Wouldn't surprise me, although considering how often the boxes seem to break down/not work (as reported by others), stocking up may not be enough to prevent the roll-out for long.:)
Note that many of the PS3s went to people who camped for them at launch. I think it is a good bet that these were gamers, not movie buffs. People that eager for a movie player would already have been in the 25k who bought stand-alone players.
Not necessarily true. Consider that a stand-alone player is more than a PS3. I know of a least one (anecdotal tale), where a person I stood in line with told me that all the doctors in the hospital where she works bought PS3s to use as Blu-Ray players. Also, it might be easier to convince a spouse that you want to spend money for a console (hey hon, it just came out, its spanking new, AND it will let us play Hi-Def movies on that new HDTV we bought for the holidays), rather than a standalone player (what do you mean, we already have a DVD player?).:)
Not saying your wrong and that some of the PS3 players aren't going to even bother with Blu-Ray in the near term, but a fair number of them might at least give it a look.
Sony SHIPPED one million players, but a) lots of those are still on shelves, b) lots of those will never be used to play a movie, and c) most of the people who have a PS3 do not have a HD display. Also as a contributing factor, d) HD movies cost more.
Not only are all 1,000,000 PS3s not in the hands of consumers, but lots of those consumers give not one tenth of one fuck about HD video.
a) I find it hard to believe that stores would re-order units if they were still sitting on shelves, so while I will grant you the number might be a bit high, even knocking off 200,000 (a very generous number for how many could be sitting on shelves), that still leaves 800,000 units out there.
b) Possibly true, but irrelevant. The Blu-Ray consortium only has to present numbers of potential users to Movie Studios to say why they should support their format instead. This is akin to arguing that lots of DVD-players are bought for children, so the adult industry should stop making Porn DVDs. The players themselves are the potential market numbers. The actual users are less relevant, especially in helping to decide this format war.
c) Again, Possibly true. See above, and then consider it from the movie studios perspective. At some point in the next few years (assuming congress doesn't let it be pushed back again), Digital TV is going to be the only choice. HDTV will be the norm. If you already own a PS3, you already have a player once you do get an HDTV X years down the road. This would be another reason for a studio to support that format, because of the number of "potential" players.
d) Yeah, and DVDs also cost more than VHS tapes when they came out. Now you can walk into blockbuster and buy 3 for $20. Wait long enough and you'll see the same thing with Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.
Exactly. The comparison to the iPod is very apropos considering the glossy white finish both share.
It seems at this point, that popular perception is that the Wii is a cultural phenomenon. This alone will probably drive sales ("everyone loves it, everyone wants one" stories keep showing up on-line vs. the XBox or PS3 which are aiming more at the traditional gaming market)
Just as an FYI.... The wii does look interesting and I might get one at some point, but chose to go with the PS3 for now (mostly due to the game lineup).
Oh, and I didn't post anonymously, either time, nice Troll though.
I wasn't disagreeing that Component or HDMI cables were a separate purchase. I was disagreeing that they cost $60 (or $100 as Monster and BestBuy would have you believe).
$30 cables work just fine, and are easy to find on-line, from reputable e-retailers (would that be e-tailers?).
From a gameplay/memories standpoint? Not at all. My entertainment has no price limit. I have a vast amount of very fond memories playing videogames.
From a monetary standpoint? Yes, it is a bad thing.
It all depends on what you choose to spend your "entertainment budget" on.
To me the extra $100 (or $200) is a one time expense that can be accumulated over the course of the unit. I plan on watching HD movies, and much prefer to watch them at home than in the theaters, mostly for cost reasons. A typical theater around here charges ~$11 per person, so buying $20 DVDs, or Blu-Ray movies is almost as cheap as watching them on the "big screen" with the wife. For the price of us going to the movies 5 times, I can watch much higher quality movies at home, as well as play my existing catalog of PS2 games, without keeping a PS2 around.... still not seeing the problem.
Yes, but if the PS3s were the problem, we'd be hearing about it from more than just Westinghouse owners.
At BEST its something in the combination of the two (Westinghouse not being quick enough on the reply and Sony not allowing any leeway in waiting for the reply).
Tacking on the price of the HD-DVD attachment and then saying "See!? XBox costs just as much as the PS3!!" is pretty dishonest.
I disagree. The point I made further down was that the PS3 is a great valued package, even before a price drop, if you willing/able to take advantage of what its offering.
If you aren't, then you're right, for you, its a non-factor.
If you ARE looking at high-dev video players, then it does factor into the value (and the cost).
HDMI is an industry standard connector. Go to www.newegg.com and you can find a cable for $30, including shipping and tax that works just as well as the "Monster Cables".
Nice of Sony to include them in both the 20GB and 60GB models.
While I will readily admit that the DS has outsold the PSP, saying the PSP is "Far Behind" is not exactly fair.
