At the moment, with Mozilla at almost-but-not-quite-there 1.0 version, it now has enough momentum that even if AOL killed off the funding, it would probably do pretty well. The Gecko core is helping other businesses, and since AOL knows that MS is their #1 enemy (right behind that furry thing that crawled up Wolf Blitzer's chin and died), they're going to keep their bets open. With moments like this, they'll at least keep it as a bargaining chip:
AOL: So, Mr. Gates. Do you want to put AOL links in Windows XP - or do we need to shift to Mozilla and watch as web developers remember how to program HTML 4.0 compliant web pages?
Yes, there are more than 10 games for the system. And how many are exclusive games that I want to play?
Halo. Project Gothom. Jet Grind Radio. Dead or Alive 3. Maybe New Legends and Munch's Oddyssee.
The rest of the games are either co-released for other platforms (Spiderman: The Movie, that Batman games, etc) or PS2 remakes (Genmu Onimusha, for example).
So at the moment, we've got 4 games I really want to play that are exclusive to the system. (If you don't disacount Halo since it's coming to the PC (and hopefully Mac) right before Hell Freezes Over)).
The PSOne took over because they won over developer support over Nintendo, which focused on their cartridge technology. They courted the 3rd party developers. Now, they're smart enough to not let them completly jump ship to Microsoft, so unlike your PSOne vs Nintendo argument (Six years! Give Xbox six years, and it will be just as good!), Sony isn't going to let their premiere developers leave them the way Nintendo did, so they'll still have a great lineup.
The Xbox has potential. It's even a powerful system. But they're fighting an upstream battle, and just saying "give them time! It's a great system!" isn't going to help. If they want to really succeed, they need to get the exclusives to their system, and that means winning over Japan.
I don't see it happening. I'm sorry, and I know that you've spent a lot of time in this article defending the Xbox. But you've got to face the facts - unless something changes, something that makes game developer en masse go "Damn, let's dump the PS2 and go to the Xbox" so that all the gamers will go "Damn - I guess we'd better switch as well" - until that day happens, PS2 will keep on winning since developers will develop games for the clear winner first to make money, then the "other" consoles later to pick up some extra income if possible. And with the Xbox systems/games dropping off in sales instead of increasing, the just looks more bleak.
Maybe Xbox 2 will be better. (For God's sake, maybe they'll include some real USB ports so I don't have to use the controller to t-y-p-e-i-n-w-o-r-d-s.) Maybe broadband support will really be "out of the box" instead of waiting 8 months for MS to decide that "Gee, I guess a TCP/IP stack is a good idea". Maybe someoe will hear the majority of users going "controller sucks - deal with it". Maybe they'll let you download games over a broadband connection for a fee (mixing in with the Ultimate TV developers that have been reassigned to the Xbox?).
But first we have to weather the current Xbox 1 storm, and it looks pretty rudderless.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Personally, I think a more modular Windows - where DiectX, IE, Media Player, Et All, would be a Good Thing allaround. It would make it much like OS X - a system where the core API and commands (cut, paste) are controlled in one place, and the apps simply using the OS for basic i/o needs - so it doesn't matter which browser/media player you use - it just talks to the OS for what it needs. The way it Should Be.
But lets not forget MS's past. Suppose they shipped XP Lite (say $30 to the consumer, $15 to OEM's, and other components could be downloded for a price). You put on Mozilla, and set it to be the default app for HTML.
Any bets that MS would simply make their help files - which should be HTML based - so non-HTML standard that Mozilla can't display them correctly? Then they can say on their tech support line "Oh, help files won't display? It's because your computer seller sold you a non-standards compliant browser - buy IE for $5, and next time, only buy a computers from a vendor that isn't trying to rip you off with cheap open source software."
They do the same for media files (excusive contracts with artists, who don't get anything from the RIAA anyway) to make their online music only Windows Media. Or who knows what else - remember the DR DOS issue? They've done t once, and like a fomer priest defrocked priest running a day care, they'll do t again.
The point is MS could make windows modular - and we would still have to watch them like a hawk to keep them from using their old tricks.
But otherwise, my Powerbook is a great machine. I can put Yellow Dog Linux on it if I want just Linux. Or if I want a good BSD system, like the song says, "Boom...there it is." Runs the major apps I care about (MS Office (yes, I know...but it's a business thing), Adobe Acrobat), runs the apps I make (Perl), has a great display, DVD playback, and if you plug in a monitor in the back, you can make it work as a secondary monitor (instead of just a mirror, which is kind of cool). Instant sleep-off, sleep-on just by closing the lid. (Most Windows based laptops I've seen get *very* pissed off when you put them in sleep mode, what with the PCMCIA slots getting redected and all.)
Modem, 1 G/100/10 Ethernet built in, Airport built in (you can turn it off if you're worried, or get an Airport and bridge it to your local network at 128 bits encryption - sitting in the living room surfing the net was never so much fun;) ). There's a Firewire port in the back so you can plug in your DV cameras and the like - again, sat there in the living room with my wife and tweaked my daughter's birthday party video.
