I own two Logitech iFeel force feedback mice (don't bother, they've been discontinued for a while) that would be ideal for something like this. I'd rather use one of those for Minesweeper than an Xbox 360 controller. Unreal Tournament was pretty fun with them. Too bad that more games didn't support it.
Granted I haven't been in the PC gaming scene for a while but I thought that the main draw was things like lots of RAM, decent graphics cards, a hard driver, and its unique keyboard/mouse controllers. Since console gaming has pretty much taken all of those with the exception of the keyboard/mouse controls, PC gaming is much like the Wii; focusing on control rather than specs.
Sticking an Xbox 360 controller into a PC is like sticking a Gamecube controller in a Wii.
What is a baseball bat, Alex? Not all bats have a grip on them.
The Wii remote is designed with a lip on the bottom where the B button is located. Using your index finger you should easily maintain control over the remote. If you can't, then it's your ineptness that is causing the damage and not the safety strap.
Seriously, why don't the sweaty people invest in gloves. Isn't that what the professional players wear?
Super Monkey Ball (original Gamecube?) would not be emulation.
The Wii hardware was designed to be a faster Gamecube which allows those games and APIs to run by simply slowing down the system timing.
Running the Virtual Console games is pure emulation. I'm assuming that it would be very similar to the emulation used in The Legend of Zelda collection and Metroid Prime but cleaned up and a few features like save state added. I just can't bring myself to spend money on games that I've already purchased once.
First, the Wii will play Gamecube games, but it does not have the ports to be able to use the network adapter (for the 6 games that support it) or the Gameboy Player.
Also, the Virtual Console, while nice, is not a replacement for an existing NES/SNES/N64/TG16/Genesis collection. First, you have to purchase *every* game seperately at a cost of $5 to $10. Also, as you mentioned, you will have to deal with Nintendo's slow release schedule. Plus you can only have so many games on the list at once; if you want to have more you will need to delete some to download more. Once you pay for a game, you can download it indefinately.
I haven't had a chance to test out the emulation but I can attest that the wildly tumphed Xbox emulation is really not all it's cracked up to be. Some games play milliseconds off which can cause any timing dependant game to become less playable. Emulation is not the end-all-be-all that some people hope it is.
Easy there old timer. I know how you feel about the classics and I can share your thoughts on how there is some real drek being pumped out of the industry these days. So don't bite my head off when I tell you that you are wrong... or at least a bit misguided. Gaming is far from dead.
Super Mario World and Ecco the Dolphin are classics and are better than many games today, but saying that companies are incapable of producing good games like "back in the day" is unfair. Twilight Princess is a really good game; the kind of thing that makes you want to play it just because it's combat is fun even though it has so many other things going for it. I want to beat the game so I can start it over again except that it would interfere with me playing the other good games that are out right now.
Yes, games today may have characters with well defined fingers and a majestic storyline. Is this so bad? I imagine that you were the type of person who got fed up with the industry in the '90s when they were doing tings like FMV and terrible 3D. I can understand as I've met many people like you, hell, I used to be someone like you. It wasn't until I learned to look for that gem in the rough that I finally learned how to appreciate the modern games as well as the classics.
Take off your rosy colored glasses for a second and remember that there was a lot of drek back in those days too. Super Hydlide? Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle? Anything from LJN? Shaq Fu? Search your feelings Luke, you know it to be true.
Let me switch gears for a second with a true story. My aunt, who was responsible for introducing me to videogames back in '79 with the Bally Professional Arcade really was annoyed with games like Spy Hunter and Pitfall II for the 2600 because they had the nerve to try to include background music. By late 1985 when I showed her Super Mario Bros. for the first time, she had had enough of the industry. There were just too many gimmicks in these new games.
She was a true gamer back before video games were relegated entirely to the domain of teenage boys. The fact that she never gave a real classic like Super Mario Bros. a chance is appaling if you stop to think about it. Don't let this happen to you too.
Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go kill this giant enemy Gohma. Thanks to real time weapon changing I can flip it on it's back and strike the weak point for massive damage!
Sooner or later, all sought after consumer electronics have a nerd porn thread where the device gets undressed down to the bare components. This is/. where nerds congregate so you should not only accept these types of stories but also expect them.
Heck, It'd be news if there wasn't someone taking apart the Wii.
