'Q' Plays US GameCube Games

"Q" and "A" by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:07 · Score: -1, Troll

Just as long as it plays bukkake DVDs, I'm happy!

AND FIST SPORT!

first post: you may begin by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:08 · Score: -1, Offtopic

i am now allowing discussion to commence. you are welcome.

--king o slashdot

Re:first post: you may begin by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:10 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Who died and made you king, you jumped up tyrant. Fight the Slashdot King! Free Beer for All!

styling is ghetto by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:09 · Score: -1, Offtopic

when will people learn...democracy just doesnt work

Re:styling is ghetto by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:12 · Score: -1, Troll

Me and Fred have got together and voted that democracy does work. So, fuck you!

Too slow! by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:10 · Score: -1, Troll

Bit quiet here today, isn't it?

Love,
The Bukkake DVD dude from the TRUE First Post

Re:Too slow! by cyborg_monkey · 2001-12-17 00:55 · Score: -1

Log in and post, you fuckwit AC. Until then, shut your twat waffle.

Why is it? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:11 · Score: 3, Insightful

Why is it Japan keeps getting these cool Japan only products? I mean, why sell a diffrent inferior version for the rest of the world? Doesn't it cost them more to R&D a diffrent U.S. product? Why not sell us the good stuff?

Re:Why is it? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:18 · Score: -1, Flamebait

Because you Americans are too dumb to be able to use complex, sophisticated and subtle products such as these.
Re:Why is it? by SquierStrat · 2001-12-17 00:28 · Score: 1

Umm, damn...we're just to dumb...guess i'll have to stop using my computers....and man since the Q is no more complex than my N64, I'll have to stop using it...and my Playstation, and SNES so on so forth....and my TV...shoot my car is just to complex...

--
Derek Greene
Re:Why is it? by jeremyf · 2001-12-17 00:30 · Score: -1

Just a thought, but Japanese gamers seem to be more technical and know more about their games (as evidenced by the much higher gaming rate there).

Now think about Nintendo's target audience here. Imagine a mom who goes into a Walmart because her 9 year old wants a Nintendo. "Huh? Panawhatever Q? What's that? I want a Nintendo. What, it plays Nintendo games? Why does it cost more than this small one over here? Is it better? I'm all confused! *Buys X-box*"

Try to explain the average Nintendo buyer the difference between two computers. It's hard enough to explain the differences between console brands, we don't need two systems to play one brand of game.
Re:Why is it? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:33 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Better you learn now than later...
Re:Why is it? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:33 · Score: -1, Flamebait

ha ha stupid yankee you trolled, you smell like a hog, lick your fathers bottom!
Re:Why is it? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 01:52 · Score: -1, Offtopic

cos the rest of the world hates you.
So torments your with funky stuff then hands you shit.
Re:Why is it? by ethereal · 2001-12-17 02:18 · Score: 0, Offtopic

So torments your with funky stuff then hands you shit.

Wow, that sentence was right out of Zero Wing. So your point is that we can get Japanese stuff, but it's mistranslated so as to be rather unintentionally humorous? :)

--
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
Re:Why is it? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 02:34 · Score: -1, Offtopic

It's not that "we're just to dumb", it's just that YOU'RE TOO dumb.
Re:Why is it? by CatherineCornelius · 2001-12-17 03:25 · Score: 1

Some people have pointed out the general reason--it's much cheaper to launch in a small test market.
This goes double for a company whose home market is sophisticated, inward-looking and protected by a strong language barrier.
There is no technical reason why an American company should not launch a Cube/DVD hybrid, and no technical reason why a US GameCube shouldn't play both Japanese and US games. These aren't technological issues at all. Markets aren't always quite so free as to operate in the interests of the consumer, although they're usually just free enough to operate in the interests of those who wish to profit by export.
Re:Why is it? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 04:14 · Score: 0

I am an upper middle-class middle aged consumer. Just the demographics Sony and Nitendo would like to attrack. I just bought my first console -- an xBox. Mind you, I hate Microsoft as much as anyone, and only take small comfort that they loose money on every sale, so I really had to be convinced the product was quite decent. I really expected to buy a game cube but was stunned when I first learned it would not play DVDs. What were they thinking? Like I want two more pieces of equipment daisy-chained into my A/V system! I would have a PS2 last Christmas -- but they weren't available. The xBox was my only real choice. I would like to think my purchasing decision process is close to a million others who could have afforded any of the three systems. I hope Nintendo (and Sony) reads this and weeps.
Re:Why is it? by ethereal · 2001-12-17 04:51 · Score: 1

I dunno, I don't think this thread is particularly offtopic - we're talking about Japanese gear that we can't get in the States, and positing reasons why we can't get it. Oh well.

