The price would be right if positioned against other PDAs, but they put market as a gaming system 1st that just happens to be a PDA as well. This being said, if I didn't have a CLIE NX70, I would seriously consider this one. It is good to see a small company changing the way that we see things.
Doesn't the Tapwave navigator (system launcher) need to be used in landscape mode? I know the applications can be used in portrait, but not sure about the Launcher
OK, OK, you got me on the Java Platform. On that front, both devices are similar. Except for one thing... Tapwave's games only run "well" on the Zodiac becuase of their special upgraded graphics accellerator and because no other palm OS's controls are condusive to gaming.
However, the N-Gage's games are not supposed to run on other devices because of copy protection and their button configuration.
Here is the tale of 2 new handhelds.. N-Gage, poor design but released with big name companies providing software for the unit. Tapwave Zodiac, good design, but not released with ANY big name companies backing it.
Currently, N-Gage is taking a bath on the N-Gage (was $299, now it is $199(after rebate) with 2 free games.) And, to make things worse, the copy protection for the games has been cracked so that the games can be run on other Nokia phones.
Tapwave is silently growing and seems to be continually gaining steam. They built it on a somewhat open platform, so software can be developed for it without any extensive licensing.
It will be interesting to see where they stand 1 year from now with the PSP coming out and the idea that Nintendo might be bringing out a new handheld Q2 '04.
Competition breeds innovation (and cheaper prices.)
Hmmm, Microsoft insisting that support continue for previous versions of software? EA trying to force you into upgrading by eliminating support for software that is ONLY 1 YEAR OLD. Doesn't it seem like, with XBOX Live!, Microsoft is straying from their normal business plans?
The Playstation 2 and GameCube are going to have to go belly up before the xbox takes over there. As it is with other products in Japan, their "Made in Japan" designation is a source of pride for their country. Japanese Citizens support Japanese products. Even if the xbox wins over #1 in the USA (a realistic possibility in 5 years), they will never own the Japanese market.
The other thing that Microsoft is going to have to do is regionalize their games even further, they still have an American slant.
I can just hope that this version will be on par graphically. The last one was a good game that seemed to be, at the time of release, a generation or so behind the rest of the pack in terms of graphics. I don't believe that graphics make the game, but they should at least be passable.
I agree that your privacy is not assured while on the Internet. However, I can guarantee that any of the member companies of the RIAA would object if one of the "evil hackers" gleaned sensitive information by analyzing their Internet traffic and then posted that on the Internet. They would immediately sue the user, their family and the ISP. The rules need to go both ways.
I can't believe I am actually agreeing with this loser after he spent 2 YEARS living in a virtual world. The bottom line is that he paid to use their system and the expectation when you purchase a service is that it is going to function as advertised. In his case it did not. If this were a free system, such as a MUD, then I would dismiss his loses right away. The fact that he paid for the service changes everything.
I agree on the EA thing. Without the top notch sports games, xbox will have some serious problems. I don't have either, but have used both xbox and ps2 online and the live just seems to be done so much better. The current teen crowd is big on chat and xbox live supplies that with their system. Live is nothing but a huge portal.
Sony's online business problem is the problem, not the price of the console. Microsoft did the online "thing" right by charging one price for all online access (Phantasy Star Online is the exception, not the rule) Sony's "leave it up to the game publisher to handle the online pricing and server support" is what is hurting their online presence. Having to pay multiple monthly costs for using different services is too much to keep track of and people just aren't buying into it. IMHO, Sony needs to change their direction with the PS3 online or they will eventually be looking up to M$.
the "0" in the 60 is shown in the $60. Billion denotes 9 zeros. Either way why the hell are you splitting hairs on this? That is still an obscene amount of money.
I don't think that the people who just buy xboxes to "hurt" microsoft really understand what they are doing. In the short term, YES, you are costing Microsoft money on their per console loss. In the long term, you are helping them.
