My girlfriend (insert slashdot GF joke here. I'll wait. K, thanks.) has asked for Guitar Hero for her birthday, which is mid-October. So GH2 won't be out till next year, but it would be a shame if the controller changes in 6 months. I'd like to think Red Octane would offer a version of the game sans controller for those who already bought their big PS2 Axe, but perhaps not... anyone know?
Can you do that and browse the web/change settings though? I didn't think that you could, but I don't have my PSP with me atm to test... I may be wrong...
Sadly no. As soon as you pick a new 'app', it quits the music. A shame, I agree.
Well, you can scroll around, but you can't actually do anything else (like browse your movies, or even the system settings)... (Just to clarify i mean you can scroll your music, but only horizontal XMB scrolling outside of that menu) Jeb DISCLAIMER: That is only up to v2.0 of the firmware, has to be said, if it changes above there then my apologies:)
Of course you can, just hit SELECT while listening to the tunes. It has always been this way from firmware 1 up.
Can I guess with confidence that at least some of these (imho obvious) gui features are patented, if not by Sony, someone about to hit the motherlode by suing them?
One of the best things about the PSP is that 'crossbar' interface. Its extremely fast and easy to use.
One thing I liked in the video: showing a picture of the output plugs is pretty smart - this will really help out those who wouldn't know a DVI from an HDMI from a component cable.
I gotta wonder if that interface is running in some kind of HD mode; that text would not be readable on a standard-def 27" TV. Way to small. I imagine the font scales with the display mode.
Perhaps not appropriate for this particular incident - but I'd like to see more discussion around the idea of holding these corporate non-citizen entities with citizen's rights accountable. And not in the Lou Dobbs slap-on-the-wrist mode, either. Threat of company dissolution seems like a prudent deterrent to me. Fines don't work, and personnel can be swapped so easily. Things like releasing a rootkit, or half a million search records, or the commonly hidden bank hacks are just not acceptable; the risks to society are astronomical.
Remember - business is a game. We invented this game. We can change it too.
Listen up you primitive screwheads at/., there is no "Free Energy", no Free lunch, no tooth fairy and there ain't ever going to be flying cars. (We will eventually solve the tech for a flying car but the liability is insoluble.)
Indeed, there is no 'free energy', but there are free clicks and keystrokes from guys like you who can't help but rail at the editors rather than move on and ignore the article.
There's also a healthy supply of free clicks from the likes of me; I'm essentially meta-bitching.
I've heard stories about made-up claims of free energy all the way back in middle school. Looks like they didn't pan out. I have little confidence in more of the same.
And yet, I'll bet a conspiracy theorist will come along and blame the failure of this magical technology on big oil hitmen.
You take a sensible approach. After all, the odds that this is real are astronomically low. But if it actually is some new miracle technology, existing energy companies will certainly try to destroy it. So you are covered either way.
Who cares what is going on with Sony's particular controller? Ok, some care, it is the default and all... but it seems to be that the real value is in the APIs and the software provided for devs. The hooks for the motion sensing are the most important thing.
Console controllers should be like mice; there are so many out there and so many different little features, doodads, left-handedness, glowy bits, MightyMice, etc. This is great because you feel like you've got real choice. Everyone can pick something that works best for them because we know all these mice plug into the same USB jack and will work with the computer properly (more or less).
But so far, most of the 3rd party controllers for consoles are cheaper imitations of the originals with BAD gimmicks (autofire). The one's I've really liked have been extremely rare... WaveBird, the NegCon....
Sort of makes you wonder if there will be decent knockoffs of the Wii Remote, actually.
OK. So the stage is set : Slashdot = nerds, their opinion has no value. This comes from someone who feels compelled to express an opinion about the name of a console.
And someone that believe only nerds thinks innovative interface, low price, focus on gameplay over graphics, are good things.
I guess you're part of those that predicted that the PSP would mop the floor with the DS...
I never said 'nerd opinions didn't matter', I said mainstream commercial success is not based on nerd opinion.
Didn't say that only nerds like innovation etc. either.
I guess you're part of those that predicted that the PSP would mop the floor with the DS...
Even if I did, it wouldn't matter - see point 1.
Wow ! So now, non-nerds people will be amazed by a thing called HD in a console that was out one year before, and that they weren't even aware of ?
No idea what point you are trying to make here.
