This is nothing more than a person's personal opinion on the state of the console gaming market today, and you would be crazy to site it in any research paper or anything of that sort.
But I cite penis graphs and stories from the far future in all of my research papers! And I pretty them up with renders of naked women fighting! That's how you know it is serious!
First of all, saying the Xbox is the future is just fanboyism as the article totally lacks the journalism and the facts to support it.
Was the lack of journalism not readily apparent via the penis graph, or perhaps the story of the future definition of the word 'victor'?
The article was designed as a piece of humor, not as a serious discussion of each console's merits. Finding it not funny is alright (senses of humor vary greatly), but complaining that it wasn't accurate it just stupid. That also goes for the other 500 monkeys that complained that Nintendo wasn't accurately described, M$ sucks, etc. etc.
Pretty much anyone can look up plenty of interviews, etc. with MS people stating that they don't expect to beat Sony this generation. And newsflash: Japan is becoming increasingly insignificant in the console market. Most studies suggest USA and Europe are videogaming's near future (hell, the best selling console game for the last year wasn't even released in Japan until recently), as the Japanese just aren't buying as many games as they used to. This was apparent from even before the PS2 launched in America, as attach rates in Japan were so very low.
Though I do hope whatever your place in the industry is, it doesn't involve trying to make or approve anything humorous. (cheapshot to incite fanboys!) Hell, you probably work with Nintendo, since the only funny thing they have developed in the last three years is the public's growing sense of how out of touch they are...(/cheapshot)
Some of us are well-aware that the Xbox doesn't use a Celeron, actually.
And honestly, no one I know is looking forward to PS3 all that much. Plenty of people remember how much the PS2's launch sucked, and I don't think the same hype will exist this time. Obviously, if Sony shows off some AAA class launch titles, this could very well change.
Different people have different tastes. I only have a little bit more than a dozen or so Xbox games, but that is largely because I can't afford more. Just a few, for reference:
JSRF - Cool, though not as good as the original. SEGAGT2002 - Fun, but not really my thing. Maybe on a rainy day. DOA3 - Best fighting game out there, IMO. Its amazing depth is underrated by most fighting fans. Panzer Dragoon Orta - Awesome, awesome work of art. The best action-orientated Panzer Dragoon game. Rallisport Challenge - Great racer, with a good mix of arcadey yet realistic gameplay. Quantum Redshift - Another good racer. Amped - Awesome snow-boarding game. Best I have played. GUNVALKYRIE - Interesting game. Got it cheap. But better as a rental. Phantom Crash - Very Japanese. Has some problems, but still a really fun game, and nothing quite like it is out there. MGS2: Substance - The main game is disappointing, but the VR missions rule. Dead to Rights - This one surprised me. Much better than I expected, or the comparatively lame Max Payne. DOAXBV - Best 'chill game' I have ever played. KOTOR - Overrated, but still a wonderful game. Cel Damage - Underlooked little title. Lots of fun for MP.
There are plenty of other great games I have played, like the obvious Halo, Project Gotham, the various sports games (still need to try the cool looking Soccer Slam), Crazy Taxi 3, Buffy, Crimson Seas (gah, though, the dubbing!), MechAssault, HOTD3, etc. Some good ports I played on other systems, too, like Capcom vs SNK2.
I agree with you, but maybe the 'impossible' could happen: Nintendo could once again create a new franchise that takes the world by storm. I don't think it is likely, with the state of development at NOJ, but they certainly have done it before. Think how much worse they would be at now without Pokemon, for example! It is possible they can create a new craze to save their butts...
Way to trollishly win an argument that was never started. Jesus, lay off the GC advocacy (or more importantly, the irrational Xbox bashing) - no one was comparing the two, and no one cares.
It is too bad the recent Zealot poll didn't have Nintendo fanboys, that was what I would have picked. We know the GC is a nice console with some fun games, relax, stop trying to fight a holy war.:) Seriously, third place in a console market this large is not a bad thing at all!
I do wonder that, actually. Especially with how bizarre the character is that delivers the statement is. I actually have yet to see all of FLCL (just caught that episode the other night), as money is tight for the DVDs, but I wonder how that line plays in Japanese, too, and if that is really a direct/accurate translation anyway. In particular, though, I didn't see the episode the preview line was referring to, so maybe it made it clearer...
