Naruto, right now, is one of the most popular anime and manga (comic) series in Japan. Over 200 chapters of the comic, and over 150 episodes of the anime have been produced with no end in sight. The plot entails the adventures of Naruto, a young ninja boy, as he uses his mystical powers to get into gigantic episode-spanning battles. The anime has become a huge fan favorite in the US, especially with anime fans who like mindless action, but considered themselves too 'otaku' (geek) to enjoy the thoroughly mainstream Dragon Ball Z (Naruto's creator lists DBZ as one of his influences, and it's quite evident).
For well over 2 years, each new episode would be digitally released with english subtitles almost less then 48 hours after it's airing in Japan. But in mid February of this year, the anime series was licensed in the US by Viz and fansubbers quickly stopped releasing new episodes in respect of Viz's copyright.
One would predict that the Naruto fanbase would be overjoyed that their favorite series would now be available, on DVD, in america. But to the majority of Naruto fans, Viz was the enemy. To them, they had a right to watch Naruto for free. After all, they had 'supported' the series for years. Who is Viz to barge in and charge them $25 per DVD just to see if their favorite character survives another fight?
So the series continues to be fansubbed, openly, and will probably continue to be fansubbed even after the region 1 DVD's actually hits US shores. This different from the fansub community of 10 years ago. 10 years ago, 5th generation VHS copies of analog TV broadcasts with Amiga genlock subs were hoarded like gold. Fans celebrated the licensing of ANY series since ANY new anime was good for the industry.
ADV, another US anime company (which was founded by anime fans), recieved similar backlash when they demanded that licensed but unreleased titles of theirs be removed from a large anime bittorrent site. They were portrayed as enemies of the anime community.
Thankfully, Naruto will also be airing on Cartoon Network, AND Naruto shirts will soon be sold at Hot Topic boutiques nationwide. Eventually, as those people not 'otaku' enough to spend Friday nights at home spamming fansub channels with "Is Naruto 165 out yet" catch onto the series, the anime elites will migrate to something else.
The Gamecube is the worst-performing Nintendo console to date(the Virtual Boy was classified as a portable). It's suffering the same fate as the N64 - superior technology, great 1st party support, dedicated fanbase... combined with dwindling third-party support, a shrinking installed userbase, and fighting a battle on two fronts. Despite bombing in Japan, the Xbox has managed to outsell the Gamecube on a regular basis in Europe and US markets. The PS2, of course, is dominating all. So much so that companies like Namco and Capcom have ported their 'exclusive' gamecube titles (Tales of Symphonia and Viewtiful Joe respectively) to the PS2 in order to hedge their bets (Viewtiful Joe received fantastic reviews from US publications but failed to even crack into
Third party support on the cube is a vicious cycle. Ubisoft ported the 2002 smash hit Spliner Cell to the cube, complete with Nintendo's much-touted (and now ignored) GBA-GC Connectivity feature and cube-exclusive content. Despite being met with commendable reviews, Splinter Cell was outsold by Mario Party 5, a game that most reviewers blasted for being another shallow party game that didn't bring anything new to the table.)
In short, Nintendo's own dedicated fanbase is killing the gamecube.
Casual gamers buy titles from all across the spectrum. Sports titles, platformers, action games.
Dedicated Nintedo fans primarily buy 1st party titles. When developers attempt original titles (Viewtiful Joe), the dedicated fanbase punishes them with low sales. When Nintendo slaps a mascot into a rehash title, they reward them with high sales.
Hardcore gamers are the ones who suffer. People who purchase titles based entirely on the gameplay. The breakout hit of 2003 was Disgaea, a quirky sprite-based strategy title that sold almost entirely on word-of-mouth. Thankfully the PS2's large userbase means hardcore titles have a decent shot. But in the Gamecube's shrinking userbase, hardcore titles are ignored.
