What this mod essentially does. is allow you to store DOL files on the modchip itself. DOL files are Gamecube executable files, so it allows you to send small apps across. Not bioses.
Do you guys remember the old PSO Exploit, where you could send small apps across to your GameCube using a bug in the network connection? From here, you could send across little 'loaders' that could stream the games from your PC... This mod really doesn't provide anything that the previous method could not... it just saves you from having to boot up PSO.
This is a rather cool little mod if you would like your apps to automatically boot up when you turn in your GameCube... GC-Linux anyone? And you can send across the afrorementioned 'loaders' you boot yer Iso's... but this isn't going to help you play games from disc, nor is it going to help you use a hacked bios replacement. Sorry guys.
The main reason a 'proper' modchip for the GameCube does not exist yet is because it uses proprietory discs, not mini-DVD's as people seem to believe. I gather it's theorietically possible to boot a DVDR on the Gamecube... but it would require hacking of the drive controller, as opposed to merely hacking the bios.
Capcom always did have a habbit of going back on what they say though.
Remember when they promised Sega gamers that XMen Vs. Street Fighter would only be coming out for the Saturn (thanks largely to the 4Meg Expansion the Saturn had)? Before changing their minds and releasing it on the PlayStation anyway.
Luckily this worked in the Saturn owners favour, as the PlayStation version was severely cut down (you couldn't even change characters in mid-fight), and only served to show off the Saturn's superior 2D capabilities. I can't see GameCube owners getting such luck though... I have the Biohazard 4 demo from Famitsu myself, and unless the later areas of the games are something special, it's nothing the PlayStation2 can't handle.
Hell, this isn't even the first time Capcom have pulled this stunt in *this* generation... Killer 7 and Viewtiful Joe are prime examples.
Chankast does not actually run host homebrew titles yet.
The main issue is that most homebrew titles use a homebrew OS called KallistOS (that way there's no issue of legality). As of yet, Chankast seems to only run games using the official Sega 'Katana' OS. The emulator is also incompatible with commercial WinCE-based games.
Topics get modded down because of information that is redundant, offtopic or just generally not of any use. Not because of a typo. I'm sure most people here are smart enough to know that it should have been.
Anyway, presumably with this reg, most kinds of file format could be added into the media library. Kinda shows Microsofts intent. I daresay they'd love to remove the ability to have Mp3 files on the list, they just know too well they need to support the most widespread standard.
Completely impossible, given the fact that the PSP 'discs' are much smaller.
It seems to be something Sony themselves are trying to keep distanced from actually, they are pushing very hard to make sure developers don't just port across old PS1 and 2 games...
The XBox announcement is a little suprising, given the relative low popularity of the format in the companies home nation.
Plus the fact that the 2D and anime buffs who generally buy SNK games are probably the least likely to possess an XBox out of the big three consoles, due to the fact that so far, there have been few games on the format to appeal to that audience (mainly because of the point mentioned in my first sentence).
That said, the XBox is in the best position to provide online play, and it's good to see SNK realise this fact.
Would be very interesting to see how this turns out actually. Even more intetesting would be to see if the usual market audience for these types of games now go out and buy an XBox. After all, these people used NeoGeo's for 10 years or so, and we all know how costly NeoGeo carts were... an XBox and a copy of this game must be a similar price to a brand spanking new Neo Geo cart.
There's actually a suprisingly lack of these kinds of people in Europe.
Germany truely is simply the exception to the rule really, a large majority of violent games can be released in the rest of Europe, and few people will bat an eyelid. I believe they even banned Quake 2 in Germany for the longest time, whereas I don't think such a thing was even suggested elsewhere.
The general view here is that violent games usually have an 18 age rating, and it is enforced, anyone who even looks under 18 will nopt be abler to buy the game without some form of identification (I myself get refused sale of a game sometimes, dispite being over 18)...so kids shouldn't be playing the game anyway. If they are, someone's messed up along the lines... but certainly not the company. All but a few obsessive mothers recognise that, generally.
One exception to this however would be the game Hooligans, which caused a fair bit of controversy here in the UK, but that was largely because England has a pretty bad reputation for football hooliganism.
I remember reading previews of Galleon waaaaaay back when it was due to be a second generation Dreamcast title.
