I'm pretty excited about Plug-in hybrids as well. Things like the Chevrolet Volt are particularly exciting to me.
I'm hoping that Chevy will actually produce these and that will lead to more manufacturers moving that way and could lead to an automobile industry revolution.
I also want to point out that there's a lot more out there than just charging your phone. I use some free software linked from that site (BitPim in particular) to transfer songs and videos to my 1GB microSD card that I got for $25. I use the phone (a V3m) as a music and video (got Season 1 of "The Office" on there right now!) player. Granted, it's not as feature-packed or nice as an iPod, but it gets the job done, and I got the phone for free!
The drivers necessary to charge your RAZR (and I assume other mini-USB equipped Motorola phones, they work with my V3 and V3m) are easily found and downloaded off the web. A website I like is: Moto-V3M Wiki. They've got some good easy step-by-step guides with links to download the software.
The fact that the Wii-mote comes with the actual system makes it far superior to any other knock-offs. Guitar Hero is awesome and comes with a great controller, but it's really only useful for Guitar Hero (DMC aside).
For the Wii, the game developers can depend on the Wii-mote being there with all the functionality that entails (motion sensing, speaker, rumble, etc). With a third-party controller, the game developer doesn't have any idea if the player will actually have it. So, they either have to code support for the default controller (the one that came packaged with the system) or pack the new controller with the game. The costs on that are pretty huge.
With all that, I think Nintendo stands in a good place. A lot of people have more than one system. Even if the Wii is the second system for everyone that's still a large number of system's sold. Plus, every single one of them at a profit.
Over on the Xbox. Since Conker is a Rare-owned property and Microsoft owns Rare, it's quite unlikely we'll see any Rare games on the VC, which is quite sad. Note though, that only includes entirely Rare-owned properties. Stuff that Nintendo owned, but Rare developed (like Donkey Kong Country) should appear sometime in the future.
Yes, this means that the likely hood of Perfect Dark is absolutely nil, buy there's a small chance of Goldeneye on there (but that's a whole slew of licensing issues right there).
Of course, these are just guesses from some random Nintendo fan, anyone know for sure?
Is this not a good example of the Long Tale? Sure, the big studios get the big chunk, but hasn't things like PopCap, and Puzzle Pirates shown that small companies can be successful?
Isn't that part of the reason Nintendo is going after the casual gamer crowd with the Revolution?
If you'd like a free PVR, I personally like GB-PVR. It can handle as many tuners as your machine can handle plus it has a bunch of additional features. Beyond TV, Sage TV and Microsoft MCE all cost money, but none of them do anything that GB-PVR can't.
It's not open source, unfortunately, but has a very active development guy and a very good plug-in architecture.
My PVR is an AMD Sempron 2200+ with 768MB RAM, 360GB Hard drive space, two Hauppauge tuners (250 and 150-MCE) running in a small case on a Chaintech 7NIF2 board running Win2000. Everything works flawlessly and my wife loves it! She records all her shows and watches them whenever she wants. I've got about half of our DVD collection ripped and converted to Xvid sitting on there, ready to go (those discs aren't getting anywhere near the kids!) and everything is awesome.
When we move into our house, I'm going to run network through the walls and have a Hauppauge Media MVP as a small, quiet front-end in the bedroom.
The PVR itself is fairly noisy, but when the TV's on, you can't hear it so it doesn't really matter. When I do an upgrade, I might get another MVP and put the main server into the closet.
I originally tried MythTV (using KnoppMyth), but after a week of hassle and wrestling with it, I gave up and tried GB-PVR. I haven't tried MythTV since. I'd like to have only open-source, free software running, but I couldn't get it to work. I hope to be able to switch over in the future, but for right now, we're quite happy.
I agree that on first glance, Slashdot seems to come out ahead. What the article means is over the entire time dig vs dot has been tracking it. If you were to change the "View By" setting to "All Results" you'll see that Digg.com is slightly ahead of Slashdot. Personally, I don't think that it means too much with the results that close (as of this moment 252 for Digg and 223 for Slashdot).
As far as Digg.com taking over goes, I'm in total aggrement with the Grandparent. You don't get any sort of intellectual discussion there like you do here (of course, using the comment threshold to its full advantage;) ), but I don't think that's the point of Digg.com.
There is a way to report duplicates, spam, lame, or broken links on Digg.com but I haven't noticed any difference when I use that because I like to see the latest instead of waiting a week until a story hits the front page. I suppose the editors wait until a certain amount of complaints come in until they do something. It seems to work over all because few duplicate stories make it to the front page.
I predict that the Revolution (or whatever it'll be called) will be launched at a price point of $200 USD. Why? Because the GameCube launched at that price. Because the Nintendo 64 launched at that price. Because the Super Nintendo hit mass market appeal at that price and because the NES hit mass market appeal at that price. (Obviously, I'm going off of memory with the numbers.)
