"..in an ideal world for Sony executives, the question asked when you go to buy a new piece of consumer electronics will not be whether you want a PlayStation, but which PlayStation you want."
That one over there that has the word "Nintendo" written on it. But that's just me, the die-hard fan. (I swear, after figuring out that it's my middle fingers that belong on the L & R triggers, the GameCube controller is even more comfortable than the N64 one!)
In any event, it would seem that Sony is dangerously close to seriously confusing the customer. "This PlayStation plays games and DVD movies. And this PlayStation plays DVD movies and doubles as a satellite TV tuner. And this $1500 model over here does all three. But this $2000 package over here does all three but includes expansion bays for future capabilities." They're aiming for market dominance, sure, but neither they nor their potential customers seem to know which market they're aiming for.
And even then I'm not sure how well all these boxen will sell as real audiophiles seem to rather have different components made by different companies than to rely on a one-size-fits-all solution. And I don't think the general market is interested in paying hundreds of dollars for features they don't intend to use (ignoring its first month or so in Japan for the moment, how many people bought a PlayStation 2 just as a DVD player?).
The article starts with mention of the death of the SNES CD concept without quite understanding why it died.
"The truth is that the UN is nothing more than the will of its members!"
You mean the will of 50.1% of its members.
"Blame UN blame the world! (Almost all are members!)"
Governments are represented at the United Nations. Whether or not those governments actually represent their peoples is another matter entirely. I'd wager that a majority of the governments repretented at the UN do not. At the very least I'd say most of the people of the world are "represented" at the UN by governments that do not truly represent them (don't forget that 1 out of 5 are supposedly represented by the PRC).
"Why does Seiken Densetu 3 have a similar problem? I thought Secret of Mana and Legends of Mana got a much better reception in the US then the SaGa series."
Yeah, but it's a long way between "as popular as SaGa Frontiers" and "as popular as Chrono Trigger." Or even between the original SaGa trilogy and Chrono Trigger, before SaGa Frontiers left North American gamers with a bad tastes in their mouthes.
Also, with Seiken Densetsu 1 being overhauled and re-released for the GBA, I'd expect to see 2 and 3 pop up on the GBA as well instead of the PSX.
"..but wasn't that the type of thing done (to NES games) for the Final Fantasy Origins Playstation release?"
Paying $30.00 for both games is one thing. Paying $30.00 for each is something completely different (and wasn't that the MSRP for the WonderSwan Color carts? The ones without FMV or CD sound?). It's why IV, V, VI and Chrono Trigger were released as two bundles in North America instead of four individual games, as they did in Japan.
"If they have the willpower to do it, they WILL pull it off without US help or competition."
Soviet willpower didn't keep five N1 rockets (their equivalent to the Saturn V) from blowing up either on the pad or very shortly after launch. What, you think the Soviets didn't go to the moon because they didn't want to? They only started saying that around the time Apollo 11 was launched.
When all is said and done, while the Soviets had trouble building a decent toaster in the old communist system, pouring money and effort into preparing for a potential war with the US kept Soviet aerospace technology more or less on par with the US. But even they failed for various reasons (probably related to the toaster bit above). The PRC's aerospace program isn't even on par with US aerospace technology of 30 years ago. Everything they have they got from somebody else, including and especially their space program. And why should we believe that the Chinese will do better with Soviet technology than even the Soviets did?
"I thought this was like Antartic : a Free (as in... uh?) place."
You obviously don't know about the dozen or so competing claims to various parts of that continent. Just because the US is one of the countries that doesn't recognize any of them doesn't mean the Australians, the French, the New Zealanders, the Chileans, the Argentines, the British, and even the Norse don't think they own it.
If the CHinese are intent on landing on the moon in three or four years, they'll have to put their first taikonaut into orbit around, oh, say, three years ago. About the only way the PRC could accomplish that is if they more or less outright purchase Rosaviakosmos from Russia. And even then, the N1 had an 0/5 success rate...
"which has already sold almost 2 million copies in Japan, and a mystery, solitary Playstation 1 title (another Final Fantasy remake?) "
I don't see that happening. While Japan will buy anything so long as it has "Final Fantasy" written on it (think of the people you know that have to have every version ever released of the original Star Wars trilogy), selling a remake of an old game that makes it essentially just an SNES game playable on the PSX won't fly here in North America. There are only two ways I can think of that Square would sell FFIII in the US for the PSX.
