No, they said "no more than" $250 in the US, "no more than" 25,000 JPY in Japan. That's where we're getting $250 from. We're guessing on Euros and Pounds based upon reasonable calculations.
For example. 25,000 JPY is roughly 118 GBP. 118 GBP + 17% VAT = 138 GBP. Round up to a nicer figure and we're guessing it'll sell for "no more than" 140 GBP.
In the US, the rough equivalent (Sales Tax) is never included in the advertised price (except for Gasoline for some reason).
Including Sales Tax in the MSRP would be impossible in the US since each state has a different set of Sales Tax laws (and usually you want the price to be the same nation wide). Some (Delaware and New Hampshire, I believe) don't have sales tax at all. The last time I was in Connecticut, it was like 8%. Here in New Jersey it's 6%.
I guess since the price of gas changes from filling station to filling station, it makes more sense to put the tax into the price (especially since it's supposed to be a super-quick process).
If we're comparing the cost, I'd rather add taxes to the MSRP than remove VAT, since that would better reflect what we're each paying. Where I live, a $250.00 console would come out to $265.00 after sales tax, which is equivalent to 141GBP according to Google.
Given the marginalization of the GameCube, I've been wondering whether Nintendo wouldn't be smart to lose a smidge on each console this time around in order to regain market share.
Nintendo actually lost about $5 per unit on the GCN at launch. Within a few months, standard increases in efficiency brought the overhead down and the GCN was profitable from there on out. I think Nintendo might use a similar strategy with the Wii (a small loss per unit at first, and then ease in to profitability later).
If Torrentspy wins their suit and it's adjudicated that the MPAA unlawfully obtained infromation from within the group, would that also make that information inadmissable in the MPAA's suit? I don't really know anything about the rules of evidence for a civil case.
Also, torrentspy's claim (that they in no way validate or transfer any illegal material) might actually hold up. Heck, they don't even run the trackers... they just host the.torrent files.
Just for kicks, I went to the mega mushroom house and got one for my inventory just so I could laugh my ass off while trouncing the final boss. Good times.
Nintendo had integration of the Gameboy Advance and the DS on the Gamecube.
The reporter asked specifically about the PS3... and Cliff pretty clearly had not thought about it before that point. So he pulled some of Sony's press conference out of the recess of his memory.
I'm sure if he were asked the same question but with the Wii instead of PS3, he'd talk about using the controller, but who knows at this point if the finalized graphics chip will be up to the task?
I will not buy another HDTV just because Hollywood doesn't think mine is "good enough." I'll buy an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray (whoever wins) player from Hong Kong that always outputs in HD and doesn't understand regions instead. I already shelled out my dough for HDTV, and I refuse to do it again.
since the Wii is so close in hardware to the GC, they can get further price reductions by using as many of the same hardware components as possible
Not really. Broadway, while still PPC/Gecko based, is a brand new custom designed chip from IBM. Hollywood, while still based off the GCN archetecture, is also a brand new custom designed chip from ATi. They're still using MoSYS ram, but a whole new generation of it. And they've got a brand-new custom Matsushita CD/DVD drive.
The power and AV conversion stuff can probably all stay the same (although they'll have to add back in the component video out and integrate it all onto one connector), and the GCN controller and memory card ports will remain the same, but the added Wifi, USB, and Bluetooth technology will cost a bit extra.
And of course the controllers are going to be brand-spanking new, and you'll need the sensor bar.
It's true that their use of GCN archetecture will save them money, but most of it is savings due to efficiency improvements and due to contracts, partnerships, and manufacturing processes already being in place (not to mention reduced R&D time on the custom components since the basic structure is already laid down).
(regarding the DS' success) So I think that we have many great lessons from this that we can [apply] to launching the Wii.
Here's what you can apply: make a Brain Age game for the Wii that can download new content periodically. Do this, and you'll end up with almost instant success in Japan right off the bat.
Yeah... that's hyperbole for you. But Sony does sell its consoles at a loss with the intention of making that money back (+ lots more) with game licensing and prehipherals. Ever wonder why an 8MB memory card costs $25? Because $15 of that goes to subsidise a PS2 purchase.
I find it funny that the author immediately uses that as a reason to charge more. I would've used it as a reason to make your consoles out of affordable materials.
... why do people continue to insist they saw it for $300?
The N64 was a huge Christmas hit. Nobody remembers, of course, because it was 2nd place behind Tickle Me Elmo... and apparently nobody can remember anything if Elmo's involved.
At any rate, people were selling N64's for like $500 - $600 in back alleys in NYC. It was fucking crazy. Some people did indeed pay $300 for their N64, but it's because they went to dishonest retailers who didn't follow the $200 MSRP. Something about that $100 of pure profit, I guess.
I'm sooooo glad they're not. I would be really pissed if after years of people bitching about Windows vulnerabilities, someone cries "antitrust" when they try to patch one.
