That list actually highlights the issue with MMOs on the Xbox 360:
- Age of Conan: "development hell", though still possible
- All Points Bulletin: not confirmed for any consoles yet (check this at gamescom last week)
- Champions Online: may actually come to 360
- CrimeCraft: not confirmed for any consoles yet
- Huxley: "development hell", looking less and less likely
- Kingdom Under Fire II: may come out, and will be on 360, but we've not seen the MMO part yet, and it's still got a vague 2010 release date
- Marvel MMOG & Marvel Universe Online (same thing: cancelled by Microsoft, parts became Champions Online
- Stargate Worlds: not confirmed for any consoles
- The Secret World: as Age of Conan (same developer, except even PC version is still rather vague).
That's not really a great list in the end. There are likely various reasons behind these issues, including development costs, but I'm sure Microsoft's tight grip on Xbox Live is part of the problem. Of course, console MMOs in general are an issue, as we have yet to see one on the PS3 either, though DC Universe is getting there, and SOE have a couple more on the way, along with Square Enix's FFXIV, of course (which itself may end up on 360, once they are able to negotiate the Live issues).
I'm not convinced that the touch screens can replace a keyboard and mouse on a desktop, or even a laptop, for some time. Text is the big issue, and I can't see myself being able to achieve the same typing speed on a touch screen until there's some really good haptic feedback in place. While handwriting technology could come on leaps and bounds (and has done so), I already type faster than I can write, so this wouldn't be helpful to me. For the mouse there is definitely places where touch would work better, particularly for new users, but the precision of a mouse is better for certain applications (notably gaming) compared to stubby fingers and having them block your view of the screen.
Even if Microsoft can get touch working nicely in Windows 7, it's still going to be quite some time until I'll be getting rid of my keyboard and mouse.
Just as a point of clarification: the console launched in Europe (at least Western and Central parts) on 2nd December, meaning that it's just over 9 months, rather than coming up to 6. 6 Months is only true for places like Hong Kong (who don't even have a PS3 launch date) and Australasia.
This is important because it means that just like the US and Canada, the Xbox 360 was alone at retail last Christmas (in the 'next-gen' space anyway), making this year the second time in Europe it hasn't had to face its major competitor.
You didn't look very far. On that very Wikipedia page you linked to is what Microsoft are using in Office 2007 (not just Word): "XML Paper Specification". It's MS' e-paper format, and could be classed as a rival to PDF. It'll also be in Vista, which could leave Adobe as annoyed as Symmantec about AV in Vista...
This is not true; there is no "British Law" as such for a start (there's "English Law", "Scots Law" and more). Not even the Crown dependencies (Channel Islands, Isle of Man) or British overseas territories (Bermuda, Gibralta, Falklands, etc.) are bound by any "British Law", and other Commonwealth Nations have also been free of any legislation made at Westminister since gaining independence. Laws made before may still apply there, however, if they have been adopted in the respective constitution.
Also, in relation to the crown - it is a seperate entity in each Commonwealth nation which has the crown as head of state (16 out of 53). In Canada, Queen Elizabeth II is recognised as "The Queen of Canada" rather than the "The Queen of the United Kingdom" (though is mentioned in the full title), in the same way she is "The Queen of Australia" and "The Queen of New Zealand".
Also, there hasn't been a "King/Queen of England" since 1707:)
In order for ordinary end users to begin accepting BSD on the desktop, one key thing needs to be fixed: the Delete key. Seriously, it's a major function on the keyboard, and although there's backspace, there's no reason why the Delete key's true function (to delete text ahead of the character) isn't present. Missing functions like this will annoy users, and while this in itself is unlikely to put too many off, it will leave many thinking "if this doesn't work, what else is wrong with BSD".
During my preparation for my interview to study Mathematics at Cambridge last year, one of the discussion topics that came up was computer-aided proof. Between the interview-experienced teacher, a school colleague who was also applying and myself, we came to the idea that computer-aided proof might not be proof at all, because proof for Mathematicans is the ability to reproduce the workings by yourself - it might take a very long time, but the idea should be that a human could dervive them in order for them to be considered true proofs of human concepts. Whether many in the Mathematical community in England take this view, I won't know until the end of the year when I hope to start my course - but based on this debate, it wouldn't surprise me if quite a few did.