I do agree with you about Woo's consistency. I know some films like MI2 and Hard Target had a lot of studio interference (they screened an R rated and hour longer cut of MI2 near my house a week before the PG13 butchered version was released - unfortunately, I missed it), but still... I wonder how much of it is sort of just a HK cinema work ethic, where there isn't quite the same drive to ALWAYS perform up to your reputation as there is in Hollywood and Europe.
I love Gainax, but I would expect them to have a better understanding of the cinematic structuralism that Woo is so fond of. The shallowness is part of the point. Maybe they are just being ironic?
Sad to see how underappreciated the artistry of Woo's films are here on Slashdot, apparently.
Huh? The 'winner' of that gen, the PSX, required memory cards anyway (the Saturn memory cartridges were flash memory, too, though they had higher capacity). The only difference with the Saturn was that it essentially ALSO had a built-in memory card - a brilliant decision that I wish Sony (and later Nintendo) had followed. Also, you could change the battery while it was still on, and your saves would be retained (check the owners manual!). Likewise, plenty of games allowed you to save to the catridges - for example, Panzer Dragoon Saga (which I am finally going through now). I think you are badly misinformed about the Saturn's capabilities... And suggesting it flopped in the USA (it did very well in its home market of Japan) because of its savegame format? Please!
Some obvious examples of adult-themed games, just off the top of my (exhausted) head:
Panzer Dragoon Series - Relatively sophisticated settings, themes, and storylines - especially the last two games.
Dead or Alive Series - Many adult gamers want their games to at least acknowledge the fact that some people enjoy sexuality. The fact that it has a very complex, deep (and massively, massively underrated) fighting engine doesn't hurt, either!
Jet Set Radio Series - Music and counterculture themes that you just don't find in Saturday morning cartoons - admittedly this was recently ported to GBA, though I am not sure how much was really retained.
Virtua Fighter Series - Very complicated/complex gameplay - you really have to work at it to achieve a basic level of competency.
GTA Series - Not just for the over-commented-on violence, but just the fact that the games are filled with references to films, music, television shows, etc. - adults generally enjoy that kind of brain candy.
Shenmue - Slower-paced, rather thoughtful storyline with some interesting characters - the Saturday morning cartoon quality dubbing for the American versions admittedly hurts the maturity of the presentation.
Alpha Centauri - BIG ideas, and loads of them. Questions conventional morality/values. Lots of grays...
Grim Fandango - Both for the wonderful art direction, something better appreciated by more-experienced adults, as well as the interesting storyline - pretty sophisticated stuff here.
Planescape Torment - Probably my favorite storyline in a videogame ever. I can't possibly do it justice with a summary. Wonderfully complicated, mournful, perplexing, etc. Amazing stuff.
Deus Ex/System Shock 2 - Awesome, amazingly complex universes and storylines. Again, they will make you question your beliefs (especially Deus Ex) - a hallmark of adult art, IMO. Complicated game engines, too. System Shock 2 made me so terrified, I can only imagine what it would do some fragile young Mario fan's mind.:P
Ikaruga (unedited non-US release) - In some ways, more of a lession in Zen Buddhism than an actual game. Everything in the game, from the art style to the play mechanics, serves the theme of overcoming oneself, be it the stagnation that dualism creates, regret for one's past choices, the fear of death, etc. Admittedly the storyline is subtle (even calling it a storyline is a little much), conveyed more through visual motion and symbolism than conventional storytelling methods. But plenty of adult films do the same.
With the exception of GTA and System Shock 2, none of these games feature large amounts of gore or any pornography. I realize the concept of 'adult themes' has been corrupted by its use in (child-centered) rating systems, but if you really think about what it means, it isn't that hard (tip: if you can't do it with games for some reason, think of movies or books that you would categorize as having adult themes, as in stuff children just probably wouldn't appreciate). Adults generally have 'bigger brains', and many of us like to have it actually utilized by our games, and not just for (increasing simple) Nintendo platform puzzles. Some people look to games for mostly escapism, some people (like myself) look to them as just another artform to enjoy and enrich my life with.
