Maybe the company doesn't want to purchase service for those that don't have phones already.
Maybe it would be more efficient to be able to real-time IM someone while one or both of you are on the phone at the same time.
Maybe they want to be able to give group annoucements without calling everyone's individual phone, waiting for them to check email, posting flyers, or disrupting workflow to have a meeting.
Maybe it's useful (for whatever purpose) to keep searchable logs of conversations or to be able to quickly share links or code. In my previous job, being able to do so was invaluable, especially when you were on the phone with a customer and needed something fast.
Maybe the employees need to communicate in real-time and non-audibly at times without people eavesdropping.
Hopefully you get the idea.
Does the "instant" message need to be in text and not voice?
I fail to see how constant phone calls or leaving voice mails in place of IM'd text would be more efficient. Even checking and replying to text messages on a cellphone would often be slower.
What's the magic of IM, as opposed to anything that will solve the underlying problem?
There's no magic to it, it's just simply more efficient in a lot of cases.
There's at least 10, I could find at least 20 or 30, but you can do your own research. Likewise for the N64.
How about the miserable excuse they called WindWaker (did anyone actually die once playing through it?)
That "miserable excuse" sold millions of copies, and got almost universal acclaim from the majority of people that played it.
How about the crappy controller that makes it impossible to truly master Smash Bros Melee.
To be blunt, some of us actually have some skill. Personally, I can use the controller well enough to massacre the CPU players and people of medium skill, but i've seen other players that are far, far better. Try hunting down videos of tournament matches or Home Run Contest high scores sometime.
They named it the Wii, people. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
You say that like it's a bad thing. I also notice pretty much everyone has stopped the lame jokes about the name, except for whiny trolls like yourself.
For the next generation, I'm going to bet on the system that gave me the innovative and enjoyable games THIS time around, and it wasn't the Gamecube.
So don't buy one. Nintendo won't miss you, I promise.
You know how Nintendo can win the next generation war? GAMES.
I have a Yahoo Mail account that I haven't actively used for almost 5 years, signed up for back in (I think) 1996 or 1997 when it was still under Geocities. When I checked the account back in November of this year, I had 4,630 bulk mails, and 1,829 mails in the inbox, 99.99% of which was also useless junk.
Just since reactivating the account about 20 minutes ago, I already have 5 bulk mails.
I think the reason for the fanatic dedication to a particular console brand is the need for consumers to justify to themselves the huge investment they made in their purchase.
Speaking as an admitted Nintendo fanboy, I cheer them on because I genuinely think they do good stuff.
All of the consoles are expensive
Are they? My Gamecube with a free game was $150, my "used" (returned by someone after buying it the day before) PS2 was $110. Unless i'm buying a rarity or a new release that I absolutely must have immediately, any game I might want can be found used/Greatest Hits/Player's Choice/etc. for $10-30.
and with a halfway decent selection fo games and accessories you're looking at several thousand dollars invested.
While your intent here is good, your justification leaves something to be desired.
Off the top of my head (at work, can't look at my game shelf) -
Gamecube - 10 games Avg. cost $27
PS2 - 15 games Avg. cost $32
~$750 in total between the two systems, give or take a few that I might have forgotten. Probably about another $80 for some extra controllers, memory cards, etc. $260 for the systems themselves. Hardly several thousand in total. Even if I included all of my PS1 games, it still wouldn't be more than probably another $500 or so at most.
Among everything, I probably have almost 50 games....What do you consider a "halfway decent selection" of games that would take several thousand dollars?
Assuming by "several" you mean at least $4,000 or so, you could pick up 66 games, even brand-new at $60 each. Obviously more if you threw some used or discounted titles in there as most normal people would do.
Nobody wants to feel as though they made a "mistake", and that the other guy's product might have been the better choice.
In my experience, outside of the raving fanboys who have some crazy bias stuck in their heads, most people will just buy more than one console if there's enough games to justify it.
If you are looking for a cat that won't cause allergies: Get some hair clippers.
