mentioned by name in the joystiq live blog of the event:
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Wario Ware Zelda: Twilight Princess Dragon Quest Swords Disaster: Day of Crisis Fire Emblem Sponge Bob Square Pants Cars Super Mario Galaxy SD Gundamn G Breaker Tony Hawk Downhill Jam Sengoku Action Excite Truck Elebits Red Steel Rayman 4 Super Swing Gold Pangya Hyper Sonic Project H.A.M.M.E.R. Finalfurlong Revolution Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles Madden 07 WiiSports
Maybe they missed some, there are only 23 there. If not, there are a few more games not mentioned that will be on the floor tomorrow.
The gameplay for the demos in the press conference looked pretty fun. I really can't wait to hear about the games playable on the floor tomorrow. They said there would be 27. I am going through the press conference notes at joystiq and I don't think they mentioned 27 games for the Wii. So I hope there are still some surprises, as far as games and gameplay in store for us tomorrow.
All in all, the press conference sounds like it couldn't have gone better for Nintendo. They have created a ton more hype, while still holding a few cards close to the vest for us to continue to speculate about as we get closer to the launch.
Wii? As in "Why?" Why would you change the name from Revolution to something so...
What is the word I am looking for? Oh, lehm, as in "lame".
I will still get one, and I am sure that I will love it as I have all of Nintendo's previous consoles. I just don't like this name, just more fodder for Ninendo haters.
Between the Bush Administration supressing scientists that warn about global warming, and the scientific community suppressing those that dissent, you would think that you wouldn't hear anything about it at all. But, other than maybe the evolution/intelligent design debate, it is currently the single biggest scientific news story around.
The Prayer group is getting a defined amount of more prayer than the Control group.
There is no way to be certain of this. Each person in the volunteered prayer group is getting a defined amount of prayer more than they otherwise would, that is all that is known. There is no way to determine how much more or less prayer they are getting than the non-voulnteered prayer group. At least not from TFA. It didn't say how they tried to control prayers that family and friends might be offering for any of the patients. In other words, scientifically speaking, this study is a load of crap.
All this study seems to show is that God/The Flying Spaghetti Monster hates the 5 volunteers offering the prayers. Oh, and he hates some of the people they were praying for that didn't do too good.
Back in E3 05 I described the general strategies heading into the next generation for Sony, MS and Nintendo. I thought that if Microsoft had a strong launch with several good titles, they could gain a lead that they might be able to hold onto this generation. On the other hand, I thought that if Nintendo and Sony could generate enough hype surrounding their systems, consumers might be reluctant to shell out a lot of money on the 360 too soon.
Well, here we are and I think it is obvious what has happened. The 360 has had a poor launch by any stretch of the imagination. Sure retailers in the US are sold out, but that isn't hard to pull off with so few in supply. Japan on the other hand, has tons of 360s available, so I think MS attempt at a simultaneous worldwide launch has made the shortage in the US that much more embarassing. Now, add in the fact that there are no really strong launch titles and MS totally failed to pull off their strategy.
Nintendo and Sony though have been nearly perfect in building hype for their platforms. By slowly letting out details about their innovative hardware designs Nintendo has by far built the most interest in their system. However, that won't last unless they start showing some gameplay footage. No one but Nintendo fan boys will be completely sold on Revolution until they see it in action.
Sony has also done a good job of building hype, though not as much as Nintendo. Sony has periodically released some gameplay footage and cinematic clips they claim are real time. Of course, after the emotion engine fiasco people are skeptical. But, it has kept them interested.
I think that the fact that the 360 launch has been so poorly executed has probably led to more people wanting to wait to learn more about PS3 and Revo. If the supply had been adequate, and the games had been excellant, people would be going to the 360 in droves. Core systems on Ebay are selling for barely more that $20 above retail, and Premiums not more that $50 - $100 above retail. If the demand was still so much higher than the supply those units would still be selling for the markup you saw the week of the launch. I think that Sony and Nintendo probably could have released absolutely no more information about their products, tried to generate no hype at all to counter the 360 launch, and they would have been fine. That is how bad I think things have gone for the 360. The longer the supply shortage goes on, and the longer the 360 goes without any decent games, the better position Nintendo and Sony will be in when they launch.
