Not only that, but the threat of incorporating AMD chips into their lineup is part of the reason they can get such good prices from Intel. We can only imagine the co-marketing agreements and massive volume deals they get thanks to Dell "hinting" at a switch every now and then.
Like Apple incorporating x86 processors into their lineup, they'd do it in a heartbeat if it made sense from a business perspective. This isn't a philosophical battle, it's about how to maximize your leverage with vendors. Dell's winning the game because Intel can't afford to let them go.
Please, Nintendo, give us a Kid Icarus sequel! Look what it's sister silver label game, Metroid, has become
Give Pit a chance! Let us wage war against the evil Medusa and her army of Eggplant Wizards and Grim Reapers again! Let us seek treasure and avoid the God of Poverty in our quest for mallets, hearts, feathers, wallets and bottles barrels!
There's two ways to advance a format: either make it more accessable, or make it more convenient. I don't think Sony is going to open the Pandora's box that is compatible UMD-Rs, when (in their opinion) that's the purpose of the Memory stick.
Instead, what they should do is make the UMD easier to use and give it more features. Make it too damn hard to resist. If they were really serious about making the PSP+UMD a viable mainstream entertainment format, then they should be like the iPod and make it useable in as many conceiveable ways as possible within the item's designed philosophy.
It's a game system and a movie player. Allowing the user to output video (it's primary function is turning bits into pixels) to a TV doesn't compete with the basic philosophy of the design, just like outputting the audio from my iPod to my stereo doesn't take away from it's basic purpose as a music player (turning bits into audio signals).
Is it cool to run Linux on the iPod? Sure. But I'd rather it play music in as many ways as possible, before I worry about running Apache on it. Letting the PSP output to a TV would have made it that much harder to resist -- it adds value and usefulness that has no competitor right now.
Remember, Nintendo has a long tradition of creating add-ons for it's consoles that allow their portable library to be played on the TV. When the Revolution happens, I wouldn't be surprised if a DS adapter isn't announced long after.
They should have given the PSP a way to do video-out via a composite RF cable. That way, all you need to do to watch your movie is plug the PSP into the front A/V ports of your TV and hit Play.
Even better, a docking station with charger and wireless remote, like the one I have for my iPod connected to my stereo right now. Or, make the remote a wireless controller, and let people play their PSP games on their TV when they're at home. Add a wireless keyboard -- now you've got a Web-browser on your TV.
Forget about the PSP being a portable gaming device...now it's a full blown information appliance. That's something I'd pay $249.99 for, maybe even get two.
It's the greatest tetris clone that noone's ever played. The controls are simple, yet the logic is complex and subtle like the original. The techno soundtrack is amazing, harkening back to the days when Future Crew's Skaven and Purple Motion's MODs and S3M based beats ruled my music collection. The 3D motion is fluid and sharp even for a last-gen title, and incorporates nice special effects that don't get in the way of the action.
It's worth buying that $20 N64 on ebay just to get this game. Get two controllers, and experience a 3D multiplayer puzzle game that has never been bested. Just make sure you hook it up to your stereo, so you can get the full effect of playing it with the music at it's best.
Trust me, you'll never look at a sphere the same way again.
In human generated levels, you're playing more against the designer than the game. On one level, this is more interesting, because it's adversarial and competitive. Yet if the designer uses the same tricks over and over, or uses strategies that are difficult to understand, then this can become boring real fast.
On the other hand, in a randomly or heuristicly generated level, you're playing against Chaos. Of all the possible levels that could have come into existence based upon the rules of the engine, *this* is the one you're faced with. Almost guaranteed a unique experience every time, playing as if against the hand of God itself. There's no human intelligence behind this design -- it's math, and it's going to PWN you on occasion.
At this point, if Microsoft is so confident that the movie would succeed should it be made, why don't they just open their own studio and make it themselves? If Halo: The Movie does do well, who knows what other Microsoft franchises might get sent to the big screen?
Flight Simulator: in IMAX 3D!
I prefer the physical metaphor folders provide
on
The Death of Folders?
·
· Score: 2, Interesting
Maybe I'm alone in this, but I really hate tagging metadata as the sole means of organizing large sets of files. I tend to prefer the physical metaphor, a place for everything and everything in it's place, over the vast sets of forgettable synonyms you can use to describe a document.
