Um, the only console I own is a gamecube. I'm curious to know how Macrovision could determine how I could possibly pirate gamecube games (which like 99.9% of gamecube owners out there, I've never even tried). Hell, I don't even own the broadband adapter. I wonder if they'll tell me how we can do it so easily?
Um dude, Nvidia has 64 bit drivers for Windows 64-bit (AMD proc version) and Linux 64 bit distros. I don't know if you have ATI or what, but our new Athlon 64 SLI configuration computer has the graphics and other fun drivers that we need to play games and all.
Guys, Nintendo can't claim prior art anyway. If you read this Immersion Technologies Press Release about Gamecube then you'll see that Nintendo has liscensed the patents already. You're right, Nintendo is no slouch about patents, but with how they go after them, they know better than to try and get around them.
I believe immersion holds the patents for all the original force-feedback stuff coming out for computers back in the later 90's too.
I wonder if when all the anti-spyware legislation finally comes into effect, if Lexmark will be one of the first companies sued over it. Class action lawsuit anybody?
Makes me wonder if Lexmark is gonna scramble to offer driver upgrades that remove the spyware now that the world knows about it.
The japanese price of both PS2 AND PSP are currently set at 19,800 yen, while PS2's US price is $150. How does 19,800 convert to $150 and $200? It doesn't. Most likely PSP will be $150 US.
One AC, you realize that they're selling it for $185 in Japan, which yes, is more expensive than in the US. Two, They might sell it cheaper, but even at $200 they are likely taking a hit on the system. Nobody expected the PSP to be so cheap in Japan because of how much more powerful it is.
The PSP is as or more powerful than a PS2 at current time based on what impressions Sony has given. That would give the idea the hardware is expensive since 1, you're putting a PS2 inside a handheld (means shrinking down the hardware which generally gets to be expensive), and you have the features like the LCD and built in battery to add.
I'll agree there are some watered down gameboy games. But there's also thousands of gameboy games (several hundred when you count only the GBA games) that will work on the DS, compared to how many games the PSP has available for it now? It's not easy to be a startup in an industry where there's already an 800 pound gorilla.
Parents (myself included) love the idea of a 'keep em quiet in the car' device
Question for you. Since the US release price will prolly be at around $200, compared to finding a used original GBA for $30, a new SP for $80, and the DS for $150, do you really see yourself spending 200 for a system that will admitedly likely last only about 2 hours (maybe up to 6), compared to minimums of 6 for the DS an 10 for the SP?
A few things that people don't realize.
1) Most Gameboy games since 1989 have a unique feature of being games that are easy to stop playing in the middle of, and pick back up later (thus conserving battery life). While the PSP may have those games, they'll likely come from the third parties that have been making the games for Gameboy's for 15 years and know what they are doing.
2) Surprisingly, Sony, unlike Nokia, aren't pretending that the PSP will make them the God's of handheld gaming. Sony has admitted they'll be hard pressed to crack the hand-held market that Nintendo has a vice-grip on. Nintendo never had that with the console market. The original gameboy idea was around for 10 years or so, and faced competition that was lightyears better. Atari Lynx, Turbographix express, Sega Game Gear (not counting battery issue), Sega Nomad (all those Genesis games), Neo Geo Pocket, all the tiger stuff... It's still a surprise to those who follow the game industry that Nintendo actually made the GBA. Better technology didn't mean better for the first ten years, or the last 5. The keys to mobile gaming are not the same as they are to home console gaming... Sony will likely learn that lesson real fast in Japan, and probably come out with a slightly different strategy for the US release.
3) Grand Turismo 4. You going to pay $50 for the console version, then $40-50 for the handheld version that's identical?
Not really. I worked at a retail store when the X-box and gamecube came out. There were several games for each system out on the shelves before the systems were launched. Heck, I was able to buy extra controllers for my gamecube before it came out.
It's really not about if it's cheaper. DS will come out in North America first. While it will only beat the Japanese DS by about a week or so, it will beat the European DS by months, so if anyone from Europe (likely english speakers obviously), it would be easy to import US games and systems to Europe and be playing stuff way early.
Even more so to the point, Nintendo had a successful radio gameplay network in Japan that IIRC dates back to the Super Nintendo.
And somebody else made a point about Nintendo not doing things half-assed. With the exception of the virtual boy it's true. Look at the wavebird controller as a great example of doing something right. They advertise a certain distance, the controller can double and triple that distance and still work easily.
You must not remember last Christmas very well. The gamecube sold a massive load of games between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that's not counting the fact that when Nintendo dropped the price to $99 last Sept/October, there was actually a month where the gamecube outsold the PS2 in the USA.
Now Microsoft can say all it wants about selling its systems faster than even God could do it, but I don't believe MS has ever beaten the PS2 at all in a month, unlike Nintendo.