Yep, definately a YMMV situation, and as the breeder was careful to intone into our heads, no (non-engineered) cat with hair is truly allergy-free - even though she doesn't really bother me on a daily basis, if I do something like accidentally rubbing my eyes after touching her, I will have very itchy and painful eyes until I wash them out.
I used to feel the same way, until my wife and I got a Siberian kitten. Most dog-like and friendly cat i've ever seen in my life.
Also, as in the Wikipedia article, she has the benefit of being somewhat hypoallergenic (but much cheaper than $4000), at least in an anecdotal fashion - personally, i've had very strong reactions to other cats in the past, and my mother has animal allergies strong enough to send her to the hospital at times....Yet I can have this kitten around with little or no reaction (especially in comparison to the pollen).
Since the Wii will have two USBports, what makes you think you won't be able to plug in a USB keyboard, or that there won't be a custom keyboard released at some point?
Personally, I wouldn't be suprised if things involved the DS connectivity at some point as well, maybe letting you use the DS touchscreen along with handwriting recognition to enter text.
If you read the rest of that bloggers post (another slashdot member posted it above) you'll really see my point. Argument is good, but uncontrolled and uncensored anger will never be taken seriously in politics.
You're trying to tell me that it's normal for FF to have behavior by which it will go up to 150 megs and beyond (more like 200+ most days) of memory usage overnight if I leave it open (with static non auto-refreshing pages)?
Further, according to the article you linked and the nice little chart, my system has 512 MB of memory, so it should cache at most 5 pages back in my browsing history per session, not per tab.
In some rare occasions I could see it using that much memory, if I was browsing pages with gigantic images or Flash files or something....But my usual browsing is almost purely text and fairly small images, nothing in the range of the memory usage I routinely see FF hit. Not to mention that the usage will continue going up even when i'm not actually moving between any pages.
Even the most cursory research would tell you that the risks of nuclear fusion (aside from weapons, obviously) are vastly less than regular fission, not to mention of a somewhat different nature.
As someone else here has already mentioned, the fact that the OP is asking his question at all means that a large-scale contamination/explosion incident immediately came to their mind....Which is just not going to happen with the current setup - the OP can feel free to try and prove me wrong, but I bet you anything they have no clear idea of why it's supposedly dangerous, the word "nuclear" just sets off alarm bells for "OMG, it must be able to kill us all somehow!"
To defend this, people need to be informed to counter the environmental sceptics who will no doubt be against this.
At some point, it's almost not worth wasting time on such people, as they won't even bother to do basic research before panicking.
I'm not a scientist but is testing Nuclear Fusion in a very populated area a good idea?
I'm not a scientist either, but I have read a little on the subject....And from what I understand, the reaction would peter out and die very quickly - very little fuel is used in comparison to a fisson reactor, and the reaction itself requires very precise control to happen at all.
Comments like yours are part of the reason there's so much nonsensical backlash against this sort of technology - "I have no idea what i'm talking about, but it must be bad just because! Nuclear bombs are evil, so this must be the same!".
Couldn't they have done this in some place a little less populated? Like North Dakota or in the area near Area 51?
I would have one of these reactors in my backyard (well, if I wasn't in an apartment right now, anyway) with no reservation whatsoever.
And you really have to ask, why is an instant-messaging text system letting you send ANY files in the first place?
Because it can be incredibly convinient, and much faster than sending through email?
Want to send me a file? Then send it to my email account where the virus scanners at least have a crack at it.
Every virus scanner on Windows that i've ever seen for almost the last 10 years has had a feature that will immediately scan any files downloaded or accessed.
And I can just as easily blame "cool" creeping featurism in the IM client. "Hey, look, now we can send files too!"
As someone else has already pointed out, this feature has been around a long time - I remember using it in AIM and mIRC as far back as 1999 or so, and it was probably around in some form before then too.
Perhaps you should leave the commenting to those of us that have actually used modern versions of the software in question?
Americans buy expensive "extended warranties" to get what people in other countries have by default. (not that it stops companies from trying to push "extended warranties" here too, it's just even more pointless here.
