Wrong. That's true for Chinese. Japanese goes the other way around, where "L" tend to become "R".
No, you're wrong. With Japanese it can go either way. The R and L sounds aren't differentiated in Japanese, so unless a native speaker or proper translator is involved, Japanese will often simply guess which one it is. So in Japan you will see instances of L used mistakenly instead of R, and vice-versa.
Japanese people have the best work ethic of any people on earth...
You really believe that?
If, by "best work ethic", you mean work long hours accomplishing very little, then yeah, the Japanese have it nailed.
Logical planning? Have you ever even been to Tokyo? There isn't a whole lot of evidence of "logical planning" in the infrastructure there. Same with most cities in Japan. Which, by the way was not basically "levelled" in WW2. Some cities were heavily bombed (2 notably so) but hardly the entire country.
Don't take a GPS unless you're going to try crossing the Sahara desert alone or something. Yeah, it might be nice to have, but assuming that you're travelling a year to see places and people, and have some adventures, you'll have a lot more interesting experiences if you *talk to people* (simple sign language counts as talking...) rather than have your head buried in a GPS every time you're not sure where you are.
Some of the most interesting things happen when you end up where you didn't expect to end up. Sure, it can be a little risky too. But if you're not up to a little risk you probably shouldn't be going on the trip.
I'd recommend getting a small compass, and learn how to use it. Compasses don't need batteries, and are cheap to replace.
Only other advice I'd offer is not to take anything you aren't afraid to lose. Because on a trip that length, you will lose stuff.
I'd like to see James Cameron do "The Hobbinator 2", where it turns out that just before Gollum got tossed into Mount Doom with the ring, Sauron used his power to send a Nazgul disguised as a Hobbit back in time to kill Frodo. But Gandalf finds out and also sends a lone warrior back in time to protect Frodo... um. Faramir. Yeah, thats it. Also discuised as a Hobbit. Or just crouching a lot. Or something like that..
Game localization is a far more complex task than just having "the translation team work *with* the developers", especially for RPGs. Its a lot more than just translating some dialog. For example, if translated audio is to be used that means getting the voice actors, recording dialog, remixing soundtracks, re-recording FMVs, just for starters. Yes, translating material can probably be done during the original game development. But integrating the translated material and creating the localized version of the game is no small task, especially given that the developers will be concentrating on trying to get the original language game ready to ship.
How can they suggest those numbers for the PS3 when the PS2 sold over 100 million in just about five years?
Because the PS2 has been a good console, at the right time. Cheap, with a massive game library, and graphics/sound quality which is more than enough for the average casual game player.
I think that a very large percentage of those 100 million PS2 owners are probably quite satisfied with it, and probably won't see any need to upgrade.
I'll be very surprised if *any* of the new generation game consoles manage to sell as well as the PS2. If Sony thinks that the PS3 will sell that many units because the PS2 did, I think they're going to be very disappointed.
The last line in the Nikkei article actually says that Sony will announce on the 15th that the PS3 will be delayed until November.
Since Sony is supposed to be having a game development conference today (the 15th) in Tokyo which is open to the press, this would indicate that Sony intends to make such an announcement there, but obviously someone leaked it to the Nikkei. Could be fake, but then given that they expect the announcement today, it'll be clear soon enough.
Good point. I hadn't thought about UMD.. Although, is the UMD market really booming? I've seen a fair variety of titles on the shelves (and that's here in Japan), but no idea how well they're selling. It makes for an interesting excercise in looking at what the PS3/Blu-ray release might be like. What interests me though is that in the case of UMD, people are paying for something which is actually inferior (in video quality) to their existing media, and the only advantage it has over existing media would be that its hardware platform is portable.
But I think my original point still stands - in the case of the PSP, I doubt that many people buy them *because* they can play UMD movies. I'd say that most buy them because its a pretty good portable game system, and the UMD capability is a bonus. Which is what I think will happen with the PS3. As opposed to what the original post was saying about the PS2 - that being a cheap alternative to a dedicated DVD player was a major consideration in deciding to buy one, as opposed to just being a nice extra.
True, but when the PS2 launched there was already a pretty large variety of movies available on DVD - DVD movies had already been on the market for more than a year, and in rental stores. The PS2 made for a cheaper way to get a DVD player, but it certainly wasn't the first. There were already lots of DVD players available.
In the case of the PS3, the situation is very different - there are hardly any Blu-ray players available *at all*, and because of this not much in the way of software. I have yet to see any Blu-ray movie releases. For a repeat of what happened with the PS2, there would have to be a sudden deluge of Blu-ray media movie releases in the next 6 or so months. If the PS3 is the first affordable Blu-ray player, then the adoption rate probably isn't going to be much higher than any other brand new media in its first year.