The term "nerd porn" taken from the Apple Product Cycle although it may have originated elsewhere.
Whereas every other video game magazine at the time tried to treat gamers as if they were pre-pubescent boys, NG spoke to readers as if they were intelligent adults, at least most of the time.
And now - The Lame List. Brought to you be America's heavy metal community. My apologies to Almost Live but this list is the real lame thing.
They left out plenty. This list is poorly researched and includes add-ons like the Sega 32X but not the Sega CD, the TurboGrafx CD or the Nintendo 64DD. Why not those? They were just as "lame".
It contains a reference to the licensed 3DO technology in the form of a Panasonic FZ-10 (The FZ-1 was the $700 version). It does not talk about the Nuon DVD chipset. At least the 3DO systems had a few decent titles... all the Nuon had going for it was Tempest 3000.
Are they going for commercial flops? Some of these systems were arguably better than anything else on the market and certainly weren't that lame. The Lynx was in some ways better than home consoles at the time. They might as well have included the PSP.
I wouldn't have put the Saturn on the list for the same reason that I wouldn't put the TurboGrafx (PC Engine) on the list; both were very popular in Japan. The Neo Geo was very popular in the arcades as the MVS (Multi Video System). I would put the SuperGrafx on that list though; only six expensive titles were ever released. It did play PC Engine games though. It also paved the way for the PC-FX which could also be included on a lame list.
Speaking of that, how about things like the LaserActive. Check out those prices: $970 for the main unit and $600 for either a Genesis or TurboGrafx module that will let you play games. It makes the PlayStation 3 look like a bargain!
Props go to them for listing the Action Max. Unfortunately it doesn't look like people ever learn their lesson. Just ask Mattel with their 2006HyperScan game console. You can thank me later for not including a link to their hideous flash based site.
You could even mention computer manufaturers wanting to get into the market. Atari, Apple, and Commodore (twice) have all turned computer systems into crappy consoles.
There are plenty more but I'm not making a list. I'm just pointing out the shortcomings of others.:) Chew on these for a bit, GameDaily.
The site desn't have to be of ill repute in order to cause a risk. Remember the BOFRA/iFrame exploit? This was a case where ad server Falk AG was serving up ads to well known sites such as The Register and Comedy Central. You wouldn't hesitate to go to either of those sites most of the time.
The thing to keep in mind is that any page could be a risk and you must be security concious or face the consequences.
but right now, I only have ~2 windows open since I'm using a laptop. I have no problem opening up much more windows on a real computer.
What difference should a laptop have that would cause you to open less windows than a "real" computer? You should treat a laptop just the same except that it's portable; I would say that not having a working suspend function is limiting your ability to get things accomplished.
I will agree with you about users that close windows before opening new ones. Sadly this is commonplace for both novice users and veteran users. Novices sometimes don't understand the idea of background tasks and veteran users may have trained themselves to close apps to save resources. I've seen quite a few people use desktop shortcuts for all of their applications and don't quite get the minimize function.
It also doesn't help that the dominant OS, Windows XP, still will occasionally hide dialog boxes underneath other windows and these will not show in the taskbar. I've even had dialog boxes hidden underneath the (MS Office) application that spawned it and it wouldn't let me do anything including minimizing the window until I closed the dialog box. This can be a major annoyance for people who know what's going on; I can't imagine what sort of usability nightmare this would be for the beginning multitasker.
An easy rule of thumb that I've noticed is that most non-multitaskers will auto-hide their taskbar. After all, the taskbar really isn't as useful if you are only performing one task.
The console is less than a month away (at least here in the states) and the rumors are still flying.
The price will drop to $199 (much like the N64 did right before launch) It will include Wii Play in the box (along with Wii Sports) It will have DVD functionality (not like this couldn't be added through software later) There will be free Virtual Console games for those early adopters (much like free Opera) The Wii-mote will have a microphone in it and you can use the console for VoIP
These are all very good and like most good rumors, they are all unsubstantiated. I just hope to be able to pick one up on launch day.
Oh, OK. I've got one rumor that I've come up with: The Wii will have iPod integration by slapping an iPod dock to one of the USB ports in back. This will not only give it media center functionality but also a hard drive for storing game saves along with the internal and SD card RAM. They are still in talks with Apple about licensing Fairplay to make this all work. I have absolutely no proof to back this up but it sounds good, doesn't it?:)
Sure, it's neat - giant touchscreen with multiple points of contact and gestures that zoom and pan.
