The problem with this solution is that it doesn't do up-scan conversion (Composite -> Component) so you *still* have to switch with your TV after you switch with your 'switcher' if you have mixed inputs.
The only solution I have seen is to buy a $350-$400 receiver, which I considered, but seems like too much for such a simple task.
The cost problem involved in DVD players was originally the license. In order to get that 'DVD' logo on your appliance, you need to pay the DVD consortium (of which Sony is a member).
So back in the day you were actually paying a bit more for your PS2 (I remember price quotes being around $13 per console) just for the license.
MS had a different approach, buy seperating the remote (and making it required if you want DVD functionality) the user had a choice as to whether or not you wanted to pay for the function, since the license only needed to be paid if the user bought a remote.
This is all from (college party swiss cheezed ) memory. Actual fact may vary.
I had all of the exact same thoughts you did. The problem is that those movie UMDs are selling like hotcakes. Supply is extremely limited, and that is certainly a factor, but stores can't keep them in stock. This further convinces Sony that the price point is correct.
Good points all. I'm most with you on the "I bought my DS and I'm wondering why" point.
I also have both a DS and PSP, and the DS was the one I eagerly awaited. Nintendo was going to bring us an entirely 'new' portable gaming experience. Well, apart from a few ridiculously short, but good, ideas (hello Yoshi's Touch and Go, Feel the Magic) the DS has not been exciting at all.
Indeed my PSP has been the one to give me a new portable experience, albeit not a gaming one. I now really can rely on one device for a flash drive, mp3 player, video and snapshot viewer.
This is why Nintendo had better wait until they ramp up the DS lineup before announcing anything "Revolution"ary. Even N's biggest fans are starting to wonder. Don't give us something to point at again.
This just happened to me and it pissed me off. I bought the last copy of 'Mercury' for the PSP and I see the guy going in the drawer for the disc. "I thought you said you didn't have *used* PSP games yet?" "Oh, this is new?" "Then why are you opening my box and charging me new prices?"
20 minutes later I was disgusted. I would have taken my business elsewhere, before anyone replies with that, but the game was not to be found. Just a minor, but significant, annoyance.
Yep. I agree the bundling UMDs seems like the way. However, the UMD movies keep selling at their current prices, even given the limited selection and supply.
I would definetly use my PSP as a movie player, but not if it means paying for the same movie twice. Give it to me for $5, and I'm there.
My best idea was for travelers. Put a rental section in all the airports. Rent a movie for your flight, drop it off on your inbound airport or in a mailbox. I'd pay $7 not to have to watch another piss poor episode of Frasier or Friends.
Pick up a cube. I picked it up as second console a year ago and there's still plenty of good stuff I haven't played. It'd suck as my only console, but as my second, it's the only one I play.:)
I'll give them credit. They went from having no presence in the console world to being an almost solid #2 (Japan aside.) They launched a brilliant console and online service in a ridiculously short timetable.
That said, I bought a used Xbox and I've played like 6 games on it. It's currently unplugged since it's too bulky to fit in my entertainment center if I'm not going to use it. There's just too much better content on the other two consoles I own. So it's a 'meh' thing for me. Maybe once I feel like running an ethernet cable under a rug into the living room and hook up XBox live I'll be addicted, but I don't think it'll get that far.
"..does it amuse anyone else that the iron boots weigh less in his pack than they do on his feet?)"
Not anymore than the fact that I can carry a bazillion items in said pack and still move swiftly along. I wish more games had a little more 'realism' that way. Not Zelda, it's not that type of game. But other games would benefit if more things were limited. These days, everything, including lives, are essentially unlimited. Games lose something this way. That 'fear' you had of dying, back in the day.
In most new games, I find myself never using the 'cool' stuff till I know I'm near the end of the game. I just have this mindset that everything is scarce, but it isn't.:(
Nintendo has always been dear to my heart since I abandonded my Master System to go mainstream with a NES. Nintendo makes fantastic games and knows how to grow a loved franchise (mario pimping aside.)
That said, buy a DS. I have one. And I have a PSP. The PSP was an impulse buy that I bought just cuz, the DS was a months-planned purchase. I haven't put the PSP down yet. I gave the DS to the girlfriend so she can have some puzzle games. The PSP is good, damn good. The DS's 'revolutionary' features have yet to even have a single proof that touching is indeed good. There are some unique ideas, but all the games out and coming are all short little look-at-me quirks. Nintendo is taking large risks, and I admire them for that, but we need to see some benefit here, and fast.
There are also licensing issues. NVidia owns patents for some shading algorithms and such. I don't remember the details, but I'm pretty sure there are fairly substantial legal ramifications to 'emulating' a nvidia gpu.
