There was an equivalent to Steam for the UK - but I can't remember the site offhand. It wasn't important to me at the time I saw it. I just remember the prices being okay.
It's worth noting that for Valve's exclusive games, when you buy bundle packs containing copies you already have, you get more copies which can be given to friends.
Unfortunately, the same doesn't apply for third-party games.
I can understand the publisher's desire to lock a game to every customer. It ensures every sale gives you profit. I also understand that in the case of Steam, that's giving us much lower prices. Unlike most other platforms, Steam is flooded with quality games that go on sale for between $5 to $15.
When's the last time you got an XBox360 game brand new for $10? You can take your rights of sale and shove them... somewhere. I'll lose at least that much money trying to sell a game I picked up new, so resale doesn't really concern me much. Plus, after I sell it and lose $10+, I don't have it anymore.
One thing I would like to see is Valve not allowing non-Steam DRM in games. I hate it when games have double-protection(like Universe At War), and then it doesn't work because of the non-Steam DRM.
Oh man! I didn't even notice. I guess someone installed flash for this browser when I wasn't looking.
Any which way... I'd still prefer Javascript to handle 3D. AJAX websites have maintained more usability than flash sites - for 3D, it'll probably be the same.
I know how you feel. I've chosen AMD + nVidia for just about every desktop I've built that didn't require discreet graphics. Can't beat the price or the performance.
Looks like I'm switching to AMD + ATI! I certainly won't be going Intel - IGP is the weakest link in an HTPC, and Intel's IGPs certainly can't compete!
Their only chance of getting into the CPU business is ARM. x86 is a licensing dead-end. Luckily companies like TI, Apple, Nokia, and Google are driving a wedge in there, so they might be able to get their foot through the door with those high-performance 2ghz ARM quad-cores that are supposed to come out in 2010 or 2011.
For the longest time, they were the only company that had decent SATA controllers. I can remember getting 300MB/sec sustained read speeds in RAID-0 with burst speeds close to 700MB/sec off their nForce 5 boards. At the time Intel's controllers(ICH9R?) were choking on SSDs and couldn't manage more than 300MB/sec burst. Sustained read was significantly lower.
Realistic advertising only works for games set now, and only then for a couple years.
I much prefer fake ads, since they never expire. But if a game were set in 2010, I would be okay with in-game advertisements, as long as they were done properly - which they never are.
The final architecture will clearly be a javascript-optimized CPU. It'll have insane string handling, vastly speeding up all javascript ops! Then everyone will just use BigInt and BigFloat - you know, those String numbers that can be any length!
640bit? Pfft.... 5275033000 bit! We're calculating PI here - we've got to have decent precision!
But not a lot about the limitations of XP/Vista. Unlike some operating systems(like Linux), XP and Vista actually have caps where they ignore memory beyond a certain point.
You can use 4MB paging, but you're still only going to have 4GB of addressing space. You can enable PAE for XP Pro, but again you'll be stuck with 4GB of addressing space, and max 4GB of RAM.
What's funny is, XP SP0 and Win2k didn't have the same limitations. People successfully ran 4-8GB of RAM w/ PAE before the XP service packs came, but afterwards they got limited to less. And now with Vista they've "improved" System Properties to show you your max RAM rather than max usable RAM, so Vista 32bit will inform you you're using 8GB when only 3.2GB (or less) is available.
Conclusion: Microsoft probably wants you to upgrade to 64bit. They also don't care about lying.
1) Being open source, more eyes are watching for exploits. They can target it as much as they want - I'll trust a project like OpenSSL more than MS Crypto, because a lot of people smarter than I are watching the source and working on it. 2) Market share. 100% of Windows computers is a very high hit rate. (but perhaps 80% is more realistic) 20% is far, far lower. 1% might not even be worth it, because once you exploit something it's more likely to get patched.
The number of exploits has climbed with market share for Firefox, OSX, etc., so there's something to be said for sticking with the little guy.
In most real world scenarios, you have to think outside the box, and design some level of extensibility into your modules.
If you have to do any of what you just said in a file designed to store program settings like which side of the screen a toolbar is docked on, then perhaps you should be using one of the full-featured 100% valid XML parsers that are available.
Or do you think OS writers should also change their design paradigm and force you to re-compile the entire OS whenever you want to enable/disable features?
Not at all! I much prefer settings to be stored in simplistic XML files rather than binary blob files.
Slashdot Mirror
True, true.
But why not? Most publishers have released their own games. Perhaps only a few - unless you're Ubisoft or Microsoft - but they've still done it.
Why not Valve and Stardock, too?
There was an equivalent to Steam for the UK - but I can't remember the site offhand. It wasn't important to me at the time I saw it. I just remember the prices being okay.
You mean like Turtles in Time Re-Shelled [xbox.com], which costs 800 MS Points ($10) on the Xbox Live Marketplace?
I meant full games that cost tens of millions to make.
Do you think it would hurt competition to have steam/valve untied?
No - but it would hurt prices.
I must've gotten lucky. I never had any issues with their drivers - except for a RAID array not wanting to rebuild.
But when dealing with RAID-0, not rebuilding really doesn't matter...
Would Stardock have to split too, then? What about Microsoft and their next XBox, or Apple?
Impulse is really good, too. I buy from Impulse, Steam, and GOG.
GOG is just a website - an impressive website. It has DRM free installers for all their games. ;)
If ordering online, you also save shipping and handling from the eStore to you.
In my case - I'm Canadian - Steam saves me 12% tax. (more depending on province)
And I usually wait for things to go 50-75% off before purchasing, which puts my Steam cost at about 20% of retail cost.
