My job takes me into a lot of government subsidized affordable and low income housing, and you would be surprised just how many of those homes have enormous TVs. Usually high speed internet is not a priority, but entertainment systems and premium cable/satellite are fairly common. Much bigger and better than mine and those of most people I know. Meanwhile the kids are literally running around without clothes, but at least they have something nice to watch...
It's not so much that nobody in Thailand could afford it for $50, but nobody in Thailand would be willing to pay $50 for it. It would be cracked and pirated and sold at cheap prices. The low price from Valve is an effort to combat that and at least make some money in that market.
Blaming the private market ignores the other half of the picture. Why is health care in the US so expensive? Malpractice insurance for doctors and hospitals is one oft-referenced factor. Looking solely at the cost of malpractice insurance, however, underestimates the total cost that this screwed up tort system contributes. A very large chunk of administration is dedicated to dealing with the insurance industry, introducing an substantial cost burden above and beyond malpractice insurance costs. This cost is passed on to patients and their insurance, which must then foot the bill for this increased expense which they were the cause of in the first place, further driving up insurance costs.
Clearly there's a problem with this system, but is socialized health care going to do anything other than shift your insurance premium into your taxes? By all means, let's provide the means for healthcare for those who otherwise can't afford it, but involve the private market, and make the market fucking compete. The competition that exists now is a joke, and everyone's paying for it.
Not to nitpick, but the average is closer to $1.2 million. That's still a shitload, but not quite $5 million. And that's still a skewed number considering it represents only housing below West 116th Street and below East 96th Street. There's a large swath of housing north of there while still being much more expensive than the national norm, isn't quite in the $1 million range yet.
People like you are why (and me, and many others) are why all of this talk of a "winner" this generation are pointless. The Wii may sell many more consoles, but it's not going to capture the hardcore gamer segment without games with substance. Hardcore gamers buy games. They buy a lot of games. Casual gamers, on the other hand, the ones lured to the Wii because of its novelty and low price, really aren't likely to buy many games. They're not going to wear themselves out on Wii Sports and want to fill the void with dozens of other games because gaming isn't a priority in their lives.
I want to play Smash bros, Mario Galaxy, and Kart, but those titles alone aren't enough to justify buying another system when my current one has no shortage of good games.
Fortunately for Nintendo, they're also making a profit on the hardware, but I'm going to make the wild prediction that they don't sell nearly as many games as their two competitors. They're going to be a profitable company and whether they're #1 in system sales or not is irrelevant. The only question left is whether MS and/or Sony can actually make a profit this round, and that absolutely depends on the strength of the library. Take a look at the ratings and sales numbers and it's clear who is winning that war.
I agree with you there, I'm a huge Halo fan and lost a good amount of sleep after the release but I haven't touched it since the Orange box came out. Looking forward to all of the other highly anticipated games, I almost want to bury my head in the sand and avoid any gaming news at all because there's going to be such a glut of good games. It's one thing to have your game out before the holiday season, but you would think that a little more of a staggered release schedule would really help individual titles and system sales overall.
I don't know about you guys, but I used my wireless adapter for the 360 for a week before getting fed up with packet losses and lag. 100 bucks down the drain. Does anyone really get satisfactory online play over their wireless network?
I really wonder how much use the wireless functionality is getting on all these PS3s and what the cost savings would have been without it.
There was almost no replay value in Bioshock. I played through once rescuing all of the little sisters, then decided to play through again harvesting them instead to see the other ending. I got 3/4 through and was pretty tired of playing it over again since it was almost the exact same game except for that choice.
I honestly don't know how it got such great reviews when you get 6 hours of play time out of it, maybe twice that if you play it over again. Then that's it. Nothing else to explore. It's different than most other games out there, but if there was a game I ever regretted buying, this is one. It would be a great rental however.
It should be noted that fair trade is a marketing term unassociated with free trade. They're actually often notions that are in opposition to each other, while advocates for freer trade claim that free trade is inherently fair and "fair trade" less so.
The WTO was indeed created in the interest of rich nations, but that's not to say it isn't also in the interest of poorer nations. Barriers to trade are almost always harmful to all parties involved because they inhibit the most efficient use of resources. The driving idea behind free trade is that it is in the interest of all parties to trade freely with each other.
Agricultural subsidies are a sore point, and rightfully so. Free trade means free trade, and these sort of subsidies are a significant barrier to further lowering of trade barriers around the world. The recent addition of IP rights to the WTO is another shameful manipulation.
Right on. I'm a big fan of Nintendo, I'm attached to its major franchises, and spent plenty of time playing my Gamecube. I wanted to play the next Zelda, the next Mario Kart, Smash Brothers, Metroid Prime, etc, but the whole motion controller gimmick has really turned me off from the system. I go to the gym for my daily exercise; I don't sit in front of the TV waving my arm around for it. The Wiimote was interesting at first but forcing its use in every game just doesn't make sense. This view is usually written off as that of a hardcore gamers, and not Nintendo's target audience, but hardcore gamers are the ones who buy multiple games.
