And none of it works well under sustained movement. Hold a new-era portable CD player like you would a handheld, move it around a lot. A good analogy would be jogging with it.
Listen to what happens. Or try listening to a CD during sustained turbulence on an airplane. Anti-skip has limits.
See also: the popularity of solid-state media players because they are never affected by movement.
I won't pay $300 for a handheld. I'll buy it when it hits $100 though.
But that's not the problem I see with the PSP. The problems I see with the PSP are as follows: 1. The disc format means moving parts(which reduce life-length), it also means anti-skip tech is going to need to be incorporated. Even the best anti-skip tends to die if you move a device around a lot over a prolonged period. Which is precisely what you do with a handheld. A handheld I need to hold as still as possible and probably can't use on an airplane... ehh, no thanks.
2. Sony does not have a reputation for making gaming hardware that has a long life. Many PS2s burn out under heavy use rather quickly. The laser-assemblies are cheap and just die. Neither Nintendo or MS have this reputation. My original gameboy still runs, and I've only heard of one GCN and one X-Box having similar problems(and this was on slashdot) versus the hundreds of PS2s I've heard of that died, and more that died in the first generation. $300 for a piece of hardware that might die in one year is definately an issue(It's also going to keep me from getting a PS3 for a while).
You're a youngin' you are. Pokemon Red/Blue came out in 1998. This would put you at 16.
Hell, I can remember my quite littler brother obsessing over the infernal fad, and having to chase him around NYC while he ran off after any street vendor hocking the damn cards. Which was just oh so much fun btw, thanks Nintendo.
I hardly think that you can qualify yourself as an "older, more experienced gamer."
Microsoft hit 9.4 million total units Worldwide back in July(as did the Gamecube). They were at something like 6.2 million in the USA (and the GCN was at 5.2 million). This was before the GCN pricecut. I have no idea where they all are now, but I can guess.
If MS had a dead even distribution of sales over it's entire life, it's been selling about 250,000 units a month in the USA. A 7% increase(over that) would put it at about 276,000 for the month. Microsoft's foray is reminding me more and more of Atari in it's later years. Maybe us Americans just can't beat the Japanese in the Console Wars.
One company releases figures for the week, another releases figures for the month and a third just releases a percentage(and a low one at that).
Great article, really, absolutely excellent. So many useful financials. Why I can positively say the following absolutely, with data to back it up instead of opinion!:)
Let's translate. The Gamecube beat everyone on Black Friday, followed by the PS2, with the X-Box in a probably distant third.
Holy shit, unless a whole heck of a lot of people suddenly subscribed to Nintendo Power, that's a lot of Game/Consoles Sales Revenue going straight to Nintendo.
#19 is the damned Gamecube Hardware(whereas the X-Box ranks at #21 and PS2 at #25).
I've seen Windows(up to XP Pro) suddenly forget that hardware exists. Why it does this, I don't know, but it's usually after lots of uptime on a non-often used device(like our CD Copier[not burner, mass copier]). I've also had it forget my NIC is there on boot(that was annoying).
Rebooting or reinstalling the drivers generally tends to fix it. I've never had that problem out of Linux though, even with identical hardware(in the case of the NIC).
Umm, long distance is way cheaper than local from a distance versus distance standpoint. Access minutes are basically to suplement the increased costs of providing and maintaining the local loop So pushing traffic off the long-distance networks and onto the local networks (through pushing VOIP and DSL) will cause the ILECs to charge more (we've already gradually seen this happen, as local phone service increases in cost, while long distance decreases in cost [over say, a decade ago]). The ILECs are in a unique position to capitalize on this, but it's not going to get over the problem of the local loop. Some people say wireless will, but I doubt that.
Yea, if it weren't for those users, my network would be perfect. No complaints = no problems. That's how I know my network is perfect, during vacations, no one complains about anything, so it must be perfect.
Slashdot Mirror
It's ugly.
Well, not ugly for unix, but ugly for a desktop. Even the Fisher Price look of a default XP install looks more polished than those screens.
Hell a new vanilla install of KDE looks more polished than those screens.
And they're charging for it?
Ehh, no thanks, I'll take my ugly free.
Why hasn't there been a reality TV show yet, like
"Who wants to be a Senator?"
Are you an NBC-Crat or a CBS-ican?
Always a way around it, never fear.
You've never read LotR? That's it, hand in your geek identification card, turn in your slashdot account and go on over to Fark.
Go now, and no making sad puppy dog faces.
Read the parent link.
And anyone who mods it underrated is an asshole.
Go ahead, rob me of 3 karma. This post is offtopic as is the one above, but both still need to be said.
Yea, we should really kick Florida out of the union.
The dead vote there, they can't hold a proper election, they don't seem to comprehend what free speech is... I mean the list goes on and on.
We're watching you Florida, one more screw up, and your phallic landmass is out!
Closer to $500. And you don't need to worry about being locked into TIVO.
Oh, and you can use the same box for MAME/emulation on your TV and turn it into a complete multi-media suite (CD-playing, MP3/Ogg playing, etc.).