Package it with something else (like they did with FFIV). The problem here is finding what game or games to bundle it with. With Chrono Trigger out of the way, there are no more big Square titles to bundle it with. The Romancing SaGa trilogy may be an idea, but may not work considering the lukewarm reception SaGa Frontiers gets in North America. Seiken Densetsu 3 has a similar problem. Now that they're "Square-Enix," there is also the option of including Dragon Warrior games (5 and 6 come to mind), but I don't think the world is ready yet for Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy in the same jewel case.
A complete overhaul. If Final Fantasy III is going to stand on its own two feet in the US, it will have to be quite a bit better than somewhat flashier graphics and sound. They'd have to give it the treatment that Enix gave Dragon Quest IV, turning it into a 3D game, or at the very least give it the same treatment they're currently giving Seiken Densetsu. However, how many people would they have available to devote to such a project? And wouldn't that slight the other games that didn't get the same treatment?
It might be easier to port it to the Game Boy Advance (still the home of 2-D gaming), but considering that every other Final Fantasy game from I to IX is playabe on the PSX, I don't see them releasing III for any other system, for the sake of consistency if nothing else.
The number one rule in international law, the only one the UN actually enforces, is "Thou shall not kill thy neighbor's people." Killing your own people is fair game. Hitler was stupid for expanding his mass murder into neighboring slavic countries. Stalin just killed other Soviets and got puppet governments in other countries to do the dirty work for him. The UN is just fine with that just as it's fine with the mass murder of Cambodians, Rwandans, Kosovars, etc.
"then the should bolster the theory that "since we find life here, it has to be the same in the rest of the universe."
Except current exploration of extrasolar planetary systems seems to show that having a star system like ours (with Jupiter big enough to swallow up life-threatening comets and asteroids, but not big enough to swallow up planets in the life belt) is a rare exception and not the rule.
"A.D. 1948: Slashdot runs the infamous headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN." Shamefaced, the site quickly retracts the story when numerous readers point out that it is not news for nerds, stuff that matters."
You missed one
A.D. 1949: CmdrTaco posts the article "TRUMAN DEFEATED BY DEWEY."
How about those of us who dislike the New York Times in general?
I wonder if they have a sign out in front of their headquarters proclaiming that they've gone an entire three days so far without printing an outright lie...
"So why come out with a "Super PS2" in 2004 that will do all sorts of cool things"
Because Nintendo says it will not allow itself to be beaten to the market again, and who knows what Microsoft is planning. Sony probably hopes that releasing this box before their two competitors are able to get their new systems out the door will help mantain Sony market dominance just long enough to finish up the next PlayStation.
"Doesn't the Japan market tend to lead the U.S. market--but not always in predictable ways?"
That's been changing. Consider that both new Metroid games were released first in North America. Metroid Prime has the excuse of being developed in the US to begin with, but Metroid Fusion is a product of Japan.
"Don't forget the Japan is a large country, where Sony can sell the PSX to them only."
Yes, it's big, but the US economy is almost three times bigger. They stand to make quite a bit more money by selling in the US.
Slashdot Mirror
"..in an ideal world for Sony executives, the question asked when you go to buy a new piece of consumer electronics will not be whether you want a PlayStation, but which PlayStation you want."
That one over there that has the word "Nintendo" written on it. But that's just me, the die-hard fan. (I swear, after figuring out that it's my middle fingers that belong on the L & R triggers, the GameCube controller is even more comfortable than the N64 one!)
In any event, it would seem that Sony is dangerously close to seriously confusing the customer. "This PlayStation plays games and DVD movies. And this PlayStation plays DVD movies and doubles as a satellite TV tuner. And this $1500 model over here does all three. But this $2000 package over here does all three but includes expansion bays for future capabilities." They're aiming for market dominance, sure, but neither they nor their potential customers seem to know which market they're aiming for.
And even then I'm not sure how well all these boxen will sell as real audiophiles seem to rather have different components made by different companies than to rely on a one-size-fits-all solution. And I don't think the general market is interested in paying hundreds of dollars for features they don't intend to use (ignoring its first month or so in Japan for the moment, how many people bought a PlayStation 2 just as a DVD player?).