It's worth noting that for Valve's exclusive games, when you buy bundle packs containing copies you already have, you get more copies which can be given to friends.
Unfortunately, the same doesn't apply for third-party games.
I can understand the publisher's desire to lock a game to every customer. It ensures every sale gives you profit. I also understand that in the case of Steam, that's giving us much lower prices. Unlike most other platforms, Steam is flooded with quality games that go on sale for between $5 to $15.
When's the last time you got an XBox360 game brand new for $10? You can take your rights of sale and shove them... somewhere. I'll lose at least that much money trying to sell a game I picked up new, so resale doesn't really concern me much. Plus, after I sell it and lose $10+, I don't have it anymore.
One thing I would like to see is Valve not allowing non-Steam DRM in games. I hate it when games have double-protection(like Universe At War), and then it doesn't work because of the non-Steam DRM.
Oh man! I didn't even notice. I guess someone installed flash for this browser when I wasn't looking.
Any which way... I'd still prefer Javascript to handle 3D. AJAX websites have maintained more usability than flash sites - for 3D, it'll probably be the same.
2 years is better than never. Heh. ;)
I know how you feel. I've chosen AMD + nVidia for just about every desktop I've built that didn't require discreet graphics. Can't beat the price or the performance.
Looks like I'm switching to AMD + ATI! I certainly won't be going Intel - IGP is the weakest link in an HTPC, and Intel's IGPs certainly can't compete!
Their only chance of getting into the CPU business is ARM. x86 is a licensing dead-end. Luckily companies like TI, Apple, Nokia, and Google are driving a wedge in there, so they might be able to get their foot through the door with those high-performance 2ghz ARM quad-cores that are supposed to come out in 2010 or 2011.
For the longest time, they were the only company that had decent SATA controllers. I can remember getting 300MB/sec sustained read speeds in RAID-0 with burst speeds close to 700MB/sec off their nForce 5 boards. At the time Intel's controllers(ICH9R?) were choking on SSDs and couldn't manage more than 300MB/sec burst. Sustained read was significantly lower.
Ahh... how companies fall over time.
Everything done with JavaScript so far has sucked filthy penises.
Google Maps Streetview works pretty well for me. Certainly beats a crappy flash plugin that messes up webpage input!
I'm looking forward to GPU accelerated video through javascript + OpenGL ES.
That's probably why battle.net opts for big banner ads across the top when waiting in a channel.
Usually those ads are for computer parts. Certainly makes sense to me. ;)
BF2142 - Get your QX6800? In 2142? WTF Intel?
Realistic advertising only works for games set now, and only then for a couple years.
I much prefer fake ads, since they never expire. But if a game were set in 2010, I would be okay with in-game advertisements, as long as they were done properly - which they never are.
I actually had my first experience last week where an older person figured out Ubuntu faster than Windows.
He demanded I install it on his laptop, as well.
Well in my 128-bit OS, the last 64 bits are discarded because I have a 64bit CPU, so all sound comes out very strange.
You're not thinking straight.
The final architecture will clearly be a javascript-optimized CPU. It'll have insane string handling, vastly speeding up all javascript ops! Then everyone will just use BigInt and BigFloat - you know, those String numbers that can be any length!
640bit? Pfft.... 5275033000 bit! We're calculating PI here - we've got to have decent precision!
You should turn it into a gif or png and link it on imageshack.
Make sure you reduce the file size to around a kilobyte or so, or you'll DDOS them. ;)
You know a lot about PAE/PSE and CPUs/RAM.
But not a lot about the limitations of XP/Vista. Unlike some operating systems(like Linux), XP and Vista actually have caps where they ignore memory beyond a certain point.
You can use 4MB paging, but you're still only going to have 4GB of addressing space. You can enable PAE for XP Pro, but again you'll be stuck with 4GB of addressing space, and max 4GB of RAM.
What's funny is, XP SP0 and Win2k didn't have the same limitations. People successfully ran 4-8GB of RAM w/ PAE before the XP service packs came, but afterwards they got limited to less. And now with Vista they've "improved" System Properties to show you your max RAM rather than max usable RAM, so Vista 32bit will inform you you're using 8GB when only 3.2GB (or less) is available.
Conclusion: Microsoft probably wants you to upgrade to 64bit. They also don't care about lying.
I agree. Sell it and pick up an Asus O!Play or Western Digital WDTV. Just plug in an HDD and you can use either as a NAS and to play back videos.
They're sub-$100, and support all the common formats; I definitely wouldn't try to hack that 360 into an HTPC.
1) Being open source, more eyes are watching for exploits. They can target it as much as they want - I'll trust a project like OpenSSL more than MS Crypto, because a lot of people smarter than I are watching the source and working on it.
2) Market share. 100% of Windows computers is a very high hit rate. (but perhaps 80% is more realistic) 20% is far, far lower. 1% might not even be worth it, because once you exploit something it's more likely to get patched.
The number of exploits has climbed with market share for Firefox, OSX, etc., so there's something to be said for sticking with the little guy.
In most real world scenarios, you have to think outside the box, and design some level of extensibility into your modules.
If you have to do any of what you just said in a file designed to store program settings like which side of the screen a toolbar is docked on, then perhaps you should be using one of the full-featured 100% valid XML parsers that are available.
Or do you think OS writers should also change their design paradigm and force you to re-compile the entire OS whenever you want to enable/disable features?
Not at all! I much prefer settings to be stored in simplistic XML files rather than binary blob files.