The only Mario song I could picture on guitar is the first zone music from Super Mario Bros. 2(US)... And that's mostly because my roommate used to jam along to the music on Guitar while I was playing the game...
If the engine doesn't change, then why not release the "Japan Mix" right next to the "US Mix" for each release? You already know the engine is good from testing the US Mix, just make sure there were no compatibility hiccups for the Japanese data, and then you're out an average of $2-4 per disc in additional development and publishing costs for a game that will sell at $30 each retail in the ~10-20K copies range. (Granted, there could be some lost sales on the US Mix, but...) Figure that wholesale is $18.00 and the publisher just made $140,000 - $280,000 less music royalties on the "Japan Mix".
I would love to have a Guitar Hero where I could rock out to some B'z or Georgie Pie...
Supposedly (As told to me by a friend, who heard from his co-worker, so apply appropriate amounts of salt...), the Best Buy in Canton, OH had a half-pallet (Think waist-high) of PS3's sitting doing nothing last week.
Not sure if they've sold through by now or not, but that's an awful lot of units to be sitting around.
I'll have to peek in the Electronics department at K-Mart on the way home tonight...
10.2 Server runs well enough on a G3 Blue & White with 384MB... I have more issues with speed with Win2k on a Dell Inspiron 8100 than I do my MacBook Pro and 10.4.8...
But like any system, YMMV. You may just use more system-intensive software than I do. (Or multi-task more, or have less RAM, or....)
Like several other people have pointed out... In Windows Explorer (And I tested under Win2k just now to make absolutely sure my memory wasn't faulty...) backspace is the equivalent to "Up" not "Back"...
I can put Tiger on a G4 and run with it... Last I heard anything below a P4 / Athlon XP would have issues with Vista. (My memory is a little fuzzy, but I seem to remember the G4 coming about a little after PIII / Athlon) Have you tested Vista on any older hardware (even without Aero) to see how it performs?
And 2nd is that 10.4 isn't 64-bit yet.... 10.5 is.
Atari figured this out with the Lynx, but a bit too late. When the re-vamp of the hardware (a.k.a. Lynx II) came out, they bumped the battery life up from 4 to 6 hours. Still not in league with the Game Boy, but far better than the Game Gear. Compare that to the PSP (with a higher-capacity battery) that still only lasts 3-5 hours...
I still can't believe how long I get out of a charge of the GBA:SP, though. I can play during lunch at work and before class at night for a whole week without the low warning lighting up. Very efficient.
I never said AtLC sold that well, just that it was a decent-or-better game for the PS1 that was released in the US after the PS2 was already available... I know it did moderately well (enough that Sony bothered translating the next few games) but not as well as expected.
And I wholly agree with you that the 100+Million PS2's is not indicative of the install base. While I only have owned one, (a 3rd-Gen refurb unit) none of my friends who own a PS2 are still on their first. Two are on their second, and one is on his fourth. I would be VERY surprised if the actual install base of the PS2 is over 55 Million units.
I was singling out the GCN/PS2 for smaller developers because the devkits should theoretically be an order of magnitude cheaper than those for the Wii/PS3, not because of programming ease. (After all, if there isn't a "Return to Sony/Nintendo" clause, the used units will be up on eBay eventually...) I can't find pricing on any of them, though... Care to share where you got actual pricing for last gen's devkits as well as the Wii's? I might be interested in picking one up to work on an idea I had...
Yes, 30 games per console is a lot. I consider myself to be a moderate gamer, as I currently own a NES, SNES, Sega Genesis/CD, Dreamcast, ColecoVision, Atari 2600, and PS2.
Out of all of those, the only one that I have 30 or more games for is the Atari 2600. And that was because the local Big Lots had a bin full of 'em for $1-$2 each about 10 years ago.
I wholly agree. After all, a few of the best PS1 games (Arc the Lad Collection for one) came out AFTER the PS2 was already widely available. There is no reason to stop development on the PS2 just because the PS3 is "out".
And with everything being backwards compatible, maybe a few colleges or groups of friends could pick up some PS2 / GameCube devkits on the cheap and we'll see some new 3rd Parties crop up out of cheaply available devkits?
That is, if Sony will OK the release of anything that isn't made by EA.....
Funny, every time I walk into a gaming store I'm reminded of how many cool games are available for GCN and I have a PS2.