Lorne Lanning
President/Creative Director, Oddworld Inhabitants An interesting innovation for the "small handed" segment of the market. Hopefully a larger version will be available for the larger hand endowed audience that is likely to be more carpal tunnel prone.
I know he was getting at ergonomics, but, when you start to read this quote next to this picture it just sounds creepy. Something tells me this guy drives a H2.
"Sure, this is nice for guys with small units, but what about us guys with huge trouser snakes?"
Not necessarily this exact title. But little games like this are what make the possibilities of the Revolution seem very interesting to me. Most little indie games like this aren't very good. But every now and them a real gem comes along. It would be great for those gems to be available for download on a home console simply and affordably. I know I can play in now on my PC. But it would be cool to be able to play it with my family on our TV in the living room. I can't stand it when my kid starts pounding away on my computer.
The early Gamecubes support digital video out that could do 480p, possibly 720p. You could buy a cable with component video adapters for TVs that supported it at the time. Someone actually went ahead and created a vga cable for the gamecube digital out so you could play the game on your computer monitor.
Now, they took the digital out feature off the latest versions of the gamecube to reduce the price because so few people used it. I would be surprised if the revolution didn't support at least what the gamecube did. I would anticipate that they will support up to 720p but not 1080i/p.
to get as much buzz as I think they wanted to out of E3. They are only 5 months away from the Xbox 360 launch and this is the main show they had to show it off and generate hype. They did get a lot of hype but I think they were hoping to have such a strong showing that people would already have made up their minds which next-gen console they really wanted. Sony and Nintendo did a good job of showing just enough that most people I know are taking a wait and see attitude towards the next-gen consoles. I think that where MS failed was that while the next gen games for their system are impressive there were too few of them and none of them seemed like must have games, for my tastes at least.
Sony released their specs and showed pre-rendered game footage. The overall consensus I felt about the the PS3 was a desire to see what it can really do in actual gameplay, since it is supposed to be so much more powerful than anything else.
Nintendo was a real tease and it drives me nuts. The idea behind the Revolution seems solid but there is absolutely no way to tell how well it has been executed. I am not worried about their specs , I think the Revolution will be comparable to Xbox 360 at least. My main problem with the Revolution was, where are the games? I would have liked to have seen at least something like Sony's pre-rendered stuff for Revolution games. Nintendo is playing this so close to the vest that they may end up putting people off.
Right now, I get the feeling people are taking a wait and see attitude. If Sony and/or Nintendo deliver on the hope people have for their consoles then 360 could be in trouble. However, if Sony and Nintendo under-deliver or even wait too long to give more details then the Xbox 360 will probably have a huge holiday season.
I am a little concerned about this myself. However, I think the continued sales of the PS2 after the launch of GC and XBox shows that the better library will win out as long as the hardware is comparable.
Revolution will be 2 to 3 times as powerful as GC. PS3 is 12 - 15 times as powerful as PS2. However, if I recall, in shear processing power, the GC was already 2-3 times as powerful as the PS2.
If all this is true, and my mathis correct, then the PS3 would be about 2-3 times as powerful as the Revolution. And the Revolution would be comparable to the Xbox 360. However, with the downloadable games the Revolution would come packaged with a library no one could even touch, assuming older 3rd party games will be playable on the Revolution.
I think that Nintendo might have a good chance of reclaiming some market share with this. Price points will have a lot to do with it and again Nintendo looks to be way ahead of the curve here. If Nintendo is able to stick with their usual price of $199 they will probably be $100-$150 at least below PS3 and Xbox 360, then Sony and MS may get more competition from Nintendo this generation than they bargained for.