Back then, the game looked stunning from the images.... from the images I saw, it looked somewhat like a more 'mature' version of Skies Of Arcadia (I'd not know that at the time of course, I'm talking retrospectively)... the gameplay was nothing like it, but it's a good way of explaining the graphical style of the game. We were all impressed, and Dreamcast owners saw it as their own Tomb Raider.
We waited.... and waited.... and it never appeared... we were used to that on the Dreamcast, but it was still saddening.
3 years after I initially saw the preview, I find out it's finally appearing. I headed over to GameSpot to check out some of their movies of the game, and I gotta admit, I was underwhelmed... it didn't look anything particularly new or special. Final judgement is reserved until release of course, but my fears are that it may get average reviews.
Problem is, as you'd expect from a game that has been in developement for 4 years, it looks 4 years old.
And this truely is a great shame because for Toby to turn down big cash for what he believed was right, that really is pretty admirable... it's easy to say it happens all the time, but I doubt I'd bail out of a company in that position.
So I wish him luck with this title... but I do suspect that many people will be buying this title mainly because they wanted it 4 years ago, and they may be disappointed.
So who is? I would say the video games portion of the said unit it designed to appeal to people who, believe it or not, actually play video games. While I am full aware that they are trying to aim towards the more phone-orientated mainstream user, their current situation just goes to show that by not appealing to the gamer, a device where half of it's selling point is going to go no-where.
Phone users who don't play games are just going to get a superior phone.
My personal opinion is that if they are so keen to push the gaming side of this device, they'd win over far more people by actually signing up some games (like the canned Sega Rally for one), than re-releasing the exiting model. Just my opinion on that one.
For me, the problem once again comes down to pricepoint.
I am well aware that the price is relatively cheap as far as mobile phones go. However, I neither want, nor need, a mobile phone. I would be buying this product strictly as a games console, and from that perspective, the $199 price point suddenly seems unreasonable considering the probably short future of the product. If I'm going to spend such a substancial amount on a handheld, I'd save my money for a PSP, which promises a larger lime-up of games, from more developers, on a product line which is more likely to actually have a future.
Or get the cheaper, but trusty GBA.
Which is a shame because there are some games that truely interest me on the NGage... I loved the original Pandemonium! to bits, and a handheld Tomb Raider sounds pretty cool also.
Ultimately unless you intend to use this as a phone also, it's just not worth the asking price, and that's a pretty sizable chunk of the market Nokia are blocking out (I mean, even if a person does use a cell phone, will they want to be limited to this one?).
Oh I'm not doubting thta Nintendo have made some great evolutionary steps in gaming (well, I personally think rumble is an awful feature, otheres clearly disagree), just like the ones you mentioned.... but the difference is all of those examples added largely to the gameplay, something which, IMO, the N64 controller did not. That was a clear case of change where is was not needed, and I can't help but think that recently many of Nintendo's decisions have been a case of this.
In many ways, Iwata has made some good points (while loosing the plot on others of course)...
First off, his comment about people finding it hard to notice the graphical improvements with the new formats, while not quite as insignificant as he makes them sound, are probably quite right.
I don't know about you, but most non-gamers don't have a clue what the technical differences are between the current 3 formats. Sure some may know the XBox is more powerful than the PS2, but clearly few see it as a big thing.
And one could argue that in terms of raw power, the XBox outshines the Gamecube, but lets be fair, you'd be kinda hard pressed to see it when looking at both formats top games.
And I think this is the point Iwata was making here. The Gamecube wasn't as powerful as the XBox on paper (save the PPC vs Intel x86 debate guys), but it proved to be little hinderance in the real world, and saved Nintendo lots of money in the long run.
Frankly if Nintendo used slightly less powerful parts for a fraction of the cost like they did with the GameCube, I'm all for it.
What I'm not too sure Iwata has the right track on is this 'new technologies' thing he refers to. Why are they so hell-bent on changing the way games are played anyway? Sure, innovation is a good thing, but is the dual-screen feature of the DS really an innovation, or a gimmick? Will it be a key part of handheld gaming in the future? I doubt it.
And for some reason, this also reminds me of the strange design of the N64 controller which, while very cool after a while, soon saw Nintendo returning to a more conventional design with the GameCube.
I think Nintendo try too hard in this catagory and must realise that some things people just like better when they are familiar with them.
I must commend Nokia for not giving up on the NGage, and I am enouraged to see that they are trying to stick by the NGage fanbase, no matter how small it is.