Other than the mouse thing - and you either get used to doing Control-Click for secondary mouse stuff, or when you have it at a desk you plug in a little USB mouse - it's been a rock solid machine.
Oh, and it plays Icewind Dale great too. (Baldur's Gate runs all right, as long as you boot into OS 9, because the bastards haven't Carbonized BG I yet.)
I've always been fascinated by the word "cult". By it's strict definition, a "cult" is:
A group of people who share the same beliefs
From that, Catholics, Mormons, Methodits, Muslims, Buddhists (and if I've misspelled anyone's name, forgive me) is a cult.
The way the media has defined a cult:
A group of people sharing extremist beliefs, including (but not limited too) advocating suicide, mass killings, pedophelia, giving all your money to one person, end of the world mentality, etc.
Usually the media will label a religious group a cult when their actions are described as being far outside the norm by mainstream society.
So while Scientology/Mormonism/Jehovah's Witnesses/other minority religions may have beliefs many people find to be stange, because their members can function in ordinary society (well, unless you try and include John Travolta as "ordinary"), they aren't a cult. However, the Branch Dividians, which were bunkered out and letting one guy sleep with everybody else's wife/kids/dog, they're pretty much a cult in the eyes of the media/world. Or they're BBQ if you're in the FBI. Either way.
I've noticed over time that the games that do the best are a) good games, and b) allow their users to hack the system.
Quake III, for example. Great game? Maybe - IMHO, not as good as Unreal Tournament. But the ability for gamers to hack their way and replace everything from pictures to AI has helped make it big.
Best example is Half-Life - I mean, Valve has how many products? One. But because of the mod scene, they're still making money. When a good mod comes along, they capitalize on it, and use it to promote their product.
I think Apple is catching on. They noticed people making hacks to view address book information - so they added the ability. I'm hoping that just as Steve Jobs sees the Mac as the center of the digital world for media, that Apple sees the iPod as a bridge that users can latch onto. Hard drive, music player, storage device for other things (cameras, PDA's, etc) - the possibilities of this little device are are nearly limitless.
At the risk of sounding mean, there aren't that many "great" Apple only games (yes, there are some - don't flame me yet), but compared to the PC, it's a much higher ratio of great PC stuff.
Most Apple only games that do well do so because there isn't the same level of compitition that there is in the PC world. Again, cruel, but true.
Played more Icewind Dale Used Gimp to make a new banner (with Xdarwin) Used BBedit to edit a Perl script, then to write a review of Icewind Dale Ran an old OS 9 Groupwise program to connect to my Day Job mail. Used MS Word to view some work documents. Ran a perlscript to edit some 200 pictures with ImageMagick. Surfed the web/checked email with Mozilla. Wirelessly connected to my internal network and my Linux server/router and out to the Internet. Used SSH to tweak some setttings on some Linux boxes. Used Virtual PC to run Win98 so I could run my Sharkport program to save my Metal Gear Solid 2 saved games from the Playstation 2 to my Mac HDD. Got pictures of my daughter's birthday party from the camera to the Web for the fam'. Played music with iTunes (Final Fantasy Pray rocks.).
And most of this was running at the same time, with all the stability of my old Linux box, easier than Windows - so simple that my wife, who hates computers, started messing with the laptop (after I gave her her own account so she wouldn't see my Tifa Lockheart porn).
I've used Windows for over a decade, Linux for 3 years, and a Mac for 3 months. Out of them all, OS X is the best out of the lot.
PS: Before you ask, Apple hasn't paid me $0.01 for this. Though I wish...Where's the game payola, guys;).
I wouldn't mind trying this out. Right now, I run Gimp through XDarwin, and it works for my needs, which are pretty basic (simple banners, adding text to pictures, etc).
I wouldn't mind something like a Photoshop Lite to see how it works, then if I got powerful, I could pay for the full version later.
I don't see myself changing the name soon - I've used it since the early '90's (back when it was cool), and if I was going to change now, it would have to be something like "Buttwiper" or something even more lame.
Good point - some sites (I think AOL did once) can get sued if you're a large enough business and don't make your site accessable to the blind. (Americans with Disabilities Act thing.)
Looking at my Day Job and personal web site, other than the very cool technical achievement of the trap (I'll have to see if I can rewrite this for my Checkpoint FW system), there were one things I learned about good design from this article:
Eliminate mailto - makes sense. You should have an http based "send me a message system" - force a live person to type stuff in instead of letting a program pick out addresses.
Eliminating mailto alone would probably help in mot of my spam problems (as I have my "contact me" address right on the first page).
Seriously, while there is the danger of that - and I've been to a few events (like when they brought out the models dressed like Hooters girls to promote the terrible Hotters racing game) that do offer goodies.
The problem is, both reviewers and companies know you won't last long if you give a good review to a rotten game. It does happen that a reviewer likes a game that nobody else does, or hates a game that everybody else seems to like.
