Would 30 million worth of advertising make Hearts of Iron III sell 3 million copies in the US, regardless of its quality?
Absolutely, as long as part of that 30 million involved changing the name to something like "HALO WARS EVOLVED", and dressing up some of the in-game text and maps accordingly.
Sure, some players may wonder why it is that the Spartans are commanded by someone named Irwin and be puzzled at what they were doing on "Planet North Africa", but they sure would buy it, play it, and loudly tell all of their friends that it was so much better than "Some dumb WW2 game".
30 bucks..
a proprietary OS for 30 bucks deserves 5 points on price.
Except that in order to pay the $30 for it, you first need to pay at least $700 to the same vendor for the "Apple labeled computer" you require to legally run it.
It's like saying that you can get a free dishwasher as long as you buy a house to put it in.
"Did I mention that our next model is going to be SO amazing that you'll think that our current product is crap? The new model will make EVERYTHING obsolete and the entire world will need to upgrade to it when it comes out. People won't even be able to give away any older products. Sooooo... how many of this year's model will you be buying today?
"Will 'Avatar' be the most amazing film ever and justify my spending the last year in nerd-lust over it? I don't actually know a thing about it other than what's in the trailer, but I presume that it won't."
To transmit on a licensed frequency the entire device doing the transmitting needs to be approved, not just the hardware. That means that any software which is directly involved in transmission or reception _needs_ to be locked down. It can mplement all sorts of friendly ABIs and talk as nicely as it wants to with the end user, but allowing the end user to run random firmware on a device which broadcasts on licensed frequencies is a one way ticket to getting beaten with a stick by your friendly neighbourhood regulatory agency.
Expect proprietary blobs wherever they can get away with it.
Or wherever those pesky government regulations require them to. You can't just hack together your own code, plug it into the GSM network and expect the FCC to just smile and look the other way.
Adding to that, the summary contains 45 words and three sentences, contains one typo and one misspelling. Surely the submission approval process is not so strained that three sentences is too much to proof read?
Comma splice.
Spelling.
I'd use the red pen of doom on this but that would anger the gods of markup. You'll just have to figure out where you went wrong on your own.
The article says that only 3.8% of people would NOT buy another xbox due to hardware failures. That's GREAT news for Microsoft - the message is that people love the 360 regardless of failure.
The article says "Just 3.8 percent of respondents said they wouldn't buy another Xbox because of system failures". It does _not_ say "96.2 percent of respondents said they would buy another Xbox despite the system failures".
Another way of phrasing this without contradicting the figures presented in the article would be "Just 3.8 percent of respondents said that system failures were the reason they would not by another Xbox. 62.3% said that poor customer service influenced this decision and 28.6% said that the X Box 360 'Sucked the sweat off a dead man's back' although their lips could be seen forming entirely different words."
Inconsistencies and illogical details in the Star Wars Universe?
Fish. Barrel. Large bore shotgun.
Star Wars, like much of the Space Opera and Science Fantasy genre, follows only one well tested design strategy: The Rule of Cool. If something looks cool, and it doesn't get in the way of the story, it's in. Once you can accept that you're good.
Slashdot Mirror
Yes, but I wouldn't sum up the transaction by saying "Hey, I got a free dishwasher today".
Absolutely, as long as part of that 30 million involved changing the name to something like "HALO WARS EVOLVED", and dressing up some of the in-game text and maps accordingly.
Sure, some players may wonder why it is that the Spartans are commanded by someone named Irwin and be puzzled at what they were doing on "Planet North Africa", but they sure would buy it, play it, and loudly tell all of their friends that it was so much better than "Some dumb WW2 game".
Except that in order to pay the $30 for it, you first need to pay at least $700 to the same vendor for the "Apple labeled computer" you require to legally run it.
It's like saying that you can get a free dishwasher as long as you buy a house to put it in.
Gee, I wonder if Microsoft is working on publishing their own MMO for the XBox.
Nah, I'm sure I'm just being paranoid.
Good thinking. Just like how Amiga put their effort into making a better computer than Apple, so today nobody has ever heard of a 'Macintosh'.
"Did I mention that our next model is going to be SO amazing that you'll think that our current product is crap? The new model will make EVERYTHING obsolete and the entire world will need to upgrade to it when it comes out. People won't even be able to give away any older products. Sooooo... how many of this year's model will you be buying today?
"Hello? Are you still there?
"Hello?"
That would be "Ben and Jerry's".
He didn't say a word about how they disconnected the Internet in Nazi Germany.
Most people in the civilized world order their double-double at a doughnut shop. That doesn't mean it isn't coffee either.
Benedict Arnold was a patriot. That didn't make him popular with everyone either.
I'm hoping this is just a language barrier at work, but why would you want to order your coffee with two sugars, two creams and grilled onions in it?
What's a Buck Cake?
"Will 'Avatar' be the most amazing film ever and justify my spending the last year in nerd-lust over it? I don't actually know a thing about it other than what's in the trailer, but I presume that it won't."
I was with you up to the whale-skin hubcaps and big brown baby seal eyes for headlights. That was a bit much.
The danger in that is that the media will pick it up and call it "Biological BCM Counter Measures".
There was talk about naming it the "Freedom Worm" instead.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure about that.
To transmit on a licensed frequency the entire device doing the transmitting needs to be approved, not just the hardware. That means that any software which is directly involved in transmission or reception _needs_ to be locked down. It can mplement all sorts of friendly ABIs and talk as nicely as it wants to with the end user, but allowing the end user to run random firmware on a device which broadcasts on licensed frequencies is a one way ticket to getting beaten with a stick by your friendly neighbourhood regulatory agency.
Or wherever those pesky government regulations require them to. You can't just hack together your own code, plug it into the GSM network and expect the FCC to just smile and look the other way.
And everybody had a copy of the source code for it, too. Even when AT&T said they weren't supposed to.
What was your point again?
Suddenly I want to take a very long, hot shower.
Now where did I put that bleach?
Comma splice.
Spelling.
I'd use the red pen of doom on this but that would anger the gods of markup. You'll just have to figure out where you went wrong on your own.
The article says "Just 3.8 percent of respondents said they wouldn't buy another Xbox because of system failures". It does _not_ say "96.2 percent of respondents said they would buy another Xbox despite the system failures".
Another way of phrasing this without contradicting the figures presented in the article would be "Just 3.8 percent of respondents said that system failures were the reason they would not by another Xbox. 62.3% said that poor customer service influenced this decision and 28.6% said that the X Box 360 'Sucked the sweat off a dead man's back' although their lips could be seen forming entirely different words."
Inconsistencies and illogical details in the Star Wars Universe?
Fish. Barrel. Large bore shotgun.
Star Wars, like much of the Space Opera and Science Fantasy genre, follows only one well tested design strategy: The Rule of Cool. If something looks cool, and it doesn't get in the way of the story, it's in. Once you can accept that you're good.
I understand that people around here don't like to read the articles but that's just because they can't be bothered, not because it's against the law.
Reading The Frakkin' Article is not a crime!
Because it can be reduced to an image of not more than 64x64 pixels while still being recognizable.
Next question?