The article starts with mention of the death of the SNES CD concept without quite understanding why it died.
"The truth is that the UN is nothing more than the will of its members!"
You mean the will of 50.1% of its members.
"Blame UN blame the world! (Almost all are members!)"
Governments are represented at the United Nations. Whether or not those governments actually represent their peoples is another matter entirely. I'd wager that a majority of the governments repretented at the UN do not. At the very least I'd say most of the people of the world are "represented" at the UN by governments that do not truly represent them (don't forget that 1 out of 5 are supposedly represented by the PRC).
"Oh, wait, that was a "liberation". Yeah, right."
You see, we actually do something about murderous despots, instead of just sitting around and watching like the Dutch at Srebrenica.
"And even then, if you're the US, you even get a free pass on that rule."
If anything, the past decade or two has shown that "unilateral" is only a dirty word when the French are against it.
"Why does Seiken Densetu 3 have a similar problem? I thought Secret of Mana and Legends of Mana got a much better reception in the US then the SaGa series."
Yeah, but it's a long way between "as popular as SaGa Frontiers" and "as popular as Chrono Trigger." Or even between the original SaGa trilogy and Chrono Trigger, before SaGa Frontiers left North American gamers with a bad tastes in their mouthes.
Also, with Seiken Densetsu 1 being overhauled and re-released for the GBA, I'd expect to see 2 and 3 pop up on the GBA as well instead of the PSX.
"..but wasn't that the type of thing done (to NES games) for the Final Fantasy Origins Playstation release?"
Paying $30.00 for both games is one thing. Paying $30.00 for each is something completely different (and wasn't that the MSRP for the WonderSwan Color carts? The ones without FMV or CD sound?). It's why IV, V, VI and Chrono Trigger were released as two bundles in North America instead of four individual games, as they did in Japan.
"If they have the willpower to do it, they WILL pull it off without US help or competition."
Soviet willpower didn't keep five N1 rockets (their equivalent to the Saturn V) from blowing up either on the pad or very shortly after launch. What, you think the Soviets didn't go to the moon because they didn't want to? They only started saying that around the time Apollo 11 was launched.
When all is said and done, while the Soviets had trouble building a decent toaster in the old communist system, pouring money and effort into preparing for a potential war with the US kept Soviet aerospace technology more or less on par with the US. But even they failed for various reasons (probably related to the toaster bit above). The PRC's aerospace program isn't even on par with US aerospace technology of 30 years ago. Everything they have they got from somebody else, including and especially their space program. And why should we believe that the Chinese will do better with Soviet technology than even the Soviets did?
"Are you aware that the US now has a larger percentage of its population in jail than any other nation including China?"
Why should the People's Republic jail them when they can just have them shot instead?
"I thought this was like Antartic : a Free (as in... uh?) place."
You obviously don't know about the dozen or so competing claims to various parts of that continent. Just because the US is one of the countries that doesn't recognize any of them doesn't mean the Australians, the French, the New Zealanders, the Chileans, the Argentines, the British, and even the Norse don't think they own it.
"the US is FAR from being the most capitalistic nation on the planet, you will find most of those in Asia."
When was the last time the US propped up one of its ailing banks?
If the CHinese are intent on landing on the moon in three or four years, they'll have to put their first taikonaut into orbit around, oh, say, three years ago. About the only way the PRC could accomplish that is if they more or less outright purchase Rosaviakosmos from Russia. And even then, the N1 had an 0/5 success rate...
2012 I could believe. Maybe. But not 2007.
I don't see that happening. While Japan will buy anything so long as it has "Final Fantasy" written on it (think of the people you know that have to have every version ever released of the original Star Wars trilogy), selling a remake of an old game that makes it essentially just an SNES game playable on the PSX won't fly here in North America. There are only two ways I can think of that Square would sell FFIII in the US for the PSX.
- Package it with something else (like they did with FFIV). The problem here is finding what game or games to bundle it with. With Chrono Trigger out of the way, there are no more big Square titles to bundle it with. The Romancing SaGa trilogy may be an idea, but may not work considering the lukewarm reception SaGa Frontiers gets in North America. Seiken Densetsu 3 has a similar problem. Now that they're "Square-Enix," there is also the option of including Dragon Warrior games (5 and 6 come to mind), but I don't think the world is ready yet for Dragon Warrior and Final Fantasy in the same jewel case.