Casual gamers, by their very nature, only play games casually and are not likely to continually buy new games. They're not going to burn through their games and look for the next great title. The incredible number of sales to casual gamers may serve as a beachhead to get developers to notice the popularity of the system, but they need to sustain sales of games for it to be a viable platform.
I owned a total of 4 games for the original Xbox because I found the library to be somewhat lacking, I now own 18 for the 360 because of an outstanding library of good games. There are at least a half dozen Wii games I would like to own at this point, but I just want to play with a normal controller. I also don't want to commit my dollars to buy a system where the novelty is the driving sales force which might die out prematurely.
But Master Chief is stuck in some unknown part of space after destroying the Ark. So he goes into cryogenic sleep, which on its own doesn't lead to the potential plot of a sequel, but when you factor in the ending after beating the game on Legendary difficulty there is some mystery that still begs resolution. You see his ship descend towards a previously unknown but developed planet, so is the fight really finished? Or has a new one begun?
Salaries would go down for sure if a law was enacted to regulate this. Companies have no incentive to be honest about the hours required when offering a potential employee a position because nobody else is doing it.
Take a look at job listings on sites like monster.com. Employers either dishonestly state "9-5" or "40 hrs/wk" for jobs that will almost surely require more hours or offer vague descriptions like "full week" or "full day." Few employers are willing to advertise a lower base salary "plus overtime" next to listings with higher salaries and misleading time commitments.
It's a shame for Google, and a move in the wrong direction. I currently use adblock but don't block Google ads because they're unobtrusive and sometimes actually useful, but it looks like that's going to change.
Who said the dream is to become a millionaire? How about to live a more financially secure and happy life? That doesn't require millions of dollars for most of us.
Slashdot Mirror
My job takes me into a lot of government subsidized affordable and low income housing, and you would be surprised just how many of those homes have enormous TVs. Usually high speed internet is not a priority, but entertainment systems and premium cable/satellite are fairly common. Much bigger and better than mine and those of most people I know. Meanwhile the kids are literally running around without clothes, but at least they have something nice to watch...
It's not so much that nobody in Thailand could afford it for $50, but nobody in Thailand would be willing to pay $50 for it. It would be cracked and pirated and sold at cheap prices. The low price from Valve is an effort to combat that and at least make some money in that market.
You must be new here. Due diligence? Nobody hardly RTFA, are we really supposed to look for more sources?
Come on, apple fanbois don't have any money to invest in apple stock, they spent it all on apple products!
Blaming the private market ignores the other half of the picture. Why is health care in the US so expensive? Malpractice insurance for doctors and hospitals is one oft-referenced factor. Looking solely at the cost of malpractice insurance, however, underestimates the total cost that this screwed up tort system contributes. A very large chunk of administration is dedicated to dealing with the insurance industry, introducing an substantial cost burden above and beyond malpractice insurance costs. This cost is passed on to patients and their insurance, which must then foot the bill for this increased expense which they were the cause of in the first place, further driving up insurance costs.
Clearly there's a problem with this system, but is socialized health care going to do anything other than shift your insurance premium into your taxes? By all means, let's provide the means for healthcare for those who otherwise can't afford it, but involve the private market, and make the market fucking compete. The competition that exists now is a joke, and everyone's paying for it.
Good god, Microsoft actually wants to improve a product in order to compete and this is your response?
If only they did this with their other products.
Not to nitpick, but the average is closer to $1.2 million. That's still a shitload, but not quite $5 million. And that's still a skewed number considering it represents only housing below West 116th Street and below East 96th Street. There's a large swath of housing north of there while still being much more expensive than the national norm, isn't quite in the $1 million range yet.
Plus the legal fees...
Sorry, that sounds like a "hardcore" gamer request. Remember, the Wii is for casual gamers.
People like you are why (and me, and many others) are why all of this talk of a "winner" this generation are pointless. The Wii may sell many more consoles, but it's not going to capture the hardcore gamer segment without games with substance. Hardcore gamers buy games. They buy a lot of games. Casual gamers, on the other hand, the ones lured to the Wii because of its novelty and low price, really aren't likely to buy many games. They're not going to wear themselves out on Wii Sports and want to fill the void with dozens of other games because gaming isn't a priority in their lives.
I want to play Smash bros, Mario Galaxy, and Kart, but those titles alone aren't enough to justify buying another system when my current one has no shortage of good games.
Fortunately for Nintendo, they're also making a profit on the hardware, but I'm going to make the wild prediction that they don't sell nearly as many games as their two competitors. They're going to be a profitable company and whether they're #1 in system sales or not is irrelevant. The only question left is whether MS and/or Sony can actually make a profit this round, and that absolutely depends on the strength of the library. Take a look at the ratings and sales numbers and it's clear who is winning that war.