And I would like to note that I am sure many non-adults can enjoy some of these games (and similar movies) - I was one of them, and I have met plenty of kids now who are similar. No ageism is implied, 'adult' is just a very good word to describe what we are talking about when we say we want 'adult games'.
Just an easy example to finish with: plenty of adult films, plays, and books deal with huge topics, like religious faith. I can think of several very famous, popular films that question a viewer's faith in god - how many games have we played that have reached for similar heights?
Why would I play my console games interlaced? I have been playing fully progressive scan console games since the Dreamcast came out in 1999. The vast majority of games for it supported progressive scan output (the only notable [ie a good game] exception that I can recall is Treasure's Bangaoih). Same with Xbox and Gamecube, for that matter. So you are complaining about a problem that has been solved for nearly 4 years, excepting the unlucky PS2 owners of course.:P
I do agree that standard interlaced displays are pretty bad for some games, and higher rezes than 480p should be standard ASAP. But the vast majority of PC gamers I know aren't able to run the really cutting edge stuff above 640X480 (800X600, tops) anyway.
And please, find another game, ANY GAME, that is coming out in the next three years that will have graphics comparable to HL2. Sure, certain engines will look better (I am in the minority that thinks Doom3 'already' does this), but supposedly Valve put "all of" the profits from HL1 into HL2. Can any other game company really put out that kind of money for production values like HL2? (Maybe Maxis, but I don't think they want to.) The insanely expensive production values are what make HL2 look nice, not really the tech used.
Luckily for all of the other developers (and us gamers), the nice thing about game graphics is that style and tone can often be more important than whiz-bang realism. For example: though its framerate could use a boost, the spectacularly stylized, surreal, creative Rez still looks loads better than the boring, drab, 'realistic' visuals of HL2. I am not alone in this opinion, either.
Likewise, I am more excited at the 'revolutionary' lighting that Doom3 will be using than anything Valve has shown for HL2. The graphics for Doom3 really allows for newish gameplay - HL2 is just 'pretty' (not a good word to use for HL2's art design, but you know what I mean).
'Graphics quality' is a hell of a lot more than just high usage of plentiful polygons and cool shaders. Give me a fun game made my talented artists on capable hardware any day - I won't complain. (one more example: Treasure, using a team of THREE people, working for less than 2 years; Naomi arcade system, basically a lowly Dreamcast; result: the gorgeous Ikaruga)
Just some info: Consoles are usually sold with significantly low profits for the retailers - a few dollars is not uncommon. So distribution certainly must be calculated, but retailers take very little of the $180 pie. Peripherals have extremely high margins, though, which does help the retailer (as most people buy an extra controller when they buy the system, I would imagine, and non-xbox systems require memory cards).
And it had a ridiculously cheesy ad campaign. I remember the trailers alone managed to keep me away when it was in theaters, though I eventually enjoyed it on video.
Look at how many dedicated gaming devices Sony and Nintendo have sold compared to Microsofts try-and-do-everything Box.
Sony I will give you, but I don't think this strategy is actuallyworkingfor Nintendo too well. Nintendo will win Japan, granted, but Europe, Australia, and America are probably lost at this point. Too bad that the Japanese (non-cellphone) game market is shrinking so much, too.
And if you really think the Xbox has only 2-3 worthwhile games, I am really curious what kind of games you play. Project Gotham, DOA3, Amped, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Shenmue II, JSRF, etc. are all pretty cool, and not available for PC or other systems (at least in the US in the case of Shenmue II). Likewise, how can you defend the GC's smaller library, which also has less variety?
By all means, enjoy any console you like, but it seems stupid to complain about how terrible a console is that many people seriously do enjoy, with sales numbers to prove it.
And what does the Xbox try and do that Sony hasn't tried with the PS2 (which is dominating)?
That explains the Gamecube's BLAZING graphics performance, at least.:P
Though I think a console's graphics quality has to do more with how much the console manufacturer is willing to spend on the hardware. Hence the Xbox's rather impressive graphics (any games on the other systems and PC look as amazing as Panzer Dragoon Orta or DOA3 yet?), and the rather one-trick pony graphics the GC feature (lots of fancy textures, but of course with media that doesn't really allow you to bring much variety to the table:/).
