Yeah, that could be a problem, and this isn't the first time I've heard that concern. From the looks of it, both parts of the controllers are light and comfortable, and, from the looks of the video, many of the games will allow you to rest them on your lap or an armrest often.
I'm sure that this will be taken into consideration when creating the games, though. Make sure there's a way for someone to stop every 10-15 minutes if they feel their arm getting tired.
Though, as you play it, you'll be able to play longer and longer without breaks, I do believe.
Let's start off with the most obvious implementation: FPS. A genre that drives the PS2 and XBox (and dominates computers) will thrive on the Gamecube. Gone is the fiddling with the joystick. A quick flip of the controller, and you've completely turned around. Aiming is no longer tense; your hand eye coordination will allow you to better attack your enemies using a 3d mouse than with a regular controller (think about how many people are about FPS on the computer.)
Don't like FPS? Let's ignore that and move to a love of the Nintendo community: Zelda. Want to see Link do more than just two directions with his sword? No problem, since you will be controlling his sword. When you swing your arm, Link swings his. When you jab, so does he.
Want to control how tense your bow string is? Pull out the bow and arrow, go into first person mode, and extend your arm. Press a button to lock the start position, and pull back as far as you want.
Zelda isn't your thing? How about some fishing. A whip of the controller and you're casting off. You can bob the line back and forth, left and right.
And the accessories for the controller; you can be sure that these will be fairly inexpensive, meaning that companies can throw in their own little controller to add more depth to the game. How about hooking up the headphone set to talk to your buddies in online games to the controller instead of having to have an entire other attachment to the Revolution?
Now imagine that you hold the controller vertically. You're playing Star Fox. You move the controller, just like in a real jet fighter, and the plane moves with you.
Plus, you have a controller that is in one hand only. This means you can eat cheetos and play games at the same time.:)
The possibilities for this seem endless. Nintendo was not kidding when they named this the Revolution; we are on the edge of virtual reality, the thing that every geek has longed for since we saw the Holodeck in Star Trek: TNG. What Nintendo is doing is taking the big, hulking interactive setups of yesterday's arcades and turning them into the remote of tomorrow's homes.
You no longer control the machine; you control the character itself. Your arm swing is its arm swing. Your aim is its aim. As we've seen with DDR, gaming is turning into more of a physically interactive medium. With this controller, gone are the days of sitting around on the couch fumbling with the controller. Now, if not standing, you're leaning forward or sitting up straight, slashing with your might or blowing a hole in someone's stomach.
Just imagine if they put out pairs of goggles that really gave you the whole FPS feel.
I think Nintendo has a good chance of winning this round.
Google has been known lately for snatching up many things that have become rather popular.
eBay, for the most part, has stayed under the radar (at least, as far as corporate purchases are concerned.) However, even before they started buying things, they already had their hand in every consumer goods market with the U.S. and every other country (though not directly.)
Then they bought PayPal (what, a year ago?). This transaction made plenty of sense, as PayPal was used to pay for many of the auctions on eBay.
But now that eBay is getting Skype, are we seeing a clever purchase or the beginning of a buy-frenzy? This layman cannot see an overall connection between Skype and eBay/PayPal (aside from being general commerace tools); but that doesn't mean they can't buy Skype. And if they purchase Skype, what might they put their grubby mitts on next?
After all, they've saved countless users entire minutes by cutting out the middle man and having an already-installed virus. This could potentially teach the unsuspecting public about the harm and danger of viruses with an in-your-face attitude.
Comparing the Gamecube the XBox 360 is like comparing the N64 to the PS2. Yes, they will overlap, but they are in different generations.
Besides, by the time the 360 hits the streets, Nintendo will be downplaying the GCN to prepare for the release of the Revolution.
As for "killer app", if they meant a new AAA game, someone forgot about a certain Twilight Princess... (which, yes, unfortunatly got pushed back.):(
If they're talking about a totally new franchise, however, the GCN isn't alone in this- all of the consoles need new breath, this gen or the next. These days, it's Sequal Mania, where the big money is being pumped into sequals (or remakes) for previously-known money-makers. At least with Nintendo's franchises, they try to add new things (such as masks that transform you, or an annoying talking watergun,) but with such things as GTA, Halo, etc., it's just rehashing the same formula with a different mission objective or location.
Part of the problem has been stated before- games these days are multi-million dollar budgets and can take more than a year to complete. With this kind of money and that kind of time, a lot of companies don't want to risk a flop.
If Nintendo (or, hell, anyone) opened up their dev kits to startups and the common man (what is is now, something like $10K for a dev kit? Whip up something more basic and hand it out for $1K), as well as making it easier for companies to create and distribute their own games, you'd see a vast increase in Gamecube share.
This plus the fact that they pushed back The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (did that even get a slashdot cover?) to spring 2006 makes me a very sad Nintendo user right now. I even preordered Zelda.
I think I'll go make some soup so I can cry into it.
