Would you want to be forced to use Windows when you want to use Linux? Yes? No? If a kid is really into painting would you buy them a clarinet or a nice easel and set of brushes? Similar concept, respect the child's interests. Kids aren't supposed to be exact clones of their parents, and parents thinking their kids should have the same interests they do (and pressuring them into things) is a problem.
I don't think it's gender stereotyping that he's worried about, rather, forcing someone who might not be ready or have the mindset to understand a CLI to use a CLI.
Personally, when she's ready for computers, giving her an Ubuntu box is fine. Load it up with that collection of kids software that I can never remember the name of...ahh found it, gcompris, and tuxpaint and whatever else you can think of. Teach her how to use the GUI but show her how that GUI is just a layer over some underpinnings. Show her how organizing photos is easier in a graphical window, but how renaming them as a group can be done in a terminal. That sort of thing...when she's ready, which won't be when she's 2. 10 perhaps, but not two, but you can teach keyboarding early. It's easier to for a 5 year old to learn to use a keyboard than to write with a pen, the latter requires more finger dexterity.
But if she doesn't want to use that CLI, don't force it.
I think you don't have a very high opinion of console gamers, that isn't entirely justified. Sure, action games sell more, but there is a small dedicated audience for strategy games, strategy RPG's and whatnot. And even the most action-y console games these days have more complex controls than the ol two button (and Select and Start)NES games did It isn't that such games won't sell (because they will) it's just that publishers/developers have lowered expectations of console gamers.
For example when Starcraft Ghost was announced, wags on/. were going "Yeah, console gamers aren't going to get a real game like Starcraft, but a dumbed down 3rd person shooter" ignoring the fact that Starcraft itself was ported to the N64.
Or that Blizzard executive saying Diablo 3's gameplay might work on consoles, when Diablo 1 was ported to the PSone and it seems everyone and their dog did a Diablo clone for the PS2 using the Snowblind Engine. Diablo 3 itself looks like a Snowblind engine game from 2001!
So tell me again, that console gamers are dumb and only like action games and sports games. Sure Madden-foo might sell a lot of copies but there is an audience for other types of games.
I've wondered why CivIII, Civ4 (and AC) never got console ports, like CivI and CivII did. Thy're turn based and not that all graphically intensive and PS2's/PS3's have USB ports so they could even throw in a traditional control scheme in addition to a DualShock oriented one.
Only a rumor so far, last I heard was that they might have a basic free service (including online play) and extra features available as premium services.
Second and third worlders pirate like crazy. Haven't you seen the comments by folks from places like Brazil where everyone pirates because they simply don't have the money for or simply can't get the legit stuff.
It's so bad that even in Second Life, the Brazilians have a reputation as "content thieves"
I figure that most of the cracked copies that show up on bittorrent are done by non-US pirates. That's the way it was back in the 80's when most of the pirated C64 games were cracked by German pirates, who could barely afford the C64's and 1541's they bought instead of buying more affordable consoles. (Europe used to have an anti-console bias, which is why late in the Amiga's life many of the games were from Europe)
No. That tax hasn't existed for years. It disappeared round about 2001 or so. Perhaps you're confusing the EU release of Yabasic with the PS2, which was the attempt to get around it, with Linux.
yeah, the Xbox may be more about keeping Sony off-balance and preventing Sony from attacking Microsofts core business. There's nothing stopping Sony from selling PS3's with Linux pre-installed and throwing a copy of "Linux for Windows users" in the box. All they'd have to do is put OtherOS support back in the Slim or bring back the Phats. And that would be a threat to Microsofts dominance in the OS for "home computer" markets. Microsoft helped kill Commodore by saying, "you might need to bring work home from the office and you can't do that on a commodore, you need a DOS machine."
Microsoft knows that most home users, don't, need to bring work home from the office. They don't need Microsoft Office compatibility. In fact, they don't need Office at all. And if they don't need Office, they don't need Windows and could use alternative operating systems. Maybe they don't even need a computer at all but some kind of souped up set top box/game console with a web browser good enough for Gmail and google docs.