The DS just proved you are wrong. The money is everywhere, but you have to go and take it. The DS proves most of the money for games is NOT on hardcore gamers.
Repeat after me: The Wii is not the DS. The PSP is not the PS3.
By your logic, Sony will clearly destroy everyone, because the PS2 did last time, right? Its a specious argument, doesn't hold up.
The DS just proved you are wrong. The money is everywhere, but you have to go and take it. The DS proves most of the money for games is NOT on hardcore gamers.
Actually, the Sims proved it too, but you have a problem admitting hardcore 3D USA gamers are a minority.
People who bought Super Mario Bros are what put the game industry there, not people playing Halo.
Ah, well if the 'money is everywhere' as you wisely claim, why hasn't Nintendo just mopped the floor with Sony and MS a long time ago? Go check your DS sales figured again dude. The PSP and the DS are pretty much neck and neck. The Lite gave Nintendo a boost a few months ago, but people in China seem to love the PSP. Go figure, its a big world.
The Sims was the first game that any appreciable numbers of women wanted to play. That is the 'new segment' I was talking about in my original post.
Super Mario Bros may have been one of the first console games to be really popular but the market was tiny back then. I guess it depends on where you start, and what you call 'success'. I tend to think videogames became 'mainstream' when the sports titles started shipping for Sega's consoles. But to each his own.
Like with the DS. Not taking risks won't make you go anywhere.
Disagree. Microsoft proves that the safe route is almost always the most commercially successful route. Sad as that is. If you're willing to take gambles like Nintendo is, then you potentially win big or lose big.
That must be why PS2 is outselling XBox360 by 25+ times in Japan today. You know, I wouldn't be surprised if the Wii and PS3 outsell the total number of XBox360 when they launch in Japan, in 2 months time.
I will in fact be shocked if that doesn't happen. Xbox360 is a 'gaijin' console. There are cultural factors at work. Know how many Ford cars sell in Japan?
To me, the XBox360 is already a failure. I think most of the buyers of XBox360 have bought it already. People don't wait till the other products are out to buy, or that means they're actually waiting for the new products. When I see the number of people buying PS2 instead of XBox360 in Japan, and knowing most of the XBox360 buyers live in the USA, I have a very hard time believing the XBox360 will have even 30 % of the market. As for the PS3, I don't know.
Too early to tell, but I tend to agree about the X360. Its a shame. Now, if some huge game came out of nowhere next week (for example) and was a blockbuster hit, that could change. But it had no Halo for launch, and I think that really hurt them. PS3, yeah I don't know either. It really depends on the games.
The Nintendo DS, along with its friends Nintendogs and Brain Age, say you're wrong. And they say you're wrong to the tune of 21+ million sales in 18 months worldwide with THIRTEEN [wikipedia.org] million+ selling games. Nintendogs alone is over 7 million worldwide.
Nonsense. By that logic, the PS2's sales "say that you are wrong". Because it led before, right? Specious logic.
I think the DS is a hit for a very simple reason: the developers stepped up and delivered some great little games for it that used the stylus and microphone in fun and interesting ways. I credit Nintendo for a pretty good design (I hated the original, but I like the Lite); I credit the game creators for making it popular.
The Wii could very well be a runaway hit as well, I did not discount that possibility in my post, but it will require a HUGE hit game to make that happen. And Red Steel will not be it.
Yes the article is completely speculative. But don't think for one second that the majority opinion of slashdot is in any way indicative of the general public. (I refer you to the original iPod posting.)
While the nerd crowd here can look at the Wii (uh, that name...) and be pleased with the innovative interface, the low price, the focus on gameplay over graphics and yes, substance... this isn't how the marketing will flow.
Sony will drive dumptrucks of money to ad agencies all over the planet. It will be like a blitzkrieg of PS3 as we approach the launch; I wouldn't be surprised if they spent $100 million on ads alone. Microsoft will counter, having anticipated this for years, and probably roll out their own add-on HD drive as well - more marketing insanity to follow.
Nintendo will of course do their own marketing push, but don't be surprised if you hate the approach they take. Big N is after 'the rest of us', the non-gamer, and will appropriately tailor their messaging to this end. That means, more girls, more moms, more people who do not typically play video games. Yes, there will be Metroid and a few others to keep the original fans happy. But it will not be the juggernaut that Sony and MS will unleash. Its just not the same market anymore.
