Wow, what a great point! I take it you typed that post on your 100-MHz Pentium? After all, you wouldn't want to waste money on more powerful processors that you don't REALLY need while children are starving. You probably also ride a bicycle (no cars, no buses, no planes), scrape mold off bread (don't waste food!), live in a one-room efficiency (who needs the unnecessary space of a studio?), get all your entertainment by watching people (i.e., no television, no stereo) and never buy a book (going to the library instead).
Am I getting through? Probably not, but maybe I vaguely amused someone else.
I have no problem with product placement when it's done right. In fact, if Kramer and Newman had been guzzling Coke (or Pepsi, or whatever) instead of "generic" soda in the refund episode, it wouldn't have been out of place at all.
The idea that such placement would be worse than separate annoying commercials is just silly to me. After all, they've still got to make the shows entertaining (to someone), even with the product placement, or nobody will watch.
I doubt that Real is interested in this solution. One of Real's major revenue streams is the advertising that comes automatically with any of their players - either in the form of ads that constantly appear or automatic display of their "RealOne" homepage hyping content from other companies.
In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if we learned that Microsoft had tried to get Real support into WMP [by paying for it] in the past, only to be turned down because Real is in it for the ad revenue.
2. GTA Vice City fits in under 2 PC CD ROMs AFAIK given most CD are 700 or 1.4 GB 1.5GB CD that gamecube has
One last thing that nobody has mentioned yet: Because games get installed on the PC hard drive, the information on PC game CDs can be heavily compressed. While there are forms of compression that can be done on consoles, game developers can't use as much because the decompression can cause extended load times (which tend to frustrate people as it is) and eat up clock cycles if decompressing on the fly (a real pain when doing more and more complex games).
The best explanation for it going off the market is that it had run its course. All the people who wanted a Gamecube but wished it had DVD(plus extras) functionality probably got one and that was that. Add into this the fact that the Gamecube is going for under US$100 and you can get a region-free DVD player (with VCD, MP3, etc.) for less than US100, and the product just isn't that enticing - even to geeks - anymore.
Can I just compliment you on how well you crafted that troll? It took me a good 60 seconds before I stopped composing a hate reply to you talking about how stupid it is to think that Panasonic stopped making a product because of another product with a similar color.
That's all fascinating, but what does it have to do with a US-based television network?
In the US, being a professional gamer isn't even recognized as a career at all, let alone being popular and respected (even amongst high-school boys). In the US, there are no big gaming tournaments known outside of a very small minority of people who already play a lot of video games. In the US, not only would a professional gamer not be recognized, but such a person would likely invoke snickers, if not outright laughter, upon revealing such a job.
Personally, I love video games. However, when I'm presented with a TV program about video games, my typical response is to realize that I have three consoles available, followed immediately by firing one of them up and playing a video game INSTEAD of watching TV. I might be willing to dedicate an hour a week to watching a really good gaming program (one that is mostly focused on reviewing games). Beyond that, I'd rather just spend my time actually playing the games instead of watching someone else play them.
The only thing TV video game programming manages to accomplish is to make the viewer (who presumably likes video games) want to turn off the show and start playing the game itself. Beyond video game reviews, which are more convenient when televised because you get to see the games in action without waiting for a download, video game television is doomed to failure.
I see it being eschewed because it looks about as pointless as State of Emergency.
And yet it receives a 79.1% rating (an average of the review scores from 36 different sources) at gamerankings.com, only 0.3% less than Metal Arms (which I've read a lot of good things about), 1.2% better than True Crime (a game that has been selling well and has a sequel already in the works)...In fact, it's 8.8% better than State of Emergency for the PS2.
Of course, never having played a game doesn't tend to stop people from insulting it, just as it never stops pre-release hype.
Just to keep the record from doing any 90-degree turns, Activision had nothing whatsoever to do with BMX XXX, Manhunt, GTA, etc. BMX XXX, if that's what you were referring to in that last sentence, was developed and published by Acclaim.
How about releasing the games you want to release and letting the chips fall where they may? Gamers of all stripes complain about the lack of originality in games, usually specifically concerned that game developers/publishers don't want to take risks. I know I'm fighting the CW here, but I would consider Manhunt to be a risk - especially in a market filled with RPGs that too often tread the same old level treadmilling ground, action platformers that struggle for even a semblance of originality and first-person shooters which are the most repetitive of all.
Besides, a company that can do a re-release of two games that have been out for "ages" (gaming ages being pretty short) and sell another HALF MILLION copies doesn't have to worry much if a title or two have trouble finding an audience.