I think that Blu-ray market is still going very immature when the PS3 is released, and no where near as mature as the DVD market was (in terms of software availability) when the PS2 was released.
You're saying that hard disks in HP/Compaq or IBM servers have proprietary, vendor specific firmware? Do you have any references to back this up? I've looked after servers for more than 10 years, and have *never* come across anything like this. Every one has used regular SCSI disks from Seagate, IBM or similar, and were readily replaceable with the same spec unit purchased from any reseller. No need to purchase a specific "Compaq" compatible drive or anything.
Cops don't carry guns here? Not sure where you got that idea. All police on the street here carry guns, and have done so for quite some time.
Sigh. Another uninformed post, assuming that the English language news knows all there is to know about Xbox marketing in Japan.
Its pretty clear that MS was not pushing in just 'one tiny little geographic area' - while they had to do the main launch in one location, Tokyo (for obvious reasons - no matter what you think, people here *do* pay attention to what happens in Tokyo. After all, more than 10% of the population lives there..) MS had events and promotions in most other major cities in Tokyo, including Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Osaka. In addition to promotions which have been travelling around other regional areas prior to launch. How do I know this? It was all up there for anyone to see on the Xbox Japan website. In Japanese, of course.
No link? I call BS. I live in Tokyo, and the idea of a building not being marketable for this reason is silly. They would have just installed a new security system and that would have been the end of it - the cost of redoing the security system compared with the potential losses of unoccupied apartments is negligible. Developers here aren't that dumb.
With property prices the way they are here, if it was really 'bargain basement' prices, they would have sold regardless of the problem.
Note that I said places *like* Akihabara - other cities such as Osaka and Fukuoka have their own electrical goods districts. I don't know why you got this fixation on Akihabara when I only mentioned it once. Yes, Japan has a population of 125million or so - but don't forget more than 10% of that is in the Tokyo area. No, I don't think most Japanese buy their stuff from Akiba - most buy from the large electrical retail chains such as Yodobashi Camera, Yamada Denki, Kojima etc. These places are far more common in the smaller towns and cities.
Huh? So your anecdotal evidence is somehow better because it comes from anecdotal evidence from some other people you knew in the industry? Have they done surveys across the country to see if people have heard of the Xbox 360? If not then how is their information any better than others? I'm in the industry too, have been watching the local media coverage as well as just paying attention to what I see every day, and from what I've seen saying the Xbox 360 "doesn't exist to Japanese" is just BS. Speaking to 'aunt sally' in Japan might have been a better indicator, since I assume you mean a typical person on the street - which is the exposure we're talking about, yes?
Your friends and colleagues represent.. themselves, I'd say, and thats about it.
The XBox 360 is getting a *lot* of visibility in both the regular media, and in IT/gaming media. As the other poster mentioned, posters and advertising is abundant, especially in gaming shops and places like Akihabara. Since pre-ordering started nearly everytime I've been in a shop offering them(quite a lot in the last month or so) I've seen people here pre-ordering them.
Grammar nazi note - "They could care less"? You're saying that they do actually care, then. I assume you meant to write "could not care less".
The one little problem with that argument is that petrol and diesel is an unfortunate by-product of something that actually serves a useful purpose - you know, buses and trucks that actually move things around and keep the economy moving?
Oh please. Not the "if you're not going to complain about petrol fumes then don't bother us smokers" argument..
The one little problem with that argument is that petrol and diesel is an unfortunate by-product of something that actually serves a useful purpose - you know, buses and trucks that actually move things around and keep the economy moving?
Cigarette smoking serves what purpose exactly? It gives some personal pleasure - its a luxury. Comparing a luxury like that to necessities like transport is just a little dumb, I'd say.
There is an additional point which should not be overlooked when considering the comparison of pollution due to electricity generation vs pollution due to use of gasoline: Production and distribution of gasoline consumes a huge amount of electricity, which could be put to much better use. In electric vehicles, for example.. Coal may be dirtier than gasoline, but don't forget that at least there *are* clean ways to produce electricity. Use of gasoline still produces pollution, and on top of that eats up all that electricity getting it to the end user.
Slashdot Mirror
Wrong. That's true for Chinese. Japanese goes the other way around, where "L" tend to become "R".
No, you're wrong. With Japanese it can go either way. The R and L sounds aren't differentiated in Japanese, so unless a native speaker or proper translator is involved, Japanese will often simply guess which one it is. So in Japan you will see instances of L used mistakenly instead of R, and vice-versa.