Yes, it's neat. Hey, we are geeks so that's the point!
If you want to see some applications that can benefit from it immediately, check out this video that shows both Google Earth and Warcraft III being run using this multi touch interface combined with voice recognition.
I've been using a multi touch interface for over a year now via my PowerBook's touchpad and iScroll2. Let me tell you that panning around applications by touching two fingers to the pad becomes second nature rather quickly and will make you very excited about this new technology.
I agree with the virtual keyboard problem. RSI would be worse on a system like that, not to mention the fact that touch typing would be near impossible due to no helper bumps for the F and J keys to tell your index fingers where home row is. I guess it doesn't matter since you would still be looking at the screen while typing but that has been my concern for other setups that have been pushing virtual (and usually projected) keyboards.
As for Jeff Han calling it a "no interface" interface and then proceeding on touching icons at the top of the screen... well he is looking at this as being a revolutionary way of interacting with a computer. In truth, this can be used right now to bring us an evolutionary interface that will make people's computing easier, more intuitive, and more productive.
And as geeks, we should always be impressed by that.
For 32-bit versions of Vista, it'll be mostly as you were on security Translation: You're screwed! Upgrade to 64 bit ASAP (P.S. some of your software won't work)
Defender has already become the most popular download ever from Microsoft If I was MS, I certainly wouldn't brag about anti-malware being the most popular application.
referring to third parties being able to patch 64 bit Vista - "It's just not the way the box was designed...we're putting a stop to that." Great. What happens when MS doesn't quickly put out a patch... no choice on using the good samaritan patches anymore, you just have to sit and twiddle your thumbs.
referring to ever being able to secure 32 bit Windows - "That train has left the station." I think it's more like the Windows train has left the station. Why bother to convert to 64 bit Windows? Switch to something else as soon as possible.
If Apple really had nothing against free formats, then the iPod and iTunes would play Ogg Vorbis, Theora, and FLAC formats. I know that some of the current iPods are capable of doing Vorbis and FLAC so why don't they add the feature as part of the next bi-monthly iPod Updater.
As for iTunes? Well there is no excuse for them not to officially include support. They could even just use this package if they are lazy. I honestly don't see why they don't officially include it. I mean there was a recent update for Garage Band that was 25MB just to include support for Aperature 1.5; can't iTunes have another 1.6MB of somewhat useful bloat?
Apple, I and many other people are your market for the iTV. Make sure that you include support for free codecs.
It used to be that if you wanted to play any game you merely had to purchase every console. Yes, it was expensive but we did it for the exclusive games that were only available on a single system.
Now they are trying to make it so that if you want to play every bit of a cross platform game you have to buy multiple copies? Screw that. When Soul Calibur II came out with exclusive characters on each system, I responded by not buying the damn game. Here it looks like Rockstar is trying to generate artificial demand for downloadable content; something else designed to extract money from gamers.
Yea, yea, feed me the line about games costing so much money to produce now. I don't care. Movies cost several million dollars to produce and you can buy the DVD for a single Andrew Jackson. Gamers are being charged three times that much for something that only cost a fraction of the price. Yes I understand that there are other factors here... I'm not that dense, it's just that they don't need to nickel-and-dime us afterwards.
I'm tired of companies raising prices and then charging more for the "privelidge" of playing online. I'm tired of companies cramming questionable tech down our throats that only raises cost and causes delays. I'm tired of games that are strictly service based even though you still have to pay full retail price. I'm tired of companies charging me yet again for games that I already own; I mean I already have twocopies of Super Mario World, twocopies of Super Mario 64, and threefrickingcopies of The Legend of Zelda and for only 23 more dollars, I can play them all on one console. Hooray for shovelware.
Yes I'm ranting. Sorry about that. The whole thing just makes me wonder why I play games anymore. Can I at least get an "amen"?
I'm a game player that can go from zero to crazy psycho bitch in under 4.8 seconds of video game frustration. I am pretty rough on my game controllers sometimes but have only ever succeeded in breaking a single controller: a Dual Shock 2 that literally shattered when I smashed it against the floor. For reference, it was because of those ambulance missions in GTAIII and I was thankful that I did not injure myself as well as the controller.