And if I want it in more than one place? Space is cheap - I can make copies of it and put it into different places. Different copies, with the same name!
The main reason I don't like using Gmail is that I can't get used to not having a visual way of organizing my data. In my yahoo messages, I mark an email and move it to a folder. Then I have the comfortably familiar folder tree, that lets me know all of the subcategories I can choose. It's automatic, it's easy, and it does what I want it to.
Advanced search features are great, but not at the cost of useability. If it triples the amount of time it takes me to go through my inbox in order to tag every email with relevant metadata, it's not saving me any time or energy.
Folders may die, but at what cost? It certainly won't offer me any productivity increases, and people less knowledgeable than me will find it even more difficult without that metaphor to relate to.
Databases are great for compiling numbers and facts. They're not so user friendly as to become the next great interface for the masses.
Look, I do my duty as a good customer. I pay for your games. I honor brand loyalty over bad reviews. I'm willing to forgive the odd dropped feature now and then. In short, I do everything you've asked of me.
And yet, I'm not getting the same value for my dollar any more. Oh, sure, the visuals are prettier, and the sound is amazing. But the games you're putting out these days, frankly, don't have any soul. It's as if you used the same voice actor for every character, and asked them to just grunt a little more for the guys voices and suck helium for the girls voices.
Until I as a consumer get my fair share, I'm striking. No more broken and buggy games. No more repetitive and bland gameplay. And I want royalties, too -- free or inexpensive content for years after the release of your product.
I do my part. It's time for the industry to meet me half way.
I could definately see a situation where Apple and Intel could compromise and design a custom x86 platform based on the Pentium line but not entirely compatible with. By removing a lot of the crufty legacy hacks put in to support two decades of of 8 and 16-bit apps (and Windows) as well as locking down the rest of the architecture to avoid compatibility issues with the taiwanese whitebox outlet, not to mention hard wiring all that DRM that the media companies want, this could be a win-win situation for both companies.
Apple gets a reliable, high powered partner that can meet their demand; Intel gets to renovate an architecture that's been bogged down by years of compromise to history. They both look like heroes to the entertainment industry. And the technical market -- hey, there's a new platform that's going to need a ton of new applications developed.
I'll be over there renovating the Haunted Mansion. If you appreciate my efforts, feel free to contribute some Wuffie, cause I'm kind of Down and Out right now.
Microsoft finally let the world know that the Xbox 360 will be backwards compatible with top-selling Xbox games.
It sounds to me like they'll be using some kind of Bleem! style system with software emulation being customized for only certain xbox games. Perhaps you'll need to purchase "compatibility modules" through their micropayment-driven marketplace? With Microsoft, I wouldn't put it past them.
AV Output Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p HDMI: HDMI out x 2 Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1 Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1
Two HDMI out ports? If the PS3 can drive two displays, that would explain the support for the seven bluetooth controllers. I wonder what kind of performance hit that would mean, at 1080p x2
Paramedic #1: You have no pulse, your blood pressure's zero-over-zero, you have no pupillary response, no reflexes and your temperature is 70 degrees. Thewiz: Well, what does that mean? Paramedic #1: Well, it's a puzzle because, technically, you're not alive. Except you're conscious, so we don't know what it means. Thewiz: Are you saying we're dead? Paramedic #2: Well, let's not jump to conclusions. Thewiz: Are you saying we're dead? Paramedic #2: No conclusions. Paramedic #1: Obviously I didn't mean you were really dead. Dead people don't move around and talk.
Slashdot Mirror
Not only that, but the threat of incorporating AMD chips into their lineup is part of the reason they can get such good prices from Intel. We can only imagine the co-marketing agreements and massive volume deals they get thanks to Dell "hinting" at a switch every now and then.
Like Apple incorporating x86 processors into their lineup, they'd do it in a heartbeat if it made sense from a business perspective. This isn't a philosophical battle, it's about how to maximize your leverage with vendors. Dell's winning the game because Intel can't afford to let them go.
Isn't that what lead to the downfall of Atari?
I'm a non-conformist.
Just like the rest of you.
Yeah, I guess they needed a break before starting another Megaman game.