Japanese people have the best work ethic of any people on earth... You really believe that? If, by "best work ethic", you mean work long hours accomplishing very little, then yeah, the Japanese have it nailed.
Logical planning?
Have you ever even been to Tokyo? There isn't a whole lot of evidence of "logical planning" in the infrastructure there. Same with most cities in Japan. Which, by the way was not basically "levelled" in WW2. Some cities were heavily bombed (2 notably so) but hardly the entire country.
Don't take a GPS unless you're going to try crossing the Sahara desert alone or something. Yeah, it might be nice to have, but assuming that you're travelling a year to see places and people, and have some adventures, you'll have a lot more interesting experiences if you *talk to people* (simple sign language counts as talking...) rather than have your head buried in a GPS every time you're not sure where you are.
Some of the most interesting things happen when you end up where you didn't expect to end up. Sure, it can be a little risky too. But if you're not up to a little risk you probably shouldn't be going on the trip.
I'd recommend getting a small compass, and learn how to use it. Compasses don't need batteries, and are cheap to replace.
Only other advice I'd offer is not to take anything you aren't afraid to lose. Because on a trip that length, you will lose stuff.
I'd like to see James Cameron do "The Hobbinator 2", where it turns out that just before Gollum got tossed into Mount Doom with the ring, Sauron used his power to send a Nazgul disguised as a Hobbit back in time to kill Frodo. But Gandalf finds out and also sends a lone warrior back in time to protect Frodo... um. Faramir. Yeah, thats it. Also discuised as a Hobbit. Or just crouching a lot. Or something like that..
Game localization is a far more complex task than just having "the translation team work *with* the developers", especially for RPGs. Its a lot more than just translating some dialog. For example, if translated audio is to be used that means getting the voice actors, recording dialog, remixing soundtracks, re-recording FMVs, just for starters.
Yes, translating material can probably be done during the original game development. But integrating the translated material and creating the localized version of the game is no small task, especially given that the developers will be concentrating on trying to get the original language game ready to ship.
How can they suggest those numbers for the PS3 when the PS2 sold over 100 million in just about five years?
Because the PS2 has been a good console, at the right time. Cheap, with a massive game library, and graphics/sound quality which is more than enough for the average casual game player.
I think that a very large percentage of those 100 million PS2 owners are probably quite satisfied with it, and probably won't see any need to upgrade.
I'll be very surprised if *any* of the new generation game consoles manage to sell as well as the PS2. If Sony thinks that the PS3 will sell that many units because the PS2 did, I think they're going to be very disappointed.
Announcement on Playstation.jp - http://www.playstation.jp/news/2006/pr_060315_ps3. html
And some pics from the news conference on Famitsu - http://www.famitsu.com/game/news/2006/03/15/103,11 42401068,50042,0,0.html
They're going to do a worldwide simultaneous launch in November...
The last line in the Nikkei article actually says that Sony will announce on the 15th that the PS3 will be delayed until November.
Since Sony is supposed to be having a game development conference today (the 15th) in Tokyo which is open to the press, this would indicate that Sony intends to make such an announcement there, but obviously someone leaked it to the Nikkei.
Could be fake, but then given that they expect the announcement today, it'll be clear soon enough.
Well, I've got one right here and it looks pretty darn white to me. Certainly nothing like generic PC beige.
Good point. I hadn't thought about UMD.. Although, is the UMD market really booming? I've seen a fair variety of titles on the shelves (and that's here in Japan), but no idea how well they're selling.
It makes for an interesting excercise in looking at what the PS3/Blu-ray release might be like. What interests me though is that in the case of UMD, people are paying for something which is actually inferior (in video quality) to their existing media, and the only advantage it has over existing media would be that its hardware platform is portable.
But I think my original point still stands - in the case of the PSP, I doubt that many people buy them *because* they can play UMD movies. I'd say that most buy them because its a pretty good portable game system, and the UMD capability is a bonus. Which is what I think will happen with the PS3. As opposed to what the original post was saying about the PS2 - that being a cheap alternative to a dedicated DVD player was a major consideration in deciding to buy one, as opposed to just being a nice extra.
True, but when the PS2 launched there was already a pretty large variety of movies available on DVD - DVD movies had already been on the market for more than a year, and in rental stores. The PS2 made for a cheaper way to get a DVD player, but it certainly wasn't the first. There were already lots of DVD players available.
In the case of the PS3, the situation is very different - there are hardly any Blu-ray players available *at all*, and because of this not much in the way of software. I have yet to see any Blu-ray movie releases. For a repeat of what happened with the PS2, there would have to be a sudden deluge of Blu-ray media movie releases in the next 6 or so months. If the PS3 is the first affordable Blu-ray player, then the adoption rate probably isn't going to be much higher than any other brand new media in its first year.