If I can break a PS2 controller, then I have no doubt that the 'already described as flimsy' PS3 SIXAXIS would shatter just as easily. No other controller has ever shattered during my abuse; I have two controllers that rattle (Genesis 3 button and an orange Gamecube), a Sidewinder gamepad with teeth marks (don't ask) and a scuff on my furniture where an Xbox Controller S proved that it was stronger. I've even had to track down errant keys and pop them back on the keyboard after a dreaded WoW pick up group went awry. Even the original Playstation controllers could take some punishment as they bear their scars but still work. Somewhere along the lines Sony just switched to brittle plastic.
Seriously, I'm not that strong. I imagine that the stereotypical Slashdot loaf could beat me at arm-wrestling. If Sony's controllers can't stand up to my abuse then they sure as hell won't survive a testosterone addled teen's. I will reserve my final judgement until I can mangle both a Wii Remote and a SIXAXIS first hand, but I'm just saying that it doesn't look good.
Oh and I have been trying to control myself. You know you have a problem when your boyfriend refuses to play Street Fighter with you because he doesn't want to upset you. I can be scary sometimes.
Sony isn't going to use force feedback vibration because of their suit with Immersion so calling it the anything-shock without changing the feedback to being an actual shock would be out of the question.
They also saw the buzz that Nintendo was creating with their accelerometer based revolution. So a quick implementation of this into their current controller designs gives them a new tout-able feature (ooh... the Sixaxis) and a lame excuse about why they can't implement vibration. Sorry, we had to remove vibration from the controller because it interferes with the motion sensor despite the fact that the Wii-mote will have both. Actually the Wii remote can rumble both sides giving it two vibration motors as opposed to just one in the Gamecube; maybe they should call it a "DualShockWiiMote":)
Anyway, I'm glad that Sony was able to quickly implement accelerometers to make the Sixaxis controller. I would've hated to hear the alternatives coming from Sony's marketing department...
"Bundled with the Playstation 3 is the exclusive DodecaClick3 controller. It has a whopping twelve buttons which is much more than at least one of our competitors. Imagine the games that can be created tot take advantage of this."
Although now I kind of do like the idea of kids yelling "Mommy! Mommy! I want a DodecaClick!" Hold on a sec while I trademark that...:)
Hmm... nice. I like the fact that the bottom/side vent is essentially blocked off when using the stand.
Anyway, since you seem to know so much about the console that you can refer to others as "truly uninformed", maybe you can answer this question for me.
Will the Wii be able to connect up to a WPA encrypted wireless network or is Nintendo still insisting on using WEP like with the DS? I couldn't find mention of that anywhere.
I can't even find out if the nunchuk part of the controller(s) will be included with the system or if it will be completely optional. How about if the Gamecube controller can be used to play Virtual Console games in lieu of the Classic controller add-on. Can you answer these?
Maybe Im just expecting too much, after all this is/.;)
I just checked my PS2 copy of the game. It's 4.2GB (technically 4,499,169,280 bytes). 2.8GB of this is the audio. The Xbox and PC versions should actually be smaller due to the fact that they use compressed audio files instead of streaming XA.
I remember having a discussion many years ago about this and how it would be technically possible to have the (~3GB PS2) GTA3 on the Gamecube despite the 1.5GB discs by just compressing the audio. Low and behold the Xbox and PC versions come out under a gig.
Hell, World of Warcraft is less than 6 gigs... small enough to easily fit on one dual layer DVD. If you have more content than can fit on a single DVD (DL) than use the hard drive and use multiple discs...
So will someone at Sony please tell me why BluRay is a necessity for this generation.
Re:Yes, but they are now shipping!
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I own two Logitech iFeel force feedback mice (don't bother, they've been discontinued for a while) that would be ideal for something like this. I'd rather use one of those for Minesweeper than an Xbox 360 controller. Unreal Tournament was pretty fun with them. Too bad that more games didn't support it.
Granted I haven't been in the PC gaming scene for a while but I thought that the main draw was things like lots of RAM, decent graphics cards, a hard driver, and its unique keyboard/mouse controllers. Since console gaming has pretty much taken all of those with the exception of the keyboard/mouse controls, PC gaming is much like the Wii; focusing on control rather than specs.
