they designed a Batman-like costume for Superman - latex, foam rubber, that sort of thing. Nicolas Cage was set to star, but when Burton saw him in the costume for screen tests, he bust out laughing, and their version was pretty well doomed at that point.
Well there's the problem right there. Nicholas Cage as Superman?! Try The Rock or something...
Earlier this year I got into eBay and bought an Atari 2600 game lot, more than doubling my collection. I pulled my Atari 2600 - the very one I've had since childhood - out of the closet, dusted it off, hooked it up, and started testing all the cartridges to see which ones still worked......And I noticed something: The games weren't nearly as fun any more. As I wandered around the maze in Adventure I realized that my tastes had changed over the years, and the simple gameplay - while still charming and laced with nostalgia - just wasn't as captivating any more as it was 20 years ago. I know that a lot of people will disagree, as evidenced by the popularity of remakes of these games on modern systems and cell phones. In my case however, I gradually gave up my Atari 2600 in favor of more sophisticated PC and Gameboy games. I'm now extremely picky about which games I like - shunning most console titles and playing only a few new PC games each year, along with a growing stash of older titles that still call out to me. I also increased my NES collection via eBay, and it seems to have fared much better in the enjoyment department (so far).
I still plan to keep my Atari 2600 around, but it will probably not get played very often except perhaps by curious house guests. I imagine that's a better fate than most XBox 360's will see 25 years from now though...
In the last 3 apartments I've lived in, I have used a wireless router to both share a broadband (cable) Internet connection and create a LAN amongst several computers without having to run cables all over the place (in a house/condo it is possible to run cables around the walls and/or ceiling, but this is against the rules in apartments -- and of course it is both unseemly and a tripping hazard to have cables run across the floor). I've found that 54mbits (802.11g) is plenty for streaming a single high-quality video file, as long as you can get a good signal. I've also found that microwave ovens, washing machines, and cordless phones within 30 degrees of the signal path (when using omnidirectional antennas) tend to cause more problems than neighbours do.
Anyways, I don't see how it would be practical to set up some kind of shared connection amongst my neighbours (there are at least 3 other APs in my medium-sized apartment complex of approximately 150 units, with 1 being too weak to even connect -- not enough to cause me any problems). I wouldn't want to share my Internet connection due to the fact that I occasionally hog a lot of bandwidth, while at other times I depend on low latencies for gaming and/or work. On top of that, I wouldn't want to share my files with everyone - just those in my own apartment.
Of course this is all moot anyways since (as others have already pointed out), most people that have Wi-Fi now just want to plug it in and have it work. This is evidenced by the fact that 2 out of 3 of the APs I can "see" from my apartment (not counting mine) are totally unsecured and running on the default channel (1 of them is running a WRT54G or GS with no encryption and default password, and the other is the one that's too weak to investigate).
As others have also mentioned, both directional antennas and reduced broadcast power would help. However, nobody is going to want to invest another 100% or so of the cost of their current Wi-Fi setup just to buy antennas unless they're desperate and have some idea what they're doing.
Forgot to mention that pricewatch.com is a good site for figuring out what the going rate is for various components. I've noticed that there's a somewhat exponential curve in price versus value, and when looking at a range of similar components I try to pick the one that's just before the area of the price curve that starts shooting up really fast.
It's better to resist the temptation to buy the very top-of-the-line, cutting-edge components; if you don't you'll end up having to deal with more quirks (due to early revision hardware) and will have to wait longer to upgrade, meaning that the parts will be more obsolete by the time you upgrade than more modest ones would have been with a sooner upgrade.
You really just have be willing to dive in and soak it all up. Search for FAQs and read forums - there are probably some general and specific guides that are useful, and there are helpful, knowledgeable people out there.