Problem is, they are the only people who care. A new, more gamer-friendly design, some small remoddelling, does this change the fact that it's game line-up is horrendous? Many NGage owners have said it's cool that in the light of the PSP and the DS, it's enouraging to see Nokia push a little harder, but is it really? Does the NGage2 really stand a chance against the PSP? Even I'm planning to buy a PSP, and I'm usually a Sega/Nintendo-orientated guy.
Also, given the fact that this announcement will be of little interest to people who are not already NGage fans, who will be buying this remoddelled version? We all remember how expensive the original NGage was, I can't see current owners buying the machine over again... and Nokia will have to work hard to entice anyone else.
The NGage hadpotential. It did stuff that GBA owners could only dream of, and to be honest, handheld rendidtions of Tomb Raider and ther much-underrated Pandemonium! interested even me. But the initial 'Wow 3D handhelds!' shock has died down, and the public need something else to focus on.
I hate to be the board pessimist, but I don't think this will help Nokia really... they blew it at the start by giving themselves no market audience (Gamer's thought it was too expensive and felt awful to hold, and phone users update their phone too quickly to give the unit any long-term life), and are now struggling to keep the system floating.
A shame, had the system been in the hands of a company who knows the gaming market, it could have been big.
Well this took a long time...
I won't waste time in looking at why this is a good thing, because it's blatantly obvious... but why has this not happened sooner?
Cheating has ruined online console games. Cnsoles do not have a reasonable way of patching against cheaters (Yes I know it's possible on the Xbox, but it's rarely done), so Consoles have always been the hardest hit with online cheaters.
I remember the early days of PSO where quite litetally everyone was a cheater, using some hacked weapons or what not... making the game pointless... or worse, PK'ing or using a similar type exploit to wipe out a character and steal items. This drove Sonic Team to release Verion 2, which while better protected with the game regularly checking the part of RAM used to store the cheats, it was not immune. Even today we still have cheaping on the GameCube version, and given it was always Datel's supposed stance to 'enhance' the gaming experience, it's frankly chocking that this did not occur sooner.
While people can make their own cheat codes, it is likely that the average cheater would not have the know-how, and the average techy would know better. This could be the start of an online console scene that is actually worth bothering with.
While I realise this is not your point, it would not be the first time that Shigeru Miyamoto's opinion has differed to Nintendo's own.
But where homebrew development is concerned, we must think back to when Nintendo threatened Lik-Sang with legal action for selling the GBA Flash Linkers, used for homebrew development (and in fact required for) alongside the usual piracy.
Their stance on emulation has always been a strict one though. I know two Rom site owners, both of whome have been approached by Nintendo on unrelated cases. I think to say Nintendo doesn't mind emulation would be to ignore what has been going on over the past few years.
I think the only 'scene' they've not touched is the Snes scene, which is currently massive for fan-made translations of Japanese RPG's...a massive audience I'm sure Nintendo doesn't want to piss off given that part of the PS2's sucess with even the so-called 'hardcore' gamers has been it's massive RPG library.
People doubt this game far too early on.
Why do I think this game has a chance? Because your subcription fee for PSO Episode 1 and 2 works for PSO3 also. PSO fans do not have to pay again for this game, and with that in mind, many people shall buy this game purely on the basis that it will be free for them.
Hell, surely 5.99 for 2 games online 24-7 is value for money?
Card Battle games are massive in Japan, so success of this game in that territory is pretty much assured... but the sucess of this game in other territories rides purely on the fact that the fans (lets face it, non-fans probably care little for this title) will not have to pay anything more than the initial price for the game.
Perhaps MS is trying to look at the big picture?
I mean, like it or not, a large amount of internet users, especially coperate and home users who see little reason to upgrade from their 200's, are still using Windows 98. And rightly so from their perspective. Many people just want to use the internet, do a bit of word processing now and then and so-on, and from their perspective, there is little reason to move OS, or even upgrade computer.
And with such a large amount of internet users still on this OS, maybe MS saw that keeping this secure is a near-requirement? I'm sure MS would love everyone to move to XP, but I'm sure even they know that that's not happening.
Meh I think it's pretty stupid to label either side as 'ripping off' the other... lets face it, ht's hardly new technology.