He just wants a cheap argument to allow author's who have no creative insight in the least to get rich off the hard work of others.
If JK Rowling's books (a standard Western mythological mishmash with a storyline seen in a thousand other works of arts) required creative insight, so does writing a book that features Russian folklore and a slightly derivative name. Are you seriously arguing that Rowling's success is due to her main character's name? Or that she invented the idea of a young sorcerer?
This has nothing to do with copyright reform - the authors of these new books are trading off Harry Potter by slightly changing the name and keeping all the magic and other elements of the book in it. It's not like they're even trying to be different. If they wrote a book about a magician but was different in other ways you could say that 'magic' was in vogue, and it is OK. But is seems like these people are just ripping off quite a lot and writing some stories for the cash.
Did you even read the article? Most of these stories sound incredibly different from the Harry Potter books. Does Harry Potter use a grenade launcher and fight in various Russian wars in the latest book or something? Meet Indian literary figures?
When I go to Apple's website, it says in big letters:
The Power Mac G5 The world's fastest personal computer./B.
I consider that a lie.
Follow that link and you will find a list of benchmark results. These you could potentially argue are not a lie, but after the details highlighted in the debunking report, many other geeks and myself do consider it to be one.
Those are the main lies we are all complaining about.
That is why the debunking I read averaged the Dell and Apple scores and used that. Seemed like a fair way to eliminate some potential marketing spin.
I do agree with your conclusion, however many people still don't like being lied to by companies they buy from (deciding if this is naive or properly idealistic is an exercise for the reader). That is really what this is all about. Apple made some very big claims. Of course they have cooked benchmarks so many times before I am not sure why anyone would expect otherwise now.:P
Slashdot Mirror
This is nothing more than a person's personal opinion on the state of the console gaming market today, and you would be crazy to site it in any research paper or anything of that sort.
But I cite penis graphs and stories from the far future in all of my research papers! And I pretty them up with renders of naked women fighting! That's how you know it is serious!
First of all, saying the Xbox is the future is just fanboyism as the article totally lacks the journalism and the facts to support it.
Was the lack of journalism not readily apparent via the penis graph, or perhaps the story of the future definition of the word 'victor'?
The article was designed as a piece of humor, not as a serious discussion of each console's merits. Finding it not funny is alright (senses of humor vary greatly), but complaining that it wasn't accurate it just stupid. That also goes for the other 500 monkeys that complained that Nintendo wasn't accurately described, M$ sucks, etc. etc.
Pretty much anyone can look up plenty of interviews, etc. with MS people stating that they don't expect to beat Sony this generation. And newsflash: Japan is becoming increasingly insignificant in the console market. Most studies suggest USA and Europe are videogaming's near future (hell, the best selling console game for the last year wasn't even released in Japan until recently), as the Japanese just aren't buying as many games as they used to. This was apparent from even before the PS2 launched in America, as attach rates in Japan were so very low.
Though I do hope whatever your place in the industry is, it doesn't involve trying to make or approve anything humorous. (cheapshot to incite fanboys!) Hell, you probably work with Nintendo, since the only funny thing they have developed in the last three years is the public's growing sense of how out of touch they are...(/cheapshot)
Some of us are well-aware that the Xbox doesn't use a Celeron, actually.
And honestly, no one I know is looking forward to PS3 all that much. Plenty of people remember how much the PS2's launch sucked, and I don't think the same hype will exist this time. Obviously, if Sony shows off some AAA class launch titles, this could very well change.
No offense, but I really don't think a lowly two xserves makes up a good sample to base any predictions on their reliability!
Different people have different tastes. I only have a little bit more than a dozen or so Xbox games, but that is largely because I can't afford more. Just a few, for reference:
JSRF - Cool, though not as good as the original.
SEGAGT2002 - Fun, but not really my thing. Maybe on a rainy day.
DOA3 - Best fighting game out there, IMO. Its amazing depth is underrated by most fighting fans.
Panzer Dragoon Orta - Awesome, awesome work of art. The best action-orientated Panzer Dragoon game.
Rallisport Challenge - Great racer, with a good mix of arcadey yet realistic gameplay.
Quantum Redshift - Another good racer.
Amped - Awesome snow-boarding game. Best I have played.