But, as the article says, is that enough for Nintendo? Gamecube was/is priced considerably lower than the PS2 and Xbox, but doesn't have nearly the mindshare (not even mentioning the marketshare). I'm not planning on getting either PS3 or Xbox 360 until they reach price points comparable to what the Revolution will launch at; for me, $200 is the sweet spot. Any more and I won't buy it.
Personally, I'm most excited about the possibilities of the Revolution (the controller, download old games, internet play, Super Smash Bros. Revolution Online, etc.) but I fear that it might be too little too late.
I agree; I at first, only used GB-PVR because I was having trouble setting up MythTV. Now though, the features seem almost comparable and new ones are on the way. The latest release of GB-PVR saw the addition of transcoding to a couple of formats. There's still bugs to be worked out, but it's coming along nicely.
As for MAME support, GB-PVR has a very nicely done plug-in system (from what I've heard, I haven't actually done any myself). And I wouldn't be suprised to see that come along in the near future. There are a bunch of people working on plug-ins and tons of support for them, just check out the forums.
Yeah, unfortunately, I have a habit of proofreading after I post. It would be more helpful if I did it before.
This is one topic I'm rather passionate about and I'm always talking to my co-workers about PVRs and how having one has changed my viewing habits. For example, we (the wife and I) just used to watch whatever was on and our experience wasn't the best. But now, we find that we watch what we want to and consequently, watch less TV overall.
Personally, I'm really excited because GB-PVR has a built in MediaMVP server which means that you can have a ~$40USD small, quiet front end for all your TVs and keep the huge, noisy server in the basement or whatnot. Having seperate front-ends and back-ends was a major plus in my book for MythTV, but I was getting concerned about the cost of building small and quiet (wife-acceptance factor is really huge here) front-ends for my TVs. With a MediaMVP (a wireless version is in the works), I won't have to worry about it.
Jeez, don't click that link. Stupid me, it's: GB-PVR. They've got a nice forum and a dedicated developer. Unfortunately, it's not open source. But neither are any of the commercial offerings.
I've had a PVR system up and running for about a year now. Originally, I was planning on using MythTV. No matter how hard I tried, I could not get the system up and running, even following every HowTO and guide out there, even with KnoppMyth.
So I tried a free, Windows based solution: GB-PVR. It's really easy to set up and use, new features are being added all the time and my wife loves it.
Alright, so maybe not an MMORPG based on Diablo. But what about an MMORTS based on StarCraft? It'd be enough different from WoW (Sci-Fi, RTS) that it wouldn't be competition with themselves.
Would they be the first to make a successful MMORTS? I think they'd have a good chance, as long as it was done right. Sure, you can play StarCraft online, but in a persistant, story-based setting? There's too many opportunities there to ignore.
Another option might have been a device like the gameboy player that just attached to the bottom of the gamecube and was actually more like a n64 than anything else.
Actually, in a recent Nintendo Power online poll, Nintendo mentioned this. They asked what price the user would pay for an add-on for the GameCube that would play N64 games like the Game Boy Player.
This got me all excited! Imaging playing Perfect Dark with 4 players, 8 bots and no lag!:)
One of the Gamespot videos has a 16 minute demo of the game, so this info comes from there.
You have a couple of different choices for control:
One is to use the D-Pad for movement. If you do this the character runs instead of having different movement speeds.
Another is to use a "thumb stick" type of thing. In the video, the guy running the demo couldn't get it to work, but basically it straps to your thumbs and acts just like a control stick would; the more you move it up the faster the character runs. So, in essence, the touch pad replaces the analog stick.
To control the camera, there are four buttons on the bottom of the touch screen. Two each for swinging the camera left or right. In the video, the guy easily pressed those by just sliding the appropriate thumb just a little bit onto the screen when he needed it.
As for a Z-button, there's two shoulder buttons. If you recall from Mario 64, the L-button didn't do much of anything. So for Mario DS, it takes over the function of the Z-button.
There's a lot more to say about this game (which I'm really excited about), but the best thing I can say is to find the demonstration video on Gamespot (or wherever) and watch the whole thing. I've never been so excited by an upcoming game before! (Now I just have to convince the wife to let me plop down the $150 + $40 + taxes for it all!)
You can play your buddies (even if they're not in the same room, which is as much as you get for connectivity with the PSP and DS).
One of the key features of the DS (at least in my mind) is built in Wi-Fi and Nintendo's "Bluetooth" (it's not really Bluetooth, but something similiar).
Personally, the idea of using a cell phone for anything other than a phone is anthema to me. I'd much rather carry around a small phone and a game system, both of which can do one thing really well.