I think there's one important fact that's being overlooked here; the US dollar has been performing so badly on the international market over the last year, that it would be inevitable that the price of things produced overseas and imported into the US (which, despite being an American designed and funded console, the Xbox and probably its successor is) will rise. After all, US$400 is 'only' about GB£214 - that's GB$86 less than the price of the Xbox on launch (before it was dropped to GB£200 in a few months).
Basically what I'm saying is - and this goes for the cost of games to - the US dollar is probably the main cause of blame here, and basically all Microsoft is trying to do is to set the machine and games at a price which are reasonable in the international market, or they'd have a problem where the games are twice as expensive in Europe (I know things are usually more expensive here anyway, but in order to avoid encouraging mod-chipping, I'm sure they'd rather balance the price more) - and possibly find themselves losing money in their home territory.
I think over in the US you're just going to have to accept for now that you will have to pay more for international goods as long as the currency isn't doing well. If prices don't rise when the dollar rises, however, then you can complain.
The parent company based in France is still called Infogrames - or Infogrames Entertainment to give the company its full title. This is the head of the group, which contains units like Atari, Inc. (which operates officially in the US, and is the parent for all the 'Atari' offices, like Atari UK).
This little thing called review code means there are people out there playing Halo 2 on Live. Somehow, I don't think Microsoft are going to know or care if you happen to be playing before release because you won't be the only one.
Is everybody forgetting the good times from Acclaim? The original Turok on N64, Burnout 1 and 2, and for you guys in the US and Canada, Worms 3D. They even had W3D's Xbox (Live-enabled) release up their sleeve for this month, just like Juiced (which has even had a couple of reviews - good scores - here in the UK). There was even Worms Forts on the horizon which looks promising - and I guess Team 17 are currently rushing around for a US/Canada publisher right now.
So, sure, they made crap like BMX XXX, but we have to remember the good times - and that's not forgetting they were Sega of Europe's distributor for quite a few months until they found their feet post-Dreamcast.
The carry case was also removed from both models to reduce the cost. Adding both back in to the 20GB model brings the price to £276.99 on the UK store (down from £299.99) and $377 on the US store (down from $399). A reduction, but not as significant as Apple make out.
Sorry to say, but you're kind of speaking nonsense: Ubi Soft is not Canadian, and they're not based in Montreal. Their mini history profile on the bottom of their press releases states "Founded in 1986 in France", and their corporate website has a history page which tells us this, and that they only opened the Canadian studio in 2001/2002.
At the start they were a French distributor, and in 1994 they opened studios in Montreuil, which is where you may be getting confused. But Montreuil-sous-Bois (to give the town it's full title), as you may have guessed, is in France.
That's because the screenshot is from Hasbro's 3D Breakout remake that came out on PS1 and PC back in 2000. The sheep may not be on Gamespot page, but I've seen them on a press site.
Considering NASA's new rules, I'm guessing that the James Webb Telescope, which is set to replace Hubble in 2012 (which will now be 4 years after Hubble goes out of service) will be 'in range' of the ISS, so that any astronauts working on it will have the ISS as a safety net. Does this then suggest the same orbit for the telescope as the ISS, or at least a similar one?
And if so, does this not mean we are limited to low-orbits for telescopes we want to repair over time?
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think from this we will be seeing HP design their own digital music player (so it will probably be in the same design style as maybe the latest iPaqs), in the same way as Dell are, but unlike Dell, the core technology will be Apple's iPod tech, including the OS, and the link to iTunes.
So, I'm guessing we're actually getting a new device in terms of looks, but a device that is less likely to suck because it already has good working technology.
For other companies, this might be true, but for Sony, I'm not sure the same 'all in it together' policy is true. The various Sony divisions are often at odds with each other; after all Sony produce standalone DVD+/-R/RW wrtiers, as well as PC drives, allowing you to copy DVDs, which has previously caused conflict (quite obviously) with Sony Pictures. You are right that "Sony Pictures fears this will allow people to play copied movies", but on previous experience, I'm not sure how much influence they will have in its feature line-up.
And I also don't think SCEI is going to be worried about PSX and piracy; DVD+/-R/RW playback isn't an issue as its already available in the new PS2 model (#50001 IIRC), and I mean, these guys are releasing the PS2 in piracy-prone China without any extra copyright protection; surely that's an indicator that the company is not too worried about piracy.