Another good thing to do is to read articles and reviews on tech sites and window-shop on online stores that sell pre-built rigs to get an idea of what kinds of components are being put in various computers these days. Then, shop around to see what deals are out there and be sure to read reviews of specific components. Most importantly, SEARCH FORUMS (via Google) to see if people have problems with a given component -- I can't stress this enough! My friends and I have been both bitten by buying a compnent without researching it first, and saved by reading people's complaints about it before buying.
Finally, if you have money don't be afraid to just dive in and buy a bunch of parts. If you're really lost, you're best of getting them from a local parts retailer so you can exchange out anything you accidentally buy that turns out to be incompatible with the rest of your parts.
If you can't afford to screw up, I'd recommend finding a online store that lets you build a custom system from parts on their site. They usually make sure you can only pick combos that will work, and the price will be better than a totally shrinkwrapped system from a major retailer. You can also then swap out parts in the system as you learn more.
Either way you go, you'll need to keep at it for a few years before you really know your stuff. Eventually you'll have preferences for brands and price ranges on everything, a list of regular sites and/or stores to get parts from, and hangouts for news, reviews and discussion of components and issues with them.
Building systems for friends and family (as long as you're willing to do follow up support) is also a good way to figure out what's good and what isn't without wasting your own money >:D
Here are some personal recommendations based on a decade or two of experience (ramble alert!): - Stay away from VIA for motherboard chipsets if you decide to build an AMD-based system. They're better these days, but I've been burned repeatedly over the last half dozen years. In fact, stay away from everyone but Intel or nVidia; nVidia is now my mobo chipset manufacturer of choice, despite dumping the awesome SoundStorm chipset from their newer mobo chipsets (good thing there are DDL PCI cards out now, but Realtek onboard sound is respectable too these days) - You get what you pay for with power supplies (up to a point of course). Don't buy that $25 550 Watt power supply because it'll probably blow out in 6 months or the first time it hits anything near 550 Watts - whichever comes first. - newegg.com is an awesome online parts retailer. If you're into modding, xoxide.com and directron.com are worth a look, but beware of overpriced items. - Don't believe anything that store clerks/sales reps tell you. If you're looking at something in a retail store, go home and research it first and then go back and buy it if you're still interested. Note that you can usually get better deals online, but local retailers are good in a pinch if you need something right away. - For those in the Puget Sound area: Fry's is the bomb, and CompuCare is decent. PC Club is so-so. Stay away from CompUSA unless you're really desperate! And never, EVER buy anything computer-related at OfficeWhatever/Staples unless it's printer or scanner related - they're overpriced on everything. - Netgear makes excellent network hardware, although I'm in love with the WRT54G/GS (but not the current on-the-shelf versions, which have been neutered) wireless routers due to their ability to run homebrew Linux-based firmware. - 64-bit CPUs and PCI Express motherboards & video cards are now worth buying. I plan to upgrade from my 32-bit, AGP 8x system early next year at the latest. - nVidia and ATI are neck-and-neck in the video card business right now. Stay away from All-In-Wonde
As a bit of follow-up info to posts suggesting that you invest in a Linksys WRT54G or GS in order to run custom firmware, be aware that the current version of the WRT54G, the v5.0, has half the RAM and flash capacity of previous models. This makes it impossible to flash most custom firmware such as OpenWRT or DD-WRT.
The current version of the WRT54GS, v4.0, is reported to also have half the capacity of previous GS models, which leaves it with as much as older WRT54G models. This means you can get an off-the-shelf GS with the open-source firmware capabilities of old WRT54G models if you're willing to pay $20 more.
Linksys is also supposed to be releasing the WRT54GL, which many have speculated is a relabeled WRT54G v4.0 for $10 more. However, last I checked it was only available in Europe (and by checking I mean both searching the 'net and talking to Linksys support, who ended up referring me to a wholesaler after being unable to find a North American retailer who had them in stock).
To the editors: It would be cool if there were an Ask category that these "Ask so-and-so" articles could belong to, as they're kind of a feature of Slashdot (especially lately).