Well, part of Nintendo's selling points include the fact that it's small and unintrusive. But given that the Wii hardware is running on a similar archetecture as the GCN, its no surprise that they could match that form factor.
The more interesting part is that it was indeed on prototype hardware, which is likely not to be running at full speed. I don't know why this is a shocker to people, since the PS3 was on prototype hardware this year, and the X-Box 360 was on prototype hardware last year. Until the first "Broadway" chips start rolling of NEC's presses in September, we're not going to see anything from a final version of the hardware.
(before the "corrections" start rolling in, yes -- broadway is an IBM chip, but Nintendo's contracted NEC to fab it)
So to make an analogy, I should prefer buildings that are built that allow no inspections while being built or even after construction is completed, to buildings that are free to be inspected. Which would you trust to live in?
Actually the analogy would make sense if the commercial building was only inspected by highly qualified and well trained experts who worked for said construction company. Then it's a matter of trust.
The OSS building can be inspected by anybody and everybody, but nobody knows who's an expert and who's just some 13 year old kid with his "my first building inspector" kit. And buildings are regularly left in an unfinished "beta" state for years while they tell you it's safe to live there.
Perhaps there are flaws in both systems. Perhaps the reliability and stability of the building is more determined by the builder and not the inspection system.
do they pay you to spin these lies for them or do you just do it because you are an idiot.
Run Linux on a dead Windows machine that would be otherwise thrown in the trash.
The money is real that you save.
Thank you for putting all us software people out of working and hiring your trusty indian friends so that, broke as we are, we are forced to run Linux. Windows is a dead issue. Waste of money. Hard times will be the final nail.
Waste my money no longer, windows. I will buy a new box and yank the harddrive and get a different drive and install Linux.
My time is better spent on getting the things that I need than in throwing more money at the Windows beast for them to piss on me yet again with their code bloated processor hog and all of the worm installed viruses and bugs to screw me over.
If you think it costs too much, that's totally valid. I don't see how that relates, but okay.
Hope the money is good to spread such FUD. Windows is for the untalented and lazy.
Where's the FUD in saying "it's not as unstable as everyone says?" If anything, that's less fear, less uncertainty, and less doubt.
I'm still not going to compare Windows and Linux here... not on Slashdot. That's just retarded. I'm saying that when Apple puts out a commercial that basically says that Windows can't communicate with digital cameras and everyone just kinda goes "yup cuz windoze is teh suck," I think there might be a discrepancy between reality and perception.
(God that commercial pisses me off. Windows has a lot of problems, but lack of driver support is definitely NOT one of them. Every camera I've ever plugged into a Windows box has come up with no installation necessary as a removable disk drive... just like it does on a Mac and probably in Linux.)
If you're talking about servers and API consistency, I can't really speak to that as I've never administered a Linux server (and only a non-professional Windows server for testing purposes). I replied to a post that spoke specifically about desktop OS's and only within the context of desktop.
And while I'm clarifying anyway, I'm not saying that commercial is more stable than OSS, I'm saying that (A) it's not as unstable as people make it out to be, and (B) there's plenty of awful and unstable OSS software out there... but everyone here knows which ones are good and which aren't. The software isn't stable because its open source. Its stable because it's well written, and it's popular because it's stable. Therefore, the popular OSS we all know about is stable. But the absolute pieces of crap in the dregs of sourceforge that aren't popular go largely unmentioned in these discussions.
You must have a very different definition of stable than Unix users. Some of us like to be able to connect to the 'net without our machines being compromised.
I've had my Windows XP machine connected to the 'net for the past 4 years practically uninterruped night-and-day (I did move a few times, and the computer was off while I was moving it) without comprimise or crash (and that's without a virus scanner or malware scanner). And it's not software vendors' fault that users don't understand this simple adage:
If you don't know what it is, don't motherfucking install it.
"Install something from Gator? I don't know who the fuck they are but why the fuck not? It's not like installing shit at random from the web could ever hurt me!" Surely that's a sign that Windows itself is the problem.
I'm not out here trying to make some sort of judgement decision or saying that Windows is better than Linux. That's going to be your opinion and I can't dictate it. What I am saying is that it's not nearly as unreliable and vulnerable as you make it out to be.
Since switching to Win XP from Windows 2000 during RC1, I've experienced a few crashes due to some bad ram, but beyond that it's been steady as a rock. Also, I haven't needed to waste resources with a virus checker because I know how not to get viruses. A good firewall goes a long way.
Here's the question you have to ask yourself, though... will your friends and relatives who don't use OSS and who have crashes & viruses actually do better with OSS and a fresh install of Linux? Or would their problems be fixed with a fresh install of Windows, a good firewall, and the abolition of Internet Explorer?