That may be why the Xbox doesn't have a web browser, they don't want people to realize that they can do a heck of a lot of stuff on the net, without a computer running windows.
The games are maybe not AAA titles, but for sure they'll be quite affordable and also a lot more innovative. They dare to try something new after all.
Something new....in PC gaming....ha ha ha ha ha. Considering how the three dominating genres of PC games are basically "Prettier Doom", "Prettier Dune 2", and "Prettier NeverWinter Nights" (referring to the AOL MMORPG), and how the indie developers want to become the next ID, or Blizzard, there really isn't that much innovation. Even the indies are capable of doing the same-old, like the plethora of puzzle games they do until they make enough cash to do a "real game", or the hordes of Diablo clones and graphical adventures the impoverished eastern European devs do.
Practically every feature the PS3 has, BBN (Broadband Navigator) equipped PS2's had in Japan, demos, videos, web browsing, CD ripping. SCEfoo decided not to release BBN in the US.
The frakkin PS2 just won't DIE!. There's still new games made for it...mostly RPG's it seems since they take soooo long to develop, we're probably seeing the tail end of those. And unlike the Gamecube, you can still buy new PS2's and all the DualShocks, memory cards and games, new, on the shelves.
Why yes, but that means that the Wii is the N64 and Gamecube all over again, where everybody buys the exact same Nintendo games so when you go check out the Nintendo sections of the used games stores over the years, they have 10 copies of Nintendo-foo, and one copy of non-Nintendo-foo great game that no one bought.
Which do you think is easier to find, the N64 version of Mega Man Legends or the PSone version.
Or between the Gamecube and PS2 versions of Balder's Gate: Dark Alliance.
The Wii is like the Monopoly or Life game set that everyone has, but only plays at holiday get togethers. I'd lay odds that PS3 and Xbox owners put far far more hours on their consoles than Wii owners do.
One of the oldest PS2 online games, the original 2002 vintage SOCOM, still has it's servers up. As do the other PS2 SOCOM games. Everquest Online Adventures, the PS2 MMORPG released in 2003, is also still up. As of last year, the Champions of Norrath (both games) servers were still up. Final Fantasy XI is still going.
Check your PS3's vents and placement. I see freezes and a weird choppyness glitch (you know how Oblivion would sometimes be choppy for a second when you crossed into a new cell, it's similar but lasts longer.), but only after my PS3's been running for hours on end.
PSN Store already supports movie and game rentals, though there are no rentable games as of yet. Check the information properties of games you've downloaded from PSN and you'll see an "Expiration Date" field, which is blank for purchases.
I have a CECHE01 model PS3 with the part hardware/part software BC and it's ran every PS1 and PS2 game I've thrown at it. And only 3 out of the 80 or so games I've tested have major issues:
Tekken Tag Tournament doesn't run at full speed. Fallout Brotherhood of Steel, has major texture glitching (all the Snowblind engine games have it to some extent, usually on the character "dolls" in the inventory screens), but in BOS it's enough to make the game unplayable. X-Files, the PSone adventure game, it's unplayable because the cursor and interface are glitched out, but the same thing happens on the PS2. Apparently the devs of that game broke the Sony's rules in the tech documents.
I've heard many good things about this game and have wondered why no one has ever ported it to a console. Wait a minute...checking wikipedia... it WAS ported to the PSone, but only in Japan, darn it! Too bad the early Elder Scrolls games were never ported either.
The C64 market was known for the rampant piracy. I blame 2 things
1. People buying C64's who had no business buying C64's:
After the "Crash of 84"especially, there were people buying C64's to use as essentially a souped up video game console (which the C64 was originally intended to be). They only knew enough to
load "$",8,1
Many of them didn't really have a lot of money to spare and and socio-economically should have stuck with a console, butblew everything they had on the C64 itself and maybe a 1541, and thusly didn't have much money for games. So they found some affluent kid with a lot of dough and copied his games.
2. European pirates: Those Euro guys were very anti-console, in part due to the fact that taxes were higher in Europe tended to have less disposable income. Because of that, they thought that a computer was a better purchase than a console for gaming, because the computer could do other things, even if they only used it to play games. But they could justify the purchase as being useful for education, schoolwork and whatnot to their parents.
