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I think this about sums it up.

Though no matter what the fault here, good for Nintendo to listen to the consumers and actually do something about it. Good PR, IMO.

This game was mentioned on Penny Arcade a while back...

Well, if you've never read a book about logic, maybe it does.

Maybe if you've never read a book about logic, "I've never seen Windows win in a head-to-head competition" carries more weight than "I've seen numbers that indicate it might handle CPU sharing as well or better" as well.

Simple fact is that Windows has been tuned and developed for much bigger systems than OS X runs on, for much longer. Its current implementation has distinct technical superiorities to OS X's (eg: more fine grained kernel locking, more mature Async I/O) that result in it scaling better.

It applies to all cursor controls I've used mice, tablets, trackballs, pads, joysticks, even. If you haven't run into this, I can't imagine you've ever done graphics work.

I haven't, nor did I ever say that I did. I *have*, however, interacted with people who do - and none of them use the mouse for "drawing lines".

Yeah everyone is making it up because we're all part of a conspiracy... that's it.

Oh, grow up.

I didn't say anything about a "conspiracy", I said Mac users have been complaining about Windows's mouse tracking since day dot and *in my opinion* it's because of the different acceleration algorithms the two OSes use. I can relate, since the mouse acceleration in OS X (and Classic) used to annoy the hell out of me as being too slow. Now I just adjust my technique to take advantage of the different acceleration curves, but it's still noticably different for a good hour of use after moving from Windows to OS X.

A lot of Windows users get shoved in front of a mac, use it for a while, and then realize the problem they learned to live with was not an inherent flaw in all devices but a Windows bug that has never been fixed. Or it's all some form of mass hallucination, you pick the more likely one.

I use Macs, Windows, Linux and Solaris quite frequently. I have never noticed _any_ "mouse tracking bug" in Windows on the scale you are talking about, compared to other platforms. I *have* noticed that they all have different pointer tracking characteristics, and I *have* noticed people from one platform complain about that - but that's just a matter of adjusting to something different.

I didn't know you were referring specifically to UI responsiveness, but actually I remember seeing something (at arstechnica I think) a while back that did just that on a macbook running Windows then OS X.

Well, I'm not sure how else you could interpret the term "sluggish" in the context of multitasking, but that's not really important.

Ars are good for that sort of thing, but Siracusa tends to only compare to earlier versions of MacOS [Classic], not Windows. Some results from Google, like this one, do not do a lot for supporting any assertion that OS X is faster (although I believe there's recently been some patches that specifically address WoW performance).

Hahahaha! That is why it is better for power users. You see for larger numbers of windows, picking the application then the windows results in many fewer key presses and UI interactions. Think 10 applications each with 10 windows. To get from app 1 window 1, to app 5 window 5, with windows you have 50 key presses.

Or one, if it was the last window you used...

To get there in OS X you have 10 key presses (5 to get to the right app, then 5 to get to the right window). This only applies to larger numbers of windows and has a lower learnability than the Windows version. For power users who do it a lot, changing the key you press is not really any slower but pushing it an addition 40 times is.

Changing the key is important because it's not just changing the key, it's changing the mental model of what you're doing from "finding the right application" to "finding the right window". In Windows, the cognitive load is lower because you only have to be concerned about "finding the right window" - the applicatio

[There] is such a thing as bad press... -- Tycho

Also, didn't Interplay go out of business?

Yes. Yes it did.

But I guess Gary didn't buy the rights to Fallout after all. Maybe he went for the jar of spit instead.

>>when a huge multi-national corporation doesn't tell the truth, that's called marketing .

i see where you are going but i need to remind you that deception is as much a category of lies as it is a category of marketing.

deception is an adjective of marketing as in "Sony has used deceptive marketing techniques for its PSP"

in the same way, you could say "Joe has deceived his girlfriend by telling her he did not have an affair with his Linux box". See ? it doesn't matter just how bad or wacko joe is, he lied in a deceptive manner so that his girlfriend would believe what she found on the screen is in fact banana pudding.

