a
• preview article with the MN-740's details
• Xbox Wireless Adapter external photos and even the
• Xbox Wireless Adapter internal photos which all true geeks love

In fact, Microsoft's lawyers visited our feature and thoroughly examined it, after which we got a message from our friendly Microsoft PR agency expressing some concerns (as noted on the home page).

I know that it must be a little troublesome for Microsoft that they weren't able to introduce the product to the world as they would have liked but that's always a risk, especially when regulatory approval requires that the product becomes part of the public record.

That's interesting that simoniker mentions TeamXbox as having the first look since (bragging rights alert) we had our

• first look at the Xbox Wireless Adapter including a
• preview article with the MN-740's details
• Xbox Wireless Adapter external photos and even the
• Xbox Wireless Adapter internal photos which all true geeks love

In fact, Microsoft's lawyers visited our feature and thoroughly examined it, after which we got a message from our friendly Microsoft PR agency expressing some concerns (as noted on the home page).

I know that it must be a little troublesome for Microsoft that they weren't able to introduce the product to the world as they would have liked but that's always a risk, especially when regulatory approval requires that the product becomes part of the public record.

That's interesting that simoniker mentions TeamXbox as having the first look since (bragging rights alert) we had our

• first look at the Xbox Wireless Adapter including a
• preview article with the MN-740's details
• Xbox Wireless Adapter external photos and even the
• Xbox Wireless Adapter internal photos which all true geeks love

In fact, Microsoft's lawyers visited our feature and thoroughly examined it, after which we got a message from our friendly Microsoft PR agency expressing some concerns (as noted on the home page).

I know that it must be a little troublesome for Microsoft that they weren't able to introduce the product to the world as they would have liked but that's always a risk, especially when regulatory approval requires that the product becomes part of the public record.

We published several Xbox wireless adapter MN-740 images. Besides the standard photo that you are seeing all over the Web, we also published several close-ups of the internals of Microsoft's 802.11 access point, something that's sure to pique the interest of geeks everywhere.

We published several Xbox wireless adapter MN-740 images. Besides the standard photo that you are seeing all over the Web, we also published several close-ups of the internals of Microsoft's 802.11 access point, something that's sure to pique the interest of geeks everywhere.

We ran an article about blogs, participatory journalism and emerging technology from a panel discussion at this year's annual Canadian Association of Journalists (inter)national conference.

The panelists agreed that blogging and other forms of particpatory journalism don't automatically qualify as journalism, but they did say that it CAN be journalism if journalistic standards and principles are applied.

One of the more interesting comments was from technology journalist David Akin, who said that experiments that enlist blogging citizens with camera phones to send their photos to news sites may be cool and fun and interesting, but it's not news by longshot, mainly because they lack the professional journalistic skills to identify what qualifies as news.

You may be right but the MSN article isn't aimed at you or other technologically literate readers. It's aimed at the average MSN user and Internet user. These users are very much like the average AOL user: they are relatively new to the Internet and may not have the skills or understanding of how to best use a search engine that you or I might have. Gene Spafford says that at any given time `the majority of Internet users have been online less than a year'.

Internet users, like any other consumer, are likely to stick with whatever service and set of sites that they are initially exposed to. This is the same in any consumer goods and services business. Why else would McDonald's, car companies, credit card companies and all the rest spend millions of dollars on getting young people (children and college students) to use their products? They want to instill brand loyalty early on.

People are comfortable and familiar with the Microsoft brand, naturally trust it, and what its media properties say. If you were a new, non-technical user like most Internet users I have little doubt that you would believe this article is fair and authoritative.

We recently interviewed Electronic Arts director of advanced technology John Buchanan, CORE Digital Pictures VP Doug Masters (himself a former EA developer) and Side Effects' Robert Magee for an article about major shifts in the games industry and how they affect job prospects.

They said some surprising things that should give anyone thinking about pursuing a career in games a lot of food for thought.

Most surprising was this statement from EA's John Buchanan, which seems to shatter a commonly-held belief among hopeful game developers about what it takes to make it in the industry:

"We now have a huge problem in our industry of engineers, who used to be the gods of gaming, now becoming subservient to the artists."

After you read the full feature article, if there's enough interest in more on careers, let us know -- post in this thread -- and we'll add some of the career-specific tips that were left out of the main article.

We recently interviewed Electronic Arts director of advanced technology John Buchanan, CORE Digital Pictures VP Doug Masters (himself a former EA developer) and Side Effects' Robert Magee for an article about major shifts in the games industry and how they affect job prospects.

They said some surprising things that should give anyone thinking about pursuing a career in games a lot of food for thought.

Most surprising was this statement from EA's John Buchanan, which seems to shatter a commonly-held belief among hopeful game developers about what it takes to make it in the industry:

"We now have a huge problem in our industry of engineers, who used to be the gods of gaming, now becoming subservient to the artists."

After you read the full feature article, if there's enough interest in more on careers, let us know -- post in this thread -- and we'll add some of the career-specific tips that were left out of the main article.

While the panelists agreed that blogging and moblogging doesn't automatically qualify as journalism, they did say that it CAN be journalism if journalistic principles are applied.

One of the more interesting comments was from technology journalist David Akin, who said that experiments that enlist moblogging citizens with camera phones to send their photos to news sites may be cool and fun and interesting, but it's not news by longshot, mainly because they lack the professional journalistic skills to identify what qualifies as news.

