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Forcing Lik Sang to shut down .

You're right, I should exclude the Sony root-kit. My bad, wasn't thinking clearly I guess.

The list of standards Sony helped created is meaningless...there was no point to include it, because it does nothing to invalidate the proprietary standards I was referring to. It's a fallacious line of reasoning. If someone says they did something bad, you don't point and say yes but look at what they did good.

In the case of PS3 proprietary standards would be memory cards and in the case of the vita the charging cable.

I also refer you to the lik-sang saga: http://www.lik-sang.com/

I'm not sure how you arrive at the conclusion that mentioning things both consoles do is off-topic because I said XBOX is a better platform.

You forgot the Lik-Sang saga.

You forgot The Lik Sang saga . Sony shut down the hardware importer Lik Sang because they were importing PSPs (when they were new) from Japan for sale in Europe. On what basis did Sony Sue them? They sued them by claiming that Lik Sang was selling devices that were "unsafe" in Europe. They also sued them from different countries in different languages. Lik Sang could no longer afford to defend itself and thus folded.

See http://www.lik-sang.com/. Sony lied about the the products they were importing and sued them in multipul courts at the same time to stop them from selling a product (The PSP before Sony started selling it in Europe) that they really didn't have a legal right to stop, so this is old hat to Sony. Thats right, I'm still bitter 4 years later as no site has come along that is half as good for imports then Lik-Sang was. Screw Sony.

You forgot killed Lik-Sang with a crapload of lawsuits in about a dozen different languages over selling Japanese Sony PSPs in Europe.

In the lawsuits Sony was apparently arguing that the Japanese PSP wasn't safe for Europe...

I'd imagine people would be willing to pay a premium for video games from other regions as well if it was possible to play them....

Gamers have done this for a long time. I imported a Japanese PSP ver 1.0 before they were available in the US and various games via lik-sang.com. Of course Sony sued them out of business for having the audacity to sell their products across imaginary regional borders. I haven't bought a PSP game since then (but have played quite a few). How you like them apples Sony?

The shutdown of Lik-Sang was the kicker for me. It put Sony on the "diaf list" along with Ubisoft and EA. Ubisoft for discontinuing Dark Messiah support, and EA for disbanding Origin.

After this and his other comment, I have decided to not buy anything Sony from now on.

I made that decision a long time ago when Sony shut down Lik-Sang. I've stuck to it so far. I have a PS2 because I got it secondhand (Sony got no money from me), put in a modchip (suck it, Sony), and the only PS2 game I play is IIDX, which would be too much effort to import anyway, so I just downloaded it. I wouldn't buy a PS3 if it were $1, and if you gave me one, I'd sell it.

3) They shut down Lik-Sang * through multiple lawsuits in different languages in different European countries for selling *Sony's* PSP (japanese model) in Europe.

The lawsuit claimed that these devices (made by Sony) were untested and therefore unsafe for the European market. Just this last week I prevented someone from buying two very large screen Sony flatpanels (combined cost of ~$6,000 or more) and instead educated them on the different brand choices from which they bough instead (doing my part!).

* Lik-Sang was one of the best places to import hard (or nearly impossible to find) games and game accessories. They had one hell of a dreamcast accessory section too...

Don't forget that if someone gets clever and figures a way to get you Europeans your electronic goods sooner and cheaper, they'll be sued to oblivion.

This (and not the CD rootkit fiasco) was the reason I started boycotting Sony products a looong time ago.

Maybe it's just me, but perhaps the fact that they normally shit on their customers whenever they get the chance to. Must I remind you about the rootkits, exploding batteries, or shutting down Lik-Sang? There are probably more examples, but these three are the ones that come to mind almost immediately. Oh I almost forgot - the marketing isn't too great either.

Then again, maybe I'm just cynical too.

He wasn't talking about the DMCA, he was talking about the fact that companies are against importing ( example: Sony Vs. Lik-Sang ). There are a number of companies that don't really care, but some do, and they leave a really bad taste in your mouth.