That's all true, although I believe GC modding would have been more widespread if the modchips had come out sooner. Remember that PS2 modchips came out way before DVD burners were available, and pirates simply made those ugly CD-sized rips instead of waiting. I'm sure the same would have happened with the GameCube had things progressed faster.
My guess is that the Phantasy Star Online exploit was used to aid in reverse-engineering the GC enough to design a modchip.
The GC pirating methods are exstremely clumsy, the data is streamed in through the data port in the back. This means very very few people pirate Gc games exept hobbiest. No commerical pirating is available.
They now have GC modchips and you can replace the case with one that lets you insert standard-sized DVDs (which the GC drive is apparently capable of reading without modification).
It's not the manufacturer that mandates a price reduction. Once Microsoft releases the XBox 360, stores will want to offload XBoxes to free up shelf space (in anticipation of the XBox becoming a less saleable item than other products) and make money on people who want a console but can't afford the 360's price tag.
they will, but sony's HD DVD system will keep it impractical for at least 2-3 years.
I was talking about the XBox 360, not the PS3. Also, remember when the XBox and PS2 came out with DVD drives? Most games didn't take up more space than a CD could hold, and I heard that many PS2 games were "ripped" (had movies and other stuff removed by pirates to reduce game size) to make them fit. Even the Gamecube's supposedly radically different disc was cracked eventually. I fully expect the same to happen with the next generation of consoles.
The problem is partly that programmers don't really know how to take advantage of the parallel processing architecture of the PS3. Yes, the will learn, but it may take most of the lifespan of the PS3 and XBox 360 for them to invent a new way of programming games that takes advantage of multi-processor and/or multi-core hardware.
Another part of the problem is that the industry likes porting games across multiple platforms as cheaply as possible, which means that multiplatform titles will probably take as little advantage as possible of system-specific features (which will cripple PS3 titles more than XBox titles).
Also, RAM speeds won't make much difference on consoles due to the low resolutions at which they render. The cache RAM is always much faster than the system RAM as well, so don't believe that it will have an impact at that level.
Even with the numbers on the PS3's side, I expect higher-quality early- and mid-life XBox 360 titles due to the fact that it has diverged less from current hardware architectures (resulting in a softer learning curve).
What really matters is the GAMEPLAY. A great game with fewer polygons is still a great game. A crappy game with more polygons is still a crappy game. This war will NOT be won or lost on technical specifications. It will be decided by the game quality, availability, and price. Period. In the end, that is what people look at.
No, that's only one factor among several -- the quality, availability, and price of games for a console are only a major factor when one of those three aspects is at an extreme. What is the strongest factor? These days, the consoles project somewhat different images to target themselves (via marketing, game linup, and stigma from the existing generation of consoles) at different audiences (disclaimer: none of the consoles appeal to me as I'm a diehard PC gamer, so put on your anti-cynic glasses): - The Nintendo Revolution will be both the "family" console, with a more cure and kid-safe game lineup than the other consoles -- and *may* (Nintendo hopes) also appeal to those with only a casual interest in video game consoles but want something that looks "cool" and "innovative" (I'm too skeptical of gimmicks to be able to guess how well it will do, however) - The PS3 will be the next-generation modern Japanese console, catering to those who've grown up on the PSX/PS2 - The XBox 360 will be the next-generation American console and will continue to bridge the gap between PC and consoles
As you can see, this already strongly divides gamers along three lines.
Sony introduces the PS3, sporting far more powerful hardware than either alternative system
What? I admit that I haven't been following this for the last month or so, but from what I've seen the XBox 360 will be at least as powerful as the PS3. Yes, the PS3 has a bunch of processing units in its cell processor, but most of them are special-purpose and not as powerful as the XBox 360's three generic cores.
We have one (you should see games.slashdot.org in your address bar right now). It's just that most Games section articles don't show up for people by default because you have to explicitly choose to see the Games category in your preferences.
With inflated game prices like that, you can bet that modchips will be coming out very quickly.
