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Panasonic 'Q' First Look
austinij writes "National Console Support has purchased and taken apart the Panasonic 'Q', a Nintendo Gamecube/DVD player device in one. Pictures and brief descriptions are included. Lets hope for a review soon! " That just
looks so nifty. I've heard of DVD players including PS1 support
in the not so distant future too. Apparently its fairly inexpensive
to do it now.
DVD manufacturers make money selling DVD players.
Console manufacturers loose money selling consoles (but make money on royalties on the games).
Why would DVD manufacturers be interested in attaching something that would really cut profits? Unless the companies name is "Sony" I'm assuming they aren't getting a cut of the game royalties...
Good quote, too many chars. Seriously, the slashdot 120 char limit sucks!
Do you mean... the PS2?
If i woke up, walked to the kitchen, 10 bux says that I'd put the toast in the GameQube, and put the DVD in my toaster.
Does this mean that Nintendo is allowing "clones" of their hardware so that any 3rd party that wants to include GameCube functionality can pay them some royalties and BAM, now your TV has a built in GameCube (or something similar)??
I'm ignorant as to the Nintendo-Panasonic relationship and I don't know anything about their hardware licensing but if they are planning on letting 3rd parties have access to it, they might be onto a really good idea. I know it's a completely different situation, but remember how Macintosh used to keep everything Mac, no 3rd party, but PC's were all about the 3rd party? Well we see how that turned out...
~ now you know
Besides the obvious "I want one" factor, think if the following were incorporated into this:
1) Cable/SatTV decoding
2) mp3/mpeg/avi/etc. player
3) tivo capabilities
what you basically have is an inexpensive all in wonder unit. now i dont know the true specs of a gamecube, but if you could drop a hackable os onto it, you already have a media reader and storage capabilities (options) built in.
people with a little expertise should start taking advantage of the big opportunities game companies are dumping into their laps.
"Moving through the masses like a fish through water." syrup
Licensing revenues could be huge for this. Other DVD manufactures put in "Sony Guts" (as the SNL saying goes.) Sony at least breaks even on the parts, and then get licensing fees. I bet Sony might not even really provide the guts, they just get big checks in the mail every week. Hell of a business to get into.
Not to mention they get to milk more money out of their old games.
-Pete
Soccer Goal Plans
I was going through the internal debate of which game system to buy in December. I was reluctant to buy the Sony because it was out for a year, and they hadn't dropped the price to compete with the Xbox and NGC.
I was favoring the NGC, due to its 4-player capability out of the box(yes I know they others do with silly-ass dongles). However, when I heard that it wouldn't play full-sized DVDs, I was in a quandry - should I wait for the Panasonic player, or should I go with one of the other boxen?
I don't like the Xbox because of who makes it (and it is an acceptable gaming system), and Sony could have stomped the competition by dropping the price of the PS2, sy, by $50, or adding some extras and keeping the price the same, but why they didn't is beyond me.
Many of my officemates have PS2s, and one friend has an Xbox, and another has a PS2.
In the end, I chose to do nothing but wait.
I don't need another PC - I already have a homebuilt kickass system that does everything I need a computer to do. I don't care if you can get it to run Linux (see above).
I want a system to have fun with when I have a bunch of friends over who don't want to stare at their own screens. We already do multiplayer gaming, but with boards, dice, tokens and cards. Occasionally we want something else, and a 4-player gaming system fits the bill quite nicely.
Maybe someone here'll enlighten me on which one to get?
Unforunately, Panasonic has no plans to release this unit in the US. For now, it's a Japan area only device.
It's too bad, the idea of a shiny gamecube that can play DVDs is pretty cool. I'm also wondering if the lack of sales outside of Japan is related to piracy issues--you can fit 5.25" discs into it. One of the reasons the Gamecube uses smaller 3" discs is to prevent piracy since it's hard to get a hold of something that will make them.
Lik Sang (a company that make mod and game copying kits) also disassembled the Panasonic Gamecube including probably better pictures. They also modified it to play US games (remove the territory lock out). They mentioned it was a bitch to open--something like 45 special screws. Doesn't sound like a fun job to modify.
/// Zoid.
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Here are a few answers that may clear things up for you.
:) Well, I take that back. You probably can, it would just cost more than the actual games right now anyways. Later on in the future? I'm sure someone will come up with something. But unlike the PS2 and XBOX, piracy isn't gonna happen on the NGC any time soon. Nintendo has *ALWAYS* tried to keep piracy to a minimum with their proprietary formats. This is a good thing by the way. It keeps the software developers happy. Which means they'll make games for Nintendo. Which means people like me will be happy! :)
/. crowd, but I like playing games with my friends. Super Monkey Ball and Super Smash Bros. has provided more than their money's worth already. That said, I can't wait til Mario Cart comes out! :) And I pray there'll be a version of Mario Party for it too. As 'kiddy' as these games may be, they definately do the job. It gives us great fun! And that's why I bought it right? So to answer, if you already have a DVD player (I did, in the PS2) then I would recommend a NGC if you have friends. If you do have friends and don't have a DVD player, than your decision is a little tougher. If you don't have friends at all then it doesn't matter what you get, does it? You'll be playing alone. :)
:)
First off, there *IS* a relationship between Panasonic and Nintendo. So to the guy that said Nintendo wouldn't be happy about it, you're wrong. They're very happy about it. Afterall, Panasonic makes the drives the NGC uses. (I think Panasonic also has a hand in the proprietary DVD-like format the cute little 3" discs use!)
Secondly, all things point to the 'Q' *NOT* coming to North America. Single biggest reason. Piracy. I doubt anyone can (at this moment) get there hands on DVD-like 3" media!
Finally, to the dude contemplating what to get. I personally have a PS2 and picked up my NGC at launch. I don't think this is true for the rest of the
Anyways, hope that helps someone. Anyone!
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