Okay, I wasn't certain on the patent status.
Even so, if Nintendo felt threatened, they could raise a lawsuit. Yes, the lawsuit would eventually fail, but the legal fees by the company that makes NEX could put them out of business.
However, I know that Nintendo has done some odd things, but I don't think they're that type of company.
One thing I didn't see in the article is if they had Nintendo's blessing in all of this. If not, Nintendo could potentially swoop in and take them out, or just take over the company on threat or stopping the product altogether. I assume they haven't gotten this far without some legal talking, but I can't be sure to the extent of that.
The system must debut at an equal price or lower price to the GBA SP at the time. Even in the updated form, the console can't match the graphics of the GBA (can it even match the GBC?), and don't even try to compare it to the current generation of consoles.
Having some form of a developer kit would really boost it. Those toying with the gaming industry would get some first hand experience at 'easier' coding. A fairly inexpensive dev kit, including a cartridge that either hooks up to the computer while in the NEX or can download from the computer and then be put into NEX, software for writing games (and perhaps something like RPG Maker,) and a 'getting started' book would be awesome.
Allow the software to be downloaded for free, but unless they have some other input device (which I also didn't see in the article,) you'll only be able to use a cartridge for that.
Re-release the classics. Chances are that not many people have NES games, so they'll have to release something, or many people will have nothing to play on it. Since the capacity of memory per area has greatly increased since the days of the original NES, take advantage of that: offer extras, if possible.
Alternatively, the article mentioned that, with the expand graphics and rumble support, they could update many games. That would be awesome (Four Swords in the original Hyrule?), but if you have the memory storage to allow it, include the original version of the game for those feeling nostalgic.
I see this console being bought mainly by the older generation. Many of the NES games were quick pick-up-and-play games. Most working adults who loved games as a kid don't have the 80 hours to put into massive games, and this would give them a great alternative. These adults will then share the console with their kids, who will gain an appreciation for gameplay over graphics, perhaps spearheading an improvement in games for the current consoles.
Or not. In any case, I hope that this system comes to frutility (from the looks of it, we're much more likely to get the NEX than the Phantom.) If the price is right, I can see myself easily picking this up.
'We're looking at developing some of the softer skills that are needed for the 21st century, such as problem-solving, resilience, persistence and collaboration.'
And, in the back of the package, in small print: Social skills not included.
Yes, some of these animals are on the verge of extinction, but what makes scientists think that they'll do better off in America (were elephants even native to America?) than in Africa?
We have a much wider spread of urbanization, with much less open land that isn't crossed by at least a highway or three.
We already have reservations; what land isn't already a reservation but still open is either desert, plateus (which I don't believe is the right environment), or farmland.
Don't count on less poaching, either, one of the bigger threats. Now we're just bringing the animals here, so the rich/eccentric who get kicks out of hunting them will just drive their SUV for two or three days to where they know to find the area; it's easy to find, because there will only be a medium sized plot of land easily marked with signs and fences, and probably on maps, as well. If they're 'lucky', they could bag a lion and be back all over the course of a week.
And then we have the possibility of these animals escaping and running lose over the country. Could you imagine a lion in New York City? (Disregard Madagascar, the movie wasn't that great.) Not only would it have an endless supply of food, what with stray cats, dogs, and the uncommon bum, but if it was a smart lion it would have lots of places to hide. (I can see water as being a potential problem.)
And let's not forget pollution that make adversly affect the animals.
I've always wondered: If the *AA has the ability to track these illegal activities, be it themselves or through another company (in this case, NPD), why can't they go after the big distributors?
Yes, the RIAA has filed a good number of suits, but there is "obviously" still a lot of illegal file sharing going on, indicating that either one million people have five different songs each, or that a few hundered have a few thousand songs and the other million download from them. I'd put more money on the later, indicating that there are still 'big fish' out there.
If so, and they are tracking this swapping, why not go after them? Slashdot ethics aside, they have at least the legal ability to sue them (as has been done.) Nothing would make the RIAA execs happier than free money, assuming they win/settle.
If they don't go after them because of a lack of evidence, then how can they (rightfully) claim these figures?
The case of "illegally copied" CDs is a little harder; most of these are probably just one friend copying a CD for another, and having this system work back and forth. But this brings up another question: How do they track the "illegally produced" CDs? Are they just polling people?
I think that a solution to many problems, including, but not limited to:
low usage of open source
buggy software
Software pirating
and innovation (or lack thereof)
could all be fixed if everyone migrated to a free-program,-paid-support model. I believe this is how companies like RedHat make their money; the operating system or program itself is free, but the support for said product will cost a yearly subscription (which may or may not use per person liscenses.)
Doing this, a company has thousands of testers that they don't have to pay. Software piracy is no longer a problem, because all the software is free. Software becomes more reliable and portable, because those who want to port a program to a different OS and have the know-how are rather likely to share the information with the parent company. Ideas could also be shared and implimented among interested groups, and good features would probably work their way into future official releases.