The problem is that the concept of a supernatural being begets far more questions than it answers.
Pretty much every hypothesis will do this. There are some which seem faily obvious now. But a hypothesis that tries to answer a well known and grand question will always create more questions.
If you do not believe in a supernatural creator how do you explain your existence? The Big Bang and Evolution? What was there before the Bang? How did it come about? What evidence is there of a Big Bang?
I know that there are many hypothesis out there to answer the questions I have listed. It is just an example. Every hypothesis will raise more questions. It is their nature. I think that is probably the most amazing thing about scientific discovery.
I was in my local Toys R Us on Friday after the launch. They were practically begging shoppers over the PA to come to the electronics and play the PSP. They said they had several demo units you could play and listed 3 or 4 games they would let you sample. I was in the electronics area for 20 minutes or so after the announcement and no one came to look at it.
I don't think a Christmas release would make a difference for the PSP. At Christmas it will be up against Xbox2 and the buzz about the next gen consoles that E3 is going to generate. The PSPs needs to pick up sales this summer before the next gen rumors and craziness picks up steam. The hardcore would like a PSP and the next gen consoles, but the casual, cash strapped gamer will likely wait for the next big console then shell out practically the same amout for a PSP.
It would be a shame if this sets a precedent of setting legistlation that would seriously stunt the growth of these emerging technologies that should be making communication cheaper and easier, not harder and illegal.
I got news for you pal... the precedent is lready on place. It happens everyday all over the world. Perhaps you have heard of the DMCA, the Induce Act, and the bloated mess that patent and copyright laws are all over the world.
I know that some of these thing have good intentions at heart, but they have seriously overstepped their bounds when they start being used to protect outdated, older technologies that entire industries are based on. The corporations in those industries should grow and adapt or go the way of the cart and buggy.
I must respectfully disagree. Lilo and Stitch was wonderful and not the stock issue Disney movie.
I am sorry but L&S started out to be a good movie but eventually turned into the same story line that they have been rehashing since Beauty & the Beast.
It goes a little something like this: Protagonist must search deep within themselves (usually during a montage) to find that special thing that allows them to stand up to evil/father-figure/society and become a hero.
B&B, Aladin, Hercules, Mulan, L&S, Hunchback, Pocahontas, etc. have all followed this same basic formula of story telling. Now, some of them are better rehashes than others and L&S may have been the best. But that isn't saying much.
Counter that with what Pixar has done with Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Nemo, and Dreamworks with Shrek and Shrek 2 and it is obvious why Disney movies have sucked recently and Pixar and Dreamworks have done well. I am not saying that Pixar and Dreamworks stories are great. But at least when they release an animated movie it isn't the same one that was released last year with a different set of characters.
My cousin and his wife both speak Spaish fluently. They have always spoken English and Spanish in the home. Their children have had no problems learning both languages. The really amazing part to me is that as the kids pick up on the languages they also pick up the context each language applies to. His kids speak spanish in the home, and with their mother's parents, who are Hispanic, but they never speak spanish to me, or their grandpa (my uncle), and our family. They really know which situations each language is appropriate in.
Actually, Hatch staying in office doesn't have a whole lot to do with the fact that he is Mormon. Most of the candidates he runs against each time are also Mormon. I honestly don't know how Hatch has stayed in office. His anti-technology stances baffle me considering that Utah's economy was never stronger than in the late 80/ early 90s when it was a hot bed for software development. Novell and Wordperfect were booming out here. Utah still has a very large tech industry, though it is not what it once was. Interestingly, Hatch seems to pander to the RIAA and MPAA and the like, who economically don't have a huge vested interest in Utah. Hatch doesn't seem to have the interests of his constituents at heart. The guy drives me nuts.
Now, the congressional rep in my district is Chris Cannon and I have found his views on intellectual property, the IT industry, privacy, and the like to be pretty level headed and well thought out. I would love to see him replace Hatch.