I think that if most Windows users just used to use Windows in a safe way (and read the fucking dialog boxes that came up instead of reflexively clicking "OK" to everything), a lot of the "unreliable" and "virus-laden" views of it would start to dissipate.
While I know that Linux and OSS can be very secure and stable, Windows can be also. If people put the time into Windows that Linux-users put into Linux/OSS (by way of customization, and finding apps and drivers), they'd have a much more reliable machine (than their current Windows install... I have no desire to compare Windows and Linux). The biggest unreliability with Windows is the stupid things that users do.
D) Simply refuse to buy it until the price comes down to a level that seems reasonable.
E) Buy a competetor's product instead due to the difference in cost.
There is no price set for the Wii for any region yet (though reasonably it will be between $200 and $250 in the US), and the X-Box 360 costs 279 GBP (roughly $530~ish).
See, the real indication about the absurdity of the price is that in any country using Euros, the price has been announced at 499-599 euros, which is already higher than the US price by a significant margin. That converts to 338-405 GBP. It seems they slapped an extra 20 GBP onto the expensive model for no reason whatsoever bringing it even higher above the already-inflated EU price.
Re:Creative == SCO, hope they get crushed.
on
Apple Sues Creative
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· Score: 1
Wait... am I reading that right? Did Creative really have the balls to patent the z-fail algorithm and sue John Carmack? An algorithm more commonly known as "Carmack's Reverse?" I don't see why they gave in... this would've taken one whopping day in court for Carmack to kick them to the curb.
I think the only thing that makes me sick about your comment is that kids today have iPods. Man, I couldn't afford my own GameBoy when I was a kid.... and I wasn't that young when they came out.
Re:Summary: Creative says "Waaaaaaaah"
on
Apple Sues Creative
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· Score: 2, Insightful
When I read that Apple didn't discuss the patents Creative is infringing on, I thought why should they? Like any sane thing to do is show all the cards you're playing with.
Because they could've resolved this before going to court, saving both companies a lot of time, money, and face. Instead, their stock is down 4%.
Slashdot Mirror
But that's assuming it launches in October. If you assume late november (black friday ish) then the 6 million figure seems downright ambitious.
No, they said "no more than" $250 in the US, "no more than" 25,000 JPY in Japan. That's where we're getting $250 from. We're guessing on Euros and Pounds based upon reasonable calculations.
For example. 25,000 JPY is roughly 118 GBP. 118 GBP + 17% VAT = 138 GBP. Round up to a nicer figure and we're guessing it'll sell for "no more than" 140 GBP.
I guess since the price of gas changes from filling station to filling station, it makes more sense to put the tax into the price (especially since it's supposed to be a super-quick process).
If we're comparing the cost, I'd rather add taxes to the MSRP than remove VAT, since that would better reflect what we're each paying. Where I live, a $250.00 console would come out to $265.00 after sales tax, which is equivalent to 141GBP according to Google.
Are you an Opera user? If so, how are gestures handled (i.e. built-in or via plugin)? And how well do you think they'd work with a Wii controller?
If Torrentspy wins their suit and it's adjudicated that the MPAA unlawfully obtained infromation from within the group, would that also make that information inadmissable in the MPAA's suit? I don't really know anything about the rules of evidence for a civil case.
.torrent files.
Also, torrentspy's claim (that they in no way validate or transfer any illegal material) might actually hold up. Heck, they don't even run the trackers... they just host the
Just for kicks, I went to the mega mushroom house and got one for my inventory just so I could laugh my ass off while trouncing the final boss. Good times.
I'm sure if he were asked the same question but with the Wii instead of PS3, he'd talk about using the controller, but who knows at this point if the finalized graphics chip will be up to the task?
I will not buy another HDTV just because Hollywood doesn't think mine is "good enough." I'll buy an HD-DVD or Blu-Ray (whoever wins) player from Hong Kong that always outputs in HD and doesn't understand regions instead. I already shelled out my dough for HDTV, and I refuse to do it again.
The power and AV conversion stuff can probably all stay the same (although they'll have to add back in the component video out and integrate it all onto one connector), and the GCN controller and memory card ports will remain the same, but the added Wifi, USB, and Bluetooth technology will cost a bit extra.
And of course the controllers are going to be brand-spanking new, and you'll need the sensor bar.
It's true that their use of GCN archetecture will save them money, but most of it is savings due to efficiency improvements and due to contracts, partnerships, and manufacturing processes already being in place (not to mention reduced R&D time on the custom components since the basic structure is already laid down).
Yeah... that's hyperbole for you. But Sony does sell its consoles at a loss with the intention of making that money back (+ lots more) with game licensing and prehipherals. Ever wonder why an 8MB memory card costs $25? Because $15 of that goes to subsidise a PS2 purchase.
I find it funny that the author immediately uses that as a reason to charge more. I would've used it as a reason to make your consoles out of affordable materials.