However, to get the support on the product, you have to pay a fee. Individual users would have to be relatively inexpensive. Maybe offer the option to pay per call or have a monthly/yearly subscription.
I love how Slashdot editors keep pushing the boundries to bring us new cloning technology.
For instance, not only was this posted two days ago (in the same section!), but this newer version has a shorter into, yet it appears to use the exact same article!
The implications of this new cloning technology cou- what? This isn't a cloned article? It's a duplicate?
What the #)%&#. What the hell are editors for, then?
The simile was more one of "Windows, Mac, Linux" to "Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies".
Then you have Frosted Rice Krispies and Cinnamon Rice Krispies and Chocolate Rice Krispies (which are tasty) and Rice Krispies with Marshmallows... They're all Rice Krispies, but they are all different in some way.
Similarily, all the distros are Linux, but they still have their differences. Some are geared more towards Server, some more towards Desktop, some for Developers.
The difference between the example of Rice Krispies and that of Linux is that with the Rice Krispies, you don't have to research what's different about them; it's right there on the box. From there it's simple: do you want marshmallows or chocolate? Perhaps you feel liked frosted this time.
If the Linux distros were renamed to reflect what they were more intended for, i.e. "Linux Server Edition, Linux Desktop Edition," etc., then you don't have to ask around. Yes, most of the distros can handle the other thing, like Windows, but they need a specific purpose, or at least be labeled as one.
This may seem like a useless gesture to those who know Linux, but consider working at a big company and trying to turn your entire corporation over. The people who are high above you probably have little experience in the IT field; that's why the hired you.
Two scenarios:
Scenario One SysAdmin: "From the various choices, I've decided that RedHat would be best suited for ou-" CEO A: "What's RedHat?" SysAdmin: "Redhat is a server version of Linux with-" CEO B: "What's Linux?" SysAdmin: "Linux is an operating system, like Windows." CEO A: "I don't know if I like this 'RedHat'. A lot of people see red as the expression of anger and blah blah blah..."
Scenario Two SysAdmin: "While we've used Windows for a while, I think that using Linux Server Edition would give us much great-" CEO A: "What's Linux?" SysAdmin: "It's an operating system, like Windows." CEO B: "And we want to use the Server Edition?" SysAdmin: "For the servers, yes. If we deploy it to the desktops, which I'll get to later, we would use Linux Desktop Edition." CEO A: "Go on..."
Obviously, there would be a lot more questions, and you may not be talking straight to the CEOs, but you get the idea. They don't care that it's RedHat or Fedora or Mandiva or whatever; to them, those are unfamiliar words. But they know what a server is, and what a desktop is. (Hopefully.)
And it will be the exact same way to get the masses to use it. Telling someone getting their first computer that they should use "Mandriva" for their OS will probably get you a confused look. Telling them to use "Linux Desktop Edition" will probably still garner a confused look, but a lighter one. They may not have heard of Linux, but they'll know that whatever you said was intneded for the Desktop they were getting.
If the Linux community doesn't want to consolidate, then at least agreeing to label their distros for their strengths would be a step in the right direction. "Linux Server Edition, powered by RedHat", "Linux Server Edition, powered by SuSE" and so forth.
Aside from the fact that Windows still holds at least 80% market share, meaning that most all programs can be run on it, one of the reasons Windows keeps on selling is because you don't have 20 flavors of it. Stores generally sell one or two main versions of Windows; recently, it's WinXP and 2K, though 2K is hardly seen on department store shelves these days.
Yes, you have XP Home, Pro, and Media Center, but you don't have to label software as being "XP Home, XP Pro, XP Media Center Compatible"; you just say "Compatible with Windows XP", because it will work on all of them.
Whereas in Linux, you have many choices, something which overwhelms your regular consumer. "Lesse... Redhat? No, Fedora. Wait, those are made by the same company... SuSE? Oh, what about Mandriva? Hrm..."
While I'm not a big *nix user or fan, my understanding is that something written for one out of the box Linux distro should work for another. Maybe you just have to change a line in the code and compile it. I can state that the average user will never want to do that.
For Linux to gain more market share, there needs to be one distro that everyone supports and is pushed to the fore-front, while supporting all other distros is a secondary goal. However, just because of the nature of Linux, I don't see this happening.
This technology would have GREAT potential in the PDA industry.
You look at the PDA straight on, and it's your normal PDA. Games, daybook, accounting, whatever, it's the same.
But a quick turn of the wrist and you instead see something you set as a 'permanent' screen. Perhaps the current day itinerary, or just your overall day planner. No more having to go to the main menu or remember quick buttons. Just turn the wrist.
However, how they would work the touch screen would be interesting.
Two possibilities I see:
1) The "turn the wrist" screen is a read-only screen, perfect for, say, a photo of a loved one with day/time and the next three or four appointments/events, or the entire planned events for the upcoming week. Starting a program from the main view would allow you to edit the read-only view.