When the PS2 came out, Sony was bragging about how it can can push 66 million polygons per second (reference). When the Cube came out, the specs Nintendo released were a fraction of that (12 million polygons per second, reference). So gamers everywhere thought the PS2 would simply own the Cube hardware-wise. Problem was, Sony lied. They implied that games could push that amount polygons, when in reality, the PS2 could only display that many polygons if they were untextured, unshaded, and if the PS2 did nothing else but display them.

I have no idea why you are even trying to dispute this.

Furthermore, the closing of Lik-Sang had nothing to do with Mod chips, at least directly. Sony didn't sue over Mod chips. They sued because Lik-Sang was importing Sony hardware from Japan. From Lik-Sang themselves:

Lik-Sang.com, the popular gaming retailer from Hong Kong, has today announced that it is forced to close down due to multiple legal actions brought against it by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe Limited and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Sony claimed that Lik-Sang infringed its trade marks, copyright and registered design rights by selling Sony PSP consoles from Asia to European customers

Do you have any clue or do you just reply because you like to insult others by implying that things only happened in their heads?

Something to add to their list right next to Lik-Sang.

Also, this shows Lik-Sang acknowledging compliance with some aspects a cease and desist concerning an online manual as well as a lawsuit last year. In short, it should have been absolutely no surprise to them that if they continued selling PSPs that Sony would keep coming at them.

I can think of things about Sony that should be boycotted - DRM music for example. But them forcing a grey importer to stop fucking with their business should not be one of them. Nintendo and Microsoft would do no different. All console makers have gone after modchippers, grey importers and the like, Lik-Sang is just one of them.

Whether you love or hate Sony, the simple fact is that you need the producer's permission before grey importing items into Europe for distribution. Lik-Sang didn't have it. They know they didn't have it. They steamed on regardless. In fact they must have known that Sony were vehemently going to stop the practice. But perhaps they hoped to last long enough to coin it in from the PS3. With that bubble burst, better to take the money and run.

That's too bad for Lik-Sang, but it seems like a rather dubious proposition for them to have built a house on sand in the first place. I have to say that I've used them in the past and they were a speed and efficient service, but if their main capital is made from selling modchips or imported consoles... well they only have themselves to blame.

From: info@lik-sang.com
Sender: cancellation@lik-sang.com
Subject: "Order cancelled due to out of business"
Body:
Dear valued customer,

unfortunately, Lik Sang is forced to close its virtual doors for good. This comes as a consequence of the several legal actions brought on us by Sony. For more information on the situation, please point your browser to the following link:

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3901

Therefore, as soon as humanly possible, we will cancel all existing orders, including yours, and issue refunds where necessary.

Please note that it may take anywhere from a few days up to a week or two for refunds to be processed by PayPal, your bank or your credit card company, so please don't worry if you don't see it immediately on your balance statement. You can rest assured that Lik-Sang is monitoring the situation closely with all involved parties. No single customer will be caught in the crossfire of this ordeal.

We are sorry to have to go, and we wish to thank you sincerely your support over the past decade.

Warm regards and a big THANK YOU from the entire Hong Kong crew.

Team Lik-Sang

Lik-Sang hasn't sold modchips in four years. However, they are the only distributor of great products like the LCD Compatible Top Gun light gun.

My point is... how long do you think the batteries are going to last? 2 years? 3? 5? I've seen controllers without batteries die in a year or less, so I don't think a let's say 3 year controller having the battery fail is going to make me cry.

It will depend largely on how good people are about plugging them in for charging, and what kind of batteries they use. If they used NiCd (for some bizarre reason) you'd want to discharge them fully every time, and then recharge, unless they used a single cell. If they use LiIon, you want to use them as little as possible before plugging them back in because LiIon batteries prefer to be minimally discharged, and they prefer to be charged early and often. I will remind you that lots of people are having the battery in their iPod die in the first year, because of their charging habits.

Not only that, but someone below pointed out the battery IS REPLACABLE.

If it's replacable without a screwdriver, then that's great. If not, well, it's lame. I haven't seen the thing yet so I can't say either way of course. But I was working on the assumption that it is not replacable.