Problem was, computers were even more expensive in Europe than the US, which is why in Europe, most C64 games were distributed on cassette tape, and most C64 owners in Europe didn't have 1541 disk drives. So they pirated, and uploaded stuff to their BBS's and sent pirated software through the mail to friends in the US.
Course, that led to certain types of games being pirated more than others. Since the Europeans didn't have 1541's they tended to copy smaller games that would fit on cassette.
This also led to different types of games being popular in the US and Europe. The C64's RPG's were not as popular in Europe since they required 1541's and preferably more than one to play.
Installing Linux on a PS3 is reasonably quick and easy, and once you've done it, you've got more functionality. If you can't think of uses for a "second computer" then I'll have to revoke your geek card. In 1 PC households people can become protective of their computer time and can/do refuse to relinquish the PC. Also, booting into Linux on the PS3 is a menu option in GameOS, it's fast and easy.
Personally, my PS3 setup is probably different from most folks, it isn't hooked up the main TV in the living room but sits on a desk with a 19" HDTV, with keyboard, mouse, external USB drive and laser printer attached. (And my SNES, NES and a PS2, also sit on shelf on that desk)
What's the point in hacking the PS3 if it runs Linux? Well the new slims don't have the option to install or boot into Linux. Some people also don't like the hypervisor restrictions Though I did figure that when the OtherOS support was removed from the slim, that's when the hacking attempts would really get going, since many of the things people hack their consoles for like playing SNES ROMS and the like, one can already do that under Linux.
Do you know what I think the worst thing about Linux on the PS3 is? It's the hard drive partition options in GameOS. You can either give 10GB to Linux and the rest to GameOS, or 10GB to GameOS and the rest to Linux. Neither one is optimal and I'd prefer to split the drive in half or have a custom partition option.
I think he means a PS3. Portable...no, but a generic computer, yes...it can be:
Not going to be playing any HD video on it under Linux though.
Would you want to be forced to use Windows when you want to use Linux? Yes? No? If a kid is really into painting would you buy them a clarinet or a nice easel and set of brushes? Similar concept, respect the child's interests. Kids aren't supposed to be exact clones of their parents, and parents thinking their kids should have the same interests they do (and pressuring them into things) is a problem.
I don't think it's gender stereotyping that he's worried about, rather, forcing someone who might not be ready or have the mindset to understand a CLI to use a CLI.
Personally, when she's ready for computers, giving her an Ubuntu box is fine. Load it up with that collection of kids software that I can never remember the name of...ahh found it, gcompris, and tuxpaint and whatever else you can think of. Teach her how to use the GUI but show her how that GUI is just a layer over some underpinnings. Show her how organizing photos is easier in a graphical window, but how renaming them as a group can be done in a terminal. That sort of thing...when she's ready, which won't be when she's 2. 10 perhaps, but not two, but you can teach keyboarding early. It's easier to for a 5 year old to learn to use a keyboard than to write with a pen, the latter requires more finger dexterity.
But if she doesn't want to use that CLI, don't force it.
I think you don't have a very high opinion of console gamers, that isn't entirely justified. Sure, action games sell more, but there is a small dedicated audience for strategy games, strategy RPG's and whatnot. And even the most action-y console games these days have more complex controls than the ol two button (and Select and Start)NES games did It isn't that such games won't sell (because they will) it's just that publishers/developers have lowered expectations of console gamers.
For example when Starcraft Ghost was announced, wags on /. were going "Yeah, console gamers aren't going to get a real game like Starcraft, but a dumbed down 3rd person shooter" ignoring the fact that Starcraft itself was ported to the N64.
Or that Blizzard executive saying Diablo 3's gameplay might work on consoles, when Diablo 1 was ported to the PSone and it seems everyone and their dog did a Diablo clone for the PS2 using the Snowblind Engine. Diablo 3 itself looks like a Snowblind engine game from 2001!
So tell me again, that console gamers are dumb and only like action games and sports games. Sure Madden-foo might sell a lot of copies but there is an audience for other types of games.