If you cross the Atlantic to here in Europe you will notice that the assumption that the Xbox will be ahead of the PS2 is actually true, and indeed the structure of the PS2's online system in Europe (the fact that is complicated and disjointed) does play a part in putting people off, but it is still not the main issue. Ironcially, the main issue is also about content, but over here, the Xbox is winning on this front. After all, previously the only PS2 game that's going to make you go online with it is SOCOM, whereas on the Xbox they have Ghost Recon (and Island Thunder), Unreal Championship, Midtown Madness 3, Return to Castle Wolfeinstein and MotoGP2. Its not the greatest range in the world, but its certianly more admirable than just SOCOM:P Things are a bit different this month, with the EA Sports/BIG titles ramping up PS2 Online support, but the crap network infrastructure on FIFA 2004 and SSX3 is already putting people off. Word gets round quick with such high-profile titles, and with Xbox Live growing far more quickly worldwide than PS2's Europe-only online system, I don't see a change in fortunes in the long term either.
I agree, but I would also say that the original Xbox controller is also similar to the Dreamcast control - similar rounded shape, analogue stick top-left & d-pad bottom left, slots in the top for memory cards (and more), and trigger buttons at the back (rather than traditional shoulder buttons).
I think its going to be strange playing N64 games which were designed with a centre-based analogue stick and Z button underneath on a Dreamcast-like controller... Perfect Dark just wouldn't be the same... (although taking note of my other comment, could it be good practice for PDZero?;))
Music will be critical for the atmosphere too.
Well, I'm hoping on a scene which includes Radiohead's Paranoid Android - the name of the song was a tribute to the DNA character, so maybe they could return the favour. I think it would also fit in with the moment of Marvin's death - although as that is in book 4, I'm not sure whether this film will cover it.
Alchemy-based? Does that mean some medieval folk at AMD put some copper and lead powder together in a conical flask and boil it in an attempt to make Gold and they ended up with a reference design?
On a seperate note; the AMD device reminds me of Dell's recent Digital Music Jukebox. The oblong buttons along the bottom and the white rounded rim certainly have a similar appeal, although both lacking the style of their rivals (the iPaq and iPod respectively).
Slashdot Mirror
Almost all of the summary story above is content straight from the A160 Wikipedia article, including a glaring reference number.
That list actually highlights the issue with MMOs on the Xbox 360:
- Age of Conan: "development hell", though still possible
- All Points Bulletin: not confirmed for any consoles yet (check this at gamescom last week)
- Champions Online: may actually come to 360
- CrimeCraft: not confirmed for any consoles yet
- Huxley: "development hell", looking less and less likely
- Kingdom Under Fire II: may come out, and will be on 360, but we've not seen the MMO part yet, and it's still got a vague 2010 release date
- Marvel MMOG & Marvel Universe Online (same thing: cancelled by Microsoft, parts became Champions Online
- Stargate Worlds: not confirmed for any consoles
- The Secret World: as Age of Conan (same developer, except even PC version is still rather vague).
That's not really a great list in the end. There are likely various reasons behind these issues, including development costs, but I'm sure Microsoft's tight grip on Xbox Live is part of the problem. Of course, console MMOs in general are an issue, as we have yet to see one on the PS3 either, though DC Universe is getting there, and SOE have a couple more on the way, along with Square Enix's FFXIV, of course (which itself may end up on 360, once they are able to negotiate the Live issues).
I'm not convinced that the touch screens can replace a keyboard and mouse on a desktop, or even a laptop, for some time. Text is the big issue, and I can't see myself being able to achieve the same typing speed on a touch screen until there's some really good haptic feedback in place. While handwriting technology could come on leaps and bounds (and has done so), I already type faster than I can write, so this wouldn't be helpful to me. For the mouse there is definitely places where touch would work better, particularly for new users, but the precision of a mouse is better for certain applications (notably gaming) compared to stubby fingers and having them block your view of the screen. Even if Microsoft can get touch working nicely in Windows 7, it's still going to be quite some time until I'll be getting rid of my keyboard and mouse.
Well, it would seem the editors have awoken, because the article now says "This one cost $300".
Just as a point of clarification: the console launched in Europe (at least Western and Central parts) on 2nd December, meaning that it's just over 9 months, rather than coming up to 6. 6 Months is only true for places like Hong Kong (who don't even have a PS3 launch date) and Australasia.
This is important because it means that just like the US and Canada, the Xbox 360 was alone at retail last Christmas (in the 'next-gen' space anyway), making this year the second time in Europe it hasn't had to face its major competitor.