--
Your right to not believe: Americans United for Separation of Church and
Re:Why is it? by bartok · 2001-12-17 06:51 · Score: 1

You're right about Japn being an easier market because it's small. However, the main reason Nintendo didn't put a DVD in the US GamCube is also because they want it to be cheap to produce so that it can have this 100$ price difference with XBox & PS2. This is giving them a big advantage with everyone that's been hit by the recession. It also makes it likely that people who decide to buy 2 consoles will choose the GameCube as one of them.
Re:Why is it? by Kalidor · 2001-12-17 07:27 · Score: 1

well .. you have two things. First is why Panasonic didn't release their gamecube clone outside of Japan. Well, that is the easier one. Nintendo licensed their clone for Japan only sales! They try and sell here .. and well .. lets just say things happen that aren't pretty.

Now as to the entire thing about why Japanese companies sell "handicapped" products like the game cube that can't be flipped from region to region. Quite frankly its money. The will actually get more money in the long run here if they sell they base ... then wait and come out with upgrades over time.

Nokia did the same thing origianlly, claiming that its [then new] phone, while capable of IR communications did not have the parts and it was a 40 dollar upgrade that was made available in the states later. When the truth is, everything was there in the phone, except the firmware was programed to lock out the IR port.

Same with other things. My Samsung 3.1 GHz phone for example which I got right when they were curtailing the model ... three years ago. I got one of the last ones of that model sold. And now, just recently have 3.1 Ghz phones appeared on the US market.

Simply Japan sees American consumers thinking, hmm my phone now sucks, time to get a new one!
Japanese Consumers wait or protest.

--
Code softly but carry a big magnet.
Re:Why is it? by fatgraham · 2001-12-17 08:19 · Score: 1

and why dont we i europe get anything on time!

lifes a bitch :P
Re:Why is it? by Cryptnotic · 2001-12-17 11:22 · Score: 2

Japan is NOT a small market. Japan is a country of 120 million people, only a little less than half that of the United States. And Japan's consumers tend to be more technically sophisticated than American consumers. Japanese consumers demand all of the features that are included for the Japanese models. There is a conception that the Americans want everything BIGGER and SIMPLER. So for the American market, the products are physically bigger and with less features. There is also the fact that because of having to ship products across the Pacific, they lose money on the shipping, so they can cut the price of the product by removing features and/or making it in a more shoddy factory in China instead of a Japanese factory.

Cryptnotic

--
My other first post is car post.
Re:Why is it? by CatherineCornelius · 2001-12-17 12:02 · Score: 1

Japan is NOT a small market.
You're right, I was wrong to imply that it was small. In fact, I write from a European vantage point and was comparing local markets against global market. In such a context, I would probably have referred to the US market as small. Which would also be wrong. The contrast is between the local homogeneous market that you know well and the larger collection of heterogeneous markets that you don't know or are not yet interested in testing.
Re:Why is it? by mrpotato · 2001-12-18 11:26 · Score: 1

YHBT YHL HAND

--

cheers

Surely.. by NirishChas · 2001-12-17 00:16 · Score: 3, Insightful

Panasonic is set to lose a _lot_ of money after these new developments. Is there any real point in only releasing it in one place only for it to be ripped apart and distributed abroad when they could make their own profit if they played their cards right?

Spread that Christmas Cheer by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:16 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Import games by LinuxGeek · 2001-12-17 00:18 · Score: 1, Redundant

Why do companies play these games? You can look at the cool products that they sell in Japan or Europe but they won't import them. Do they sell them for more with the exclusivity factored in? Bah... I didn't want anyway, nope wouldn't take one if they gave it to me now. Yeah, maybe if we don't want them, imports will start right away.