But most of the time, reviewers have to be honest, or else nobody will respect them, and then you lose readership. So all that these perks is that when you say "This game fucking sucks", you say "I just didn't seem to get into it". Instead of "The AI was dumber than Cattottop on Crack", you say "The AI wasn't challenging".
Lucky for some of us who run web sites out of our own pocket (yes, I'm self promoting damn it, and sorry about it), but at least when you don't actually "work" in the industry, you're allowed to say that the best part of Final Fantasy X was Lulu's cleavage every time she bent over. The rest of the game was so-so, but that alone kept me playing.
What I really see is the RIAA more concerned about *power* then *profit*.
Example: I went to MP3.com and bought the Megatokyo collection - didn't like all of it, but enough of it was pretty cool (like the Megatokyo theme itself) that I figured the lost cost of $4 of an entire "CD" of MP3's was worth the cost.
I was taken to a little secure site, and allowed to download to my local computer. From there, I've transferred that music to my iPod, and everybody's happy. Kim Justice gets my $, MP3.com gets my $, and I get some nice little tunes for cheap. And if I want a "real" CD, it's $10.
Now, look at the RIAA. They still want me to shell our $15-$20 for a CD, which I'm going to burn to MP3's anyway. Why not put up a website where I can either pay $10 for the CD, or $2 per song? I'd go for that - I didn't like the entire Cherry Poppin' Daddies track, but I would have paid $2 for each MP3 track I wanted.
But no - the RIAA hasn't learned what the Software industry has learned. Go after the big illegal distributors, and leave the little guys alone. If they gave me a way to go get Britney Spears "I'm a Virgin Slut and you Know It" single for $2, I would never feel the need to go online and get it illegally because I knew of a safe, secure, simple way to get it for a cheap ass price.
But because they are afraid of losing that power, because it might cut into their profit, they won't do it.
Disney fought the VCR for the same reasons - and makes more money from it now than from all their movies combined. Yet they refuse to learn from their own history with the technology of MP3's.
Those who don't learn from history aren't doomed to repeat it. They're just doomed.
It doesn't come back and say "No, you can't use Kodak's software - you must use iPhoto!" You don't have to fear something coming back and making iMovie your default application over Adobe Studio (or whatever it is).
That's the big difference. If you try and remove IE from Windows, Microsoft gets pissed off because that's a big bad no-no, so you have no choice but to have that software whether you want it or not. It was put on to keep their monopoly - not because they thought they had a better browser. (Whether it became a better browser is not for debate here - that happened after Netscape basically was dried up.)
I mean "DOA3 doesn't have as many costumes as DOA2". And I still hated the controller.
The Japanese version has more costumes, and a coming Booster CD in the Xbox magazine will help. But when I buy off the shelf DOA3 and compare it to DOA2, I just see some prettier graphics - and I can't put Lei Fang in a schoolgirl outfit that I've unlocked. (Schoolgirls who kick ass just...kick ass!)
Good PS2 games: Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, the list goes on.
MS needs more than just Halo. They do have Morrowind coming, which will help - but the fact that Morrowind is a PC title as well (just like Halo was suppose to be/still is suppose to be) doesn't cut the mustard.
They need more good games - not 1 good one. Halo sold 1 million copies. Final Fantasy X, I believe has sold 6. And that's just comparing two games.
Good original games on the Xbox: Halo, Dead or Alive 3 (Personally, I thought it was Dead or Alive 2 with a bad controller and no costumes, but that's me).
Remade games for the Xbox that have been out for the Playstation 2 for at least 6 months: Genmu Onimusha, Silent Hill 2
Good games for the Playstation 2: Maximo, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Rez, Etc.
Advantage: Playstation 2
Broadband support from Xbox: None, and details are unknown (expect something at E3, but the broadband support is suppose be rolled out June 2002.
Broadband support from Sony: Ethernet/Modem kit that allows you to specify how to connect, Linux kit that lets you do just about anything you want (rip/play MP3's, connect to the Internet), Upcoming AOL support (Yes, AOL sucks, but that's still a damn lot of people)
Advantage: Playstation 2
Online games on the Xbox: Halo (need a router hack), Coming? Um...
Online games from Playstation 2: Tony Hawk 3 (needs USB ethernet hack), Final Fantasy XI (will be supported by upcoming ethernet/hard drive kit), Everquest (same), Star Wars Galaxies (same)
Advantage: Playstation 2
Graphical ability:
Xbox: Nvidia chip with Intel Processor, 64 MB RAM
Playstation 2: Emotion chip, 8 MB RAM, "jaggies"
Advantage: Xbox
Storage system:
Xbox: Hard drive
Playstation 2: Expensive memory cards - it remains to be seen if upcoming hard drive upgrade will allow game saves/memory card copies to HDD. (Personally, I hope so).
Advantage: Xbox
DVD Playback:
Xbox: Requires purchase of $20-$30 remote control.
PS2: Remote control optional.
