It's good if it entrenches a critical application or set of applications with huge numbers of people and you can somehow get future profit out of it.
But take another subset of piracy nowadays: Games. So what if tons of people play a game? You can't get money from them later on for having experienced that game. I didn't pay more for Oblivion just because I pirated Morrowind.
So piracy can be useful, and harmful.
Just because piracy doesn't lose people who would never buy it to begin with doesn't mean that it can't also lose people who would have bought it. Critical people.
Unfortunately Sony decided it was losing too much on those models and they aren't going to be available in Europe.
The 20GB model was something Sony did right. However, Sony needs to add more Demo's and Downloadables to the Playstation Store, and it needs to come down harder on exclusives for its system.
Dropping the price would help a lot as well, as much as I'd be angry at paying 499 USD.
God I loved LoRD. Especially the In-Game Modules (crossroads, etc) and the balanced nature of the time/fight limit. It was a game that the casual player could do as well as those with more time on their hands.
Just the implication of what it will mean for Nintendo, will guarantee that they won't "do it right".
I'm hoping and wishing as much as the next guy, but the smart money is on being let down with the multiplayer aspects. I don't blame them, much. Multiplayer is damn hard to do right. Especially on a console.
Sounds like it would be best, but then there'd be no doubts about it being a toy for only those rich enough to afford it. I mean think about it, 3000 dollars a system? Thats insulting to the fans of the system, and insulting to the retailers who stock the games that are supposed to be the lifeblood of Sony's PS3 launch.
Hell I plan on trying for a system to sell this thursday, and I'll be breaking a promise I made to myself that I wouldn't be one of those guys. But secretly I envy the resellers because they're making 1000-2000 dollar profit for sitting out 10-12 hours for a preorder slip. I'd be stupid not to want 100-200 dollars an hour.
I imagine that it would also be a huge hassle. Buyer protection, seller protection, eBay's not that great when it comes to piece of mind when ordering a 1500-2000 dollar system.
He used a complex question. Traditionally. Hell, people tell me all the time that I'm wrong when I point out the fallacy. Stupidity abounds, and even I'm not immune.
When you ask a question that assumes something that is fallacy of complex question.
Begging the question is assuming and requiring the truth of the argument in the proof of that argument. Why they call it that I have no idea.
Its called a "Merely Verbal" argument, and you're wrong, it only hides the underlying case of this discussion.
What you're actually thinking of, is a "Criterial debate" (Arguing for Criteria) where its not the definition that is under scrutiny, but actually what qualifies something for approval while denying the opposing veiwpoint.
Criteria for a great gaming machine can hardly be objectively chosen, what with gaming being a wholely subjective experience.//Argues for fun and sport.
Perhaps, but there are cultures where sex is the only thing there is to do. They honestly don't care if they get diseases, and it's sickening.
I wonder though, just because you were vaccinated doesn't mean you can't get pregnant/a girl pregnant. Would the baby have aids still? Seems like a pressing issue, until a "cure" is found.
Well I say lots of things I don't particularly care to have attributed to me. I'm not brilliant or witty 100% of the time. I'm opinionated, and there's quite a bit I'm probably an idiot about. I'm a fanboy, and If I need to get into an argument with another idiot, I don't want people to have to waste mod points on me.
Its because sometimes you want to post something without consequences, good or bad.
Stuff like "God damn I don't give a rats ass how many years you didn't go to college", or "Why the hell are there so many damn Nintendo fanboys on this site", or my favorite "Macs don't play games, silly girl".
Lots of things get Kneejerk reactions. I don't really care, but I used to, before I reached 50 karma.. err Excellent I mean.
This would be newsworthy if Bungie made a dollar for each game played.
But they don't. But hey, lets throw a party, based on some stupid "games played" rubric. Next party will be celebrating "500 trillion braincells killed" by the people who've played halo games.
What's wrong with slash and slosh respectively. That's what I've called them for as long as I remember, though I admit back when I was teaching C++ the confused looks before I explained my jargon on the faces of the second year students indicates it's far from universal... Do you say "exclamation mark" instead of "bang" too?