When Hatch first won the senate seat some 30 years ago he ran against an incumbent that had held the seat for quite a while. Hatch ran on a slogan against career politicians. Something like:
What do you call a senator who has held his seat for more that 15 years?
You call him home.
Why, o why can't we seem to make that call to Hatch?
Are you concerned that the copyright and patent laws in the country have been used by powerful lobbying groups to stifle competition and the development of technological, scientific and artistic achievement? If so, what are you thoughts on how this problem can be fixed?
It seems to me that the original intent of these laws was to encourage achievements in those areas, but that now, the monetary interests of those who hold existsing copyrights and patents has been used to stifle development of new, competing, and other useful ideas. There has to be a balance between those seeking to protect the ideas they have created, and those seeking to develope new ones. How can that balance be reached?
I doubt that. I read the articles from Gamespot and IGN. Basically, they said that a nintendo rep confirmed that the patent was for a N64DD add on. But if you read the actual patent it is very broad and specifically states that the N644DD system was an example implementation and the technology could be used on any existing gaming system and doesn't have to be an add on. I think that Nintendo is keeping their cards close to their chest on this. I think that Gamepot and IGN dropped the ball. They should have read the patent closer and asked Nintendo some specifc questions.
This is a pretty interesting move by Nintendo. There current stance on online gaming has been ultra-conservative to say the least. It seems like they are really waiting to move on it until they know they are going to make money off of it. However, as someone who has enjoyed Nintendo's franchise for a while this really makes me happy. It means that while publicly Nintendo has been downplaying online gaming, privately they have always had a huge interest in it. I hope that means that in the future Nintendo will be entering the online game market. Thay has always been my biggest gripe with the GC, the complete lack of online gaming. I don't like PSO at all but would love to be able to play MKDD and others online without some nifty hacks like Warp Pipe.
A few interesting thing from the patent. There is no prior art for this from what I can tell. It applies only to console video game machines. It is pretty broad reaching, I don't see how Xbox Live gets out from it currently. The patent specifically mentions the use of a HDD. Maybe that is why Xbox2 isn't going to have an HDD. The filing of the patent gave an example setup with the N64DD with a few add on peripherals but made sure to mention that they didn't have to be add ons. They could be housed in a single machine. The patent also mentions that entire games could be downloaded over the internet. It seems that The Phantom may be in a world of hurt over this. And from what I can tell there is no prior art for this. The patent was filed in '98, way before Xbox Live or PS2 online games, and even before Dreamcast I think.
I think that MS and Sony are going to try to show that their machines are home media entertainment systems, not just video game console machines, to try and wiggle around this.
I don't know how Nintendo is going to use this patent. Theoretically it could give them a huge leg up in the next gen console wars. While online gaming is a a draw for MS and Sony, I don't think it is the deciding factor for buying any console, price is a much bigger consideration I think. Imagine Nintendo being able to affect the price of MS and Sony with the strict licensing agreements they are notorious for. My guess would be that if they try that and are successful (cause ya know MS and Sony are going to dispute it), that MS and Sony will eat the cost themselves, rather than let Nintendo affect their retail price. They already lose money on the console hardware anyway.
I'll bet that Nintendo just sits on it though, my guess is if they try and enforce this patent against MS and Sony, MS and Sony will do likewise to them, and I'm sure they have a few that might be able to stick.
This patent tells me that Nintendo has always had online gaming as a priority even if their public statements say otherwise. Now, that the patent has been approved I hope they make some moves to add online gaming to the GC, or at least make it a big part of the next gen console.
Slashdot Mirror
mentioned by name in the joystiq live blog of the event:
Metroid Prime 3: Corruption
Wario Ware
Zelda: Twilight Princess
Dragon Quest Swords
Disaster: Day of Crisis
Fire Emblem
Sponge Bob Square Pants
Cars
Super Mario Galaxy
SD Gundamn G Breaker
Tony Hawk Downhill Jam
Sengoku Action
Excite Truck
Elebits
Red Steel
Rayman 4
Super Swing Gold Pangya
Hyper Sonic
Project H.A.M.M.E.R.