I like the Wii but I think that this go-round they only have a shot at 2nd place, at best. The videogame market has eclipsed the filmmaking industry for several years now, and the people who put it there are you guys, buying the kind of games you like. That's where most of the money is. Nintendo is gambling big time with this new machine; they want to create a new segment of the market, sort of like the iPod did. Good for them. But this is a risky strategy. Sony and Microsoft are taking the safe route, MS the safest of all.
It may not make for great headlines to the crusty gamer crowd here who appreciates Nintendo's willingness to break the mold, but for general 'consumption' I acutally tend to agree with the market analysis of FTA. For different reasons than they stated.
This story reminds me of the recent "predictions" of a potentially devastating hurricane season with greater than average frequency hurricanes and more of these hurricanes being Category 5 (the strongest hurricane defined). On what basis?
Science. NOAA's instruments. Historical patterns. New data. In other words, our most educated guess.
Sure they're wrong sometimes, but the fact that the science is imperfect does not warrant discounting these observations altogether.
I have only one comment to add: I have seen your (very amusing) sig before, but for someone who just comes upon this post for the first time and is not so familiar with some of the subtler sigs like those on slashdot... well, just read it like this. I laughed my head off:
Something like a light sail would work better (over long distances the lower thrust is offset by the lack of fuel requirements), but that's still more in the realm of science fiction. Nuclear drive technology could also fill the gap, but the political constraints involved in putting anything fission based in orbit are huge, and we won't have fusion for decades at least (longer, if you factor in the need for miniaturization). Erotic is when you use a feather. Exotic is when you use the whole chicken.
You get to the chicken part and its like.... what?
.. has to be one of the best things we (humankind) have ever made. Just in terms of sheer engineering prowess.
If you are like me and love reading about Voyager 1 stuff, here's a great blog post with tons of linked info on the Golden Record, the philosophy behind the probe, who worked on it, that sort of thing.
It's really not comparable at all. For one, the idea that the iPod is universally derided as being too expensive is laughable - if it were really that outrageously priced, why in the world would it continue to maintain >50% market share, especially when it continues to have a number of strong competitors? Consumers aren't that clueless - more likely you're overlooking something in the iPod that others are seeing and then assuming that the rest of the world is also looking at the product through your eyes.
I'm not sure what to tell you - this is subjective, but I remember reading numerous criticisms of the iPod's price, and the fact that it was entering an 'already-crowded' market. Not just here on Slashdot, where that sentiment was nearly universal (go look at the thread), but elsewhere in the mainstream tech press.
And yes, consumers are clueless. By any self-respecting nerd measure, almost utterly so. That's not meant to be elitism; its just that most consumers don't know what a rootkit is, for example. Heck, most of the people I talk to with iPods don't even know there's DRM built into the things.
Also, $600 for an iPod is flat-out wrong. According to today's edition of the Apple Store, iPod is really a line of products ranging from the $69, 512MB iPod Shuffle all the way to the $400, 60GB full-size iPod. I'm going to guess that a more accurate picture of reality is that nobody is paying $600 for an iPod (and even when the price was that high, very few people were) and the vast bulk of the sales are for the lower-end versions.
Yes, but my context was the iPod launch, not the subsequent long line of successor products. Originally it was quite expensive - I don't recall exactly if it was $600, but I know it was at least $500. And Mac-only.
Sony isn't offering a low-end version. If they were to clue in and offer a PS3 without the Blu-Ray player at a dramatically reduced price, I might be willing to think that their PS3 pricing scheme has anything at all to do with the iPod's pricing scheme. But, of course, that isn't going to happen because Sony isn't trying to sell a game system with the PS3. The plan for the PS3 is to use game-playing features to chump people into buying a Blu-Ray player.
It remains to be seen whether this would be a good idea or not. We'll see how the Xbox 360 does with that strategy later this year. Personally I think bifurcating the platform is a terrible idea; it runs counter one of the main points of a game 'console'. A better argument is to say they should have ditched Blu-ray altogether.
- Ditch the UMD drive. It is an expensive failure.
- Make all games and software memorystick-based; sell games on memorystick (for same cost or less than current)
- Uncripple video playback restrictions (which are frankly not that annoying, but its a principle thing)
- Add integrated videocamera and microphone. Add standard video chat software. Everyone wants a global WiFi videophone Sony, get on it.