Advantage: PS2
Overall:
PS2 has a bigger games library (not including PSOne games for backwards compatibility). It is "truly" online (USB ethernet) now, and will be supported native TCP/IP for broadband/PPP dialups with modem shortly. Major online games supported.
What can Microsoft do:
1. Drop price - this will only help sell more units.
2. Better games - crucial. Too many games for the Xbox (Blood Wake) seem good ideas, but are terrible execution. MS would be good to go to developers making Xbox games, look at the "final release", then say "Great. Here's some more money - spend another 3 months polishing it so we don't have good games, we have great games."
3. Strategic partners: I don't care what the fuck people say about "Square's making Final Fantasy for the Xbox", I don't believe it. I see some console support from the Japanese developers, but MS needs to do better. The big RPG for the Xbox is Morrowind - a winner to be sure - but it will hardly drive huge purchases since that game is coming out for the PC at the same time.
The best thing MS could do is go to Sega and make a deal to remake games for the Xbox - Sakura Taisen (and bring it the hell to North America!), Panzer Dragoon Saga (which evidently a "sequel" is coming to the Xbox, but the original now would help jump start things). Perhaps even coming up with some sort of generic Sega Saturn emulator system and license it from Sega - this would give a bigger backlot of games.
Either way, MS is still in a good position. They have cash. They've done well in North America up until now. Basically, all of the hard core gamer geeks have an Xbox, and now they need the "mainstream" to ditch their PS2's and go to the Xbox.
Just remember the rule of Microsoft:
Version 1.0: Sucks, Version 2.0: Sucks, Version 3.0: Works, Version 4.0: Sucks, pulled from market, never talked about, Version 5.0: Works well enough, and throwing money at people kicks others out of the market.
I'm not going to talk about the "use a USB ethernet as a hack", but this is interesting for me.
Please not: this is not a rag on the Xbox. Well, it is, but it's not a rag because it's an Xbox, it's a rag because I like my Xbox and wish MS would stop being shitheads about managing it.
Anyway. Rewind the clock about a year to last years E3, where the Big Three (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony) were sitting up, talking about their new consoles. I remember this discussion:
Interviewer: So, tell us about your online gaming plans. Nintendo: Online gaming? We want to make fun games. We'll include online gaming if we need it. Sony: We have a deal with AOL, and we're going to crush everybody online! Bwahahahaha! Xbox: We have a built in Ethernet port into the Xbox, so we'll be online out of the box instead of having to buy expensive peripherals, and we'll crush everybody online! Bwahahahaha!
Now, fast forward to November, when I picked up my Xbox, and read in the help manual (page 15 I believe) that said:
Broadband support is coming in June of 2002. Deal with it.
Now we have Sony about to bring out their Ethernet/Hard drive adapter for the PS2. Will it make it as powerful as the Xbox? Probably not - unless you have the Linux kit, you won't be able to rip MP3's to the local hard drive (though I'm sure software developers will get that out), nor can you save games to the hard drive (unless the game is specifically programmed to do so - I could be wrong on this, but I don't think I am.)
Anyway. The point here is this:
Sony, at this rate, will beat the Xbox to true broadband Internet support without using a 3rd party hack. They will do so with Everquest behind them, Final Fantasy XI, and Star Wars: Galaxies. I can plug any standard USB keyboard/mouse into it, and it will work perfectly.
We still don't know what the Xbox plans are. While it has an Ethernet port, it only works on a local UDP network (unless you do some hacking with routers/Gamespy Arcade to get it online). Maybe there will be an update to add simple TCP/IP support, but why this support wasn't out of the fucking box I'll never know. (Come on - isn't the TCP/IP stack BSD license based? This should have been a no brainer, even if they had to put support in the Flash Bios or something instead of the hard drive. And they wouldn't have to worry about those "evil" GNU folks spoiling the party, since BSD doesn't make you share code.)
The Xbox will have... Seriously, I don't recall. Probably Morrowind (maybe - that's a single player game only right now), Halo of course, and some other games. I can't plug any USB things into it, so I have to spend more money for an Xbox keyboard/mouse (which I haven't seen announced yet - they could be out there, I just don't know.)
I like my Xbox - once I replace the controller, I'll like it even more. But I love my PS2, and Sony's making it hard not to like it more. And while I can't stand MMRPG's (experience, level, lather, rinse, repeat), I'm just interested enough in some of them (Final Fantasy XI), in the hard drive, and other bits that make me think that Sony's going to continue to stay in the lead.
Now, if we can just clear up their RIAA issues, and I'll really like them....
To run Gimp in XDarwin under OS X, or to install Yellow Dog and run it from there? (Can you run YD Linux from within a Virtual PC like memory space? That would actually be pretty cool.)
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At the moment, with Mozilla at almost-but-not-quite-there 1.0 version, it now has enough momentum that even if AOL killed off the funding, it would probably do pretty well. The Gecko core is helping other businesses, and since AOL knows that MS is their #1 enemy (right behind that furry thing that crawled up Wolf Blitzer's chin and died), they're going to keep their bets open. With moments like this, they'll at least keep it as a bargaining chip:
AOL: So, Mr. Gates. Do you want to put AOL links in Windows XP - or do we need to shift to Mozilla and watch as web developers remember how to program HTML 4.0 compliant web pages?