Finalfurlong Revolution
Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles
Madden 07
WiiSports
Maybe they missed some, there are only 23 there. If not, there are a few more games not mentioned that will be on the floor tomorrow.
The gameplay for the demos in the press conference looked pretty fun. I really can't wait to hear about the games playable on the floor tomorrow. They said there would be 27. I am going through the press conference notes at joystiq and I don't think they mentioned 27 games for the Wii. So I hope there are still some surprises, as far as games and gameplay in store for us tomorrow.
All in all, the press conference sounds like it couldn't have gone better for Nintendo. They have created a ton more hype, while still holding a few cards close to the vest for us to continue to speculate about as we get closer to the launch.
Wii? As in "Why?" Why would you change the name from Revolution to something so...
What is the word I am looking for? Oh, lehm, as in "lame".
I will still get one, and I am sure that I will love it as I have all of Nintendo's previous consoles. I just don't like this name, just more fodder for Ninendo haters.
Between the Bush Administration supressing scientists that warn about global warming, and the scientific community suppressing those that dissent, you would think that you wouldn't hear anything about it at all. But, other than maybe the evolution/intelligent design debate, it is currently the single biggest scientific news story around.
Didn't RTFA
Randomization only works with a sufficiently large group. 700 people? not even close.
The Prayer group is getting a defined amount of more prayer than the Control group.
There is no way to be certain of this. Each person in the volunteered prayer group is getting a defined amount of prayer more than they otherwise would, that is all that is known. There is no way to determine how much more or less prayer they are getting than the non-voulnteered prayer group. At least not from TFA. It didn't say how they tried to control prayers that family and friends might be offering for any of the patients. In other words, scientifically speaking, this study is a load of crap.
All this study seems to show is that God/The Flying Spaghetti Monster hates the 5 volunteers offering the prayers. Oh, and he hates some of the people they were praying for that didn't do too good.
Back in E3 05 I described the general strategies heading into the next generation for Sony, MS and Nintendo. I thought that if Microsoft had a strong launch with several good titles, they could gain a lead that they might be able to hold onto this generation. On the other hand, I thought that if Nintendo and Sony could generate enough hype surrounding their systems, consumers might be reluctant to shell out a lot of money on the 360 too soon.
Well, here we are and I think it is obvious what has happened. The 360 has had a poor launch by any stretch of the imagination. Sure retailers in the US are sold out, but that isn't hard to pull off with so few in supply. Japan on the other hand, has tons of 360s available, so I think MS attempt at a simultaneous worldwide launch has made the shortage in the US that much more embarassing. Now, add in the fact that there are no really strong launch titles and MS totally failed to pull off their strategy.
Nintendo and Sony though have been nearly perfect in building hype for their platforms. By slowly letting out details about their innovative hardware designs Nintendo has by far built the most interest in their system. However, that won't last unless they start showing some gameplay footage. No one but Nintendo fan boys will be completely sold on Revolution until they see it in action.
Sony has also done a good job of building hype, though not as much as Nintendo. Sony has periodically released some gameplay footage and cinematic clips they claim are real time. Of course, after the emotion engine fiasco people are skeptical. But, it has kept them interested.
I think that the fact that the 360 launch has been so poorly executed has probably led to more people wanting to wait to learn more about PS3 and Revo. If the supply had been adequate, and the games had been excellant, people would be going to the 360 in droves. Core systems on Ebay are selling for barely more that $20 above retail, and Premiums not more that $50 - $100 above retail. If the demand was still so much higher than the supply those units would still be selling for the markup you saw the week of the launch. I think that Sony and Nintendo probably could have released absolutely no more information about their products, tried to generate no hype at all to counter the 360 launch, and they would have been fine. That is how bad I think things have gone for the 360. The longer the supply shortage goes on, and the longer the 360 goes without any decent games, the better position Nintendo and Sony will be in when they launch.
