Tomorrow - last day of school. I'm glad because I'm tired of being bullied by the assholes in this place. I will at last be leaving this world. TGI summer break.
This isn't a Facebook threat Mr. FBI. This is just me circa 1986 typing into a BBS.
I remember spending several days typing-in RUN Magazine's "error checking" program into my C64. It ran perfectly. And then several more days typing boring hexadecimal code into that compiler, expecting to get a free word processor called RUNscript. Well the error-checking program said I had typed flawlessly, but the RUNscript still didn't work. So I waited 3 weeks for the next magazine (a long time in the life of a 13 year old), and looked diligently for typos and there were some listed in the "Ooops" column.
So I had to type in the WHOLE project another time. Several more days of my life. And it was still broke! I then reached into my measly allowance and paid $15 to get the so-called "free" RUNscript word processor on a floppy. As it turned-out it was a worthwhile investment since I used it another 2 years to do homework, until I eventually got the Mac-like GEOS system.
I learned two valuable lessons: (1) It's easier to BUY programs than to type them in yourself (and then have them not work). (2) Debugging hexadecimal is a bitch.
The Atari VCS/2600 used a very simple chip called TIA. I forget the exact resolution but it's very low - about 50x25 - which is why it has such blocky graphics. It also has 2 sprites that create hi-res players and 2 "balls" which are used during play. It was designed with the intent of doing Pong-type games, but programmers discovered ways to create arcade games like Space Invaders or Missile Command as well. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_TIA
Jay Miner then moved from TIA to C-TIA for the Atari 400/800 computers (1979) which can generate 352x240 in 4 colors, or 80x60 in 128 colors, and several modes in between. Next he designed the Commodore Amiga (released in 1985) which did 702x480 - the maximum resolution possible in NTSC-analog television. Number of colors was 64 in that resolution, or 4100 colors in 352x240 mode.
The Amiga was famous for "flicker" which was a side effect of the interlaced nature of television (draw the odd lines first, and then the even lines).
Wireless is probably cheaper than the 4 discrete plugs and 2 discrete flash connectors the Cube had. No idea how much internal Flash ROM would cost.
Just now I was reading about the CPU. It's called Broadway which is simply a faster more-compact version of the Cube's Gecko, and Gecko was a PowerPC 750CX with about 50 instructions added. When Apple used this CPU they called it the "G3". So the Wii's CPU has about the same power as a year 2001 iMac G3
Apple is actually a top 10 company in terms of revenue. That's mainly due to their iPod, iPhone, and iStore franchises.
Nintendo's Wii must be dirt cheap to build. It's an "old" PowerPC at a mere 32 bits and 730 megahertz. That's almost as slow as my Win98 laptop. The GPU only outputs 720x480 like a DVD player and like the old Gamecube. The Wii's cost must be very close to what a Gamecube cost at the end (about $50), but they are selling it for much more than that.
Pretty much. In addition to Compute's Gazette I also read RUN (for C64) and AmigaWorld (sister magazine). They were great for learning programming & hardware, but have no place in today's world that is aimed at the simplified "turn key; start engine" mindset.
Similarly the science fiction magazines I used to read also faded away. Asimov's and Analog are still here but rapidly dwindling in circulation. I guess just as you can't go back to the 1920s when you'd read dime-store comics, and eat penny candy, you can't go back to the 1980s either. The past is the past.
I remember going through that phase. I thought it was funny to run-over people with tanks and hear them go "squish" and leave a puddle of red behind. Or else deliberately kill soldiers and hear them yell, "Ahhh I'm hit" or "I need a medic!" Now I realize those games were largely just gimmicks (guts and blood) like a Baywatch babe (tits and ass), and not all that much fun over the long term. No real substance.
Why do I get the feeling Nintendo fans and Apple fans have a lot in common? "No no that's not a design flaw. It's a feature. The engineers know better than the customer what he needs."
>>>Motion is the way forward for gaming: a better experience in every single respect.
All it does is slow down and simplify the game. Plus it's not reliable. So many times I'd swing my friend's Wiimote and it would not register, so I'd die. Games depend upon reliable control, not randomized "sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't" control. That's why people hated the old Atari 5200 and 7800 controllers - half the time they wouldn't register your input.
Give me the certainty of a button I can push and hear it go "click" so I know when I die it's not because of a lousy control.