Sticking an Xbox 360 controller into a PC is like sticking a Gamecube controller in a Wii.
What is a baseball bat, Alex? Not all bats have a grip on them.
The Wii remote is designed with a lip on the bottom where the B button is located. Using your index finger you should easily maintain control over the remote. If you can't, then it's your ineptness that is causing the damage and not the safety strap.
Seriously, why don't the sweaty people invest in gloves. Isn't that what the professional players wear?
Sweet zombie Jesus, we're back!
Super Monkey Ball (original Gamecube?) would not be emulation.
The Wii hardware was designed to be a faster Gamecube which allows those games and APIs to run by simply slowing down the system timing.
Running the Virtual Console games is pure emulation. I'm assuming that it would be very similar to the emulation used in The Legend of Zelda collection and Metroid Prime but cleaned up and a few features like save state added. I just can't bring myself to spend money on games that I've already purchased once.
No it doesn't.
First, the Wii will play Gamecube games, but it does not have the ports to be able to use the network adapter (for the 6 games that support it) or the Gameboy Player.
Also, the Virtual Console, while nice, is not a replacement for an existing NES/SNES/N64/TG16/Genesis collection. First, you have to purchase *every* game seperately at a cost of $5 to $10. Also, as you mentioned, you will have to deal with Nintendo's slow release schedule. Plus you can only have so many games on the list at once; if you want to have more you will need to delete some to download more. Once you pay for a game, you can download it indefinately.
I haven't had a chance to test out the emulation but I can attest that the wildly tumphed Xbox emulation is really not all it's cracked up to be. Some games play milliseconds off which can cause any timing dependant game to become less playable. Emulation is not the end-all-be-all that some people hope it is.
Easy there old timer. I know how you feel about the classics and I can share your thoughts on how there is some real drek being pumped out of the industry these days. So don't bite my head off when I tell you that you are wrong... or at least a bit misguided. Gaming is far from dead.
Super Mario World and Ecco the Dolphin are classics and are better than many games today, but saying that companies are incapable of producing good games like "back in the day" is unfair. Twilight Princess is a really good game; the kind of thing that makes you want to play it just because it's combat is fun even though it has so many other things going for it. I want to beat the game so I can start it over again except that it would interfere with me playing the other good games that are out right now.
Yes, games today may have characters with well defined fingers and a majestic storyline. Is this so bad? I imagine that you were the type of person who got fed up with the industry in the '90s when they were doing tings like FMV and terrible 3D. I can understand as I've met many people like you, hell, I used to be someone like you. It wasn't until I learned to look for that gem in the rough that I finally learned how to appreciate the modern games as well as the classics.
Take off your rosy colored glasses for a second and remember that there was a lot of drek back in those days too. Super Hydlide? Alex Kidd in Enchanted Castle? Anything from LJN? Shaq Fu? Search your feelings Luke, you know it to be true.
Let me switch gears for a second with a true story. My aunt, who was responsible for introducing me to videogames back in '79 with the Bally Professional Arcade really was annoyed with games like Spy Hunter and Pitfall II for the 2600 because they had the nerve to try to include background music. By late 1985 when I showed her Super Mario Bros. for the first time, she had had enough of the industry. There were just too many gimmicks in these new games.
She was a true gamer back before video games were relegated entirely to the domain of teenage boys. The fact that she never gave a real classic like Super Mario Bros. a chance is appaling if you stop to think about it. Don't let this happen to you too.
Now, if you'll excuse me I have to go kill this giant enemy Gohma. Thanks to real time weapon changing I can flip it on it's back and strike the weak point for massive damage!
Sooner or later, all sought after consumer electronics have a nerd porn thread where the device gets undressed down to the bare components. This is /. where nerds congregate so you should not only accept these types of stories but also expect them.
Heck, It'd be news if there wasn't someone taking apart the Wii.
The term "nerd porn" taken from the Apple Product Cycle although it may have originated elsewhere.
Gaming magazines died for me when they discontinued Next Generation magazine.
Whereas every other video game magazine at the time tried to treat gamers as if they were pre-pubescent boys, NG spoke to readers as if they were intelligent adults, at least most of the time.
And now - The Lame List. Brought to you be America's heavy metal community. My apologies to Almost Live but this list is the real lame thing.
:) Chew on these for a bit, GameDaily.