Lorne Lanning
President/Creative Director, Oddworld Inhabitants
An interesting innovation for the "small handed" segment of the market. Hopefully a larger version will be available for the larger hand endowed audience that is likely to be more carpal tunnel prone.
I know he was getting at ergonomics, but, when you start to read this quote next to this picture it just sounds creepy. Something tells me this guy drives a H2.
"Sure, this is nice for guys with small units, but what about us guys with huge trouser snakes?"
can only be a bad thing. Have we learned nothing from the Star Wars movies? Those who have not studied science fiction films are doomed to live them.
Not necessarily this exact title. But little games like this are what make the possibilities of the Revolution seem very interesting to me. Most little indie games like this aren't very good. But every now and them a real gem comes along. It would be great for those gems to be available for download on a home console simply and affordably. I know I can play in now on my PC. But it would be cool to be able to play it with my family on our TV in the living room. I can't stand it when my kid starts pounding away on my computer.
The early Gamecubes support digital video out that could do 480p, possibly 720p. You could buy a cable with component video adapters for TVs that supported it at the time. Someone actually went ahead and created a vga cable for the gamecube digital out so you could play the game on your computer monitor.
Now, they took the digital out feature off the latest versions of the gamecube to reduce the price because so few people used it. I would be surprised if the revolution didn't support at least what the gamecube did. I would anticipate that they will support up to 720p but not 1080i/p.
to get as much buzz as I think they wanted to out of E3. They are only 5 months away from the Xbox 360 launch and this is the main show they had to show it off and generate hype. They did get a lot of hype but I think they were hoping to have such a strong showing that people would already have made up their minds which next-gen console they really wanted. Sony and Nintendo did a good job of showing just enough that most people I know are taking a wait and see attitude towards the next-gen consoles. I think that where MS failed was that while the next gen games for their system are impressive there were too few of them and none of them seemed like must have games, for my tastes at least.
Sony released their specs and showed pre-rendered game footage. The overall consensus I felt about the the PS3 was a desire to see what it can really do in actual gameplay, since it is supposed to be so much more powerful than anything else.
Nintendo was a real tease and it drives me nuts. The idea behind the Revolution seems solid but there is absolutely no way to tell how well it has been executed. I am not worried about their specs , I think the Revolution will be comparable to Xbox 360 at least. My main problem with the Revolution was, where are the games? I would have liked to have seen at least something like Sony's pre-rendered stuff for Revolution games. Nintendo is playing this so close to the vest that they may end up putting people off.
Right now, I get the feeling people are taking a wait and see attitude. If Sony and/or Nintendo deliver on the hope people have for their consoles then 360 could be in trouble. However, if Sony and Nintendo under-deliver or even wait too long to give more details then the Xbox 360 will probably have a huge holiday season.
I am a little concerned about this myself. However, I think the continued sales of the PS2 after the launch of GC and XBox shows that the better library will win out as long as the hardware is comparable.
Revolution will be 2 to 3 times as powerful as GC. PS3 is 12 - 15 times as powerful as PS2. However, if I recall, in shear processing power, the GC was already 2-3 times as powerful as the PS2.
If all this is true, and my mathis correct, then the PS3 would be about 2-3 times as powerful as the Revolution. And the Revolution would be comparable to the Xbox 360. However, with the downloadable games the Revolution would come packaged with a library no one could even touch, assuming older 3rd party games will be playable on the Revolution.
I think that Nintendo might have a good chance of reclaiming some market share with this. Price points will have a lot to do with it and again Nintendo looks to be way ahead of the curve here. If Nintendo is able to stick with their usual price of $199 they will probably be $100-$150 at least below PS3 and Xbox 360, then Sony and MS may get more competition from Nintendo this generation than they bargained for.
The problem is that the concept of a supernatural being begets far more questions than it answers.
Pretty much every hypothesis will do this. There are some which seem faily obvious now. But a hypothesis that tries to answer a well known and grand question will always create more questions.