It's obvious that Miyamoto has lost it. He's releasing less games and focusing on style over substance. The beautiful Wind Waker was marred with repetitive itemhunting and a lack of dungeons. Now Miyamoto has bowed to fanboy pressure and made a 'realistic' Legend of Zelda. So much for artistic integrity.
Iwata doesn't appear insane in his well-edited interviews, but even he's starting to slip. I probably would too if the company I was managing has been eating it's tail since 1999.
The handheld market was Nintendo's last virginal cash cow. Anytime the Xbox pulled ahead of the Cube in the US and developer support waned, Nintendo could just crank out a few SNES ports for the GBA. I just hope Satoru Iwata can swallow his foolish pride and go 3rd party with Nintendo's great games after they drop out of the hardware business.
1. Serious Gamers Guys don't like playing them because they're smarter, better, faster, and sometimes you fall in love...
2. "WHEEE CUTE!" Usually they watch anime and/or create bad erotic fanart about doe-eyed male anime characters. They don't play any game that doesn't involve a cute catgirl or bunnygirl. See Final Fantasy XI or Ragnarok Online.
3. Your Mom Playing Solitaire You know she's playing it right now. Remember that 1.5ghz Athlon system you built for her so she can send digital photos to grandma and make her own mix CD's? Yea, it's a $900 solitaire deck shuffler.
I was under the impression that the Gamecube was as powerful, if not MORE powerful then the xbox (Didn't nintendo make the gamecube as a pure game machine while Microsoft tried to make a do-all box with PC parts?), so why no gamecube port?
I hope Ion Storm isn't falling under the standard misconception that gamecube owners dislike violent games with guns and blood (Animal Crossing and Super Mario Sunshine may have outsold Resident Evil Remake, Zero, 2, and 3 combined, but that's just a fluke).
I assume that also besides a modchip, you'll also need some sort of nonexistant video capture hardware. Last I checked, the xbox didn't come with S-VIDEO inputs...
Right now, there's 3 specific things stopping the production and effective use of powered-suits/exoskeletons (and sadly most of the solutions still fall into the range of Sci-Fi)
1. Power source - a portable fusion reactor seems the most likely. Flywheels perhaps, but containment is an issue. (though rupturing a charged flywheel would create some excellent battlefield fireworks)
2. Light yet Strong building material - current alloys are on the right track, but so far the magic strength/weight ratio has yet to be found
3. Control methods - right now, even our most advanced robotics control is stilll slow and cubersome analog input- joysticks and buttons. Something along the line of either thought-reading or perhaps datasuits that mimic the pilot's limb motions.
As far as anyone can tell so far (apple has JUST begun shipping their new beauties), the new iMac has the same botherboard as the Powerbook G4, with some added extras (daughtercard for GeForce2, etc). It actually uses SO-DIMMS.
I'm suprised no PC manufacurer has followed suit. Laptop mobo's are tiny AND heat-efficent, two specific features that are needed for Mini-PC's.
Re:How it'll probably shake out
on
XBox Delayed
·
· Score: 1
The network adapter will be effective for many of the ship-date games, Halo specificaly. While online play is nowhere near ready, networking between xboxen will be standard.
More then likely, MS got caught offguard by the gigantic typhoon that slammed into Taiwan last weekend, effectively shutting down various production plants. That'll put a dent into anyone's shipping schedule.
Slashdot Mirror
Naruto, right now, is one of the most popular anime and manga (comic) series in Japan. Over 200 chapters of the comic, and over 150 episodes of the anime have been produced with no end in sight. The plot entails the adventures of Naruto, a young ninja boy, as he uses his mystical powers to get into gigantic episode-spanning battles. The anime has become a huge fan favorite in the US, especially with anime fans who like mindless action, but considered themselves too 'otaku' (geek) to enjoy the thoroughly mainstream Dragon Ball Z (Naruto's creator lists DBZ as one of his influences, and it's quite evident).