I assume you're talking about places like Best Buy and other electronics retailers, since as an American that's really the only common situation i've run into as far as paying extra for a better warranty - maybe I just don't hang around with the right people, but I don't know anyone who actually pays for the things, and I certainly don't do it myself, even on non-electronics.
Thinking of stuff i've bought lately -
CPU - 3-year Motherboard - 3-year Video Card - 3-year RAM - lifetime HD - 5-year (yay Seagate) Gamecube - 1 year, but in my experience Nintendo products are damn near indestructible unless you're actively trying to kill them, so this doesn't matter quite as much. Console games - 3 months on the GC games, no clue on PS1 or 2. Since the post-SNES, non-cartridge days began, i've never had a bad game that wasn't immediately defective (or my own fault from scratching it) in over 6 years. Sandals - lifetime Kitten - 6-month health guarantee from the breeder...Obviously somewhat self-repairing though:)
If I was buying a new car, a multi-thousand dollar TV, or whatnot, I might think about going for some extra coverage....But even then (for example), all the new cars i'm considering come with something like 3-6 years of full warranty and up to 10 years on the powertrain by default.
I can't honestly think of a reason to have a blanket two-year warranty on everything I own...The stuff that isn't already covered is either stuff like food or other consumables, or things that aren't going to break unless you break them yourself and void any possible warranty anyway. Of course you have idiots who will do stuff like buying a $6 warranty on a $10 phone and so on, but don't lump us all along with them.
Why is Nintendo the only sane console company this year?
Because people are finally waking up to the fact that uberGraphics don't mean everything.
Seems like Microsoft and Sony are fighting to get the top spot for shooting themselves in the foot with high console prices, while letting "has been" Nintendo walk away with the prize if the Wii is a runaway success at a lower price.
Yeah, from what i've seen, they've been making a decent profit on their console (and dominating the handheld market) whilst Sony and Microsoft bleed money and immature game journalists/teenagers whine about how they're too "kiddie".
And now comes the part where they get revenge, if all goes well:)
I could be completely wrong, but most (if not all) looked like it was using the game engine. There were several parts that were clearly normal gameplay/scripted gameplay with the usual damage %, player icons, etc. removed.
I can see the Wiimote working ok for some of these games, but would you honestly want to use one on the latest racing game or FPS? I sure hope Nintendo plans to include a more familiar controller with the Wii to use alongside the Wiimote, or some games just won't be playable.
That's probably why the Wii will have 4 ports for Gamecube controllers. Also, I can't pull a link out off the top of my head, but they're also planning on a classic-style PSX/SNES type "shell" for the remote to attach to for the purpose of playing older games.
Personally, I think the Wiimote will be great for FPS and racing games all by itself - and I actually own consoles (PS2 and Gamecube), as well as having played all the games types you mention over the last ~20 years.
Nintendo is doing great, but the Sony+MS merger is not something they can go against, Sony+MS start pouring billions of dollars advertising their consoles, a new PSP-XBOX-PS3 interoperability kit is developed and distributed.
Nintendo lacks the hard cash MS has, and soon the innovations of Wii are quickly drowned in the ad campaigns and promotions MS does.
Yeah, because dumping all that money worked so well last time....They barely beat the Gamecube in sales, got clobbered by the PS2, lost billions of dollars, and failed to establish a strong foothold in Japan.
Late 2007, Microsoft buys Nintendo.
Okay, that crosses the line from speculation into total insanity:)
Late 2008, a new console is released by Microsoft: the XWiiPlay, which uses an advanced version of the Wii-mote, packed with a standard controller extension, and can emulate all Sony, Sega, Microsoft and Nintendo consoles in existence, including Virtual Boy.
Keep dreaming:) Can I have some of whatever drugs you're on?
2009: Hiroshi Yamauchi comes out of retirement from his Jurassic Park-style secret lair, leading an army of genetically-engineered killer Pokemon against Microsoft. Revenge is swift and bloody, with the heads of Bill Gates and Steve Balmer last seen used as chew toys by a rabid Pikachu. Nintendo reclaims their rightful place for all eternity.