Show me a $10 component video, the top end of what the PS2 and XBox are capable of as far as i know.

PS-2 Component Cable from Lik-Sang, $6.99
Xbox cable for $11.95 from "RichsPSXParts"

Is $11.95 close enough? I managed to beat your price on the PS2 cable., does that make up for it?

And by the way, assuming I'm totally wrong, you just invalidated YOUR OWN POINT WHEN YOU SAID "I got a universal cable that..." let me guess, this universal cable isn't sold by Microsoft, Nintendo, or Sony is it??? Everyone knows first party cables are a premium, and it's not a new PS3 thing. Yesh.

Early adopters get bit on the ass, but they know that, so they deserve it. Meanwhile, it was simply not true that you had to spend all that money to get a working cable. None of the factory-made cables I've ever bought have ever been any better than the knockoffs. Many of them have actually been worse, like the cables that come with the Xbox Advanced AV Pack (the S-Video one, not the component one.)

I did buy an Xbox component AV pack, not that I have any component devices, but I bought it for $10 used so I had to have it. I keep hoping I'll save enough pennies to buy a shiny new TV.

Also, HDMI cables ought to be cheap as hell, because you don't need a good cable. They're digital.

The controllers have non-removable rechargable batteries in them. Once they go, the controller has to be thrown away. I guess Sony found a place to dump their exploding lithium ion batteries..."

Did you know that the PS2 had non removable cables to power them? Once the cable goes... you'd have to buy a new controller!!!!

Uh, that was really stupid. Cables only die when you abuse them; cutting them, rolling over them with your chair too many times, setting them on fire, etc. Batteries die when they have been charged and discharged enough times, when you use them as they are meant to be used.

Because of the non-removable batteries, you don't have the convenience of swapping batteries mid-game and continuing to play wireless.

Wait for the 3rd party controllers, other then that, valid point.

the future existence of third party wireless controllers does not invalidate his point in any way because third party controllers universally suck ass. even the one from logitech sucks, but only because they totally blew the feel of the controller and games designed to be played with one controller usually don't play well on another.

Right, and the XBox, XBox 360, Gamecube, N64, PS2, PS1, SNES, NES always came with the highest end cable available right? I have to buy a new SVIdeo cable for my XBox, you know how much? $50 Canadian. $50 US for HDMI doesn't sound so bad.

For your Xbox, or Xbox 360? I got a universal cable that does s-video, composite, and dual rca audio that works on Second-Gen SNES up through Gamecube, and works on Xbox, PS1, and PS2 for $10. I'll assume you mean Xbox 360. This is $30 US on Amazon, but Lik-Sang has one with optical audio output for US$6.95. Obviously, you aren't looking very hard.

Please, when you come up with some actual refutations, come back and try again. Until then, give up on this whole debating thing. You don't have what it takes - like supporting arguments.

The only big flaw with the console is, and this is a highly controversial point that has sparked many a flamewar, the fact that it runs off of AA batteries instead of a rechargeable one.

The only big flaw with the console is, and this is a highly controversial point that has sparked many a flamewar, the fact that it runs off of AA batteries instead of a rechargeable one.

How is it a dig? Sony did sue Lik-Sang over importing, even though it was perfectly legal.

How is it irrelevant? This article concerns the PS3 launch, which will be happening a few months later in Europe than elsewhere, and people might have been considering importing it. Now they might not be able to because of Sony's actions. Seems relevant to those who might've wanted to import, no?

Here's Lik Sang's version of the story.

Playing online is free on Sony's PS3 network, just like it is on PS2. PS3 online gameing: free. Playing on Live costs money.

$500 in US. $430 in Japan. All PS3s have HDMI connectors, not just the expensive one (was announced a month ago).