It's also kind of a lackluster lineup, dominated by run-of-the-mill EA sports titles with most of the remainder being PC ports.
As I've probably mentioned before, I'm only looking forward to the 360 launch because I'm thinking of buying an XBox (original, not 360) and I know the price will go down once the 360 is on the shelves.
It's possible that Linksys did this because their engineers found that they could cut the flash and RAM sizes in half by using VxWorks instead of Linux (yes, with the added advantage of not having to release the source under the GPL any more).
With that said, I unknowingly bought a v5 from my local Fry's and I'm very frustrated. I had a chat with Linksys support last night that wasn't very helpful - see here: http://forum.bsr-clan.de/ftopic3550.html
Unfortunately the latest WRT54GS has half the flash and RAM capacity of previous GS versions, but fortunately that is how much previous WRT54G models had (so I'll still be able to at least run the standard build of DD-WRT). I'm really tempted to just get my money back and order an Asus WL-500g Deluxe from newegg, but they're currently out of stock.
The WRT54GL doesn't seem to be available in the U.S. yet. Linksys claimed that Amazon.com has it, but they list it as unavailable; I was then referred to a wholesaler (whom I have not yet contacted). I'd rather pay an extra $10 to get a router (WRT54GSv4) I can use now than wait a couple months to get one with the same capabilities (Amazon.com lists the WRT54GL at just under $70, which is halfway between Fry's prices for the G and GS).
Slashdot Mirror
they designed a Batman-like costume for Superman - latex, foam rubber, that sort of thing. Nicolas Cage was set to star, but when Burton saw him in the costume for screen tests, he bust out laughing, and their version was pretty well doomed at that point.
Well there's the problem right there. Nicholas Cage as Superman?! Try The Rock or something...
Earlier this year I got into eBay and bought an Atari 2600 game lot, more than doubling my collection. I pulled my Atari 2600 - the very one I've had since childhood - out of the closet, dusted it off, hooked it up, and started testing all the cartridges to see which ones still worked... ...And I noticed something: The games weren't nearly as fun any more. As I wandered around the maze in Adventure I realized that my tastes had changed over the years, and the simple gameplay - while still charming and laced with nostalgia - just wasn't as captivating any more as it was 20 years ago. I know that a lot of people will disagree, as evidenced by the popularity of remakes of these games on modern systems and cell phones. In my case however, I gradually gave up my Atari 2600 in favor of more sophisticated PC and Gameboy games. I'm now extremely picky about which games I like - shunning most console titles and playing only a few new PC games each year, along with a growing stash of older titles that still call out to me. I also increased my NES collection via eBay, and it seems to have fared much better in the enjoyment department (so far).
I still plan to keep my Atari 2600 around, but it will probably not get played very often except perhaps by curious house guests. I imagine that's a better fate than most XBox 360's will see 25 years from now though...
In the last 3 apartments I've lived in, I have used a wireless router to both share a broadband (cable) Internet connection and create a LAN amongst several computers without having to run cables all over the place (in a house/condo it is possible to run cables around the walls and/or ceiling, but this is against the rules in apartments -- and of course it is both unseemly and a tripping hazard to have cables run across the floor). I've found that 54mbits (802.11g) is plenty for streaming a single high-quality video file, as long as you can get a good signal. I've also found that microwave ovens, washing machines, and cordless phones within 30 degrees of the signal path (when using omnidirectional antennas) tend to cause more problems than neighbours do.
Anyways, I don't see how it would be practical to set up some kind of shared connection amongst my neighbours (there are at least 3 other APs in my medium-sized apartment complex of approximately 150 units, with 1 being too weak to even connect -- not enough to cause me any problems). I wouldn't want to share my Internet connection due to the fact that I occasionally hog a lot of bandwidth, while at other times I depend on low latencies for gaming and/or work. On top of that, I wouldn't want to share my files with everyone - just those in my own apartment.