For well over 2 years, each new episode would be digitally released with english subtitles almost less then 48 hours after it's airing in Japan. But in mid February of this year, the anime series was licensed in the US by Viz and fansubbers quickly stopped releasing new episodes in respect of Viz's copyright.
One would predict that the Naruto fanbase would be overjoyed that their favorite series would now be available, on DVD, in america. But to the majority of Naruto fans, Viz was the enemy. To them, they had a right to watch Naruto for free. After all, they had 'supported' the series for years. Who is Viz to barge in and charge them $25 per DVD just to see if their favorite character survives another fight?
So the series continues to be fansubbed, openly, and will probably continue to be fansubbed even after the region 1 DVD's actually hits US shores. This different from the fansub community of 10 years ago. 10 years ago, 5th generation VHS copies of analog TV broadcasts with Amiga genlock subs were hoarded like gold. Fans celebrated the licensing of ANY series since ANY new anime was good for the industry.
ADV, another US anime company (which was founded by anime fans), recieved similar backlash when they demanded that licensed but unreleased titles of theirs be removed from a large anime bittorrent site. They were portrayed as enemies of the anime community.
Thankfully, Naruto will also be airing on Cartoon Network, AND Naruto shirts will soon be sold at Hot Topic boutiques nationwide. Eventually, as those people not 'otaku' enough to spend Friday nights at home spamming fansub channels with "Is Naruto 165 out yet" catch onto the series, the anime elites will migrate to something else.
The Gamecube is the worst-performing Nintendo console to date(the Virtual Boy was classified as a portable). It's suffering the same fate as the N64 - superior technology, great 1st party support, dedicated fanbase... combined with dwindling third-party support, a shrinking installed userbase, and fighting a battle on two fronts. Despite bombing in Japan, the Xbox has managed to outsell the Gamecube on a regular basis in Europe and US markets. The PS2, of course, is dominating all. So much so that companies like Namco and Capcom have ported their 'exclusive' gamecube titles (Tales of Symphonia and Viewtiful Joe respectively) to the PS2 in order to hedge their bets (Viewtiful Joe received fantastic reviews from US publications but failed to even crack into
Third party support on the cube is a vicious cycle. Ubisoft ported the 2002 smash hit Spliner Cell to the cube, complete with Nintendo's much-touted (and now ignored) GBA-GC Connectivity feature and cube-exclusive content. Despite being met with commendable reviews, Splinter Cell was outsold by Mario Party 5, a game that most reviewers blasted for being another shallow party game that didn't bring anything new to the table.)
In short, Nintendo's own dedicated fanbase is killing the gamecube.
Casual gamers buy titles from all across the spectrum. Sports titles, platformers, action games.
Dedicated Nintedo fans primarily buy 1st party titles. When developers attempt original titles (Viewtiful Joe), the dedicated fanbase punishes them with low sales. When Nintendo slaps a mascot into a rehash title, they reward them with high sales.
Hardcore gamers are the ones who suffer. People who purchase titles based entirely on the gameplay. The breakout hit of 2003 was Disgaea, a quirky sprite-based strategy title that sold almost entirely on word-of-mouth. Thankfully the PS2's large userbase means hardcore titles have a decent shot. But in the Gamecube's shrinking userbase, hardcore titles are ignored.
It's obvious that Miyamoto has lost it. He's releasing less games and focusing on style over substance. The beautiful Wind Waker was marred with repetitive itemhunting and a lack of dungeons. Now Miyamoto has bowed to fanboy pressure and made a 'realistic' Legend of Zelda. So much for artistic integrity.
Iwata doesn't appear insane in his well-edited interviews, but even he's starting to slip. I probably would too if the company I was managing has been eating it's tail since 1999.
The handheld market was Nintendo's last virginal cash cow. Anytime the Xbox pulled ahead of the Cube in the US and developer support waned, Nintendo could just crank out a few SNES ports for the GBA. I just hope Satoru Iwata can swallow his foolish pride and go 3rd party with Nintendo's great games after they drop out of the hardware business.