--

Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see. - Mark Twain

Re:Import games by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:23 · Score: 1, Funny

I could ask why so much stuff is released in the US only... How do YOU like it now?
Re:Import games by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:26 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Yeah right - if you were to be offered one of these you would be drooling all over the floor...
Re:Import games by Bilestoad · 2001-12-17 00:30 · Score: 4, Insightful

Why do companies play these games?

Easy - to test markets. Internationalizing a product, even if it is only translation of manuals and text is surprisingly expensive. That doesn't even begin to consider research into cultural differences - know what "nova" in Spanish means? It didn't do Chevrolet any good using that name in South America. Or there's the Coca Cola name in China.

The rest of the world (and you probably mean the USA) is a huge market but what works in Europe or Japan isn't necessarily going to work here, just look at the huge market for video-capable cell phones in Japan and compare the screens we live with. If it is a huge success then you can be sure we'll get the product, when it looks like US sales will show a profit.
Re:Import games by joebp · 2001-12-17 00:47 · Score: 5, Interesting

That doesn't even begin to consider research into cultural differences - know what "nova" in Spanish means?
Yes, it means you've fallen for a common urban legend.
Re:Import games by MisterBlister · 2001-12-17 00:50 · Score: 1

Mostly its so they can get away with price fixing products for certain markets.
The Japanese might pay more (or less, depending on the product) than the average US consumer for the same product. If there were no export restrictions or regional encoding, it would be difficult for the companies to manage this issue as savvy consumers would choose to import the lower cost version rather than buying the more expensive local version.
The thing that really bothers me about all of this, though, is that the mega-corps want it both ways. They want a 'globalized economy' so they can exploit cheap labor in other countries, and at the same time they want artificial restrictions on where and how their products can be distributed. Fuckers.
Re:Import games by Bilestoad · 2001-12-17 00:54 · Score: 2, Funny

Nah. The fact that "nova" is not the same as "No va!" doesn't really matter. Let's say your surname is Hunt - are you really going to call your son Mike?
Re:Import games by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 01:48 · Score: 0

plent of stuff is released in the US only.
And we deal with it.
Re:Import games by VALinux · 2001-12-17 02:43 · Score: -1

The coca cola story is an urban legend as well. Due to the fact that Chinese is a language of monosyllabic root, a phrase simply transliterated by an ignorant westerner can be interpreted in about 50 different ways. For instance, Ko-ka-ko-la, pronounced in Chinese with a certain inflection, translates to "bite the wax tadpole", which I believe is the story you are referring to. However, with slight changes in inflection, Ko-ka-ko-la can have several dozen different lexical meanings, many of which suit the product better. Also, there is the story about the Pepsi ad, saying "Pepsi-Cola refreshes the spirit", being translated in China as "Pepsi-Cola brings your ancestors back to life!" Again, there is a subtlety here which a non-speaker of the language cannot grasp. The fact of the matter is, these are all used as examples of "clueless" American companies trying to force their products down the throats of a foreign culture with no understanding of said culture. This is false. These legends are usually spread by ignoramuses who themselves have less understanding of the foreign culture than the supposed advertising execs in the legends, and use it as an excuse to pillory both the big stupid corporation and the ignorant, backwards ass rice-farming chinaman who can't understand the advertisement. In reality, the foreign market is sophisticated enough to understand what is meant by these translations; the only one who doesn't understand is some pundit with a phrase book/Berlitz dictionary who comes up with some wise-ass story, and the millions like yourself in the peanut gallery who pass it on ad nauseum without checking facts.
Re:Import games by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 03:09 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Thanks Mr. Troll. Back under your bridge now.
Re:Import games by VALinux · 2001-12-17 03:42 · Score: -1

'Elp, I'm being oppressed!
Re:Import games by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 05:00 · Score: -1, Offtopic

heh, there is a guy in my class named Mike Hunt.
Re:Import games by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 15:12 · Score: 0