"Seriously man, I mean, don't they get broken pixels are just part of the manufacturing process? I mean, these customers keep returning them until they get a brand new one that has *no* dead pixels. That's just absurd. Yo, puff an pass man"
It's ridiculous. I'm on PSP #3 and I'm basically just dealing with it. The wounds of early adoption hasve never been so disfiguring.
I had 2 dead pixels and about 5 sorta-dead pixels on my PSP (they only show up at certain colors, I suppose due to brightness. Anyway, that original PSP had to go back since putting in the battery actually killed the unit. EB gladly replaced mine when their second shipment came in. Way to go for customer service. However, the new one has 3 dead pixels, which I was thrilled actually worked anyway, and unwisely decided to accept.
Now my problem is, I called sony on day 1 to report the battery issue, and I had to give them the serial number to my original PSP. EB just swapped out my old one, with no documentation. Sony is still waiting to recieve my old unit (which would have taken a minimum of 7 biz days for them to *start* shipping back to me. So now can I call Sony, tell them of the swap, and have them replace my newer, 'less dead' PSP?
I have both a PSP and a DS, and let me tell you the PSP is *extremely* impressive to everyone who sees it, whereas the DS people look at quizzically. I absolutely love the PSP. However, how can I get one that works right?
"90% of the public is simply unable to think, but merely jumps from one belief pattern to another. That my friends is the problem."
This is the answer to a lot of the world's (and the US in particular's) problems. It comes up a lot on slashdot too. I have to challenge this in the one sensible way. It's not that the public is unable, very very few are unable to think deductively, it's that they are unwilling. This is a far harder problem to overcome. The first can mostly be solved by eductation, the latter requires a social solution. We can't agree on anything socially anymore, so good luck.
What really needs to be addressed is the fact that people would rather be shot dead than proven wrong. When they are proven wrong, the person responsible is often hated and touted as "belligerent."
Her awareness is debatable. The parents say she can follow a light with her eyes (sometimes) and say that's proof she is aware. Her husband says the evidence is sketchy this means anything. As always, experts can be found that vehemently say either opinion.
Don't really see what the president has to do with this. Politicians? Yeah. They've got lots of blame. But you can just put it on the pile.
They do blame gangsta rap, but that's old news. The only news you see today is intended to examine bigger issues. Like the Schaivo case, where we see who has rights over your life when you are incapacitated. It's not the woman they care about (if they care at all) it's the underlying issue. Gangsta rap has been done on the media, so it's no longer 'news'. No one has been able to pin anything on video games conclusively (or remotely even) yet, so that's still a hot topic.
The bottom line is that I've never seen a case involving violence where games/music/movies have been the *cause*. Let's face it, if you have the mentality to take another's life, you're pretty messed up to begin with. *How* you go about it isn't the issue. In other words, if a kid decides to dress up as Solid Snake and go on a rampage, the question is not "why did videogames make him dress that way?" it's "what went wrong with this person's morals that he/she believed killing in *any* manner is desirable behavior?"
If the media would listen to me, and the people to them, I would say go after the *madness*, not the method.
"Will TV show production companies be the first to show some sense and offer their own downloads on a pay per view basis?"
Not for any reasonable price no. All studios these days are scared silly about pirating because people like the RIAA have convinced them the losses will eventually bankrupt them. Instead of it being the same problem it's been for years. So when they do offer downloads (and they will, just to see) it'll be at some outrageious price I'm sure.
Hell even discovery (which has some great shows) wants like $24.99 for an episode on DVD. What would be the price to download $20.99?
All of my sibling posters go with the argument that the airlines are essentially government puppets. Debate that all you want, but that's not what is at issue when we say "require whatever the hell they want". Private companies cannot impose rules which supercede those of the government.
I.e. if you run a business and you don't like someone, you can certainly choose not to do business with them. *However* you cannot discriminate against people on the basis of race/color/religion etc (except in certain special 'clubs' like those that are specifically for members of certain races/backgrounds). The point is the law is there to protect people, and if companies could willy-nilly decide to impose 'policies' the government doesn't agree with then the point of government becomes moot.
So what he is saying is that they are telling him they are denying him by law, not their own policy, except the law is apparently absent.
Slashdot Mirror
The problem with this solution is that it doesn't do up-scan conversion (Composite -> Component) so you *still* have to switch with your TV after you switch with your 'switcher' if you have mixed inputs.
The only solution I have seen is to buy a $350-$400 receiver, which I considered, but seems like too much for such a simple task.
The cost problem involved in DVD players was originally the license. In order to get that 'DVD' logo on your appliance, you need to pay the DVD consortium (of which Sony is a member).
So back in the day you were actually paying a bit more for your PS2 (I remember price quotes being around $13 per console) just for the license.