To me, the DS is a much more exciting platform than the PSP. Sure, the PSP will have some nice graphics (judging from the screens of the demos), but the DS has more possibilities. Like I mentioned, built in Wi-Fi to me just screams awesome versions of games like Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
Hmm... my post isn't showing up. Maybe I forgot to hit submit? Anyway, this is what I said:
You pose an interesting question, but an easy answer would be no. Rare lost the James Bond license to EA after GoldenEye was completed (which is why Perfect Dark wasn't a Bond game). It would be much more likely to see a Perfect Dark game on the DS, because Rare owns the IP for it.
I absolutely love Perfect Dark (but I don't really like GoldenEye, go figure). I was rather dissappointed by the Rare buyout because that would mean no PD for my favorite console, the Cube. But when I heard that Timesplitters 2 was being made by a lot of the key people behind GoldenEye and PD and that it was coming to the GameCube, I got really excited again.
After getting and playing TS2, I can compare it with Perfect Dark. One of the things that I liked most about PD is the menu set up. Very intuitive and easy to use. TS2 is a little harder to get used to because it's in a "cascading menu" style (first pick type of game, then arena, etc.). But, TS2 comes very close to Perfect Dark in game play. The multiplayer is fast and furious, even with 16 bots at once (which is nice, since PD crawled with only 6 bots and two players). There are plenty of goodies to unlock and it's really good fun with a bunch of friends. It's pretty cheap now-a-days, so go pick it up.
The backwards capability in the GBA is mostly just an extra processor (the GBC Z80) with everything else hooked up to the GBA. In fact, as far as it goes, the GBA and GBC are the same thing. It doesn't take much away from the GBA to have that extra little processor in there.
Slashdot Mirror
Um, the Classic Controller does have a Z button. In fact, it has two.
I'm hoping that Chevy will actually produce these and that will lead to more manufacturers moving that way and could lead to an automobile industry revolution.
Really, a revolution is what we need.
I also want to point out that there's a lot more out there than just charging your phone. I use some free software linked from that site (BitPim in particular) to transfer songs and videos to my 1GB microSD card that I got for $25. I use the phone (a V3m) as a music and video (got Season 1 of "The Office" on there right now!) player. Granted, it's not as feature-packed or nice as an iPod, but it gets the job done, and I got the phone for free!
The drivers necessary to charge your RAZR (and I assume other mini-USB equipped Motorola phones, they work with my V3 and V3m) are easily found and downloaded off the web. A website I like is: Moto-V3M Wiki. They've got some good easy step-by-step guides with links to download the software.
For the Wii, the game developers can depend on the Wii-mote being there with all the functionality that entails (motion sensing, speaker, rumble, etc). With a third-party controller, the game developer doesn't have any idea if the player will actually have it. So, they either have to code support for the default controller (the one that came packaged with the system) or pack the new controller with the game. The costs on that are pretty huge.
With all that, I think Nintendo stands in a good place. A lot of people have more than one system. Even if the Wii is the second system for everyone that's still a large number of system's sold. Plus, every single one of them at a profit.
Yes, this means that the likely hood of Perfect Dark is absolutely nil, buy there's a small chance of Goldeneye on there (but that's a whole slew of licensing issues right there).
Of course, these are just guesses from some random Nintendo fan, anyone know for sure?
Isn't that part of the reason Nintendo is going after the casual gamer crowd with the Revolution?
It's not open source, unfortunately, but has a very active development guy and a very good plug-in architecture.
My PVR is an AMD Sempron 2200+ with 768MB RAM, 360GB Hard drive space, two Hauppauge tuners (250 and 150-MCE) running in a small case on a Chaintech 7NIF2 board running Win2000. Everything works flawlessly and my wife loves it! She records all her shows and watches them whenever she wants. I've got about half of our DVD collection ripped and converted to Xvid sitting on there, ready to go (those discs aren't getting anywhere near the kids!) and everything is awesome.
When we move into our house, I'm going to run network through the walls and have a Hauppauge Media MVP as a small, quiet front-end in the bedroom.
The PVR itself is fairly noisy, but when the TV's on, you can't hear it so it doesn't really matter. When I do an upgrade, I might get another MVP and put the main server into the closet.
I originally tried MythTV (using KnoppMyth), but after a week of hassle and wrestling with it, I gave up and tried GB-PVR. I haven't tried MythTV since. I'd like to have only open-source, free software running, but I couldn't get it to work. I hope to be able to switch over in the future, but for right now, we're quite happy.
As far as Digg.com taking over goes, I'm in total aggrement with the Grandparent. You don't get any sort of intellectual discussion there like you do here (of course, using the comment threshold to its full advantage ;) ), but I don't think that's the point of Digg.com.
There is a way to report duplicates, spam, lame, or broken links on Digg.com but I haven't noticed any difference when I use that because I like to see the latest instead of waiting a week until a story hits the front page. I suppose the editors wait until a certain amount of complaints come in until they do something. It seems to work over all because few duplicate stories make it to the front page.