They left out plenty. This list is poorly researched and includes add-ons like the Sega 32X but not the Sega CD, the TurboGrafx CD or the Nintendo 64DD. Why not those? They were just as "lame".
It contains a reference to the licensed 3DO technology in the form of a Panasonic FZ-10 (The FZ-1 was the $700 version). It does not talk about the Nuon DVD chipset. At least the 3DO systems had a few decent titles... all the Nuon had going for it was Tempest 3000.
Are they going for commercial flops? Some of these systems were arguably better than anything else on the market and certainly weren't that lame. The Lynx was in some ways better than home consoles at the time. They might as well have included the PSP.
I wouldn't have put the Saturn on the list for the same reason that I wouldn't put the TurboGrafx (PC Engine) on the list; both were very popular in Japan. The Neo Geo was very popular in the arcades as the MVS (Multi Video System). I would put the SuperGrafx on that list though; only six expensive titles were ever released. It did play PC Engine games though. It also paved the way for the PC-FX which could also be included on a lame list.
Speaking of that, how about things like the LaserActive. Check out those prices: $970 for the main unit and $600 for either a Genesis or TurboGrafx module that will let you play games. It makes the PlayStation 3 look like a bargain!
Props go to them for listing the Action Max. Unfortunately it doesn't look like people ever learn their lesson. Just ask Mattel with their 2006 HyperScan game console. You can thank me later for not including a link to their hideous flash based site.
You could even mention computer manufaturers wanting to get into the market. Atari, Apple, and Commodore (twice) have all turned computer systems into crappy consoles.
There are plenty more but I'm not making a list. I'm just pointing out the shortcomings of others.
The site desn't have to be of ill repute in order to cause a risk. Remember the BOFRA/iFrame exploit? This was a case where ad server Falk AG was serving up ads to well known sites such as The Register and Comedy Central. You wouldn't hesitate to go to either of those sites most of the time.
The thing to keep in mind is that any page could be a risk and you must be security concious or face the consequences.
but right now, I only have ~2 windows open since I'm using a laptop. I have no problem opening up much more windows on a real computer.
What difference should a laptop have that would cause you to open less windows than a "real" computer? You should treat a laptop just the same except that it's portable; I would say that not having a working suspend function is limiting your ability to get things accomplished.
I will agree with you about users that close windows before opening new ones. Sadly this is commonplace for both novice users and veteran users. Novices sometimes don't understand the idea of background tasks and veteran users may have trained themselves to close apps to save resources. I've seen quite a few people use desktop shortcuts for all of their applications and don't quite get the minimize function.
It also doesn't help that the dominant OS, Windows XP, still will occasionally hide dialog boxes underneath other windows and these will not show in the taskbar. I've even had dialog boxes hidden underneath the (MS Office) application that spawned it and it wouldn't let me do anything including minimizing the window until I closed the dialog box. This can be a major annoyance for people who know what's going on; I can't imagine what sort of usability nightmare this would be for the beginning multitasker.
An easy rule of thumb that I've noticed is that most non-multitaskers will auto-hide their taskbar. After all, the taskbar really isn't as useful if you are only performing one task.
The console is less than a month away (at least here in the states) and the rumors are still flying.
:)
The price will drop to $199 (much like the N64 did right before launch)
It will include Wii Play in the box (along with Wii Sports)
It will have DVD functionality (not like this couldn't be added through software later)
There will be free Virtual Console games for those early adopters (much like free Opera)
The Wii-mote will have a microphone in it and you can use the console for VoIP
These are all very good and like most good rumors, they are all unsubstantiated. I just hope to be able to pick one up on launch day.
Oh, OK. I've got one rumor that I've come up with: The Wii will have iPod integration by slapping an iPod dock to one of the USB ports in back. This will not only give it media center functionality but also a hard drive for storing game saves along with the internal and SD card RAM. They are still in talks with Apple about licensing Fairplay to make this all work. I have absolutely no proof to back this up but it sounds good, doesn't it?
Sure, it's neat - giant touchscreen with multiple points of contact and gestures that zoom and pan.
Yes, it's neat. Hey, we are geeks so that's the point!
If you want to see some applications that can benefit from it immediately, check out this video that shows both Google Earth and Warcraft III being run using this multi touch interface combined with voice recognition.
