Probably the easiest thing to do is throw it on a container.. It'll probably cost about $3500-$5000 door-to-door, but when you're already spending $100k, what's the difference?:).
The worst part is these added profit margins come from these game stores ripping off children.. EB pays next to nothing for their used games, but mark them way up - almost as much as a new copy for popular games.
I think if there's any lesson to be had in the gaming business it all comes back to marketing.
Case in point: Sega and Nintendo.
Here we had two of the largest video game manufacturers on the planet, who were literally spanked by Sony who spent gobs of cash to make their Playstations a success. PS2 hardware is inferior to that of the Gamecube and Xbox, although it has consistently outsold their competition quarter after quarter.
If Phantom hopes to be successful, they will need to spend millions to get the word out. Even 'giving' the machine away may not stem the tide of the traditional consoles with multi million dollar marketing efforts.
Lastly, I'm worried about their software distribution method. Most people don't have broadband connections, and those that do don't have a home network. If there is no built support for 802.11 wireless many will balk at the thought of having to wire their home just to play games.
One other avenue to pursue is to start your own company doing web design. There are literally thousands (millions?) of small businesses out there dying for a small, independent web designer to work with.
Unlike a salaried position, the harder you work the more money you make. Is it still stressful? Yes, but the stress is different. In the end you don't have to worry about pleasing a boss, just focusing on the customer.
You know, I'm really getting irritated over the outrage I'm seeing against VOLUNTARY web services. Personally I don't have a problem with using Gmail when it's available, nor do I care of Amazon tracks my searches if it makes for a better and more efficient web experience.
People are going crazy over this stuff, but they forget the fact that these services are not required. If you're paranoid and concerned that Google and Amazon are going to sell you down the river, don't use it! It's that simple.
Where's the outrage against Microsoft for allowing all of this seething spyware to install itself so easily? Likewise, where's the bad press about companies that are hawking this garbage and actively selling your information without permission? I can't tell you how many machines I've had to clean out this sludge from. Thank G-d for Mozilla!
Just when you thought things were settling down with the RIAA, the fools are at it again! The Motley Fool and other publications report that the RIAA thinks.99 cents per song online is not enough. They are actively researching ways to charge more for their music.
I'm a huge fan of the iTunes music store.. So huge, in fact, that I'm actually PURCHASING music through this outstanding service and bought myself a 20 gig ipod. My inclination is hardly to convince the world to pay for their music vs. downloading them ilegally; rather it's because I happen to like paying only $10 for an album. I'm a bargain hunter.
It was bad enough that the RIAA shunned legal digital downloads long enough for the pirates to take over the industry. Add to that their decision to continually fight a customer-driven demand for a more flexible (and cheaper) medium of distribution.. Now just when something out there is working, they want to jack the price up to a level that will send all of those wouldbe legal customers back to the P2P world using anonymousnetworks.
The RIAA needs to wake up and recognize their issues here.. Their customers want a more flexible delivery mechanism, they want to pay less, and need the flexibility they currently have with a CD. Apple accomplished much of this with their product, which the RIAA will subsequently destroy with their greedy price increases.
Let's face it - in business customers drive the industry. When Americans stopped buying domestics, the industry responded with better products that met customer needs. When New Coke flopped, Coca Cola wisely switched back to the old formula.
The RIAA and its member companies had an opportunity in 1997 when illegal MP3's first surfaced to nip this problem. The early adopters were trading heavily on the IRC network, which led the rise of Napster and later Kazaa. These networks suceeded because it was just so darn tough for file traders to find the songs they were looking for. Had the RIAA member companies set up a site at any point between 1997 and 2000 (even without digital rights management), they could have easily circumvented the rise of these illegal networks. CD's themselves were insecure enough to create this massive proliferation in the first place!!
Fight them. Write to them and tell them what a stupid decision this is.
I keep thinking about these 'live releases' Gentoo did last year as something that could be successful..
One of the things that I loved best about my Apple II was its ability to boot software directly from the floppy without typing in commands.. I used to pick on my c64 friends for that!
Something happened along the way after the Apples dwindled as a gaming platform.. PC Games have always been a real bitch to get running properly.. I remember having at least three or four different DOS boot disks to configure my machine properly for whatever game I was trying to play that day.. Allocating as much of the 640k conventional ram as possible while still preserving the CD-ROM drivers and MSCDEX extensions for the cd-rom.. Sometimes it was more of a game to get the game to work!