...but we still ask...
Please, Nintendo, give us a Kid Icarus sequel! Look what it's sister silver label game, Metroid, has become
Give Pit a chance! Let us wage war against the evil Medusa and her army of Eggplant Wizards and Grim Reapers again! Let us seek treasure and avoid the God of Poverty in our quest for mallets, hearts, feathers, wallets and bottles barrels!
You can do it!
There's two ways to advance a format: either make it more accessable, or make it more convenient. I don't think Sony is going to open the Pandora's box that is compatible UMD-Rs, when (in their opinion) that's the purpose of the Memory stick.
Instead, what they should do is make the UMD easier to use and give it more features. Make it too damn hard to resist. If they were really serious about making the PSP+UMD a viable mainstream entertainment format, then they should be like the iPod and make it useable in as many conceiveable ways as possible within the item's designed philosophy.
It's a game system and a movie player. Allowing the user to output video (it's primary function is turning bits into pixels) to a TV doesn't compete with the basic philosophy of the design, just like outputting the audio from my iPod to my stereo doesn't take away from it's basic purpose as a music player (turning bits into audio signals).
Is it cool to run Linux on the iPod? Sure. But I'd rather it play music in as many ways as possible, before I worry about running Apache on it. Letting the PSP output to a TV would have made it that much harder to resist -- it adds value and usefulness that has no competitor right now.
Remember, Nintendo has a long tradition of creating add-ons for it's consoles that allow their portable library to be played on the TV. When the Revolution happens, I wouldn't be surprised if a DS adapter isn't announced long after.
They should have given the PSP a way to do video-out via a composite RF cable. That way, all you need to do to watch your movie is plug the PSP into the front A/V ports of your TV and hit Play.
Even better, a docking station with charger and wireless remote, like the one I have for my iPod connected to my stereo right now. Or, make the remote a wireless controller, and let people play their PSP games on their TV when they're at home. Add a wireless keyboard -- now you've got a Web-browser on your TV.
Forget about the PSP being a portable gaming device...now it's a full blown information appliance. That's something I'd pay $249.99 for, maybe even get two.
That's just because the atmosphere is so big.
No Prob: http://www.handa-accessories.com/pilot/PIL_DayNitM ir2.jpg
According to http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/metalgearsolid3 /news_6119725.html
the rumor is that Halo3 will be released around the same time as the PS3. Seems a likely strategy, if they can get a sequel done that fast.
You should just trademark the title "Untitled: the Xbox360 Game" -- you could then sue the pants off them!
Tetrisphere
It's the greatest tetris clone that noone's ever played. The controls are simple, yet the logic is complex and subtle like the original. The techno soundtrack is amazing, harkening back to the days when Future Crew's Skaven and Purple Motion's MODs and S3M based beats ruled my music collection. The 3D motion is fluid and sharp even for a last-gen title, and incorporates nice special effects that don't get in the way of the action.
It's worth buying that $20 N64 on ebay just to get this game. Get two controllers, and experience a 3D multiplayer puzzle game that has never been bested. Just make sure you hook it up to your stereo, so you can get the full effect of playing it with the music at it's best.
Trust me, you'll never look at a sphere the same way again.
Avalanche Peppermint Schnapps.
Tastes and smells just like mouthwash, which makes it very easy to hide in, say, a bottle of mouthwash. Not bad when mixed though.
You can hardly laugh at the Clerks
Well, you could, if Kevin Smith had written the script...
Or, you can look at it this way:
In human generated levels, you're playing more against the designer than the game. On one level, this is more interesting, because it's adversarial and competitive. Yet if the designer uses the same tricks over and over, or uses strategies that are difficult to understand, then this can become boring real fast.
On the other hand, in a randomly or heuristicly generated level, you're playing against Chaos. Of all the possible levels that could have come into existence based upon the rules of the engine, *this* is the one you're faced with. Almost guaranteed a unique experience every time, playing as if against the hand of God itself. There's no human intelligence behind this design -- it's math, and it's going to PWN you on occasion.
At this point, if Microsoft is so confident that the movie would succeed should it be made, why don't they just open their own studio and make it themselves? If Halo: The Movie does do well, who knows what other Microsoft franchises might get sent to the big screen?