Yes, there are more than 10 games for the system. And how many are exclusive games that I want to play?
Halo. Project Gothom. Jet Grind Radio. Dead or Alive 3. Maybe New Legends and Munch's Oddyssee.
The rest of the games are either co-released for other platforms (Spiderman: The Movie, that Batman games, etc) or PS2 remakes (Genmu Onimusha, for example).
So at the moment, we've got 4 games I really want to play that are exclusive to the system. (If you don't disacount Halo since it's coming to the PC (and hopefully Mac) right before Hell Freezes Over)).
The PSOne took over because they won over developer support over Nintendo, which focused on their cartridge technology. They courted the 3rd party developers. Now, they're smart enough to not let them completly jump ship to Microsoft, so unlike your PSOne vs Nintendo argument (Six years! Give Xbox six years, and it will be just as good!), Sony isn't going to let their premiere developers leave them the way Nintendo did, so they'll still have a great lineup.
The Xbox has potential. It's even a powerful system. But they're fighting an upstream battle, and just saying "give them time! It's a great system!" isn't going to help. If they want to really succeed, they need to get the exclusives to their system, and that means winning over Japan.
I don't see it happening. I'm sorry, and I know that you've spent a lot of time in this article defending the Xbox. But you've got to face the facts - unless something changes, something that makes game developer en masse go "Damn, let's dump the PS2 and go to the Xbox" so that all the gamers will go "Damn - I guess we'd better switch as well" - until that day happens, PS2 will keep on winning since developers will develop games for the clear winner first to make money, then the "other" consoles later to pick up some extra income if possible. And with the Xbox systems/games dropping off in sales instead of increasing, the just looks more bleak.
Maybe Xbox 2 will be better. (For God's sake, maybe they'll include some real USB ports so I don't have to use the controller to t-y-p-e-i-n-w-o-r-d-s.) Maybe broadband support will really be "out of the box" instead of waiting 8 months for MS to decide that "Gee, I guess a TCP/IP stack is a good idea". Maybe someoe will hear the majority of users going "controller sucks - deal with it". Maybe they'll let you download games over a broadband connection for a fee (mixing in with the Ultimate TV developers that have been reassigned to the Xbox?).
But first we have to weather the current Xbox 1 storm, and it looks pretty rudderless.
Of course, that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Personally, I think a more modular Windows - where DiectX, IE, Media Player, Et All, would be a Good Thing allaround. It would make it much like OS X - a system where the core API and commands (cut, paste) are controlled in one place, and the apps simply using the OS for basic i/o needs - so it doesn't matter which browser/media player you use - it just talks to the OS for what it needs. The way it Should Be.
But lets not forget MS's past. Suppose they shipped XP Lite (say $30 to the consumer, $15 to OEM's, and other components could be downloded for a price). You put on Mozilla, and set it to be the default app for HTML.
Any bets that MS would simply make their help files - which should be HTML based - so non-HTML standard that Mozilla can't display them correctly? Then they can say on their tech support line "Oh, help files won't display? It's because your computer seller sold you a non-standards compliant browser - buy IE for $5, and next time, only buy a computers from a vendor that isn't trying to rip you off with cheap open source software."
They do the same for media files (excusive contracts with artists, who don't get anything from the RIAA anyway) to make their online music only Windows Media. Or who knows what else - remember the DR DOS issue? They've done t once, and like a fomer priest defrocked priest running a day care, they'll do t again.
The point is MS could make windows modular - and we would still have to watch them like a hawk to keep them from using their old tricks.
Yes, I know - only one mouse button.
;) ). There's a Firewire port in the back so you can plug in your DV cameras and the like - again, sat there in the living room with my wife and tweaked my daughter's birthday party video.
But otherwise, my Powerbook is a great machine. I can put Yellow Dog Linux on it if I want just Linux. Or if I want a good BSD system, like the song says, "Boom...there it is." Runs the major apps I care about (MS Office (yes, I know...but it's a business thing), Adobe Acrobat), runs the apps I make (Perl), has a great display, DVD playback, and if you plug in a monitor in the back, you can make it work as a secondary monitor (instead of just a mirror, which is kind of cool). Instant sleep-off, sleep-on just by closing the lid. (Most Windows based laptops I've seen get *very* pissed off when you put them in sleep mode, what with the PCMCIA slots getting redected and all.)
Modem, 1 G/100/10 Ethernet built in, Airport built in (you can turn it off if you're worried, or get an Airport and bridge it to your local network at 128 bits encryption - sitting in the living room surfing the net was never so much fun
Other than the mouse thing - and you either get used to doing Control-Click for secondary mouse stuff, or when you have it at a desk you plug in a little USB mouse - it's been a rock solid machine.