1. Serious Gamers
Guys don't like playing them because they're smarter, better, faster, and sometimes you fall in love...
2. "WHEEE CUTE!"
Usually they watch anime and/or create bad erotic fanart about doe-eyed male anime characters. They don't play any game that doesn't involve a cute catgirl or bunnygirl. See Final Fantasy XI or Ragnarok Online.
3. Your Mom Playing Solitaire
You know she's playing it right now. Remember that 1.5ghz Athlon system you built for her so she can send digital photos to grandma and make her own mix CD's? Yea, it's a $900 solitaire deck shuffler.
I was under the impression that the Gamecube was as powerful, if not MORE powerful then the xbox (Didn't nintendo make the gamecube as a pure game machine while Microsoft tried to make a do-all box with PC parts?), so why no gamecube port?
I hope Ion Storm isn't falling under the standard misconception that gamecube owners dislike violent games with guns and blood (Animal Crossing and Super Mario Sunshine may have outsold Resident Evil Remake, Zero, 2, and 3 combined, but that's just a fluke).
With screenshots looking impressively moody
This isn't 1997 anymore. Using massive fog to lower polycount is no longer an 'atmospheric effect'.
It's the whole vagina thing. They got spooked.
Hesh: Well, then Hesh will stay human!
Sparks: Don't expect any mercy during the Great Robot Wars.
Hesh: Yeah? Well, have fun on the robot reservation, suckers! We're not gonna honor those bogus treaties! Hesh, will see you, in He -
Sparks kills the transmission.
Sparks: He's right. They will screw us.
... A giant vagina with fingers?
/. has seen an actual vagina anyways.
Who am I kidding. Nobody on
Oh that's right. Nintendo doesn't have any 3rd party support. Oh well. I look forward to playing Mario 128 on my PS2 after the gamecube dies.
It's 'Xbox'.
No dash, no hyphen, no underscore, no nothing.
It's not an acronym. No 'XBOX'.
Big X. Little box.
Xbox.
2 billion dollars in advertising and production and MS can't get people to stop adding extra characters.
I assume that also besides a modchip, you'll also need some sort of nonexistant video capture hardware. Last I checked, the xbox didn't come with S-VIDEO inputs...
Right now, there's 3 specific things stopping the production and effective use of powered-suits/exoskeletons (and sadly most of the solutions still fall into the range of Sci-Fi)
1. Power source - a portable fusion reactor seems the most likely. Flywheels perhaps, but containment is an issue. (though rupturing a charged flywheel would create some excellent battlefield fireworks)
2. Light yet Strong building material - current alloys are on the right track, but so far the magic strength/weight ratio has yet to be found
3. Control methods - right now, even our most advanced robotics control is stilll slow and cubersome analog input- joysticks and buttons. Something along the line of either thought-reading or perhaps datasuits that mimic the pilot's limb motions.
As far as anyone can tell so far (apple has JUST begun shipping their new beauties), the new iMac has the same botherboard as the Powerbook G4, with some added extras (daughtercard for GeForce2, etc). It actually uses SO-DIMMS.
I'm suprised no PC manufacurer has followed suit. Laptop mobo's are tiny AND heat-efficent, two specific features that are needed for Mini-PC's.
The network adapter will be effective for many of the ship-date games, Halo specificaly. While online play is nowhere near ready, networking between xboxen will be standard.
More then likely, MS got caught offguard by the gigantic typhoon that slammed into Taiwan last weekend, effectively shutting down various production plants. That'll put a dent into anyone's shipping schedule.
Found here (http://www.riohome.com/products/receiver.htm), the Rio Receiver does basicaly the same thing, and is already available in stores.
It also has the advantage of being able to stream over standard phone lines, for those of us who don't have cat5 strung out to the living room.