I agree with previous posters that Sony could come out with the PS3 $999 and still sell out at launch, but they'd be crazy to do so. Even if they came out really high with the intention to drop the price significantly once sales to the hardcore fell off, the high initial price may have permanently scared off more casual buyers. Those casual buyers might even throw up their hands and spend their PS3 money on an Xbox 360. So if Sony launches at $499, they're taking a big risk on a console that will not have a lot of great games on launch (there simply isn't enough time) and for which there aren't going to be a lot of Blu-Ray movies either. To compete, I don't think they have any choice but to come out at no more than $399 in the U.S., likely more in Japan because they can get away with it there. Though, even in Japan, a high priced PS3 may not fly given that it will have to contend with a much cheaper Nintendo Revolution which is a bigger threat to them at home than Xbox 360.
Hmm, jokes about the name aside, what's this with yet another music subscription service? ITMS is not popular just because of iPods, but also because its DRM and terms are very palatible and easy to understand. Apple doesn't put all kinds of spyware on my computer to keep me from burning ITMS purchased tracks to CD and then subsequently ripping said tracks to MP3 files so that I can play them on my TiVo box. And Apple doesn't take away my ability to play the tracks I buy from them if I stop paying a subscription fee, because there is no subscription fee to be paid! Simple and easy.
I think most people want simple and easy, so it is truly baffling that these subscription services keep coming out. Of course, I could be wrong, maybe people do want to keep paying for their music every month. Are any of those subscription services like Napster actually making a profit?
At this point it would be good for Infinium to get _any_ product out the door no matter how good or bad. Once it finally came out, Daikatana was as bad as expected, but at least the death watch was over! This lapboard is not a bad idea, better if they make it compatible with consoles which shouldn't be too hard. Of course now one wonders if someone else already has a patent for a peripheral like this.
The govt has no choice but to provide TV vouchers. There are just too many people out there (many who voted for the current administration) who would be mighty pissed if they couldn't watch TV anymore. Joe Sixpack, NASCAR Dads, and Soccer Moms must have their bread and circuses otherwise they might be inclined to revolt. I wish this were just a joke, but I guess the importance of entertainment just tells us something more about the nature of the human spirit.
It was the end of the world, sekai no hate. (Sorry, just finished the finale of Revolutionary Girl Utena.)
Really rather touching. While the world was virtual, the relationships were not. If reality really is mostly what's in your head, then the end of AC2 really was the end of a world. Hmmm, there's gotta be a good story in there somewhere.
Looks like I'm going to be spending more time booted into Ubuntu this week! Ugh, I've gotten used to Windows vulnerabilities, but this is the first I've heard of a 3rd party beating MS to the patch like this. Microsoft! U Got Served!
Actually, it'll be interesting if this leads to a new wave of third party Windows patching. Not that this would necessarily be a good thing, but it most certainly would be interesting. At the very least, MS should hire that guy, or pay him a bounty.
I guess violent video games have become the new porn. I recall that years ago it seemed that someone in Indiana was always proposing or passing laws to restrict the sale of pornography. These laws were regularly struck down as unconstitutional just as the laws restricting violent video game sales have been. Oh well, I guess porn is just out of style!
Heh heh! Actually, being on the internet _is_ a part of my life with the kids. Pretty soon, I'll be struggling to keep up with them. From what I can see of the generation of kids that I'm fortunate enough to have a part in raising, there isn't going to be a difference between having a life and using the internet in the near future.;-)
Shortages like this almost always happen for any popular new console release. Even if Microsoft could have met demand, there are some good practical reasons not to.
1. Product defects: You don't want to get too many consoles out into the channel only to bring them back if some real show stoppers are discovered in the wild. Once you're sure everything is okay, you can make minor tweaks for the subsequent production runs using what the first run taught you.
2. No Dust Please: Too many consoles would mean some sitting on shelves gathering dust and people beginning to mumble about waiting for the first price drop. To the space conscious retailer, oversupply is probably worse than shortages.
3. Games Make Money: Each console is sold at a loss. You make your money from game royalties. Right now the number of available games is not very high and there really aren't any must have system sellers to speak of. (The Dead or Alive 4 delay killed the Japanese launch.) A console shortage minimizes money lost while game publishers catch up and hopefully produce the killer games that sell systems. *Cough*Halo 3*Cough*
Of course, I could be wrong about all of this, but in the end it does seem that something in short supply becomes all the more desirable, as long as it doesn't suck too badly.
