... scratch the surface? The card or document's unique surface changes right? Doesn't plastic bend, and get smoother the more you use it? Paper can get worn, torn, or crumpled. Interesting notion, but I think practicalities are going to cause problems for this technology. They will need to ensure this technology is people-proof, and that it is durable.
Is it possible that the more people play video games and where games are accessible to people, they will be escaping to their consoles for fun instead of out whacking hoods in real life? They should do a program and call it "Video Games for Guns"! It'll keep more people off the street having fun with their friends instead of being bored with nothing to do except crime.
Bad arguments... bad rehtoric... just plain bad article. The editors of Slashdot put it up here to inflame the community I think. Ugh. I like Microsoft for other reasons, but not for the ones written in this article. There's no accounting for taste. I guess people like things for different reasons, but this guy doesn't really got a clue.
I have owned only 1 PS2 since 2002, and I've dropped it, dismantled it to unjar the DVD drive cuz it fell off my TV stand, let it get dusty, installed the network card and then a drive, and I've NEVER had to replace it.
You obviously are careless with your PS2, or something.
I click on the Slashdot homepage link (the Slashdot logo), and it won't even navigtate there... wtf? I have to hit my home button to get back! Nice freaking beta!
I am not impressed with this at all. The toolbards will reset themselves unless you drag them by resizing them first and then moving them to the correct location. Otherwise, they forget where they are supposed to be.
Also, the Links bar is kinda screwed up. Every folder and link has a set width, and there are now links that used to be there that aren't now.
If you add up the costs, it seems intially reasonable. Take GBA ($89 - Futureshop), portable DVD ($149 - Futureshop), iPod 512 MB shuffle ($129 - Futureshop) totaling $367 CAN vs PSP ($299 - Futureshop) and 512MB Memorystick Duo ($109 - Sony Store) totaling $408. It seems like a good idea (I didn't include the cell phone because the PSP doesn't include cellphone features... yet;), but when you look at the cost of all those devices in portability, you are carrying a LOT more weight and bulk. Feature for feature, PSP is an evolving platform with a lot of potential for growth. These other platforms are mature, but they are what they are... media specific devices. GBA being probably being the biggest exception to the lot, but GBA is still a GBA and I would have to buy a homebrew kit to get the extra features from that scene, adding more cost (I'm betting a homebrew kit for GBA is at least $50 CAN).
I believe, for the extra $41, I spent my money wisely on the PSP... I don't have to spend more money on media, deal with multiple devices cluttering up my life and weighing me down, and I get a great gaming platform too! I have never had to buy a single UMD movie, as my DVD collection works fine on my PSP when I convert my movies... I can get a 2 hr movie in about 350 MB. I've converted over 25 movies, and I am very happy with the quality. I got a bunch of TV shows that I haven't seen that I converted, and now I can keep up with all of them.
Despite it's problems, the PSP does have its merits.
Not like I read Slashdot 5 times a day for the last 4 years and read tons of gaming industry mags since the mid '90s... no, I don't have even a single clue... I must be a dolt for keeping up with all the industry news... I find it facinating that you criticize me for posting posting a link to a wiki article since the _whole_ Internet community contributes to that encyclopedia, and that as a result, the information in there wasn't refuted or altered once since it was posted! If you don't like to hear the truth, fanboy, then go fuck yourself. I can't believe I've wasted my time even writing to you. I'm done.
Ok here are some internet resources to back up my statements regarding difficulty programming at the initial launch:
Wikipedia: "Developers also complained about the system being difficult to develop for, with little in the way of reference material from Sony for its exotic architecture." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2
If you don't like the history reference, then change it at Wikipedia...
Anyways, my two cents Mr. Anonymous. PS2 was hard to develop for when it launched. It got better. Middleware and game engines solved a lot of this... oh yah, and developers got smarter using the harder.
I went to EB Games and asked one of the guys who worked at the store if he owned a PSP... he said... "No, I own a DS... I like to touch..." I said you can touch a PSP... he said, "But I can touch Mario"... so I said "Does he giggle?"
I tell yah... some fanboys...
PSP is a versatile media device, hitting all the escapist markets (games, music, movies, photos, the Internet) in one little device. On the negative side, the PSP complaints I have:
battery life needs work... game library needs work... UMD movie pricing needs work... Memory Stick Duo pricing and capacity needs work...
Once these things start getting ironed out, the PSP will be a device worth buying for more people. The PSP currently targets gamers with jobs, and will do well in that market. I waited to buy one in the US, and I am not disappointed. Once the price drops on a number of PSP elements, including the console, the platform is in really good shape.
I believe the original poster was referring to the industry rags reporting that when the PS2 launched, the platform was harder to program for because of the lack of middleware support at the time, which was the case (I know, I read the mags). Sony had to moved quickly to remedey that, and and third-party engines and middleware have filled in the spaces with great technologies over the years (have you seen the screenshots for The Path of Neo?).
