Slashdot Mirror

What capabilities does the Wii command that are unachievable on the GameCube today? I think nintendo is just releasing the obligatory new platform as a method to increase saturation of it's 'wiimote' controller. They should have just bundled the controller with whatever handful of games they plan to have it work with and called it a day. Consider:

Wii is hardly more powerful than gamecube. GC 1.5 indeed. Partial Wii Specs vs. GC Specs>

They are releasing AAA GC titles simultaneously with Wii anyway.

Wii has 4 GC controller ports and will accept GC discs as well as Wii ones.

What we really have here, just like GBA SP and DS Lite, is the GC Wii, with a pack-in wand controller and ethernet port.

It has been stated before that the PlayStation 3 is expected to be capable of distributed processing due to the capabilities of the Cell architecture. Whether or not that will indeed be the case remains to be seen, it is certainly a lofty goal for the current market penetration (not to mention speeds) of broadband in the home. Does Sony expect these PS3s to cooperate with their Cell-based television sets?

"Although PS2 was a sales success because it had a DVD player function,
Ummm... No. PS2 was a sales success because of the titles offered at launch and the solid reputation as a platform garnered by PS1. Backwards compatibility with PS1 titles and great design didn't hurt either. But to say that its success stems from the fact that it has a DVD player is silly.

And if Iwata doesn't dig DVD players in his game systems, he really is going to choke on the PS3:
If Sony's aspirations succeed, then the Playstation 3 will not be a pure video game console, but rather measure the amount of milk left in the fridge, record TV programs to hard-disk, automatically download new software, perform Tera-flop operations and a variety of other things. In short, if one can automate, computerize, network or electrify a process, then the PS3 should be able to take on the task. From SPReporter article.

And in the same vien (and in his same sentence,) if Iwata is a little put off by "hardware where the sole function wasn't playing games," then he's obviously not a big fan of mods, and throwing away a great customer base.

He used the example that cell phones that play games use up battery power quickly, having a direct impact on the cell phone's core functionality.
And what's next? Refrigerators that dispense water and ice (thus reducing storage space and impacting core functionality,) autos with navigation systems (thus reducing the core map storage functionality of your glove box,) computers that play DVDs (thus reducing the core functionality of your adding machine)??? Yes, Iwata. This maddness MUST END!

Iwata drew parallels between the current state of the gaming industry and the decline in popularity of the shooting and fighting game genres.
No doubt there. Shooters are certainly on the way out. Hardly anyone is making them anymore.

He cited Pokemon, a franchise that has sold more than 10 million GBA games worldwide, as one exception to the rule and seemed to indicate that the industry needs more titles like that.
No question. If Microsoft and Sony would only, then perhaps they could have a glut of non-selling consoles, too!

He once more stressed the pitfalls of online gaming and the problems of subscription networks, and then pointed to new Pokemon games for the GBA as alternatives to Internet play.
Pokemon for the GBA as an alternative to Internet play??? Is this guy for real???

Iwata is out of touch.

Does speling count?

$5 million / 17,000 = $294 each.

The prices of the various playstation models are (source1) (source2):

PS1: $50
PS1+LCD: $150
PS2 (may2003) $179
(may2002) $199
(pre-may2002) $299

Sounds like they are using the older PS2 price even though the article didn't mention the exact model. The price could be valid; the date of that heist wasn't given. I don't think the original playstations ever sold for that much, but I could be wrong.

Possible solutions to scratched CDs.

• Try to salvage the disc. Products like the Data Doctor (also known as the Game Doctor) lightly buff the surface of the CDs. If the scratches are light, you should be able to rip them. There are many more similar products and services listed on Google.
• Exact Audio Copy--this is well known as the best way to extract audio from CDs. It does a decent job on scratched CDs. I had some CDs that would skip on every player I had, but I was able to get the data with no problem. It's not perfect though and will not work for severe scratches.

Now, since I like to listen to my CDs at home, work, and in the car, I was also going to burn a second copy to a CD full of mp3s to leave at work for my own person use only.

Pretty sure this type of usage was covered in the suit against portable MP3 players. It is space shifting, which is Fair Use.

From PS Reporter:

Japanese media reported on May 6th that the PS3 console is in development. The goal is to make new processor technology, called "grid" about 200x faster than current console technology. This is almost achieving their original goal of making the PS3 1000(!) times faster than the PS2. This goal was publically set by Mr Okamoto, the Senior VP and Chief Technical Officer of Sony Computer Entertainment, at the 2002 Game Developers Conference in San Jose, California.

And there was a story just about two or three weeks ago that there was a rumor that Sony was going to try to push up the release date even more.

-T

So i think we played into Bill's hands. He is getting all the air time here. I am actually thinking about buying one and so are you.

yeah but if you dont buy any games for it then you will be hurting them. this is based on the assumption that they are loosing money on the console and expecting to make it back on the games.

if i purchased one it would be to play dvd's and the mame stuff since i have no interest in newer console games. while i might be in the minority with respect to console games, those who like the newer games might not be purchasing them either*. if you read about the mod chip you would see that it allows you to play copies of games.

so now i can buy this console+modchip for $270 and do everything with it someone without the mod chip can do and alot more. not to mention that with the mod chip i can play bootlegged cd's*.

is this a real threat? heck i dont know. what can microsoft do? i think online services to encourage people to purchase the software might work. similar to what id did with quake 3 arena.

im sure you can see how this _could_ work out bad for microsoft.

*A Xbox Mod Chip would not only make it possible to play Backups and Imports, but would also open a complete new era in videogame console development.

Tell me more