So I see some real value to a self configuring linux distro that could nix all of the BS windows overhead and actually increase the peformance available for a given game.
Just pop the cd in like I did with a floppy on my old Apple II and get going. Now that would be cool.
I think a games based distro in of itself could be successful with the right game, but I don't think that will get people to flock to Linux. It will, however, get rid of a bunch of the nasty overhead we have to deal with playing Windows based games.
There are probably over a million people running OS X now that have no idea they're running a Unix based OS:). So I think the chance of attracting people to an alternate OS remains slim.
In the end we need something that is easy to use and operate. Say what you want about Windows, but it's still much easier to learn than Linux. Especially if you want to do more than the standard user stuff (install software, etc).
I can understand why MS would want to strip out the hard disk.. Any time you add a delicate moving part to something a kid would use that's portable enough to transport, there are bound to be problems.
I can't tell you how many people I know purchased a brand new computer only to find out the hard disk got knocked around a little too hard during transport.. Add to that the need to purchase the cheapest hard drive available and it all adds up to costly support time. Let's not forget that Microsoft is primarily a software company.
Despite our lusting desire to have a high capacity hard drive on our next game console, most people will never utilize those features. Yeesh, I haven't even played a DVD on my xbox yet. In the end Microsoft will probably reduce their repair expenses considerably by switching to a solid state device.
I predicted way back in 1999 that if and when the Chinese put a human in orbit that we'd finally get off our butts. All I can say is that it's about time.
2004 is already shaping up to be a banner year for space exploration. I can hardly wait to see what kinds of advancements come next. Competition is healthy, let's hope for a very competitive exploration of the cosmos.
Not to bring up the color calibration controversey again, but Nasa has published a detailed two-part feature on calibrating the pancam. The first part can be viewed here and the second can be found here.
This feature was presented to the mission managers during one of the 'lunchtime lectures' they present in the MOC. I caught a glimpse of this presentation the other night while watching the NASA TV stream. The presenter mentioned/. during his presentation and talked a little bit about the color debate started here a few weeks ago.
I had the same problem.. I have both an Xbox and a Gamecube and was forced to keep both units on the floor because of a lack of space. I bought some pelican G3 wireless controllers for the GC (for next to nothing due to a buy.com price mistake) and went with a the Logitech controller for the Xbox (which is a masterpiece by the way).
The result is that I not only cleaned up wire clutter, but I also managed to get my consoles off the floor and out of reach of the dog. Both controllers work great, the only downside is the xbox controller doesn't support the headset without a wire being strewn across the room. Otherwise it's good stuff!
With the handheld game market being mostly kids, I am not surprised N-Gage has failed. Who wants to pay a monthly fee for a game machine? Sure you get phone service with it, but it's priced well beyond most mobile phones a parent would purchase for a kid. Not to mention the fact that the kids who do have phones are typically under contract and in 'family share' plans that don't easily allow for cutting a phone loose.
To make matters even more difficult for success: There is no CDMA version available!! Say what you want about CDMA but the two largest carriers with the most customers (Sprint and Verizon) use it. Nokia immediately severed millions of customers because the system won't work on the biggest networks.
I'm so desperate to see a Mysql port to Windows CE.. I've been running this along with PHP/Apache on my Sharp Zaurus and that platform proves it's possible to do this stuff with open source software and 206mhz Strongarms.
While I haven't been interested in shelling out the $$$ for Microsoft's server product (getting data back to the desktop database is important to me) I can say that I haven't found any database solution that operates as quickly as MySql on a PDA.
My Zaurus is running as a full fledged server and its rock solid. Even the desktop ODBC connector is able to pull data into my windows apps at a surprisingly fast rate of speed. In a word it's simply awesome. I just wish my PHP skills were better.
For the mortals Microsoft offers an Access compatible format (pocketAccess) that's horribly limited and slow. There are some great PocketPC database apps that are crippled by this horrific database solution that could be killer apps with a free backend.
While this sounds cool I wonder how practical this will really be.. When I need PDA juice I just pop the thing in the wall and I'm charged. I don't think people will like having to buy methanol cartridges for $5 a shot in order to keep the thing running. To me it's more economical to operate it off the battery and pay the few cents it takes to charge it.
Is this something Sega is releasing into the public domain? If this website got a hold of it perhaps they could do the community a nice favor and release it for download.
