They're gonna try to maximize their profits, just like those who bought the first $900 CD player. But the dollar was worth more back then..
While that may be the case, this is a very different situation. CD didn't have any real competition when it launched in 1982. Blu-Ray on the other hand, is embroiled in a multi-front war for multiple applications. Not only are they fighting HD DVD and DVD (it may not be HD, but it's massively entrenched- for all we know this format war may leave both HD formats as dead ends like Laserdisc) for video disc supremacy, but they're also fighting wars on the data and video game fronts as well. At this stage of the game, and price gouging is an act of pure hubris.
Yeesh, just look at that price! Unless they can drop its cost in a rapid fashion, the Blu-Ray format is almost certain to fail. Even earlier adopters, who usually see price as no object, are likely to balk at a price like that. A quick search on Froogle finds the Toshiba HD-A1 player for $620, a little less than 2/3rds the price. Technologically inferior or no, that's a hell of a price differential to overcome.
The Playstation 3 is likely to bring prices down, but honestly I think Sony put Blu-Ray tech into the system too soon. DVD was nearing critical mass in 2000, and the Playstation 2's arrival just hammered it home. HD formats, on the othr hand, aren't likely to explode for another couple years- at which point the PS3 will have sank or swum on its own merits. Having an Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 by default is more likely to be weight around the system's ankles, rather than a buoy to the top.
One problem: OS/2 users are largely extremely tech-savvy users who simply think OS/2 is better. Win9x, on the other hand, is used largely by people who don't know any better or who don't care enough to upgrade. Not really the kind of userbase that fosters a thriving developer community.
They didn't do that because of hype, they did that because those consoles weren't dedicated Halo/Madden players (XBox), and had more of a library than Zelda/Mario/Metroid.
You've got kind of a chicken and egg problem there. Does the Playstation line have such a deep lineup because of its large installed base, or vice versa? It's probably the former (the PS2's launch library was pretty sad, but it sold a lot anyway), but it's pretty much impossible to know for sure.
1080p movies with any 1080p TV that accepts component
Wrong. It will do 1080i- there's no way to do a progressive scan signal at that resolution via component. This doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you takethe Image Constraint Token into account. Supposedly there's going to be a moratorium on the ICT, but if/when it goes into effect any movies made afterwards WILL NOT play in their full resolution over analog outputs. Furthermore, there's no garuntee that BluRay will become the next movie standard. This hardly seems futureproof to me- indeed, it seems like a huge gamble for the consumer.
How long do you have to wait between[...] every Final Fantasy?
To answer your own question: [T]hey produce iterations of their games every single year.
Here's the past several FF games: FF8 (1999), FF9 (2000), FF10 (2001), FF11 (2002), Final Fantasy X-2 (2003), FF11: Dawn of Souls (2004), FF11: Chains of Promethia (2004), FF12 (2006)
Admittedly two of those are expansion packs, and there was a single year gap, but nonetheless it shows that Square has gotten just about as bad. Not only that but they've got, not one, but two FF13 games coming for the PS3. The lack of originality seems to be endemic to the whole industry.
They left the "Games starring men who look like your creepy pedophile uncle" category off the listings.
Seriously, what has the Metal Gear series done that's new and exciting since the original Metal Gear Solid? The last two were the same game with a couple of new gameplay mechanics (and in the case of MGS2 an infinitely dumber story) tacked on.
I looked up the word "hubris" in the dictionay, and there was a picture of the Playstation 3.
Re:You shall not criticize the editors...
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Everyone Hates UMD
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Well Mr. Pedant, it seems you've been beaten at your own game. The correct phrase actually is "In the same vein". It means "along the same lines" not "similarly self-infatuated".
The bill would allow a judge to determine if a video game is 'patently offensive to prevailing standards' and if it's appealing 'to the minor's morbid interest in violence.'
I'm not sure if they could be any more vague. I mean, given the right conditions, you could argue this about just about any game. I recall many an hour in wholesome puzzle games like Lemmings and The Incredible Machine inventing horrible things to do to the creatures under my control. Does that count as morbid violence?
...through all the words you put in their mouth. The article linked in the story does not claim that the system is unhackable, just that it's significantly harder to hack than previous systems. Taken directly from that story: "I'm sure sooner or later someone will work out how to circumvent security. But the way we have done the design doesn't mean that it will work on somebody else's machine." That's remarkably pragmatic considering the blanket claim you're attributing to them.
Budget video cards almost always suck. You're better off buying the best of the previous generation or, even better, buying refurbished or open box hardware from sites like Newegg. I was browsing their open box section the other day for a friend, and came across a Radeon x1600 Pro 256mb for $90. A little bit more money than their target, but for $10 you get a card that's not intentionally crippled.
Making the issue sound cute doesn't make it any less of a problem.