2) A comfortable switch, put within easy reach of where the thumb generally would be, allows you to toggle which view is being affected by the stylus. However, I don't see this happening, as holding your PDA at an angle and trying to write would be rather akward and cumbersome.
I'd have to agree with your statement, but even if Sony realizes that quick play games are useful, they have a big thing to worry about: They still use the CD format.
Even if they get the ten-minute-a-play game with ultra nice graphics and intuitive play, the loading time of a game could kill any interest in the game. With intuitive programming and caching, they would be able to get around this.
Plus, with the short battery life of the PSP, it isn't good for long trips, unless you buy the charger accessory or extra battery or blah blah blah. I've been able to carry my Gameboy with me two days straight (playing it only for a half hour at a time) without needing a charge.
Let the viewers choose what goes on TV
on
P2P and TV
·
· Score: 1
This could be a great thing. Rather then having a bunch of bobbing heads in a corporate courtroom decide what should be on TV, let those they are trying to cater to decide.
Start a monthly program. Put pilots up for download (will probably be DRMed; I'm sure many on Slashdot would have have a hissy fit, but I'd be fine with it.) Then have the people who download them fill out a general questionaire. Offer the service free to a limited amount of people, and allow others to buy their way in if they desire. Perhaps have a month/two-month trial thing, and if they rate enough pilots, their next month is free.
If they do this, they have a much greater idea of how a show will turn out. Sure, the bigwigs can still do the opposite of what the polls say, but you're less likely to have great flops, which is something that broadcast channels don't like.
Now we just need some corporate heads to pull their mind out of their asses and realize that this won't bankrupt them...
Working as a tech support intern for a non profit company (and, according to most of the folks there, I'm good at 'support', even if I'm still learning 'tech',) I've learned what I should and should not bring with me when I go to work on a person's computer:
Bring: Friendly smile and understanding Don't Bring: Muttering about the peons lack of knowledge when it's an easy fix
Bring: Assumptions that they don't know shit about computers Don't bring: The idea that I have to make them realize that if they don't already
This is a big one: Bring: The ability to say "I have no clue what's going on, but I'll do some research and get back ASAP" Don't Bring: Bullshit
Before I started working here, they recently had to change the head of the IT section (which was about three people.) The old guy apparently kept on promising to do this or that, and would never admit that he wasn't sure what was going on or that he would have to figure out something. Between this and the facts that he had absolutely no sense of organization and real network knowledge (the local passwords to most PCs were either 'x' or 'c') was what got his ass on the curb.
Yes, customers may feel they've wasted money by calling in someone who can say "I don't know". I've found that when I've been tech support on my own (kind of a freelance hobby), I would suggest what I could, tell them I would call back within x days, and research it in the mean time. If they're still a little hotheaded after that, I tell them that I'll take a bit off the bill for the time I just had with their computer (depending on how far I got to diagnose what I could.)
The worst thing you could do, IMO, is make up something, assuming they don't know tech jargon, and have them decide to call someone else to take a look at it. If that other person makes up his own jargon, or can tell them the real problem, the customer is going to be very wary of you.
I don't play many MMO games, so I can't be certain of the monthly prices, but $450 upfront seems like a rather steep price, even if it has access to pre-made accounts for 14 games.
It better come with a free hooker. And blow. In fact, forget the MMO games.
While this may seem a bit odd, seeing as how they'd have to get that glass back to Earth without shattering it, they don't need to worry going back to Earth to make profits.
This is the perfect thing for moving spacestations and eventual moon colonization forward. The station and moon have to deal with micro-meteor showers, which don't bother us because the rocks burn up in the atmosphere. Better glass would be a great contribution to these places to put up with the showers without suffering the view- the first private places on the moon will likely be held by the ultra wealthy, and, by golly, they'll want a view! Astronauts would probably thing it's damn skippy, too.
Then, as most good inventions work, as the rich buy it, it eventually becomes cheaper and cheaper until Joe America can sit on his front porch with his friends on the moon and chuck empty beer cans at their super-glass dome without worry, just to watch them 'float' through the air.
Assuming they find an economical way to get the glass to Earth, this can be perfect for deep-sea scientific endevours- glass that will hold up to higher pressures would allow for long time monitoring of underwater ecosystems with less reliance on miniature subs and wetsuits. Perhaps we'll even get talking dolphins.
The PS2 wasn't the first game platform to use backwards compatibility. The Gameboy Color (released 1998, the PS2 was 2000) first did that, by being able to play regular Gameboy games. True, it wasn't exactly a giant leap, but it was still backwards compatible.
So Sony started the DVD thing, but Nintendo started the backwards compatibility.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, that could be a problem, and this isn't the first time I've heard that concern. From the looks of it, both parts of the controllers are light and comfortable, and, from the looks of the video, many of the games will allow you to rest them on your lap or an armrest often.