GUNVALKYRIE - Interesting game. Got it cheap. But better as a rental.
Phantom Crash - Very Japanese. Has some problems, but still a really fun game, and nothing quite like it is out there.
MGS2: Substance - The main game is disappointing, but the VR missions rule.
Dead to Rights - This one surprised me. Much better than I expected, or the comparatively lame Max Payne.
DOAXBV - Best 'chill game' I have ever played.
KOTOR - Overrated, but still a wonderful game.
Cel Damage - Underlooked little title. Lots of fun for MP.
There are plenty of other great games I have played, like the obvious Halo, Project Gotham, the various sports games (still need to try the cool looking Soccer Slam), Crazy Taxi 3, Buffy, Crimson Seas (gah, though, the dubbing!), MechAssault, HOTD3, etc. Some good ports I played on other systems, too, like Capcom vs SNK2.
Not to mention that's only in the US and Europe, while the Japanese...
:P
"Only", as in "Only the two biggest videogame markets in the world"?
I agree with you, but maybe the 'impossible' could happen: Nintendo could once again create a new franchise that takes the world by storm. I don't think it is likely, with the state of development at NOJ, but they certainly have done it before. Think how much worse they would be at now without Pokemon, for example! It is possible they can create a new craze to save their butts...
Way to trollishly win an argument that was never started. Jesus, lay off the GC advocacy (or more importantly, the irrational Xbox bashing) - no one was comparing the two, and no one cares.
:) Seriously, third place in a console market this large is not a bad thing at all!
It is too bad the recent Zealot poll didn't have Nintendo fanboys, that was what I would have picked. We know the GC is a nice console with some fun games, relax, stop trying to fight a holy war.
Does the concept of scale exist in your tidy little jaded world?
I do wonder that, actually. Especially with how bizarre the character is that delivers the statement is. I actually have yet to see all of FLCL (just caught that episode the other night), as money is tight for the DVDs, but I wonder how that line plays in Japanese, too, and if that is really a direct/accurate translation anyway. In particular, though, I didn't see the episode the preview line was referring to, so maybe it made it clearer...
I do agree with you about Woo's consistency. I know some films like MI2 and Hard Target had a lot of studio interference (they screened an R rated and hour longer cut of MI2 near my house a week before the PG13 butchered version was released - unfortunately, I missed it), but still... I wonder how much of it is sort of just a HK cinema work ethic, where there isn't quite the same drive to ALWAYS perform up to your reputation as there is in Hollywood and Europe.
I love Gainax, but I would expect them to have a better understanding of the cinematic structuralism that Woo is so fond of. The shallowness is part of the point. Maybe they are just being ironic?
Sad to see how underappreciated the artistry of Woo's films are here on Slashdot, apparently.
The FSF is against almost all licenses other than (L)GPL, including (especially?) BSD.
Bull.
Huh? The 'winner' of that gen, the PSX, required memory cards anyway (the Saturn memory cartridges were flash memory, too, though they had higher capacity). The only difference with the Saturn was that it essentially ALSO had a built-in memory card - a brilliant decision that I wish Sony (and later Nintendo) had followed. Also, you could change the battery while it was still on, and your saves would be retained (check the owners manual!). Likewise, plenty of games allowed you to save to the catridges - for example, Panzer Dragoon Saga (which I am finally going through now). I think you are badly misinformed about the Saturn's capabilities... And suggesting it flopped in the USA (it did very well in its home market of Japan) because of its savegame format? Please!
Some obvious examples of adult-themed games, just off the top of my (exhausted) head:
:P
Panzer Dragoon Series - Relatively sophisticated settings, themes, and storylines - especially the last two games.
Dead or Alive Series - Many adult gamers want their games to at least acknowledge the fact that some people enjoy sexuality. The fact that it has a very complex, deep (and massively, massively underrated) fighting engine doesn't hurt, either!
Jet Set Radio Series - Music and counterculture themes that you just don't find in Saturday morning cartoons - admittedly this was recently ported to GBA, though I am not sure how much was really retained.
Virtua Fighter Series - Very complicated/complex gameplay - you really have to work at it to achieve a basic level of competency.
GTA Series - Not just for the over-commented-on violence, but just the fact that the games are filled with references to films, music, television shows, etc. - adults generally enjoy that kind of brain candy.
