Or the price is low enough that they know Sony (and maybe Microsoft), if they saw it, would burn even more money by lowering their prices before launch. Or they're waiting to see if the price of certain components changes between now and launch.
We can speculate all we want, but the only thing we can say is that it's probably to allow Nintendo as much flexibility in pricing as possible.
It's already been announced that the GameCube game Twilight Princess will be 16:9 when played on a Wii. No reason to believe that Wii games won't be able to do what GameCube games will.
"You mean I won't have to go digging through the menu of every game I want to play so I can turn that annoying feature off?"
Sheesh, just get a WaveBird, then.
Besides, PS2 owners have the option of turning it off, but PS3 owners will not have the option of turning it on.
"Let's see how badly Nintendo is criticized after their press conference today before proclaiming Wii to be the savior of the universe."
There's little left for Nintendo to announce. There's one more secret feature they've been teasing us with, and we haven't seen what the "normal controller" dock for the Wiimote looks like, but other than that there's nothing else left for Nintendo to screw up. We've seen the controller, we've seen the name, we have a low ceiling for the MSRP.
"but I can't see why there couldn't be a $20-$40 adapter that plugs into a USB port."
First off, who's going to have that much money left over after spending $500 on a console and $60 on their launch title?
More important, though is the issue of backwards compatability.
Hypothetical: I put a PS2 game into my PS3, intending to play it (even though there won't be any rumble). The PS2 game says "Please insert Memroy Card into slot 1." On the core PS3, there is no "slot 1."
Rig the PS3 to automatically save PS2 and PS1 games to the hard drive? What about PS2 games that use the PS2s hard drive? They're few and far between, yes, but they are out there, so pointing all saving to the hard drive will break some backwards compatability.
USB device? PS2 games aren't designed to look at the USB ports as a NV memory option, but many are designed to look at the USB ports for other things (forget the EyeToy, what about keyboards?). Re-assigning the USB ports as emulated memory card slots will again break backwards compatability with PS2 games.
From the sounds of things, there will either be two different PS1/PS2 compatability lists (one for each version of the PS3), or the bare-bones model won't have backwards compatability at all, in a market where X360 backwards compatability is ever expanding with freely downloadable patches and you can even use your WaveBird on your Wii.
"And if they can afford a $2000-$5000 plasma HD set, maybe they can afford the extra $100 for a premium PS3?"
On the other hand, the core PS3 costs more than many HD tubes I've seen.
More damming, you're stuck with that rumble-less controller if you try to play PS2 or PS1 games on your PS3, as there are no controller ports.
No backwards-compatible memory card slots, no memory card slots of any kind on the core system, no backwards-compatible controller slots while removing functionality from the new controllers... it's seeming like Sony is doing what they can to break backwards compatability.
As I sit here and realize that the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XI will be the first to not support rumble, it becomes apparent that this will have an interesting effect on cross-platform publishing as well. Nintendo has been chastised for not having a "normal" controller for the Wii, potentially harming their ability to get third-paty publishers to bring games to the Wii, but they've already announced that they'll be releasing a "normal controller" docking unit for the Wiimote, and I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be announcing that they're bundling it with the console today. On the other hand, it doesn't look like PS3 owners will have any sort of optional accessory to go back to what has become an industry standard in video game controllers. What happens with games that come out for all three systems but only have rumble on two of them?
"I doubt if it is a rational strategy for any country which cannot make a sizable passenger jet at this moment to take on such a massive project right at start."
It's more rational than the largest aircraft carrier in the US Navy trying to develop its own weapons program. At the very least they'd amendmend their constitution first before trying to break into a defense market that's so completely dominated by American and European companies.
"The military spending of Japanese government is second in the world."
First off, you misspelled either "China" or "United Kingdom," depending on whose numbers you believe. Secondly, Japanese military spending doesn't go to the SDF, but to supporting the US military.
I walked into my local EBGames last week and bought an Xbox 360 and Final Fantasy XI. Even after sales tax, the total was still around $450. And no, I didn't "pre-order" anything, I just walked in and everything was in stock.
Grousing around the used sales through Amazon isn't going to get you near MSRP on stuff like this. The MSRP for the Xbox Core and premiums kits are $299 and $399 respectively, despite what Amazon or eBay might say.