I've wondered why CivIII, Civ4 (and AC) never got console ports, like CivI and CivII did. Thy're turn based and not that all graphically intensive and PS2's/PS3's have USB ports so they could even throw in a traditional control scheme in addition to a DualShock oriented one.
Only a rumor so far, last I heard was that they might have a basic free service (including online play) and extra features available as premium services.
Second and third worlders pirate like crazy. Haven't you seen the comments by folks from places like Brazil where everyone pirates because they simply don't have the money for or simply can't get the legit stuff.
It's so bad that even in Second Life, the Brazilians have a reputation as "content thieves"
I figure that most of the cracked copies that show up on bittorrent are done by non-US pirates. That's the way it was back in the 80's when most of the pirated C64 games were cracked by German pirates, who could barely afford the C64's and 1541's they bought instead of buying more affordable consoles. (Europe used to have an anti-console bias, which is why late in the Amiga's life many of the games were from Europe)
Didn't notice the DivX logo on your PS3's box? Heck, the logo might actually be on the PS3 itself these days.
No. That tax hasn't existed for years. It disappeared round about 2001 or so. Perhaps you're confusing the EU release of Yabasic with the PS2, which was the attempt to get around it, with Linux.
Not Applie Link, QuantumLink. Apple Link was just QuantumLink's name for their Apple oriented service, since QuantumLinux was C64 only.
yeah, the Xbox may be more about keeping Sony off-balance and preventing Sony from attacking Microsofts core business. There's nothing stopping Sony from selling PS3's with Linux pre-installed and throwing a copy of "Linux for Windows users" in the box. All they'd have to do is put OtherOS support back in the Slim or bring back the Phats. And that would be a threat to Microsofts dominance in the OS for "home computer" markets. Microsoft helped kill Commodore by saying, "you might need to bring work home from the office and you can't do that on a commodore, you need a DOS machine."
Microsoft knows that most home users, don't, need to bring work home from the office. They don't need Microsoft Office compatibility. In fact, they don't need Office at all. And if they don't need Office, they don't need Windows and could use alternative operating systems. Maybe they don't even need a computer at all but some kind of souped up set top box/game console with a web browser good enough for Gmail and google docs.
That may be why the Xbox doesn't have a web browser, they don't want people to realize that they can do a heck of a lot of stuff on the net, without a computer running windows.
It's also why they bought WebTV. Any device that can use the internet without running a Microsoft OS is a threat to that OS's dominance.
I though the Japanese were all about making purchases with their cell phones?
Something new....in PC gaming....ha ha ha ha ha. Considering how the three dominating genres of PC games are basically "Prettier Doom", "Prettier Dune 2", and "Prettier NeverWinter Nights" (referring to the AOL MMORPG), and how the indie developers want to become the next ID, or Blizzard, there really isn't that much innovation. Even the indies are capable of doing the same-old, like the plethora of puzzle games they do until they make enough cash to do a "real game", or the hordes of Diablo clones and graphical adventures the impoverished eastern European devs do.
Practically every feature the PS3 has, BBN (Broadband Navigator) equipped PS2's had in Japan, demos, videos, web browsing, CD ripping. SCEfoo decided not to release BBN in the US.
The frakkin PS2 just won't DIE!. There's still new games made for it...mostly RPG's it seems since they take soooo long to develop, we're probably seeing the tail end of those. And unlike the Gamecube, you can still buy new PS2's and all the DualShocks, memory cards and games, new, on the shelves.
Why yes, but that means that the Wii is the N64 and Gamecube all over again, where everybody buys the exact same Nintendo games so when you go check out the Nintendo sections of the used games stores over the years, they have 10 copies of Nintendo-foo, and one copy of non-Nintendo-foo great game that no one bought.
Which do you think is easier to find, the N64 version of Mega Man Legends or the PSone version.
Or between the Gamecube and PS2 versions of Balder's Gate: Dark Alliance.
The Wii is like the Monopoly or Life game set that everyone has, but only plays at holiday get togethers. I'd lay odds that PS3 and Xbox owners put far far more hours on their consoles than Wii owners do.