Syntaxatically yours,
Mr. Period.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/11/03

You're right. I don't really know the motivation either--I cringe every time I hear the justifications people come up with for their greed, especially when they quote someone like Ayn Rand. It makes my blood boil to hear people come out with such twisted notions of "liberty" that are just flimsy pretexts to excuse attitudes that should never be acceptable.

It's disturbing, though. Because while I really do care about others, I find it nearly impossible to care about the people who spout such nonsense. And yet, perhaps that goes back to game theory? In the repeated version of the Prisoner's Dilemma, it's to everyone's advantage to punish anyone who refuses to cooperate for any reason. In fact, any population which does NOT punish greedy bastards in that game will invariably be overrun by them, even though it's to everyone's advantage to cooperate all the time...

Ironic, huh? That game is so often studied because it so resembles real life greed and real life situations. So although their justification is allegedly logical, it breaks down because their strategy of greed isn't dominant. Of course, I suppose I should qualify that... cooperation will, in fact, lose out if it's snuffed out to below some threshold and there aren't any people willing to band together and cooperate enough to form a critical mass of people working together. Alternatively, there are problems when we get down to an effectively non-repeat game because almost everyone is unknown to us--people we'll never see or care about again. Of course, I'm hardly the first person to notice something like that...

I'd rather just line up an army of Fruit Fuckers. Once "Code Omega" is engaged, the RIAA won't have a leg to stand on or a stomach for juice.

... what's the cost of a regular laptop, or the competing project from Intel? Sounds like a Haggard Sony Enthusiast to me.

-theGreater.

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/29

Yes, but if you quote that one, you have to give equal time to this one, too... http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13

Honestly, I don't see the problem ...

I don't even use the strap and have yet to come close to doing something which would require a strap to prevent from throwing the Wiimote. You would have to be doing something pretty stupid ( http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/29 ) to put enough force behind the Wiimote to throw it, break the strap and break your TV.

Obligatory Penny Arcade reference

Couldn't have anything to do with people generating Silver accounts to access regional specific content could it?

like most complex issues, penny arcade captures it best.

Penny Arcade has already handled this topic.
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2005/03/11

> One man even invented a cutter designed specifically for cracking open plastic clamshells.

They got one thing wrong, it was not a man, but a cat.

The Penny Arcade strip can be found here

http://www.penny-arcade.com/images/2002/20020930h. gif

The stuff that gets me down:

• CD cases: I've broken a few CD cases trying to get that damn plastic off, just to find the first corner I can get a grip and tear it.
• DVD cases: Quadruple sealed for the store's protection, FO, consumers, you would be thieves! I've torn the plastic covers on a few thanks to the 2-3 seals around the edges. When the get old, the glue sometimes can be a mess, coming off the back of the plastic.
• Plastic Clamshells: I've had my share of deep cuts from trying to open these things. The plastic, when cut with a knife can still have edges you could challenge a Ginsu Knife with. Can I sue someone for medical expenses? If I had my camera here I could show you scars.

Plastic Clamshells

In its price range, I think the Wii is a healthy addition to have along with a 360 or PS3, but not so much a direct competitor to them among the 18+ crowd.

Well yeah, exactly. With the Wii being sold at a price point that is already profitable, I don't think Nintendo is in a position that it has to give a crap if you buy a Wii in addition to something else. Whereas the big offsetting factor for consoles that lose money is that you'll buy the games, you'll buy the online services, and so on. In the world of XBox, for example, since they need the revenue from the ongoing purchase of games and services just to make back their losses and turn a profit, it has to matter to them if you also buy a Wii because that means you have less dollars to spend on their own add-on service(s) and games.

But if every Wii turns a profit, then those add-on services they sell are gravy, not vital tactics to "winning". From the point of view of Nintendo, I'd argue that the fact that you (or others) consider the Wii a "healthy addition" is wonderful for Nintendo because they'll still make a profit even if you only see it as an addition to the more...serious console purchase. But from the point of view of Sony and MS, buying that "additional system" is totally anathema.

Every dollar you spend on Wii is a dollar not spent on something they desperately need to sell you to make up the cash they're giving away with that loss leader HD system they sold you.