I'm sure that this will be taken into consideration when creating the games, though. Make sure there's a way for someone to stop every 10-15 minutes if they feel their arm getting tired.
Though, as you play it, you'll be able to play longer and longer without breaks, I do believe.
Here are some examples.
:)
Let's start off with the most obvious implementation: FPS. A genre that drives the PS2 and XBox (and dominates computers) will thrive on the Gamecube. Gone is the fiddling with the joystick. A quick flip of the controller, and you've completely turned around. Aiming is no longer tense; your hand eye coordination will allow you to better attack your enemies using a 3d mouse than with a regular controller (think about how many people are about FPS on the computer.)
Don't like FPS? Let's ignore that and move to a love of the Nintendo community: Zelda. Want to see Link do more than just two directions with his sword? No problem, since you will be controlling his sword. When you swing your arm, Link swings his. When you jab, so does he.
Want to control how tense your bow string is? Pull out the bow and arrow, go into first person mode, and extend your arm. Press a button to lock the start position, and pull back as far as you want.
Zelda isn't your thing? How about some fishing. A whip of the controller and you're casting off. You can bob the line back and forth, left and right.
And the accessories for the controller; you can be sure that these will be fairly inexpensive, meaning that companies can throw in their own little controller to add more depth to the game. How about hooking up the headphone set to talk to your buddies in online games to the controller instead of having to have an entire other attachment to the Revolution?
Now imagine that you hold the controller vertically. You're playing Star Fox. You move the controller, just like in a real jet fighter, and the plane moves with you.
Plus, you have a controller that is in one hand only. This means you can eat cheetos and play games at the same time.
The possibilities for this seem endless. Nintendo was not kidding when they named this the Revolution; we are on the edge of virtual reality, the thing that every geek has longed for since we saw the Holodeck in Star Trek: TNG. What Nintendo is doing is taking the big, hulking interactive setups of yesterday's arcades and turning them into the remote of tomorrow's homes.
You no longer control the machine; you control the character itself. Your arm swing is its arm swing. Your aim is its aim. As we've seen with DDR, gaming is turning into more of a physically interactive medium. With this controller, gone are the days of sitting around on the couch fumbling with the controller. Now, if not standing, you're leaning forward or sitting up straight, slashing with your might or blowing a hole in someone's stomach.
Just imagine if they put out pairs of goggles that really gave you the whole FPS feel.
I think Nintendo has a good chance of winning this round.
Google has been known lately for snatching up many things that have become rather popular.
eBay, for the most part, has stayed under the radar (at least, as far as corporate purchases are concerned.) However, even before they started buying things, they already had their hand in every consumer goods market with the U.S. and every other country (though not directly.)
Then they bought PayPal (what, a year ago?). This transaction made plenty of sense, as PayPal was used to pay for many of the auctions on eBay.
But now that eBay is getting Skype, are we seeing a clever purchase or the beginning of a buy-frenzy? This layman cannot see an overall connection between Skype and eBay/PayPal (aside from being general commerace tools); but that doesn't mean they can't buy Skype. And if they purchase Skype, what might they put their grubby mitts on next?
After all, they've saved countless users entire minutes by cutting out the middle man and having an already-installed virus. This could potentially teach the unsuspecting public about the harm and danger of viruses with an in-your-face attitude.
Microsoft should definately start doing this.
Comparing the Gamecube the XBox 360 is like comparing the N64 to the PS2. Yes, they will overlap, but they are in different generations.
:(
Besides, by the time the 360 hits the streets, Nintendo will be downplaying the GCN to prepare for the release of the Revolution.
As for "killer app", if they meant a new AAA game, someone forgot about a certain Twilight Princess... (which, yes, unfortunatly got pushed back.)
If they're talking about a totally new franchise, however, the GCN isn't alone in this- all of the consoles need new breath, this gen or the next. These days, it's Sequal Mania, where the big money is being pumped into sequals (or remakes) for previously-known money-makers. At least with Nintendo's franchises, they try to add new things (such as masks that transform you, or an annoying talking watergun,) but with such things as GTA, Halo, etc., it's just rehashing the same formula with a different mission objective or location.
Part of the problem has been stated before- games these days are multi-million dollar budgets and can take more than a year to complete. With this kind of money and that kind of time, a lot of companies don't want to risk a flop.
If Nintendo (or, hell, anyone) opened up their dev kits to startups and the common man (what is is now, something like $10K for a dev kit? Whip up something more basic and hand it out for $1K), as well as making it easier for companies to create and distribute their own games, you'd see a vast increase in Gamecube share.
This plus the fact that they pushed back The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (did that even get a slashdot cover?) to spring 2006 makes me a very sad Nintendo user right now. I even preordered Zelda.
I think I'll go make some soup so I can cry into it.
Okay, I wasn't certain on the patent status. Even so, if Nintendo felt threatened, they could raise a lawsuit. Yes, the lawsuit would eventually fail, but the legal fees by the company that makes NEX could put them out of business. However, I know that Nintendo has done some odd things, but I don't think they're that type of company.