Yet another piece of legislation that will do nothing to stop the real pirates! Indeed, as *AA imposes more and more restrictions, inconveniences, and expense upon consumers, they will make the cheaper and relatively hassle free offerings of pirates even more compelling. It's been argued before, but it seems all too clear that the most effective way to combat piracy is to offer a better product at a reasonable price. But I guess some people just have to learn the hard way.
There's nothing like a good woman to get the best out of a man, heh, heh! It's good to see the Gateses getting some recognition, but I think it's especially cool that Melinda is getting some cover time too. I don't think it's any coincidence that Bill Gates' philantropy really took off after he married Melinda. Now if Melinda can also do something to make Windows better then I will be clearing out some space in my home for a special shrine!
Heh, anyway you slice it, this is pretty cool! I don't know if this is a profitable idea or not, but definitely cool. The real fun begins if they try to add an electric motor to the mix to further reduce fuel consumption.
I agree, SOE definitely bit off a lot more than they could chew. And now, in the face of the runaway success of WoW, they are trying to reinvent the game to appeal to the same WoW crowd. By foregoing a genuine SWG 2, I think they are trying to have it both ways, attract a whole new demographic while holding on to some fraction of the old timers. But I have little doubt that they are gambling on bringing in a whole new crowd, so criticisms from the old guard are likely falling on deaf ears.
I played SWG for a while and found the customization and career choices very interesting. But ultimately I left because there was too much space and not enough people to fill it. And more special events and content would have helped too. All I can say is good luck to them!
I think the real fun begins next Christmas which is the earliest that I think we'll see the PS3 launch in the U.S.. Shortages and hardware issues are typical of major console launches, so on that note there was nothing unusual about the 360 launch. The thing that sets it apart IMHO is launching in three territories in a relatively short period of time. Kudos to Microsoft for pulling that off.
I think that now Sony has to be careful not to pull a Saturn and push the PS3 out the door before it and key software is ready. Right now, I just don't see how they can get it out along with good games by spring. And missing XMas 2007 in the U.S. would be very bad for them too. Granted, I don't think MS is going to grab the crown from Sony this round, but spotting them not one but two Christmas seasons would not be a good idea.
And let's not forget Nintendo! Since they have chosen not to go bleeding edge on the hardware, they may be able to launch by XMas 2007 as well. An inexpensive Revolution, Xbox 360 with a year's headstart, and the Playstation 3 likely launch should make next Christmas very interesting.
Nah! Just kidding! If anything, Sony and others selling consumer electronics are also sweating bullets as suing the manufacturer over every little thing becomes the first course of action rather than the last resort. Having lawyers more than willing to take on every such case does not help matters. So this isn't a Sony plot, but if Sony gets sued on the PS3 launch, well now that's another matter because we all know how evil Microsoft is...riiiiight?
Seriously, I don't expect this to have very long legs at all. Without admitting any design defect, Microsoft will probably roll out a modified model that will probably cost them less to manufacture and run cooler in about six months. That's usually how these things work out. So owning the first generation of new console hardware usually isn't the best idea if you can stand to wait.
Because of this sort of thing, the Target I usually shop at has a security guard who checks electronics against the receipt listing when you exit the store. He didn't say it was because of employee theft/scams, but after reading this, that makes more sense. This is being done at Best Buys and Circuit City's too so the iPod trick wouldn't have worked here in all likelihood.
Sadly, the governor and his people are already in full reelection campaign mode which means that good sense gets mowed down like so many pedestrians in San Andreas. Too bad he can't spend his own campaign money to finance the appeal instead of wasting my tax dollars on what is clearly motivated by his desire to look good to conservative voters. The other sad fact is that Governor Blagojevich probably isn't going to have a strong challenger anyway, so this inept bunch will probably get another term. As a generally Democratic voter, it really shames me that Democrats are going out of their way *cough*Hillary*cough* to support what they think are conservative values. Being pro-video game censorship is just pure pandering. If they are true Democrats, they know this is BS and as such it is fundamentally against the historic principles of the party to play the voters this way. The Democrats should remain true to their values. If we're going to be damned, then let's be damned for what we truly are!
The fact that movies and television do have more offensive/graphic content is precisely the reason that efforts to legislatively censor video games will fail. Successfully censoring video games is just a short hop from doing the same for movies, television, music, and even books (if anyone is still reading, heh heh). The traditional entertainment industry has enough money and political clout to squash these censorship efforts in all likelihood. Not only that, I think they are hoping to make more money from movie game tie-ins and such, so government censorship simply won't be allowed. Ironically, many of the same people are just as likely to cram DRM down our throats and push for the criminalization of p2p networks.