Oh, and it plays Icewind Dale great too. (Baldur's Gate runs all right, as long as you boot into OS 9, because the bastards haven't Carbonized BG I yet.)
From that, Catholics, Mormons, Methodits, Muslims, Buddhists (and if I've misspelled anyone's name, forgive me) is a cult.
The way the media has defined a cult:
Usually the media will label a religious group a cult when their actions are described as being far outside the norm by mainstream society.
So while Scientology/Mormonism/Jehovah's Witnesses/other minority religions may have beliefs many people find to be stange, because their members can function in ordinary society (well, unless you try and include John Travolta as "ordinary"), they aren't a cult. However, the Branch Dividians, which were bunkered out and letting one guy sleep with everybody else's wife/kids/dog, they're pretty much a cult in the eyes of the media/world. Or they're BBQ if you're in the FBI. Either way.
I've noticed over time that the games that do the best are a) good games, and b) allow their users to hack the system.
Quake III, for example. Great game? Maybe - IMHO, not as good as Unreal Tournament. But the ability for gamers to hack their way and replace everything from pictures to AI has helped make it big.
Best example is Half-Life - I mean, Valve has how many products? One. But because of the mod scene, they're still making money. When a good mod comes along, they capitalize on it, and use it to promote their product.
I think Apple is catching on. They noticed people making hacks to view address book information - so they added the ability. I'm hoping that just as Steve Jobs sees the Mac as the center of the digital world for media, that Apple sees the iPod as a bridge that users can latch onto. Hard drive, music player, storage device for other things (cameras, PDA's, etc) - the possibilities of this little device are are nearly limitless.
Actually, I'm interested in this product. Ad-like? Sure - but still, it's an interesting hack, and I plan on trying out.
So thanks for posting the story, guys. At least I like it.
At the risk of sounding mean, there aren't that many "great" Apple only games (yes, there are some - don't flame me yet), but compared to the PC, it's a much higher ratio of great PC stuff.
Most Apple only games that do well do so because there isn't the same level of compitition that there is in the PC world. Again, cruel, but true.
Man, I wish...
Ah, well. Maybe next lifetime.
From my new Powerbook, over the weekend, I:
;).
Played more Icewind Dale
Used Gimp to make a new banner (with Xdarwin)
Used BBedit to edit a Perl script, then to write a review of Icewind Dale
Ran an old OS 9 Groupwise program to connect to my Day Job mail.
Used MS Word to view some work documents.
Ran a perlscript to edit some 200 pictures with ImageMagick.
Surfed the web/checked email with Mozilla.
Wirelessly connected to my internal network and my Linux server/router and out to the Internet.
Used SSH to tweak some setttings on some Linux boxes.
Used Virtual PC to run Win98 so I could run my Sharkport program to save my Metal Gear Solid 2 saved games from the Playstation 2 to my Mac HDD.
Got pictures of my daughter's birthday party from the camera to the Web for the fam'.
Played music with iTunes (Final Fantasy Pray rocks.).
And most of this was running at the same time, with all the stability of my old Linux box, easier than Windows - so simple that my wife, who hates computers, started messing with the laptop (after I gave her her own account so she wouldn't see my Tifa Lockheart porn).
I've used Windows for over a decade, Linux for 3 years, and a Mac for 3 months. Out of them all, OS X is the best out of the lot.
PS: Before you ask, Apple hasn't paid me $0.01 for this. Though I wish...Where's the game payola, guys
I wouldn't mind trying this out. Right now, I run Gimp through XDarwin, and it works for my needs, which are pretty basic (simple banners, adding text to pictures, etc).
I wouldn't mind something like a Photoshop Lite to see how it works, then if I got powerful, I could pay for the full version later.
I don't see myself changing the name soon - I've used it since the early '90's (back when it was cool), and if I was going to change now, it would have to be something like "Buttwiper" or something even more lame.
Good point - some sites (I think AOL did once) can get sued if you're a large enough business and don't make your site accessable to the blind. (Americans with Disabilities Act thing.)
Looking at my Day Job and personal web site, other than the very cool technical achievement of the trap (I'll have to see if I can rewrite this for my Checkpoint FW system), there were one things I learned about good design from this article:
Eliminate mailto - makes sense. You should have an http based "send me a message system" - force a live person to type stuff in instead of letting a program pick out addresses.
Eliminating mailto alone would probably help in mot of my spam problems (as I have my "contact me" address right on the first page).
I'm still waiting for my payoffs.
Seriously, while there is the danger of that - and I've been to a few events (like when they brought out the models dressed like Hooters girls to promote the terrible Hotters racing game) that do offer goodies.
The problem is, both reviewers and companies know you won't last long if you give a good review to a rotten game. It does happen that a reviewer likes a game that nobody else does, or hates a game that everybody else seems to like.
But most of the time, reviewers have to be honest, or else nobody will respect them, and then you lose readership. So all that these perks is that when you say "This game fucking sucks", you say "I just didn't seem to get into it". Instead of "The AI was dumber than Cattottop on Crack", you say "The AI wasn't challenging".