Well, yeah. People have enough to grasp without having to worry about the jargon. Then again, I learned quite a bit my first class.
(Scheme, Head Recursion/Tail Recursion, Trees, Graphs, Hashes, Maps, Linked Lists, Structures, Data Analysis and Definitions, Functions, Unix, Pine, Tin, SSH, Putty, etc)
Considering I never programmed before, it was nerve racking.
I used to work at tech support for some big name appliance manufacturer, and I'd vent a little, mostly to fellow workers.
At least with appliances, its not really a matter of being stupid, since the interface has been the same for generations.
Still, we'd get the crazies, (for good service, don't threaten the serviceman with a gun) and the entitled (My warantee is a year expired, but I want free service!) or those who think that everything's our fault (Wait, you mean if its a user error, the warantee's not going to cover it and I'll have to paaaaaaaaay? Thats horrible!).
Face it, People suck. Tech support has to deal with these people, and it only gets worse as the gadgets get more complicated and hard to use. The only people who have it worse than Tech support is billing, because frankly you've not heard the meaning of pissed till someone has problems dealing with money.
That being said, we do our job. Our job is to be nice, helpful, understanding. How long do you think anyone would last if they showed their contempt to every customer who called up? I'd say a week, tops. People can tell, and people don't like it. They call your manager, and then you get written up.
I treated every one of my calls like it was my problem, and I probably had one of the worst track times in the whole building. There were still things I couldn't do for the customer, still problems that I had to say "sorry, we don't cover that", and you know, it sucks, but thats not our call.
I got my blue set items and realised that this was the rest of the game. Spending 4-8 hours of my life each day for a chance at something more just so I can move on to the next dungeon to do the same god damn thing.
I looked to PVP, but it took a good rewards system and fucked it over for casual players. So I'd have to just spend MORE time fighting jackasses and being griefed constantly to get PVP rewards.
WOW is one of those delicious games that really craps out when you get to the high levels. My last days were just sitting in the Barrens, talking to the new players and fighting random groups that would try to invade.
Yeah, I hear a lot of this "I never bothered with a degree" from tons of people.. but honestly, 20 years ago I might have said the same thing.
Do you think the average kid these days is going to be ok in software development without a degree? Its not totally neccessary, but then, by the same logic, neither is a car.
Buy a $10 card-reader and a $50 gigabyte (hell, buy two) compact flash card, and you've got 3 movies, lots of music (as long as you don't care too much about the quality of that music) customizable interfaces, e-reader, image viewer, AND a NES emulator (kinda sucks, only supports roms under 200k) for your Nintendo GBA/DS.
The player comes with DVD ripping software and converter for Movies, images, and music. But if you're lazy like me...
GBA film, a Chinese DVD to GBA format site. Has a ton of movies to peruse, Most have subtitles, but the American native ones are in the original english.
Switching from Movies to Old school Mario to new school Mario Kart DS have made those long flights almost bearable.
Wow. Someone actually stated to an interviewer, "hey, uhm.. also, I'm smarter than you!" I mean, sheesh.. they should at least teach these kids to interview for a job or something.
Thank god I have tons of experience from trying to get scholarships. There's no one "to be nicer to" than someone about to pay for your college.
Slashdot Mirror
It's good if it entrenches a critical application or set of applications with huge numbers of people and you can somehow get future profit out of it.
But take another subset of piracy nowadays: Games. So what if tons of people play a game? You can't get money from them later on for having experienced that game. I didn't pay more for Oblivion just because I pirated Morrowind.
So piracy can be useful, and harmful.
Just because piracy doesn't lose people who would never buy it to begin with doesn't mean that it can't also lose people who would have bought it. Critical people.
Unfortunately Sony decided it was losing too much on those models and they aren't going to be available in Europe.
The 20GB model was something Sony did right. However, Sony needs to add more Demo's and Downloadables to the Playstation Store, and it needs to come down harder on exclusives for its system.