If this is really how you look for the prices of stuff online, I hope for your sake that you don't do too much online shopping.
"Which of those "features" is really needed to play games?"
I just recently got an Xbox 360 as an upgrade from my PS2 for my Final Fantasy XI fix. Something I've noticed is that all of the differences between the core and the pro kits for the Xbox 360 can be bought separately if you really wanted to, so that even if you got the core kit, you can get yourself a wireless controller, hard drive and Live subscription later on and the only difference between the two will be the color of the drive tray.
But how are you going to easily add new inputs and outputs to the base PS3 system without making it look like a kludge? Odds are it's going to be nothing but a bunch of USB dongles for you if you get the base PS3, taking up shelf space and making your console look (and behave?) more and more like a PC.
"The memory stick ports? I thought that's what the freaking hard drive was for!"
We already know that the PS3 will not accept PS2/PS1 memory cards at all, and that transferring your old saves to play on the new system will require a dongle at least, to move your saves onto a memory stick. But if the base system doesn't even have that option, then that could seriously hurt launch sales. As I recall, the PS2 launch lineup wasn't spectacular, but people could still buy it at launch and use it as a PS1 replacement until good games came out. But this could guarantee that most players will need to keep out their PS2 alongside their PS3 to get their fix of older games, taking up shelf space, TV inputs, etc.
I have seven consoles hooked up to my TV right now. The Wii has the potential to replace 5 of my consoles at once (and I won't have the urge to get a TurboDuo, either, unless they don't bring out Rondo of Blood in the US). But unless there's a damned compelling reason to get one, the PS3 will replace nothing without spening even more money on accessories.
And before you try to say "Final Fantasy XIII," I'm patient enough there to wait for a price drop before I get it especially at those prices. Besides, I'll have Dragon Quest IX for my Wii.
"Remember that as gamers, what we should be interested in is playing games."
What, does "saving money" not enter into the calculus? Have you seen the price of gas lately?
"Sony has done the right thing by making a system that is basic for basic gaming needs,"
Except that their "basic needs" package is priced like the luxury packages from their major competitors. It's like saying the price point of a bare-bones Mercedes puts it in the same market as a Honda Civic. As somebody already pointed out, at the price they're charging for their basic kit, I can get the luxury kits from either Microsoft and Nintendo and get actual games along with it, which, as you say, is all that we should really be interested in.
So demand in Japan for a shorter trip to Saipan or Honolulu is so great that they're going to be developing a supersonic passenger jet because of it?
Wouldn't it be cheaper for them to open up a few shooting ranges domestically for vacationers to go to, or do they also want to be able to practice their English on the locals while playing Dirty Harry?
"In China, the government makes and breaks the rules at will, so when they tell Google "ban searches for 'X' or else," Google complies."
However, if Google can comply with the Chinese demands, it shows they are also capable of doing the same with illegal material in the United States as well.
"In the US, legislation is required to ban something"
News flash: child porn is illegal in the United States.
"Langdon also noted that Google offers a filtering tool called SafeSearch that aims to block offensive content in search results."
That's nice, except that child pornography goes beyond "offensive" and into the realm of "illegal." The laws don't say "You can't have child pornography unless you intended to look for it," so the ability to activate SafeSearch, regardless of its effectiveness, doesn't change things.
"the fact is that laws have been passed stating the circumstances required for a company to avoid being charged with a crime for promoting child pornography, and Google is complying."
It all hinges on the phrase "good faith" in the law, and I can see the case being made that, if Google is willing to go to extent X for Beijing, then anything less in the United States shouldn't be considered "good faith."
I can see this as being similar to the net neutrality debate, as Google is treating the laws of one country differently than the laws of another, depending on which action is more profitable. With China, Google has shown their hand with their ability and desire to censor their results to comply with government demands, yet over here they get to claim something akin to common carrier protections? If it were BellSouth instead of Google, Slashdotters would be siding with the lawsuit.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander; Google should be required to apply the same standards in both countries. Google doesn't want information to be free.
That may be true for fuel, but the big problem with radioactive waste are other things that have been activated/contaminated, such as in a clean-up process. Fuel rods you may be able to reprocess, but what do you do with, say, a mop used to clean up a spill of water from the reactor pool? Or the container that held the water/reactor/etc. to begin with, for that matter?
