That's not really "interesting" -- Kabuki Warriors for the Xbox when it first came out was a high price, so were other games. The "given" price for a new game is usually $49.99 regardless of where you purchase it. However, this does cut down on development costs. You may not be able to get a cheaper game, but you will get more out of it... I wonder how much Honda paid for the Element being in SSX3... It's almost ubiquitous without being overloaded-- the fact that you sail through one (with all doors open-- screams "product differentiation") makes it very immersive.
That's almost like saying "You don't like Chevrolet? Make your own car and compete!"
You have to look at it realistically. As a national manufacturer / re-seller the road will be very tough. Hardware isn't profitable to begin with (margin-wise) and there's not much room in the market. Only company I can think of that "came in" was eMachines, but I don't know anything about them, I just know I didn't see them 10 years ago. But for example, what happenned to Packard Bell?
I think where a lot of value and opportunity lie would be any niche market... Take for example, AlienWare, who makes specific game-oriented PCs. IIRC they will even install games for you and tweak them for your hardware configuration (at no extra cost). Dell doesn't do that, so they're not in direct competition.
So where are there niches? Could someone compete with AlienWare? What about a super high-performance company that sells already-cooled OCd systems? Or an anti-Wintel company that is setting itself up correctly so that, no, you won't be clogged by DRM in a few years? I could imagine a company setting up computers for very cheap that, say, boot up in 10 seconds or less. Sort of internet or email machines for other parts of the home. Or extremely sleek looking systems -- hire a good designer and make stuff that looks better than Apple's, but is a PC inside.
There's lots of room for interesting business models. But why would you need another Dell?
I used to play Cruisin' USA on the N64 one-handed... It wasn't really a game where you needed to brake, so I was content with Go and the Analog pad.
If there was gonna be a one handed controller, that's how I would design it... The thumb controller is analog (And can be pressed down like the Xbox's and the PS2's), the buttons are on the bottom, so it almost looks like you're holding a fishing rod... Something interesting to think about is that your tactile feedback and ability to touch something in detail decreases as you move out towards the pinky finger. Hold a glass or a small bottle, and use the pinky finger to touch something right next to it. It won't be a smooth controlled motion. On the other hand, the index finger moves very slowly and accurately. So near the bottom of this controller you'd need larger fatter buttons that can be easily pressed and are very textured, near the top you can have an analog trigger for the index finger, and 2-4 buttons for the other fingers. Then again, you can always have some buttons as pedals on the floor if it's convenient. I know someone who didn't like having a lot of important FPS buttons be very far away so he got pedals and used them for forward and backward movement. To get really complex, he could even have an analog "stick-shift" for his right arm for those who lack accute detail but could handle gross motor movement.
So that in effect gives us 1 analog, 1 trigger, 2-4 buttons + 2-3 buttons + 1 analog (and a button or two?) essentially replacing all the buttons of a controller. While it seems like an elaborate set-up, it could do what he likes.
Or, he could do what someone on my floor in the university did... He was born with a birth defect which left him with no arms (but hands at the end of his shoulders). He still played videogames, IIRC correctly he used one of those mega-huge Neo-Geo-styled arcade pads. I believe it had a steering wheel, and he may have used his mouth.
Looks like the real cool that these fellows need is not in the aesthetics of their finished product, but in their server farm which is causing 2nd-degree burns to anyone within 5 ft. of their "cool" cases.
That Orbz game was pretty fun but a bit bland... After all, all you're doing is aiming and shooting balls... The most original game I played this year, I can't find on my hard-drive anymore, but it had pre-PSX graphics and it was basically a bridge-building simulator. I wish I knew who the maker was now...
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind MS-bashing nor do I dislike Linux, but honestly, that "article" (actually an opinion, at least it was noted)
The strange thing is that even this didn't work. People did the math. With expensive lock-ins on one hand, and cheaper, more interoperable software on the other, they started choosing the less expensive route. Imagine that. The high profile defections started happening with more and more regularity, and Redmond was almost out of tricks.
Who chose? When did this happen? This piece just rehashes posts from this site over the past year -- highly redundant IMHO.
What if all your bills are past due? Then it doesn't matter. It's like that old joke (or is it a scene from a movie?)...
"A thief stole my credit card and has been using it for the past couple of months." "Oh my! Why haven't you reported it?" "Because it still works out to be cheaper than me using it!"
Why am I, the non-millionaire, getting gifts for the millionaire gamer?
Can someone forward this list to a couple of millionaires and let them know I'd like these things? Hell, I'll be happy with just a Gamecube and a copy of Double Dash.
"What to get the man who has everything?" A Post-It note saying "Give away some of your stuff you greedy buffoon."
1. Consoles are cheaper over the long-run. A new PS2 or Xbox is cheaper than most bleeding-edge video cards.
2. You can rent and borrow console games. $5 gets you a couple of days to try/beat a game.
3. Console games are more social. You play with friends along side you. Outside LAN parties, it doesn't happen often with PC games.
That said, PC games still have some definite advantages (internet, mods) and strengths in certain games (RTS, RPGs, FPSs), but that's slipping all the time.