Lucky for some of us who run web sites out of our own pocket (yes, I'm self promoting damn it, and sorry about it), but at least when you don't actually "work" in the industry, you're allowed to say that the best part of Final Fantasy X was Lulu's cleavage every time she bent over. The rest of the game was so-so, but that alone kept me playing.
My understanding is that unless they state in the email "this is for private communications, blah, blah, blah", it's fair game.
IANAL, of course.
Sounds about right to me.
What I really see is the RIAA more concerned about *power* then *profit*.
Example: I went to MP3.com and bought the Megatokyo collection - didn't like all of it, but enough of it was pretty cool (like the Megatokyo theme itself) that I figured the lost cost of $4 of an entire "CD" of MP3's was worth the cost.
I was taken to a little secure site, and allowed to download to my local computer. From there, I've transferred that music to my iPod, and everybody's happy. Kim Justice gets my $, MP3.com gets my $, and I get some nice little tunes for cheap. And if I want a "real" CD, it's $10.
Now, look at the RIAA. They still want me to shell our $15-$20 for a CD, which I'm going to burn to MP3's anyway. Why not put up a website where I can either pay $10 for the CD, or $2 per song? I'd go for that - I didn't like the entire Cherry Poppin' Daddies track, but I would have paid $2 for each MP3 track I wanted.
But no - the RIAA hasn't learned what the Software industry has learned. Go after the big illegal distributors, and leave the little guys alone. If they gave me a way to go get Britney Spears "I'm a Virgin Slut and you Know It" single for $2, I would never feel the need to go online and get it illegally because I knew of a safe, secure, simple way to get it for a cheap ass price.
But because they are afraid of losing that power, because it might cut into their profit, they won't do it.
Disney fought the VCR for the same reasons - and makes more money from it now than from all their movies combined. Yet they refuse to learn from their own history with the technology of MP3's.
Those who don't learn from history aren't doomed to repeat it. They're just doomed.
Remove iTunes.
OS X still works.
Remove iPhoto.
OS X still works.
Remove IE.
OS X still works.
It doesn't come back and say "No, you can't use Kodak's software - you must use iPhoto!" You don't have to fear something coming back and making iMovie your default application over Adobe Studio (or whatever it is).
That's the big difference. If you try and remove IE from Windows, Microsoft gets pissed off because that's a big bad no-no, so you have no choice but to have that software whether you want it or not. It was put on to keep their monopoly - not because they thought they had a better browser. (Whether it became a better browser is not for debate here - that happened after Netscape basically was dried up.)
Sorry, Mr. Coward.
I mean "DOA3 doesn't have as many costumes as DOA2". And I still hated the controller.
The Japanese version has more costumes, and a coming Booster CD in the Xbox magazine will help. But when I buy off the shelf DOA3 and compare it to DOA2, I just see some prettier graphics - and I can't put Lei Fang in a schoolgirl outfit that I've unlocked. (Schoolgirls who kick ass just...kick ass!)
Sorry, but this argument is getting to me.
Good Xbox games: Halo
Good PS2 games: Devil May Cry, Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, the list goes on.
MS needs more than just Halo. They do have Morrowind coming, which will help - but the fact that Morrowind is a PC title as well (just like Halo was suppose to be/still is suppose to be) doesn't cut the mustard.
They need more good games - not 1 good one. Halo sold 1 million copies. Final Fantasy X, I believe has sold 6. And that's just comparing two games.
Good original games on the Xbox: Halo, Dead or Alive 3 (Personally, I thought it was Dead or Alive 2 with a bad controller and no costumes, but that's me).
Remade games for the Xbox that have been out for the Playstation 2 for at least 6 months: Genmu Onimusha, Silent Hill 2
Good games for the Playstation 2: Maximo, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy X, Metal Gear Solid 2, Grand Theft Auto 3, Rez, Etc.
Advantage: Playstation 2
Broadband support from Xbox:
None, and details are unknown (expect something at E3, but the broadband support is suppose be rolled out June 2002.
Broadband support from Sony:
Ethernet/Modem kit that allows you to specify how to connect, Linux kit that lets you do just about anything you want (rip/play MP3's, connect to the Internet), Upcoming AOL support (Yes, AOL sucks, but that's still a damn lot of people)
Advantage: Playstation 2
Online games on the Xbox:
Halo (need a router hack),
Coming? Um...
Online games from Playstation 2:
Tony Hawk 3 (needs USB ethernet hack), Final Fantasy XI (will be supported by upcoming ethernet/hard drive kit), Everquest (same), Star Wars Galaxies (same)
Advantage: Playstation 2
Graphical ability:
Xbox: Nvidia chip with Intel Processor, 64 MB RAM
Playstation 2: Emotion chip, 8 MB RAM, "jaggies"
Advantage: Xbox
Storage system:
Xbox: Hard drive
Playstation 2: Expensive memory cards - it remains to be seen if upcoming hard drive upgrade will allow game saves/memory card copies to HDD. (Personally, I hope so).