- Add full Flash support
- Open up XNA-like development capabilities
But Sony has displayed so much hubris in the buildup to the PS3 launch that sometimes I wonder if I've slipped into a Greek morality play. "The PS3 is actually pretty cheap", "We'd sell 6 million consoles even without games", "$599 US dollars", "Giant enemy crabs"... Sony is ripe for a fall.
Yeah no kidding. I think there was exactly one rationalization for the PS3's price, and it was: Surely people will pay as much for a PS3 as they will for an iPod.
I think that's all Sony thought.
(Although now that I think of it, the iPod was (and is) nearly universally derided for being too expensive. But I don't think the situation is comparable. Nintendo is the innovator here. They should be charging $600 for those things, heh.)
Slashdot Mirror
My girlfriend (insert slashdot GF joke here. I'll wait. K, thanks.) has asked for Guitar Hero for her birthday, which is mid-October. So GH2 won't be out till next year, but it would be a shame if the controller changes in 6 months. I'd like to think Red Octane would offer a version of the game sans controller for those who already bought their big PS2 Axe, but perhaps not... anyone know?
Is there some kind of rule that says we can only use letters like X, N, R, and words like CrossFire, to denote 'cool' products mainly aimed at men?
Just once I'd like to see an ATI Shiny B001 LALA and FluffyPants Edition. Just to shake things up.
Something tells me you already have one oversized arm....
There is an adaptor available for people like you; I believe it is called Britain.
I'm glad you are so confident! Myself, I think I'll actually wait and see how it turns out before I declare it an unqualified success.
Sadly no. As soon as you pick a new 'app', it quits the music. A shame, I agree.
Of course you can, just hit SELECT while listening to the tunes. It has always been this way from firmware 1 up.
One thing I liked in the video: showing a picture of the output plugs is pretty smart - this will really help out those who wouldn't know a DVI from an HDMI from a component cable.
I gotta wonder if that interface is running in some kind of HD mode; that text would not be readable on a standard-def 27" TV. Way to small. I imagine the font scales with the display mode.
Remember - business is a game. We invented this game. We can change it too.
Indeed, there is no 'free energy', but there are free clicks and keystrokes from guys like you who can't help but rail at the editors rather than move on and ignore the article.
There's also a healthy supply of free clicks from the likes of me; I'm essentially meta-bitching.
You take a sensible approach. After all, the odds that this is real are astronomically low. But if it actually is some new miracle technology, existing energy companies will certainly try to destroy it. So you are covered either way.
Console controllers should be like mice; there are so many out there and so many different little features, doodads, left-handedness, glowy bits, MightyMice, etc. This is great because you feel like you've got real choice. Everyone can pick something that works best for them because we know all these mice plug into the same USB jack and will work with the computer properly (more or less).
But so far, most of the 3rd party controllers for consoles are cheaper imitations of the originals with BAD gimmicks (autofire). The one's I've really liked have been extremely rare... WaveBird, the NegCon....
Sort of makes you wonder if there will be decent knockoffs of the Wii Remote, actually.
I never said 'nerd opinions didn't matter', I said mainstream commercial success is not based on nerd opinion.
Didn't say that only nerds like innovation etc. either.
Even if I did, it wouldn't matter - see point 1.
No idea what point you are trying to make here.
Repeat after me: The Wii is not the DS. The PSP is not the PS3.
By your logic, Sony will clearly destroy everyone, because the PS2 did last time, right? Its a specious argument, doesn't hold up.
Ah, well if the 'money is everywhere' as you wisely claim, why hasn't Nintendo just mopped the floor with Sony and MS a long time ago? Go check your DS sales figured again dude. The PSP and the DS are pretty much neck and neck. The Lite gave Nintendo a boost a few months ago, but people in China seem to love the PSP. Go figure, its a big world.
The Sims was the first game that any appreciable numbers of women wanted to play. That is the 'new segment' I was talking about in my original post.
Super Mario Bros may have been one of the first console games to be really popular but the market was tiny back then. I guess it depends on where you start, and what you call 'success'. I tend to think videogames became 'mainstream' when the sports titles started shipping for Sega's consoles. But to each his own.
Disagree. Microsoft proves that the safe route is almost always the most commercially successful route. Sad as that is. If you're willing to take gambles like Nintendo is, then you potentially win big or lose big.
Nonsense. By that logic, the PS2's sales "say that you are wrong". Because it led before, right? Specious logic.