I can do one better than that. :)
True story... A few years ago, when I was in high school, there was a guy in the class behind mine. His name was Nathan Hock. Hid dad's name was Mike.
<DaveBarry>I swear I am not making this up.</DaveBarry>

Well if panasonic is like sony... by SquierStrat · 2001-12-17 00:18 · Score: 3, Interesting

then whoever puts out information on how to mod it out, or anyone who sells mod chips of any kind will get sued! :-(

--
Derek Greene

Re:Well if panasonic is like sony... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:39 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Nope, no karma here...
Re:Well if panasonic is like sony... by kesuki · 2001-12-17 08:09 · Score: 1

Which lawsuit do you mean? The only lawsuit I can find on the 'net is the connectix VGS one, which sony lost horribly, forcing them to buy them out. Mod chips, reverse engineering, emulation are All Perfectly legal, and we have legal precedence for this. As long as you aren't 'damaging' the company. It is also impossible to 'prove' that a modchip harms a company, since you had to buy the hardware in the first place to mod it. There are also Substantial Non-Infringing uses for a mod-chip. Such as the playback of other region DVDs or the use of Backup Discs. Just as the VCR has the ability to copy movies. The substantial non-infringing uses for a VCR, time shifting Television for one, makes it legal.

If sony could win a lawsuit agains modchip makers they would sue them until they were blue in the face. But they can't win. That is why the same modchip people from 3-4 years ago are still selling modchips today. Sony and panasonic can't touch them.

--
https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
Re:Well if panasonic is like sony... by SquierStrat · 2001-12-17 17:27 · Score: 1

Umm, I can't remember the URL, but a day or two ago I saw that they were suing PS2 mod chip makers. I thought it was here hence, I didn't post my reference.

Either or, while we have legal precedence for reverse engineering et cetera, it still doesn't stop the DMCA sillyness from allowing for suits and jail time in the U.S. :-(

Also, even thought he mod chip makers may win...the costs of the suit could knock them off the map in some cases.

--
Derek Greene
Re:Well if panasonic is like sony... by iainl · 2001-12-17 19:52 · Score: 1

This story here is the one you're looking for. The critical difference here is that the Nintendo mod, unlike the Sony one, just opens the machine up to play US games as well as Japan ones. Sony seems to worry a lot more about imports, but mainly worries about the fact that Sony mods also let you play pirate games.

--
"I Know You Are But What Am I?"

If Q Plays game cube games..... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:22 · Score: 3, Funny

Then M probably plays PSII games.

Which means 007 himself must be left with the x-box. Ouch.

Australian Scat Films by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:25 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Does it play those fine Australian scatology flicks as well? It would be a a real waste of money otherwise.

-- David Hume

Re:Australian Scat Films by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:28 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Hey David,

How's it going? Long time no see!

Did you pass your exam?
Re:Australian Scat Films by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:41 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Naah, my shit got stuck at the last moment :(

-- David Hume

Marketing. by brunes69 · 2001-12-17 00:27 · Score: 5, Insightful

The reason is simple, marketing. Advertising and promoting a product costs alot. If products were released in NA and Japan at the same time, that would mean twice the marketing budget for a product that hasn't proven itself yet. By doing a release in Japan first, they can do to things: 1) They make sure the product is cost feasable enough to market in the US, and 2) They can use the revenues coming in off of the Japanese sales to drive the US marketing effort, which is guarenteed to be much more expensive.

Another reason alot of stuff isn't released in the US is because marketing studies (and common logic) dictate alot of stuff thats succesfull in the techno-gadget culture of Japan isn't as successfull this side of the Pacific. Don't forget, the /. , gadget buying crowd is in a vast majority over here, but not so over there. Everyone and their dog has a cell-phone-PDA-GPS-wearable-pc-doohicky!

Re:Marketing. by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:57 · Score: 0

The costs of marketing the product make the product unprofitable, so it is never released outside the insanely gadget consious Japanese market...

Only in a totally fscked system would so much of the cost of a product go to the pockets of a bunch of pony-tailed advertising men who haven't added any value to anything in their lives.

Consider the lack of Q in the US one of the prices you have to pay for having a marketing driven capitalist economy...