"Yeah, um, curses? Should I worry about black cats too?"
Do you think somebody not familiar with radioactivity is going to believe the "No, really, we mean it!" statements on the waste material any more than they would the warnings about curses and the like? "Liquify my internal organs? As if!"
"So of course there was stuff happening before the Big Bang"
Where would it have happened?
The Big Bang was not something like a hand grenade in a vacuum, it created the vacuum. The expansion of the universe that we see isn't so much from stuff flying apart within the frame of spacetime, but spacetime itself expanding.
"Before" and/or "outside" the Big Bang have no meaning, because it created time and space.
I suggest picking up yourself copies of Flatland and/or Sphereland. In fact, I think Flatland is in the public domain.
"That's both ridiculous and preposterous! The episode completely wrapped up"
If it has a definitive ending with all loose ends tied up, then it can't be anime. Anime is actually an ancient Japanese term that roughly translates into "plot holes."
"One can obtain a PSP for $160 by catching a special with Dell"
Dude, I am so not getting a Dell, no matter what they toss in with it.
"PSP homebrew doesn't require more than"
OK, if the biggest and/or only reason you have for getting a PSP is for homebrew, why get the PSP to begin with? The manufacturer is against the PSP being used that way and continues to take steps to eliminate exploits as they come out. If all you want is "homebrew," go get yourself a GPX32 or something.
If the published games and/or movies aren't enough to get you to buy a PSP, then there is no good reason to get one.
Slashdot Mirror
Or the price is low enough that they know Sony (and maybe Microsoft), if they saw it, would burn even more money by lowering their prices before launch. Or they're waiting to see if the price of certain components changes between now and launch.
We can speculate all we want, but the only thing we can say is that it's probably to allow Nintendo as much flexibility in pricing as possible.
"he played doubles tennis against Reggie(...) i think the important question is, who won?"
Do you have to ask? I'm sure Scott's name was officially taken as well.
"or at least widescreen."
It's already been announced that the GameCube game Twilight Princess will be 16:9 when played on a Wii. No reason to believe that Wii games won't be able to do what GameCube games will.
"You mean I won't have to go digging through the menu of every game I want to play so I can turn that annoying feature off?"
Sheesh, just get a WaveBird, then.
Besides, PS2 owners have the option of turning it off, but PS3 owners will not have the option of turning it on.
"Let's see how badly Nintendo is criticized after their press conference today before proclaiming Wii to be the savior of the universe."
There's little left for Nintendo to announce. There's one more secret feature they've been teasing us with, and we haven't seen what the "normal controller" dock for the Wiimote looks like, but other than that there's nothing else left for Nintendo to screw up. We've seen the controller, we've seen the name, we have a low ceiling for the MSRP.
"but I can't see why there couldn't be a $20-$40 adapter that plugs into a USB port."
First off, who's going to have that much money left over after spending $500 on a console and $60 on their launch title?
More important, though is the issue of backwards compatability.
Hypothetical: I put a PS2 game into my PS3, intending to play it (even though there won't be any rumble). The PS2 game says "Please insert Memroy Card into slot 1." On the core PS3, there is no "slot 1."
Rig the PS3 to automatically save PS2 and PS1 games to the hard drive? What about PS2 games that use the PS2s hard drive? They're few and far between, yes, but they are out there, so pointing all saving to the hard drive will break some backwards compatability.
USB device? PS2 games aren't designed to look at the USB ports as a NV memory option, but many are designed to look at the USB ports for other things (forget the EyeToy, what about keyboards?). Re-assigning the USB ports as emulated memory card slots will again break backwards compatability with PS2 games.
From the sounds of things, there will either be two different PS1/PS2 compatability lists (one for each version of the PS3), or the bare-bones model won't have backwards compatability at all, in a market where X360 backwards compatability is ever expanding with freely downloadable patches and you can even use your WaveBird on your Wii.
"And if they can afford a $2000-$5000 plasma HD set, maybe they can afford the extra $100 for a premium PS3?"
On the other hand, the core PS3 costs more than many HD tubes I've seen.