One of the oldest PS2 online games, the original 2002 vintage SOCOM, still has it's servers up. As do the other PS2 SOCOM games. Everquest Online Adventures, the PS2 MMORPG released in 2003, is also still up. As of last year, the Champions of Norrath (both games) servers were still up. Final Fantasy XI is still going.
Most PS2 games with online play still have the servers up, except for the yearly updated sports games.
Check your PS3's vents and placement. I see freezes and a weird choppyness glitch (you know how Oblivion would sometimes be choppy for a second when you crossed into a new cell, it's similar but lasts longer.), but only after my PS3's been running for hours on end.
PSN Store already supports movie and game rentals, though there are no rentable games as of yet. Check the information properties of games you've downloaded from PSN and you'll see an "Expiration Date" field, which is blank for purchases.
I have a CECHE01 model PS3 with the part hardware/part software BC and it's ran every PS1 and PS2 game I've thrown at it. And only 3 out of the 80 or so games I've tested have major issues:
Tekken Tag Tournament doesn't run at full speed.
Fallout Brotherhood of Steel, has major texture glitching (all the Snowblind engine games have it to some extent, usually on the character "dolls" in the inventory screens), but in BOS it's enough to make the game unplayable.
X-Files, the PSone adventure game, it's unplayable because the cursor and interface are glitched out, but the same thing happens on the PS2. Apparently the devs of that game broke the Sony's rules in the tech documents.
I've heard many good things about this game and have wondered why no one has ever ported it to a console. Wait a minute...checking wikipedia... it WAS ported to the PSone, but only in Japan, darn it! Too bad the early Elder Scrolls games were never ported either.
The C64 market was known for the rampant piracy. I blame 2 things
1. People buying C64's who had no business buying C64's:
After the "Crash of 84"especially, there were people buying C64's to use as essentially a souped up video game console (which the C64 was originally intended to be). They only knew enough to
Many of them didn't really have a lot of money to spare and and socio-economically should have stuck with a console, butblew everything they had on the C64 itself and maybe a 1541, and thusly didn't have much money for games. So they found some affluent kid with a lot of dough and copied his games.
2. European pirates: Those Euro guys were very anti-console, in part due to the fact that taxes were higher in Europe tended to have less disposable income. Because of that, they thought that a computer was a better purchase than a console for gaming, because the computer could do other things, even if they only used it to play games. But they could justify the purchase as being useful for education, schoolwork and whatnot to their parents.
Problem was, computers were even more expensive in Europe than the US, which is why in Europe, most C64 games were distributed on cassette tape, and most C64 owners in Europe didn't have 1541 disk drives. So they pirated, and uploaded stuff to their BBS's and sent pirated software through the mail to friends in the US.
Course, that led to certain types of games being pirated more than others. Since the Europeans didn't have 1541's they tended to copy smaller games that would fit on cassette.
This also led to different types of games being popular in the US and Europe. The C64's RPG's were not as popular in Europe since they required 1541's and preferably more than one to play.
Installing Linux on a PS3 is reasonably quick and easy, and once you've done it, you've got more functionality. If you can't think of uses for a "second computer" then I'll have to revoke your geek card. In 1 PC households people can become protective of their computer time and can/do refuse to relinquish the PC. Also, booting into Linux on the PS3 is a menu option in GameOS, it's fast and easy.
Personally, my PS3 setup is probably different from most folks, it isn't hooked up the main TV in the living room but sits on a desk with a 19" HDTV, with keyboard, mouse, external USB drive and laser printer attached. (And my SNES, NES and a PS2, also sit on shelf on that desk)
What's the point in hacking the PS3 if it runs Linux? Well the new slims don't have the option to install or boot into Linux. Some people also don't like the hypervisor restrictions Though I did figure that when the OtherOS support was removed from the slim, that's when the hacking attempts would really get going, since many of the things people hack their consoles for like playing SNES ROMS and the like, one can already do that under Linux.
Do you know what I think the worst thing about Linux on the PS3 is? It's the hard drive partition options in GameOS. You can either give 10GB to Linux and the rest to GameOS, or 10GB to GameOS and the rest to Linux. Neither one is optimal and I'd prefer to split the drive in half or have a custom partition option.