Thanks for the answer. I suspected something like this. It's why I'm hesitant to buy DVD players that supports DivX et. al, and why I'm pretty happy with using my Xbox as a DivX/Xvid-player. The latter works as a computer and can be updated when new or improved codecs are available, while the former often can't be updated in an easy fashion, and so gets outdated.
With regards to the PSP -- it's good that a tool to convert movies to Sony's format has come along. I don't know the details, but if it's possible to just copy a converted movie to a memory stick (Sony's expensive one, that is) and insert it into the PSP & play it, it's going to be widely used and *is* going to be a boon for Sony, whether they approve of it or not.
My Amiga 2000 works something like that as well. Internally, it has a 7~ MHz processor, but I've added a card that houses a 60 MHz processor and 60 MB ram. Quite nifty (and sadly, quite dated).
Oh, there's a story allright, but not in a traditional sense. It tells how world was created, the story of the elves and the higher beings and of the emergence of men, the lesser beings who would eventually dominate Middle Earth. It's pure mythology, with some very interesting stories. It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I sure enjoyed it.
It's a nice idea. Nice to see Microsoft thinking about this. It's not like it's a new concept or anything:)
But the name must change. It's just seems like a big type - tray and pay. It sounds like a bad anti-piracy slogan. Please try and pay for your games.;D
Does the artist of the song get paid? No? Well, arent you kind of screwing him/her over? I think the answer is clear.
Is the artist paid when I listen to the song on the radio? On the TV? What if I record that song to a tape, CD or VHS? Is it illegal and immoral? When, in all this, is the artist paid?
I see your point, but it's not as black and white as you make it out to be.
Re:May be a big deal...
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SHA-1 Broken
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Noticed your sig. It's interesting, because a couple of years ago./ gave me mod points every few days, but all of a sudden it stopped doing so, and I haven't gotten any mod points for the last year or so.
You'd think so, but no, it specifically says converting CD tracks to MP3s for playback on an MP3-player is illegal, because MP3-players aren't legitimate playback devices. It's kooky.
Btw, this only applies to CDs that are protected by any kind of copy protection devices.
Proponents for the law have said that since only about 5% of the CDs on the market carries copy protection, it really isn't a big deal...
I don't really understand this when no one prosecutes the average Joe from copying a CD to tape or CD to MP3 player for convenience . ..
Well, what do you know, this is just what the norwegian government wants to do. A new law proposal which if accepted will forbid copying tracks from a CD to an MP3 player.
Any video game fanatic that has followed the history of video games know that console wars were never about hardware. If it did, Atari Jaguar and Neo Geo would have dominated.
The trouble with these consoles (including CDTV and 3DO), was that they were insanely expensive on release, and didn't drop in price fast enough to gain and shred of the marketplace. They were nice consoles for sure.
Ahh, if there's one thing I like about the Xbox, it's that it'll be released almost simultaneously in Europe as the rest of the world. I really loathe the Asian thing where the hot stuff is released first in Japan, and then some six months later in Europe and rest of the world. I don't even know when PSP is scheduled to be released in Europe and the Nintendo DS is still a couple of months away...
Ok, sure, there's that. But I personally think the whole "huge old library" argument is overrated. Very few, I think, bother with PS1-games. I think it's an insignificant portion of the market.
I can't see how your thumb could reliably move from the upper clear button all the way down to the analog stick to cover all the buttons you could have to press.
I can understand how offering a big controller to people with big hands is a good idea, but forcing it on everyone was just arrogant (it's the Microsoft way!).
I can do that just fine:). And forcing a big controller... I dunno, it's like Sony forcing a small controller to people with big hands, or Nintendo forcing a completely horrible controller to just about everyone. Sony's controller is really the worst of the bunch - it's painful to use. This is all my opinion of course, it's not a general assessment. I own all three consoles, so there's no fanboyism at hand here. The worst of the worst, however, belongs to another era: the Amiga CD32. I love the console (I still have it hooked up), but the original controller is bad to the extreme. It's just a flat, elongated piece of plastic with unresponsive buttons. (*Shudder*).
Microsoft attempted that strategy the first time around, but focused on system stats as their definition of "better". Their original controller was a nightmare (and how long did they deny it? Now it's a collector's item, despite their repeated claims that it was perfect)
I resent that. I think (and I'm completely honest) that the original Xbox controller is the finest controller ever made for any game system. I have only one, and I've been trying to get hold of replacements (not that I have had a need for one yet, it's a very sturdy piece of kit), but have had no luck so far.:(
What IS interesting is the issue of piracy. It greatly affected the Dreamcast and the Xbox, neither did well. But (until recently), that was not the case with the PS2, nor the case with Gamecube. So it doesn't seem to be a primary effect on market position.