More damming, you're stuck with that rumble-less controller if you try to play PS2 or PS1 games on your PS3, as there are no controller ports.
No backwards-compatible memory card slots, no memory card slots of any kind on the core system, no backwards-compatible controller slots while removing functionality from the new controllers... it's seeming like Sony is doing what they can to break backwards compatability.
As I sit here and realize that the PS3 version of Final Fantasy XI will be the first to not support rumble, it becomes apparent that this will have an interesting effect on cross-platform publishing as well. Nintendo has been chastised for not having a "normal" controller for the Wii, potentially harming their ability to get third-paty publishers to bring games to the Wii, but they've already announced that they'll be releasing a "normal controller" docking unit for the Wiimote, and I wouldn't be surprised if they'll be announcing that they're bundling it with the console today. On the other hand, it doesn't look like PS3 owners will have any sort of optional accessory to go back to what has become an industry standard in video game controllers. What happens with games that come out for all three systems but only have rumble on two of them?
And here's what Nintendo has been criticized for:
And on top of that, Nintendo's pre-presentation announcement of the name has gotten them far more attention than Sony's actual presentation.
"I doubt if it is a rational strategy for any country which cannot make a sizable passenger jet at this moment to take on such a massive project right at start."
It's more rational than the largest aircraft carrier in the US Navy trying to develop its own weapons program. At the very least they'd amendmend their constitution first before trying to break into a defense market that's so completely dominated by American and European companies.
"The military spending of Japanese government is second in the world."
First off, you misspelled either "China" or "United Kingdom," depending on whose numbers you believe. Secondly, Japanese military spending doesn't go to the SDF, but to supporting the US military.
I walked into my local EBGames last week and bought an Xbox 360 and Final Fantasy XI. Even after sales tax, the total was still around $450. And no, I didn't "pre-order" anything, I just walked in and everything was in stock.
Grousing around the used sales through Amazon isn't going to get you near MSRP on stuff like this. The MSRP for the Xbox Core and premiums kits are $299 and $399 respectively, despite what Amazon or eBay might say.
If this is really how you look for the prices of stuff online, I hope for your sake that you don't do too much online shopping.
"Which of those "features" is really needed to play games?"
I just recently got an Xbox 360 as an upgrade from my PS2 for my Final Fantasy XI fix. Something I've noticed is that all of the differences between the core and the pro kits for the Xbox 360 can be bought separately if you really wanted to, so that even if you got the core kit, you can get yourself a wireless controller, hard drive and Live subscription later on and the only difference between the two will be the color of the drive tray.
But how are you going to easily add new inputs and outputs to the base PS3 system without making it look like a kludge? Odds are it's going to be nothing but a bunch of USB dongles for you if you get the base PS3, taking up shelf space and making your console look (and behave?) more and more like a PC.
"The memory stick ports? I thought that's what the freaking hard drive was for!"
We already know that the PS3 will not accept PS2/PS1 memory cards at all, and that transferring your old saves to play on the new system will require a dongle at least, to move your saves onto a memory stick. But if the base system doesn't even have that option, then that could seriously hurt launch sales. As I recall, the PS2 launch lineup wasn't spectacular, but people could still buy it at launch and use it as a PS1 replacement until good games came out. But this could guarantee that most players will need to keep out their PS2 alongside their PS3 to get their fix of older games, taking up shelf space, TV inputs, etc.
I have seven consoles hooked up to my TV right now. The Wii has the potential to replace 5 of my consoles at once (and I won't have the urge to get a TurboDuo, either, unless they don't bring out Rondo of Blood in the US). But unless there's a damned compelling reason to get one, the PS3 will replace nothing without spening even more money on accessories.
And before you try to say "Final Fantasy XIII," I'm patient enough there to wait for a price drop before I get it especially at those prices. Besides, I'll have Dragon Quest IX for my Wii.
"Remember that as gamers, what we should be interested in is playing games."
What, does "saving money" not enter into the calculus? Have you seen the price of gas lately?
"Sony has done the right thing by making a system that is basic for basic gaming needs,"
Except that their "basic needs" package is priced like the luxury packages from their major competitors. It's like saying the price point of a bare-bones Mercedes puts it in the same market as a Honda Civic. As somebody already pointed out, at the price they're charging for their basic kit, I can get the luxury kits from either Microsoft and Nintendo and get actual games along with it, which, as you say, is all that we should really be interested in.
