The "half of the RAM" that you're referring to is the RAM attached to the PS3's GPU. Which was most certainly available to Linux, if only as very fast swap, at least with Yellow Dog. (Other distributions may not have had that enabled)
You are correct about the lack of hardware video/3D acceleration. Course, 2D homebrew was quite possible. You really don't need acceleration to play a 2D puzzle game, or roguelike.
No, it was just a bean counter that figured out if they could sell it as also a computer, rather than a gaming device, that they'd be excluded from many sorts of taxes in the EU.
No. That's a untruth that just won't die. As I've said many times, it was the Yabasic disc that was included with EU PS2's that was an attempt to bypass the tariff. That failed but the tariff was repealed soon after, BEFORE Linux for the PS2 or PS3 was ever released.
Taking away the OtherOS option (which is fraud; a bait-and-switch move by removing one of the key selling points)
OtherOS was never a selling point to the vast majority of PS3 owners who probably never knew you could install Linux on the thing. I say that as someone who DID at one time have YDL on my PS3.
And as well all know, you can still have OtherOS if you want, you just won't be able to access PSN. It's your choice either way.
I'd also wager that most of the people who complain about the removal of OtherOS, never actually used that functionality, or perhaps never even owned a PS3 in the first place.
We were far from wealthy. As for the qbasic, all that required was access to a computer capable of running DOS. Even at the time that wasn't exactly a luxury.
Prove you weren't affluent. I don't know how many times I've seen on slashdot some guy saying they had their own DOS machine in the 80's and say they weren't affluent, and then mention their Dad was an engineer who got them a unix shell account on their workplace computer when they were 11 or something like that.
but failure to throttle clocks on high power silicon or halt gracefully before suffering hardware damage is pretty shoddy work; doubly so in something like a console or laptop
PS2's and PS3's (at least the models I've owned) make a shrill noise and blink lights when they get too hot., I've had it happen once with both. Both times it was accidentally restricted airflow. The PS2 will shut itself down
Yeah, it's PEBKAC syndrome. some PS3/360 owner does something stupid like putting their console on thick shag carpet, covering it with a blanket, or blocking the vents by putting it right against a solid surface because it makes too much noise and it overheats. Then they blame the game: "The game bricked my 360", or "this new firmware bricked my PS3".
It's not the instruction set, the PS2 has a wacky MIPS variant CPU....with 128 bit registers...and two powerful-for-time programmable vector units. And a very fast 2560 bit memory bus in there, and fast RDRAM. And a built in MPEG2 decoder (which is used for texture decompression for games) The thing's hardware is so complex it's probably very difficult for emulator makers.
Weird thing is, they usually beta test things on their Japanese customers first. because they're very cautious in NTSC land.
the XMB interface the PSP and PS3 uses was introduces in the PSX, the PS2 DVR thing sony only released in Japan.
Almost every feature the PS3 has, web browser, music ripping, demo downloading, was actually on the PS2's that had hard drives and the Broadband Navigator installed....but only in Japan. They never released BBN in the US.
The PSP camera that you can now get in the US, but only with Invizimals or Eyepet PSP, was available in Japan a loooong time ago. And the Japanese camera has a higher resolution.
The web interface is oriented towards PC users of PSN (and SOE Station) services, PS3 owners can update theirs via their PS3's. I had to do both, because one of my PS2 online games I played, Everquest Online Adventures Frontiers, used Station because it looooooong predates PSN. And also the PC version of FreeRealms uses it, though I now play the PS3 version. One interesting thing is that PSN can handle longer passwords than SOE Station can.
PSN's online services except for the store are running fine.
It's economies of scale, since they're making hordes of 1080p LCD panels, they became cheaper than the 1200 ones. Companies thought: "Hey lets just use the same basic panels for PC and HDTV displays!"
I would also surmise that more people use their displays for watching widescreen content, than use it for an IDE. They don't miss those 120 pixels.
Actually we did...back in Lincoln's time. And our current Inch/pound standards are mathematically derived from the meter/kilogram ones. It's just the inertia of the citizenry and in part...they still blame Jimmy Carter for the metric system..even though it's been official here for ages. (The carter administration heavily promoted metricization to bring us into modernity....the Reagan dopes put an end to that)
Is that actually true? Or is that just what the Japanese marketing teams say is true?