Your piece was interesting to read. I think you're right in your assessment that intially, piracy was a non factor with PS2. Nowadays it's just as easy to download a PS2 game as it is an Xbox game. Not so with the Cube, though it doesn't seem to help it much.
Sure, and I really do hope it will if the law is passed. I'm a conservative and had originally planned to vote for the current governemnt, but for this issue, I'm willing to switch sides.
If taking out some apps from being bundled will make people to give up on Windows that would proove one thing: Windows cannot survive without all the bundled wares. Which, my friend, is quite true.
Windows doesn't actually come bundled with that many apps. I mean, there's WMP, IE, Note- and Wordpad and some games from the Win95 era. Hardly stuff that anyone can't do without.
*** "The Norwegian government has shown a broad vision that is unique in Europe," said the group's secretary general Per Morten Hoff. He praised the law for recognizing the industry's right to protect copyrighted material. ***
Vision that is unique? LOL! With the currently changing markets for music formats - no one wants a portable cd player any more, everyone wants a portable mp3/wmv player - Norway's vision is ensuring either their population breaks the law, or sales of music cd's will plummet.
Per Morten Hoff is a lap dog for the software industry, and has been so for decades. You can't take anything he says seriously.
Man, this whole thing just ticks me off. It's just patethic. I hope the law makers will back off and take Gisle Hannemyr's wisdom to heart.
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With regards to the PSP -- it's good that a tool to convert movies to Sony's format has come along. I don't know the details, but if it's possible to just copy a converted movie to a memory stick (Sony's expensive one, that is) and insert it into the PSP & play it, it's going to be widely used and *is* going to be a boon for Sony, whether they approve of it or not.
This is really hard, isn't it? ;P
I actually meant to write non-proprietary MPEG, and also WMV. If only it was possible to edit posts on Slashdot...
Sony's future prospects would be even more bright if the thing had supported non proprietary MPEG-2/DivX/Xvid and WMW from the get go...
My Amiga 2000 works something like that as well. Internally, it has a 7~ MHz processor, but I've added a card that houses a 60 MHz processor and 60 MB ram. Quite nifty (and sadly, quite dated).
Oh, there's a story allright, but not in a traditional sense. It tells how world was created, the story of the elves and the higher beings and of the emergence of men, the lesser beings who would eventually dominate Middle Earth. It's pure mythology, with some very interesting stories. It's definitely not everyone's cup of tea, but I sure enjoyed it.
But the name must change. It's just seems like a big type - tray and pay. It sounds like a bad anti-piracy slogan. Please try and pay for your games. ;D
It must be a translation error. I guess the Slashdot editors don't understand australian all that well ;D
I see your point, but it's not as black and white as you make it out to be.
Noticed your sig. It's interesting, because a couple of years ago ./ gave me mod points every few days, but all of a sudden it stopped doing so, and I haven't gotten any mod points for the last year or so.
Enterprise, eh? I thought it was cancelled? ;P
Proponents for the law have said that since only about 5% of the CDs on the market carries copy protection, it really isn't a big deal...
http://news.designtechnica.com/article6553.html
Ahh, if there's one thing I like about the Xbox, it's that it'll be released almost simultaneously in Europe as the rest of the world. I really loathe the Asian thing where the hot stuff is released first in Japan, and then some six months later in Europe and rest of the world. I don't even know when PSP is scheduled to be released in Europe and the Nintendo DS is still a couple of months away...
Ok, sure, there's that. But I personally think the whole "huge old library" argument is overrated. Very few, I think, bother with PS1-games. I think it's an insignificant portion of the market.
An interesting news item cropped up in the gamesindustry in late january: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/content_page.php?aid
Ah, good point. I guess you could use the *best* terminal in the world (that awesome app called Hyperterminal) and download it that way. :D
Sure, and I really do hope it will if the law is passed. I'm a conservative and had originally planned to vote for the current governemnt, but for this issue, I'm willing to switch sides.
The Parliament will vote on this in the next few months. The upcoming election in the fall will not matter in this context.
Man, this whole thing just ticks me off. It's just patethic. I hope the law makers will back off and take Gisle Hannemyr's wisdom to heart.