Slashdot Mirror
Lik-Sang To Take On The Big 3?
kableh writes "According to a press release on Lik-Sang's website, the gaming accessory company has new management, and is prepared to mount a strong defense in their upcoming lawsuit against Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony. "Just a few days after having received High Court Orders not allowing us to sell Mod Chip products for the Playstation 2 and Flash Linker products for the Nintendo Gameboy Advance, Lik Sang realized that the powers of those three multi-billion dollar corporations are simply infinite compared to the budgets and resources businesses like Lik Sang have available. Their legal actions have been hurting our customers and our business a lot in the last couple of weeks, so that we have finally decided to let somebody else take over Lik-Sang.com and solely concentrate on the lawsuit", says Alex Kampl, Director of Lik Sang International Limited."
Watch some video game commercials on TV. You'll notice that the games are published for GameCube, Playstation 2, Game Boy Advance, PC... and a distinct lack of Xbox support. The only games I see advertized for Xbox are only for Xbox (which suggests poor third-party support), and they've now resorted to the marketing gimmick of giving away free games with the console.
Mod me down all you want, but I can't escape the impression that Xbox is floundering. Software houses that stressed they were going to be hardware agnostic a year ago now... aren't. Barring any miracles, I forsee the Xbox going the way of 3DO in less than a year. They just don't have the first- and second-party support to keep their heads above water.
Mod Chip != Piracy.
Piracy is wrong, but so is not letting you make backups.
Remember when it was "so you've lost your dongle - pay full price for a new copy..."
Now its "Your dog scratched the delicate DVD and level 3 no longer loads - tough, buy a new copy" - or "You broke the disc but you made a backup - now you're a criminal"
-- oldthinkers unbellyfeel ingsoc
MS, Sony and whomever else(never cared for nintendo) have great power.
This was never about protecting their revenues.
They have chosen to use their power to destroy a small business in hong kong that actually sells usefull products that they didn't think of.
Lik Sang is right about this hurting their customers. Their website was punted like a girl from #bearcave
MS has used their power to disrupt a company from selling legitimate products. I was going to buy a 7" LCD screen from liksang at one point and couldn't. I had to get it elsewhere. Oh Wait, no one else sells such usefull products.
They're using their grammar skills there.
I am the (proud?) owner of a PS2 (not modded), GC, X-Box (modded) and a GBA (with Flash Linker).
First, what I really hate is the region system all systems (except GBA) use. I live in Europe, and I feel it is sad that I have to wait several months for some titles (like Metroid Prime and Super Monkey Ball 2). I'm really looking forward to the Freeloader for GC (if it ever ships).
The reason Sony and Microsoft didn't use a proprietary media is because both PS2 and X-Box are supposed to be more than a game console. I'm not sure if that was a wise move, but the X-Box do at least have a potential as a home entertainment system (although not exactly the way Microsoft wanted it :).
What I really wonder is why Nintendo joined Sony and Microsoft suing Lik-Sang. The flashlinker is not just for copying games, but for developing too. I have written some GBA demos, and I the GBA is a really nice piece of hardware. I never use my GBA for games anyway, as I only own one (original) game. (I'm really considering buying Super Monkey Ball Jr, that game is just incredible!)
And... is this a hoax or is this for real?
This probably isn't the case right now, but shouldn't it be considered a monopoly if one corporation (or an alliance of a few corporations) has so much power that they can simply sue competitors out of business?
I mean, shouldn't all corporations (and people) be equal in the court of law, even if they aren't in the real world. What the heck do they call it "justice" for?
---
Open Source Shirts
The thing that kills me about MS, Sony, and Nintendo flexing their corporate might here is that this isn't software we're talking about. This isn't a licensed product...when you buy a PS2, you OWN it, and whatever you choose to do to it once you own, wether that is playing with it, smashing it to bits, reselling it, or fucking around with the hardware, that's YOUR choice. They have no legal say into the matter, so they should have no sway over Lik-Sang for selling a chip that modifies said hardware.
It really chaps my ass that this should even need to GO to court.
This message brought to you by the Council of People Who Are Sick of Seeing More People.
I always like to see the big boys get sued if they are trying to stomp on their little guys to impose their own will. BUT, what I do not understand is why this other company is taking over Lik Sang.
Don't get me wrong -- I do welcome it. But it is an awefully strange business decision from that company's point of view. What they're doing is taking over a company that
So, what I want to know is what this new company's motivation is. Is the rest of Lik Sang's product line so valuable that it's worth all that? It seems unlikely given the risk, but maybe so. Or, is that other company taking a true selfless action in order to establish a good legal precedent? Or, is there something else I don't see?
Did you know PS2 adapter sold out 450,000 units at launch? MS only made 150k units as they needed the good press of "SOLD OUT".
They claim to have sold 2.5Mu in US and each unit has a build in ethernet adapter so why only make 150k?
Second: MS / Sony et al is breaking international trade law by imposing Area restrictions. I hope Lik Sanfg make that a cornerstone of their defense.
Help fight continental drift.
off the record, Nintendo, et al. aren't too concerned about importing of games (and DVDs, etc), compared to piracy.
What about homebrew software development for Nintendo consoles such as the GBA? Here's what I've gathered about Nintendo's behavior in practice:
We just have the region locks to keep the suits happy
Specifically, 1) to distinguish 50 Hz (Europe/Australia) and 60 Hz (Japan/America) consoles, and 2) to solve the "Peter Pan problem", where different entities own a particular franchise in different markets. (Barrie's Peter Pan is in PD in >=1923 USA and life+50 Japan but not in life+70 EU.) So why did Nintendo put Japan vs. America region locks on the NES, Super NES, N64, and GCN consoles, but not on the GBA system?
Will I retire or break 10K?