I don't own a Wii, but I still dust-off my old Mario64 or Banjo-Kazooie or Skies of Arcadia games, and play them from time-to-time. I'd rather play those than play something "realistic" but boring.
Well Windows 7 doesn't really cost $200 either... more like $150.
So I checked apple.com, and the *upgrade* is only $29, but if you're running an older 10.4 system then you need the full OS. That costs $170. That's the OS tax which is included in every Mac, same as the Windows tax is included in every PC.
Worldwide sales figures
1. Wii - 70.8 million
2. X360 - 40 million
3. PlayStation 3 - 35.7 million
PS3 has about much chance of beating the Wii, as the Gamecube/N64 beating the PS2/PS1 consoles... it's fallen way behind. It's possible 2nd place will end as a tie, like the previous generation did (Xbox/Gamecube were statistically even), but I don't think either the 360 or PS3 will ever catch up to the Wii. The best they can hope for is a solid 2nd place.
True you can run Windoze or Linux, but you still have to pay that Windows tax..... ooops I mean that OS X 10.6 tax. So you get a decent machine and then throw-away the ~$200 operating system. It would be nice if you could return the OS and get a refund, even if it's just a partial refund.
When I got involved in airplane modeling, I wrecked my first machine. So then I went out and bought an R/C simulator to practice at home, and about two months later I tried again.
Everyone knows this "delay" is a feature not a negative. It was designed in the best interest of consumers, to give them extra time to think, "Do I really want to spend a couple hundred dollars, or should I pay my rent?" It's like a waiting period.
(I'm just joking of course - though I better say it, else someone might mark me "troll" - it's funny.)
Thanks to government subsidy, which was a $40 prepaid debit card, the boxes only cost $0-20 out of pocket. Even without that card you can find these boxes for $40-60, so about half the price as UK converter boxes.
Here's the rest of the story which editors did not include for some reason:
"For station owners in the UHF band the transition went flawlessly, however VHF station owners (channels 2-13) are still receiving complaints from viewers. In most instances the FCC has allowed VHF channels to increase their power levels 6-7 times higher than what they were just one year ago. In other cases VHF owners are experimenting with low-power repeaters to fill-in reception gaps.
The price varies from state-to-state. MY comcast told my brother it was $65, plus one free box, plus $5 box rental for each of 3 sets. Plus tax. $84.80.
This is why I stick with free TV. The DTV conversion was good for me. I used to get about 20 channels and now I get 40 - all free. Some of the new channels I get are: - two Spanish channels - a Global channel for foreign programs - Link TV for international news - qubo for kids - RetroTV (70s, 80s) - Life - Wellness - a 24 hour movie channel - 24-hour sports - 24-hour weather/ news - JCTV (music vids) - ION network - MyNetworkTV - PBS world - PBS arts - MiND - and a channel that plays nothing but syndicated shows (CSI, Deadliest Catch, Star Trek, etc)
A lot of the reason Digital is inferior is the FCC refuses to let stations boost their power. The transmitters are only putting-out 1/20th as much power as they used to, and naturally it won't travel as far. If DTV was set to analog TV levels it would work flawlessly.
>>>To make theft of service dramatically more difficult.
Bullshit. Charging an extra $15 each month to rent boxes to hook-up 3 spare TVs is unnecessary. I never needed to pay $5 extra for each set under Analog Comcast. Also they could just sell the boxes for a low $20-30 one time fee, but noooooo. They want to keep raping the customer's wallet month after month after month.
Get an indoor antenna like the Winegard Freevision (upto 20 miles) or Channel Master 4228 (upto 50 miles). They latter works great for me and pulls-in channels I never knew existed.
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Tomorrow - last day of school. I'm glad because I'm tired of being bullied by the assholes in this place. I will at last be leaving this world. TGI summer break.
This isn't a Facebook threat Mr. FBI.
This is just me circa 1986 typing into a BBS.
You missed a lot of pain in my opinion.
I remember spending several days typing-in RUN Magazine's "error checking" program into my C64. It ran perfectly. And then several more days typing boring hexadecimal code into that compiler, expecting to get a free word processor called RUNscript. Well the error-checking program said I had typed flawlessly, but the RUNscript still didn't work. So I waited 3 weeks for the next magazine (a long time in the life of a 13 year old), and looked diligently for typos and there were some listed in the "Ooops" column.