Of course this is all moot anyways since (as others have already pointed out), most people that have Wi-Fi now just want to plug it in and have it work. This is evidenced by the fact that 2 out of 3 of the APs I can "see" from my apartment (not counting mine) are totally unsecured and running on the default channel (1 of them is running a WRT54G or GS with no encryption and default password, and the other is the one that's too weak to investigate).
As others have also mentioned, both directional antennas and reduced broadcast power would help. However, nobody is going to want to invest another 100% or so of the cost of their current Wi-Fi setup just to buy antennas unless they're desperate and have some idea what they're doing.
Sweet! Now I'm just waiting for someone write some bots to connect advertisers to EACH OTHER! Phone DoS!
Forgot to mention that pricewatch.com is a good site for figuring out what the going rate is for various components. I've noticed that there's a somewhat exponential curve in price versus value, and when looking at a range of similar components I try to pick the one that's just before the area of the price curve that starts shooting up really fast.
It's better to resist the temptation to buy the very top-of-the-line, cutting-edge components; if you don't you'll end up having to deal with more quirks (due to early revision hardware) and will have to wait longer to upgrade, meaning that the parts will be more obsolete by the time you upgrade than more modest ones would have been with a sooner upgrade.
You really just have be willing to dive in and soak it all up. Search for FAQs and read forums - there are probably some general and specific guides that are useful, and there are helpful, knowledgeable people out there.
Another good thing to do is to read articles and reviews on tech sites and window-shop on online stores that sell pre-built rigs to get an idea of what kinds of components are being put in various computers these days. Then, shop around to see what deals are out there and be sure to read reviews of specific components. Most importantly, SEARCH FORUMS (via Google) to see if people have problems with a given component -- I can't stress this enough! My friends and I have been both bitten by buying a compnent without researching it first, and saved by reading people's complaints about it before buying.
Finally, if you have money don't be afraid to just dive in and buy a bunch of parts. If you're really lost, you're best of getting them from a local parts retailer so you can exchange out anything you accidentally buy that turns out to be incompatible with the rest of your parts.
If you can't afford to screw up, I'd recommend finding a online store that lets you build a custom system from parts on their site. They usually make sure you can only pick combos that will work, and the price will be better than a totally shrinkwrapped system from a major retailer. You can also then swap out parts in the system as you learn more.
Either way you go, you'll need to keep at it for a few years before you really know your stuff. Eventually you'll have preferences for brands and price ranges on everything, a list of regular sites and/or stores to get parts from, and hangouts for news, reviews and discussion of components and issues with them.
Building systems for friends and family (as long as you're willing to do follow up support) is also a good way to figure out what's good and what isn't without wasting your own money >:D
Here are some personal recommendations based on a decade or two of experience (ramble alert!):
- Stay away from VIA for motherboard chipsets if you decide to build an AMD-based system. They're better these days, but I've been burned repeatedly over the last half dozen years. In fact, stay away from everyone but Intel or nVidia; nVidia is now my mobo chipset manufacturer of choice, despite dumping the awesome SoundStorm chipset from their newer mobo chipsets (good thing there are DDL PCI cards out now, but Realtek onboard sound is respectable too these days)
- You get what you pay for with power supplies (up to a point of course). Don't buy that $25 550 Watt power supply because it'll probably blow out in 6 months or the first time it hits anything near 550 Watts - whichever comes first.
- newegg.com is an awesome online parts retailer. If you're into modding, xoxide.com and directron.com are worth a look, but beware of overpriced items.
- Don't believe anything that store clerks/sales reps tell you. If you're looking at something in a retail store, go home and research it first and then go back and buy it if you're still interested. Note that you can usually get better deals online, but local retailers are good in a pinch if you need something right away.
- For those in the Puget Sound area: Fry's is the bomb, and CompuCare is decent. PC Club is so-so. Stay away from CompUSA unless you're really desperate! And never, EVER buy anything computer-related at OfficeWhatever/Staples unless it's printer or scanner related - they're overpriced on everything.