You didn't look very far. On that very Wikipedia page you linked to is what Microsoft are using in Office 2007 (not just Word): "XML Paper Specification". It's MS' e-paper format, and could be classed as a rival to PDF. It'll also be in Vista, which could leave Adobe as annoyed as Symmantec about AV in Vista...
This is not true; there is no "British Law" as such for a start (there's "English Law", "Scots Law" and more). Not even the Crown dependencies (Channel Islands, Isle of Man) or British overseas territories (Bermuda, Gibralta, Falklands, etc.) are bound by any "British Law", and other Commonwealth Nations have also been free of any legislation made at Westminister since gaining independence. Laws made before may still apply there, however, if they have been adopted in the respective constitution.
:)
Also, in relation to the crown - it is a seperate entity in each Commonwealth nation which has the crown as head of state (16 out of 53). In Canada, Queen Elizabeth II is recognised as "The Queen of Canada" rather than the "The Queen of the United Kingdom" (though is mentioned in the full title), in the same way she is "The Queen of Australia" and "The Queen of New Zealand".
Also, there hasn't been a "King/Queen of England" since 1707
In order for ordinary end users to begin accepting BSD on the desktop, one key thing needs to be fixed: the Delete key. Seriously, it's a major function on the keyboard, and although there's backspace, there's no reason why the Delete key's true function (to delete text ahead of the character) isn't present. Missing functions like this will annoy users, and while this in itself is unlikely to put too many off, it will leave many thinking "if this doesn't work, what else is wrong with BSD".
During my preparation for my interview to study Mathematics at Cambridge last year, one of the discussion topics that came up was computer-aided proof. Between the interview-experienced teacher, a school colleague who was also applying and myself, we came to the idea that computer-aided proof might not be proof at all, because proof for Mathematicans is the ability to reproduce the workings by yourself - it might take a very long time, but the idea should be that a human could dervive them in order for them to be considered true proofs of human concepts. Whether many in the Mathematical community in England take this view, I won't know until the end of the year when I hope to start my course - but based on this debate, it wouldn't surprise me if quite a few did.
I think there's one important fact that's being overlooked here; the US dollar has been performing so badly on the international market over the last year, that it would be inevitable that the price of things produced overseas and imported into the US (which, despite being an American designed and funded console, the Xbox and probably its successor is) will rise. After all, US$400 is 'only' about GB£214 - that's GB$86 less than the price of the Xbox on launch (before it was dropped to GB£200 in a few months).
Basically what I'm saying is - and this goes for the cost of games to - the US dollar is probably the main cause of blame here, and basically all Microsoft is trying to do is to set the machine and games at a price which are reasonable in the international market, or they'd have a problem where the games are twice as expensive in Europe (I know things are usually more expensive here anyway, but in order to avoid encouraging mod-chipping, I'm sure they'd rather balance the price more) - and possibly find themselves losing money in their home territory.
I think over in the US you're just going to have to accept for now that you will have to pay more for international goods as long as the currency isn't doing well. If prices don't rise when the dollar rises, however, then you can complain.
The parent company based in France is still called Infogrames - or Infogrames Entertainment to give the company its full title. This is the head of the group, which contains units like Atari, Inc. (which operates officially in the US, and is the parent for all the 'Atari' offices, like Atari UK).
This little thing called review code means there are people out there playing Halo 2 on Live. Somehow, I don't think Microsoft are going to know or care if you happen to be playing before release because you won't be the only one.
The Eurogamer.net news story went live on the 2nd September... that's over a month ago. Surely this is old news by now?
Except if you're Take 2 and waiting for your deal with Sony to expire ;) 2nd January 2004 for the Xbox version of the GTA Double Pack, anyone?
Is everybody forgetting the good times from Acclaim? The original Turok on N64, Burnout 1 and 2, and for you guys in the US and Canada, Worms 3D. They even had W3D's Xbox (Live-enabled) release up their sleeve for this month, just like Juiced (which has even had a couple of reviews - good scores - here in the UK). There was even Worms Forts on the horizon which looks promising - and I guess Team 17 are currently rushing around for a US/Canada publisher right now.
So, sure, they made crap like BMX XXX, but we have to remember the good times - and that's not forgetting they were Sega of Europe's distributor for quite a few months until they found their feet post-Dreamcast.
The carry case was also removed from both models to reduce the cost. Adding both back in to the 20GB model brings the price to £276.99 on the UK store (down from £299.99) and $377 on the US store (down from $399). A reduction, but not as significant as Apple make out.