My personal view is that anything that gives the the... somewhat empty GameCube online scene a boost a boost is a good thing, regardless of roots or motives. I use the term 'scene' lightly, and perhaps generiously because so far the only online titles we've seen are Phantasy Star Online... I welcome any group who brings more to the people. As for any competition... well it's a shame they can't work together, but meybe some competition will give them much-needed motivation. I mean, screw logality to a side, I'll play whichever client gives me the most lag-free, feature packed experience... as will anyone with a brain cell. I worry about anyone who will sacrifice this for blind alliegence.
This whole situation makes you think though... I personally bought Mario Kart: Double Dash!! purely on the fact that it had this online option, even if it was unoffical and lagged to bits. And I'm even planning to purchase 1080 because it offers and even less laggy experience.
Now both of these games are games I would not have purchased if they were not online in such a manner. And I'm not alone, this goes for many other people I talk to. We have people here with Broadband Adaptors which are gathering dust since they got bored wih Phantasy Star Online and feel ripped off because Nintendo are not supporting their own product... and now they finally have software to make they feel like it was worth buying their BBA after all.
I think the fact that people are buying these games purely for the unoffcial online play shows that there is in fact a amrket for online play on the GameCube - A Market that Nintendo is ignoring... and this will hit back at them. I must admit the XBox seems awfully tempting when they have XBox Live, XBConnect and the like... and us GameCube owners have to make do with 3 online LAN titles running at 20fps...
Nintendo needs to regocnise this new audience or they will loose players to the XBox and the now-growing online PlayStation2 scene.
You say it as if America is the only country in the western world to take such an attitude to life. And while I certainly do not want to start a country vs country arguement, it's probably best to get less patriotic over something which is unrelated.
As for lack of social contact IRL... I've found my view of the world has expanded beyond what I knew IRL, learning different points of views from different people around the world. Ain't gonna found an unbiased unpatriotic opinion in the boy scouts.
I really much say the Resident Evil series. I just got so attatched to the characters, it was hard to let it go after it was all over... Resident Evil Code Veronica in particular drags you in. Guns and shooting don't appeal to me generally, and my taste in horror is certainly not zombies, but the storyline and characters were so deep and interesting.... it changed my view on gaming for sure. Nowerdays I'll really not appriciate a game if I'm not dragged into the storyline... probably a bad way to look at games really, but there you go...
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This really isn't as revolutionary as it sounds.
What this mod essentially does. is allow you to store DOL files on the modchip itself. DOL files are Gamecube executable files, so it allows you to send small apps across. Not bioses.
Do you guys remember the old PSO Exploit, where you could send small apps across to your GameCube using a bug in the network connection? From here, you could send across little 'loaders' that could stream the games from your PC...
This mod really doesn't provide anything that the previous method could not... it just saves you from having to boot up PSO.
This is a rather cool little mod if you would like your apps to automatically boot up when you turn in your GameCube... GC-Linux anyone? And you can send across the afrorementioned 'loaders' you boot yer Iso's... but this isn't going to help you play games from disc, nor is it going to help you use a hacked bios replacement. Sorry guys.
The main reason a 'proper' modchip for the GameCube does not exist yet is because it uses proprietory discs, not mini-DVD's as people seem to believe.
I gather it's theorietically possible to boot a DVDR on the Gamecube... but it would require hacking of the drive controller, as opposed to merely hacking the bios.
Capcom always did have a habbit of going back on what they say though.
Remember when they promised Sega gamers that XMen Vs. Street Fighter would only be coming out for the Saturn (thanks largely to the 4Meg Expansion the Saturn had)? Before changing their minds and releasing it on the PlayStation anyway.
Luckily this worked in the Saturn owners favour, as the PlayStation version was severely cut down (you couldn't even change characters in mid-fight), and only served to show off the Saturn's superior 2D capabilities.
I can't see GameCube owners getting such luck though... I have the Biohazard 4 demo from Famitsu myself, and unless the later areas of the games are something special, it's nothing the PlayStation2 can't handle.
Hell, this isn't even the first time Capcom have pulled this stunt in *this* generation... Killer 7 and Viewtiful Joe are prime examples.
Chankast does not actually run host homebrew titles yet.
The main issue is that most homebrew titles use a homebrew OS called KallistOS (that way there's no issue of legality).
As of yet, Chankast seems to only run games using the official Sega 'Katana' OS.
The emulator is also incompatible with commercial WinCE-based games.
Topics get modded down because of information that is redundant, offtopic or just generally not of any use. Not because of a typo. I'm sure most people here are smart enough to know that it should have been.