- Netgear makes excellent network hardware, although I'm in love with the WRT54G/GS (but not the current on-the-shelf versions, which have been neutered) wireless routers due to their ability to run homebrew Linux-based firmware.
- 64-bit CPUs and PCI Express motherboards & video cards are now worth buying. I plan to upgrade from my 32-bit, AGP 8x system early next year at the latest.
- nVidia and ATI are neck-and-neck in the video card business right now. Stay away from All-In-Wonde
As a bit of follow-up info to posts suggesting that you invest in a Linksys WRT54G or GS in order to run custom firmware, be aware that the current version of the WRT54G, the v5.0, has half the RAM and flash capacity of previous models. This makes it impossible to flash most custom firmware such as OpenWRT or DD-WRT.
The current version of the WRT54GS, v4.0, is reported to also have half the capacity of previous GS models, which leaves it with as much as older WRT54G models. This means you can get an off-the-shelf GS with the open-source firmware capabilities of old WRT54G models if you're willing to pay $20 more.
Linksys is also supposed to be releasing the WRT54GL, which many have speculated is a relabeled WRT54G v4.0 for $10 more. However, last I checked it was only available in Europe (and by checking I mean both searching the 'net and talking to Linksys support, who ended up referring me to a wholesaler after being unable to find a North American retailer who had them in stock).
To the editors: It would be cool if there were an Ask category that these "Ask so-and-so" articles could belong to, as they're kind of a feature of Slashdot (especially lately).
Buy more. Buy more now. Buy. And be happy.
Yes, Law & Order did an episode on video game violence last year as well. Who cares? Does anyone really get their political beliefs from TV shows?
I'm guessing you're not an American.
(My Fellow Americans: I am American, BTW, so don't get bent out of shape)
Doh, thanks. I need to add Wikipedia to my mental list of sites to check for game info, as MobyGames seems to have dropped the ball on this one.
WTF is Captain Commando? Do they mean "Commando"?
He assumes all programmers like stupid bullshit like Star Trek.
From hell's heart I stab at thee! For hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee!
(j/k - it's a quote from the movie - which is in turn a quote from Moby Dick - in case you haven't seen it)
Is there any situation where you can see yourself open to the possibility of using an Ad-Supported operating system?"
Yeah, the situation in which it is offered for free and I can find a patch to disable the ads.
That's all true, although I believe GC modding would have been more widespread if the modchips had come out sooner. Remember that PS2 modchips came out way before DVD burners were available, and pirates simply made those ugly CD-sized rips instead of waiting. I'm sure the same would have happened with the GameCube had things progressed faster.
My guess is that the Phantasy Star Online exploit was used to aid in reverse-engineering the GC enough to design a modchip.
The GC pirating methods are exstremely clumsy, the data is streamed in through the data port in the back. This means very very few people pirate Gc games exept hobbiest. No commerical pirating is available.
They now have GC modchips and you can replace the case with one that lets you insert standard-sized DVDs (which the GC drive is apparently capable of reading without modification).
It's not the manufacturer that mandates a price reduction. Once Microsoft releases the XBox 360, stores will want to offload XBoxes to free up shelf space (in anticipation of the XBox becoming a less saleable item than other products) and make money on people who want a console but can't afford the 360's price tag.
they will, but sony's HD DVD system will keep it impractical for at least 2-3 years.
I was talking about the XBox 360, not the PS3. Also, remember when the XBox and PS2 came out with DVD drives? Most games didn't take up more space than a CD could hold, and I heard that many PS2 games were "ripped" (had movies and other stuff removed by pirates to reduce game size) to make them fit. Even the Gamecube's supposedly radically different disc was cracked eventually. I fully expect the same to happen with the next generation of consoles.
The problem is partly that programmers don't really know how to take advantage of the parallel processing architecture of the PS3. Yes, the will learn, but it may take most of the lifespan of the PS3 and XBox 360 for them to invent a new way of programming games that takes advantage of multi-processor and/or multi-core hardware.