Sony has managed to do what no one else has since the Game Boy was introduced in 1989, make a competing Handheld. It might not hold as much market share as the DS, but its not like comparing the marketshare for the Zune versus iPod.
Really? 'round here its the opposite. Everywhere I go I see Wiis sitting on the shelves, and they don't have a PS3 in stock. Pity your place and mine can't swap their stock around.
Considering how well the PS2 did in the previous generation, there are lots of people that enjoyed the games they got on it and have fond memories of the PS2. Not everyone has jumped onto the next-gen bandwagon and gotten a 360. The majority of the people out there will buy one system for the generation and call it quits.
"... it's an overpriced ps2 with 360 graphics."
So in light of what I said... is this necessarily a bad thing?
EGM also compared the PS3's bundled Blu-Ray drive vs. the XBox360's add-on HD-DVD drive.
They found that the Blu-Ray movies output looked top-notch, while the HD-DVD movies looked grainy and poor quality. (they mention something along the lines of "You get what you pay for.") Toss in the HD-DVD add on (that doesn't seem to work so well), and the price goes up another $200 which puts it in line with the PS3, except the XBox360+HD-DVD drive is bigger, doesn't have an HDMI connector, has a smaller HardDrive, and the XBox360 won't be using the add-on drive for games, so developers couldn't take advantage of the space if they wanted to.
The PS3 gave a lot of people a severe case of Sticker Shock, but its a good value for the money if you can use what it has to offer:
1) Next-Gen console (not everyone already owns an XBox360, some of us were perfectly happy coasting along with a PS2... I wonder how many are STILL doing that?). I feel equally strong about my hatred of MicroSoft as most PS3 bashers seem to feel about Sony. I also think the PS3 provides a better technical solution which appeals to me as a software engineer.
2) Backward compatibility for most PS1 and PS2 games (see #1, and note the overwhelming best seller of the last generation).
3) NextGen DVD player w/Blu-Ray. hey, it also plays DVDs, so think of it as a drop in replacement for your PS2 or stand alone DVD player.
4) PlayStation Network for PSP download titles. While the Nintendo DS sells amazing numbers, some of us prefer the games available on the PSP. "Cheap" "Fun" Titles that we can slap on it can be a major plus for the daily commute.
[I'd spend more time with my wife...]..but can she run Linux?
Yes... you just have to leave her a pre-built hardware platform, install media, detailed instructions, and a contact number for support in case she hits an unforeseen snag.
Re:So...Is The QT Flaw the Only Notable Bug?
on
Apple Responds to MOAB
·
· Score: 2, Funny
I'm told he's the irreplaceable core of Apple inc, so I guess he's neither a bug nor a feature; he's Apple's Internet Explorer.
So what you're saying is, you don't want to use him all the time, otherwise you'll end up in a world of hurt, but every now and then there is a site you just have to trot him out for?
The "automatic firmware upgrades" was the way it was explained to me from a friend who owned one, and I had little reason to doubt it, since it made sense from Nintendos "we'll take care of you" design perspective.
I don't own a DS myself, so I'll happily believe otherwise if you tell me.:)
Actually there is a "trivial" way to handle this that is already in use. Include the flash update on those disks that require it.
Microsoft Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and Sony PS3 games already do this (although Nintendo is the only one that hides the fact that it updating the system from the user).
That way, IF you have a title, that needs a newer encryption module available, even at 13K feet.... of course that requires that either all manufacturers can take the same code, or there is some way to include updates for all known players on the disk, something the game systems don't have to deal with.
Yes. Each ditro has its own repositories with their own way of doing things. This isn't so bad for a technical user, but once you loose a bit of technical expertise your user base can be confused between distros, and with keeping things straight. For your average Mom and Pop (Jane and Joe Sixpack?) using apt-get, or rpm, can be almost as bad as compiling from source.
This seems to be the equivalent of Perl's CPAN for Linux, combined with Download.com (for ratings and reviews), with a pretty GUI thrown on the ability to also offer Commercial Software through the same interface.
When Jane and Joe set their new computer, and want to get Firefox (they know its good and all, since they're "techie" friends all rave about it), its nice to go to one place to install (presumably with no hassle or fuss. Likewise when they want to play the DVD of their god-childs play on their computer, they can go to the same place, give their Credit Card info (assuming its not on file I would guess), and download a DVD player, again from the same place. All through a GUI that users can drive.
I'm not sure if their software fulfills on this promise (I haven't personally tried it), but if they can its a HUGE step toward making Linux accessible to the masses.
Not make your mom's head explode when you show her Linux? At least it sounds like their goal is to make Linux more user-friendly. Also, it means that if a commercial software developer wants to make a program for Linux, they can just dump it to CNR instead of making a.deb, a.rpm, a.tar.gz, etc, and hope Linux users show up to their website.