That's why I'm getting a Wii. Now I can play PS1, PS2, GCN, and Wii games all with only two consoles. If only someone would work in Saturn / Dreamcast / Sega CD support, I could unhook all these other disc-based consoles I own...
I'd like to know where you were ordering your copies of XP... I worked for a Mom 'n Pop store for a year, and ran my own for a little over a year. XP Home OEM was $70 if you bought multi-packs. XP Pro OEM was $100. And that's the manufacturer's wholesale cost.
Yes, I'm sure Dell/HP/Gateway gets theirs for cheaper, but I highly doubt they get it for less than half.
As far as the ISP offers, many of those come with other freeware that's put on the system. (Winamp/Real/etc.) And the 90 day trials of Norton AV actually cost $15.
Maybe I just worked for an OEM that had more of a conscience than most, but we never actually profited from any of the base software on a new build. (Hardware Cost * 1.2 + OS/AV Cost + $30-50 Labor = Customer Price)
Setup your own SMTP server. Set up authentication so it isn't open. And when the Mac is stolen, increase the logging settings on the SMTP server to max to see where it's coming from?
As I remember, this also happened to the Beastie Boys, among many others.
The record companies have their way of doing things, and it's surprising how little input the artists actually have. One of the reasons my band isn't planning on signing with a major label.
Slashdot Mirror
The only Mario song I could picture on guitar is the first zone music from Super Mario Bros. 2(US)... And that's mostly because my roommate used to jam along to the music on Guitar while I was playing the game...
If the engine doesn't change, then why not release the "Japan Mix" right next to the "US Mix" for each release? You already know the engine is good from testing the US Mix, just make sure there were no compatibility hiccups for the Japanese data, and then you're out an average of $2-4 per disc in additional development and publishing costs for a game that will sell at $30 each retail in the ~10-20K copies range. (Granted, there could be some lost sales on the US Mix, but...) Figure that wholesale is $18.00 and the publisher just made $140,000 - $280,000 less music royalties on the "Japan Mix".
I would love to have a Guitar Hero where I could rock out to some B'z or Georgie Pie...
So what about the Twin Cities? I could stay with the in-laws if it was in Minneapolis. :P
Or Chicago?
Cleveland?
Pittsburgh?
Any of the above are relatively easier to get to. I'd suggest Columbus, but we already know that WotC wants nothing to do with that town...
This is very much based on contract / agreements between the retailer and the wholesaler / manufacturer.
Some do allow returns. Some do not. It's not a universal agreement of any form.
Supposedly (As told to me by a friend, who heard from his co-worker, so apply appropriate amounts of salt...), the Best Buy in Canton, OH had a half-pallet (Think waist-high) of PS3's sitting doing nothing last week.
Not sure if they've sold through by now or not, but that's an awful lot of units to be sitting around.
I'll have to peek in the Electronics department at K-Mart on the way home tonight...
There is a Symphonic Chrono Trigger remix that is done like a movie soundtrack.
It's absolutely amazing. A must-download!
If they made an NES/SNES Adapter for "Ripping", I would gladly pay $50 for that.
If it did Genesis and TG16 games too? That's worth a cool $75.
Yep!
I picked it up at a closing K-Mart for $15 new two weeks ago.
It also has a 4-Player multiplayer game now, too.
10.2 Server runs well enough on a G3 Blue & White with 384MB... I have more issues with speed with Win2k on a Dell Inspiron 8100 than I do my MacBook Pro and 10.4.8...
But like any system, YMMV. You may just use more system-intensive software than I do. (Or multi-task more, or have less RAM, or....)
Like several other people have pointed out... In Windows Explorer (And I tested under Win2k just now to make absolutely sure my memory wasn't faulty...) backspace is the equivalent to "Up" not "Back"...
"Back" is Alt + LeftArrow
Two comments:
I can put Tiger on a G4 and run with it... Last I heard anything below a P4 / Athlon XP would have issues with Vista. (My memory is a little fuzzy, but I seem to remember the G4 coming about a little after PIII / Athlon) Have you tested Vista on any older hardware (even without Aero) to see how it performs?
And 2nd is that 10.4 isn't 64-bit yet.... 10.5 is.