Anyway, presumably with this reg, most kinds of file format could be added into the media library. Kinda shows Microsofts intent. I daresay they'd love to remove the ability to have Mp3 files on the list, they just know too well they need to support the most widespread standard.
If that is an issue for you (which it is for me), there is an unofficial reg hack to support this.
. re g
http://www.conduits.com/products/player/wmp9ogg
Completely impossible, given the fact that the PSP 'discs' are much smaller.
It seems to be something Sony themselves are trying to keep distanced from actually, they are pushing very hard to make sure developers don't just port across old PS1 and 2 games...
The XBox announcement is a little suprising, given the relative low popularity of the format in the companies home nation.
Plus the fact that the 2D and anime buffs who generally buy SNK games are probably the least likely to possess an XBox out of the big three consoles, due to the fact that so far, there have been few games on the format to appeal to that audience (mainly because of the point mentioned in my first sentence).
That said, the XBox is in the best position to provide online play, and it's good to see SNK realise this fact.
Would be very interesting to see how this turns out actually. Even more intetesting would be to see if the usual market audience for these types of games now go out and buy an XBox. After all, these people used NeoGeo's for 10 years or so, and we all know how costly NeoGeo carts were... an XBox and a copy of this game must be a similar price to a brand spanking new Neo Geo cart.
There's actually a suprisingly lack of these kinds of people in Europe.
Germany truely is simply the exception to the rule really, a large majority of violent games can be released in the rest of Europe, and few people will bat an eyelid.
I believe they even banned Quake 2 in Germany for the longest time, whereas I don't think such a thing was even suggested elsewhere.
The general view here is that violent games usually have an 18 age rating, and it is enforced, anyone who even looks under 18 will nopt be abler to buy the game without some form of identification (I myself get refused sale of a game sometimes, dispite being over 18)...so kids shouldn't be playing the game anyway. If they are, someone's messed up along the lines... but certainly not the company. All but a few obsessive mothers recognise that, generally.
One exception to this however would be the game Hooligans, which caused a fair bit of controversy here in the UK, but that was largely because England has a pretty bad reputation for football hooliganism.
I remember reading previews of Galleon waaaaaay back when it was due to be a second generation Dreamcast title.
Back then, the game looked stunning from the images.... from the images I saw, it looked somewhat like a more 'mature' version of Skies Of Arcadia (I'd not know that at the time of course, I'm talking retrospectively)... the gameplay was nothing like it, but it's a good way of explaining the graphical style of the game. We were all impressed, and Dreamcast owners saw it as their own Tomb Raider.
We waited.... and waited.... and it never appeared... we were used to that on the Dreamcast, but it was still saddening.
3 years after I initially saw the preview, I find out it's finally appearing. I headed over to GameSpot to check out some of their movies of the game, and I gotta admit, I was underwhelmed... it didn't look anything particularly new or special. Final judgement is reserved until release of course, but my fears are that it may get average reviews.
Problem is, as you'd expect from a game that has been in developement for 4 years, it looks 4 years old.
And this truely is a great shame because for Toby to turn down big cash for what he believed was right, that really is pretty admirable... it's easy to say it happens all the time, but I doubt I'd bail out of a company in that position.
So I wish him luck with this title... but I do suspect that many people will be buying this title mainly because they wanted it 4 years ago, and they may be disappointed.
Just my probably-jibberish prediction.
So who is? I would say the video games portion of the said unit it designed to appeal to people who, believe it or not, actually play video games. While I am full aware that they are trying to aim towards the more phone-orientated mainstream user, their current situation just goes to show that by not appealing to the gamer, a device where half of it's selling point is going to go no-where. Phone users who don't play games are just going to get a superior phone. My personal opinion is that if they are so keen to push the gaming side of this device, they'd win over far more people by actually signing up some games (like the canned Sega Rally for one), than re-releasing the exiting model. Just my opinion on that one.
For me, the problem once again comes down to pricepoint. I am well aware that the price is relatively cheap as far as mobile phones go. However, I neither want, nor need, a mobile phone. I would be buying this product strictly as a games console, and from that perspective, the $199 price point suddenly seems unreasonable considering the probably short future of the product. If I'm going to spend such a substancial amount on a handheld, I'd save my money for a PSP, which promises a larger lime-up of games, from more developers, on a product line which is more likely to actually have a future. Or get the cheaper, but trusty GBA. Which is a shame because there are some games that truely interest me on the NGage... I loved the original Pandemonium! to bits, and a handheld Tomb Raider sounds pretty cool also. Ultimately unless you intend to use this as a phone also, it's just not worth the asking price, and that's a pretty sizable chunk of the market Nokia are blocking out (I mean, even if a person does use a cell phone, will they want to be limited to this one?).