If you live outside USA, consider pre-ordering Nintendo Wii via lik-sang.com

http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3883

Lik-Sang appears to be taking pre-orders, though without stating price nor release date.
I think it's a pretty safe bet though, since Lik-Sang are pretty well priced usually. (Note: I live in a country with 25% sales tax)

..like it is on the gamecube:

SoftMod = buy a disc
http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=81&produ cts_id=1964

HardMod = jump a trace or install a switch and two wires
http://www.superufo.com/review_html/Gamecube_Modif ication.html

I really appreciated this about the 'cube. It's like Nintendo saying "well if you want to play these imports, we'll let you, but it's at your own risk!". The people who want to play the imports, can, and legally (depending on regional laws), and regular players are none the wiser. No mistake, I would prefer no region locking from a practical and library standpoint.

This all said, region locking is meant to protect regional publishers ability to make profit, and hence release more games with localalisation. However, this did not seem to help in Australia, where GameCube titles are absolutely pitiful in selection, and sweet fuck all outside of big N first party releases.

Just grap a USB adapter from a vendor like Lik Sang and you can use your Guitar Hero Guitar or DDR dancepad on the PC, making it more like the original that they're cloned from.

If you're looking for an mp3/movie player for the GBA (and thus Nintendo DS too), don't buy this one. I've heard bad things about it (low FPS, etc).

The official one from Nintendo is really well made, doesn't drop video frames and supports real standard .mp4 video files (custom specs required, but still standard .mp4 files).

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=246&prod ucts_id=8168&

I've been using that one on my Mac with Quicktime Pro. I use "export to MPEG-4" along with "preserve aspect ratio" to have 240x160 files that don't get cropped on the GBA screen size. With a GameBoy Pocket, it's the ultimate in pocket-sized portable movies. Good enough to watch TV shows while on the bus, subway, etc.

The only thing in Japanese is the intro/warning screen.... After that, it's all icons and quite easy to use.

Only bad thing: it only supports up to 1GB SD cards (and one specific model/brand of a 2GB card, if I remember correctly).

Nintendo would be able to at least add a 1 to those numbers if they released the black DS Lite in the USA (a.k.a. "I'd buy one"). Even though it has some nice hardware (touchscreen, built-in WiFi, mic, ARM processor), I was also skeptical of the DS at first: "Oh come on, how many developers are going to make use of the touch screen"... thankfully my skepticism was vanquished when developers came through with real creativity and awesomeness. Add to the awesome games the ability to play movies and mp3's (http://www.lik-sang.com/news.php?artc=3834), run Linux (url:http://www.dslinux.org/>), and the awesome looks of the machine... and you have an unstoppable portable.

...if they were only in black (and the cool dark navy blue... and the blue "ice").

You have to buy it. It's a DS cart with a GBA memory expansion cart.

It'll be available for both the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite. The real street price is supposed to be around 33$US.

You have to buy it. It's a DS cart with a GBA memory expansion cart.

It'll be available for both the Nintendo DS and Nintendo DS Lite. The real street price is supposed to be around 33$US.

Use your feet to click your mouse.

Seriously. Get a Smart Joy adapter and a Reload Pedal, and remap the joystick input to mouse click... though you may have to unscrew the top and cut the spring in half for easier clicking, like I did. Alternatively, get a mouse with very large buttons, remove the trackball / tape over the sensor, and leave it on the floor as a secondary mouse. Both sets of clicks will register.

The key to RSI, is to not find one "optimal" solution. Switch keyboards and mice throughout the day. Change your position completely. Walk over and talk to someone about a spec they had written. Put your feet up. Take your feet down. Really, the reason we get RSI is because we do one thing repeatedly. No matter how ergonomic that one sitting position or wrist angle may be, if you stay fixed in that position eventually your ligaments and joints will break down. Change position, take coffee breaks, mouse lefty for a little, turn your body to the side... anything to keep from falling into the trap of the one perfect body position.

THe Xbox 360 was designed with hdmi in mind. If I can refer you to http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=319&prod ucts_id=8540 they have a place holder for an official Microsoft HDMI cable for the 360 to be shipped sometime this fall with the release of the HD-DVD add-on. While they may release a newer version of the xbox 360 the older ones will still work just fine.