Intriguingly, in the Nintendo model, for all the fluffy marketing talk about gameplay and revolution, the business side doesn't care one tiny little bit what your heart feels about the Wii, as long as you buy one. Insofar as you love it and give them more gravy, they do not have to care. Other than whatever enjoyment they get in making more money.

Whereas for the other two--for all the talk about the game platforms as hardcore, better, more technically accomplished true blue and the perception of their philosophies as supposedly more mature, hard nosed, cutthroat and, let's be honest, American and masculine--the other two need you, yes you, to love them; need you to believe it in your heartso that you never hesitate to keep your dollars right there, with them, where they are more needed and rightfully belong.

Nintendo's little faerie machine liberates the more old-fashioned, hard-nosed business model from messy sticky feelings and gives it a very pretty black bottom line to look at. Is the Wii really a limp wristed sissybox for weirdo degenerates? Or the phalanx of a 21st century global corporate Captain Of Industry?

And let us not set aside that tone in which the Wii is described by detractors--throwing around terms that first degrade homosexuality and/or femininity, then apply those degraded conceptualizations to the Wii in contrast to the normative (generally, heterosexual male) features of the other platforms. There's a lot of masculine defensiveness tied up in the XBox and PS3.

Which one is a more healthy view? In the context of critiquing a game you also attack women and homosexuals in order to defend systems whose makers ultimately need you to fall in love with them? (or to be fair to the Joystiq article linked above, your roommate, who is not so much "critiquing" as standing in for a fairly wide swath of the gaming community) Or you make a game system that makes money and, by virtue of a neutrally functioning business model doesn't give a shit if you're straight, gay, male, female, young or old? Whose word of mouth representatives can depend less on diminishment of something or someone else.

If I owned stock in Sony and MS I'd be forced to ask, are you putting our money into a product that depends on how people feel in order for you to actually make money on it? And then are

Penny Arcade have done that joke a number of times...

Penny Arcade have done that joke a number of times...

Penny Arcade have done that joke a number of times...

Penny Arcade have done that joke a number of times...

Can anyone, umm, translate that paragraph into everyday english?

Maybe you need to reverse the polarity on your web browser?

I suggest you take a visit to the Lair of the Semicolon.

That one made me think of this one. Makes me bust out laughing every time I see it. I actually have a shirt like that guy is wearing...

I thought of penny-arcade when reading that post as well, but apologies, this was what popped up in my mind...

The Fruit Fucker 2000.

I heard that AT&T was developing another kind of robot that you don't want to be rude to.

I think http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13 eloquently puts the point across.

Honestly, with the way the control scheme works, you CAN be a couch patatoe and play the Wii just fine.

Its just boring :)

It's been the subject of at least one comic:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13

She says that while it might be more fun to play the games more aerobically, it's possible to play without leaving the couch.

"It's harder than playing basketball," says Kaitlin Franke, a 12-year-old from Louisville, Ky.

"It was not meant to be a Jenny Craig supplement," she says. "If people are finding themselves sore, they may need to exercise more."

I think http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13 eloquently puts the point across.

Sony's not the only one.

There was a lot of hype for Gears of Wars. So much so, that I was beginning to think that the game had "jumped the shark" on hype alone. From my non-scientific observation (reading game sites, forums, etc.), I think people were starting to expect the game to suck. And in general, I am not a fan of hype at all, as it does tend to hurt more than help.

So, it was surprising to see that the game was quite good. In fact, better than what a lot of people had expected ... because it was so different than your standard FPS shooter. Go read some game forums, for example the Games board at Penny-Arcade. People are very pleased with the game. Heck, go read the earlier Slashdot article, and you can read people's comments about it.

Boy, did they hit the head on the nail:

He says:
"I realized that the Wii isn't asking me to simulate a realistic swing. There's no reason to assume a batter's stance, and no reason to bother swinging the controller fast or following through--flicking the controller like a pingpong paddle works just as well. This is the Wii's biggest letdown--you don't need to stand up, leap around, or otherwise leave the warm embrace of your couch. The console senses motion, but compared with the full-body workout of a game like Dance Dance Revolution, you're not getting any kind of exercise at all."

PA says:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2006/11/13

I say:
He doesn't appear to understand a certain type of fun that videogames can provide. You _can_ decide to play it like Cartman playing WoW, or you could have fun. Your choice. He chooses to be a f***ing toolbox.