That's a good question. In FFXII's case, Square said made the decision to add Vaan and Penelo because of the "failure" Vagrant Story, a game with a mature main character.
though I would add that I actually really enjoyed FF10
So did I, except for the @#$#@ lightning dodging that I was never able to do, and the grinding you had to do to be able to take on some of the stuff in the Monster Arena. X is probably my second or third favorite Final Fantasy, VII being #1 and VI being #2 or #3 depending. It's the cast, they're likable and they behave like people on some "serious business".
On another note Square ought to learn "economy of characters" XII would have been fine without Vaan and Penelo, especially if you 4 characters (Basch, Ashe, Balthier, Fran) at once which the game probably could have handled...since you can have 3 and Larsa FFIX is the worst in this regard. The core party in IX is Zidane, Steiner, Vivi and Garnet. They could have dropped the other 4, wouldn't have missed Amaranth, Quina or Eiko.
Is that info about the FF12 main character reliably sourced?
Most certainly, FFXII's developers said it themselves.
I loved the free roaming stuff in FF12. I particularly loved that if you did some fairly short power-levelling early in the game, you could essentially switch yourself onto a different gameplay track, being fed with new and interestingly designed super-bosses via the hunts system as you went through the game.
Yeah, the Hunts...that was a great idea. Those things were tough! It was fighting them that I figured out that FFXII in many ways is more like FFXI. A good example is how status effects are more useful., even against the boss-style hunts.
They'd rather have had open exploration, instead of that railroad. They'd rather have had real weapon customization instead of that linear just-keep-adding-things crap with no choices. Even the job system didn't have any real choices.
Ha ha ha. You don't realize that the hardest core of Final Fantasies Japanese playbase is very conformist and doesn't want that. They want to buy the game on the same day everyone else buys it, play it the same optimal way, do the same things, develop their characters the same way. and have th exact same experience everyone else does. Didn't you play FFX!?
FFXII had some of the things you wanted...and that fanbase complained. In fact, Basch was originally going to be the main character until Square decided that the hardcore japanese fanbase (even some that had been playing FF's for years and were as old or older than Basch) wouldn't be able to identify with the 36 year old adult Basch, so they added the kids...Vaan and Penelo.
Go read your box "design and specifications subject to change withotu notice"
That's not a reference to OtherOS.
Also, Sony Representatives at CONFERENCES talking SPECIFICALLY about how OtherOS was an essential part of the PS3 doesn't count as an advertisement?
Sony reps at geek conferences mentioning OtherOS that only got reported on sites like Slashdot is not advertising. If Sony had bought ad time on CNN to trumpet OtherOS that would be a different story.
I'd hate to live in your Bizarro world.
The world where the word advertising means promotional time and space from a second party aimed at a market, that is paid for?
As I said, Sony mentioning a feature to a few nerds is not advertising. But Sony did NOT market such features with actual large sums of money. Sure a few tech journalists and nerds reported it...but it's not like Sony bought 60 second spots on NBC to tell people that if they bought a PS3 their kid could not only play games but do their homework with OpenOffice/Abiword. Did Sony do some minor promotion of OtherOS to the nerd community? Yes, but that's not advertising.
I always refer to Blizzard as a bunch of lazy bums. Because in the console development world that Blizzard was once a part of, you get the sequel out in 5 years or less or heads will roll.
And considering how much D3 looks like a Snowblind Engine games on the PS2: Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance and it's sequel, Champions of Norrath and it's sequel,and so on.
While other Blu-Ray copiers exist, the PS3 is a blessed device and under OtherOS-based linux you could rip a Blu-Ray just by dd'ing the device thanks to the magic of the hypervisor.
While it was possible to dd the discs early on, didn't they fix that in one of the 2.foo series firmwares? I'd have to double check the YDL boards. And I know that even though it was possible to dd them, you still had to de-encrypt the files,
I call bullshit on you! I still have my PS3 box a CECHE01 MGS4 model and it doesn't mention OtherOS on the box. Check your box, I've had this same conversation with another person on Slashdot, who checked and admitted their mistake.
It is, of course, mentioned in the thicker user manual,(which was also available via the PS3's browser) but not the quick guide.
Slashdot Mirror
Your post is somewhat incorrect.
The "half of the RAM" that you're referring to is the RAM attached to the PS3's GPU. Which was most certainly available to Linux, if only as very fast swap, at least with Yellow Dog. (Other distributions may not have had that enabled)
You are correct about the lack of hardware video/3D acceleration. Course, 2D homebrew was quite possible. You really don't need acceleration to play a 2D puzzle game, or roguelike.