So I had to type in the WHOLE project another time. Several more days of my life. And it was still broke! I then reached into my measly allowance and paid $15 to get the so-called "free" RUNscript word processor on a floppy. As it turned-out it was a worthwhile investment since I used it another 2 years to do homework, until I eventually got the Mac-like GEOS system.
I learned two valuable lessons:
(1) It's easier to BUY programs than to type them in yourself (and then have them not work).
(2) Debugging hexadecimal is a bitch.
The Atari VCS/2600 used a very simple chip called TIA. I forget the exact resolution but it's very low - about 50x25 - which is why it has such blocky graphics. It also has 2 sprites that create hi-res players and 2 "balls" which are used during play. It was designed with the intent of doing Pong-type games, but programmers discovered ways to create arcade games like Space Invaders or Missile Command as well. More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_TIA
Jay Miner then moved from TIA to C-TIA for the Atari 400/800 computers (1979) which can generate 352x240 in 4 colors, or 80x60 in 128 colors, and several modes in between. Next he designed the Commodore Amiga (released in 1985) which did 702x480 - the maximum resolution possible in NTSC-analog television. Number of colors was 64 in that resolution, or 4100 colors in 352x240 mode.
The Amiga was famous for "flicker" which was a side effect of the interlaced nature of television (draw the odd lines first, and then the even lines).
I picked-up a lot of knowledge from here: http://www.avsforum.com/
And here which describes NTSC in great detail: http://www.videointerchange.com/pal_secam_conversions.htm
And: http://nfggames.com/games/ntsc/colourresx.shtm
http://www.videouniversity.com/articles/video-recording-formats
Wireless is probably cheaper than the 4 discrete plugs and 2 discrete flash connectors the Cube had. No idea how much internal Flash ROM would cost.
Just now I was reading about the CPU. It's called Broadway which is simply a faster more-compact version of the Cube's Gecko, and Gecko was a PowerPC 750CX with about 50 instructions added. When Apple used this CPU they called it the "G3". So the Wii's CPU has about the same power as a year 2001 iMac G3
Apple is actually a top 10 company in terms of revenue. That's mainly due to their iPod, iPhone, and iStore franchises.
Nintendo's Wii must be dirt cheap to build. It's an "old" PowerPC at a mere 32 bits and 730 megahertz. That's almost as slow as my Win98 laptop. The GPU only outputs 720x480 like a DVD player and like the old Gamecube. The Wii's cost must be very close to what a Gamecube cost at the end (about $50), but they are selling it for much more than that.
Pretty much. In addition to Compute's Gazette I also read RUN (for C64) and AmigaWorld (sister magazine). They were great for learning programming & hardware, but have no place in today's world that is aimed at the simplified "turn key; start engine" mindset.
Similarly the science fiction magazines I used to read also faded away. Asimov's and Analog are still here but rapidly dwindling in circulation. I guess just as you can't go back to the 1920s when you'd read dime-store comics, and eat penny candy, you can't go back to the 1980s either. The past is the past.
I hear they'll soon be releasing Mortal Kombat 100, but unfortunately the red blood will be replaced with bluish-grey "sweat"
I remember going through that phase. I thought it was funny to run-over people with tanks and hear them go "squish" and leave a puddle of red behind. Or else deliberately kill soldiers and hear them yell, "Ahhh I'm hit" or "I need a medic!" Now I realize those games were largely just gimmicks (guts and blood) like a Baywatch babe (tits and ass), and not all that much fun over the long term. No real substance.
Why do I get the feeling Nintendo fans and Apple fans have a lot in common? "No no that's not a design flaw. It's a feature. The engineers know better than the customer what he needs."
Disclaimer: I own 3 Nintendos myself.
>>>Motion is the way forward for gaming: a better experience in every single respect.
All it does is slow down and simplify the game. Plus it's not reliable. So many times I'd swing my friend's Wiimote and it would not register, so I'd die. Games depend upon reliable control, not randomized "sometimes it works; sometimes it doesn't" control. That's why people hated the old Atari 5200 and 7800 controllers - half the time they wouldn't register your input.
Give me the certainty of a button I can push and hear it go "click" so I know when I die it's not because of a lousy control.
Some of the best games are "kiddie" games.
I don't own a Wii, but I still dust-off my old Mario64 or Banjo-Kazooie or Skies of Arcadia games, and play them from time-to-time. I'd rather play those than play something "realistic" but boring.
Well Windows 7 doesn't really cost $200 either... more like $150.
