LOL! Zelda is one of my all-time favorites from my kiddy days! I've been a fan since the first game came out, and it's the main reason why I continue to buy Nintendo consoles, and I am the proud owner of a brand new copy of Twilight Princess for GameCube. (I was absolutely thrilled to find that I'd be able to download and play all of the older games on the Wii.) Mario is another favorite. Baton Kaitos was a fun addition to the GameCube library. I'm mainly a RPG junkie, though, so I end up buying more games for my PS2 than my GameCube. Thing is, hubby bought me Twilight Princess AND FFXII for Christmas, and I'm definitely playing FFXII first, so it may be a while until I get to Twilight Princess. Seeing as how more and more time is spent caring for a baby, and I have less and less time for gaming, it will take even longer.
Interesting take. I'm not surprised that it would take futureshop.ca over 6 hours to sell out, but that's 1000 PS3's, too. I don't think people are really shopping as hard for either system, right now. But your major retailers and game stores (like EB and GameStop) can't seem to keep them on their shelves, and your average EU is going to shop the "series of tubes" at amazon and the online component of their favorite retailer. Most people I know haven't even heard of tigerdirect or newegg. Had it been one of those that took 6 hours to sell 1000 PS3's, it would have definitely picked up.
You're absolutely right on the sold out bit, too. I hadn't thought of that. When your product isn't available, someone might instead consider buying the more available competition.
I'd also forgotten the shipment from last week. When I picked up my preordered PS3 (resold for baby girl's college fund), GameStop offered me an "incentive" to give up my system until the next shipment, which was supposed to be sometime before Christmas. They didn't know exactly when it was coming in, though, so I turned them down. I never heard anything else about that other shipment coming in from MSM news, although I did hear a great deal about the Wii shipments.
Apparently, people are having a hard enough time trying to find them that they are still willing to pay anywhere from $50-200 extra plus shipping for a system on ebay. So if you know of a store that is still selling them, you may want to let some people know. I could just as easily call bs on your statement as you have on mine. When I say "profit," I'm referring to the expected revenues for the systems that were shipped. Honestly, I have no idea as to what the cost to manufacture per unit was for Sony, so I can't say for sure whether or not they are taking a hit on each console. I can, however, tell you that it is likely that Microsoft and Nintendo would be doing the same if that is the case. But I apologize for my technical error in choice of wording.
While people might be camping out for the Wii, they haven't exactly had the opportunity to do so with the PS3, since there haven't been as many shipments, so it's very hard to compare the sales for the two based on how many lines of campers the consoles had in the days leading up to Christmas.
1. I've noticed that the stores haven't had much of a problem selling their systems. Those having problems selling the systems have already purchased them and are trying to RESELL them online for a higher price. (READ: People aren't willing to pay $2K/system anymore.) Fact is that nearly every retailer (if not all) is sold out of the product, meaning that Sony has already made 100% of their profits from the sales. Selling 100% of your output is not considered a failure.
2. Those wishing to resell their systems and are unsuccessful merely need to keep their receipt and return the product to the store within 30 days for a full refund. I've watched some of the local stores very closely just out of curiosity, and there has only been a total of 1 return since launch. The system was immediately sold to a very grateful gentleman who had a preorder. Even the employees weren't able to get their hands on a system.
3. If a person buys an expensive product without first checking out the product and the competition, he deserves what he gets. With so many display units available to try in stores, there's no way that the person doing the buying wouldn't know what he was getting.
4. Thanks to frequent shipments, the Wii is not hard to find if you want one badly enough. I saw two in a Wal-Mart display case last week. Considering that the Christmas rush is now over, one only has to wait until the next shipment. I doubt seriously that someone is deperate enough to get their hands on a Wii that they would take such a hit.
If such a person exists who would do what the article is suggesting that they are doing, that person is the reason why my can of peanuts has a warning label reading, "Contains nuts."
I realize that I'm not conforming to the usual Sony-bashing that has become so popular on Slashdot, but I'm not seeing much of the doomsday for Sony that's being predicted here. I'll probably pay in karma. I admit that the PS3 is overpriced and that it neglects the main purpose of the product in an effort to produce an entertainment system instead of a gaming system. I will probably get a Wii sooner because of the price alone. But I won't be purchasing either system at least until after the first markdown, and I will most likely buy a used system. I just don't have a good enough reason to buy a system or game at launch. I can wait. But I'll probably buy a PS3 in addition to my Wii because I like the games from the PS1 and the PS2, and I will probably like the games that come out for the PS3. Better yet, I don't have to pay a second time to play those PS1 & PS2 games on the PS3, unlike the Wii, where I have to pay again to play those nostalgic favorites that I bought for the NES when I was much younger.