IANAL, but I don't think you're right. Even if Square-Enix makes a CT remake that looks almost identical, they could not be sued. Well, they might be able to be, but SE could counter-sue saying that the only reason they're being sued is because a group of people stole their copyright. So the original case would be dropped, and the people that were making this game would likely still be sued.
I do think it's too bad, I was really looking forward to getting to play the CT remake.
Um, Battlecruiser 3000AD was released dude. The first build had so many bugs it was unplayable. They patched it a few weeks later, then about a month after that they said fuck it and gave the game away for free.
Remember when they decided to stop making new games for the gamecube because they said that there weren't enough people buying their games on the gamecube? It looks like nobody was buying them on the PS2, X-Box, or Gameboy Advanced either. But of course, they were prolly hoping that their savior would have been N-Gage...
I should try and get a non-US/UK copy of the CD. Then subject them to my EULA:
By installing this software, you consent to your right to pay me the sum of $100,000. Please install your illegal software silently to agree to this EULA.
Pull out an old Gameboy game, Nintendo, SNES, N64 instruction manual. If you read the very back with all the legal info, they specifically say that backup copies are not required and are not legal to make in any way/shape/form. With CD's, yes, backup copies can be made, but with information stored on actual silicon chips, no, you cannot make a backup copy.
First off, let's get the correct channels that are affected.
BET - Comedy Central - MTV - MTV2 Nick Games & Sports Nickelodeon/Nick at Night (East and West) NOGGIN - VH1 - VH1 Classic
That list is from Dish network's website, and is the same as what I saw the one time I saw that little scroll ad on my satelite dish.
Okay, and since at least the Comedy Central is watched a LOT in my house (on both receivers), I'm wondering how much of a refund DishNetwork will give if they drop these channels because of the dispute. I personally think nothing less than a $10 drop on all the packages that will be losing this would suffice, otherwise why shouldn't I go to DirecTV? Sure, Dishnetwork may want to save their customer's money, but it does no good trying to save them money if you take away exactly what it is they want.
If you're willing to use an old 16 bit version of Zmud, those are all free directly from the site. So yes, those are free as in beer and free as in speech.
As for games, there are quite a few popular ones out there. Sure nowhere near Everquest amounts of players. But since when is Everquest about actual RolePlay? With advances in coding, a lot today's Mu* are much closer to the tabletop RPG experience.
A great example is for anyone who has ever played Last Unicorn Games version of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Roleplaying Game. Anomaly TrekMux (their webpage), which is almost codebase started based off of this game, but with an expanded code base to support a full 24 RP scape with Several Episodes a month. The game actually has an open house coming up the 25th and 26th of October with episodes that random guests can join in with pre-made characters just for the purpose if anybody is interested.
Really, Mu* are not dead, and for those who actually understand what RP is, still won't be dead for a while.
Well, first off, the only Eidos published game I even own is Timesplitters 2 for my gamecube, and Allstar baseball 2002 is my only Acclaim game (from the previous Acclaim debacle). Eidos isn't the only company I couldn't care less if they leave gamecube development. So they're complaining about the crappy sales of Hitman 2 for the gamecube. Perhaps if it didn't come out 6 months after it came out for the other consoles and turned out to be a half-assed port, then it might have sold better.
There are a lot of companies out there who have been porting games to the cube, without doing anything but straight-porting them from the PS2 version. Every developer has admitted that the gamecube is capiable of much more than the PS2 (though not quite to the level of X-box), so half-assed ports that are as buggy for the gamecube as they were for the PS2, without any improvement whatsoever, aren't gonna make a lot of fans.
Hey, it's nice to know at least Soul Calibur 2 for the gamecube is outselling the PS2 5:1, granted that PS2 has a 5:1 advantage in installed system base. And with the recent news of Tales of Symphona's 200,000+ first week, and FF:CC being at over 350,000+ in about a month, maybe developers will take second looks. The best sellers for the gamecube are games that are original (read sometimes exclusive) or really have something Nintendo owners want (i.e. Link in SC2). When companies like Eidos and Acclaim pull their heads out and realize that crappy ports aren't gonna cut it, then maybe they'll start selling some games.
You're right, the XBox2 should do much better in Japan, now that they'll be entrenched... especially if they can get more Japanese developers behind them. Now as long as Microsoft doesn't repeat mistakes of the past and codename XBox2 Project Hiroshima, they should be fine.
Slashdot Mirror
Um, the only console I own is a gamecube. I'm curious to know how Macrovision could determine how I could possibly pirate gamecube games (which like 99.9% of gamecube owners out there, I've never even tried). Hell, I don't even own the broadband adapter. I wonder if they'll tell me how we can do it so easily?
Um dude, Nvidia has 64 bit drivers for Windows 64-bit (AMD proc version) and Linux 64 bit distros. I don't know if you have ATI or what, but our new Athlon 64 SLI configuration computer has the graphics and other fun drivers that we need to play games and all.