I think that Blu-ray market is still going very immature when the PS3 is released, and no where near as mature as the DVD market was (in terms of software availability) when the PS2 was released.
You're saying that hard disks in HP/Compaq or IBM servers have proprietary, vendor specific firmware? Do you have any references to back this up?
I've looked after servers for more than 10 years, and have *never* come across anything like this. Every one has used regular SCSI disks from Seagate, IBM or similar, and were readily replaceable with the same spec unit purchased from any reseller. No need to purchase a specific "Compaq" compatible drive or anything.
...other major cities in *Japan*.. Doh.
Cops don't carry guns here? Not sure where you got that idea. All police on the street here carry guns, and have done so for quite some time.
Sigh. Another uninformed post, assuming that the English language news knows all there is to know about Xbox marketing in Japan.
Its pretty clear that MS was not pushing in just 'one tiny little geographic area' - while they had to do the main launch in one location, Tokyo (for obvious reasons - no matter what you think, people here *do* pay attention to what happens in Tokyo. After all, more than 10% of the population lives there..) MS had events and promotions in most other major cities in Tokyo, including Sapporo, Fukuoka, and Osaka. In addition to promotions which have been travelling around other regional areas prior to launch.
How do I know this? It was all up there for anyone to see on the Xbox Japan website. In Japanese, of course.
Well, yeah. That's pretty much a given. Case in point the current news about falsified earthquake resistance specs for buildings..
No link? I call BS. I live in Tokyo, and the idea of a building not being marketable for this reason is silly. They would have just installed a new security system and that would have been the end of it - the cost of redoing the security system compared with the potential losses of unoccupied apartments is negligible. Developers here aren't that dumb.
With property prices the way they are here, if it was really 'bargain basement' prices, they would have sold regardless of the problem.
Note that I said places *like* Akihabara - other cities such as Osaka and Fukuoka have their own electrical goods districts.
I don't know why you got this fixation on Akihabara when I only mentioned it once. Yes, Japan has a population of 125million or so - but don't forget more than 10% of that is in the Tokyo area.
No, I don't think most Japanese buy their stuff from Akiba - most buy from the large electrical retail chains such as Yodobashi Camera, Yamada Denki, Kojima etc. These places are far more common in the smaller towns and cities.
Huh? So your anecdotal evidence is somehow better because it comes from anecdotal evidence from some other people you knew in the industry? Have they done surveys across the country to see if people have heard of the Xbox 360? If not then how is their information any better than others?
I'm in the industry too, have been watching the local media coverage as well as just paying attention to what I see every day, and from what I've seen saying the Xbox 360 "doesn't exist to Japanese" is just BS.
Speaking to 'aunt sally' in Japan might have been a better indicator, since I assume you mean a typical person on the street - which is the exposure we're talking about, yes?
Its both. You can press it and it will bring up your game profile info.
Your friends and colleagues represent.. themselves, I'd say, and thats about it.
The XBox 360 is getting a *lot* of visibility in both the regular media, and in IT/gaming media. As the other poster mentioned, posters and advertising is abundant, especially in gaming shops and places like Akihabara.
Since pre-ordering started nearly everytime I've been in a shop offering them(quite a lot in the last month or so) I've seen people here pre-ordering them.
Grammar nazi note - "They could care less"? You're saying that they do actually care, then. I assume you meant to write "could not care less".
The one little problem with that argument is that petrol and diesel is an unfortunate by-product of something that actually serves a useful purpose - you know, buses and trucks that actually move things around and keep the economy moving?
Petrol and diesel fumes. Doh.
Oh please. Not the "if you're not going to complain about petrol fumes then don't bother us smokers" argument..
The one little problem with that argument is that petrol and diesel is an unfortunate by-product of something that actually serves a useful purpose - you know, buses and trucks that actually move things around and keep the economy moving?
Cigarette smoking serves what purpose exactly? It gives some personal pleasure - its a luxury. Comparing a luxury like that to necessities like transport is just a little dumb, I'd say.
There is an additional point which should not be overlooked when considering the comparison of pollution due to electricity generation vs pollution due to use of gasoline:
Production and distribution of gasoline consumes a huge amount of electricity, which could be put to much better use. In electric vehicles, for example..
Coal may be dirtier than gasoline, but don't forget that at least there *are* clean ways to produce electricity. Use of gasoline still produces pollution, and on top of that eats up all that electricity getting it to the end user.
I'll see your USB Toothbrush and raise you a USB Vacuum Cleaner