I've been using a multi touch interface for over a year now via my PowerBook's touchpad and iScroll2. Let me tell you that panning around applications by touching two fingers to the pad becomes second nature rather quickly and will make you very excited about this new technology.
I agree with the virtual keyboard problem. RSI would be worse on a system like that, not to mention the fact that touch typing would be near impossible due to no helper bumps for the F and J keys to tell your index fingers where home row is. I guess it doesn't matter since you would still be looking at the screen while typing but that has been my concern for other setups that have been pushing virtual (and usually projected) keyboards.
As for Jeff Han calling it a "no interface" interface and then proceeding on touching icons at the top of the screen... well he is looking at this as being a revolutionary way of interacting with a computer. In truth, this can be used right now to bring us an evolutionary interface that will make people's computing easier, more intuitive, and more productive.
And as geeks, we should always be impressed by that.
Underneath the cake is the EULA that starts with:
By consuming this cake, you agree to the following terms in the cake end user license agreement (EULA)...
For 32-bit versions of Vista, it'll be mostly as you were on security
Translation: You're screwed! Upgrade to 64 bit ASAP (P.S. some of your software won't work)
Defender has already become the most popular download ever from Microsoft
If I was MS, I certainly wouldn't brag about anti-malware being the most popular application.
referring to third parties being able to patch 64 bit Vista - "It's just not the way the box was designed...we're putting a stop to that."
Great. What happens when MS doesn't quickly put out a patch... no choice on using the good samaritan patches anymore, you just have to sit and twiddle your thumbs.
referring to ever being able to secure 32 bit Windows - "That train has left the station."
I think it's more like the Windows train has left the station. Why bother to convert to 64 bit Windows? Switch to something else as soon as possible.
If Apple really had nothing against free formats, then the iPod and iTunes would play Ogg Vorbis, Theora, and FLAC formats. I know that some of the current iPods are capable of doing Vorbis and FLAC so why don't they add the feature as part of the next bi-monthly iPod Updater.
As for iTunes? Well there is no excuse for them not to officially include support. They could even just use this package if they are lazy. I honestly don't see why they don't officially include it. I mean there was a recent update for Garage Band that was 25MB just to include support for Aperature 1.5; can't iTunes have another 1.6MB of somewhat useful bloat?
Apple, I and many other people are your market for the iTV. Make sure that you include support for free codecs.
It used to be that if you wanted to play any game you merely had to purchase every console. Yes, it was expensive but we did it for the exclusive games that were only available on a single system.
Now they are trying to make it so that if you want to play every bit of a cross platform game you have to buy multiple copies? Screw that. When Soul Calibur II came out with exclusive characters on each system, I responded by not buying the damn game. Here it looks like Rockstar is trying to generate artificial demand for downloadable content; something else designed to extract money from gamers.
Yea, yea, feed me the line about games costing so much money to produce now. I don't care. Movies cost several million dollars to produce and you can buy the DVD for a single Andrew Jackson. Gamers are being charged three times that much for something that only cost a fraction of the price. Yes I understand that there are other factors here... I'm not that dense, it's just that they don't need to nickel-and-dime us afterwards.
I'm tired of companies raising prices and then charging more for the "privelidge" of playing online. I'm tired of companies cramming questionable tech down our throats that only raises cost and causes delays. I'm tired of games that are strictly service based even though you still have to pay full retail price. I'm tired of companies charging me yet again for games that I already own; I mean I already have two copies of Super Mario World, two copies of Super Mario 64, and three fricking copies of The Legend of Zelda and for only 23 more dollars, I can play them all on one console. Hooray for shovelware.
Yes I'm ranting. Sorry about that. The whole thing just makes me wonder why I play games anymore. Can I at least get an "amen"?
Do you have a better suggestion?
/.
Well duh! Our only course of action is to bitch about it on
Of course this now gives me some ammo against the Linux+nVidia fans I personally know. As Nelson Muntz would say: "Ha ha".
I'm a game player that can go from zero to crazy psycho bitch in under 4.8 seconds of video game frustration. I am pretty rough on my game controllers sometimes but have only ever succeeded in breaking a single controller: a Dual Shock 2 that literally shattered when I smashed it against the floor. For reference, it was because of those ambulance missions in GTAIII and I was thankful that I did not injure myself as well as the controller.