They're just going to sneak into all of our homes and place a pea under each mattress; after which we will simply whine ourselves to fucking death.
My god, man! Are you mad?! Somewhere, at this very moment, a terrorist is reading this! How dare you reveal our weaknesses to the enemy?! What next, suggesting that they steal television remote controls? You sick, sick bastard.
...to be more irresponsible.
Whatever happened to monitoring your kids to make sure that what they watch and listen to meets your expectations? When the kid gets his hands on a copy of the latest hack and slash game, complete with graphic mutilation and sexual content, it's somehow EA's fault, regardless of the rating and the fact that YOU bought it for him. It's the recording industry's fault that your toddler is listening to Disturbed, even though YOU bought it for him. It's the movie industry's fault that your kid saw a graphic sex scene, but YOU bought the ticket. It's MySpace's fault that your 14-year-old daughter is meeting some 36-year-old sleezebag for sex, but YOU are the one who let her keep a computer behind a closed bedroom door. Truth be told, you're lucky if all he's seeing is some creative adjectives thrown into a political commentary here and there. Speaking as a parent first and a blogger second, it is MY responsibility to watch MY child. It is YOUR responsibility to watch YOUR child. Let's leave it at that, please.:)
Sorry for the rant, but it had to be said. Also in need of being said-- Calling yourself a "conservative" does not fool anyone into believing you are less of the right-wing flavor of nanny-state liberal that you are.
Learned of the preorder date set. Drove down to the local game store an hour before it opened. Nobody there, so I went next door to eat breakfast. Came back thirty minutes later to find one person in line (a secretary sent there by her boss). Stayed to chat until the store opened. Got a preorder (second in line). Decided I could wait until after they find and fix the bugs and lower the price for the first time. Will be making some extra money before Christmas by selling it on eBay. If I happen upon an Elmo TMX, I'll be buying and selling that, too.
My fiancee and I haven't yet paid a dime for anything that we've played on the PS2. In fact, since we're currently beta testing Everquest on the PS2 (which will be subscription) right now, we're not even paying for that yet.
On another note, would it be childish of me to gloat for getting beta test privileges for Everquest on PS2?
Most of these local companies don't advertise online that I know. (I could be wrong.) You'll find all of them in the Birmingham News, though. The automobile companies I listed advertise heavily in the local newspapers, but you may have to check their websites. The fact that a lot have moved to Alabama and are looking for workers is no big secret. In fact, a lot of the assembly line workers, which are more in demand, are making more than some ITs around here. There's also an Alabama Job Line, which I'll post as soon as I can find it.
To answer your question about rent... Most one bedrooms are hard to come by, but if you can find them for cheaper than a 2 bed, you won't pay more than about $450/month for a good one. In fact, I nearly got a riverside apartment (beautiful view) in a nice apartment community (lots of kids and a few state troopers) for $375/month. That one was a two bed/one bath, though. They're usually cheaper. One of the nicer apartment complexes (albeit more expensive) where my mother lives is $585/month for a 2 br/2ba, but it includes cable and water.
The future hubby and I just bought a 3br/3ba home in a nice neighborhood for $103,000. (It was $105,100 after closing costs.) Our payments will be under $800/mo after we escrow our insurance and property taxes, and we're practically down the street from a large shopping area that includes a very nice movie theater, several resteraunts (most with 100 health ratings), a BlockBuster, bowling alley, and (laugh if you will, but they rule) a WalMart Supercenter. Our utilities will cost around $200/month (shooting high), and we both have car payments and high insurance (I had an accident last year, and he has a sports car). Consider that we both make around $30,000/year. I put back about $200/month into savings via direct deposit and he puts back about $100/month into savings the same way. We're paying for a wedding. We both have a little bit to spend on ourselves at the end of the month. The trick is in the budgetting.
This is in Alabama (greater Birmingham area), btw.
Reminds me of a similar recent article (also posted on/.) about whiney MCSE's bummed out because they were too proud to take a job at Starbucks making "only" $10 or $20/hour.
Starbucks pays $10 or $20/hour?! Dude! I SO got jipped at McDonalds.
I forgot to add (in the desperate hope of finding an able and competent coworker) that all of the afformentioned companies have excellent health care and other benefits.