Simpson I don't worry about, becuase i buy those box sets anyway
Well, at the rate these are coming out you'll be in an old folk's home before seeing Season Six. I highly suggest you at least start watching re-runs...
Caller: Yeah, um, are you guys going to fix the lag issues? I'm having some major problems. The screen refreshes at 10fps, my player barely moves, characters pop in and out of the frame. Support: What kind of processor are you running? Caller: Well above the specs you need, and I'm sitting on a DS3 connection. Support: I see... Caller:... Support: (consulting PR manual) It's not server lag... it's... bullet time!
You know, I think some Shrek/Katzenberg-hater probably put up the Dreamworks link and said it was to the Paris Hilton video -- I can't imagine this much interests naturally exists for Shrek 2. That or Dreamworks runs their servers off of Windows for Workgroups.
I think the series peaked with THPS3 -- 4 was good but it was incredibly, awfully hard, which made it just a smidgen less exciting than 3. Now this one seems like it's going to be more of the same. I liked THPS because it was a game you could pick up, play for 10 minutes or 60 minutes and have an equal amount of fun. Now, with more "RPG" (and I use that term loosely) elements throw in, you probably need to have a fair amount of time on your hands to really be able to enjoy yourself.
Now, if SSX3 hadn't come out last week, I probably would be all over this, but I can see myself spending most of my free time on that game (which is brilliant and addictive) as opposed to THUG.
I've been flash-freezing shrimp, cow parts, chickens, and many varieties of fish in a contraption known as the "freezer" -- perhaps Mr. Long could benefit from this knowledge.
There needs to be some sort of public service announcement to make everyone aware of this. Perhaps it can be punctuated by an audio clip of the 1984 Motown hit "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell featuring Michael and Jermaine Jackson.
I'm willing to bet a nickel that Microsoft is (1) extremely well aware of this and (2) biding their time until they make a case about this. Right now in their view, piracy gets them market share and people can't afford MS products. Once they have the market locked down and people can afford to pay for software (they may already, I don't know)-- MS will strike down on piracy.
Slashdot Mirror
That's not really "interesting" -- Kabuki Warriors for the Xbox when it first came out was a high price, so were other games. The "given" price for a new game is usually $49.99 regardless of where you purchase it. However, this does cut down on development costs. You may not be able to get a cheaper game, but you will get more out of it... I wonder how much Honda paid for the Element being in SSX3... It's almost ubiquitous without being overloaded-- the fact that you sail through one (with all doors open-- screams "product differentiation") makes it very immersive.
I'd say the worst example is Spot Goes To Hollywood the game featuring the 7-Up icon...
That's almost like saying "You don't like Chevrolet? Make your own car and compete!"
You have to look at it realistically. As a national manufacturer / re-seller the road will be very tough. Hardware isn't profitable to begin with (margin-wise) and there's not much room in the market. Only company I can think of that "came in" was eMachines, but I don't know anything about them, I just know I didn't see them 10 years ago. But for example, what happenned to Packard Bell?
I think where a lot of value and opportunity lie would be any niche market... Take for example, AlienWare, who makes specific game-oriented PCs. IIRC they will even install games for you and tweak them for your hardware configuration (at no extra cost). Dell doesn't do that, so they're not in direct competition.
So where are there niches? Could someone compete with AlienWare? What about a super high-performance company that sells already-cooled OCd systems? Or an anti-Wintel company that is setting itself up correctly so that, no, you won't be clogged by DRM in a few years? I could imagine a company setting up computers for very cheap that, say, boot up in 10 seconds or less. Sort of internet or email machines for other parts of the home. Or extremely sleek looking systems -- hire a good designer and make stuff that looks better than Apple's, but is a PC inside.
There's lots of room for interesting business models. But why would you need another Dell?
I used to play Cruisin' USA on the N64 one-handed... It wasn't really a game where you needed to brake, so I was content with Go and the Analog pad.
If there was gonna be a one handed controller, that's how I would design it... The thumb controller is analog (And can be pressed down like the Xbox's and the PS2's), the buttons are on the bottom, so it almost looks like you're holding a fishing rod... Something interesting to think about is that your tactile feedback and ability to touch something in detail decreases as you move out towards the pinky finger. Hold a glass or a small bottle, and use the pinky finger to touch something right next to it. It won't be a smooth controlled motion. On the other hand, the index finger moves very slowly and accurately. So near the bottom of this controller you'd need larger fatter buttons that can be easily pressed and are very textured, near the top you can have an analog trigger for the index finger, and 2-4 buttons for the other fingers. Then again, you can always have some buttons as pedals on the floor if it's convenient. I know someone who didn't like having a lot of important FPS buttons be very far away so he got pedals and used them for forward and backward movement. To get really complex, he could even have an analog "stick-shift" for his right arm for those who lack accute detail but could handle gross motor movement.
So that in effect gives us 1 analog, 1 trigger, 2-4 buttons + 2-3 buttons + 1 analog (and a button or two?) essentially replacing all the buttons of a controller. While it seems like an elaborate set-up, it could do what he likes.