Guys, Nintendo can't claim prior art anyway. If you read this Immersion Technologies Press Release about Gamecube then you'll see that Nintendo has liscensed the patents already. You're right, Nintendo is no slouch about patents, but with how they go after them, they know better than to try and get around them.
I believe immersion holds the patents for all the original force-feedback stuff coming out for computers back in the later 90's too.
Yes, and AC's aren't allowed to post anymore according to the same story you reference.
MC Groovz Dance Craze
Mad Catz is creating their first ever game, it's a DDR clone with dance pads (officially licensed too) for Gamecube.
I wonder if when all the anti-spyware legislation finally comes into effect, if Lexmark will be one of the first companies sued over it. Class action lawsuit anybody?
Makes me wonder if Lexmark is gonna scramble to offer driver upgrades that remove the spyware now that the world knows about it.
The japanese price of both PS2 AND PSP are currently set at 19,800 yen, while PS2's US price is $150. How does 19,800 convert to $150 and $200? It doesn't. Most likely PSP will be $150 US.
One AC, you realize that they're selling it for $185 in Japan, which yes, is more expensive than in the US. Two, They might sell it cheaper, but even at $200 they are likely taking a hit on the system. Nobody expected the PSP to be so cheap in Japan because of how much more powerful it is.
The PSP is as or more powerful than a PS2 at current time based on what impressions Sony has given. That would give the idea the hardware is expensive since 1, you're putting a PS2 inside a handheld (means shrinking down the hardware which generally gets to be expensive), and you have the features like the LCD and built in battery to add.
I'll agree there are some watered down gameboy games. But there's also thousands of gameboy games (several hundred when you count only the GBA games) that will work on the DS, compared to how many games the PSP has available for it now? It's not easy to be a startup in an industry where there's already an 800 pound gorilla.
Parents (myself included) love the idea of a 'keep em quiet in the car' device
Question for you. Since the US release price will prolly be at around $200, compared to finding a used original GBA for $30, a new SP for $80, and the DS for $150, do you really see yourself spending 200 for a system that will admitedly likely last only about 2 hours (maybe up to 6), compared to minimums of 6 for the DS an 10 for the SP?
A few things that people don't realize.
1) Most Gameboy games since 1989 have a unique feature of being games that are easy to stop playing in the middle of, and pick back up later (thus conserving battery life). While the PSP may have those games, they'll likely come from the third parties that have been making the games for Gameboy's for 15 years and know what they are doing.
2) Surprisingly, Sony, unlike Nokia, aren't pretending that the PSP will make them the God's of handheld gaming. Sony has admitted they'll be hard pressed to crack the hand-held market that Nintendo has a vice-grip on. Nintendo never had that with the console market. The original gameboy idea was around for 10 years or so, and faced competition that was lightyears better. Atari Lynx, Turbographix express, Sega Game Gear (not counting battery issue), Sega Nomad (all those Genesis games), Neo Geo Pocket, all the tiger stuff... It's still a surprise to those who follow the game industry that Nintendo actually made the GBA. Better technology didn't mean better for the first ten years, or the last 5. The keys to mobile gaming are not the same as they are to home console gaming... Sony will likely learn that lesson real fast in Japan, and probably come out with a slightly different strategy for the US release.
3) Grand Turismo 4. You going to pay $50 for the console version, then $40-50 for the handheld version that's identical?
We have some DS's here at the office. We still just talk to each other.
I'm sure Nintendo would love to learn where you got those DS's so they can fine the store, since they're not even out for another 11 days.
Not really. I worked at a retail store when the X-box and gamecube came out. There were several games for each system out on the shelves before the systems were launched. Heck, I was able to buy extra controllers for my gamecube before it came out.
It's really not about if it's cheaper. DS will come out in North America first. While it will only beat the Japanese DS by about a week or so, it will beat the European DS by months, so if anyone from Europe (likely english speakers obviously), it would be easy to import US games and systems to Europe and be playing stuff way early.
You're right.
Even more so to the point, Nintendo had a successful radio gameplay network in Japan that IIRC dates back to the Super Nintendo.
And somebody else made a point about Nintendo not doing things half-assed. With the exception of the virtual boy it's true. Look at the wavebird controller as a great example of doing something right. They advertise a certain distance, the controller can double and triple that distance and still work easily.
You must not remember last Christmas very well. The gamecube sold a massive load of games between Thanksgiving and Christmas, and that's not counting the fact that when Nintendo dropped the price to $99 last Sept/October, there was actually a month where the gamecube outsold the PS2 in the USA.
Now Microsoft can say all it wants about selling its systems faster than even God could do it, but I don't believe MS has ever beaten the PS2 at all in a month, unlike Nintendo.