If I can break a PS2 controller, then I have no doubt that the 'already described as flimsy' PS3 SIXAXIS would shatter just as easily. No other controller has ever shattered during my abuse; I have two controllers that rattle (Genesis 3 button and an orange Gamecube), a Sidewinder gamepad with teeth marks (don't ask) and a scuff on my furniture where an Xbox Controller S proved that it was stronger. I've even had to track down errant keys and pop them back on the keyboard after a dreaded WoW pick up group went awry. Even the original Playstation controllers could take some punishment as they bear their scars but still work. Somewhere along the lines Sony just switched to brittle plastic.
Seriously, I'm not that strong. I imagine that the stereotypical Slashdot loaf could beat me at arm-wrestling. If Sony's controllers can't stand up to my abuse then they sure as hell won't survive a testosterone addled teen's. I will reserve my final judgement until I can mangle both a Wii Remote and a SIXAXIS first hand, but I'm just saying that it doesn't look good.
Oh and I have been trying to control myself. You know you have a problem when your boyfriend refuses to play Street Fighter with you because he doesn't want to upset you. I can be scary sometimes.
#20 on the list is Panzer Dragoon Saga which is one of the finest RPGs ever made. Other rare post-NES classics that need to be rereleased include:
:(
Sapphire for the PC Engine which is so rare that counterfeits sell for over $60. The ever-popular Akumajo Dracula X: Chi no Rondo is another great PC Engine game. Besides the previously mentioned PDS, the Saturn also had Shining Force III and Radiant Silvergun.
There are plenty of classics out there that are just so hard to get a copy of these days.
Sony isn't going to use force feedback vibration because of their suit with Immersion so calling it the anything-shock without changing the feedback to being an actual shock would be out of the question.
:)
:)
They also saw the buzz that Nintendo was creating with their accelerometer based revolution. So a quick implementation of this into their current controller designs gives them a new tout-able feature (ooh... the Sixaxis) and a lame excuse about why they can't implement vibration. Sorry, we had to remove vibration from the controller because it interferes with the motion sensor despite the fact that the Wii-mote will have both. Actually the Wii remote can rumble both sides giving it two vibration motors as opposed to just one in the Gamecube; maybe they should call it a "DualShockWiiMote"
Anyway, I'm glad that Sony was able to quickly implement accelerometers to make the Sixaxis controller. I would've hated to hear the alternatives coming from Sony's marketing department...
"Bundled with the Playstation 3 is the exclusive DodecaClick3 controller. It has a whopping twelve buttons which is much more than at least one of our competitors. Imagine the games that can be created tot take advantage of this."
Although now I kind of do like the idea of kids yelling "Mommy! Mommy! I want a DodecaClick!" Hold on a sec while I trademark that...
Hmm... nice. I like the fact that the bottom/side vent is essentially blocked off when using the stand.
/. ;)
Anyway, since you seem to know so much about the console that you can refer to others as "truly uninformed", maybe you can answer this question for me.
Will the Wii be able to connect up to a WPA encrypted wireless network or is Nintendo still insisting on using WEP like with the DS? I couldn't find mention of that anywhere.
I can't even find out if the nunchuk part of the controller(s) will be included with the system or if it will be completely optional. How about if the Gamecube controller can be used to play Virtual Console games in lieu of the Classic controller add-on. Can you answer these?
Maybe Im just expecting too much, after all this is
Now that i've provided pics of KDE, you provide pics of your wife ;o)
I'm a woman and that sort of relationship is illegal where I live. So correct the law first and then I'll oblige!
I just checked my PS2 copy of the game. It's 4.2GB (technically 4,499,169,280 bytes). 2.8GB of this is the audio. The Xbox and PC versions should actually be smaller due to the fact that they use compressed audio files instead of streaming XA.
I remember having a discussion many years ago about this and how it would be technically possible to have the (~3GB PS2) GTA3 on the Gamecube despite the 1.5GB discs by just compressing the audio. Low and behold the Xbox and PC versions come out under a gig.
Hell, World of Warcraft is less than 6 gigs... small enough to easily fit on one dual layer DVD. If you have more content than can fit on a single DVD (DL) than use the hard drive and use multiple discs...
So will someone at Sony please tell me why BluRay is a necessity for this generation.
Get yours now from petsovernight.com.