I've been a Gamefly subscriber for about six months or so and a Netflix subscriber for close to two years. I have to say that Gamefly is pretty darn good for the price.
Shipping times from California to my home in Connecticut are reasonably quick (in fact faster than Netflix's times from Cali) and the company has a much faster turnaround time.
Gamefly will also let you keep a rented game for a fairly reasonable used price. I just picked up Vice City for Xbox for $20, unbundled from GTA3.
To avoid the $16 mark up, all one needs to do is use Paypal's virtual debit card to make the purchase of the GC. It assigns you a temporary mastercard number that you can use on just about any website that takes credit cards.
Go to the 'my account' tab, select withdraw, and click on the 'shop online with a paypal virtual card' link. The number won't be tied to any website in particular, so you should be able to type it in through itunes and have it work.
Let's hope they can maintain that market. Remember that Nintendo OWNED the console market for most of the eighties and early 90's. When Sega beat them to the bunch with the Genesis, they were forced later split the 32-bit marketplace, and then ran a distant second to Sony the following generation.
I think we're on the verge of a major handheld revolution here.. If Nintendo could cram the Gamecube into a handheld form factor it would literally save the platform and open up a new market for them. But as Nintendo found with the NES, no market is ever secure.
Slashdot Mirror
Probably the easiest thing to do is throw it on a container.. It'll probably cost about $3500-$5000 door-to-door, but when you're already spending $100k, what's the difference? :).
Isn't Sweden supposed to be neutral?
Now I can buy a hummer!!
Case in point: Sega and Nintendo.
Here we had two of the largest video game manufacturers on the planet, who were literally spanked by Sony who spent gobs of cash to make their Playstations a success. PS2 hardware is inferior to that of the Gamecube and Xbox, although it has consistently outsold their competition quarter after quarter.
If Phantom hopes to be successful, they will need to spend millions to get the word out. Even 'giving' the machine away may not stem the tide of the traditional consoles with multi million dollar marketing efforts.
Lastly, I'm worried about their software distribution method. Most people don't have broadband connections, and those that do don't have a home network. If there is no built support for 802.11 wireless many will balk at the thought of having to wire their home just to play games.
Unlike a salaried position, the harder you work the more money you make. Is it still stressful? Yes, but the stress is different. In the end you don't have to worry about pleasing a boss, just focusing on the customer.
People are going crazy over this stuff, but they forget the fact that these services are not required. If you're paranoid and concerned that Google and Amazon are going to sell you down the river, don't use it! It's that simple.
Where's the outrage against Microsoft for allowing all of this seething spyware to install itself so easily? Likewise, where's the bad press about companies that are hawking this garbage and actively selling your information without permission? I can't tell you how many machines I've had to clean out this sludge from. Thank G-d for Mozilla!
Didn't we learn anything from the Asgard? Just wait until these things start multiplying!
I'm a huge fan of the iTunes music store.. So huge, in fact, that I'm actually PURCHASING music through this outstanding service and bought myself a 20 gig ipod. My inclination is hardly to convince the world to pay for their music vs. downloading them ilegally; rather it's because I happen to like paying only $10 for an album. I'm a bargain hunter.
It was bad enough that the RIAA shunned legal digital downloads long enough for the pirates to take over the industry. Add to that their decision to continually fight a customer-driven demand for a more flexible (and cheaper) medium of distribution.. Now just when something out there is working, they want to jack the price up to a level that will send all of those wouldbe legal customers back to the P2P world using anonymousnetworks.
The RIAA needs to wake up and recognize their issues here.. Their customers want a more flexible delivery mechanism, they want to pay less, and need the flexibility they currently have with a CD. Apple accomplished much of this with their product, which the RIAA will subsequently destroy with their greedy price increases.
Let's face it - in business customers drive the industry. When Americans stopped buying domestics, the industry responded with better products that met customer needs. When New Coke flopped, Coca Cola wisely switched back to the old formula.
The RIAA and its member companies had an opportunity in 1997 when illegal MP3's first surfaced to nip this problem. The early adopters were trading heavily on the IRC network, which led the rise of Napster and later Kazaa. These networks suceeded because it was just so darn tough for file traders to find the songs they were looking for. Had the RIAA member companies set up a site at any point between 1997 and 2000 (even without digital rights management), they could have easily circumvented the rise of these illegal networks. CD's themselves were insecure enough to create this massive proliferation in the first place!!