Another part of the problem is that the industry likes porting games across multiple platforms as cheaply as possible, which means that multiplatform titles will probably take as little advantage as possible of system-specific features (which will cripple PS3 titles more than XBox titles).
Also, RAM speeds won't make much difference on consoles due to the low resolutions at which they render. The cache RAM is always much faster than the system RAM as well, so don't believe that it will have an impact at that level.
Even with the numbers on the PS3's side, I expect higher-quality early- and mid-life XBox 360 titles due to the fact that it has diverged less from current hardware architectures (resulting in a softer learning curve).
What really matters is the GAMEPLAY. A great game with fewer polygons is still a great game. A crappy game with more polygons is still a crappy game. This war will NOT be won or lost on technical specifications. It will be decided by the game quality, availability, and price. Period. In the end, that is what people look at.
No, that's only one factor among several -- the quality, availability, and price of games for a console are only a major factor when one of those three aspects is at an extreme. What is the strongest factor? These days, the consoles project somewhat different images to target themselves (via marketing, game linup, and stigma from the existing generation of consoles) at different audiences (disclaimer: none of the consoles appeal to me as I'm a diehard PC gamer, so put on your anti-cynic glasses):
- The Nintendo Revolution will be both the "family" console, with a more cure and kid-safe game lineup than the other consoles -- and *may* (Nintendo hopes) also appeal to those with only a casual interest in video game consoles but want something that looks "cool" and "innovative" (I'm too skeptical of gimmicks to be able to guess how well it will do, however)
- The PS3 will be the next-generation modern Japanese console, catering to those who've grown up on the PSX/PS2
- The XBox 360 will be the next-generation American console and will continue to bridge the gap between PC and consoles
As you can see, this already strongly divides gamers along three lines.
Sony introduces the PS3, sporting far more powerful hardware than either alternative system
What? I admit that I haven't been following this for the last month or so, but from what I've seen the XBox 360 will be at least as powerful as the PS3. Yes, the PS3 has a bunch of processing units in its cell processor, but most of them are special-purpose and not as powerful as the XBox 360's three generic cores.
I asked about this and was told that subscribers have more control over their RSS feeds. I'm a cheap bastard though, so I can't confirm it.
We have one (you should see games.slashdot.org in your address bar right now). It's just that most Games section articles don't show up for people by default because you have to explicitly choose to see the Games category in your preferences.
With inflated game prices like that, you can bet that modchips will be coming out very quickly.
It's also kind of a lackluster lineup, dominated by run-of-the-mill EA sports titles with most of the remainder being PC ports.
As I've probably mentioned before, I'm only looking forward to the 360 launch because I'm thinking of buying an XBox (original, not 360) and I know the price will go down once the 360 is on the shelves.
It's possible that Linksys did this because their engineers found that they could cut the flash and RAM sizes in half by using VxWorks instead of Linux (yes, with the added advantage of not having to release the source under the GPL any more).
With that said, I unknowingly bought a v5 from my local Fry's and I'm very frustrated. I had a chat with Linksys support last night that wasn't very helpful - see here: http://forum.bsr-clan.de/ftopic3550.html
Unfortunately the latest WRT54GS has half the flash and RAM capacity of previous GS versions, but fortunately that is how much previous WRT54G models had (so I'll still be able to at least run the standard build of DD-WRT). I'm really tempted to just get my money back and order an Asus WL-500g Deluxe from newegg, but they're currently out of stock.
The WRT54GL doesn't seem to be available in the U.S. yet. Linksys claimed that Amazon.com has it, but they list it as unavailable; I was then referred to a wholesaler (whom I have not yet contacted). I'd rather pay an extra $10 to get a router (WRT54GSv4) I can use now than wait a couple months to get one with the same capabilities (Amazon.com lists the WRT54GL at just under $70, which is halfway between Fry's prices for the G and GS).