MS had a different approach, buy seperating the remote (and making it required if you want DVD functionality) the user had a choice as to whether or not you wanted to pay for the function, since the license only needed to be paid if the user bought a remote.
This is all from (college party swiss cheezed ) memory. Actual fact may vary.
Well duh. Of course they were flattered. There's just not a whole lotta want-ads that read ARE YOU UGLY? WE NEED YOU!
For the first time in over 100 years ugly women now have a proponent other bad lighting and beer!
>
Yeah, you could store the demos forever if you'd like. You would just never be able to play anything else, since you couldn't restart your DS.
I like the idea of downloading these demo's on the floor though. A simple yet very cool implementation of our new wireless world.
The last time you checked must be 2000 then, when every mall had 10 cell phone faceplate 'stores'.
Your point is still valid, just a little out of date.
I had all of the exact same thoughts you did. The problem is that those movie UMDs are selling like hotcakes. Supply is extremely limited, and that is certainly a factor, but stores can't keep them in stock. This further convinces Sony that the price point is correct.
Makes me scratch my head.
Amen brother. They've been around for a hell of a lot longer. I know they go back to my old Amiga 500 days, I believe possibly even the C64 days.
Good points all. I'm most with you on the "I bought my DS and I'm wondering why" point.
I also have both a DS and PSP, and the DS was the one I eagerly awaited. Nintendo was going to bring us an entirely 'new' portable gaming experience. Well, apart from a few ridiculously short, but good, ideas (hello Yoshi's Touch and Go, Feel the Magic) the DS has not been exciting at all.
Indeed my PSP has been the one to give me a new portable experience, albeit not a gaming one. I now really can rely on one device for a flash drive, mp3 player, video and snapshot viewer.
This is why Nintendo had better wait until they ramp up the DS lineup before announcing anything "Revolution"ary. Even N's biggest fans are starting to wonder. Don't give us something to point at again.
This just happened to me and it pissed me off. I bought the last copy of 'Mercury' for the PSP and I see the guy going in the drawer for the disc. "I thought you said you didn't have *used* PSP games yet?" "Oh, this is new?" "Then why are you opening my box and charging me new prices?"
20 minutes later I was disgusted. I would have taken my business elsewhere, before anyone replies with that, but the game was not to be found. Just a minor, but significant, annoyance.
Yep. I agree the bundling UMDs seems like the way. However, the UMD movies keep selling at their current prices, even given the limited selection and supply.
I would definetly use my PSP as a movie player, but not if it means paying for the same movie twice. Give it to me for $5, and I'm there.
My best idea was for travelers. Put a rental section in all the airports. Rent a movie for your flight, drop it off on your inbound airport or in a mailbox. I'd pay $7 not to have to watch another piss poor episode of Frasier or Friends.
Pick up a cube. I picked it up as second console a year ago and there's still plenty of good stuff I haven't played. It'd suck as my only console, but as my second, it's the only one I play. :)
Makes no sense but true.
I'll give them credit. They went from having no presence in the console world to being an almost solid #2 (Japan aside.) They launched a brilliant console and online service in a ridiculously short timetable.
That said, I bought a used Xbox and I've played like 6 games on it. It's currently unplugged since it's too bulky to fit in my entertainment center if I'm not going to use it. There's just too much better content on the other two consoles I own. So it's a 'meh' thing for me. Maybe once I feel like running an ethernet cable under a rug into the living room and hook up XBox live I'll be addicted, but I don't think it'll get that far.
"..does it amuse anyone else that the iron boots weigh less in his pack than they do on his feet?)"
:(
Not anymore than the fact that I can carry a bazillion items in said pack and still move swiftly along. I wish more games had a little more 'realism' that way. Not Zelda, it's not that type of game. But other games would benefit if more things were limited. These days, everything, including lives, are essentially unlimited. Games lose something this way. That 'fear' you had of dying, back in the day.
In most new games, I find myself never using the 'cool' stuff till I know I'm near the end of the game. I just have this mindset that everything is scarce, but it isn't.
Nintendo has always been dear to my heart since I abandonded my Master System to go mainstream with a NES. Nintendo makes fantastic games and knows how to grow a loved franchise (mario pimping aside.)
That said, buy a DS. I have one. And I have a PSP. The PSP was an impulse buy that I bought just cuz, the DS was a months-planned purchase. I haven't put the PSP down yet. I gave the DS to the girlfriend so she can have some puzzle games. The PSP is good, damn good. The DS's 'revolutionary' features have yet to even have a single proof that touching is indeed good. There are some unique ideas, but all the games out and coming are all short little look-at-me quirks. Nintendo is taking large risks, and I admire them for that, but we need to see some benefit here, and fast.
That place would be even better if the PSP link worked. Or if they had a DS section.