If you do not believe in a supernatural creator how do you explain your existence? The Big Bang and Evolution? What was there before the Bang? How did it come about? What evidence is there of a Big Bang?
I know that there are many hypothesis out there to answer the questions I have listed. It is just an example. Every hypothesis will raise more questions. It is their nature. I think that is probably the most amazing thing about scientific discovery.
If this were me the first thing I would do would be to download 250 worth of free music of some illegal file sharing network to get my money back.
Yet another way that copyright holders are going to destroy the technology industry.
I was in my local Toys R Us on Friday after the launch. They were practically begging shoppers over the PA to come to the electronics and play the PSP. They said they had several demo units you could play and listed 3 or 4 games they would let you sample. I was in the electronics area for 20 minutes or so after the announcement and no one came to look at it.
I don't think a Christmas release would make a difference for the PSP. At Christmas it will be up against Xbox2 and the buzz about the next gen consoles that E3 is going to generate. The PSPs needs to pick up sales this summer before the next gen rumors and craziness picks up steam. The hardcore would like a PSP and the next gen consoles, but the casual, cash strapped gamer will likely wait for the next big console then shell out practically the same amout for a PSP.
someone worthwhile shares my birthday. Now, I'm off to baskin robbins.
It would be a shame if this sets a precedent of setting legistlation that would seriously stunt the growth of these emerging technologies that should be making communication cheaper and easier, not harder and illegal.
I got news for you pal... the precedent is lready on place. It happens everyday all over the world. Perhaps you have heard of the DMCA, the Induce Act, and the bloated mess that patent and copyright laws are all over the world.
I know that some of these thing have good intentions at heart, but they have seriously overstepped their bounds when they start being used to protect outdated, older technologies that entire industries are based on. The corporations in those industries should grow and adapt or go the way of the cart and buggy.
I must respectfully disagree. Lilo and Stitch was wonderful and not the stock issue Disney movie.
I am sorry but L&S started out to be a good movie but eventually turned into the same story line that they have been rehashing since Beauty & the Beast.
It goes a little something like this: Protagonist must search deep within themselves (usually during a montage) to find that special thing that allows them to stand up to evil/father-figure/society and become a hero.
B&B, Aladin, Hercules, Mulan, L&S, Hunchback, Pocahontas, etc. have all followed this same basic formula of story telling. Now, some of them are better rehashes than others and L&S may have been the best. But that isn't saying much.
Counter that with what Pixar has done with Toy Story, Monsters Inc., Nemo, and Dreamworks with Shrek and Shrek 2 and it is obvious why Disney movies have sucked recently and Pixar and Dreamworks have done well. I am not saying that Pixar and Dreamworks stories are great. But at least when they release an animated movie it isn't the same one that was released last year with a different set of characters.
So let me get this straight. Basically the bet went like this:
... the kettle, damn you're black.
You: "Americans can't be so brain-dead and masochistoc to re-elect Bush."
Friend: "I'll bet you twenty quid they are."
You: "You're on. Now blaze me up another one of those blunts, bra."
Now, explain to me who exactly is brain-dead and masochistic.
Hi, pot? It's me
My cousin and his wife both speak Spaish fluently. They have always spoken English and Spanish in the home. Their children have had no problems learning both languages. The really amazing part to me is that as the kids pick up on the languages they also pick up the context each language applies to. His kids speak spanish in the home, and with their mother's parents, who are Hispanic, but they never speak spanish to me, or their grandpa (my uncle), and our family. They really know which situations each language is appropriate in.
Actually, Hatch staying in office doesn't have a whole lot to do with the fact that he is Mormon. Most of the candidates he runs against each time are also Mormon. I honestly don't know how Hatch has stayed in office. His anti-technology stances baffle me considering that Utah's economy was never stronger than in the late 80/ early 90s when it was a hot bed for software development. Novell and Wordperfect were booming out here. Utah still has a very large tech industry, though it is not what it once was. Interestingly, Hatch seems to pander to the RIAA and MPAA and the like, who economically don't have a huge vested interest in Utah. Hatch doesn't seem to have the interests of his constituents at heart. The guy drives me nuts.