Board games are really fun, and there's been alot of new board games that just simply beat out other party games. A strong favorite of mine is Carcassonne (probably familiar to most of you) -- for the sole reason that the gameplay is simple, yet you can make the game quite complex, if you just want to.

Otherwise, for electronic entertainment, (God bless) a modded or imported PS2. I don't really have the time to enjoy long games, a shame, really, as I'd die to play some Kingdom Hearts 2, but if you want a quick game of something, what I'd really recommend is getting a game such as pop'n music or beatmania IIDX (known in the US as beatmania). Imports can quite easily be ordered on-line from sites like Play-Asia or Lik-Sang.

Where the latter might be quite difficult for some people, pop'n music is good, clean fun to escape the world for a while, into another world of wacky, fun music simulation - and I can swear, you won't run out of challenge, even if it's easy to learn.

total before shipping: US$ 99.90 (~53.04 GBP)
Weight 17.40 kg

And not just that..

I bought a component video cable for my PAL Gamecube, and the picture is absolutely gorgeous.

It uses the other AV socket on the back.

So, why the analogue sticks at all? Well, they are probably intending the "classic" stick to be used for N64 games as well.

Panasonic Qube

Its not yet available but its on its way from microsoft

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=319&prod ucts_id=8540

Now please get your sources together before you post.

> the 360 lacks an HDMI interface on ANY model

Dear Internet Fuckwit,

The PS3 is supposed to be a Blu-ray machine that also plays games. Blu-ray - native hdmi + DRM flags = bad juju. The "sony sucks because the 'cheap' system has no hdmi" is NOT a video game console issue, but is a Blu-ray issue. Comparing that to the 360, which has the stated goal of being a gaming machine, is not a one to one comparison.

So, while you are watching your $35 blu-ray flicks in 480p on your $500 ps3, I'll be playing my video games with my friends (over Live) in 720p or 1080i with rumble features. Who knows, I may even have an HDMI cable for my 360 by then.

Knock yourself out.

Steel Battalion
Guitar Hero
X Gaming
Bass Fishing
DDR
Samba De Amigo
Taiko Drum Master
Beatmania
Light gun

You can't combine all or even two of these controllers without killing game play.

Steel Battalion
Guitar Hero
X Gaming
Bass Fishing
DDR
Samba De Amigo
Taiko Drum Master
Beatmania
Light gun

You can't combine all or even two of these controllers without killing game play.

Z-button was fine for me. The D-pad was OK for opening menus or selecting weapons, but no way in hell would I use it for Street Fighter or such.

Hori released a nice digital pad, and it's cheap too.

http://www.lik-sang.com/info.php?category=52&produ cts_id=2466

We have pictures of the LCD TopGun third-party controller (see the bottom third of the page), which gives you a quick idea of how it might look, at least. Though Nintendo has said it will only be a single sensor bar, with two (three?) sensors on it, so hopefully it will be moderately less intrusive than the LCD TopGun.

So wait a minute, Microsoft needs to learn from Nintendo? What exactly makes this a success?

Yeah, it sold out, but they only delivered a third of what was initially expected. So shortages and hard to get consoles for most people are what Microsoft needs to do? Didn't they just do that?

Or maybe you're lauding them for their ability to polish an old product and resell it? DS Lite, all the random ports for the GBA.

I might be an anomoly, but I'd rather Nintendo start making some new games.

I already have a PSP and I want to pick up a DS as well (I'm a sucker for handhelds, what can I say). What kept me away from the DS so far has everything to do with how they build the actual hardware. I hated the original DS case. And I hated the craptacular screen quality. But I love the innovation behind the dual screen concept, stylus input, and massive/excellent software library.

The new DS is very pretty, but barely smaller and the screens still fail to impress. Its just so close! C'mon big N, you can do this right. The original GameBoy was like the original Macintosh - anthropomorphic, iconic, a joy to use and hold. The DS has amazing ideas happening but they have got to get the size down and get better displays. Screen quality in particular is truly painful, when compared to PSP (which, fair to say, is huge - but also fair to say, does a lot more in terms of media playback and surfing).

I guess what I'm saying is, where is the DS Lite Micro?