- A complete overhaul. If Final Fantasy III is going to stand on its own two feet in the US, it will have to be quite a bit better than somewhat flashier graphics and sound. They'd have to give it the treatment that Enix gave Dragon Quest IV, turning it into a 3D game, or at the very least give it the same treatment they're currently giving Seiken Densetsu. However, how many people would they have available to devote to such a project? And wouldn't that slight the other games that didn't get the same treatment?
It might be easier to port it to the Game Boy Advance (still the home of 2-D gaming), but considering that every other Final Fantasy game from I to IX is playabe on the PSX, I don't see them releasing III for any other system, for the sake of consistency if nothing else.The number one rule in international law, the only one the UN actually enforces, is "Thou shall not kill thy neighbor's people." Killing your own people is fair game. Hitler was stupid for expanding his mass murder into neighboring slavic countries. Stalin just killed other Soviets and got puppet governments in other countries to do the dirty work for him. The UN is just fine with that just as it's fine with the mass murder of Cambodians, Rwandans, Kosovars, etc.
The big question is, if everybody is a car thief, who gets their cars stolen?
"then the should bolster the theory that "since we find life here, it has to be the same in the rest of the universe."
Except current exploration of extrasolar planetary systems seems to show that having a star system like ours (with Jupiter big enough to swallow up life-threatening comets and asteroids, but not big enough to swallow up planets in the life belt) is a rare exception and not the rule.
"A.D. 1948: Slashdot runs the infamous headline "DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN." Shamefaced, the site quickly retracts the story when numerous readers point out that it is not news for nerds, stuff that matters."
You missed one
A.D. 1949: CmdrTaco posts the article "TRUMAN DEFEATED BY DEWEY."
How about those of us who dislike the New York Times in general?
I wonder if they have a sign out in front of their headquarters proclaiming that they've gone an entire three days so far without printing an outright lie...
"So why come out with a "Super PS2" in 2004 that will do all sorts of cool things"
Because Nintendo says it will not allow itself to be beaten to the market again, and who knows what Microsoft is planning. Sony probably hopes that releasing this box before their two competitors are able to get their new systems out the door will help mantain Sony market dominance just long enough to finish up the next PlayStation.
"Doesn't the Japan market tend to lead the U.S. market--but not always in predictable ways?"
That's been changing. Consider that both new Metroid games were released first in North America. Metroid Prime has the excuse of being developed in the US to begin with, but Metroid Fusion is a product of Japan.
"Don't forget the Japan is a large country, where Sony can sell the PSX to them only."
Yes, it's big, but the US economy is almost three times bigger. They stand to make quite a bit more money by selling in the US.
"does it play games?"
After you pay an additional $30 for that particular add-on, yes.
"nless Japan suddenly becomes the 51st state of the USA, no. RIAA/MPAA"
You do realize that Sony is a big player in both of those organizations, right?
"Supposedly, (I had friends working on it) Al detested the thought of anything nuclear."
This from the man who supposedly represented the home of Oak Ridge? No wonder he lost his own state...
"If you can't do that cleanly & safely (something the nuclear industry's record suggests they can't do),"
Yeah, look at all the radioactive carbon-14 those plants are dumping into the atmosphere! No, wait, those are fossil fuel plants...
At any rate, countries like France and Belgium seem to be doing alright with nuclear power. Why do you think the US can't?
"Several friends of mine credit their above average vocabularies and problem solving abilities to RPGs among other games."
This guy are sick, you spoony bard!
"and a key advantage of the Euro for blackmarket transactions is that the highest denomination is 500, instead of 100 for US bills."
On the other hand, a payment in nothing but 500.00 EUR notes has fewer serial numbers for law enforcement to keep track of.
The black market would rather deal in ubiquitous 10.00 USD and 20.00 USD notes and would generally use larger bills only if they have to.
""That non-DRM PC will cost you $3000 credit, $2900 cash, $600 in gold, or 10 cartons of banned cigarettes.""
You know, US states still have a constitutional right to mint their own gold and silver coins.