He does? by Xpilot · 2001-12-17 00:42 · Score: 3, Funny

Oh wait, I thought you meant this guy.

You'd think he'd have better things to do, like bug Jean-Luc.

--
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds

Re:He does? by cockroach2 · 2001-12-17 00:51 · Score: -1, Offtopic

yeah, so did i...

Want a free car? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 00:47 · Score: -1, Offtopic

Our car-manufacturing company has developed a new revolutionary business model for making cars.

We give away the cars for free and then we sell services for those cars! If you want to we can clean your car, wax it or you can use some of our other services.

We get cash from a couple of VC's, the rest of them simple don't "get it". If we need more we just call "the suits".

This is the deal of a lifetime for any poor open source programmer!

What about european games? by Gerein · 2001-12-17 00:58 · Score: 2, Interesting

Does this modification work for european games, too?
This would be interesting, because Europe and Japan share the same DVD-Regioncode (RC2). So, while this won't help american players much, it might be very interesting fo european ones.

Re:What about european games? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 01:20 · Score: 0

Except for the NTSC signal used in Japan. The encoding is part of the DVD so the machine won't play PAL encoded Region 2 discs.
Re:What about european games? by Gerein · 2001-12-17 02:07 · Score: 1

Good point. But...
Practically all DVD-player (in Germany in my case) I know off, accept NTSC-DVDs and output them as NTSC or PAL60 (modified PAL with 60Hz, accepted by most TVs). It's not really an advertised 'feature', because normally nobody uses it (as long as you're not an anime fan, or your player is modified to be region-free, and you're importing american DVDs), so I would imagine it's not too hard to implement.
Does anybody know if 'Q' can handle PAL-discs?
Re:What about european games? by class_A · 2001-12-17 02:58 · Score: 1

We don't know yet as there are no European GameCubes or games.

Will Ninty follow Sony's lead and move to prohibit the sale and development of modchips?

Got one! by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 01:19 · Score: 0

I am a student in Japan on exchange right now and got one of these things. It is really cool. Anyone who is serious about gamecube should get one. Glad it can be modded so I can get games in english too on it. Don't care about the dvd region. Now I have a machines to play my region 2 transformers box set and morning musume dvds

I'd like to get one by Juln · 2001-12-17 01:24 · Score: 1

My girlfriend was disappointed that the gamecube could not also function as a DVD player.
Perhaps I can get her one of these, and take my gamecube back here, into my lair, with my computer! Where it belongs! Grahaha
Away from the vile, fuzzy television.

--
Juln

Re:I'd like to get one by mhandlon · 2001-12-17 03:59 · Score: 0

hahaha I don't know why. Maybe I'm just a moron but, that was really funny.

--
Nyquil = Nectar of the devil

For The Lazy: The Q's Guts by hyyx · 2001-12-17 01:24 · Score: 2

If anyone is lazy enough to not read the article, here is a link that should of been posted in the blurb [pictures of the Q's guts]:

http://www.lik-sang.com/catalog/master.php?navbar= Opened+Q&inc=qmod.inc

Re:For The Lazy: The Q's Guts by CityZen · 2001-12-17 07:53 · Score: 1

Wow. It sure looks a lot more elegant on the outside than on the inside. Unlike the nice simplicity of a common GameCube's guts, this thing has circuit boards and ribbon cables galore. I'm surprised it's only ~$100 more. They must expect to cost-reduce it in the future.

Super happy fun video game by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 01:28 · Score: -1, Troll

Everything in Japan SEEMS advanced, high tech, and exclusive, but it's like half the crap they send over here.

Super-Overrated-Happy-Not-Fun CRAP.

Let me get this straight... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 01:59 · Score: -1, Troll

The worst terrorist attack in recorded history occurred in September, followed by a deadly and bloody WAR against the Islamic faith (against the holiest of Muslim clerics and scholars, the beloved Taliban leaders of the Afghanistan people) and now we're struggling to bring order to Afghanistan with the establishment of an interim government, as well as tightening the noose over the Al Qaeda group (a terrorist cell with possibly the coolest name around) in the mountains of Tora Bora, and you people have the gall to be discussing video games???? My *god*, people, GET SOME PRIORITIES!