I've noticed the same thing. The PS2 controller will cause my hands to start feeling a bit sore and strained within a couple hours (or less) - even seems to happen for slow-paced RPGs, or Katamari Damacy, which doesn't even use the buttons or D-pad.
Compared to the Gamecube, where I can play something as frantic and full of repeated motions as Super Smash Bros. Meele for twice that time with no pain at all....It's almost pitiful.
I recently went out to stay at a friends house for a weekend, and on the first day we ate McDonalds in the evening. The next day I was feeling pretty sick. All I ate about two burgers and some chicken nuggets.
Assuming it was the food, I think maybe it wasn't so much that it was specifically McDonalds, it's that it was probably extremely high-fat compared to your normal diet. I know that I, for one, can get some pretty uncomfortable stomach issues if I suddenly knock back a big fast food meal, half a pizza, any very high-fat food, etc. after eating my usual home-cooked, partly organic diet for a while.
I'd never claim that McDonalds is health food, but all the people that live on healthy, low-fat diets that yell "OMG poison!" when they try a super high-fat burger out of the blue and make their stomachs feel like crap just annoy the hell out of me.
Fair enough, though I can't say I remember ever hearing or seeing anyone use AGB in normal use (friends, Slashdot, gaming websites, stores, packaging, Nintendo Powe, etc.) before today.
And two can play at the example game - Nintendo's own website uses the term GBA.
we were forced to beta test wireless link hardware for the AGB
eaving GameCube and AGB
Samir Gupta? Is that you?
Obviously you have no great love for Nintendo, but c'mon....If you spent all that time working on it, you could at least get the acronym for the Game Boy Advance right.
r. I would hope before calling the police you had the courtesy of asking you neighbor to be more quite/considerate of your needs, etc. and if that failed followed that up with you landlord. Really that should have been sufficient but if he was really obstinate than I could understand you need to call the police if it was effecting your sleep, work, etc.
That I did - I think I spoke to him 3 times about the noise, and stuff like throwing junk over his balcony onto the patio, etc. First time we were civil, second time he was pissed but still shut the music off, third time we got into a shouting match at 3 AM and I called the cops afterwards, fourth time he was having a lovely party with blaring music and his buddies slamming the floor with (I hope) impromptu wrestling matches...That was it. About a month after the last time I had to call the police, I got a sudden email from the property manager saying he was moving out a couple months before his lease was supposed to end.
I am assuming from you comment that you probably did try to resolve the issue on your own but I think must people would not especially the busybody types of the world and that is what really upsets me.
Yeah, it's hard to say. I think my wife and I are more patient than most, but I can definately see how other people wouldn't even try talking first, especially someone older - and especially if the law in question doesn't require asking nicely first.
IMO if someone goes around turning people in for stupid things they are total scum of the earth. Maybe instead of looking at other peoples faults they should look at their own.
The trouble is, a "stupid thing" to one person (usually the person doing the activity, oddly enough) is a major annoyance to another, and/or in some cases, against the law - noise issues are a good example.
I'm sure the pothead I used to live under a couple years ago thought I was "total scum of the earth" after I called the police on his numerous violations of a town noise ordinance, and eventually got him evicted.
People think the laws against silly things like noise pollution, parking in fire lanes, etc. are optional, but hey...Not liking a law doesn't excuse you from following it.
Slashdot Mirror
Why can't a cell phone work here?
Maybe the reception in the building is horrible.
Maybe the company doesn't want to purchase service for those that don't have phones already.
Maybe it would be more efficient to be able to real-time IM someone while one or both of you are on the phone at the same time.
Maybe they want to be able to give group annoucements without calling everyone's individual phone, waiting for them to check email, posting flyers, or disrupting workflow to have a meeting.
Maybe it's useful (for whatever purpose) to keep searchable logs of conversations or to be able to quickly share links or code. In my previous job, being able to do so was invaluable, especially when you were on the phone with a customer and needed something fast.
Maybe the employees need to communicate in real-time and non-audibly at times without people eavesdropping.