I think the DS is a hit for a very simple reason: the developers stepped up and delivered some great little games for it that used the stylus and microphone in fun and interesting ways. I credit Nintendo for a pretty good design (I hated the original, but I like the Lite); I credit the game creators for making it popular.
The Wii could very well be a runaway hit as well, I did not discount that possibility in my post, but it will require a HUGE hit game to make that happen. And Red Steel will not be it.
While the nerd crowd here can look at the Wii (uh, that name...) and be pleased with the innovative interface, the low price, the focus on gameplay over graphics and yes, substance... this isn't how the marketing will flow.
Sony will drive dumptrucks of money to ad agencies all over the planet. It will be like a blitzkrieg of PS3 as we approach the launch; I wouldn't be surprised if they spent $100 million on ads alone. Microsoft will counter, having anticipated this for years, and probably roll out their own add-on HD drive as well - more marketing insanity to follow.
Nintendo will of course do their own marketing push, but don't be surprised if you hate the approach they take. Big N is after 'the rest of us', the non-gamer, and will appropriately tailor their messaging to this end. That means, more girls, more moms, more people who do not typically play video games. Yes, there will be Metroid and a few others to keep the original fans happy. But it will not be the juggernaut that Sony and MS will unleash. Its just not the same market anymore.
I like the Wii but I think that this go-round they only have a shot at 2nd place, at best. The videogame market has eclipsed the filmmaking industry for several years now, and the people who put it there are you guys, buying the kind of games you like. That's where most of the money is. Nintendo is gambling big time with this new machine; they want to create a new segment of the market, sort of like the iPod did. Good for them. But this is a risky strategy. Sony and Microsoft are taking the safe route, MS the safest of all.
It may not make for great headlines to the crusty gamer crowd here who appreciates Nintendo's willingness to break the mold, but for general 'consumption' I acutally tend to agree with the market analysis of FTA. For different reasons than they stated.
Sure they're wrong sometimes, but the fact that the science is imperfect does not warrant discounting these observations altogether.
I have only one comment to add: I have seen your (very amusing) sig before, but for someone who just comes upon this post for the first time and is not so familiar with some of the subtler sigs like those on slashdot... well, just read it like this. I laughed my head off:
You get to the chicken part and its like.... what?
http://g-fav.blogspot.com/2006/07/hey-linguists-a
(and now I must wait 49 seconds to amend it, ferfuxsake. slowdowncowboyslowdowncowboyslowdowncowboy)
If you are like me and love reading about Voyager 1 stuff, here's a great blog post with tons of linked info on the Golden Record, the philosophy behind the probe, who worked on it, that sort of thing.
(yeah, I know this response is flamebait. I don't care. It needs saying.)
Cheers.
I'm not sure what to tell you - this is subjective, but I remember reading numerous criticisms of the iPod's price, and the fact that it was entering an 'already-crowded' market. Not just here on Slashdot, where that sentiment was nearly universal (go look at the thread), but elsewhere in the mainstream tech press.
And yes, consumers are clueless. By any self-respecting nerd measure, almost utterly so. That's not meant to be elitism; its just that most consumers don't know what a rootkit is, for example. Heck, most of the people I talk to with iPods don't even know there's DRM built into the things.
Yes, but my context was the iPod launch, not the subsequent long line of successor products. Originally it was quite expensive - I don't recall exactly if it was $600, but I know it was at least $500. And Mac-only.
It remains to be seen whether this would be a good idea or not. We'll see how the Xbox 360 does with that strategy later this year. Personally I think bifurcating the platform is a terrible idea; it runs counter one of the main points of a game 'console'. A better argument is to say they should have ditched Blu-ray altogether.
- Make all games and software memorystick-based; sell games on memorystick (for same cost or less than current)
- Uncripple video playback restrictions (which are frankly not that annoying, but its a principle thing)
- Add integrated videocamera and microphone. Add standard video chat software. Everyone wants a global WiFi videophone Sony, get on it.
- Add full Flash support
- Open up XNA-like development capabilities
Yeah no kidding. I think there was exactly one rationalization for the PS3's price, and it was:
Surely people will pay as much for a PS3 as they will for an iPod.
I think that's all Sony thought.
(Although now that I think of it, the iPod was (and is) nearly universally derided for being too expensive. But I don't think the situation is comparable. Nintendo is the innovator here. They should be charging $600 for those things, heh.)