Dropping the price would help a lot as well, as much as I'd be angry at paying 499 USD.
God I loved LoRD. Especially the In-Game Modules (crossroads, etc) and the balanced nature of the time/fight limit. It was a game that the casual player could do as well as those with more time on their hands.
Just the implication of what it will mean for Nintendo, will guarantee that they won't "do it right".
I'm hoping and wishing as much as the next guy, but the smart money is on being let down with the multiplayer aspects. I don't blame them, much. Multiplayer is damn hard to do right. Especially on a console.
and It's damned impossible to do it for free.
Sounds like it would be best, but then there'd be no doubts about it being a toy for only those rich enough to afford it. I mean think about it, 3000 dollars a system? Thats insulting to the fans of the system, and insulting to the retailers who stock the games that are supposed to be the lifeblood of Sony's PS3 launch.
Hell I plan on trying for a system to sell this thursday, and I'll be breaking a promise I made to myself that I wouldn't be one of those guys. But secretly I envy the resellers because they're making 1000-2000 dollar profit for sitting out 10-12 hours for a preorder slip. I'd be stupid not to want 100-200 dollars an hour.
I imagine that it would also be a huge hassle. Buyer protection, seller protection, eBay's not that great when it comes to piece of mind when ordering a 1500-2000 dollar system.
He used a complex question. Traditionally. Hell, people tell me all the time that I'm wrong when I point out the fallacy. Stupidity abounds, and even I'm not immune.
When you ask a question that assumes something that is fallacy of complex question.
Begging the question is assuming and requiring the truth of the argument in the proof of that argument.
Why they call it that I have no idea.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Complex_question
Haha! I got there at 10:04. 14th preorder! Woot!
Its called a "Merely Verbal" argument, and you're wrong, it only hides the underlying case of this discussion.
//Argues for fun and sport.
What you're actually thinking of, is a "Criterial debate" (Arguing for Criteria) where its not the definition that is under scrutiny, but actually what qualifies something for approval while denying the opposing veiwpoint.
Criteria for a great gaming machine can hardly be objectively chosen, what with gaming being a wholely subjective experience.
Perhaps, but there are cultures where sex is the only thing there is to do. They honestly don't care if they get diseases, and it's sickening.
I wonder though, just because you were vaccinated doesn't mean you can't get pregnant/a girl pregnant. Would the baby have aids still? Seems like a pressing issue, until a "cure" is found.
Good god why do you tickle my funny bone so?
Well I say lots of things I don't particularly care to have attributed to me. I'm not brilliant or witty 100% of the time. I'm opinionated, and there's quite a bit I'm probably an idiot about. I'm a fanboy, and If I need to get into an argument with another idiot, I don't want people to have to waste mod points on me.
Its because sometimes you want to post something without consequences, good or bad.
Stuff like "God damn I don't give a rats ass how many years you didn't go to college", or
"Why the hell are there so many damn Nintendo fanboys on this site", or my favorite "Macs don't play games, silly girl".
Lots of things get Kneejerk reactions. I don't really care, but I used to, before I reached 50 karma.. err Excellent I mean.
This would be newsworthy if Bungie made a dollar for each game played.
But they don't. But hey, lets throw a party, based on some stupid "games played" rubric. Next party will be celebrating "500 trillion braincells killed" by the people who've played halo games.
Do not forget that it is always easier to get permission for something that will never make any money.
Absolutely. Just don't plan on making any money with it. Because as soon as someone smells a buck to be had, the lawyers come in.
What's wrong with slash and slosh respectively. That's what I've called them for as long as I remember, though I admit back when I was teaching C++ the confused looks before I explained my jargon on the faces of the second year students indicates it's far from universal... Do you say "exclamation mark" instead of "bang" too?
Well, yeah. People have enough to grasp without having to worry about the jargon. Then again, I learned quite a bit my first class.