The real story here is that GMail went live without virus scanning in the first place considering that at least one of their major competitors, Yahoo!, already had it. In a lot of ways Google reminds me of the go go tech companies back in the tech boom of the late 90's when updates and "news" came on an almost hourly basis. Am I saying Google is going too fast? Maybe, but I do admire their enthusiasm energy. They certainly woke up Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN to name a few.
Well said. In the distant future movies may no longer be considered art either. I mean after all, how can a 2-dimensional noninteractive medium possibly be art? I mean that's just crazy talk! This reminds me a bit of that Futurama episode in which Fry is sitting around listening to "classical music", actually rap music extolling the virtues of the buttocks (Bender paraphrase).
The pundits won't agree, but I think that maybe RIM should just close up shop in protest. Clearly the way that patents are being used has gotten out of control, but nothing is going to be done to fix the problem until someone sufficiently powerful gets pissed off. Take away the Blackberry service for a week or two, and maybe the government big wigs and lobbyist will get the message that the predatory use of patents is a bad thing. It seems in this world that someone always has to die before anything gets done about obvious problems.
While I don't believe that there actually is such a thing as anonymity on the internet, that is it is a good assumption that people can always find out who you are, you make a good point. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Yahoo or Google to use RSS subscription data for marketing purposes. Indeed, I'd be surprised if they didn't. That said, I like the email+rss idea which if widely adopted will probably increase the popularity of blogs, which may or may not be a good thing...smirk
I wouldn't worry too much about anime and manga being mainstream in the U.S. just yet. Until I can see prime time anime series on the major broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC every week or cable networks other than Anime Network or Cartoon Network, anime has not made the mainstream. As a fan, I'm more worried about American fandom beginning to influence how anime and manga are produced in Japan. I want to see the stories as the Japanese see them, not (dubbing notwithstanding) as Japanese producers think American audiences want to see things. In any case, I'll keep watching and reading as long as the stories are good. Of course the other downside of anime becoming mainstream would be the likelihood that crappier anime will start being imported by people wanting a quick buck.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree with previous posters that Sony could come out with the PS3 $999 and still sell out at launch, but they'd be crazy to do so. Even if they came out really high with the intention to drop the price significantly once sales to the hardcore fell off, the high initial price may have permanently scared off more casual buyers. Those casual buyers might even throw up their hands and spend their PS3 money on an Xbox 360. So if Sony launches at $499, they're taking a big risk on a console that will not have a lot of great games on launch (there simply isn't enough time) and for which there aren't going to be a lot of Blu-Ray movies either. To compete, I don't think they have any choice but to come out at no more than $399 in the U.S., likely more in Japan because they can get away with it there. Though, even in Japan, a high priced PS3 may not fly given that it will have to contend with a much cheaper Nintendo Revolution which is a bigger threat to them at home than Xbox 360.
Hmm, jokes about the name aside, what's this with yet another music subscription service? ITMS is not popular just because of iPods, but also because its DRM and terms are very palatible and easy to understand. Apple doesn't put all kinds of spyware on my computer to keep me from burning ITMS purchased tracks to CD and then subsequently ripping said tracks to MP3 files so that I can play them on my TiVo box. And Apple doesn't take away my ability to play the tracks I buy from them if I stop paying a subscription fee, because there is no subscription fee to be paid! Simple and easy.
I think most people want simple and easy, so it is truly baffling that these subscription services keep coming out. Of course, I could be wrong, maybe people do want to keep paying for their music every month. Are any of those subscription services like Napster actually making a profit?
At this point it would be good for Infinium to get _any_ product out the door no matter how good or bad. Once it finally came out, Daikatana was as bad as expected, but at least the death watch was over! This lapboard is not a bad idea, better if they make it compatible with consoles which shouldn't be too hard. Of course now one wonders if someone else already has a patent for a peripheral like this.
The govt has no choice but to provide TV vouchers. There are just too many people out there (many who voted for the current administration) who would be mighty pissed if they couldn't watch TV anymore. Joe Sixpack, NASCAR Dads, and Soccer Moms must have their bread and circuses otherwise they might be inclined to revolt. I wish this were just a joke, but I guess the importance of entertainment just tells us something more about the nature of the human spirit.
It was the end of the world, sekai no hate. (Sorry, just finished the finale of Revolutionary Girl Utena.)