I'm not a Wii fanboy, but I have to say that article is pretty terrible.

Associated Press (CNN, Yahoo), is reporting that masked, armed thugs robbed people waiting in line at a Putnam, Connecticut Wal-Mart for PS3, and shot one person who wouldn't hand over their money.

Penny Arcade has pretty much nailed the idiocy of this launch, as usual.

Do you like my hat? It's made of MONEY! - not quite the same (X-Box exclusive release for Munch's Oddysee vs. mad profits on many titles), but you've got your money hat. The end.

Run along and play, Comma. These animals have never even heard of you.

They should do it the right way, and go straight to the source.

There's no substitute for a face-to-face with a dirty cheater.

You forgot the rest of the post. From the same site.

"Even though the game doesn't look all that great, it's still Zelda and it's fucking awesome. Our crew plays Gears of War every night and I had a hard time putting down my remote and nun chuck to join them. 1up has a minute by minute write up of the first ten hours of the game which seems ridiculous to me. I don't know why you'd want to ruin such a great experience and it's really not necessary. Maybe that's that new games journalism I've heard so much about. Here's everything you need to know about Twilight Princess:

-Playing Zelda with the Wii controller is super fun. -The game play is a blast. -The story is great. -You'll never even think about the graphics while you're playing it.

I recommend avoiding any of the extensive write ups about the game. I'm serious, Twilight Princess is too good to ruin it that way. Just wait a few more days and experience it for yourself.

Next time, try to troll a bit better

Yeah, I think that once again, penny-arcade says it best.

I saw a sig once to the effect that the average slashdot poster is an idiot, and 50% are below average. Certainly a troubling thought, if we're supposed to be an intelligent community, or something. But I think that the truth is that idiots are louder, and poorly conceived and ill-balanced arguments are easier to yell. You may have also noticed this in, say, politics. I imagine most people may have preferences, but a disproportionate percentage of the overly zealous are the ones that garner the most attention.

I believe it refers to a Penny Arcade strip:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2000/10/23

Obligatory Penny-Arcade.

Bad feedback coming in for Zelda. Most telling is:

http://www.penny-arcade.com/

"The game doesn't look very good. I don't just mean it doesn't look like Gears of War either, I mean it doesn't even look good for a GC game and let's be honest here that's what we're talking about. I've seen beautiful games on the Cube. Crystal Chronicles, Wind Waker and Resident Evil 4 were all incredible looking games. Twilight Princess can't really compare to any of them. So he's right about that"

Granted they go onto defend the playability - but other - if not MOST of the other games for the Wii won't have the insane genius of Shigeru Miyamoto behind them. If you can be happy with 3-4 games that have that kind of brilliance behind them for the life of your system, with downgraded graphics for the rest, then happy times. I'm going to take delivery of a paintbrush with more firepower for developers to explore and exploit over the long-term.

The biggest beef I have with the Wii is that Nintendo has been VERY mum on the tech specs for its system. I strongly suspect it's a GameCube with beefed up memory. In which case, you'd be better off getting a 99-dollar Gamecube and putting the rest of your 150 in change to new games.

I can't help but be reminded of http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2001/06/06

I really dislike the cultural appropriation of games - video games are for nerds, dammit. Hearing Li'l Wayne talk about how dope he is at GTA or whatever makes me die a little inside.

Also, Empire Arcadia, the "urban gaming clan" is just that: a bunch of guys from NYC who play a lot of games. Featuring, among others, Justin Wong, Sanford Kelly, and Ricky Ortiz, some of the best Street Fighter players in the world.

it's sad the mods don't get the joke .

I haven't played too far into the game yet myself, only about 2.5 hours. At first I hated the combat system (MMORPGs are not my cup of tea), but it's growing on me how fast you can get in and out of combat. Also, the non-random battles are nicer.

Gabe from Penny Arcade answers many of your questions about it on this page.

Final Fantasy X was a pretty good game IMO. I'm hoping I enjoy this one at least as much. Though I did like Dragon Quest 8 quite a bit so my opinion probably doesn't count much for you ;)