Hopefully you get the idea.
Does the "instant" message need to be in text and not voice?
I fail to see how constant phone calls or leaving voice mails in place of IM'd text would be more efficient. Even checking and replying to text messages on a cellphone would often be slower.
What's the magic of IM, as opposed to anything that will solve the underlying problem?
There's no magic to it, it's just simply more efficient in a lot of cases.
Yay, time to feed the troll!
Isn't anyone else ticked off at the fact that there are under 10 games worth owning for the Gamecube?
http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/gamecube/
There's at least 10, I could find at least 20 or 30, but you can do your own research. Likewise for the N64.
How about the miserable excuse they called WindWaker (did anyone actually die once playing through it?)
That "miserable excuse" sold millions of copies, and got almost universal acclaim from the majority of people that played it.
How about the crappy controller that makes it impossible to truly master Smash Bros Melee.
To be blunt, some of us actually have some skill. Personally, I can use the controller well enough to massacre the CPU players and people of medium skill, but i've seen other players that are far, far better. Try hunting down videos of tournament matches or Home Run Contest high scores sometime.
They named it the Wii, people. Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
You say that like it's a bad thing. I also notice pretty much everyone has stopped the lame jokes about the name, except for whiny trolls like yourself.
For the next generation, I'm going to bet on the system that gave me the innovative and enjoyable games THIS time around, and it wasn't the Gamecube.
So don't buy one. Nintendo won't miss you, I promise.
You know how Nintendo can win the next generation war? GAMES.
He can be taught!
I have a Yahoo Mail account that I haven't actively used for almost 5 years, signed up for back in (I think) 1996 or 1997 when it was still under Geocities. When I checked the account back in November of this year, I had 4,630 bulk mails, and 1,829 mails in the inbox, 99.99% of which was also useless junk.
Just since reactivating the account about 20 minutes ago, I already have 5 bulk mails.
I think the reason for the fanatic dedication to a particular console brand is the need for consumers to justify to themselves the huge investment they made in their purchase.
Speaking as an admitted Nintendo fanboy, I cheer them on because I genuinely think they do good stuff.
All of the consoles are expensive
Are they? My Gamecube with a free game was $150, my "used" (returned by someone after buying it the day before) PS2 was $110. Unless i'm buying a rarity or a new release that I absolutely must have immediately, any game I might want can be found used/Greatest Hits/Player's Choice/etc. for $10-30.
and with a halfway decent selection fo games and accessories you're looking at several thousand dollars invested.
While your intent here is good, your justification leaves something to be desired.
Off the top of my head (at work, can't look at my game shelf) -
Gamecube -
10 games
Avg. cost $27
PS2 -
15 games
Avg. cost $32
~$750 in total between the two systems, give or take a few that I might have forgotten. Probably about another $80 for some extra controllers, memory cards, etc. $260 for the systems themselves. Hardly several thousand in total. Even if I included all of my PS1 games, it still wouldn't be more than probably another $500 or so at most.
Among everything, I probably have almost 50 games....What do you consider a "halfway decent selection" of games that would take several thousand dollars?
Assuming by "several" you mean at least $4,000 or so, you could pick up 66 games, even brand-new at $60 each. Obviously more if you threw some used or discounted titles in there as most normal people would do.
Nobody wants to feel as though they made a "mistake", and that the other guy's product might have been the better choice.
In my experience, outside of the raving fanboys who have some crazy bias stuck in their heads, most people will just buy more than one console if there's enough games to justify it.
If you are looking for a cat that won't cause allergies: Get some hair clippers.
Yep, definately a YMMV situation, and as the breeder was careful to intone into our heads, no (non-engineered) cat with hair is truly allergy-free - even though she doesn't really bother me on a daily basis, if I do something like accidentally rubbing my eyes after touching her, I will have very itchy and painful eyes until I wash them out.
I used to feel the same way, until my wife and I got a Siberian kitten. Most dog-like and friendly cat i've ever seen in my life.