What's funniest about the tizzy over Manhunt is that this kind of game (gory, ultra-violent) is NOT the norm. Even the supposed "hardcore" lament the direction gaming is going while ignoring the fact that the bulk of titles released are rated E and T.
Hell, even the people who generate that top ten worst (in terms of being "unsafe" for children) games list had to include DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball (a game that gets an M based on cute animated girls in bikinis) and Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne (rated T for Heaven's sake, not to mention being pure fantasy). In other words, there were so few putrid M-rated games on the market that relatively innocuous titles get lumped in with the likes of Manhunt.
In short (if that's possible now), I could make a lot of money selling "chill pills" if all the people who were in need decided to take one.
I can see Manhunt being eschewed for holidy gift-giving because of its over-the-top violent nature. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if it sells at a more brisk pace once the season of peace and love ends and the season of returns and gift certificate spending begins.
Welcome to the land of trying to inflate stock prices. I find it amusing that an article can describe a year-over-year increase in sales (a 12.5% increase in sales should be something to celebrate, not lament) and then paint such a dreary picture.
I have a suggestion as to WHY analysts have been too optimistic about increasing video game sales (besides trying to inflate stock prices, of course). I think it's likely that analysts are looking at the console sales and the potential increase in game sales without taking into account the fact that gaming newcomers are probably going to buy fewer games overall than their "hardcore" brethren. For example, someone who stood in line for 10 or more hours in the freezing cold to buy a PS2 on launch day is probably an avid gamer who will spend a lot of money on new games. On the other hand, someone who picked up their first game console within the past year is more likely to be someone who was waiting for console prices to come down and will probably spend less discretionary income on software.
Of course, there are still two big shopping weeks to consider. The second week (26th through 31st) in particular could be interesting because we'll see how people spend their liquid holiday loot. In any case, it's too early to make any big hay out of this. Maybe a week or two after New Year's, an article like this could have some SOLID numbers.
There are, without question, problems with US drug laws - such as criminalization of the possession of relatively innocuous substances while more damaging substances are legal (marijuana versus cigarettes/alcohol) or unfettered access to over-the-counter drugs by minors (as in your cough syrup example). That doesn't mean, however, that the existing laws should be ignored, especially by "big business" - a category in which I would place Google and Yahoo.
Meanwhile, anyone can cross the border, walk into a Mexican pharmacy and buy whatever they want. Big busines controlling content... hmmm... looks like it's getting closer to broadcast television.
If you mean that illegal product advertising is being weeded out, then, yes, it's getting closer to broadcast television. The online pharmacies we're talking about often require nothing more than a credit card to order whatever drug a person wishes. Like it or not, that's not the way we've decided to do things in the USA because we've decided that there are too many dangerous drugs to let the public have them willy-nilly without a doctor's supervision.
As far as the snide comment about being able to cross the border to Mexico and buy whatever one eishes, that's exactly right. Of course, an American who does so can then be arrested for smuggling when re-crossing the border.
This is less about big business (which, frankly, profits when their drugs are bought legally with a prescription, or illegally via an online pharmacy with no prescription) and more about complying with existing laws.
True, but pedophile-type sex offenders often have stipulations in their parole agreements regarding being [x] distance away from schools (playgrounds, day care centers, etc.) at all times. They also stand a better-than-even chance of NOT being permitted near their children except in a strictly supervised setting - often with said supervision conducted by a government employeed.
Of course, that's not to say that I think this camera thing is a good idea. The more we make schools like prisons, the more students - even the "good ones" - will feel like they're criminals.
It just barely stands up in the area you're talking about (recording programs to hard drive and then saving them to DVD). The Panasonic 80GB DVR/DVD-R/RAM goes for $600 or less. Both Pioneer and Toshiba have Tivo/DVD-R units going for under $1,000 with mature PVR functionality.
When it comes right down to it, this technology just isn't the pricing sweet spot yet for widespread adoption. At the moment, you're better off getting a Tivo (preferably DirecTivo or the DishNetwork equivalent if you have satellite) and then getting a separate DVD-R unit, not only for the potential cost benefit but the increased versatility (recording two sources at the same time, one with PVR and one with DVD recording).
If you do have satellite you can get both these devices for under $400 - usually $100 for the satellite PVR and about $300 for a DVD recorder - Lite-On has a DVD+R/+RW device (yes, it's a standalone as opposed to PC component) that is available for about $285 at Best Buy.
This time next year, I think you can expect PVR/DVD recording units $500 and under which might start enticing more people. Until then, it's solely early adopter territory.