I could see this succeeding or failing.
One thing I didn't see in the article is if they had Nintendo's blessing in all of this. If not, Nintendo could potentially swoop in and take them out, or just take over the company on threat or stopping the product altogether. I assume they haven't gotten this far without some legal talking, but I can't be sure to the extent of that.
The system must debut at an equal price or lower price to the GBA SP at the time. Even in the updated form, the console can't match the graphics of the GBA (can it even match the GBC?), and don't even try to compare it to the current generation of consoles.
Having some form of a developer kit would really boost it. Those toying with the gaming industry would get some first hand experience at 'easier' coding. A fairly inexpensive dev kit, including a cartridge that either hooks up to the computer while in the NEX or can download from the computer and then be put into NEX, software for writing games (and perhaps something like RPG Maker,) and a 'getting started' book would be awesome.
Allow the software to be downloaded for free, but unless they have some other input device (which I also didn't see in the article,) you'll only be able to use a cartridge for that.
Re-release the classics. Chances are that not many people have NES games, so they'll have to release something, or many people will have nothing to play on it. Since the capacity of memory per area has greatly increased since the days of the original NES, take advantage of that: offer extras, if possible.
Alternatively, the article mentioned that, with the expand graphics and rumble support, they could update many games. That would be awesome (Four Swords in the original Hyrule?), but if you have the memory storage to allow it, include the original version of the game for those feeling nostalgic.
I see this console being bought mainly by the older generation. Many of the NES games were quick pick-up-and-play games. Most working adults who loved games as a kid don't have the 80 hours to put into massive games, and this would give them a great alternative. These adults will then share the console with their kids, who will gain an appreciation for gameplay over graphics, perhaps spearheading an improvement in games for the current consoles.
Or not. In any case, I hope that this system comes to frutility (from the looks of it, we're much more likely to get the NEX than the Phantom.) If the price is right, I can see myself easily picking this up.
'We're looking at developing some of the softer skills that are needed for the 21st century, such as problem-solving, resilience, persistence and collaboration.'
And, in the back of the package, in small print: Social skills not included.
Yes, some of these animals are on the verge of extinction, but what makes scientists think that they'll do better off in America (were elephants even native to America?) than in Africa?
We have a much wider spread of urbanization, with much less open land that isn't crossed by at least a highway or three.
We already have reservations; what land isn't already a reservation but still open is either desert, plateus (which I don't believe is the right environment), or farmland.
Don't count on less poaching, either, one of the bigger threats. Now we're just bringing the animals here, so the rich/eccentric who get kicks out of hunting them will just drive their SUV for two or three days to where they know to find the area; it's easy to find, because there will only be a medium sized plot of land easily marked with signs and fences, and probably on maps, as well. If they're 'lucky', they could bag a lion and be back all over the course of a week.
And then we have the possibility of these animals escaping and running lose over the country. Could you imagine a lion in New York City? (Disregard Madagascar, the movie wasn't that great.) Not only would it have an endless supply of food, what with stray cats, dogs, and the uncommon bum, but if it was a smart lion it would have lots of places to hide. (I can see water as being a potential problem.)
And let's not forget pollution that make adversly affect the animals.
I've always wondered: If the *AA has the ability to track these illegal activities, be it themselves or through another company (in this case, NPD), why can't they go after the big distributors?
Yes, the RIAA has filed a good number of suits, but there is "obviously" still a lot of illegal file sharing going on, indicating that either one million people have five different songs each, or that a few hundered have a few thousand songs and the other million download from them. I'd put more money on the later, indicating that there are still 'big fish' out there.
If so, and they are tracking this swapping, why not go after them? Slashdot ethics aside, they have at least the legal ability to sue them (as has been done.) Nothing would make the RIAA execs happier than free money, assuming they win/settle.
If they don't go after them because of a lack of evidence, then how can they (rightfully) claim these figures?
The case of "illegally copied" CDs is a little harder; most of these are probably just one friend copying a CD for another, and having this system work back and forth. But this brings up another question: How do they track the "illegally produced" CDs? Are they just polling people?
"Translation: I'm envious of your ownership of the penis car."
Translation: I own one of those penis cars.
- low usage of open source
- buggy software
- Software pirating
- and innovation (or lack thereof)
could all be fixed if everyone migrated to a free-program,-paid-support model. I believe this is how companies like RedHat make their money; the operating system or program itself is free, but the support for said product will cost a yearly subscription (which may or may not use per person liscenses.)Doing this, a company has thousands of testers that they don't have to pay. Software piracy is no longer a problem, because all the software is free. Software becomes more reliable and portable, because those who want to port a program to a different OS and have the know-how are rather likely to share the information with the parent company. Ideas could also be shared and implimented among interested groups, and good features would probably work their way into future official releases.