Earlier this year, we ran an article about the game and some of the pitfalls and hurdles Legacy Online's developer, Ottawa's Oceanus Communications, faced to put the game out. It's an interesting little team composed of an Italian theoretical astrophysicist, a former Nortel employee, and a team of Cuban developers.

First of all, what do you call a journalist? The overwhelming majority of the gaming press are, in fact, NOT journalists. A professional journalist's main goal is to inform the public of the truth about whatever the subject matter is. First-hand reporting is a fundamental aspect of journalism (which is at the core of the problems at the New York Times and the Jayson Blair scandal). In the case of games it means giving people fair, accurate and balanced information that they need to make a judgement of whether a game is suitable for them. It's a form of service journalism and public advocacy.

What you have described is not a ''lack of communication skills'' -- PR reps are professional communicators whose job is to present their client's/employer's message to the appropriate audiences and to filter out those people who they see as unnecessary or unhelpful to their corporate goals.

Establishing a relationship with these organizations is INTENDED to be mind-numbingly difficult. In most cases, they instantly recognize who can give them the coverage they desire and reach the audience they are looking for. As for the unknown quantities, they take a wait and see approach.

We've been around for a while and gaming has been a secondary focus of our site. It's only recently that the gatekeepers have opened the doors. Now most of what we get from them is hype, fluff and the same kind of stuff that the gaming press calls news. At this point when we meet people from PR agencies and company reps they are starting to tell us that they have heard of us.

The best tip is not to dance. Don't be like the rest of the so-called gaming press and regurgitate whatever hype they send you.

The best trick is not to play any tricks. They've probably seen any tricks that you can come up with or that anyone advises you to use. Professionals don't play tricks and don't have to play tricks.

As for the people who pretend to be journalists just so they can get free games, they are probably the worst problem because they are singularly the biggest reason why it is so difficult to establish a new relationship with hardware and software companies.

What publication do you work for and what is its history? If it is a national trade publication as you say, you should have no difficulties at all.

This is a theme that has been repeated several times here on Slashdot in different forms, whether it refers to games or hardware or something else.

I've written on this subject before, specifically about Real World tests. Real Gear may be another consideration for you when deciding what makes a reliable review. I seem to recall that nVidia supplied most (if not all) of the people who 'reviewed' this card a beta or a reference board. Too bad the average person can't buy a beta or a reference board at their local retailer.

Long-term testing is a critical part of our review philosophy at Geartest.com: Real gear. Real world. Real reviews.

What does that mean? Real gear: We don't write reviews about products in a pre-release stage or based on press releases. Real world: We use the products for an extended period in real conditions. Real reviews: Then we tell readers what we found, with updates as warranted. That results in a fair review. That means that good, bad or mediocre, products will get the reviews that they deserve.

We tend to concentrate on the qualitative aspects in our technology product reviews because our focus is on producing fair, reliable, plain-language reviews with an eye to the user experience and long-term value. When you buy a product you want to be sure that it will serve you well and perform over time.

The problem with most so-called 'reviews' you see in the technology press is that they aren't real reviews at all. Using a gadget for a few hours here and there over a period of a couple of weeks doesn't tell you anything about the product's performance over an extended period of time. Neither does focusing on how pretty something looks. Then there's the regurgitated press release factories.

In this case, the 'reviewers' have to take their share of the blame for nVidia cheating and tweaking the units that they supplied. After all, the 'reviewers' are the ones who agreed to 'review' and benchmark pre-release products.

This is a theme that has been repeated several times here on Slashdot in different forms, whether it refers to games or hardware or something else.

I've written on this subject before, specifically about Real World tests. Real Gear may be another consideration for you when deciding what makes a reliable review. I seem to recall that nVidia supplied most (if not all) of the people who 'reviewed' this card a beta or a reference board. Too bad the average person can't buy a beta or a reference board at their local retailer.

Long-term testing is a critical part of our review philosophy at Geartest.com: Real gear. Real world. Real reviews.

What does that mean? Real gear: We don't write reviews about products in a pre-release stage or based on press releases. Real world: We use the products for an extended period in real conditions. Real reviews: Then we tell readers what we found, with updates as warranted. That results in a fair review. That means that good, bad or mediocre, products will get the reviews that they deserve.

We tend to concentrate on the qualitative aspects in our technology product reviews because our focus is on producing fair, reliable, plain-language reviews with an eye to the user experience and long-term value. When you buy a product you want to be sure that it will serve you well and perform over time.

The problem with most so-called 'reviews' you see in the technology press is that they aren't real reviews at all. Using a gadget for a few hours here and there over a period of a couple of weeks doesn't tell you anything about the product's performance over an extended period of time. Neither does focusing on how pretty something looks. Then there's the regurgitated press release factories.

In this case, the 'reviewers' have to take their share of the blame for nVidia cheating and tweaking the units that they supplied. After all, the 'reviewers' are the ones who agreed to 'review' and benchmark pre-release products.

If you'd like to read a long-term detailed Aeron chair review, you can find it here. It has its flaws but I haven't come across a better task chair yet.

We published an interview with Spaf a little while ago and his insights still are well-worth reading and heeding. He is still very concerned about the newest users on the Internet, etiquette, ethics, and the impact of networked communication on society. You can read the interview here.

We published an interview with Spaf a little while ago and his insights still are well-worth reading and heeding. He is still very concerned about the newest users on the Internet, etiquette, ethics, and the impact of networked communication on society. You can read the interview here.