Also, as in the Wikipedia article, she has the benefit of being somewhat hypoallergenic (but much cheaper than $4000), at least in an anecdotal fashion - personally, i've had very strong reactions to other cats in the past, and my mother has animal allergies strong enough to send her to the hospital at times....Yet I can have this kitten around with little or no reaction (especially in comparison to the pollen).
Since the Wii will have two USB ports, what makes you think you won't be able to plug in a USB keyboard, or that there won't be a custom keyboard released at some point?
Personally, I wouldn't be suprised if things involved the DS connectivity at some point as well, maybe letting you use the DS touchscreen along with handwriting recognition to enter text.
If you read the rest of that bloggers post (another slashdot member posted it above) you'll really see my point. Argument is good, but uncontrolled and uncensored anger will never be taken seriously in politics.
The giant flame posted above? Markos didn't write that. Rather, it was a slightly altered copy of the flame to end all flames which the writer helpfully included an oh-so-obvious link to down at the very bottom of the mass of text.
I love FireFox, but c'mon....
You're trying to tell me that it's normal for FF to have behavior by which it will go up to 150 megs and beyond (more like 200+ most days) of memory usage overnight if I leave it open (with static non auto-refreshing pages)?
Further, according to the article you linked and the nice little chart, my system has 512 MB of memory, so it should cache at most 5 pages back in my browsing history per session, not per tab.
In some rare occasions I could see it using that much memory, if I was browsing pages with gigantic images or Flash files or something....But my usual browsing is almost purely text and fairly small images, nothing in the range of the memory usage I routinely see FF hit. Not to mention that the usage will continue going up even when i'm not actually moving between any pages.
""Wii" -- what the fuck is that? How do you even pronounce it?
When I can figure out what "XBox 360" has to do with playing games moreso than "Wii", then i'll be annoyed at Nintendo.
It could be a new fragrance. It could be a brand of baby food. It could be "W-2". Terrible name."
Maybe I just have a hard time imagining myself as an idiot, but I can't believe you're actually serious.
Even the most cursory research would tell you that the risks of nuclear fusion (aside from weapons, obviously) are vastly less than regular fission, not to mention of a somewhat different nature.
As someone else here has already mentioned, the fact that the OP is asking his question at all means that a large-scale contamination/explosion incident immediately came to their mind....Which is just not going to happen with the current setup - the OP can feel free to try and prove me wrong, but I bet you anything they have no clear idea of why it's supposedly dangerous, the word "nuclear" just sets off alarm bells for "OMG, it must be able to kill us all somehow!"
To defend this, people need to be informed to counter the environmental sceptics who will no doubt be against this.
At some point, it's almost not worth wasting time on such people, as they won't even bother to do basic research before panicking.
I'm not a scientist but is testing Nuclear Fusion in a very populated area a good idea?
I'm not a scientist either, but I have read a little on the subject....And from what I understand, the reaction would peter out and die very quickly - very little fuel is used in comparison to a fisson reactor, and the reaction itself requires very precise control to happen at all.
Comments like yours are part of the reason there's so much nonsensical backlash against this sort of technology - "I have no idea what i'm talking about, but it must be bad just because! Nuclear bombs are evil, so this must be the same!".
Couldn't they have done this in some place a little less populated? Like North Dakota or in the area near Area 51?
I would have one of these reactors in my backyard (well, if I wasn't in an apartment right now, anyway) with no reservation whatsoever.
And you really have to ask, why is an instant-messaging text system letting you send ANY files in the first place?
Because it can be incredibly convinient, and much faster than sending through email?
Want to send me a file? Then send it to my email account where the virus scanners at least have a crack at it.
Every virus scanner on Windows that i've ever seen for almost the last 10 years has had a feature that will immediately scan any files downloaded or accessed.
And I can just as easily blame "cool" creeping featurism in the IM client. "Hey, look, now we can send files too!"
As someone else has already pointed out, this feature has been around a long time - I remember using it in AIM and mIRC as far back as 1999 or so, and it was probably around in some form before then too.
Perhaps you should leave the commenting to those of us that have actually used modern versions of the software in question?