So demand in Japan for a shorter trip to Saipan or Honolulu is so great that they're going to be developing a supersonic passenger jet because of it?
Wouldn't it be cheaper for them to open up a few shooting ranges domestically for vacationers to go to, or do they also want to be able to practice their English on the locals while playing Dirty Harry?
I think that, as far as Japan is concerned, the console war has just been settled.
I doubt it will actually hit zero. For example, "In Soviet Russia, my shiney metal ass bites you!" just doesn't work right.
No no, the official explanation is that Representative Kennedy was popping pills, not drinking! DUI is completely different from DWI!
"In China, the government makes and breaks the rules at will, so when they tell Google "ban searches for 'X' or else," Google complies."
However, if Google can comply with the Chinese demands, it shows they are also capable of doing the same with illegal material in the United States as well.
"In the US, legislation is required to ban something"
News flash: child porn is illegal in the United States.
"Langdon also noted that Google offers a filtering tool called SafeSearch that aims to block offensive content in search results."
That's nice, except that child pornography goes beyond "offensive" and into the realm of "illegal." The laws don't say "You can't have child pornography unless you intended to look for it," so the ability to activate SafeSearch, regardless of its effectiveness, doesn't change things.
"the fact is that laws have been passed stating the circumstances required for a company to avoid being charged with a crime for promoting child pornography, and Google is complying."
It all hinges on the phrase "good faith" in the law, and I can see the case being made that, if Google is willing to go to extent X for Beijing, then anything less in the United States shouldn't be considered "good faith."
I can see this as being similar to the net neutrality debate, as Google is treating the laws of one country differently than the laws of another, depending on which action is more profitable. With China, Google has shown their hand with their ability and desire to censor their results to comply with government demands, yet over here they get to claim something akin to common carrier protections? If it were BellSouth instead of Google, Slashdotters would be siding with the lawsuit.
What's good for the goose is good for the gander; Google should be required to apply the same standards in both countries. Google doesn't want information to be free.
That may be true for fuel, but the big problem with radioactive waste are other things that have been activated/contaminated, such as in a clean-up process. Fuel rods you may be able to reprocess, but what do you do with, say, a mop used to clean up a spill of water from the reactor pool? Or the container that held the water/reactor/etc. to begin with, for that matter?
"Yeah, um, curses? Should I worry about black cats too?"
Do you think somebody not familiar with radioactivity is going to believe the "No, really, we mean it!" statements on the waste material any more than they would the warnings about curses and the like? "Liquify my internal organs? As if!"
"So of course there was stuff happening before the Big Bang"
Where would it have happened?
The Big Bang was not something like a hand grenade in a vacuum, it created the vacuum. The expansion of the universe that we see isn't so much from stuff flying apart within the frame of spacetime, but spacetime itself expanding.
"Before" and/or "outside" the Big Bang have no meaning, because it created time and space.
I suggest picking up yourself copies of Flatland and/or Sphereland. In fact, I think Flatland is in the public domain.
Imagine if they put a jet engine on it!
"That's both ridiculous and preposterous! The episode completely wrapped up"
If it has a definitive ending with all loose ends tied up, then it can't be anime. Anime is actually an ancient Japanese term that roughly translates into "plot holes."
"Not "jibberjabber""
The Honorable Judge T presiding?
"here's hoping the flaws can be 'patched' soon."
Because if there's anything that'll make vending machine coffee sound more appetizing, it's putting it into a can.
"One can obtain a PSP for $160 by catching a special with Dell"
Dude, I am so not getting a Dell, no matter what they toss in with it.
"PSP homebrew doesn't require more than"
OK, if the biggest and/or only reason you have for getting a PSP is for homebrew, why get the PSP to begin with? The manufacturer is against the PSP being used that way and continues to take steps to eliminate exploits as they come out. If all you want is "homebrew," go get yourself a GPX32 or something.
If the published games and/or movies aren't enough to get you to buy a PSP, then there is no good reason to get one.
"I refuse to pay $50 for some of their titles."
They seem to be $30-ish to me.
Greedo admits his feelings to Han.
It's called "VAT."