Personally, I keep an eye on both sites.
But, as the article says, is that enough for Nintendo? Gamecube was/is priced considerably lower than the PS2 and Xbox, but doesn't have nearly the mindshare (not even mentioning the marketshare). I'm not planning on getting either PS3 or Xbox 360 until they reach price points comparable to what the Revolution will launch at; for me, $200 is the sweet spot. Any more and I won't buy it.
Personally, I'm most excited about the possibilities of the Revolution (the controller, download old games, internet play, Super Smash Bros. Revolution Online, etc.) but I fear that it might be too little too late.
As for MAME support, GB-PVR has a very nicely done plug-in system (from what I've heard, I haven't actually done any myself). And I wouldn't be suprised to see that come along in the near future. There are a bunch of people working on plug-ins and tons of support for them, just check out the forums.
This is one topic I'm rather passionate about and I'm always talking to my co-workers about PVRs and how having one has changed my viewing habits. For example, we (the wife and I) just used to watch whatever was on and our experience wasn't the best. But now, we find that we watch what we want to and consequently, watch less TV overall.
Personally, I'm really excited because GB-PVR has a built in MediaMVP server which means that you can have a ~$40USD small, quiet front end for all your TVs and keep the huge, noisy server in the basement or whatnot. Having seperate front-ends and back-ends was a major plus in my book for MythTV, but I was getting concerned about the cost of building small and quiet (wife-acceptance factor is really huge here) front-ends for my TVs. With a MediaMVP (a wireless version is in the works), I won't have to worry about it.
Jeez, don't click that link. Stupid me, it's: GB-PVR. They've got a nice forum and a dedicated developer. Unfortunately, it's not open source. But neither are any of the commercial offerings.
So I tried a free, Windows based solution: GB-PVR. It's really easy to set up and use, new features are being added all the time and my wife loves it.
Would they be the first to make a successful MMORTS? I think they'd have a good chance, as long as it was done right. Sure, you can play StarCraft online, but in a persistant, story-based setting? There's too many opportunities there to ignore.
This got me all excited! Imaging playing Perfect Dark with 4 players, 8 bots and no lag! :)
- For the Game Boy Color, the Z80 was the same processor, just clocked twice as fast.
- For the Game Boy Advance, the Z80 is used for sound (I think), or is was just negligble to add it in.
- For the DS, the ARM from the GBA is used to power the non-3D screen.
This wasn't so for the consoles. None of the Consoles shared any electronics, and the GameCube has an entirely different media.So backwards compatibility for the handhelds was a no-brainer, but for the home consoles, it was a harder choice.
You have a couple of different choices for control:
There's a lot more to say about this game (which I'm really excited about), but the best thing I can say is to find the demonstration video on Gamespot (or wherever) and watch the whole thing. I've never been so excited by an upcoming game before! (Now I just have to convince the wife to let me plop down the $150 + $40 + taxes for it all!)
Personally, the idea of using a cell phone for anything other than a phone is anthema to me. I'd much rather carry around a small phone and a game system, both of which can do one thing really well.
To me, the DS is a much more exciting platform than the PSP. Sure, the PSP will have some nice graphics (judging from the screens of the demos), but the DS has more possibilities. Like I mentioned, built in Wi-Fi to me just screams awesome versions of games like Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing and Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles.
BOINIC
which is close but not quite.
Back on topic: I'll buy a DS and not a PSP. Why? The DS is from Nintendo. Does that make me a fan boy? Yes it does!
When/if PSP were to come down to ~$100, I'd probably get one, but not until then.
The FAQ says that the game was remade in AGS (Adventure Game Studio), a no programming required adventure game creation tool. Check Here.
You pose an interesting question, but an easy answer would be no. Rare lost the James Bond license to EA after GoldenEye was completed (which is why Perfect Dark wasn't a Bond game). It would be much more likely to see a Perfect Dark game on the DS, because Rare owns the IP for it.
Hmm.... that would be awesome! :)
After getting and playing TS2, I can compare it with Perfect Dark. One of the things that I liked most about PD is the menu set up. Very intuitive and easy to use. TS2 is a little harder to get used to because it's in a "cascading menu" style (first pick type of game, then arena, etc.). But, TS2 comes very close to Perfect Dark in game play. The multiplayer is fast and furious, even with 16 bots at once (which is nice, since PD crawled with only 6 bots and two players). There are plenty of goodies to unlock and it's really good fun with a bunch of friends. It's pretty cheap now-a-days, so go pick it up.
The backwards capability in the GBA is mostly just an extra processor (the GBC Z80) with everything else hooked up to the GBA. In fact, as far as it goes, the GBA and GBC are the same thing. It doesn't take much away from the GBA to have that extra little processor in there.