...she said with a gleam in her eye, in hopes that someone would come and replace the guy next to her, who stinks and asks many question and can't speak above a mumble and inspires really bad run-on sentences.
Alabama. The company I work for is currently hiring 150 new people, and good (read: must have some common sense and be willing to do more than surf the 'net) techs are hard to come by around here. Mercedes, Hyundai, Honda, and associates are looking for a few good men.
Did I fail to mention that cost of living in Alabama is dirt cheap? A NICE 3br/3ba in a NICE neighborhood with a fireplace, big fenced-in back yard, screened in back porch with hot tub, two car garage, large attic, and hardwood/tile flooring will cost you anywhere from $85,000-120,000. These also happen to be practically down the road from large shopping centers and malls and zoned for the nicer public school systems. How do I know? I just bought one fitting that exact description for $103,000, and there were MANY more to choose from. Add in the factor that intrest rates are the lowest they've been in about 40 years, and there becomes a slight drool factor.
Alabama also has Milos hamburgers, which is a divine gift all its own... (You just have to try one to know...)
The trade-off? It's Alabama, and the rest of the world just thinks of you as "Bubbah" the IT.
On that note... I've also found that eating only when you're hungry helps matters, too. How many of us tend to snack simply because we're bored. We're not actually hungry, but we eat. How many also tend to stop eating when they're full? Most people will continue to stuff themselves according to the good ol' "clean your plate" mindset that our mothers gave us.
Here's what I do, and it generally makes common sense. Eat only when you're hungry, and try to eat good foods. Exercise, and find something that you like to do. (I personally prefer kick boxing.) If you find that you eat when you get bored, find a hobby that tends to keep your hands busy, like needlepoint or video games. You'll be suprised how much less you eat while watching t.v. if you're working on a model at the same time.
Actually, I think they only pay for the clicks that come from the emails that are sent out. Most access logs show where visitors are coming from, so if the hits are coming from/., this would not be money owed to the spammer.
Slashdot Mirror
LOL! Zelda is one of my all-time favorites from my kiddy days! I've been a fan since the first game came out, and it's the main reason why I continue to buy Nintendo consoles, and I am the proud owner of a brand new copy of Twilight Princess for GameCube. (I was absolutely thrilled to find that I'd be able to download and play all of the older games on the Wii.) Mario is another favorite. Baton Kaitos was a fun addition to the GameCube library. I'm mainly a RPG junkie, though, so I end up buying more games for my PS2 than my GameCube. Thing is, hubby bought me Twilight Princess AND FFXII for Christmas, and I'm definitely playing FFXII first, so it may be a while until I get to Twilight Princess. Seeing as how more and more time is spent caring for a baby, and I have less and less time for gaming, it will take even longer.
Interesting take. I'm not surprised that it would take futureshop.ca over 6 hours to sell out, but that's 1000 PS3's, too. I don't think people are really shopping as hard for either system, right now. But your major retailers and game stores (like EB and GameStop) can't seem to keep them on their shelves, and your average EU is going to shop the "series of tubes" at amazon and the online component of their favorite retailer. Most people I know haven't even heard of tigerdirect or newegg. Had it been one of those that took 6 hours to sell 1000 PS3's, it would have definitely picked up.
You're absolutely right on the sold out bit, too. I hadn't thought of that. When your product isn't available, someone might instead consider buying the more available competition.
I'd also forgotten the shipment from last week. When I picked up my preordered PS3 (resold for baby girl's college fund), GameStop offered me an "incentive" to give up my system until the next shipment, which was supposed to be sometime before Christmas. They didn't know exactly when it was coming in, though, so I turned them down. I never heard anything else about that other shipment coming in from MSM news, although I did hear a great deal about the Wii shipments.
Apparently, people are having a hard enough time trying to find them that they are still willing to pay anywhere from $50-200 extra plus shipping for a system on ebay. So if you know of a store that is still selling them, you may want to let some people know. I could just as easily call bs on your statement as you have on mine. When I say "profit," I'm referring to the expected revenues for the systems that were shipped. Honestly, I have no idea as to what the cost to manufacture per unit was for Sony, so I can't say for sure whether or not they are taking a hit on each console. I can, however, tell you that it is likely that Microsoft and Nintendo would be doing the same if that is the case. But I apologize for my technical error in choice of wording.
While people might be camping out for the Wii, they haven't exactly had the opportunity to do so with the PS3, since there haven't been as many shipments, so it's very hard to compare the sales for the two based on how many lines of campers the consoles had in the days leading up to Christmas.