Now, the congressional rep in my district is Chris Cannon and I have found his views on intellectual property, the IT industry, privacy, and the like to be pretty level headed and well thought out. I would love to see him replace Hatch.
When Hatch first won the senate seat some 30 years ago he ran against an incumbent that had held the seat for quite a while. Hatch ran on a slogan against career politicians. Something like:
What do you call a senator who has held his seat for more that 15 years?
You call him home.
Why, o why can't we seem to make that call to Hatch?
Are you concerned that the copyright and patent laws in the country have been used by powerful lobbying groups to stifle competition and the development of technological, scientific and artistic achievement? If so, what are you thoughts on how this problem can be fixed?
It seems to me that the original intent of these laws was to encourage achievements in those areas, but that now, the monetary interests of those who hold existsing copyrights and patents has been used to stifle development of new, competing, and other useful ideas. There has to be a balance between those seeking to protect the ideas they have created, and those seeking to develope new ones. How can that balance be reached?
I doubt that. I read the articles from Gamespot and IGN. Basically, they said that a nintendo rep confirmed that the patent was for a N64DD add on. But if you read the actual patent it is very broad and specifically states that the N644DD system was an example implementation and the technology could be used on any existing gaming system and doesn't have to be an add on. I think that Nintendo is keeping their cards close to their chest on this. I think that Gamepot and IGN dropped the ball. They should have read the patent closer and asked Nintendo some specifc questions.
This is a pretty interesting move by Nintendo. There current stance on online gaming has been ultra-conservative to say the least. It seems like they are really waiting to move on it until they know they are going to make money off of it. However, as someone who has enjoyed Nintendo's franchise for a while this really makes me happy. It means that while publicly Nintendo has been downplaying online gaming, privately they have always had a huge interest in it. I hope that means that in the future Nintendo will be entering the online game market. Thay has always been my biggest gripe with the GC, the complete lack of online gaming. I don't like PSO at all but would love to be able to play MKDD and others online without some nifty hacks like Warp Pipe.
A few interesting thing from the patent. There is no prior art for this from what I can tell. It applies only to console video game machines. It is pretty broad reaching, I don't see how Xbox Live gets out from it currently. The patent specifically mentions the use of a HDD. Maybe that is why Xbox2 isn't going to have an HDD. The filing of the patent gave an example setup with the N64DD with a few add on peripherals but made sure to mention that they didn't have to be add ons. They could be housed in a single machine. The patent also mentions that entire games could be downloaded over the internet. It seems that The Phantom may be in a world of hurt over this. And from what I can tell there is no prior art for this. The patent was filed in '98, way before Xbox Live or PS2 online games, and even before Dreamcast I think.
I think that MS and Sony are going to try to show that their machines are home media entertainment systems, not just video game console machines, to try and wiggle around this.
I don't know how Nintendo is going to use this patent. Theoretically it could give them a huge leg up in the next gen console wars. While online gaming is a a draw for MS and Sony, I don't think it is the deciding factor for buying any console, price is a much bigger consideration I think. Imagine Nintendo being able to affect the price of MS and Sony with the strict licensing agreements they are notorious for. My guess would be that if they try that and are successful (cause ya know MS and Sony are going to dispute it), that MS and Sony will eat the cost themselves, rather than let Nintendo affect their retail price. They already lose money on the console hardware anyway.
I'll bet that Nintendo just sits on it though, my guess is if they try and enforce this patent against MS and Sony, MS and Sony will do likewise to them, and I'm sure they have a few that might be able to stick.
This patent tells me that Nintendo has always had online gaming as a priority even if their public statements say otherwise. Now, that the patent has been approved I hope they make some moves to add online gaming to the GC, or at least make it a big part of the next gen console.