The original poster's point is well taken, and you were just plain insulting. As an Anonymous Coward, you certainly seem to know what you are talking about! Go play your Xbox!
Don't forget that when you read the press release, the footnotes clearly state there was _no_ approval of the logical layers of the UMD standard (which includes the security - read DRM - features of the format).
If you can make money from free content, your competitors will have to adjust their income model to compete. Offer a better product so there is no equal, and you can charge for it. Otherwise, forget about charging for content on your website. Remember: people will only pay for content they feel they can't get anywhere else.
If the production factories had to upgrade the facilities in a major way to accomodate the BR format, then they end up spending money that they'd rather keep! Why spend more money than you need to?
This is a classic example of the Betamax/MiniDisc scenario, where Sony closes their format, and everyone gets pissed and chooses the alternative... I predict that the industry will produce HD-DVD over BluRay because of this scenario. *sigh*
Personally on a technical level, I like BluRay better. Business-wise, I think HD-DVD makes more sense.
"PSP adopts a small but high-capacity optical medium UMD(TM) (Universal Media Disc), enabling game software, rich with full-motion video and other forms of digital entertainment content, to be stored. The newly developed UMD, the next-generation compact storage media, is only 60mm in diameter but can store up to 1.8GB of digital data. A broad range of digital entertainment content such as music video clips, movies and sports programs can be provided on UMD. To protect this entertainment content, a robust copyright protection system has been developed which utilizes a combination of a unique disc ID, a 128 bit AES encryption keys for the media, and individual ID for each PSP hardware unit."
Why should someone be able to patent something in a videogame? This is just a majorly dumb idea, patenting media. Why doesn't someone just patent podcasting and be done with the whole industry??
Are they going to have the phrase "The person carrying this card is a terrorist" on it? I don't see how this card will thwart terrorism anymore than RFID enabled passports.
What I think is interesting is that original dev kits for XBox 360 were said to be bastardized and enhanced versions of Windows NT 4.0 running on a G5 box.
Why anyone doesn't think that this is probably the case is beyond me. Why would I write an OS if I could use one that had a lot of what I needed? Strip down NT 4 and give it a nice overhaul to work with your sole hardware spec. Seems to make sense to me. I think the developer quoted probably felt the features of the XBox 360 OS were derivative of the XBox OS, but that probably it. Sure it probably doesn't even resemble NT 4, but I think it has more roots in NT 4 than it does in 2000 or even XBox on a technical level.
I feel most comfortable guessing that the OS on the 360 is an NT4/Xbox hybrid...
I was reading up on the approach they were taking to development. They are going for gameplay first, using non-textured structures as placeholders in order to tweak the environments. Believe it or not, this saves them lots of back-and-forth development time.
The other interesting thing I read was that they have something like 16 deliverables to achieve the final version of UT 2007. They have only completed 3.
Remember that they've been developing the new engine and toolset for the Unreal 3 Engine, and Epic knows that their engine and tools are paramount to their company strategy. Let's cool it on the rehtoric, and really look at what's happening, and why. This is a very interesting thing to watch.
Sounds like Steve Jobs is trying to win the Spoiled Brat award for 2005... He's always taking away his trucks from the sandbox and leaving when people don't play his way.
I participated in this survey, and one thing that strikes me as interesting is that there are a lot of people who are still holding onto the ATI 9XX0 series of hardware.
One question I have is... considering that console game developers push the absolute limits of the console platform, why don't PC game developers do the same with a baseline PC hardware config? Anything extra processing juice will be just gravy then.
Is it funny that as PC owners, we are forced to upgrade our equipment every year or two to get the experience with the games we want, where consoles don't have that at all except get the games?
Maybe this is why consoles are so popular. PC gaming hardware gets way to expensive year after year.
It's a conspiracy... I know it! Get the developers to make games for advanced hardware instead of pushing their engines and baseline hardware to the max with better code.
I love gaming, on any platform. But I know I'll get flamed for this... so... flame away!
We use Captaris RightFax here normally as the inbound and outbound faxing tool. We bought COM-enabled APIs to interface with it. We wrote our own custom software to route messages through the fax server.
Overall, a win for everyone. It was relatively inexpensive for our needs... and it faxes too!
Personally, I really don't care if my taxes go to roads or not. I know I benefit from the roads existence in way, shape, or form. My question was directed as a "food for thought" exercise. It's unfortunate you think I'm not "bright" as the rest of us. I think stimulating interesting conversation by asking rehtorical questions is a valuable excercise if it gets people talking.