It gets harder and harder as a game developer to admit to your profession in the company of non-gamers if they feel (incorrectly, but nonetheless) that you're selling violence porn to children.
That's like saying that a Time reporter would be ashamed to say s/he works for a magazine because Larry Flynt publishes Hustler. It's a pretty simple sentence that distances a non-Rockstar game developer from Manhunt: "I didn't develop Manhunt."
Further, if Rockstar is the primary perpetrator when it comes to "sadistic violence and contraversy," then how can they be selling out? Wouldn't it be more of a sell-out to release a cookie-cutter platformer with a cute mascot? I would have an easier time arguing that Nintendo is a sell-out for releasing Mario Sunshine, a rehash of Mario 64 and "just another 3D platformer."
As for freedom of speech implying a "level of maturity," that's in the eye of the beholder. I may consider it a sign of naivete, if not stupidity, when I see someone with a sign saying "Bush Just Wants Oil" at an anti-war rally. I could even call that view "immature." It doesn't change the fact that they're free to say what they want, whatever I perceive to be their level of maturity.
Finally, I would point out that the video game industry could defuse a great deal of this by getting fully behind campaigns to separate M/AO content from other video games on the shelves, and criminalizing the sale of said games to children (just as already happens with hardcore pornography). The ESRB was a great step, but isn't enough because a) stores generally demonstrate little restraint about selling M-rated games to minors and b) the ESRB refuse to be as strict with ratings for violence as they are for "sexual" content (i.e., DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball which received an M rating, essentially for attractive characters in bikinis).
If the industry wants to have an overall positive image, all it has to is try harder.
Perhaps more people would be inclined to cry Censorship if Rockstar hadn't been flouting the violence aspect of the game to such an extent that it makes it makes all of our lives more difficult.
How does Rockstar's "flouting" of violence ("flout" by the way means to show contempt for, or scorn but I'll pretend you used a word that means "showing off" or some such, like your use of the word "flaunt" later) make your life more difficult? Even a New Zealander's life isn't made difficult by this ruling - they simply don't get one game to play.
As for Rockstar being wrong for doing what they will because the whole industry is being criticized, that's just tough luck for the industry. What better way to affirm the freedom of expression than by going to extremes? What worth is that freedom if you can only express what's already considered safe?
Would the speed indicated by GPS be more or less accurate than the speed indicated by a plain old speedometer?
Related to the above, wouldn't it be better if the GPS receiver/electronics could be integrated into the motorcycle and then connected by wire (or perhaps by Bluetooth?) to a compatible helmet, saving some potential weight in the helmet? It would also make the helmet less steal-worthy.
I'm not a motorcycle rider myself, but I'm the curious sort.:)
I don't know the details of the technology, but I wonder if some locations have more problems with this - not necessarily solely because of weater, but maybe weather combined with satellite position(s). It's also possible that DirecTV has their satellites (or certain satellites) sending out lower power signals. I should also note that I do get the occasional MPEG glitches (presumably when something interferes between the dish and the satellite) but these typically last a second or two and then disappear - in other words, no long-term weather-related difficulties.
In any case, if I seemed too dismissive, I apologize. The best advice is probably to talk with other satellite subscribers in one's area before installation. Around here, we had terrible cable service (Rogers, Paragon and now Comcast) for a very long time, so going satellite was a no-brainer.
I don't have DirecTV, but I have DishNetwork which works on the exact same principles. I live in Portland, Oregon where we have SIGNIFICANT amounts of rain from around the end of September to the beginning of May. I can count the number of times we've lost signal because of rain on one hand (over several years). Snow is a different story, but we get that pretty infrequently during the winter (usually one true storm per year).
Portable CD players, portable MP3 CD players, portable MiniDisc players, portable DVD players...Portable consumer-level optical media readers are nothing new.
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Am I getting through? Probably not, but maybe I vaguely amused someone else.
The idea that such placement would be worse than separate annoying commercials is just silly to me. After all, they've still got to make the shows entertaining (to someone), even with the product placement, or nobody will watch.
In fact, it wouldn't surprise me if we learned that Microsoft had tried to get Real support into WMP [by paying for it] in the past, only to be turned down because Real is in it for the ad revenue.
One last thing that nobody has mentioned yet: Because games get installed on the PC hard drive, the information on PC game CDs can be heavily compressed. While there are forms of compression that can be done on consoles, game developers can't use as much because the decompression can cause extended load times (which tend to frustrate people as it is) and eat up clock cycles if decompressing on the fly (a real pain when doing more and more complex games).