Fight them. Write to them and tell them what a stupid decision this is.
One of the things that I loved best about my Apple II was its ability to boot software directly from the floppy without typing in commands.. I used to pick on my c64 friends for that!
Something happened along the way after the Apples dwindled as a gaming platform.. PC Games have always been a real bitch to get running properly.. I remember having at least three or four different DOS boot disks to configure my machine properly for whatever game I was trying to play that day.. Allocating as much of the 640k conventional ram as possible while still preserving the CD-ROM drivers and MSCDEX extensions for the cd-rom.. Sometimes it was more of a game to get the game to work!
So I see some real value to a self configuring linux distro that could nix all of the BS windows overhead and actually increase the peformance available for a given game.
Just pop the cd in like I did with a floppy on my old Apple II and get going. Now that would be cool.
There are probably over a million people running OS X now that have no idea they're running a Unix based OS :). So I think the chance of attracting people to an alternate OS remains slim.
In the end we need something that is easy to use and operate. Say what you want about Windows, but it's still much easier to learn than Linux. Especially if you want to do more than the standard user stuff (install software, etc).
If we all came from the same 'stuff,' it's likely these microbes could be compatible enough with humans to cause some nasty infections.
I can't tell you how many people I know purchased a brand new computer only to find out the hard disk got knocked around a little too hard during transport.. Add to that the need to purchase the cheapest hard drive available and it all adds up to costly support time. Let's not forget that Microsoft is primarily a software company.
Despite our lusting desire to have a high capacity hard drive on our next game console, most people will never utilize those features. Yeesh, I haven't even played a DVD on my xbox yet. In the end Microsoft will probably reduce their repair expenses considerably by switching to a solid state device.
2004 is already shaping up to be a banner year for space exploration. I can hardly wait to see what kinds of advancements come next. Competition is healthy, let's hope for a very competitive exploration of the cosmos.
This feature was presented to the mission managers during one of the 'lunchtime lectures' they present in the MOC. I caught a glimpse of this presentation the other night while watching the NASA TV stream. The presenter mentioned /. during his presentation and talked a little bit about the color debate started here a few weeks ago.
The result is that I not only cleaned up wire clutter, but I also managed to get my consoles off the floor and out of reach of the dog. Both controllers work great, the only downside is the xbox controller doesn't support the headset without a wire being strewn across the room. Otherwise it's good stuff!
To make matters even more difficult for success: There is no CDMA version available!! Say what you want about CDMA but the two largest carriers with the most customers (Sprint and Verizon) use it. Nokia immediately severed millions of customers because the system won't work on the biggest networks.
While I haven't been interested in shelling out the $$$ for Microsoft's server product (getting data back to the desktop database is important to me) I can say that I haven't found any database solution that operates as quickly as MySql on a PDA.
My Zaurus is running as a full fledged server and its rock solid. Even the desktop ODBC connector is able to pull data into my windows apps at a surprisingly fast rate of speed. In a word it's simply awesome. I just wish my PHP skills were better.
For the mortals Microsoft offers an Access compatible format (pocketAccess) that's horribly limited and slow. There are some great PocketPC database apps that are crippled by this horrific database solution that could be killer apps with a free backend.
While this sounds cool I wonder how practical this will really be.. When I need PDA juice I just pop the thing in the wall and I'm charged. I don't think people will like having to buy methanol cartridges for $5 a shot in order to keep the thing running. To me it's more economical to operate it off the battery and pay the few cents it takes to charge it.
Is this something Sega is releasing into the public domain? If this website got a hold of it perhaps they could do the community a nice favor and release it for download.
Shipping times from California to my home in Connecticut are reasonably quick (in fact faster than Netflix's times from Cali) and the company has a much faster turnaround time.
Gamefly will also let you keep a rented game for a fairly reasonable used price. I just picked up Vice City for Xbox for $20, unbundled from GTA3.
I'm not surprised over the lack of demand. These things are enormous!
Go to the 'my account' tab, select withdraw, and click on the 'shop online with a paypal virtual card' link. The number won't be tied to any website in particular, so you should be able to type it in through itunes and have it work.
I think we're on the verge of a major handheld revolution here.. If Nintendo could cram the Gamecube into a handheld form factor it would literally save the platform and open up a new market for them. But as Nintendo found with the NES, no market is ever secure.
NeoGeo cost $800 if I remember correctly, with games in the $200 range. Not a fair comparison.