1. I've noticed that the stores haven't had much of a problem selling their systems. Those having problems selling the systems have already purchased them and are trying to RESELL them online for a higher price. (READ: People aren't willing to pay $2K/system anymore.) Fact is that nearly every retailer (if not all) is sold out of the product, meaning that Sony has already made 100% of their profits from the sales. Selling 100% of your output is not considered a failure.
2. Those wishing to resell their systems and are unsuccessful merely need to keep their receipt and return the product to the store within 30 days for a full refund. I've watched some of the local stores very closely just out of curiosity, and there has only been a total of 1 return since launch. The system was immediately sold to a very grateful gentleman who had a preorder. Even the employees weren't able to get their hands on a system.
3. If a person buys an expensive product without first checking out the product and the competition, he deserves what he gets. With so many display units available to try in stores, there's no way that the person doing the buying wouldn't know what he was getting.
4. Thanks to frequent shipments, the Wii is not hard to find if you want one badly enough. I saw two in a Wal-Mart display case last week. Considering that the Christmas rush is now over, one only has to wait until the next shipment. I doubt seriously that someone is deperate enough to get their hands on a Wii that they would take such a hit.
If such a person exists who would do what the article is suggesting that they are doing, that person is the reason why my can of peanuts has a warning label reading, "Contains nuts."
I realize that I'm not conforming to the usual Sony-bashing that has become so popular on Slashdot, but I'm not seeing much of the doomsday for Sony that's being predicted here. I'll probably pay in karma. I admit that the PS3 is overpriced and that it neglects the main purpose of the product in an effort to produce an entertainment system instead of a gaming system. I will probably get a Wii sooner because of the price alone. But I won't be purchasing either system at least until after the first markdown, and I will most likely buy a used system. I just don't have a good enough reason to buy a system or game at launch. I can wait. But I'll probably buy a PS3 in addition to my Wii because I like the games from the PS1 and the PS2, and I will probably like the games that come out for the PS3. Better yet, I don't have to pay a second time to play those PS1 & PS2 games on the PS3, unlike the Wii, where I have to pay again to play those nostalgic favorites that I bought for the NES when I was much younger.
My god, man! Are you mad?! Somewhere, at this very moment, a terrorist is reading this! How dare you reveal our weaknesses to the enemy?! What next, suggesting that they steal television remote controls? You sick, sick bastard.
...to be more irresponsible. Whatever happened to monitoring your kids to make sure that what they watch and listen to meets your expectations? When the kid gets his hands on a copy of the latest hack and slash game, complete with graphic mutilation and sexual content, it's somehow EA's fault, regardless of the rating and the fact that YOU bought it for him. It's the recording industry's fault that your toddler is listening to Disturbed, even though YOU bought it for him. It's the movie industry's fault that your kid saw a graphic sex scene, but YOU bought the ticket. It's MySpace's fault that your 14-year-old daughter is meeting some 36-year-old sleezebag for sex, but YOU are the one who let her keep a computer behind a closed bedroom door. Truth be told, you're lucky if all he's seeing is some creative adjectives thrown into a political commentary here and there. Speaking as a parent first and a blogger second, it is MY responsibility to watch MY child. It is YOUR responsibility to watch YOUR child. Let's leave it at that, please. :)
Sorry for the rant, but it had to be said. Also in need of being said-- Calling yourself a "conservative" does not fool anyone into believing you are less of the right-wing flavor of nanny-state liberal that you are.
Nah, the award goes to one my husband saw recently on his commute... FOLDING LAUNDRY.
Nobody has made the elves getting stuck in the "series of tubes" joke, yet?
Learned of the preorder date set. Drove down to the local game store an hour before it opened. Nobody there, so I went next door to eat breakfast. Came back thirty minutes later to find one person in line (a secretary sent there by her boss). Stayed to chat until the store opened. Got a preorder (second in line). Decided I could wait until after they find and fix the bugs and lower the price for the first time. Will be making some extra money before Christmas by selling it on eBay. If I happen upon an Elmo TMX, I'll be buying and selling that, too.
...Bernie Shiffman began contemplating a new way to get his resumee "out there".
This was insightful?
The headline was posted at 11:28pm on 12/30/02. The obligatory "Soviet Russia" joke was posted at 12:40am on 12/31/02.
;)
After reading so many of these, I'm wondering... Should it have taken a whole hour and twelve minutes for this to happen?