I'm always amazed that in these modern times, with so many bicycles, motorcycles and cars, people still manage to care for and ride such high horses.
The best explanation for it going off the market is that it had run its course. All the people who wanted a Gamecube but wished it had DVD(plus extras) functionality probably got one and that was that. Add into this the fact that the Gamecube is going for under US$100 and you can get a region-free DVD player (with VCD, MP3, etc.) for less than US100, and the product just isn't that enticing - even to geeks - anymore.
Seriously, well done.
In the US, being a professional gamer isn't even recognized as a career at all, let alone being popular and respected (even amongst high-school boys). In the US, there are no big gaming tournaments known outside of a very small minority of people who already play a lot of video games. In the US, not only would a professional gamer not be recognized, but such a person would likely invoke snickers, if not outright laughter, upon revealing such a job.
Personally, I love video games. However, when I'm presented with a TV program about video games, my typical response is to realize that I have three consoles available, followed immediately by firing one of them up and playing a video game INSTEAD of watching TV. I might be willing to dedicate an hour a week to watching a really good gaming program (one that is mostly focused on reviewing games). Beyond that, I'd rather just spend my time actually playing the games instead of watching someone else play them.
The only thing TV video game programming manages to accomplish is to make the viewer (who presumably likes video games) want to turn off the show and start playing the game itself. Beyond video game reviews, which are more convenient when televised because you get to see the games in action without waiting for a download, video game television is doomed to failure.
And yet it receives a 79.1% rating (an average of the review scores from 36 different sources) at gamerankings.com, only 0.3% less than Metal Arms (which I've read a lot of good things about), 1.2% better than True Crime (a game that has been selling well and has a sequel already in the works)...In fact, it's 8.8% better than State of Emergency for the PS2.
Of course, never having played a game doesn't tend to stop people from insulting it, just as it never stops pre-release hype.
Just to keep the record from doing any 90-degree turns, Activision had nothing whatsoever to do with BMX XXX, Manhunt, GTA, etc. BMX XXX, if that's what you were referring to in that last sentence, was developed and published by Acclaim.
Besides, a company that can do a re-release of two games that have been out for "ages" (gaming ages being pretty short) and sell another HALF MILLION copies doesn't have to worry much if a title or two have trouble finding an audience.
What's funniest about the tizzy over Manhunt is that this kind of game (gory, ultra-violent) is NOT the norm. Even the supposed "hardcore" lament the direction gaming is going while ignoring the fact that the bulk of titles released are rated E and T.
Hell, even the people who generate that top ten worst (in terms of being "unsafe" for children) games list had to include DOA: Xtreme Beach Volleyball (a game that gets an M based on cute animated girls in bikinis) and Warcraft 3: Frozen Throne (rated T for Heaven's sake, not to mention being pure fantasy). In other words, there were so few putrid M-rated games on the market that relatively innocuous titles get lumped in with the likes of Manhunt.
In short (if that's possible now), I could make a lot of money selling "chill pills" if all the people who were in need decided to take one.
I can see Manhunt being eschewed for holidy gift-giving because of its over-the-top violent nature. I wouldn't be surprised, however, if it sells at a more brisk pace once the season of peace and love ends and the season of returns and gift certificate spending begins.
I have a suggestion as to WHY analysts have been too optimistic about increasing video game sales (besides trying to inflate stock prices, of course). I think it's likely that analysts are looking at the console sales and the potential increase in game sales without taking into account the fact that gaming newcomers are probably going to buy fewer games overall than their "hardcore" brethren. For example, someone who stood in line for 10 or more hours in the freezing cold to buy a PS2 on launch day is probably an avid gamer who will spend a lot of money on new games. On the other hand, someone who picked up their first game console within the past year is more likely to be someone who was waiting for console prices to come down and will probably spend less discretionary income on software.
Of course, there are still two big shopping weeks to consider. The second week (26th through 31st) in particular could be interesting because we'll see how people spend their liquid holiday loot. In any case, it's too early to make any big hay out of this. Maybe a week or two after New Year's, an article like this could have some SOLID numbers.
There are, without question, problems with US drug laws - such as criminalization of the possession of relatively innocuous substances while more damaging substances are legal (marijuana versus cigarettes/alcohol) or unfettered access to over-the-counter drugs by minors (as in your cough syrup example). That doesn't mean, however, that the existing laws should be ignored, especially by "big business" - a category in which I would place Google and Yahoo.