The bodies of the thousands of innocent civilians who died (and will die) in these unprecedented events could give a good god damn about video games, your childish Lego models, your nerf toy guns and whining about the lack of a "fun" workplace, your Everquest/Diablo/D&D fixation, the latest Cowboy Bebop rerun, or any of the other ways you are "getting on with your life" (here's a hint: watching Cowboy Bebop in your jammies and eating a bowl of Shreddies is *not* "getting on with your life"). The souls of the victims are watching in horror as you people squander your finite, precious time on this earth playing video games!

You people disgust me!

Re:Let me get this straight... by hyyx · 2001-12-17 02:18 · Score: 0, Offtopic

Watching Cowboy Bebop in your jammies and eating a bowl of Shreddies is *not* "getting on with your life".

What you do in your spare time is your own business, buddy. Seriously though, people are getting on with their lives by not letting themselves be terrorized. You are simply feeding the media frenzy.

What's Up With This? by hyyx · 2001-12-17 02:12 · Score: 2, Interesting

Take a look at this link to a Panasonic sweepstakes where they are giving away actual Nintendo Gamecube units with an additional TV/VCR/DVD Combo unit. Why aren't they promoting their own 'Q' units, which combined this technology into one unit?

PowerPC or what? by Squib · 2001-12-17 02:46 · Score: 1

Does anybody know what sort of processor the 'Q' is using? Is it the custom-designed PowerPC that IBM did for Nintendo, or is it something else? And if it's not, will this affect gameplay in any way?

--
First winter rain-
even the monkey
seems to want a raincoat.
-Basho

Re:PowerPC or what? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 03:01 · Score: 0

Of course it is all the same processors and hardware. The DVD portion and any other portion are using the expansion slots/ports to run their hardware which all GameCubes have.

Nintendo didn't want it in the U.S. by Win-Developer · 2001-12-17 03:03 · Score: 1

It's a shame Panasonic chose not to release it to North American store shelves, but the import will soon work just as well.

Please try and get your facts straight. I was previously reported on all the gaming websites that Nintendo didn't want the Panasonic DVD-Cube coming to the U.S.. Nintendo intended that the Gamecube be solely a video game console, not a Console/DVD player here in the States.

Will be here soon enough... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 04:01 · Score: 1, Interesting

My understanding from an article I read earlier was that Nintendo did not want compatible products released in the US market before the Xmas season. Supposedly they feared it would cause confusion in the marketplace, and wanted some time for the GameCube to establish itself before the brand was diluted by compatible units. I believe there will be an American version of this device in the near future.

DVD not a selling feature of consoles. by Maul · 2001-12-17 04:10 · Score: 3, Insightful

Really, I don't think a DVD player is really a
selling feature of a console for most people.
Sure, the DVD playback feature on my Playstation 2
is nice. I suppose that on a system the size of the Game Cube, DVD player capability coupled with a portable screen like Interact would make a good system for a road trip.

However, my consoles are in the living room. In my place there are 5 different machines capable of playing DVDs. After a while, the DVD feature isn't a big deal.

--

"You spoony bard!" -Tellah

Re:DVD not a selling feature of consoles. by de+Selby · 2001-12-17 04:38 · Score: 2, Insightful

Most places, like mine, have 0 devices capable of playing DVDs. So, DVD support in a game device IS a good selling feature.
Re:DVD not a selling feature of consoles. by Howie · 2001-12-17 05:18 · Score: 1

I agree. I have DVDROM in most of my PCs, and a DVD player. I used the PS2's DVD playing exactly once, just to see what it was like (annoying with a game-pad as a remote).

What attracted me to the Q was the sexy case compared with the fisher-price inspired original game cube.

--
"don't fall into the fallacy of believing that Perl can solve social problems. Maybe Perl 6 can, but that's a ways off"
Re:DVD not a selling feature of consoles. by dangermouse · 2001-12-17 15:38 · Score: 2

Repeat after me: "I have five DVD-capable machines in one room. I am not most people."
Keep that up until you realize that you are not the control case.

why the Q won't be released in the states by LordXarph · 2001-12-17 04:18 · Score: 2, Insightful

Short answer: Nintendo fears american warez kiddies.