Shenmue - Slower-paced, rather thoughtful storyline with some interesting characters - the Saturday morning cartoon quality dubbing for the American versions admittedly hurts the maturity of the presentation.
Alpha Centauri - BIG ideas, and loads of them. Questions conventional morality/values. Lots of grays...
Grim Fandango - Both for the wonderful art direction, something better appreciated by more-experienced adults, as well as the interesting storyline - pretty sophisticated stuff here.
Planescape Torment - Probably my favorite storyline in a videogame ever. I can't possibly do it justice with a summary. Wonderfully complicated, mournful, perplexing, etc. Amazing stuff.
Deus Ex/System Shock 2 - Awesome, amazingly complex universes and storylines. Again, they will make you question your beliefs (especially Deus Ex) - a hallmark of adult art, IMO. Complicated game engines, too. System Shock 2 made me so terrified, I can only imagine what it would do some fragile young Mario fan's mind.
Ikaruga (unedited non-US release) - In some ways, more of a lession in Zen Buddhism than an actual game. Everything in the game, from the art style to the play mechanics, serves the theme of overcoming oneself, be it the stagnation that dualism creates, regret for one's past choices, the fear of death, etc. Admittedly the storyline is subtle (even calling it a storyline is a little much), conveyed more through visual motion and symbolism than conventional storytelling methods. But plenty of adult films do the same.
With the exception of GTA and System Shock 2, none of these games feature large amounts of gore or any pornography. I realize the concept of 'adult themes' has been corrupted by its use in (child-centered) rating systems, but if you really think about what it means, it isn't that hard (tip: if you can't do it with games for some reason, think of movies or books that you would categorize as having adult themes, as in stuff children just probably wouldn't appreciate). Adults generally have 'bigger brains', and many of us like to have it actually utilized by our games, and not just for (increasing simple) Nintendo platform puzzles. Some people look to games for mostly escapism, some people (like myself) look to them as just another artform to enjoy and enrich my life with.
And I would like to note that I am sure many non-adults can enjoy some of these games (and similar movies) - I was one of them, and I have met plenty of kids now who are similar. No ageism is implied, 'adult' is just a very good word to describe what we are talking about when we say we want 'adult games'.
Just an easy example to finish with: plenty of adult films, plays, and books deal with huge topics, like religious faith. I can think of several very famous, popular films that question a viewer's faith in god - how many games have we played that have reached for similar heights?
IMHO, not enough.
Why would I play my console games interlaced? I have been playing fully progressive scan console games since the Dreamcast came out in 1999. The vast majority of games for it supported progressive scan output (the only notable [ie a good game] exception that I can recall is Treasure's Bangaoih). Same with Xbox and Gamecube, for that matter. So you are complaining about a problem that has been solved for nearly 4 years, excepting the unlucky PS2 owners of course. :P
I do agree that standard interlaced displays are pretty bad for some games, and higher rezes than 480p should be standard ASAP. But the vast majority of PC gamers I know aren't able to run the really cutting edge stuff above 640X480 (800X600, tops) anyway.
And please, find another game, ANY GAME, that is coming out in the next three years that will have graphics comparable to HL2. Sure, certain engines will look better (I am in the minority that thinks Doom3 'already' does this), but supposedly Valve put "all of" the profits from HL1 into HL2. Can any other game company really put out that kind of money for production values like HL2? (Maybe Maxis, but I don't think they want to.) The insanely expensive production values are what make HL2 look nice, not really the tech used.
Luckily for all of the other developers (and us gamers), the nice thing about game graphics is that style and tone can often be more important than whiz-bang realism. For example: though its framerate could use a boost, the spectacularly stylized, surreal, creative Rez still looks loads better than the boring, drab, 'realistic' visuals of HL2. I am not alone in this opinion, either.
Likewise, I am more excited at the 'revolutionary' lighting that Doom3 will be using than anything Valve has shown for HL2. The graphics for Doom3 really allows for newish gameplay - HL2 is just 'pretty' (not a good word to use for HL2's art design, but you know what I mean).