Or, he could do what someone on my floor in the university did... He was born with a birth defect which left him with no arms (but hands at the end of his shoulders). He still played videogames, IIRC correctly he used one of those mega-huge Neo-Geo-styled arcade pads. I believe it had a steering wheel, and he may have used his mouth.
Looks like the real cool that these fellows need is not in the aesthetics of their finished product, but in their server farm which is causing 2nd-degree burns to anyone within 5 ft. of their "cool" cases.
That Orbz game was pretty fun but a bit bland... After all, all you're doing is aiming and shooting balls... The most original game I played this year, I can't find on my hard-drive anymore, but it had pre-PSX graphics and it was basically a bridge-building simulator. I wish I knew who the maker was now...
Don't get me wrong, I don't mind MS-bashing nor do I dislike Linux, but honestly, that "article" (actually an opinion, at least it was noted)
The strange thing is that even this didn't work. People did the math. With expensive lock-ins on one hand, and cheaper, more interoperable software on the other, they started choosing the less expensive route. Imagine that. The high profile defections started happening with more and more regularity, and Redmond was almost out of tricks.
Who chose? When did this happen? This piece just rehashes posts from this site over the past year -- highly redundant IMHO.
No game software
Forced "multi-media" ads
All this for under $400?
Sign-me up!
What if all your bills are past due? Then it doesn't matter. It's like that old joke (or is it a scene from a movie?)...
"A thief stole my credit card and has been using it for the past couple of months."
"Oh my! Why haven't you reported it?"
"Because it still works out to be cheaper than me using it!"
Why am I, the non-millionaire, getting gifts for the millionaire gamer?
Can someone forward this list to a couple of millionaires and let them know I'd like these things? Hell, I'll be happy with just a Gamecube and a copy of Double Dash.
"What to get the man who has everything?" A Post-It note saying "Give away some of your stuff you greedy buffoon."
Let's see, a quick run-down...
1. Consoles are cheaper over the long-run. A new PS2 or Xbox is cheaper than most bleeding-edge video cards.
2. You can rent and borrow console games. $5 gets you a couple of days to try/beat a game.
3. Console games are more social. You play with friends along side you. Outside LAN parties, it doesn't happen often with PC games.
That said, PC games still have some definite advantages (internet, mods) and strengths in certain games (RTS, RPGs, FPSs), but that's slipping all the time.
My $0.02.
Well, at least we've got someone that is being truthful about their software's feature set... A bit too refreshing, if you ask me.
"Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent." - Aasimov
Simpson I don't worry about, becuase i buy those box sets anyway
Well, at the rate these are coming out you'll be in an old folk's home before seeing Season Six. I highly suggest you at least start watching re-runs...
A game I was never able to beat on my NES. Perhaps this time around I'll fare a bit better with analog controls.
"Look my liege! Charts describing Strouhal numbers and swallows!"' s only a model."
*trumpets*
"Charts!"
"Charts!"
"It
"Shhh!"
* Call to Tech Support.
...
Caller: Yeah, um, are you guys going to fix the lag issues? I'm having some major problems. The screen refreshes at 10fps, my player barely moves, characters pop in and out of the frame.
Support: What kind of processor are you running?
Caller: Well above the specs you need, and I'm sitting on a DS3 connection.
Support: I see...
Caller:
Support: (consulting PR manual) It's not server lag... it's... bullet time!
You know, I think some Shrek/Katzenberg-hater probably put up the Dreamworks link and said it was to the Paris Hilton video -- I can't imagine this much interests naturally exists for Shrek 2. That or Dreamworks runs their servers off of Windows for Workgroups.
Or both.
I think the series peaked with THPS3 -- 4 was good but it was incredibly, awfully hard, which made it just a smidgen less exciting than 3. Now this one seems like it's going to be more of the same. I liked THPS because it was a game you could pick up, play for 10 minutes or 60 minutes and have an equal amount of fun. Now, with more "RPG" (and I use that term loosely) elements throw in, you probably need to have a fair amount of time on your hands to really be able to enjoy yourself.
Now, if SSX3 hadn't come out last week, I probably would be all over this, but I can see myself spending most of my free time on that game (which is brilliant and addictive) as opposed to THUG.
I've been flash-freezing shrimp, cow parts, chickens, and many varieties of fish in a contraption known as the "freezer" -- perhaps Mr. Long could benefit from this knowledge.
There needs to be some sort of public service announcement to make everyone aware of this. Perhaps it can be punctuated by an audio clip of the 1984 Motown hit "Somebody's Watching Me" by Rockwell featuring Michael and Jermaine Jackson.
Ohh yeah.
I'm willing to bet a nickel that Microsoft is (1) extremely well aware of this and (2) biding their time until they make a case about this. Right now in their view, piracy gets them market share and people can't afford MS products. Once they have the market locked down and people can afford to pay for software (they may already, I don't know)-- MS will strike down on piracy.
What does that make Pele?
Or Buckminster Fuller?
Did anyone else cache that pun?
Exact same thing I was thinking...
Actually, I have never seen a movie based on a video game that was good either...
Amanda Huginkiss?