Oh I'm not doubting thta Nintendo have made some great evolutionary steps in gaming (well, I personally think rumble is an awful feature, otheres clearly disagree), just like the ones you mentioned.... but the difference is all of those examples added largely to the gameplay, something which, IMO, the N64 controller did not. That was a clear case of change where is was not needed, and I can't help but think that recently many of Nintendo's decisions have been a case of this.
In many ways, Iwata has made some good points (while loosing the plot on others of course)... First off, his comment about people finding it hard to notice the graphical improvements with the new formats, while not quite as insignificant as he makes them sound, are probably quite right. I don't know about you, but most non-gamers don't have a clue what the technical differences are between the current 3 formats. Sure some may know the XBox is more powerful than the PS2, but clearly few see it as a big thing. And one could argue that in terms of raw power, the XBox outshines the Gamecube, but lets be fair, you'd be kinda hard pressed to see it when looking at both formats top games. And I think this is the point Iwata was making here. The Gamecube wasn't as powerful as the XBox on paper (save the PPC vs Intel x86 debate guys), but it proved to be little hinderance in the real world, and saved Nintendo lots of money in the long run. Frankly if Nintendo used slightly less powerful parts for a fraction of the cost like they did with the GameCube, I'm all for it. What I'm not too sure Iwata has the right track on is this 'new technologies' thing he refers to. Why are they so hell-bent on changing the way games are played anyway? Sure, innovation is a good thing, but is the dual-screen feature of the DS really an innovation, or a gimmick? Will it be a key part of handheld gaming in the future? I doubt it. And for some reason, this also reminds me of the strange design of the N64 controller which, while very cool after a while, soon saw Nintendo returning to a more conventional design with the GameCube. I think Nintendo try too hard in this catagory and must realise that some things people just like better when they are familiar with them.
I must commend Nokia for not giving up on the NGage, and I am enouraged to see that they are trying to stick by the NGage fanbase, no matter how small it is.
Problem is, they are the only people who care. A new, more gamer-friendly design, some small remoddelling, does this change the fact that it's game line-up is horrendous? Many NGage owners have said it's cool that in the light of the PSP and the DS, it's enouraging to see Nokia push a little harder, but is it really? Does the NGage2 really stand a chance against the PSP? Even I'm planning to buy a PSP, and I'm usually a Sega/Nintendo-orientated guy.
Also, given the fact that this announcement will be of little interest to people who are not already NGage fans, who will be buying this remoddelled version? We all remember how expensive the original NGage was, I can't see current owners buying the machine over again... and Nokia will have to work hard to entice anyone else.
The NGage hadpotential. It did stuff that GBA owners could only dream of, and to be honest, handheld rendidtions of Tomb Raider and ther much-underrated Pandemonium! interested even me. But the initial 'Wow 3D handhelds!' shock has died down, and the public need something else to focus on.
I hate to be the board pessimist, but I don't think this will help Nokia really... they blew it at the start by giving themselves no market audience (Gamer's thought it was too expensive and felt awful to hold, and phone users update their phone too quickly to give the unit any long-term life), and are now struggling to keep the system floating.
A shame, had the system been in the hands of a company who knows the gaming market, it could have been big.
Well this took a long time... I won't waste time in looking at why this is a good thing, because it's blatantly obvious... but why has this not happened sooner? Cheating has ruined online console games. Cnsoles do not have a reasonable way of patching against cheaters (Yes I know it's possible on the Xbox, but it's rarely done), so Consoles have always been the hardest hit with online cheaters. I remember the early days of PSO where quite litetally everyone was a cheater, using some hacked weapons or what not... making the game pointless... or worse, PK'ing or using a similar type exploit to wipe out a character and steal items. This drove Sonic Team to release Verion 2, which while better protected with the game regularly checking the part of RAM used to store the cheats, it was not immune. Even today we still have cheaping on the GameCube version, and given it was always Datel's supposed stance to 'enhance' the gaming experience, it's frankly chocking that this did not occur sooner. While people can make their own cheat codes, it is likely that the average cheater would not have the know-how, and the average techy would know better. This could be the start of an online console scene that is actually worth bothering with.