Flight Simulator: in IMAX 3D!
Maybe I'm alone in this, but I really hate tagging metadata as the sole means of organizing large sets of files. I tend to prefer the physical metaphor, a place for everything and everything in it's place, over the vast sets of forgettable synonyms you can use to describe a document.
And if I want it in more than one place? Space is cheap - I can make copies of it and put it into different places. Different copies, with the same name!
The main reason I don't like using Gmail is that I can't get used to not having a visual way of organizing my data. In my yahoo messages, I mark an email and move it to a folder. Then I have the comfortably familiar folder tree, that lets me know all of the subcategories I can choose. It's automatic, it's easy, and it does what I want it to.
Advanced search features are great, but not at the cost of useability. If it triples the amount of time it takes me to go through my inbox in order to tag every email with relevant metadata, it's not saving me any time or energy.
Folders may die, but at what cost? It certainly won't offer me any productivity increases, and people less knowledgeable than me will find it even more difficult without that metaphor to relate to.
Databases are great for compiling numbers and facts. They're not so user friendly as to become the next great interface for the masses.
Look, I do my duty as a good customer. I pay for your games. I honor brand loyalty over bad reviews. I'm willing to forgive the odd dropped feature now and then. In short, I do everything you've asked of me.
And yet, I'm not getting the same value for my dollar any more. Oh, sure, the visuals are prettier, and the sound is amazing. But the games you're putting out these days, frankly, don't have any soul. It's as if you used the same voice actor for every character, and asked them to just grunt a little more for the guys voices and suck helium for the girls voices.
Until I as a consumer get my fair share, I'm striking. No more broken and buggy games. No more repetitive and bland gameplay. And I want royalties, too -- free or inexpensive content for years after the release of your product.
I do my part. It's time for the industry to meet me half way.
Here's my current 2-cent theory:
I could definately see a situation where Apple and Intel could compromise and design a custom x86 platform based on the Pentium line but not entirely compatible with. By removing a lot of the crufty legacy hacks put in to support two decades of of 8 and 16-bit apps (and Windows) as well as locking down the rest of the architecture to avoid compatibility issues with the taiwanese whitebox outlet, not to mention hard wiring all that DRM that the media companies want, this could be a win-win situation for both companies.
Apple gets a reliable, high powered partner that can meet their demand; Intel gets to renovate an architecture that's been bogged down by years of compromise to history. They both look like heroes to the entertainment industry. And the technical market -- hey, there's a new platform that's going to need a ton of new applications developed.
Umm, maps.google.xxx anyone?
I'll be over there renovating the Haunted Mansion. If you appreciate my efforts, feel free to contribute some Wuffie, cause I'm kind of Down and Out right now.
Dude, chicks are like Voltron.
The more you hook up, the better it gets!
Actually, I believe the exact quote was:
Microsoft finally let the world know that the Xbox 360 will be backwards compatible with top-selling Xbox games.
It sounds to me like they'll be using some kind of Bleem! style system with software emulation being customized for only certain xbox games. Perhaps you'll need to purchase "compatibility modules" through their micropayment-driven marketplace? With Microsoft, I wouldn't put it past them.
From FirstAdopter.com
AV Output
Screen size: 480i, 480p, 720p, 1080i, 1080p
HDMI: HDMI out x 2
Analog: AV MULTI OUT x 1
Digital audio: DIGITAL OUT (OPTICAL) x 1
Two HDMI out ports? If the PS3 can drive two displays, that would explain the support for the seven bluetooth controllers. I wonder what kind of performance hit that would mean, at 1080p x2
PS3: lanparty in a box!
This conversation held not long after:
Paramedic #1: You have no pulse, your blood pressure's zero-over-zero, you have no pupillary response, no reflexes and your temperature is 70 degrees.
Thewiz: Well, what does that mean?
Paramedic #1: Well, it's a puzzle because, technically, you're not alive. Except you're conscious, so we don't know what it means.
Thewiz: Are you saying we're dead?
Paramedic #2: Well, let's not jump to conclusions.
Thewiz: Are you saying we're dead?
Paramedic #2: No conclusions.
Paramedic #1: Obviously I didn't mean you were really dead. Dead people don't move around and talk.