IANAL, but I don't think you're right. Even if Square-Enix makes a CT remake that looks almost identical, they could not be sued. Well, they might be able to be, but SE could counter-sue saying that the only reason they're being sued is because a group of people stole their copyright. So the original case would be dropped, and the people that were making this game would likely still be sued.
I do think it's too bad, I was really looking forward to getting to play the CT remake.
Um, Battlecruiser 3000AD was released dude. The first build had so many bugs it was unplayable. They patched it a few weeks later, then about a month after that they said fuck it and gave the game away for free.
I didn't know what had happened. I was starting to wonder if slashdot had referenced itself and somehow experienced the slashdot effect
Remember when they decided to stop making new games for the gamecube because they said that there weren't enough people buying their games on the gamecube? It looks like nobody was buying them on the PS2, X-Box, or Gameboy Advanced either. But of course, they were prolly hoping that their savior would have been N-Gage...
I should try and get a non-US/UK copy of the CD. Then subject them to my EULA:
By installing this software, you consent to your right to pay me the sum of $100,000. Please install your illegal software silently to agree to this EULA.
I just saw this the other day for the first time. It has to be the best Debian distro ever... it's entitled Lesbian...
Lesbian Homepage
Yeah, I know the title I put on that link seems all wrong.
Pull out an old Gameboy game, Nintendo, SNES, N64 instruction manual. If you read the very back with all the legal info, they specifically say that backup copies are not required and are not legal to make in any way/shape/form. With CD's, yes, backup copies can be made, but with information stored on actual silicon chips, no, you cannot make a backup copy.
First off, let's get the correct channels that are affected.
BET - Comedy Central - MTV - MTV2
Nick Games & Sports
Nickelodeon/Nick at Night (East and West)
NOGGIN - VH1 - VH1 Classic
That list is from Dish network's website, and is the same as what I saw the one time I saw that little scroll ad on my satelite dish.
Okay, and since at least the Comedy Central is watched a LOT in my house (on both receivers), I'm wondering how much of a refund DishNetwork will give if they drop these channels because of the dispute. I personally think nothing less than a $10 drop on all the packages that will be losing this would suffice, otherwise why shouldn't I go to DirecTV? Sure, Dishnetwork may want to save their customer's money, but it does no good trying to save them money if you take away exactly what it is they want.
Yes, I have seen the Gamecube Ethernet and Modem adaptors in stores. Check local Wal*Mart or Target, and there's a chance they'll have it.
If you're willing to use an old 16 bit version of Zmud, those are all free directly from the site. So yes, those are free as in beer and free as in speech.
As for games, there are quite a few popular ones out there. Sure nowhere near Everquest amounts of players. But since when is Everquest about actual RolePlay? With advances in coding, a lot today's Mu* are much closer to the tabletop RPG experience.
A great example is for anyone who has ever played Last Unicorn Games version of the Star Trek: The Next Generation Roleplaying Game. Anomaly TrekMux (their webpage), which is almost codebase started based off of this game, but with an expanded code base to support a full 24 RP scape with Several Episodes a month. The game actually has an open house coming up the 25th and 26th of October with episodes that random guests can join in with pre-made characters just for the purpose if anybody is interested.
Really, Mu* are not dead, and for those who actually understand what RP is, still won't be dead for a while.
Well, first off, the only Eidos published game I even own is Timesplitters 2 for my gamecube, and Allstar baseball 2002 is my only Acclaim game (from the previous Acclaim debacle). Eidos isn't the only company I couldn't care less if they leave gamecube development. So they're complaining about the crappy sales of Hitman 2 for the gamecube. Perhaps if it didn't come out 6 months after it came out for the other consoles and turned out to be a half-assed port, then it might have sold better.
There are a lot of companies out there who have been porting games to the cube, without doing anything but straight-porting them from the PS2 version. Every developer has admitted that the gamecube is capiable of much more than the PS2 (though not quite to the level of X-box), so half-assed ports that are as buggy for the gamecube as they were for the PS2, without any improvement whatsoever, aren't gonna make a lot of fans.
Hey, it's nice to know at least Soul Calibur 2 for the gamecube is outselling the PS2 5:1, granted that PS2 has a 5:1 advantage in installed system base. And with the recent news of Tales of Symphona's 200,000+ first week, and FF:CC being at over 350,000+ in about a month, maybe developers will take second looks. The best sellers for the gamecube are games that are original (read sometimes exclusive) or really have something Nintendo owners want (i.e. Link in SC2). When companies like Eidos and Acclaim pull their heads out and realize that crappy ports aren't gonna cut it, then maybe they'll start selling some games.
You're right, the XBox2 should do much better in Japan, now that they'll be entrenched... especially if they can get more Japanese developers behind them. Now as long as Microsoft doesn't repeat mistakes of the past and codename XBox2 Project Hiroshima, they should be fine.