Atari figured this out with the Lynx, but a bit too late. When the re-vamp of the hardware (a.k.a. Lynx II) came out, they bumped the battery life up from 4 to 6 hours. Still not in league with the Game Boy, but far better than the Game Gear. Compare that to the PSP (with a higher-capacity battery) that still only lasts 3-5 hours...
I still can't believe how long I get out of a charge of the GBA:SP, though. I can play during lunch at work and before class at night for a whole week without the low warning lighting up. Very efficient.
We really need a (+0, Bad Pun) mod... That way those of us who enjoy bad puns can use it to adjust mod up, those who don't can mod it down...
I never said AtLC sold that well, just that it was a decent-or-better game for the PS1 that was released in the US after the PS2 was already available... I know it did moderately well (enough that Sony bothered translating the next few games) but not as well as expected.
And I wholly agree with you that the 100+Million PS2's is not indicative of the install base. While I only have owned one, (a 3rd-Gen refurb unit) none of my friends who own a PS2 are still on their first. Two are on their second, and one is on his fourth. I would be VERY surprised if the actual install base of the PS2 is over 55 Million units.
I was singling out the GCN/PS2 for smaller developers because the devkits should theoretically be an order of magnitude cheaper than those for the Wii/PS3, not because of programming ease. (After all, if there isn't a "Return to Sony/Nintendo" clause, the used units will be up on eBay eventually...) I can't find pricing on any of them, though... Care to share where you got actual pricing for last gen's devkits as well as the Wii's? I might be interested in picking one up to work on an idea I had...
Yes, 30 games per console is a lot. I consider myself to be a moderate gamer, as I currently own a NES, SNES, Sega Genesis/CD, Dreamcast, ColecoVision, Atari 2600, and PS2.
Out of all of those, the only one that I have 30 or more games for is the Atari 2600. And that was because the local Big Lots had a bin full of 'em for $1-$2 each about 10 years ago.
I wholly agree. After all, a few of the best PS1 games (Arc the Lad Collection for one) came out AFTER the PS2 was already widely available. There is no reason to stop development on the PS2 just because the PS3 is "out".
And with everything being backwards compatible, maybe a few colleges or groups of friends could pick up some PS2 / GameCube devkits on the cheap and we'll see some new 3rd Parties crop up out of cheaply available devkits?
That is, if Sony will OK the release of anything that isn't made by EA.....
Funny, every time I walk into a gaming store I'm reminded of how many cool games are available for GCN and I have a PS2.
That's why I'm getting a Wii. Now I can play PS1, PS2, GCN, and Wii games all with only two consoles. If only someone would work in Saturn / Dreamcast / Sega CD support, I could unhook all these other disc-based consoles I own...
I'd like to know where you were ordering your copies of XP... I worked for a Mom 'n Pop store for a year, and ran my own for a little over a year. XP Home OEM was $70 if you bought multi-packs. XP Pro OEM was $100. And that's the manufacturer's wholesale cost.
Yes, I'm sure Dell/HP/Gateway gets theirs for cheaper, but I highly doubt they get it for less than half.
As far as the ISP offers, many of those come with other freeware that's put on the system. (Winamp/Real/etc.) And the 90 day trials of Norton AV actually cost $15.
Maybe I just worked for an OEM that had more of a conscience than most, but we never actually profited from any of the base software on a new build. (Hardware Cost * 1.2 + OS/AV Cost + $30-50 Labor = Customer Price)
No, he'll make a polka version of it.
Ah. All the reports of E3 were a will, not a might, and I missed that part of the new announcement.
It was during E3, which as another poster mentioned, has been rescinded (Part of the announcement I missed, apparently...)
And at least for Nintendo, even if you buy the Wii and never even look at another game for it, they won't have lost money on that inital console sale.
Except they admitted the console is priced at a loss. My guess is that if you buy one-two more games and an extra wiimote+nunchaku, they're even...
Well, there is still a minimal run to do real CD printing (as opposed to 'burning') I think it's in the middle hundreds these days.
The publication house my band is going through has a minimum run of 300 CD's for pressed discs, 50 for burns.
Setup your own SMTP server. Set up authentication so it isn't open. And when the Mac is stolen, increase the logging settings on the SMTP server to max to see where it's coming from?
A little complex, but should do the trick...
As I remember, this also happened to the Beastie Boys, among many others.
The record companies have their way of doing things, and it's surprising how little input the artists actually have. One of the reasons my band isn't planning on signing with a major label.