I agree with you there, I'm a huge Halo fan and lost a good amount of sleep after the release but I haven't touched it since the Orange box came out. Looking forward to all of the other highly anticipated games, I almost want to bury my head in the sand and avoid any gaming news at all because there's going to be such a glut of good games. It's one thing to have your game out before the holiday season, but you would think that a little more of a staggered release schedule would really help individual titles and system sales overall.
I don't know about you guys, but I used my wireless adapter for the 360 for a week before getting fed up with packet losses and lag. 100 bucks down the drain. Does anyone really get satisfactory online play over their wireless network?
I really wonder how much use the wireless functionality is getting on all these PS3s and what the cost savings would have been without it.
There was almost no replay value in Bioshock. I played through once rescuing all of the little sisters, then decided to play through again harvesting them instead to see the other ending. I got 3/4 through and was pretty tired of playing it over again since it was almost the exact same game except for that choice.
I honestly don't know how it got such great reviews when you get 6 hours of play time out of it, maybe twice that if you play it over again. Then that's it. Nothing else to explore. It's different than most other games out there, but if there was a game I ever regretted buying, this is one. It would be a great rental however.
God dammit, someone broke the first rule.
You do NOT talk about Usenet!
It should be noted that fair trade is a marketing term unassociated with free trade. They're actually often notions that are in opposition to each other, while advocates for freer trade claim that free trade is inherently fair and "fair trade" less so.
The WTO was indeed created in the interest of rich nations, but that's not to say it isn't also in the interest of poorer nations. Barriers to trade are almost always harmful to all parties involved because they inhibit the most efficient use of resources. The driving idea behind free trade is that it is in the interest of all parties to trade freely with each other.
Agricultural subsidies are a sore point, and rightfully so. Free trade means free trade, and these sort of subsidies are a significant barrier to further lowering of trade barriers around the world. The recent addition of IP rights to the WTO is another shameful manipulation.
Yeah no games, but I believe Japan's bundle at the end of WWII came with a few military bases.
Right on. I'm a big fan of Nintendo, I'm attached to its major franchises, and spent plenty of time playing my Gamecube. I wanted to play the next Zelda, the next Mario Kart, Smash Brothers, Metroid Prime, etc, but the whole motion controller gimmick has really turned me off from the system. I go to the gym for my daily exercise; I don't sit in front of the TV waving my arm around for it. The Wiimote was interesting at first but forcing its use in every game just doesn't make sense. This view is usually written off as that of a hardcore gamers, and not Nintendo's target audience, but hardcore gamers are the ones who buy multiple games.
Casual gamers, by their very nature, only play games casually and are not likely to continually buy new games. They're not going to burn through their games and look for the next great title. The incredible number of sales to casual gamers may serve as a beachhead to get developers to notice the popularity of the system, but they need to sustain sales of games for it to be a viable platform.
I owned a total of 4 games for the original Xbox because I found the library to be somewhat lacking, I now own 18 for the 360 because of an outstanding library of good games. There are at least a half dozen Wii games I would like to own at this point, but I just want to play with a normal controller. I also don't want to commit my dollars to buy a system where the novelty is the driving sales force which might die out prematurely.
No no no, you have it all wrong. It goes like this:
Time 0: Universe has time and is normal.
Time 1: Universe suddenly flips and now has 0 time, 4 space.
Time ??: ????
Time 42: Profit!
SPOILER ALERT:
But Master Chief is stuck in some unknown part of space after destroying the Ark. So he goes into cryogenic sleep, which on its own doesn't lead to the potential plot of a sequel, but when you factor in the ending after beating the game on Legendary difficulty there is some mystery that still begs resolution. You see his ship descend towards a previously unknown but developed planet, so is the fight really finished? Or has a new one begun?
Salaries would go down for sure if a law was enacted to regulate this. Companies have no incentive to be honest about the hours required when offering a potential employee a position because nobody else is doing it.
Take a look at job listings on sites like monster.com. Employers either dishonestly state "9-5" or "40 hrs/wk" for jobs that will almost surely require more hours or offer vague descriptions like "full week" or "full day." Few employers are willing to advertise a lower base salary "plus overtime" next to listings with higher salaries and misleading time commitments.
It's a shame for Google, and a move in the wrong direction. I currently use adblock but don't block Google ads because they're unobtrusive and sometimes actually useful, but it looks like that's going to change.
Yeah but we obviously haven't done anything stupid enough to die from... yet.
It's also pretty distracting to sit behind someone who is stalking people on facebook, sending IMs, or watching youtube rather than taking notes.
Who said the dream is to become a millionaire? How about to live a more financially secure and happy life? That doesn't require millions of dollars for most of us.
And the Wiimote itself isn't a gimmick? But I guess people seem to like it.