Slashdot Mirror
... scratch the surface? The card or document's unique surface changes right? Doesn't plastic bend, and get smoother the more you use it? Paper can get worn, torn, or crumpled. Interesting notion, but I think practicalities are going to cause problems for this technology. They will need to ensure this technology is people-proof, and that it is durable.
Is it possible that the more people play video games and where games are accessible to people, they will be escaping to their consoles for fun instead of out whacking hoods in real life? They should do a program and call it "Video Games for Guns"! It'll keep more people off the street having fun with their friends instead of being bored with nothing to do except crime.
Bad arguments... bad rehtoric... just plain bad article. The editors of Slashdot put it up here to inflame the community I think. Ugh. I like Microsoft for other reasons, but not for the ones written in this article. There's no accounting for taste. I guess people like things for different reasons, but this guy doesn't really got a clue.
I have owned only 1 PS2 since 2002, and I've dropped it, dismantled it to unjar the DVD drive cuz it fell off my TV stand, let it get dusty, installed the network card and then a drive, and I've NEVER had to replace it.
You obviously are careless with your PS2, or something.
I click on the Slashdot homepage link (the Slashdot logo), and it won't even navigtate there... wtf? I have to hit my home button to get back! Nice freaking beta!
I am not impressed with this at all. The toolbards will reset themselves unless you drag them by resizing them first and then moving them to the correct location. Otherwise, they forget where they are supposed to be.
Also, the Links bar is kinda screwed up. Every folder and link has a set width, and there are now links that used to be there that aren't now.
If you add up the costs, it seems intially reasonable. Take GBA ($89 - Futureshop), portable DVD ($149 - Futureshop), iPod 512 MB shuffle ($129 - Futureshop) totaling $367 CAN vs PSP ($299 - Futureshop) and 512MB Memorystick Duo ($109 - Sony Store) totaling $408. It seems like a good idea (I didn't include the cell phone because the PSP doesn't include cellphone features... yet ;), but when you look at the cost of all those devices in portability, you are carrying a LOT more weight and bulk. Feature for feature, PSP is an evolving platform with a lot of potential for growth. These other platforms are mature, but they are what they are... media specific devices. GBA being probably being the biggest exception to the lot, but GBA is still a GBA and I would have to buy a homebrew kit to get the extra features from that scene, adding more cost (I'm betting a homebrew kit for GBA is at least $50 CAN).
I believe, for the extra $41, I spent my money wisely on the PSP... I don't have to spend more money on media, deal with multiple devices cluttering up my life and weighing me down, and I get a great gaming platform too! I have never had to buy a single UMD movie, as my DVD collection works fine on my PSP when I convert my movies... I can get a 2 hr movie in about 350 MB. I've converted over 25 movies, and I am very happy with the quality. I got a bunch of TV shows that I haven't seen that I converted, and now I can keep up with all of them.
Despite it's problems, the PSP does have its merits.
Not like I read Slashdot 5 times a day for the last 4 years and read tons of gaming industry mags since the mid '90s... no, I don't have even a single clue... I must be a dolt for keeping up with all the industry news... I find it facinating that you criticize me for posting posting a link to a wiki article since the _whole_ Internet community contributes to that encyclopedia, and that as a result, the information in there wasn't refuted or altered once since it was posted! If you don't like to hear the truth, fanboy, then go fuck yourself. I can't believe I've wasted my time even writing to you. I'm done.
Ok here are some internet resources to back up my statements regarding difficulty programming at the initial launch:
r ticle=5416
Wikipedia:
"Developers also complained about the system being difficult to develop for, with little in the way of reference material from Sony for its exotic architecture." - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PlayStation_2
If you don't like the history reference, then change it at Wikipedia...
Booty Project:
"Think back to the PS2's launch: it took several years for developers to really figure the system out." - http://www.bootyproject.org/show_article.asp?id_a
Anyways, my two cents Mr. Anonymous. PS2 was hard to develop for when it launched. It got better. Middleware and game engines solved a lot of this... oh yah, and developers got smarter using the harder.
I went to EB Games and asked one of the guys who worked at the store if he owned a PSP... he said... "No, I own a DS... I like to touch..." I said you can touch a PSP... he said, "But I can touch Mario"... so I said "Does he giggle?"
I tell yah... some fanboys...
PSP is a versatile media device, hitting all the escapist markets (games, music, movies, photos, the Internet) in one little device. On the negative side, the PSP complaints I have:
battery life needs work...
game library needs work...
UMD movie pricing needs work...
Memory Stick Duo pricing and capacity needs work...
Once these things start getting ironed out, the PSP will be a device worth buying for more people. The PSP currently targets gamers with jobs, and will do well in that market. I waited to buy one in the US, and I am not disappointed. Once the price drops on a number of PSP elements, including the console, the platform is in really good shape.