Sorry to say, but you're kind of speaking nonsense: Ubi Soft is not Canadian, and they're not based in Montreal. Their mini history profile on the bottom of their press releases states "Founded in 1986 in France", and their corporate website has a history page which tells us this, and that they only opened the Canadian studio in 2001/2002.
At the start they were a French distributor, and in 1994 they opened studios in Montreuil, which is where you may be getting confused. But Montreuil-sous-Bois (to give the town it's full title), as you may have guessed, is in France.
That's because the screenshot is from Hasbro's 3D Breakout remake that came out on PS1 and PC back in 2000. The sheep may not be on Gamespot page, but I've seen them on a press site.
Considering NASA's new rules, I'm guessing that the James Webb Telescope, which is set to replace Hubble in 2012 (which will now be 4 years after Hubble goes out of service) will be 'in range' of the ISS, so that any astronauts working on it will have the ISS as a safety net. Does this then suggest the same orbit for the telescope as the ISS, or at least a similar one?
And if so, does this not mean we are limited to low-orbits for telescopes we want to repair over time?
Somebody correct me if I'm wrong, but I think from this we will be seeing HP design their own digital music player (so it will probably be in the same design style as maybe the latest iPaqs), in the same way as Dell are, but unlike Dell, the core technology will be Apple's iPod tech, including the OS, and the link to iTunes.
So, I'm guessing we're actually getting a new device in terms of looks, but a device that is less likely to suck because it already has good working technology.
For other companies, this might be true, but for Sony, I'm not sure the same 'all in it together' policy is true. The various Sony divisions are often at odds with each other; after all Sony produce standalone DVD+/-R/RW wrtiers, as well as PC drives, allowing you to copy DVDs, which has previously caused conflict (quite obviously) with Sony Pictures. You are right that "Sony Pictures fears this will allow people to play copied movies", but on previous experience, I'm not sure how much influence they will have in its feature line-up. And I also don't think SCEI is going to be worried about PSX and piracy; DVD+/-R/RW playback isn't an issue as its already available in the new PS2 model (#50001 IIRC), and I mean, these guys are releasing the PS2 in piracy-prone China without any extra copyright protection; surely that's an indicator that the company is not too worried about piracy.
If you cross the Atlantic to here in Europe you will notice that the assumption that the Xbox will be ahead of the PS2 is actually true, and indeed the structure of the PS2's online system in Europe (the fact that is complicated and disjointed) does play a part in putting people off, but it is still not the main issue. Ironcially, the main issue is also about content, but over here, the Xbox is winning on this front. After all, previously the only PS2 game that's going to make you go online with it is SOCOM, whereas on the Xbox they have Ghost Recon (and Island Thunder), Unreal Championship, Midtown Madness 3, Return to Castle Wolfeinstein and MotoGP2. Its not the greatest range in the world, but its certianly more admirable than just SOCOM :P Things are a bit different this month, with the EA Sports/BIG titles ramping up PS2 Online support, but the crap network infrastructure on FIFA 2004 and SSX3 is already putting people off. Word gets round quick with such high-profile titles, and with Xbox Live growing far more quickly worldwide than PS2's Europe-only online system, I don't see a change in fortunes in the long term either.
I agree, but I would also say that the original Xbox controller is also similar to the Dreamcast control - similar rounded shape, analogue stick top-left & d-pad bottom left, slots in the top for memory cards (and more), and trigger buttons at the back (rather than traditional shoulder buttons). I think its going to be strange playing N64 games which were designed with a centre-based analogue stick and Z button underneath on a Dreamcast-like controller... Perfect Dark just wouldn't be the same... (although taking note of my other comment, could it be good practice for PDZero? ;))
Music will be critical for the atmosphere too. Well, I'm hoping on a scene which includes Radiohead's Paranoid Android - the name of the song was a tribute to the DNA character, so maybe they could return the favour. I think it would also fit in with the moment of Marvin's death - although as that is in book 4, I'm not sure whether this film will cover it.
Alchemy-based? Does that mean some medieval folk at AMD put some copper and lead powder together in a conical flask and boil it in an attempt to make Gold and they ended up with a reference design? On a seperate note; the AMD device reminds me of Dell's recent Digital Music Jukebox. The oblong buttons along the bottom and the white rounded rim certainly have a similar appeal, although both lacking the style of their rivals (the iPaq and iPod respectively).