Really rather touching. While the world was virtual, the relationships were not. If reality really is mostly what's in your head, then the end of AC2 really was the end of a world. Hmmm, there's gotta be a good story in there somewhere.
Looks like I'm going to be spending more time booted into Ubuntu this week! Ugh, I've gotten used to Windows vulnerabilities, but this is the first I've heard of a 3rd party beating MS to the patch like this. Microsoft! U Got Served!
Actually, it'll be interesting if this leads to a new wave of third party Windows patching. Not that this would necessarily be a good thing, but it most certainly would be interesting. At the very least, MS should hire that guy, or pay him a bounty.
I guess violent video games have become the new porn. I recall that years ago it seemed that someone in Indiana was always proposing or passing laws to restrict the sale of pornography. These laws were regularly struck down as unconstitutional just as the laws restricting violent video game sales have been. Oh well, I guess porn is just out of style!
Heh heh! Actually, being on the internet _is_ a part of my life with the kids. Pretty soon, I'll be struggling to keep up with them. From what I can see of the generation of kids that I'm fortunate enough to have a part in raising, there isn't going to be a difference between having a life and using the internet in the near future. ;-)
Shortages like this almost always happen for any popular new console release. Even if Microsoft could have met demand, there are some good practical reasons not to.
1. Product defects: You don't want to get too many consoles out into the channel only to bring them back if some real show stoppers are discovered in the wild. Once you're sure everything is okay, you can make minor tweaks for the subsequent production runs using what the first run taught you.
2. No Dust Please: Too many consoles would mean some sitting on shelves gathering dust and people beginning to mumble about waiting for the first price drop. To the space conscious retailer, oversupply is probably worse than shortages.
3. Games Make Money: Each console is sold at a loss. You make your money from game royalties. Right now the number of available games is not very high and there really aren't any must have system sellers to speak of. (The Dead or Alive 4 delay killed the Japanese launch.) A console shortage minimizes money lost while game publishers catch up and hopefully produce the killer games that sell systems. *Cough*Halo 3*Cough*
Of course, I could be wrong about all of this, but in the end it does seem that something in short supply becomes all the more desirable, as long as it doesn't suck too badly.
Yet another piece of legislation that will do nothing to stop the real pirates! Indeed, as *AA imposes more and more restrictions, inconveniences, and expense upon consumers, they will make the cheaper and relatively hassle free offerings of pirates even more compelling. It's been argued before, but it seems all too clear that the most effective way to combat piracy is to offer a better product at a reasonable price. But I guess some people just have to learn the hard way.
There's nothing like a good woman to get the best out of a man, heh, heh! It's good to see the Gateses getting some recognition, but I think it's especially cool that Melinda is getting some cover time too. I don't think it's any coincidence that Bill Gates' philantropy really took off after he married Melinda. Now if Melinda can also do something to make Windows better then I will be clearing out some space in my home for a special shrine!
Hey! I'd play that! Where can I preorder? I can't wait to punish villainy in the name of the Moon!
Heh, anyway you slice it, this is pretty cool! I don't know if this is a profitable idea or not, but definitely cool. The real fun begins if they try to add an electric motor to the mix to further reduce fuel consumption.
I agree, SOE definitely bit off a lot more than they could chew. And now, in the face of the runaway success of WoW, they are trying to reinvent the game to appeal to the same WoW crowd. By foregoing a genuine SWG 2, I think they are trying to have it both ways, attract a whole new demographic while holding on to some fraction of the old timers. But I have little doubt that they are gambling on bringing in a whole new crowd, so criticisms from the old guard are likely falling on deaf ears.
I played SWG for a while and found the customization and career choices very interesting. But ultimately I left because there was too much space and not enough people to fill it. And more special events and content would have helped too. All I can say is good luck to them!
I think the real fun begins next Christmas which is the earliest that I think we'll see the PS3 launch in the U.S.. Shortages and hardware issues are typical of major console launches, so on that note there was nothing unusual about the 360 launch. The thing that sets it apart IMHO is launching in three territories in a relatively short period of time. Kudos to Microsoft for pulling that off.
I think that now Sony has to be careful not to pull a Saturn and push the PS3 out the door before it and key software is ready. Right now, I just don't see how they can get it out along with good games by spring. And missing XMas 2007 in the U.S. would be very bad for them too. Granted, I don't think MS is going to grab the crown from Sony this round, but spotting them not one but two Christmas seasons would not be a good idea.
And let's not forget Nintendo! Since they have chosen not to go bleeding edge on the hardware, they may be able to launch by XMas 2007 as well. An inexpensive Revolution, Xbox 360 with a year's headstart, and the Playstation 3 likely launch should make next Christmas very interesting.
Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if Mr. Gates uses Google too! It's good to keep an eye on the competition!
Nah! Just kidding! If anything, Sony and others selling consumer electronics are also sweating bullets as suing the manufacturer over every little thing becomes the first course of action rather than the last resort. Having lawyers more than willing to take on every such case does not help matters. So this isn't a Sony plot, but if Sony gets sued on the PS3 launch, well now that's another matter because we all know how evil Microsoft is...riiiiight?
Seriously, I don't expect this to have very long legs at all. Without admitting any design defect, Microsoft will probably roll out a modified model that will probably cost them less to manufacture and run cooler in about six months. That's usually how these things work out. So owning the first generation of new console hardware usually isn't the best idea if you can stand to wait.
Because of this sort of thing, the Target I usually shop at has a security guard who checks electronics against the receipt listing when you exit the store. He didn't say it was because of employee theft/scams, but after reading this, that makes more sense. This is being done at Best Buys and Circuit City's too so the iPod trick wouldn't have worked here in all likelihood.
Sadly, the governor and his people are already in full reelection campaign mode which means that good sense gets mowed down like so many pedestrians in San Andreas. Too bad he can't spend his own campaign money to finance the appeal instead of wasting my tax dollars on what is clearly motivated by his desire to look good to conservative voters. The other sad fact is that Governor Blagojevich probably isn't going to have a strong challenger anyway, so this inept bunch will probably get another term. As a generally Democratic voter, it really shames me that Democrats are going out of their way *cough*Hillary*cough* to support what they think are conservative values. Being pro-video game censorship is just pure pandering. If they are true Democrats, they know this is BS and as such it is fundamentally against the historic principles of the party to play the voters this way. The Democrats should remain true to their values. If we're going to be damned, then let's be damned for what we truly are!
The fact that movies and television do have more offensive/graphic content is precisely the reason that efforts to legislatively censor video games will fail. Successfully censoring video games is just a short hop from doing the same for movies, television, music, and even books (if anyone is still reading, heh heh). The traditional entertainment industry has enough money and political clout to squash these censorship efforts in all likelihood. Not only that, I think they are hoping to make more money from movie game tie-ins and such, so government censorship simply won't be allowed. Ironically, many of the same people are just as likely to cram DRM down our throats and push for the criminalization of p2p networks.
The real story here is that GMail went live without virus scanning in the first place considering that at least one of their major competitors, Yahoo!, already had it. In a lot of ways Google reminds me of the go go tech companies back in the tech boom of the late 90's when updates and "news" came on an almost hourly basis. Am I saying Google is going too fast? Maybe, but I do admire their enthusiasm energy. They certainly woke up Yahoo!, AOL, and MSN to name a few.
Well said. In the distant future movies may no longer be considered art either. I mean after all, how can a 2-dimensional noninteractive medium possibly be art? I mean that's just crazy talk! This reminds me a bit of that Futurama episode in which Fry is sitting around listening to "classical music", actually rap music extolling the virtues of the buttocks (Bender paraphrase).
The pundits won't agree, but I think that maybe RIM should just close up shop in protest. Clearly the way that patents are being used has gotten out of control, but nothing is going to be done to fix the problem until someone sufficiently powerful gets pissed off. Take away the Blackberry service for a week or two, and maybe the government big wigs and lobbyist will get the message that the predatory use of patents is a bad thing. It seems in this world that someone always has to die before anything gets done about obvious problems.
While I don't believe that there actually is such a thing as anonymity on the internet, that is it is a good assumption that people can always find out who you are, you make a good point. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch for Yahoo or Google to use RSS subscription data for marketing purposes. Indeed, I'd be surprised if they didn't. That said, I like the email+rss idea which if widely adopted will probably increase the popularity of blogs, which may or may not be a good thing...smirk
I wouldn't worry too much about anime and manga being mainstream in the U.S. just yet. Until I can see prime time anime series on the major broadcast networks, ABC, CBS, and NBC every week or cable networks other than Anime Network or Cartoon Network, anime has not made the mainstream. As a fan, I'm more worried about American fandom beginning to influence how anime and manga are produced in Japan. I want to see the stories as the Japanese see them, not (dubbing notwithstanding) as Japanese producers think American audiences want to see things. In any case, I'll keep watching and reading as long as the stories are good. Of course the other downside of anime becoming mainstream would be the likelihood that crappier anime will start being imported by people wanting a quick buck.