While I realise this is not your point, it would not be the first time that Shigeru Miyamoto's opinion has differed to Nintendo's own. But where homebrew development is concerned, we must think back to when Nintendo threatened Lik-Sang with legal action for selling the GBA Flash Linkers, used for homebrew development (and in fact required for) alongside the usual piracy. Their stance on emulation has always been a strict one though. I know two Rom site owners, both of whome have been approached by Nintendo on unrelated cases. I think to say Nintendo doesn't mind emulation would be to ignore what has been going on over the past few years. I think the only 'scene' they've not touched is the Snes scene, which is currently massive for fan-made translations of Japanese RPG's...a massive audience I'm sure Nintendo doesn't want to piss off given that part of the PS2's sucess with even the so-called 'hardcore' gamers has been it's massive RPG library.
People doubt this game far too early on. Why do I think this game has a chance? Because your subcription fee for PSO Episode 1 and 2 works for PSO3 also. PSO fans do not have to pay again for this game, and with that in mind, many people shall buy this game purely on the basis that it will be free for them. Hell, surely 5.99 for 2 games online 24-7 is value for money? Card Battle games are massive in Japan, so success of this game in that territory is pretty much assured... but the sucess of this game in other territories rides purely on the fact that the fans (lets face it, non-fans probably care little for this title) will not have to pay anything more than the initial price for the game.
Perhaps MS is trying to look at the big picture? I mean, like it or not, a large amount of internet users, especially coperate and home users who see little reason to upgrade from their 200's, are still using Windows 98. And rightly so from their perspective. Many people just want to use the internet, do a bit of word processing now and then and so-on, and from their perspective, there is little reason to move OS, or even upgrade computer. And with such a large amount of internet users still on this OS, maybe MS saw that keeping this secure is a near-requirement? I'm sure MS would love everyone to move to XP, but I'm sure even they know that that's not happening.
Meh I think it's pretty stupid to label either side as 'ripping off' the other... lets face it, ht's hardly new technology.
My personal view is that anything that gives the the... somewhat empty GameCube online scene a boost a boost is a good thing, regardless of roots or motives.
I use the term 'scene' lightly, and perhaps generiously because so far the only online titles we've seen are Phantasy Star Online... I welcome any group who brings more to the people. As for any competition... well it's a shame they can't work together, but meybe some competition will give them much-needed motivation. I mean, screw logality to a side, I'll play whichever client gives me the most lag-free, feature packed experience... as will anyone with a brain cell. I worry about anyone who will sacrifice this for blind alliegence.
This whole situation makes you think though... I personally bought Mario Kart: Double Dash!! purely on the fact that it had this online option, even if it was unoffical and lagged to bits. And I'm even planning to purchase 1080 because it offers and even less laggy experience.
Now both of these games are games I would not have purchased if they were not online in such a manner. And I'm not alone, this goes for many other people I talk to. We have people here with Broadband Adaptors which are gathering dust since they got bored wih Phantasy Star Online and feel ripped off because Nintendo are not supporting their own product... and now they finally have software to make they feel like it was worth buying their BBA after all.
I think the fact that people are buying these games purely for the unoffcial online play shows that there is in fact a amrket for online play on the GameCube - A Market that Nintendo is ignoring... and this will hit back at them. I must admit the XBox seems awfully tempting when they have XBox Live, XBConnect and the like... and us GameCube owners have to make do with 3 online LAN titles running at 20fps...
Nintendo needs to regocnise this new audience or they will loose players to the XBox and the now-growing online PlayStation2 scene.
You say it as if America is the only country in the western world to take such an attitude to life. And while I certainly do not want to start a country vs country arguement, it's probably best to get less patriotic over something which is unrelated.
As for lack of social contact IRL... I've found my view of the world has expanded beyond what I knew IRL, learning different points of views from different people around the world. Ain't gonna found an unbiased unpatriotic opinion in the boy scouts.
I really much say the Resident Evil series. I just got so attatched to the characters, it was hard to let it go after it was all over...
Resident Evil Code Veronica in particular drags you in. Guns and shooting don't appeal to me generally, and my taste in horror is certainly not zombies, but the storyline and characters were so deep and interesting.... it changed my view on gaming for sure. Nowerdays I'll really not appriciate a game if I'm not dragged into the storyline... probably a bad way to look at games really, but there you go...