Long answer: Most of the copy protection surrounding the Gamecube revolves around its 3 inch DVDs. The reason Nintendo picked an odd (but still standard) is the complete lack of blanks at that size. This will, for a little while at least, keep the Gamecube from having games copied, as DVD-R blanks won't fit in the machine.

Now we have the Q, which is a Gamecube modified to play DVD movies. DVD movies come on 5 inch discs. There are blank DVDs that are 5 inches. What will inevitably happen if the Q is released here is that warez kiddies will copy 3 inch Gamecube discs onto 5 inch DVD blanks, and run them on a modchipped Q. The whole bet Nintendo is hedging is that 3 inch blank DVDs will not be available for a while, and when they are, they will be prohibitively expensive to keep piracy at a minimum for a few more years, which is the expected lifespan of the GC.

-Lx?

Re:why the Q won't be released in the states by gulfan · 2001-12-17 05:32 · Score: 1

This does sound pretty realistic. I have heard a rumor that you can use Minidisc's instead of the 3Inch DVD's. There is a lot of GC trading on IRC.
Re:why the Q won't be released in the states by ApheX · 2001-12-17 05:45 · Score: 1

American Warez Kiddies?

No, I think they fear the Asian Piracy Industry more than American 'w4r3z k1dd13z'. In the US there are simply groups of kids that rip and release games over the net, etc. In Asia, piracy is a HUGE industry with lots of money behind it. This is why the XBox will not be released in some areas, because microsoft is selling the XCrotch at a loss and making the money up on games. If everyone and their mother is pirating Xbox games then thats bad for MS.

I'm sure Nintendo of America has their reasons for not wanting the Q not released in the US (monetary probably) but 'American Warez Kiddies' probably aren't even on that list.

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aphex
I Steal Music!
Re:why the Q won't be released in the states by ApheX · 2001-12-17 05:51 · Score: 1

I take it you are refering to the 3" Mini CD's?

If you are refering to the Sony Minidisc format, that will never work - not compatible at all with current CD/DVD standards.

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aphex
I Steal Music!
Re:why the Q won't be released in the states by mstrjon32 · 2001-12-17 07:41 · Score: 1

Not to mention that Minidisc is a 140MB format...

Be careful of Lik-Sang by InterruptDescriptorT · 2001-12-17 04:31 · Score: 0, Troll

Not that I don't think this thing is really cool, but the name Lik-Sang rang a few bells in my head. I have not dealt with them directly, but I have heard a number of reports, many of them on XBoxHacker.net, of Lik-Sang screwing up orders and shipping faulty equipment. One story had Lik-Sang shipping a faulty device out to a customer, who then sent it back only to have his same device returned to him.

Once again, I cannot stress enough that I have not dealt with Lik-Sang ever, but that I have heard enough tales from dissatisfied customers that I would exercise a lot of caution with their products or reports.

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Karma: Excellent Birds (mostly as a result of listening to Laurie Anderson)

Re:Be careful of Lik-Sang by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 07:02 · Score: 0

I've bought from Lik-Sang a few times. They did screw up one order. They took it back and sent me the correct item. I had to pay return postage tho. I bought from them a few times since then and didn't have any problems.

Lik-Sang isn't perfect, but I can honestly reccomend them over many other HK exporters, who often don't even reply to e-mails.

No region 1? by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 05:40 · Score: 0

I didn't see any mention in the article, but that's probably because Japan is also region 1, isn't it?

Duh.

Stupid product names by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 06:45 · Score: 0

You think "no va" is bad? What about these complete nonsense product names from Japan:

Walk Man (for a tape player)
Hello Kitty (why is a cat named hello?)
Sailor Moon (which has nothing to do with sailing)
Angelic Layer (where angel apparently means doll)
X (for a non-porn film)
Linkle Liver (Sega RPG.. this name is just bizarre)
Violence Jackoff (clothing store)

...should I go on?