No, it was just a bean counter that figured out if they could sell it as also a computer, rather than a gaming device, that they'd be excluded from many sorts of taxes in the EU.
No. That's a untruth that just won't die. As I've said many times, it was the Yabasic disc that was included with EU PS2's that was an attempt to bypass the tariff. That failed but the tariff was repealed soon after, BEFORE Linux for the PS2 or PS3 was ever released.
Exactly, I've never played LBP or the original Infamous and am going to try them out.
Taking away the OtherOS option (which is fraud; a bait-and-switch move by removing one of the key selling points)
OtherOS was never a selling point to the vast majority of PS3 owners who probably never knew you could install Linux on the thing. I say that as someone who DID at one time have YDL on my PS3.
And as well all know, you can still have OtherOS if you want, you just won't be able to access PSN. It's your choice either way.
I'd also wager that most of the people who complain about the removal of OtherOS, never actually used that functionality, or perhaps never even owned a PS3 in the first place.
I wonder when IBM is going to come out with their Superbowl commercial depicting Apple as Big Brother and IBM as the one setting the masses free?
These are a little bit in that vein.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xw2um_another-ibm-red-hat-linux-advertise_shortfilms
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJA9eiUktcA
We were far from wealthy. As for the qbasic, all that required was access to a computer capable of running DOS. Even at the time that wasn't exactly a luxury.
Prove you weren't affluent. I don't know how many times I've seen on slashdot some guy saying they had their own DOS machine in the 80's and say they weren't affluent, and then mention their Dad was an engineer who got them a unix shell account on their workplace computer when they were 11 or something like that.
but failure to throttle clocks on high power silicon or halt gracefully before suffering hardware damage is pretty shoddy work; doubly so in something like a console or laptop
PS2's and PS3's (at least the models I've owned) make a shrill noise and blink lights when they get too hot., I've had it happen once with both. Both times it was accidentally restricted airflow. The PS2 will shut itself down
Yeah, it's PEBKAC syndrome. some PS3/360 owner does something stupid like putting their console on thick shag carpet, covering it with a blanket, or blocking the vents by putting it right against a solid surface because it makes too much noise and it overheats. Then they blame the game: "The game bricked my 360", or "this new firmware bricked my PS3".
Unless they use gvim.
It's not the instruction set, the PS2 has a wacky MIPS variant CPU....with 128 bit registers...and two powerful-for-time programmable vector units. And a very fast 2560 bit memory bus in there, and fast RDRAM. And a built in MPEG2 decoder (which is used for texture decompression for games) The thing's hardware is so complex it's probably very difficult for emulator makers.
Weird thing is, they usually beta test things on their Japanese customers first. because they're very cautious in NTSC land.
the XMB interface the PSP and PS3 uses was introduces in the PSX, the PS2 DVR thing sony only released in Japan.
Almost every feature the PS3 has, web browser, music ripping, demo downloading, was actually on the PS2's that had hard drives and the Broadband Navigator installed....but only in Japan. They never released BBN in the US.
The PSP camera that you can now get in the US, but only with Invizimals or Eyepet PSP, was available in Japan a loooong time ago. And the Japanese camera has a higher resolution.
Sony didn't send an e-mail, at least not to PS3 users of PSN services. Are you sure it was PSN and not SOE Station?
That's pretty much exactly how it went for me as well.
The web interface is oriented towards PC users of PSN (and SOE Station) services, PS3 owners can update theirs via their PS3's. I had to do both, because one of my PS2 online games I played, Everquest Online Adventures Frontiers, used Station because it looooooong predates PSN. And also the PC version of FreeRealms uses it, though I now play the PS3 version. One interesting thing is that PSN can handle longer passwords than SOE Station can.
PSN's online services except for the store are running fine.
It's economies of scale, since they're making hordes of 1080p LCD panels, they became cheaper than the 1200 ones. Companies thought: "Hey lets just use the same basic panels for PC and HDTV displays!"
I would also surmise that more people use their displays for watching widescreen content, than use it for an IDE. They don't miss those 120 pixels.
Actually we did...back in Lincoln's time. And our current Inch/pound standards are mathematically derived from the meter/kilogram ones. It's just the inertia of the citizenry and in part...they still blame Jimmy Carter for the metric system..even though it's been official here for ages. (The carter administration heavily promoted metricization to bring us into modernity....the Reagan dopes put an end to that)
Is that actually true? Or is that just what the Japanese marketing teams say is true?