Americans buy expensive "extended warranties" to get what people in other countries have by default. (not that it stops companies from trying to push "extended warranties" here too, it's just even more pointless here.
:)
I assume you're talking about places like Best Buy and other electronics retailers, since as an American that's really the only common situation i've run into as far as paying extra for a better warranty - maybe I just don't hang around with the right people, but I don't know anyone who actually pays for the things, and I certainly don't do it myself, even on non-electronics.
Thinking of stuff i've bought lately -
CPU - 3-year
Motherboard - 3-year
Video Card - 3-year
RAM - lifetime
HD - 5-year (yay Seagate)
Gamecube - 1 year, but in my experience Nintendo products are damn near indestructible unless you're actively trying to kill them, so this doesn't matter quite as much.
Console games - 3 months on the GC games, no clue on PS1 or 2. Since the post-SNES, non-cartridge days began, i've never had a bad game that wasn't immediately defective (or my own fault from scratching it) in over 6 years.
Sandals - lifetime
Kitten - 6-month health guarantee from the breeder...Obviously somewhat self-repairing though
If I was buying a new car, a multi-thousand dollar TV, or whatnot, I might think about going for some extra coverage....But even then (for example), all the new cars i'm considering come with something like 3-6 years of full warranty and up to 10 years on the powertrain by default.
I can't honestly think of a reason to have a blanket two-year warranty on everything I own...The stuff that isn't already covered is either stuff like food or other consumables, or things that aren't going to break unless you break them yourself and void any possible warranty anyway. Of course you have idiots who will do stuff like buying a $6 warranty on a $10 phone and so on, but don't lump us all along with them.
Why is Nintendo the only sane console company this year?
:)
Because people are finally waking up to the fact that uberGraphics don't mean everything.
Seems like Microsoft and Sony are fighting to get the top spot for shooting themselves in the foot with high console prices, while letting "has been" Nintendo walk away with the prize if the Wii is a runaway success at a lower price.
Yeah, from what i've seen, they've been making a decent profit on their console (and dominating the handheld market) whilst Sony and Microsoft bleed money and immature game journalists/teenagers whine about how they're too "kiddie".
And now comes the part where they get revenge, if all goes well
Wasan't that demo pre-rendered?
I could be completely wrong, but most (if not all) looked like it was using the game engine. There were several parts that were clearly normal gameplay/scripted gameplay with the usual damage %, player icons, etc. removed.
I can see the Wiimote working ok for some of these games, but would you honestly want to use one on the latest racing game or FPS? I sure hope Nintendo plans to include a more familiar controller with the Wii to use alongside the Wiimote, or some games just won't be playable.
That's probably why the Wii will have 4 ports for Gamecube controllers. Also, I can't pull a link out off the top of my head, but they're also planning on a classic-style PSX/SNES type "shell" for the remote to attach to for the purpose of playing older games.
Personally, I think the Wiimote will be great for FPS and racing games all by itself - and I actually own consoles (PS2 and Gamecube), as well as having played all the games types you mention over the last ~20 years.
Nintendo is doing great, but the Sony+MS merger is not something they can go against, Sony+MS start pouring billions of dollars advertising their consoles, a new PSP-XBOX-PS3 interoperability kit is developed and distributed.
:)
:) Can I have some of whatever drugs you're on?
1 decent console + 1 mediocre handheld + 1 overhyped and horribly expensive console = Nintendo's death? Sounds like Captain Planet gone horribly wrong.
Nintendo lacks the hard cash MS has, and soon the innovations of Wii are quickly drowned in the ad campaigns and promotions MS does.
Yeah, because dumping all that money worked so well last time....They barely beat the Gamecube in sales, got clobbered by the PS2, lost billions of dollars, and failed to establish a strong foothold in Japan.
Late 2007, Microsoft buys Nintendo.
Okay, that crosses the line from speculation into total insanity
Late 2008, a new console is released by Microsoft: the XWiiPlay, which uses an advanced version of the Wii-mote, packed with a standard controller extension, and can emulate all Sony, Sega, Microsoft and Nintendo consoles in existence, including Virtual Boy.