I believe the original poster was referring to the industry rags reporting that when the PS2 launched, the platform was harder to program for because of the lack of middleware support at the time, which was the case (I know, I read the mags). Sony had to moved quickly to remedey that, and and third-party engines and middleware have filled in the spaces with great technologies over the years (have you seen the screenshots for The Path of Neo?). The original poster's point is well taken, and you were just plain insulting. As an Anonymous Coward, you certainly seem to know what you are talking about! Go play your Xbox!
Don't forget that when you read the press release, the footnotes clearly state there was _no_ approval of the logical layers of the UMD standard (which includes the security - read DRM - features of the format).
If you can make money from free content, your competitors will have to adjust their income model to compete. Offer a better product so there is no equal, and you can charge for it. Otherwise, forget about charging for content on your website. Remember: people will only pay for content they feel they can't get anywhere else.
If the production factories had to upgrade the facilities in a major way to accomodate the BR format, then they end up spending money that they'd rather keep! Why spend more money than you need to?
This is a classic example of the Betamax/MiniDisc scenario, where Sony closes their format, and everyone gets pissed and chooses the alternative... I predict that the industry will produce HD-DVD over BluRay because of this scenario. *sigh*
Personally on a technical level, I like BluRay better. Business-wise, I think HD-DVD makes more sense.
UMB = 1.8 GB
Sony's press release regarding the PSP and UMD formatminiDVD dual-layer = 1.5 GB/layer = 3 GB
Just another example of porn paving the way for newer and better things... this time, it's the law, not VHS.
Why should someone be able to patent something in a videogame? This is just a majorly dumb idea, patenting media. Why doesn't someone just patent podcasting and be done with the whole industry??
Are they going to have the phrase "The person carrying this card is a terrorist" on it? I don't see how this card will thwart terrorism anymore than RFID enabled passports.
What I think is interesting is that original dev kits for XBox 360 were said to be bastardized and enhanced versions of Windows NT 4.0 running on a G5 box.
Why anyone doesn't think that this is probably the case is beyond me. Why would I write an OS if I could use one that had a lot of what I needed? Strip down NT 4 and give it a nice overhaul to work with your sole hardware spec. Seems to make sense to me. I think the developer quoted probably felt the features of the XBox 360 OS were derivative of the XBox OS, but that probably it. Sure it probably doesn't even resemble NT 4, but I think it has more roots in NT 4 than it does in 2000 or even XBox on a technical level.
I feel most comfortable guessing that the OS on the 360 is an NT4/Xbox hybrid...
I was reading up on the approach they were taking to development. They are going for gameplay first, using non-textured structures as placeholders in order to tweak the environments. Believe it or not, this saves them lots of back-and-forth development time.
The other interesting thing I read was that they have something like 16 deliverables to achieve the final version of UT 2007. They have only completed 3.
Remember that they've been developing the new engine and toolset for the Unreal 3 Engine, and Epic knows that their engine and tools are paramount to their company strategy. Let's cool it on the rehtoric, and really look at what's happening, and why. This is a very interesting thing to watch.
Sounds like Steve Jobs is trying to win the Spoiled Brat award for 2005... He's always taking away his trucks from the sandbox and leaving when people don't play his way.
I participated in this survey, and one thing that strikes me as interesting is that there are a lot of people who are still holding onto the ATI 9XX0 series of hardware.
One question I have is... considering that console game developers push the absolute limits of the console platform, why don't PC game developers do the same with a baseline PC hardware config? Anything extra processing juice will be just gravy then.
Is it funny that as PC owners, we are forced to upgrade our equipment every year or two to get the experience with the games we want, where consoles don't have that at all except get the games?
Maybe this is why consoles are so popular. PC gaming hardware gets way to expensive year after year.
It's a conspiracy... I know it! Get the developers to make games for advanced hardware instead of pushing their engines and baseline hardware to the max with better code.
I love gaming, on any platform. But I know I'll get flamed for this... so... flame away!
We use Captaris RightFax here normally as the inbound and outbound faxing tool. We bought COM-enabled APIs to interface with it. We wrote our own custom software to route messages through the fax server.
Overall, a win for everyone. It was relatively inexpensive for our needs... and it faxes too!
http://www.captaris.com/rightfax/
Personally, I really don't care if my taxes go to roads or not. I know I benefit from the roads existence in way, shape, or form. My question was directed as a "food for thought" exercise. It's unfortunate you think I'm not "bright" as the rest of us. I think stimulating interesting conversation by asking rehtorical questions is a valuable excercise if it gets people talking.
So... I don't feel dim. Thanks for your comments.
Funny thing is, that I never had to pay a dime to activate my beta copy of the software they are licensing.
Don't you guys even check the facts?
If I don't own a car and only walk, and my taxes go to roads, is this unfair?