Exactly. This could be huge for lowering the barrier for installing programs (both on a technical level, and across flavors). A few more announcements along these lines, and we *might* just have a "year of Linux on the Desktop" yet:)
The only fix to this would be what a poster on that forum mentioned wouldn't it? You rely on a piece of silicon you control to do all the decoding and such, which would require a BluRay player card or something. You'd have to basically get rid of software players.
Almost right. Dedicated silicon would be one way.
Besides that, the only OTHER option would be for the entire system to be "secure" through things like so called "Trusted Computing". In parituclar check out the section on Memory Curtaining.
You'll notice that in this case, "Trusted Computing" has nothing to do with the User trusting the platform, but rather with the Media Companies Trusting the system to look after their interests above that of the users.
Slashdot Mirror
Wouldn't surprise me, although considering how often the boxes seem to break down/not work (as reported by others), stocking up may not be enough to prevent the roll-out for long. :)
Sure you can. Cable-Cards into a TV of Series3 TiVo.
:)
Mine is working just fine without any need for an HD-DVR from TimeWarner.
In fact, since they have a shortage, I feel altruistic for helping lower the demand for their crappy HD-DVRs.
Not necessarily true. Consider that a stand-alone player is more than a PS3. I know of a least one (anecdotal tale), where a person I stood in line with told me that all the doctors in the hospital where she works bought PS3s to use as Blu-Ray players. Also, it might be easier to convince a spouse that you want to spend money for a console (hey hon, it just came out, its spanking new, AND it will let us play Hi-Def movies on that new HDTV we bought for the holidays), rather than a standalone player (what do you mean, we already have a DVD player?).
Not saying your wrong and that some of the PS3 players aren't going to even bother with Blu-Ray in the near term, but a fair number of them might at least give it a look.
a) I find it hard to believe that stores would re-order units if they were still sitting on shelves, so while I will grant you the number might be a bit high, even knocking off 200,000 (a very generous number for how many could be sitting on shelves), that still leaves 800,000 units out there.
b) Possibly true, but irrelevant. The Blu-Ray consortium only has to present numbers of potential users to Movie Studios to say why they should support their format instead. This is akin to arguing that lots of DVD-players are bought for children, so the adult industry should stop making Porn DVDs. The players themselves are the potential market numbers. The actual users are less relevant, especially in helping to decide this format war.
c) Again, Possibly true. See above, and then consider it from the movie studios perspective. At some point in the next few years (assuming congress doesn't let it be pushed back again), Digital TV is going to be the only choice. HDTV will be the norm. If you already own a PS3, you already have a player once you do get an HDTV X years down the road. This would be another reason for a studio to support that format, because of the number of "potential" players.
d) Yeah, and DVDs also cost more than VHS tapes when they came out. Now you can walk into blockbuster and buy 3 for $20. Wait long enough and you'll see the same thing with Blu-Ray or HD-DVD.
Exactly. The comparison to the iPod is very apropos considering the glossy white finish both share.
It seems at this point, that popular perception is that the Wii is a cultural phenomenon. This alone will probably drive sales ("everyone loves it, everyone wants one" stories keep showing up on-line vs. the XBox or PS3 which are aiming more at the traditional gaming market)
No fair! You must have spied on HP to steal their super secret internal "Management Track" documentation!
Apologies, didn't see the "Anonymous Coward" that slipped in that you replied to. Slashdot reparented the post to mine.
Just as an FYI. ... The wii does look interesting and I might get one at some point, but chose to go with the PS3 for now (mostly due to the game lineup).
Oh, and I didn't post anonymously, either time, nice Troll though.
I wasn't disagreeing that Component or HDMI cables were a separate purchase. I was disagreeing that they cost $60 (or $100 as Monster and BestBuy would have you believe).
$30 cables work just fine, and are easy to find on-line, from reputable e-retailers (would that be e-tailers?).
It all depends on what you choose to spend your "entertainment budget" on.
To me the extra $100 (or $200) is a one time expense that can be accumulated over the course of the unit. I plan on watching HD movies, and much prefer to watch them at home than in the theaters, mostly for cost reasons. A typical theater around here charges ~$11 per person, so buying $20 DVDs, or Blu-Ray movies is almost as cheap as watching them on the "big screen" with the wife. For the price of us going to the movies 5 times, I can watch much higher quality movies at home, as well as play my existing catalog of PS2 games, without keeping a PS2 around.
Yes, but if the PS3s were the problem, we'd be hearing about it from more than just Westinghouse owners.
At BEST its something in the combination of the two (Westinghouse not being quick enough on the reply and Sony not allowing any leeway in waiting for the reply).
I disagree. The point I made further down was that the PS3 is a great valued package, even before a price drop, if you willing/able to take advantage of what its offering.