*ducks the mod-gods*
My fiancee and I haven't yet paid a dime for anything that we've played on the PS2. In fact, since we're currently beta testing Everquest on the PS2 (which will be subscription) right now, we're not even paying for that yet.
On another note, would it be childish of me to gloat for getting beta test privileges for Everquest on PS2?
I probably should have specified that I meant 30k/each. With a low cost of living, it's really not that bad.
Most of these local companies don't advertise online that I know. (I could be wrong.) You'll find all of them in the Birmingham News, though. The automobile companies I listed advertise heavily in the local newspapers, but you may have to check their websites. The fact that a lot have moved to Alabama and are looking for workers is no big secret. In fact, a lot of the assembly line workers, which are more in demand, are making more than some ITs around here. There's also an Alabama Job Line, which I'll post as soon as I can find it.
Here are a couple of links:
A few Alabama employers
The JobBank
To answer your question about rent... Most one bedrooms are hard to come by, but if you can find them for cheaper than a 2 bed, you won't pay more than about $450/month for a good one. In fact, I nearly got a riverside apartment (beautiful view) in a nice apartment community (lots of kids and a few state troopers) for $375/month. That one was a two bed/one bath, though. They're usually cheaper. One of the nicer apartment complexes (albeit more expensive) where my mother lives is $585/month for a 2 br/2ba, but it includes cable and water.
The future hubby and I just bought a 3br/3ba home in a nice neighborhood for $103,000. (It was $105,100 after closing costs.) Our payments will be under $800/mo after we escrow our insurance and property taxes, and we're practically down the street from a large shopping area that includes a very nice movie theater, several resteraunts (most with 100 health ratings), a BlockBuster, bowling alley, and (laugh if you will, but they rule) a WalMart Supercenter. Our utilities will cost around $200/month (shooting high), and we both have car payments and high insurance (I had an accident last year, and he has a sports car). Consider that we both make around $30,000/year. I put back about $200/month into savings via direct deposit and he puts back about $100/month into savings the same way. We're paying for a wedding. We both have a little bit to spend on ourselves at the end of the month. The trick is in the budgetting.
This is in Alabama (greater Birmingham area), btw.
Starbucks pays $10 or $20/hour?! Dude! I SO got jipped at McDonalds.
I forgot to add (in the desperate hope of finding an able and competent coworker) that all of the afformentioned companies have excellent health care and other benefits.
...she said with a gleam in her eye, in hopes that someone would come and replace the guy next to her, who stinks and asks many question and can't speak above a mumble and inspires really bad run-on sentences.
Alabama. The company I work for is currently hiring 150 new people, and good (read: must have some common sense and be willing to do more than surf the 'net) techs are hard to come by around here. Mercedes, Hyundai, Honda, and associates are looking for a few good men.
Did I fail to mention that cost of living in Alabama is dirt cheap? A NICE 3br/3ba in a NICE neighborhood with a fireplace, big fenced-in back yard, screened in back porch with hot tub, two car garage, large attic, and hardwood/tile flooring will cost you anywhere from $85,000-120,000. These also happen to be practically down the road from large shopping centers and malls and zoned for the nicer public school systems. How do I know? I just bought one fitting that exact description for $103,000, and there were MANY more to choose from. Add in the factor that intrest rates are the lowest they've been in about 40 years, and there becomes a slight drool factor.
Alabama also has Milos hamburgers, which is a divine gift all its own... (You just have to try one to know...)
The trade-off? It's Alabama, and the rest of the world just thinks of you as "Bubbah" the IT.
I just hope that they're still in business...
Any chance we could get Ralsky's email addy up there as well? I'd love to see him spam himself.
On that note... I've also found that eating only when you're hungry helps matters, too. How many of us tend to snack simply because we're bored. We're not actually hungry, but we eat. How many also tend to stop eating when they're full? Most people will continue to stuff themselves according to the good ol' "clean your plate" mindset that our mothers gave us.
Here's what I do, and it generally makes common sense. Eat only when you're hungry, and try to eat good foods. Exercise, and find something that you like to do. (I personally prefer kick boxing.) If you find that you eat when you get bored, find a hobby that tends to keep your hands busy, like needlepoint or video games. You'll be suprised how much less you eat while watching t.v. if you're working on a model at the same time.
Actually, I think they only pay for the clicks that come from the emails that are sent out. Most access logs show where visitors are coming from, so if the hits are coming from /., this would not be money owed to the spammer.
Since they dislike pirates so much now, do you think they'll finally unburden us with that horrible Peter Pan sequal?