Why is it that most stores are doing that? They have a whole PSP display but DS stuff get's lumped into Gameboy (if at all)?
Indeed. Sad. Brilliant comedian. I just saw his special again on CCentral, where they played the "In Memory Of...". Shocking.
There are also licensing issues. NVidia owns patents for some shading algorithms and such. I don't remember the details, but I'm pretty sure there are fairly substantial legal ramifications to 'emulating' a nvidia gpu.
Correct me if I'm wrong.
"Seriously man, I mean, don't they get broken pixels are just part of the manufacturing process? I mean, these customers keep returning them until they get a brand new one that has *no* dead pixels. That's just absurd. Yo, puff an pass man"
It's ridiculous. I'm on PSP #3 and I'm basically just dealing with it. The wounds of early adoption hasve never been so disfiguring.
Really. Enough is enough.
I had 2 dead pixels and about 5 sorta-dead pixels on my PSP (they only show up at certain colors, I suppose due to brightness. Anyway, that original PSP had to go back since putting in the battery actually killed the unit. EB gladly replaced mine when their second shipment came in. Way to go for customer service. However, the new one has 3 dead pixels, which I was thrilled actually worked anyway, and unwisely decided to accept.
Now my problem is, I called sony on day 1 to report the battery issue, and I had to give them the serial number to my original PSP. EB just swapped out my old one, with no documentation. Sony is still waiting to recieve my old unit (which would have taken a minimum of 7 biz days for them to *start* shipping back to me. So now can I call Sony, tell them of the swap, and have them replace my newer, 'less dead' PSP?
I have both a PSP and a DS, and let me tell you the PSP is *extremely* impressive to everyone who sees it, whereas the DS people look at quizzically. I absolutely love the PSP. However, how can I get one that works right?
"90% of the public is simply unable to think, but merely jumps from one belief pattern to another. That my friends is the problem."
This is the answer to a lot of the world's (and the US in particular's) problems. It comes up a lot on slashdot too. I have to challenge this in the one sensible way. It's not that the public is unable, very very few are unable to think deductively, it's that they are unwilling. This is a far harder problem to overcome. The first can mostly be solved by eductation, the latter requires a social solution. We can't agree on anything socially anymore, so good luck.
What really needs to be addressed is the fact that people would rather be shot dead than proven wrong. When they are proven wrong, the person responsible is often hated and touted as "belligerent."
Sad. Sad.
Her awareness is debatable. The parents say she can follow a light with her eyes (sometimes) and say that's proof she is aware. Her husband says the evidence is sketchy this means anything. As always, experts can be found that vehemently say either opinion.
Don't really see what the president has to do with this. Politicians? Yeah. They've got lots of blame. But you can just put it on the pile.
They do blame gangsta rap, but that's old news. The only news you see today is intended to examine bigger issues. Like the Schaivo case, where we see who has rights over your life when you are incapacitated. It's not the woman they care about (if they care at all) it's the underlying issue. Gangsta rap has been done on the media, so it's no longer 'news'. No one has been able to pin anything on video games conclusively (or remotely even) yet, so that's still a hot topic.
The bottom line is that I've never seen a case involving violence where games/music/movies have been the *cause*. Let's face it, if you have the mentality to take another's life, you're pretty messed up to begin with. *How* you go about it isn't the issue. In other words, if a kid decides to dress up as Solid Snake and go on a rampage, the question is not "why did videogames make him dress that way?" it's "what went wrong with this person's morals that he/she believed killing in *any* manner is desirable behavior?"
If the media would listen to me, and the people to them, I would say go after the *madness*, not the method.
"Will TV show production companies be the first to show some sense and offer their own downloads on a pay per view basis?"
Not for any reasonable price no. All studios these days are scared silly about pirating because people like the RIAA have convinced them the losses will eventually bankrupt them. Instead of it being the same problem it's been for years. So when they do offer downloads (and they will, just to see) it'll be at some outrageious price I'm sure.
Hell even discovery (which has some great shows) wants like $24.99 for an episode on DVD. What would be the price to download $20.99?
All of my sibling posters go with the argument that the airlines are essentially government puppets. Debate that all you want, but that's not what is at issue when we say "require whatever the hell they want". Private companies cannot impose rules which supercede those of the government.
I.e. if you run a business and you don't like someone, you can certainly choose not to do business with them. *However* you cannot discriminate against people on the basis of race/color/religion etc (except in certain special 'clubs' like those that are specifically for members of certain races/backgrounds). The point is the law is there to protect people, and if companies could willy-nilly decide to impose 'policies' the government doesn't agree with then the point of government becomes moot.
So what he is saying is that they are telling him they are denying him by law, not their own policy, except the law is apparently absent.