For instance, 1,000,000 MS haters buy xboxes with the hopes of making a serious dent in the $60 billion (yes with nine zeros) cash reserve that Microsoft holds. In the mean time, Microsoft is able to report to the software vendors that they have those 1,000,000 extra xboxes out there. Vendors see the large numbers and make more games to support the xbox. In turn, the xbox software library grows and so does its legit customer base. I know the 1,000,000 xboxes for the MS haters is an exaggeration, but hopefully you will get my point.
Some sort of forced feedback pain might make it realistic.. Maybe something similar to the video game Bond plays that could electricute. This does seem a little odd though, to take situations where REAL people died and make a profit off of them. Fictional deaths in games, no matter how realistic looking, are OK with me. But when you start acting out the real areas where people died seems to be an insult to the soldiers that died there.
The idea that you could get your buggy, insecure software for FREE with the purchase of the OS was too much for the Microsoft brass. You need to pay to have your PC vulnerable. Basically what this gets down to is that too many casual users were opting NOT to purchase Outlook as their POP3 mail clients in favor of, the stripped down but functional, Outlook Express. I expect to see an inexpensive (relatively speaking) stand-alone Outlook being actively marketed to fill the void in the future.
Sorry, this really isn't a big deal yet. When the insurance companies, ESPECIALLY MEDICARE, pay for this under their coverage I will be impressed. For now, it is a great tool with incredible potential for helping disabled people. Most people who will need this will not be able to foot the expense to use them.
God do I hope that they do NOT bring back the "follow the trail of blood while you are knocked out dream." Drove me freaking nuts and was really not much fun. I did like, however, the scene where you had to break out with nothing but a baseball bat and almost no health. Still not holding my breath though.
I am going to holdoff on getting all "giddy" over Max Payne 2. Please remember who is behind this whole thing: 3DRealms. When I actually can walk to the local best buy and see the game for sale, not pre order, I will be excited. We have had, over the past 5 years or so, a plethora or cool screenshots and wild game trailers from 3DRealms. Their other "oh my god", "I can't wait", "...going to revolutionize games", "WHEN ITS DONE" game is still being waited for.
I know that I sound cynical, but DNF has made me a bitter gamer.
Actually, Bell ExpressVU has filed the lawsuit against the web sites and sales locations... They are claiming that the people who are pirating DTV are potential customers of ExpressVU and that they have lost revenue due to this. Similar tactics to the whole RIAA and MPAA thing. Most of the people in Canada would not have subscribed to ExpressVU anyway because their service is terrible. No real lost revenue there...
Made fun of brother for buying Iggy's Wrecking Balls....
Felt bad for picking on younger brother for buying a game called Iggy's Wrecking Balls....
Tried playing a game that can only be described as a game that you race Bionic Commando (their wrecking ball chains were able to pull you up to the next level in the race) type balls with faces (some happy, some sad, some mean looking) up a pattern with obstacles.....
Gave little brother a pounding for making me feel bad about making fun of him over buying such a horrible game....
I did enjoy, however, the $3 that Funcoland gave me on the trade-in..
I always found it odd that the NES port (no pun) for Bards Tale had you ordering Grape Juice at the pub instead of ale or spirits. I really wouldn't mind the kid friendly stuff on the games provided they give the option to play the original version.
Does anyone have any example of CURRENT games that have had the same type of censorship? Now that the demographic of console players has shifted to early 20s, I don't think that it will happen as much. Hell Nintendo never released real scare games, but as of late we have seen the Resident Evil type game rearing its head. Might be a little too late though.
I agree with everyone above when they say that the mage is almost worthless. My hack-and-slash type chars leveled up far faster than the rest of my party. Why? They are the ones that actually killed everything, so their stats go up more quickly. An experience system similar to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance would suit this well. In Dark Alliance, the character that killed the beast got 60% of the experience while the teammate got 40%. I know this would have to be modified to fit a party of 6 or so, but the result would be characters you actually cared about not letting die.
I enjoyed the game a lot, and while I think there were a lot of good things, there were areas that needed work as well. Hopefully, the developers will see those areas and improve.