That's all worth about $100-$200, to me anyway.
Yes, I love OSes where I can force a reboot or a complete system lock with an ICMP packet. :-)
And they're good cameras to boot.
Well it will, but only if you buy it dinner and take it to a movie first.
And none of it works well under sustained movement. Hold a new-era portable CD player like you would a handheld, move it around a lot. A good analogy would be jogging with it.
Listen to what happens. Or try listening to a CD during sustained turbulence on an airplane. Anti-skip has limits.
See also: the popularity of solid-state media players because they are never affected by movement.
You got lucky. A lot of launch PS2s(and other PS2s) die. They had a lot of problems with them.
I'll be on my 3rd whenever I get around to replacing my burnt one.
I won't pay $300 for a handheld. I'll buy it when it hits $100 though.
But that's not the problem I see with the PSP. The problems I see with the PSP are as follows:
1. The disc format means moving parts(which reduce life-length), it also means anti-skip tech is going to need to be incorporated. Even the best anti-skip tends to die if you move a device around a lot over a prolonged period. Which is precisely what you do with a handheld. A handheld I need to hold as still as possible and probably can't use on an airplane... ehh, no thanks.
2. Sony does not have a reputation for making gaming hardware that has a long life. Many PS2s burn out under heavy use rather quickly. The laser-assemblies are cheap and just die. Neither Nintendo or MS have this reputation. My original gameboy still runs, and I've only heard of one GCN and one X-Box having similar problems(and this was on slashdot) versus the hundreds of PS2s I've heard of that died, and more that died in the first generation. $300 for a piece of hardware that might die in one year is definately an issue(It's also going to keep me from getting a PS3 for a while).
You're a youngin' you are. Pokemon Red/Blue came out in 1998. This would put you at 16.
Hell, I can remember my quite littler brother obsessing over the infernal fad, and having to chase him around NYC while he ran off after any street vendor hocking the damn cards. Which was just oh so much fun btw, thanks Nintendo.
I hardly think that you can qualify yourself as an "older, more experienced gamer."
Ok, then just copy paste links to every other slashdot discussion that's been had on this subject to date.
Unless there's something new to say, that is.
In summary:
SCO is smoking crack
Their case has no merit
yada yada yada
And in inverse: The same could be said for Ann Coulter.
Only Coulter is a lot younger and more attractive than Molly Ivins.
Microsoft hit 9.4 million total units Worldwide back in July(as did the Gamecube). They were at something like 6.2 million in the USA (and the GCN was at 5.2 million). This was before the GCN pricecut. I have no idea where they all are now, but I can guess.
If MS had a dead even distribution of sales over it's entire life, it's been selling about 250,000 units a month in the USA. A 7% increase(over that) would put it at about 276,000 for the month. Microsoft's foray is reminding me more and more of Atari in it's later years. Maybe us Americans just can't beat the Japanese in the Console Wars.
One company releases figures for the week, another releases figures for the month and a third just releases a percentage(and a low one at that).
:)
Great article, really, absolutely excellent. So many useful financials. Why I can positively say the following absolutely, with data to back it up instead of opinion!
Let's translate. The Gamecube beat everyone on Black Friday, followed by the PS2, with the X-Box in a probably distant third.
#15 is the Zelda Collector's disk.
Holy shit, unless a whole heck of a lot of people suddenly subscribed to Nintendo Power, that's a lot of Game/Consoles Sales Revenue going straight to Nintendo.
#19 is the damned Gamecube Hardware(whereas the X-Box ranks at #21 and PS2 at #25).
I've seen Windows(up to XP Pro) suddenly forget that hardware exists. Why it does this, I don't know, but it's usually after lots of uptime on a non-often used device(like our CD Copier[not burner, mass copier]). I've also had it forget my NIC is there on boot(that was annoying).
Rebooting or reinstalling the drivers generally tends to fix it. I've never had that problem out of Linux though, even with identical hardware(in the case of the NIC).
Yea, and then... the Silmarillion.
Tolkien's rewrite of the bible, spoken in elvish. Mel Gibson is slated for involvement, I hear.
Umm, long distance is way cheaper than local from a distance versus distance standpoint. Access minutes are basically to suplement the increased costs of providing and maintaining the local loop So pushing traffic off the long-distance networks and onto the local networks (through pushing VOIP and DSL) will cause the ILECs to charge more (we've already gradually seen this happen, as local phone service increases in cost, while long distance decreases in cost [over say, a decade ago]). The ILECs are in a unique position to capitalize on this, but it's not going to get over the problem of the local loop. Some people say wireless will, but I doubt that.
Don't forget, using your console as a DVD player will also cause it to break sooner.
Then why even use PCs in the first place?
Dumb terminals/thin clients would be FAR better if you really want absolute control(and I really think they should be used most of the time).
Yea, if it weren't for those users, my network would be perfect. No complaints = no problems. That's how I know my network is perfect, during vacations, no one complains about anything, so it must be perfect.