If you mean that illegal product advertising is being weeded out, then, yes, it's getting closer to broadcast television. The online pharmacies we're talking about often require nothing more than a credit card to order whatever drug a person wishes. Like it or not, that's not the way we've decided to do things in the USA because we've decided that there are too many dangerous drugs to let the public have them willy-nilly without a doctor's supervision.
As far as the snide comment about being able to cross the border to Mexico and buy whatever one eishes, that's exactly right. Of course, an American who does so can then be arrested for smuggling when re-crossing the border.
This is less about big business (which, frankly, profits when their drugs are bought legally with a prescription, or illegally via an online pharmacy with no prescription) and more about complying with existing laws.
Of course, that's not to say that I think this camera thing is a good idea. The more we make schools like prisons, the more students - even the "good ones" - will feel like they're criminals.
When it comes right down to it, this technology just isn't the pricing sweet spot yet for widespread adoption. At the moment, you're better off getting a Tivo (preferably DirecTivo or the DishNetwork equivalent if you have satellite) and then getting a separate DVD-R unit, not only for the potential cost benefit but the increased versatility (recording two sources at the same time, one with PVR and one with DVD recording).
If you do have satellite you can get both these devices for under $400 - usually $100 for the satellite PVR and about $300 for a DVD recorder - Lite-On has a DVD+R/+RW device (yes, it's a standalone as opposed to PC component) that is available for about $285 at Best Buy.
This time next year, I think you can expect PVR/DVD recording units $500 and under which might start enticing more people. Until then, it's solely early adopter territory.
That's like saying that a Time reporter would be ashamed to say s/he works for a magazine because Larry Flynt publishes Hustler. It's a pretty simple sentence that distances a non-Rockstar game developer from Manhunt: "I didn't develop Manhunt."
Further, if Rockstar is the primary perpetrator when it comes to "sadistic violence and contraversy," then how can they be selling out? Wouldn't it be more of a sell-out to release a cookie-cutter platformer with a cute mascot? I would have an easier time arguing that Nintendo is a sell-out for releasing Mario Sunshine, a rehash of Mario 64 and "just another 3D platformer."
As for freedom of speech implying a "level of maturity," that's in the eye of the beholder. I may consider it a sign of naivete, if not stupidity, when I see someone with a sign saying "Bush Just Wants Oil" at an anti-war rally. I could even call that view "immature." It doesn't change the fact that they're free to say what they want, whatever I perceive to be their level of maturity.
Finally, I would point out that the video game industry could defuse a great deal of this by getting fully behind campaigns to separate M/AO content from other video games on the shelves, and criminalizing the sale of said games to children (just as already happens with hardcore pornography). The ESRB was a great step, but isn't enough because a) stores generally demonstrate little restraint about selling M-rated games to minors and b) the ESRB refuse to be as strict with ratings for violence as they are for "sexual" content (i.e., DOA Xtreme Beach Volleyball which received an M rating, essentially for attractive characters in bikinis).
If the industry wants to have an overall positive image, all it has to is try harder.
How does Rockstar's "flouting" of violence ("flout" by the way means to show contempt for, or scorn but I'll pretend you used a word that means "showing off" or some such, like your use of the word "flaunt" later) make your life more difficult? Even a New Zealander's life isn't made difficult by this ruling - they simply don't get one game to play.
As for Rockstar being wrong for doing what they will because the whole industry is being criticized, that's just tough luck for the industry. What better way to affirm the freedom of expression than by going to extremes? What worth is that freedom if you can only express what's already considered safe?
Related to the above, wouldn't it be better if the GPS receiver/electronics could be integrated into the motorcycle and then connected by wire (or perhaps by Bluetooth?) to a compatible helmet, saving some potential weight in the helmet? It would also make the helmet less steal-worthy.
I'm not a motorcycle rider myself, but I'm the curious sort. :)
In any case, if I seemed too dismissive, I apologize. The best advice is probably to talk with other satellite subscribers in one's area before installation. Around here, we had terrible cable service (Rogers, Paragon and now Comcast) for a very long time, so going satellite was a no-brainer.
I don't have DirecTV, but I have DishNetwork which works on the exact same principles. I live in Portland, Oregon where we have SIGNIFICANT amounts of rain from around the end of September to the beginning of May. I can count the number of times we've lost signal because of rain on one hand (over several years). Snow is a different story, but we get that pretty infrequently during the winter (usually one true storm per year).
Seriously, what does "half action" mean? I know about single- and double-action, but have never heard of half.
Portable CD players, portable MP3 CD players, portable MiniDisc players, portable DVD players...Portable consumer-level optical media readers are nothing new.