So I checked apple.com, and the *upgrade* is only $29, but if you're running an older 10.4 system then you need the full OS. That costs $170. That's the OS tax which is included in every Mac, same as the Windows tax is included in every PC.
Worldwide sales figures
1. Wii - 70.8 million
2. X360 - 40 million
3. PlayStation 3 - 35.7 million
PS3 has about much chance of beating the Wii, as the Gamecube/N64 beating the PS2/PS1 consoles... it's fallen way behind. It's possible 2nd place will end as a tie, like the previous generation did (Xbox/Gamecube were statistically even), but I don't think either the 360 or PS3 will ever catch up to the Wii. The best they can hope for is a solid 2nd place.
>>>"you hold the Wii Remote and Nunchuck like a sword and shield, and swing naturally at enemies. "
Can't I just hold my controller and tap a button, like I did with Zelda Twilight Princess?
True you can run Windoze or Linux, but you still have to pay that Windows tax..... ooops I mean that OS X 10.6 tax. So you get a decent machine and then throw-away the ~$200 operating system. It would be nice if you could return the OS and get a refund, even if it's just a partial refund.
You're correct this Mac is already aimed at people with HDMI-capable sets, but the price is still steep at $700.
Compaq has a machine that only costs $300 (at staples) with 1/3 faster processor, 1/3 more RAM, and 1/3 bigger hard drive
.
When I got involved in airplane modeling, I wrecked my first machine. So then I went out and bought an R/C simulator to practice at home, and about two months later I tried again.
Video gaming taught me how to fly
.
Everyone knows this "delay" is a feature not a negative. It was designed in the best interest of consumers, to give them extra time to think, "Do I really want to spend a couple hundred dollars, or should I pay my rent?" It's like a waiting period.
(I'm just joking of course - though I better say it, else someone might mark me "troll" - it's funny.)
Thanks to government subsidy, which was a $40 prepaid debit card, the boxes only cost $0-20 out of pocket. Even without that card you can find these boxes for $40-60, so about half the price as UK converter boxes.
Here's the rest of the story which editors did not include for some reason:
"For station owners in the UHF band the transition went flawlessly, however VHF station owners (channels 2-13) are still receiving complaints from viewers. In most instances the FCC has allowed VHF channels to increase their power levels 6-7 times higher than what they were just one year ago. In other cases VHF owners are experimenting with low-power repeaters to fill-in reception gaps.
"However ATSC-DTV's existence may be shorter than expected. The US FCC is meeting to discuss ways to eliminate free over-the-air television completely, in order to make room for more cellphone frequencies (FCC Wastes No Time on Television Spectrum Reallocation) : http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/2010/06/articles/television/fcc-wastes-no-time-on-television-spectrum-reallocation/ "
The price varies from state-to-state. MY comcast told my brother it was $65, plus one free box, plus $5 box rental for each of 3 sets. Plus tax. $84.80.
This is why I stick with free TV. The DTV conversion was good for me. I used to get about 20 channels and now I get 40 - all free. Some of the new channels I get are:
- two Spanish channels
- a Global channel for foreign programs
- Link TV for international news
- qubo for kids
- RetroTV (70s, 80s)
- Life
- Wellness
- a 24 hour movie channel
- 24-hour sports
- 24-hour weather/ news
- JCTV (music vids)
- ION network
- MyNetworkTV
- PBS world
- PBS arts
- MiND
- and a channel that plays nothing but syndicated shows (CSI, Deadliest Catch, Star Trek, etc)
A lot of the reason Digital is inferior is the FCC refuses to let stations boost their power. The transmitters are only putting-out 1/20th as much power as they used to, and naturally it won't travel as far. If DTV was set to analog TV levels it would work flawlessly.
>>>Your TV shouldn't need a convert box. My TV from 1992 picks up digital signals without issue.
Liar. Digital ATSC signals and tuners didn't even exist until 1998
.
>>>To make theft of service dramatically more difficult.
Bullshit. Charging an extra $15 each month to rent boxes to hook-up 3 spare TVs is unnecessary. I never needed to pay $5 extra for each set under Analog Comcast. Also they could just sell the boxes for a low $20-30 one time fee, but noooooo. They want to keep raping the customer's wallet month after month after month.
Get an indoor antenna like the Winegard Freevision (upto 20 miles) or Channel Master 4228 (upto 50 miles). They latter works great for me and pulls-in channels I never knew existed.