Slashdot Mirror
The price would be right if positioned against other PDAs, but they put market as a gaming system 1st that just happens to be a PDA as well. This being said, if I didn't have a CLIE NX70, I would seriously consider this one. It is good to see a small company changing the way that we see things.
Doesn't the Tapwave navigator (system launcher) need to be used in landscape mode? I know the applications can be used in portrait, but not sure about the Launcher
OK, OK, you got me on the Java Platform. On that front, both devices are similar. Except for one thing... Tapwave's games only run "well" on the Zodiac becuase of their special upgraded graphics accellerator and because no other palm OS's controls are condusive to gaming.
However, the N-Gage's games are not supposed to run on other devices because of copy protection and their button configuration.
Here is the tale of 2 new handhelds.. N-Gage, poor design but released with big name companies providing software for the unit. Tapwave Zodiac, good design, but not released with ANY big name companies backing it. Currently, N-Gage is taking a bath on the N-Gage (was $299, now it is $199(after rebate) with 2 free games.) And, to make things worse, the copy protection for the games has been cracked so that the games can be run on other Nokia phones. Tapwave is silently growing and seems to be continually gaining steam. They built it on a somewhat open platform, so software can be developed for it without any extensive licensing. It will be interesting to see where they stand 1 year from now with the PSP coming out and the idea that Nintendo might be bringing out a new handheld Q2 '04. Competition breeds innovation (and cheaper prices.)
Hmmm, Microsoft insisting that support continue for previous versions of software? EA trying to force you into upgrading by eliminating support for software that is ONLY 1 YEAR OLD. Doesn't it seem like, with XBOX Live!, Microsoft is straying from their normal business plans?
The Playstation 2 and GameCube are going to have to go belly up before the xbox takes over there. As it is with other products in Japan, their "Made in Japan" designation is a source of pride for their country. Japanese Citizens support Japanese products. Even if the xbox wins over #1 in the USA (a realistic possibility in 5 years), they will never own the Japanese market. The other thing that Microsoft is going to have to do is regionalize their games even further, they still have an American slant.
I can just hope that this version will be on par graphically. The last one was a good game that seemed to be, at the time of release, a generation or so behind the rest of the pack in terms of graphics. I don't believe that graphics make the game, but they should at least be passable.
I agree that your privacy is not assured while on the Internet. However, I can guarantee that any of the member companies of the RIAA would object if one of the "evil hackers" gleaned sensitive information by analyzing their Internet traffic and then posted that on the Internet. They would immediately sue the user, their family and the ISP. The rules need to go both ways.
I can't believe I am actually agreeing with this loser after he spent 2 YEARS living in a virtual world. The bottom line is that he paid to use their system and the expectation when you purchase a service is that it is going to function as advertised. In his case it did not. If this were a free system, such as a MUD, then I would dismiss his loses right away. The fact that he paid for the service changes everything.
I agree on the EA thing. Without the top notch sports games, xbox will have some serious problems. I don't have either, but have used both xbox and ps2 online and the live just seems to be done so much better. The current teen crowd is big on chat and xbox live supplies that with their system. Live is nothing but a huge portal.
Sony's online business problem is the problem, not the price of the console. Microsoft did the online "thing" right by charging one price for all online access (Phantasy Star Online is the exception, not the rule) Sony's "leave it up to the game publisher to handle the online pricing and server support" is what is hurting their online presence. Having to pay multiple monthly costs for using different services is too much to keep track of and people just aren't buying into it. IMHO, Sony needs to change their direction with the PS3 online or they will eventually be looking up to M$.
the "0" in the 60 is shown in the $60. Billion denotes 9 zeros. Either way why the hell are you splitting hairs on this? That is still an obscene amount of money.
I really hate to say it, but I stand corrected. This would prove that the xbox is a stiff.
I don't think that the people who just buy xboxes to "hurt" microsoft really understand what they are doing. In the short term, YES, you are costing Microsoft money on their per console loss. In the long term, you are helping them.