However, to get the support on the product, you have to pay a fee. Individual users would have to be relatively inexpensive. Maybe offer the option to pay per call or have a monthly/yearly subscription.
Time to install Windows ME You install Windows ME, and you call yourself a computer repairmen?! [spits] Away with you!
I love how Slashdot editors keep pushing the boundries to bring us new cloning technology.
For instance, not only was this posted two days ago (in the same section!), but this newer version has a shorter into, yet it appears to use the exact same article!
The implications of this new cloning technology cou- what? This isn't a cloned article? It's a duplicate?
What the #)%&#. What the hell are editors for, then?
The simile was more one of "Windows, Mac, Linux" to "Lucky Charms, Fruit Loops, Rice Krispies".
Then you have Frosted Rice Krispies and Cinnamon Rice Krispies and Chocolate Rice Krispies (which are tasty) and Rice Krispies with Marshmallows... They're all Rice Krispies, but they are all different in some way.
Similarily, all the distros are Linux, but they still have their differences. Some are geared more towards Server, some more towards Desktop, some for Developers.
The difference between the example of Rice Krispies and that of Linux is that with the Rice Krispies, you don't have to research what's different about them; it's right there on the box. From there it's simple: do you want marshmallows or chocolate? Perhaps you feel liked frosted this time.
If the Linux distros were renamed to reflect what they were more intended for, i.e. "Linux Server Edition, Linux Desktop Edition," etc., then you don't have to ask around. Yes, most of the distros can handle the other thing, like Windows, but they need a specific purpose, or at least be labeled as one.
This may seem like a useless gesture to those who know Linux, but consider working at a big company and trying to turn your entire corporation over. The people who are high above you probably have little experience in the IT field; that's why the hired you.
Two scenarios:
Scenario One
SysAdmin: "From the various choices, I've decided that RedHat would be best suited for ou-"
CEO A: "What's RedHat?"
SysAdmin: "Redhat is a server version of Linux with-"
CEO B: "What's Linux?"
SysAdmin: "Linux is an operating system, like Windows."
CEO A: "I don't know if I like this 'RedHat'. A lot of people see red as the expression of anger and blah blah blah..."
Scenario Two
SysAdmin: "While we've used Windows for a while, I think that using Linux Server Edition would give us much great-"
CEO A: "What's Linux?"
SysAdmin: "It's an operating system, like Windows."
CEO B: "And we want to use the Server Edition?"
SysAdmin: "For the servers, yes. If we deploy it to the desktops, which I'll get to later, we would use Linux Desktop Edition."
CEO A: "Go on..."
Obviously, there would be a lot more questions, and you may not be talking straight to the CEOs, but you get the idea. They don't care that it's RedHat or Fedora or Mandiva or whatever; to them, those are unfamiliar words. But they know what a server is, and what a desktop is. (Hopefully.)
And it will be the exact same way to get the masses to use it. Telling someone getting their first computer that they should use "Mandriva" for their OS will probably get you a confused look. Telling them to use "Linux Desktop Edition" will probably still garner a confused look, but a lighter one. They may not have heard of Linux, but they'll know that whatever you said was intneded for the Desktop they were getting.
If the Linux community doesn't want to consolidate, then at least agreeing to label their distros for their strengths would be a step in the right direction. "Linux Server Edition, powered by RedHat", "Linux Server Edition, powered by SuSE" and so forth.
Aside from the fact that Windows still holds at least 80% market share, meaning that most all programs can be run on it, one of the reasons Windows keeps on selling is because you don't have 20 flavors of it. Stores generally sell one or two main versions of Windows; recently, it's WinXP and 2K, though 2K is hardly seen on department store shelves these days.
Yes, you have XP Home, Pro, and Media Center, but you don't have to label software as being "XP Home, XP Pro, XP Media Center Compatible"; you just say "Compatible with Windows XP", because it will work on all of them.
Whereas in Linux, you have many choices, something which overwhelms your regular consumer. "Lesse... Redhat? No, Fedora. Wait, those are made by the same company... SuSE? Oh, what about Mandriva? Hrm..."
While I'm not a big *nix user or fan, my understanding is that something written for one out of the box Linux distro should work for another. Maybe you just have to change a line in the code and compile it. I can state that the average user will never want to do that.
For Linux to gain more market share, there needs to be one distro that everyone supports and is pushed to the fore-front, while supporting all other distros is a secondary goal. However, just because of the nature of Linux, I don't see this happening.
This technology would have GREAT potential in the PDA industry.
You look at the PDA straight on, and it's your normal PDA. Games, daybook, accounting, whatever, it's the same.
But a quick turn of the wrist and you instead see something you set as a 'permanent' screen. Perhaps the current day itinerary, or just your overall day planner. No more having to go to the main menu or remember quick buttons. Just turn the wrist.
However, how they would work the touch screen would be interesting.