No HDMI - and how many gamers even have TVs with an HDMI input? This should only be an issue for people who want to play BluRay movies on an expensive TV set. And if they can afford a $2000-$5000 plasma HD set, maybe they can afford the extra $100 for a premium PS3?
This is true, but honestly it raises more questions than it answers. Sony's betting rather heavily that the cross-branding of the PS3 and Blu-Ray will help both technologies become a success. The logic is "people will buy a PS3 because it's a cheap movie player" and in turn "people will buy Blu-Ray movies because they've already got a PS3". This plan doesn't work well because the market just isn't there yet for it. The "value" path doesn't work too well, either, since $500 is pretty expensive if you aren't even getting the benefits of high-def.
My problem is that Sony hasn't done anything to differentiate itself from the pack this iteration, aside from bet the farm on Blu-Ray- a decision which could be suicidal if Blu-Ray demand is lower than they've expected (which is likely- I can count the number of people I know with HDTVs on one hand). They've even stolen Microsoft's multiple SKU system (which everyone criticized), but made it worse. You can upgrade a core 360 to the same thing as the full package, but once you buy the $500 PS3, you're stuck with an inferior system. Making people buy a whole new system to upgrade is bad business, especially considering that they're taking a substantial hit on the hardware to begin with.
The tilt sensing, to me, seems like an indication that Sony is scared. Rather than innovate or, more specifically, continue on their path of "we don't innovate, and that's fine", they've included with seems like a half-assed and rushed imitation of the Wii controller functionality. It may not be Nintendo's invention, but they've put a lot more R&D into refining it than Sony ever could. So you're going to wind up with an unused piece of technology that drives up the price of the hardware, but doesn't really do anything for the customer (kinda like the FireWire ports on the PS2, or the serial port on the PS1, or the HDD for the PS2...).
It's not a "Trojan Horse" in the sense of decieving anyone- just in the sense that they're using the PS3 as a vehicle for getting Blu-Ray into homes that might not necessarily interested in HD movies, or households leaning towards HD-DVD. Rather than attacking the problem head-on, they want to use the PlayStation brand to sidestep the regular channels.
Slashdot Mirror
They're gonna try to maximize their profits, just like those who bought the first $900 CD player. But the dollar was worth more back then..
While that may be the case, this is a very different situation. CD didn't have any real competition when it launched in 1982. Blu-Ray on the other hand, is embroiled in a multi-front war for multiple applications. Not only are they fighting HD DVD and DVD (it may not be HD, but it's massively entrenched- for all we know this format war may leave both HD formats as dead ends like Laserdisc) for video disc supremacy, but they're also fighting wars on the data and video game fronts as well. At this stage of the game, and price gouging is an act of pure hubris.
Yeesh, just look at that price! Unless they can drop its cost in a rapid fashion, the Blu-Ray format is almost certain to fail. Even earlier adopters, who usually see price as no object, are likely to balk at a price like that. A quick search on Froogle finds the Toshiba HD-A1 player for $620, a little less than 2/3rds the price. Technologically inferior or no, that's a hell of a price differential to overcome.
The Playstation 3 is likely to bring prices down, but honestly I think Sony put Blu-Ray tech into the system too soon. DVD was nearing critical mass in 2000, and the Playstation 2's arrival just hammered it home. HD formats, on the othr hand, aren't likely to explode for another couple years- at which point the PS3 will have sank or swum on its own merits. Having an Blu-Ray drive in the PS3 by default is more likely to be weight around the system's ankles, rather than a buoy to the top.
Somehow I don't think the game has been in danger of being considered rushed for a very long time.
One problem: OS/2 users are largely extremely tech-savvy users who simply think OS/2 is better. Win9x, on the other hand, is used largely by people who don't know any better or who don't care enough to upgrade. Not really the kind of userbase that fosters a thriving developer community.
They didn't do that because of hype, they did that because those consoles weren't dedicated Halo/Madden players (XBox), and had more of a library than Zelda/Mario/Metroid.
You've got kind of a chicken and egg problem there. Does the Playstation line have such a deep lineup because of its large installed base, or vice versa? It's probably the former (the PS2's launch library was pretty sad, but it sold a lot anyway), but it's pretty much impossible to know for sure.
He does indeed look like a plant- and not the kind with leaves.
Every single person I know who has a 1080p TV is waiting for a PS3 to use as a HD BluRay player for 499 or 599.
That's hardly a scientific sampling.
1080p movies with any 1080p TV that accepts component
Wrong. It will do 1080i- there's no way to do a progressive scan signal at that resolution via component. This doesn't seem like that big of a deal until you takethe Image Constraint Token into account. Supposedly there's going to be a moratorium on the ICT, but if/when it goes into effect any movies made afterwards WILL NOT play in their full resolution over analog outputs. Furthermore, there's no garuntee that BluRay will become the next movie standard. This hardly seems futureproof to me- indeed, it seems like a huge gamble for the consumer.