(Scheme, Head Recursion/Tail Recursion, Trees, Graphs, Hashes, Maps, Linked Lists, Structures, Data Analysis and Definitions, Functions, Unix, Pine, Tin, SSH, Putty, etc)
Considering I never programmed before, it was nerve racking.
I used to work at tech support for some big name appliance manufacturer, and I'd vent a little, mostly to fellow workers.
At least with appliances, its not really a matter of being stupid, since the interface has been the same for generations.
Still, we'd get the crazies, (for good service, don't threaten the serviceman with a gun) and the entitled (My warantee is a year expired, but I want free service!) or those who think that everything's our fault (Wait, you mean if its a user error, the warantee's not going to cover it and I'll have to paaaaaaaaay? Thats horrible!).
Face it, People suck. Tech support has to deal with these people, and it only gets worse as the gadgets get more complicated and hard to use. The only people who have it worse than Tech support is billing, because frankly you've not heard the meaning of pissed till someone has problems dealing with money.
That being said, we do our job. Our job is to be nice, helpful, understanding. How long do you think anyone would last if they showed their contempt to every customer who called up? I'd say a week, tops. People can tell, and people don't like it. They call your manager, and then you get written up.
I treated every one of my calls like it was my problem, and I probably had one of the worst track times in the whole building. There were still things I couldn't do for the customer, still problems that I had to say "sorry, we don't cover that", and you know, it sucks, but thats not our call.
I got my blue set items and realised that this was the rest of the game. Spending 4-8 hours of my life each day for a chance at something more just so I can move on to the next dungeon to do the same god damn thing.
I looked to PVP, but it took a good rewards system and fucked it over for casual players. So I'd have to just spend MORE time fighting jackasses and being griefed constantly to get PVP rewards.
WOW is one of those delicious games that really craps out when you get to the high levels. My last days were just sitting in the Barrens, talking to the new players and fighting random groups that would try to invade.
The problem is that its a syntactical nightmare. semi-colon? Sure, just put them there.. or don't.
And whats the deal with "for i in range()"? I miss "for (i;i>20;i++)", really feels good.
Although I agree its nice and simple. I mean, print("Hello World.") and you've just skipped 2 weeks in java.
Yeah, I hear a lot of this "I never bothered with a degree" from tons of people.. but honestly, 20 years ago I might have said the same thing.
Do you think the average kid these days is going to be ok in software development without a degree? Its not totally neccessary, but then, by the same logic, neither is a car.
My local Blockbuster has DS and Gameboy games..
And as long as you have some patience, a little bit of forthought, and the ability to plan ahead, theres always:
Gamefly! Though I never wanted to play enough games to justify 15-20 bucks a month.
Well now, we learn something new everyday!
If he doesn't care much about the quality of the picture.. Gameboy Movie Player
Buy a $10 card-reader and a $50 gigabyte (hell, buy two) compact flash card, and you've got 3 movies, lots of music (as long as you don't care too much about the quality of that music) customizable interfaces, e-reader, image viewer, AND a NES emulator (kinda sucks, only supports roms under 200k) for your Nintendo GBA/DS.
The player comes with DVD ripping software and converter for Movies, images, and music. But if you're lazy like me...
GBA film, a Chinese DVD to GBA format site. Has a ton of movies to peruse, Most have subtitles, but the American native ones are in the original english.
Switching from Movies to Old school Mario to new school Mario Kart DS have made those long flights almost bearable.
A privately run MMORPG server for games who no longer have any official support.
I mean, thats gotta be freaking better than paying 15 dollars a month just to lose the ability to play.
Wow. Someone actually stated to an interviewer, "hey, uhm.. also, I'm smarter than you!" I mean, sheesh.. they should at least teach these kids to interview for a job or something.
Thank god I have tons of experience from trying to get scholarships. There's no one "to be nicer to" than someone about to pay for your college.
"freedom of sexual preference"
Thats not quite whats going on, its more like "Equality of sexual preference".
Its not like we're banning gays from existing..
Not that I agree with our current setup though.