Two possibilities I see:
1) The "turn the wrist" screen is a read-only screen, perfect for, say, a photo of a loved one with day/time and the next three or four appointments/events, or the entire planned events for the upcoming week. Starting a program from the main view would allow you to edit the read-only view.
2) A comfortable switch, put within easy reach of where the thumb generally would be, allows you to toggle which view is being affected by the stylus. However, I don't see this happening, as holding your PDA at an angle and trying to write would be rather akward and cumbersome.
And I just ran out of mod points, damn.
I'd have to agree with your statement, but even if Sony realizes that quick play games are useful, they have a big thing to worry about: They still use the CD format.
Even if they get the ten-minute-a-play game with ultra nice graphics and intuitive play, the loading time of a game could kill any interest in the game. With intuitive programming and caching, they would be able to get around this.
Plus, with the short battery life of the PSP, it isn't good for long trips, unless you buy the charger accessory or extra battery or blah blah blah. I've been able to carry my Gameboy with me two days straight (playing it only for a half hour at a time) without needing a charge.
This could be a great thing. Rather then having a bunch of bobbing heads in a corporate courtroom decide what should be on TV, let those they are trying to cater to decide.
Start a monthly program. Put pilots up for download (will probably be DRMed; I'm sure many on Slashdot would have have a hissy fit, but I'd be fine with it.) Then have the people who download them fill out a general questionaire. Offer the service free to a limited amount of people, and allow others to buy their way in if they desire. Perhaps have a month/two-month trial thing, and if they rate enough pilots, their next month is free.
If they do this, they have a much greater idea of how a show will turn out. Sure, the bigwigs can still do the opposite of what the polls say, but you're less likely to have great flops, which is something that broadcast channels don't like.
Now we just need some corporate heads to pull their mind out of their asses and realize that this won't bankrupt them...
Working as a tech support intern for a non profit company (and, according to most of the folks there, I'm good at 'support', even if I'm still learning 'tech',) I've learned what I should and should not bring with me when I go to work on a person's computer:
Bring: Friendly smile and understanding
Don't Bring: Muttering about the peons lack of knowledge when it's an easy fix
Bring: Assumptions that they don't know shit about computers
Don't bring: The idea that I have to make them realize that if they don't already
This is a big one:
Bring: The ability to say "I have no clue what's going on, but I'll do some research and get back ASAP"
Don't Bring: Bullshit
Before I started working here, they recently had to change the head of the IT section (which was about three people.) The old guy apparently kept on promising to do this or that, and would never admit that he wasn't sure what was going on or that he would have to figure out something. Between this and the facts that he had absolutely no sense of organization and real network knowledge (the local passwords to most PCs were either 'x' or 'c') was what got his ass on the curb.
Yes, customers may feel they've wasted money by calling in someone who can say "I don't know". I've found that when I've been tech support on my own (kind of a freelance hobby), I would suggest what I could, tell them I would call back within x days, and research it in the mean time. If they're still a little hotheaded after that, I tell them that I'll take a bit off the bill for the time I just had with their computer (depending on how far I got to diagnose what I could.)
The worst thing you could do, IMO, is make up something, assuming they don't know tech jargon, and have them decide to call someone else to take a look at it. If that other person makes up his own jargon, or can tell them the real problem, the customer is going to be very wary of you.
Knowing when to say 'when' is a virtue.
I don't play many MMO games, so I can't be certain of the monthly prices, but $450 upfront seems like a rather steep price, even if it has access to pre-made accounts for 14 games. It better come with a free hooker. And blow. In fact, forget the MMO games.
While this may seem a bit odd, seeing as how they'd have to get that glass back to Earth without shattering it, they don't need to worry going back to Earth to make profits.
This is the perfect thing for moving spacestations and eventual moon colonization forward. The station and moon have to deal with micro-meteor showers, which don't bother us because the rocks burn up in the atmosphere. Better glass would be a great contribution to these places to put up with the showers without suffering the view- the first private places on the moon will likely be held by the ultra wealthy, and, by golly, they'll want a view! Astronauts would probably thing it's damn skippy, too.
Then, as most good inventions work, as the rich buy it, it eventually becomes cheaper and cheaper until Joe America can sit on his front porch with his friends on the moon and chuck empty beer cans at their super-glass dome without worry, just to watch them 'float' through the air.
Assuming they find an economical way to get the glass to Earth, this can be perfect for deep-sea scientific endevours- glass that will hold up to higher pressures would allow for long time monitoring of underwater ecosystems with less reliance on miniature subs and wetsuits. Perhaps we'll even get talking dolphins.
Now, where did that robort go. I need him to tell me where the human's ink sack is, I do! Whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop whoop!
The PS2 wasn't the first game platform to use backwards compatibility. The Gameboy Color (released 1998, the PS2 was 2000) first did that, by being able to play regular Gameboy games. True, it wasn't exactly a giant leap, but it was still backwards compatible.
So Sony started the DVD thing, but Nintendo started the backwards compatibility.