'Graphics quality' is a hell of a lot more than just high usage of plentiful polygons and cool shaders. Give me a fun game made my talented artists on capable hardware any day - I won't complain. (one more example: Treasure, using a team of THREE people, working for less than 2 years; Naomi arcade system, basically a lowly Dreamcast; result: the gorgeous Ikaruga)
Just some info:
Consoles are usually sold with significantly low profits for the retailers - a few dollars is not uncommon. So distribution certainly must be calculated, but retailers take very little of the $180 pie. Peripherals have extremely high margins, though, which does help the retailer (as most people buy an extra controller when they buy the system, I would imagine, and non-xbox systems require memory cards).
And it had a ridiculously cheesy ad campaign. I remember the trailers alone managed to keep me away when it was in theaters, though I eventually enjoyed it on video.
"There is no gene...for the human spirit!"
Bleh!
Look at how many dedicated gaming devices Sony and Nintendo have sold compared to Microsofts try-and-do-everything Box.
Sony I will give you, but I don't think this strategy is actually working for Nintendo too well. Nintendo will win Japan, granted, but Europe, Australia, and America are probably lost at this point. Too bad that the Japanese (non-cellphone) game market is shrinking so much, too.
And if you really think the Xbox has only 2-3 worthwhile games, I am really curious what kind of games you play. Project Gotham, DOA3, Amped, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Shenmue II, JSRF, etc. are all pretty cool, and not available for PC or other systems (at least in the US in the case of Shenmue II). Likewise, how can you defend the GC's smaller library, which also has less variety?
By all means, enjoy any console you like, but it seems stupid to complain about how terrible a console is that many people seriously do enjoy, with sales numbers to prove it.
And what does the Xbox try and do that Sony hasn't tried with the PS2 (which is dominating)?
How well does it present black?
Nations will send out explorers for God, Glory and Gold (or the modern version- you come up with some nifty alliteration).
Add a "(Black)" in front of that Gold, and I think you have a good description of what drives the leaders of America (at least) to go 'explore'.
That explains the Gamecube's BLAZING graphics performance, at least. :P
:/).
Though I think a console's graphics quality has to do more with how much the console manufacturer is willing to spend on the hardware. Hence the Xbox's rather impressive graphics (any games on the other systems and PC look as amazing as Panzer Dragoon Orta or DOA3 yet?), and the rather one-trick pony graphics the GC feature (lots of fancy textures, but of course with media that doesn't really allow you to bring much variety to the table
You can turn almost any work into almost any other work by abstracting it sufficiently.
But that is the real point of all of this, isn't it?
This whole copying issue isn't about creativity, it is about who has a bigger multinational corporation backing them.
He just wants a cheap argument to allow author's who have no creative insight in the least to get rich off the hard work of others.
If JK Rowling's books (a standard Western mythological mishmash with a storyline seen in a thousand other works of arts) required creative insight, so does writing a book that features Russian folklore and a slightly derivative name. Are you seriously arguing that Rowling's success is due to her main character's name? Or that she invented the idea of a young sorcerer?
This has nothing to do with copyright reform - the authors of these new books are trading off Harry Potter by slightly changing the name and keeping all the magic and other elements of the book in it. It's not like they're even trying to be different. If they wrote a book about a magician but was different in other ways you could say that 'magic' was in vogue, and it is OK. But is seems like these people are just ripping off quite a lot and writing some stories for the cash.
Did you even read the article? Most of these stories sound incredibly different from the Harry Potter books. Does Harry Potter use a grenade launcher and fight in various Russian wars in the latest book or something? Meet Indian literary figures?
When I go to Apple's website, it says in big letters:
The Power Mac G5
The world's fastest personal computer./B.
I consider that a lie.
Follow that link and you will find a list of benchmark results. These you could potentially argue are not a lie, but after the details highlighted in the debunking report, many other geeks and myself do consider it to be one.
Those are the main lies we are all complaining about.
That is why the debunking I read averaged the Dell and Apple scores and used that. Seemed like a fair way to eliminate some potential marketing spin.
:P
I do agree with your conclusion, however many people still don't like being lied to by companies they buy from (deciding if this is naive or properly idealistic is an exercise for the reader). That is really what this is all about. Apple made some very big claims. Of course they have cooked benchmarks so many times before I am not sure why anyone would expect otherwise now.