Correction: make that three Final Fantasy XIII titles. Someone shoot me now.
How long do you have to wait between[...] every Final Fantasy?
To answer your own question: [T]hey produce iterations of their games every single year.
Here's the past several FF games: FF8 (1999), FF9 (2000), FF10 (2001), FF11 (2002), Final Fantasy X-2 (2003), FF11: Dawn of Souls (2004), FF11: Chains of Promethia (2004), FF12 (2006)
Admittedly two of those are expansion packs, and there was a single year gap, but nonetheless it shows that Square has gotten just about as bad. Not only that but they've got, not one, but two FF13 games coming for the PS3. The lack of originality seems to be endemic to the whole industry.
They left the "Games starring men who look like your creepy pedophile uncle" category off the listings.
Seriously, what has the Metal Gear series done that's new and exciting since the original Metal Gear Solid? The last two were the same game with a couple of new gameplay mechanics (and in the case of MGS2 an infinitely dumber story) tacked on.
I have to stop posting from work. Sneaking in a comment doesn't do much to help my proofreading skills. :p
I looked up the word "hubris" in the dictionay, and there was a picture of the Playstation 3.
Well Mr. Pedant, it seems you've been beaten at your own game. The correct phrase actually is "In the same vein". It means "along the same lines" not "similarly self-infatuated".
The Incredible Machine encourages people to build fiendishly convoluted machines with the sole purpose of punching a cat in the face.
The bill would allow a judge to determine if a video game is 'patently offensive to prevailing standards' and if it's appealing 'to the minor's morbid interest in violence.'
I'm not sure if they could be any more vague. I mean, given the right conditions, you could argue this about just about any game. I recall many an hour in wholesome puzzle games like Lemmings and The Incredible Machine inventing horrible things to do to the creatures under my control. Does that count as morbid violence?
...through all the words you put in their mouth. The article linked in the story does not claim that the system is unhackable, just that it's significantly harder to hack than previous systems. Taken directly from that story: "I'm sure sooner or later someone will work out how to circumvent security. But the way we have done the design doesn't mean that it will work on somebody else's machine." That's remarkably pragmatic considering the blanket claim you're attributing to them.
Budget video cards almost always suck. You're better off buying the best of the previous generation or, even better, buying refurbished or open box hardware from sites like Newegg. I was browsing their open box section the other day for a friend, and came across a Radeon x1600 Pro 256mb for $90. A little bit more money than their target, but for $10 you get a card that's not intentionally crippled.
E3 in Japan? Methinks you mean TGS.
The problem with the PS3 is not the two different price points but that *both* are too high.
I took that as a given.
No wiffy
Making the issue sound cute doesn't make it any less of a problem. No HDMI - and how many gamers even have TVs with an HDMI input? This should only be an issue for people who want to play BluRay movies on an expensive TV set. And if they can afford a $2000-$5000 plasma HD set, maybe they can afford the extra $100 for a premium PS3?
This is true, but honestly it raises more questions than it answers. Sony's betting rather heavily that the cross-branding of the PS3 and Blu-Ray will help both technologies become a success. The logic is "people will buy a PS3 because it's a cheap movie player" and in turn "people will buy Blu-Ray movies because they've already got a PS3". This plan doesn't work well because the market just isn't there yet for it. The "value" path doesn't work too well, either, since $500 is pretty expensive if you aren't even getting the benefits of high-def.
My problem is that Sony hasn't done anything to differentiate itself from the pack this iteration, aside from bet the farm on Blu-Ray- a decision which could be suicidal if Blu-Ray demand is lower than they've expected (which is likely- I can count the number of people I know with HDTVs on one hand). They've even stolen Microsoft's multiple SKU system (which everyone criticized), but made it worse. You can upgrade a core 360 to the same thing as the full package, but once you buy the $500 PS3, you're stuck with an inferior system. Making people buy a whole new system to upgrade is bad business, especially considering that they're taking a substantial hit on the hardware to begin with.
The tilt sensing, to me, seems like an indication that Sony is scared. Rather than innovate or, more specifically, continue on their path of "we don't innovate, and that's fine", they've included with seems like a half-assed and rushed imitation of the Wii controller functionality. It may not be Nintendo's invention, but they've put a lot more R&D into refining it than Sony ever could. So you're going to wind up with an unused piece of technology that drives up the price of the hardware, but doesn't really do anything for the customer (kinda like the FireWire ports on the PS2, or the serial port on the PS1, or the HDD for the PS2...).
They've promised a lapboard, not a lapdance
How can a game that was just officially announced be "much anticipated"?
It's not a "Trojan Horse" in the sense of decieving anyone- just in the sense that they're using the PS3 as a vehicle for getting Blu-Ray into homes that might not necessarily interested in HD movies, or households leaning towards HD-DVD. Rather than attacking the problem head-on, they want to use the PlayStation brand to sidestep the regular channels.