Re:Stupid product names by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 08:21 · Score: 0

But OTOH
1) Sailor Moon wears a costume more or less based upon a Japanese school girl's uniform, itself inspired by sailor suits, and called a 'sailor fuku,' 'sera fuku,' or 'saefuku.' This doesn't make a hell of a lot of sense, but she is a schoolgirl who is required to wear a sailor fuku anyway, so what the hell. (at least she isn't in the Kekko Kamen school of costume design)

2) She's not called Sailor Moon in Japan anyway. The word there is 'senshi' which is more accurately translated as 'warrior' or 'soldier.' You can blame American translators for changing that to 'sailor,' probably to help explain away the uniform, since we don't really have those. (and the look is wrong for 'Catholic School Warrior Moon' anyway)

But I will generally agree with you, the Japanese do tend to come up with wierd names for things.

There's more to piracy protection than that by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 07:36 · Score: 0

Being 3 inches is only one countermeasure against piracy. In addition to (probably circumventable) encrypted headers, the discs also have two layers (can't burn that) and spin backwards. That's a hell of a mod-chip you're talking about. :^)

Nintendo's reasons for keeping the Q in Japan are to compete head-to-head with the PS2 (which, if you remember, sold very well in Japan as a reasonably-priced DVD player, not really as a game system) and that, as has been brought up here numerous times, in the US, the GameCube is a small, cheap gaming powerhouse, nothing more, nothing less.

If it brings me Rogue Leader and Pikmin, I couldn't care less if I need to play movies on some other device. Where's you're UNIX spirit eh? Do one thing and do it well.

Proof that this will hit american shores soon. by t0qer · 2001-12-17 08:06 · Score: 1

The other day my buddy took me out to the San Jose Berryessa flea market to show me some of these. I don't know what kind of breakdown we've had in customs, but it looks like more and more knockoff's are going to start pouring into the states. Although this piece of hardware isn't a knockoff, it shouldn't take too long for these to be snuck through customs.

Why was the 'Q' made in the first place? by brocheck · 2001-12-17 08:14 · Score: 1

Why was this made in the first place? Consoles are notorious for being sold and just cost or being sold at a loss in order to recoup on proceeds from liscensing of games?

I'm pretty certain that Panasonic is not gaining any funds from liscensing GameCube games because Nintendo would probably have something to say about that. Then this is either a product that will 1. fail horribly or 2. costs quite a bit more than average (see #1).

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suddenly I feel very tired

Just plug a damn DVD rom into your gamecube... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 08:42 · Score: 0

and you have yourself a Q...

then use your own GC 3" piece of crap to dump the warez onto DVD-R (or cd-r).

actually... by linuxpng · 2001-12-17 13:05 · Score: 2

they won't release that version here because that means there is greater possibilty to pirate the games here. Japan, apparently, doesn't have quite the piracy problem that the US does.

Re:actually... by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 15:09 · Score: 0

Yep, America, Land of the free stuff, home of Napster.... :)
Re:actually... by Ionized · 2001-12-18 02:58 · Score: 1

lol... you are clueless, dude. piracy is HUGE in asia. as in, REAL piracy, not warez-d00dz on IRC.

dont tell me you didnt see the story about winXP being sold for 5bucks a pop in asia, 3 days BEFORE it was officially released here in the states? there is a huge black market of illegally burned software of all sorts over there.

'cause by Anonymous Coward · 2001-12-17 13:26 · Score: 1, Funny

Japan is cool, and you are not.

Q -- What it is and what it is not by fssd · 2001-12-17 16:32 · Score: 2, Insightful

Q is consist of 2 component, dvd player; and Nitendo GameCube. They are totally seperated. You need to select from the panel that you want the DVD function; or the GameCube function. ie. it won't detect what you have inserted. It kind of disappoint me..

3DO by Snover · 2001-12-18 09:44 · Score: 1

Just remember what happened to their 3DO system in the US: Crash'n'burn. Not that it didn't die everywhere else as well, but I think they're afraid of expending so much just to make another failed game system. Still, I'm not sure why they're so worried, it's not like they're making a KILLING in other fields.

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[insert witty comment here]

more info on Q's by CowNutsMack · 2001-12-19 16:19 · Score: 1

even more info right here

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