Keep dreaming
2009: Hiroshi Yamauchi comes out of retirement from his Jurassic Park-style secret lair, leading an army of genetically-engineered killer Pokemon against Microsoft. Revenge is swift and bloody, with the heads of Bill Gates and Steve Balmer last seen used as chew toys by a rabid Pikachu. Nintendo reclaims their rightful place for all eternity.
I've noticed the same thing. The PS2 controller will cause my hands to start feeling a bit sore and strained within a couple hours (or less) - even seems to happen for slow-paced RPGs, or Katamari Damacy, which doesn't even use the buttons or D-pad.
Compared to the Gamecube, where I can play something as frantic and full of repeated motions as Super Smash Bros. Meele for twice that time with no pain at all....It's almost pitiful.
I recently went out to stay at a friends house for a weekend, and on the first day we ate McDonalds in the evening. The next day I was feeling pretty sick. All I ate about two burgers and some chicken nuggets.
Assuming it was the food, I think maybe it wasn't so much that it was specifically McDonalds, it's that it was probably extremely high-fat compared to your normal diet. I know that I, for one, can get some pretty uncomfortable stomach issues if I suddenly knock back a big fast food meal, half a pizza, any very high-fat food, etc. after eating my usual home-cooked, partly organic diet for a while.
I'd never claim that McDonalds is health food, but all the people that live on healthy, low-fat diets that yell "OMG poison!" when they try a super high-fat burger out of the blue and make their stomachs feel like crap just annoy the hell out of me.
"You tried to be a smartass and got pwn3d big time."
Oh noes!!!11 I've been pwn3d!!
So what, I was both right and wrong, and i've admitted as such. Nice attempt at a jab though.
Fair enough, though I can't say I remember ever hearing or seeing anyone use AGB in normal use (friends, Slashdot, gaming websites, stores, packaging, Nintendo Powe, etc.) before today.
And two can play at the example game - Nintendo's own website uses the term GBA.
(did 9 titles out of 10 for GameCube or AGB)
we were forced to beta test wireless link hardware for the AGB
eaving GameCube and AGB
Samir Gupta? Is that you?
Obviously you have no great love for Nintendo, but c'mon....If you spent all that time working on it, you could at least get the acronym for the Game Boy Advance right.
r. I would hope before calling the police you had the courtesy of asking you neighbor to be more quite/considerate of your needs, etc. and if that failed followed that up with you landlord. Really that should have been sufficient but if he was really obstinate than I could understand you need to call the police if it was effecting your sleep, work, etc.
That I did - I think I spoke to him 3 times about the noise, and stuff like throwing junk over his balcony onto the patio, etc. First time we were civil, second time he was pissed but still shut the music off, third time we got into a shouting match at 3 AM and I called the cops afterwards, fourth time he was having a lovely party with blaring music and his buddies slamming the floor with (I hope) impromptu wrestling matches...That was it. About a month after the last time I had to call the police, I got a sudden email from the property manager saying he was moving out a couple months before his lease was supposed to end.
I am assuming from you comment that you probably did try to resolve the issue on your own but I think must people would not especially the busybody types of the world and that is what really upsets me.
Yeah, it's hard to say. I think my wife and I are more patient than most, but I can definately see how other people wouldn't even try talking first, especially someone older - and especially if the law in question doesn't require asking nicely first.
IMO if someone goes around turning people in for stupid things they are total scum of the earth. Maybe instead of looking at other peoples faults they should look at their own.
The trouble is, a "stupid thing" to one person (usually the person doing the activity, oddly enough) is a major annoyance to another, and/or in some cases, against the law - noise issues are a good example.
I'm sure the pothead I used to live under a couple years ago thought I was "total scum of the earth" after I called the police on his numerous violations of a town noise ordinance, and eventually got him evicted.
People think the laws against silly things like noise pollution, parking in fire lanes, etc. are optional, but hey...Not liking a law doesn't excuse you from following it.