Advantage: Xbox
DVD Playback:
Xbox: Requires purchase of $20-$30 remote control.
PS2: Remote control optional.
Advantage: PS2
Overall:
PS2 has a bigger games library (not including PSOne games for backwards compatibility). It is "truly" online (USB ethernet) now, and will be supported native TCP/IP for broadband/PPP dialups with modem shortly. Major online games supported.
What can Microsoft do:
1. Drop price - this will only help sell more units.
2. Better games - crucial. Too many games for the Xbox (Blood Wake) seem good ideas, but are terrible execution. MS would be good to go to developers making Xbox games, look at the "final release", then say "Great. Here's some more money - spend another 3 months polishing it so we don't have good games, we have great games."
3. Strategic partners: I don't care what the fuck people say about "Square's making Final Fantasy for the Xbox", I don't believe it. I see some console support from the Japanese developers, but MS needs to do better. The big RPG for the Xbox is Morrowind - a winner to be sure - but it will hardly drive huge purchases since that game is coming out for the PC at the same time.
The best thing MS could do is go to Sega and make a deal to remake games for the Xbox - Sakura Taisen (and bring it the hell to North America!), Panzer Dragoon Saga (which evidently a "sequel" is coming to the Xbox, but the original now would help jump start things). Perhaps even coming up with some sort of generic Sega Saturn emulator system and license it from Sega - this would give a bigger backlot of games.
Either way, MS is still in a good position. They have cash. They've done well in North America up until now. Basically, all of the hard core gamer geeks have an Xbox, and now they need the "mainstream" to ditch their PS2's and go to the Xbox.
Just remember the rule of Microsoft:
Version 1.0: Sucks, Version 2.0: Sucks, Version 3.0: Works, Version 4.0: Sucks, pulled from market, never talked about, Version 5.0: Works well enough, and throwing money at people kicks others out of the market.
Of course, I could be wrong about all of this.
I'm not going to talk about the "use a USB ethernet as a hack", but this is interesting for me.
Please not: this is not a rag on the Xbox. Well, it is, but it's not a rag because it's an Xbox, it's a rag because I like my Xbox and wish MS would stop being shitheads about managing it.
Anyway. Rewind the clock about a year to last years E3, where the Big Three (Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony) were sitting up, talking about their new consoles. I remember this discussion:
Interviewer: So, tell us about your online gaming plans.
Nintendo: Online gaming? We want to make fun games. We'll include online gaming if we need it.
Sony: We have a deal with AOL, and we're going to crush everybody online! Bwahahahaha!
Xbox: We have a built in Ethernet port into the Xbox, so we'll be online out of the box instead of having to buy expensive peripherals, and we'll crush everybody online! Bwahahahaha!
Now, fast forward to November, when I picked up my Xbox, and read in the help manual (page 15 I believe) that said:
Broadband support is coming in June of 2002. Deal with it.
Now we have Sony about to bring out their Ethernet/Hard drive adapter for the PS2. Will it make it as powerful as the Xbox? Probably not - unless you have the Linux kit, you won't be able to rip MP3's to the local hard drive (though I'm sure software developers will get that out), nor can you save games to the hard drive (unless the game is specifically programmed to do so - I could be wrong on this, but I don't think I am.)
Anyway. The point here is this:
Sony, at this rate, will beat the Xbox to true broadband Internet support without using a 3rd party hack. They will do so with Everquest behind them, Final Fantasy XI, and Star Wars: Galaxies. I can plug any standard USB keyboard/mouse into it, and it will work perfectly.
We still don't know what the Xbox plans are. While it has an Ethernet port, it only works on a local UDP network (unless you do some hacking with routers/Gamespy Arcade to get it online). Maybe there will be an update to add simple TCP/IP support, but why this support wasn't out of the fucking box I'll never know. (Come on - isn't the TCP/IP stack BSD license based? This should have been a no brainer, even if they had to put support in the Flash Bios or something instead of the hard drive. And they wouldn't have to worry about those "evil" GNU folks spoiling the party, since BSD doesn't make you share code.)
The Xbox will have... Seriously, I don't recall. Probably Morrowind (maybe - that's a single player game only right now), Halo of course, and some other games. I can't plug any USB things into it, so I have to spend more money for an Xbox keyboard/mouse (which I haven't seen announced yet - they could be out there, I just don't know.)
I like my Xbox - once I replace the controller, I'll like it even more. But I love my PS2, and Sony's making it hard not to like it more. And while I can't stand MMRPG's (experience, level, lather, rinse, repeat), I'm just interested enough in some of them (Final Fantasy XI), in the hard drive, and other bits that make me think that Sony's going to continue to stay in the lead.
Now, if we can just clear up their RIAA issues, and I'll really like them....
To run Gimp in XDarwin under OS X, or to install Yellow Dog and run it from there? (Can you run YD Linux from within a Virtual PC like memory space? That would actually be pretty cool.)
How did you know? Damn it, my secret it out!
Hey, I resemble that remark ;)