At any rate, people were selling N64's for like $500 - $600 in back alleys in NYC. It was fucking crazy. Some people did indeed pay $300 for their N64, but it's because they went to dishonest retailers who didn't follow the $200 MSRP. Something about that $100 of pure profit, I guess.
I'm sooooo glad they're not. I would be really pissed if after years of people bitching about Windows vulnerabilities, someone cries "antitrust" when they try to patch one.
Well, part of Nintendo's selling points include the fact that it's small and unintrusive. But given that the Wii hardware is running on a similar archetecture as the GCN, its no surprise that they could match that form factor.
The more interesting part is that it was indeed on prototype hardware, which is likely not to be running at full speed. I don't know why this is a shocker to people, since the PS3 was on prototype hardware this year, and the X-Box 360 was on prototype hardware last year. Until the first "Broadway" chips start rolling of NEC's presses in September, we're not going to see anything from a final version of the hardware.
(before the "corrections" start rolling in, yes -- broadway is an IBM chip, but Nintendo's contracted NEC to fab it)
The OSS building can be inspected by anybody and everybody, but nobody knows who's an expert and who's just some 13 year old kid with his "my first building inspector" kit. And buildings are regularly left in an unfinished "beta" state for years while they tell you it's safe to live there.
Perhaps there are flaws in both systems. Perhaps the reliability and stability of the building is more determined by the builder and not the inspection system.
I'm still not going to compare Windows and Linux here
(God that commercial pisses me off. Windows has a lot of problems, but lack of driver support is definitely NOT one of them. Every camera I've ever plugged into a Windows box has come up with no installation necessary as a removable disk drive... just like it does on a Mac and probably in Linux.)
If you're talking about servers and API consistency, I can't really speak to that as I've never administered a Linux server (and only a non-professional Windows server for testing purposes). I replied to a post that spoke specifically about desktop OS's and only within the context of desktop.
And while I'm clarifying anyway, I'm not saying that commercial is more stable than OSS, I'm saying that (A) it's not as unstable as people make it out to be, and (B) there's plenty of awful and unstable OSS software out there... but everyone here knows which ones are good and which aren't. The software isn't stable because its open source. Its stable because it's well written, and it's popular because it's stable. Therefore, the popular OSS we all know about is stable. But the absolute pieces of crap in the dregs of sourceforge that aren't popular go largely unmentioned in these discussions.
If you don't know what it is, don't motherfucking install it.
"Install something from Gator? I don't know who the fuck they are but why the fuck not? It's not like installing shit at random from the web could ever hurt me!" Surely that's a sign that Windows itself is the problem.
I'm not out here trying to make some sort of judgement decision or saying that Windows is better than Linux. That's going to be your opinion and I can't dictate it. What I am saying is that it's not nearly as unreliable and vulnerable as you make it out to be.
Since switching to Win XP from Windows 2000 during RC1, I've experienced a few crashes due to some bad ram, but beyond that it's been steady as a rock. Also, I haven't needed to waste resources with a virus checker because I know how not to get viruses. A good firewall goes a long way.
... I have no desire to compare Windows and Linux). The biggest unreliability with Windows is the stupid things that users do.
Here's the question you have to ask yourself, though... will your friends and relatives who don't use OSS and who have crashes & viruses actually do better with OSS and a fresh install of Linux? Or would their problems be fixed with a fresh install of Windows, a good firewall, and the abolition of Internet Explorer?
I think that if most Windows users just used to use Windows in a safe way (and read the fucking dialog boxes that came up instead of reflexively clicking "OK" to everything), a lot of the "unreliable" and "virus-laden" views of it would start to dissipate.
While I know that Linux and OSS can be very secure and stable, Windows can be also. If people put the time into Windows that Linux-users put into Linux/OSS (by way of customization, and finding apps and drivers), they'd have a much more reliable machine (than their current Windows install
D) Simply refuse to buy it until the price comes down to a level that seems reasonable. E) Buy a competetor's product instead due to the difference in cost.
There is no price set for the Wii for any region yet (though reasonably it will be between $200 and $250 in the US), and the X-Box 360 costs 279 GBP (roughly $530~ish).
See, the real indication about the absurdity of the price is that in any country using Euros, the price has been announced at 499-599 euros, which is already higher than the US price by a significant margin. That converts to 338-405 GBP. It seems they slapped an extra 20 GBP onto the expensive model for no reason whatsoever bringing it even higher above the already-inflated EU price.
Wait... am I reading that right? Did Creative really have the balls to patent the z-fail algorithm and sue John Carmack? An algorithm more commonly known as "Carmack's Reverse?" I don't see why they gave in... this would've taken one whopping day in court for Carmack to kick them to the curb.
I think the only thing that makes me sick about your comment is that kids today have iPods. Man, I couldn't afford my own GameBoy when I was a kid.... and I wasn't that young when they came out.