For instance, 1,000,000 MS haters buy xboxes with the hopes of making a serious dent in the $60 billion (yes with nine zeros) cash reserve that Microsoft holds. In the mean time, Microsoft is able to report to the software vendors that they have those 1,000,000 extra xboxes out there. Vendors see the large numbers and make more games to support the xbox. In turn, the xbox software library grows and so does its legit customer base. I know the 1,000,000 xboxes for the MS haters is an exaggeration, but hopefully you will get my point.
Some sort of forced feedback pain might make it realistic.. Maybe something similar to the video game Bond plays that could electricute. This does seem a little odd though, to take situations where REAL people died and make a profit off of them. Fictional deaths in games, no matter how realistic looking, are OK with me. But when you start acting out the real areas where people died seems to be an insult to the soldiers that died there.
The idea that you could get your buggy, insecure software for FREE with the purchase of the OS was too much for the Microsoft brass. You need to pay to have your PC vulnerable. Basically what this gets down to is that too many casual users were opting NOT to purchase Outlook as their POP3 mail clients in favor of, the stripped down but functional, Outlook Express. I expect to see an inexpensive (relatively speaking) stand-alone Outlook being actively marketed to fill the void in the future.
Sorry, this really isn't a big deal yet. When the insurance companies, ESPECIALLY MEDICARE, pay for this under their coverage I will be impressed. For now, it is a great tool with incredible potential for helping disabled people. Most people who will need this will not be able to foot the expense to use them.
God do I hope that they do NOT bring back the "follow the trail of blood while you are knocked out dream." Drove me freaking nuts and was really not much fun. I did like, however, the scene where you had to break out with nothing but a baseball bat and almost no health. Still not holding my breath though.
I am going to holdoff on getting all "giddy" over Max Payne 2. Please remember who is behind this whole thing: 3DRealms. When I actually can walk to the local best buy and see the game for sale, not pre order, I will be excited. We have had, over the past 5 years or so, a plethora or cool screenshots and wild game trailers from 3DRealms. Their other "oh my god", "I can't wait", "...going to revolutionize games", "WHEN ITS DONE" game is still being waited for.
I know that I sound cynical, but DNF has made me a bitter gamer.
Actually, Bell ExpressVU has filed the lawsuit against the web sites and sales locations... They are claiming that the people who are pirating DTV are potential customers of ExpressVU and that they have lost revenue due to this. Similar tactics to the whole RIAA and MPAA thing. Most of the people in Canada would not have subscribed to ExpressVU anyway because their service is terrible. No real lost revenue there...
Brother bought game for N64....
Made fun of brother for buying Iggy's Wrecking Balls....
Felt bad for picking on younger brother for buying a game called Iggy's Wrecking Balls....
Tried playing a game that can only be described as a game that you race Bionic Commando (their wrecking ball chains were able to pull you up to the next level in the race) type balls with faces (some happy, some sad, some mean looking) up a pattern with obstacles.....
Gave little brother a pounding for making me feel bad about making fun of him over buying such a horrible game....
I did enjoy, however, the $3 that Funcoland gave me on the trade-in..
One question... How is Atari doing now? How is Rockstar doing now?
I always found it odd that the NES port (no pun) for Bards Tale had you ordering Grape Juice at the pub instead of ale or spirits. I really wouldn't mind the kid friendly stuff on the games provided they give the option to play the original version.
Does anyone have any example of CURRENT games that have had the same type of censorship? Now that the demographic of console players has shifted to early 20s, I don't think that it will happen as much. Hell Nintendo never released real scare games, but as of late we have seen the Resident Evil type game rearing its head. Might be a little too late though.
They will call the first non-violent game in history...
"French Foreign Policy"
I agree with everyone above when they say that the mage is almost worthless. My hack-and-slash type chars leveled up far faster than the rest of my party. Why? They are the ones that actually killed everything, so their stats go up more quickly. An experience system similar to the Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance would suit this well. In Dark Alliance, the character that killed the beast got 60% of the experience while the teammate got 40%. I know this would have to be modified to fit a party of 6 or so, but the result would be characters you actually cared about not letting die.
I enjoyed the game a lot, and while I think there were a lot of good things, there were areas that needed work as well. Hopefully, the developers will see those areas and improve.