That's a good question. In FFXII's case, Square said made the decision to add Vaan and Penelo because of the "failure" Vagrant Story, a game with a mature main character.
though I would add that I actually really enjoyed FF10
So did I, except for the @#$#@ lightning dodging that I was never able to do, and the grinding you had to do to be able to take on some of the stuff in the Monster Arena. X is probably my second or third favorite Final Fantasy, VII being #1 and VI being #2 or #3 depending. It's the cast, they're likable and they behave like people on some "serious business".
On another note Square ought to learn "economy of characters" XII would have been fine without Vaan and Penelo, especially if you 4 characters (Basch, Ashe, Balthier, Fran) at once which the game probably could have handled...since you can have 3 and Larsa FFIX is the worst in this regard. The core party in IX is Zidane, Steiner, Vivi and Garnet. They could have dropped the other 4, wouldn't have missed Amaranth, Quina or Eiko.
Is that info about the FF12 main character reliably sourced?
Most certainly, FFXII's developers said it themselves.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_Fantasy_XII#Development
I loved the free roaming stuff in FF12. I particularly loved that if you did some fairly short power-levelling early in the game, you could essentially switch yourself onto a different gameplay track, being fed with new and interestingly designed super-bosses via the hunts system as you went through the game.
Yeah, the Hunts...that was a great idea. Those things were tough! It was fighting them that I figured out that FFXII in many ways is more like FFXI. A good example is how status effects are more useful., even against the boss-style hunts.
They'd rather have had open exploration, instead of that railroad. They'd rather have had real weapon customization instead of that linear just-keep-adding-things crap with no choices. Even the job system didn't have any real choices.
Ha ha ha. You don't realize that the hardest core of Final Fantasies Japanese playbase is very conformist and doesn't want that. They want to buy the game on the same day everyone else buys it, play it the same optimal way, do the same things, develop their characters the same way. and have th exact same experience everyone else does. Didn't you play FFX!?
FFXII had some of the things you wanted...and that fanbase complained. In fact, Basch was originally going to be the main character until Square decided that the hardcore japanese fanbase (even some that had been playing FF's for years and were as old or older than Basch) wouldn't be able to identify with the 36 year old adult Basch, so they added the kids...Vaan and Penelo.
Go read your box "design and specifications subject to change withotu notice"
That's not a reference to OtherOS.
Also, Sony Representatives at CONFERENCES talking SPECIFICALLY about how OtherOS was an essential part of the PS3 doesn't count as an advertisement?
Sony reps at geek conferences mentioning OtherOS that only got reported on sites like Slashdot is not advertising. If Sony had bought ad time on CNN to trumpet OtherOS that would be a different story.
I'd hate to live in your Bizarro world.
The world where the word advertising means promotional time and space from a second party aimed at a market, that is paid for?
As I said, Sony mentioning a feature to a few nerds is not advertising. But Sony did NOT market such features with actual large sums of money. Sure a few tech journalists and nerds reported it...but it's not like Sony bought 60 second spots on NBC to tell people that if they bought a PS3 their kid could not only play games but do their homework with OpenOffice/Abiword. Did Sony do some minor promotion of OtherOS to the nerd community? Yes, but that's not advertising.
let us plug in regular USB peripherals, supported SD and CF cards, supported user-upgradeable hard disks
They still do those things. Even if you don't have a deluxe model "Fat" PS3, you can plug in a CF/SD card reader via USB.
I always refer to Blizzard as a bunch of lazy bums. Because in the console development world that Blizzard was once a part of, you get the sequel out in 5 years or less or heads will roll.
And considering how much D3 looks like a Snowblind Engine games on the PS2: Baldur's Gate Dark Alliance and it's sequel, Champions of Norrath and it's sequel,and so on.
Prove it. I saw early PS3 boxes, and they didn't mention OtherOS. I just think you're mis-remembering out of personal bias over OtherOS.
While other Blu-Ray copiers exist, the PS3 is a blessed device and under OtherOS-based linux you could rip a Blu-Ray just by dd'ing the device thanks to the magic of the hypervisor.
While it was possible to dd the discs early on, didn't they fix that in one of the 2.foo series firmwares? I'd have to double check the YDL boards. And I know that even though it was possible to dd them, you still had to de-encrypt the files,
I call bullshit on you! I still have my PS3 box a CECHE01 MGS4 model and it doesn't mention OtherOS on the box. Check your box, I've had this same conversation with another person on Slashdot, who checked and admitted their mistake.
It is, of course, mentioned in the thicker user manual,(which was also available via the PS3's browser) but not the quick guide.