If you aren't, then you're right, for you, its a non-factor.
If you ARE looking at high-dev video players, then it does factor into the value (and the cost).
Yeah ... I mean, I felt the exact same thing while running through an on-line multiplayer deathmatch last night in "Resistence: The Fall of Man".
I mean, the graphics were nice and all, but aren't 40 player maps so last gen for consoles?
HDMI is an industry standard connector. Go to www.newegg.com and you can find a cable for $30, including shipping and tax that works just as well as the "Monster Cables".
Nice of Sony to include them in both the 20GB and 60GB models.
While I will readily admit that the DS has outsold the PSP, saying the PSP is "Far Behind" is not exactly fair.
Sony has managed to do what no one else has since the Game Boy was introduced in 1989, make a competing Handheld. It might not hold as much market share as the DS, but its not like comparing the marketshare for the Zune versus iPod.
Really? 'round here its the opposite. Everywhere I go I see Wiis sitting on the shelves, and they don't have a PS3 in stock. Pity your place and mine can't swap their stock around.
So in light of what I said
EGM also compared the PS3's bundled Blu-Ray drive vs. the XBox360's add-on HD-DVD drive.
... I wonder how many are STILL doing that?). I feel equally strong about my hatred of MicroSoft as most PS3 bashers seem to feel about Sony. I also think the PS3 provides a better technical solution which appeals to me as a software engineer.
They found that the Blu-Ray movies output looked top-notch, while the HD-DVD movies looked grainy and poor quality. (they mention something along the lines of "You get what you pay for.") Toss in the HD-DVD add on (that doesn't seem to work so well), and the price goes up another $200 which puts it in line with the PS3, except the XBox360+HD-DVD drive is bigger, doesn't have an HDMI connector, has a smaller HardDrive, and the XBox360 won't be using the add-on drive for games, so developers couldn't take advantage of the space if they wanted to.
The PS3 gave a lot of people a severe case of Sticker Shock, but its a good value for the money if you can use what it has to offer:
1) Next-Gen console (not everyone already owns an XBox360, some of us were perfectly happy coasting along with a PS2
2) Backward compatibility for most PS1 and PS2 games (see #1, and note the overwhelming best seller of the last generation).
3) NextGen DVD player w/Blu-Ray. hey, it also plays DVDs, so think of it as a drop in replacement for your PS2 or stand alone DVD player.
4) PlayStation Network for PSP download titles. While the Nintendo DS sells amazing numbers, some of us prefer the games available on the PSP. "Cheap" "Fun" Titles that we can slap on it can be a major plus for the daily commute.
Yes
Oh
The "automatic firmware upgrades" was the way it was explained to me from a friend who owned one, and I had little reason to doubt it, since it made sense from Nintendos "we'll take care of you" design perspective.
:)
I don't own a DS myself, so I'll happily believe otherwise if you tell me.
Actually there is a "trivial" way to handle this that is already in use. Include the flash update on those disks that require it.
... of course that requires that either all manufacturers can take the same code, or there is some way to include updates for all known players on the disk, something the game systems don't have to deal with.
Microsoft Xbox360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and Sony PS3 games already do this (although Nintendo is the only one that hides the fact that it updating the system from the user).
That way, IF you have a title, that needs a newer encryption module available, even at 13K feet.
Yes. Each ditro has its own repositories with their own way of doing things. This isn't so bad for a technical user, but once you loose a bit of technical expertise your user base can be confused between distros, and with keeping things straight. For your average Mom and Pop (Jane and Joe Sixpack?) using apt-get, or rpm, can be almost as bad as compiling from source.
This seems to be the equivalent of Perl's CPAN for Linux, combined with Download.com (for ratings and reviews), with a pretty GUI thrown on the ability to also offer Commercial Software through the same interface.
When Jane and Joe set their new computer, and want to get Firefox (they know its good and all, since they're "techie" friends all rave about it), its nice to go to one place to install (presumably with no hassle or fuss. Likewise when they want to play the DVD of their god-childs play on their computer, they can go to the same place, give their Credit Card info (assuming its not on file I would guess), and download a DVD player, again from the same place. All through a GUI that users can drive.
I'm not sure if their software fulfills on this promise (I haven't personally tried it), but if they can its a HUGE step toward making Linux accessible to the masses.
Exactly. This could be huge for lowering the barrier for installing programs (both on a technical level, and across flavors). A few more announcements along these lines, and we *might* just have a "year of Linux on the Desktop" yet
Almost right. Dedicated silicon would be one way.
Besides that, the only OTHER option would be for the entire system to be "secure" through things like so called "Trusted Computing". In parituclar check out the section on Memory Curtaining.
You'll notice that in this case, "Trusted Computing" has nothing to do with the User trusting the platform, but rather with the Media Companies Trusting the system to look after their interests above that of the users.