Give them Felidae, bad enough. Traumatized my sister. It has cartoon cats slicing each other's guts open and ripping the entrails out. What a joy for 5 year olds...
I think that's fraud. I've seen fastfood sellers correct customers when they called a meat by a wrong name (e.g. calling calf lamb) with the remark that if they don't correct the customer before the purchase happens it's fraud. If an employee advertises features of a product that don't exist and sells it to you he's liable for fraud.
How do you propose retrieving a transaction when the only information you have is the product purchased? They don't ask your name or address at the register so there's no way they can generate a key they can reconstruct just from you and the product because their transaction database does not include any unique identifiers for either. Any key for your transaction is printed on the receipt.
I usually have the opposite experience, Gamestop only stocks very few copies and often ends up with a game not on shelves (well, they have almost no shelfspace if you subtract the used games so that's no surprise) while larger retailers (I'm thinking department store or electronics retailer here, not hypermarket) have much more shelf space and consequently more games.
That's interesting, here the Gamestops start selling games on fridays or so (often have the preorder boxes up until then) while every other store starts selling on wednesday or thursday (and often a few Euros cheaper). If I were to preorder that'd mean I'd get the game a day or two late and at a worse price than I'd get at a larger retailer.
I like how many of the problems Gamestop has are considered inevitable by that guy yet other stores don't exhibit them. Lack of preorders not getting any copies shipped to your Gamestop? BFD, go to a bigger retailer that actually stocks games. You'll even get it in the original wrap and without employees tampering with it or trying to sell you any extra shit. Forcing employees to meet quotas of reserves and subscriptions is probably one of the worst policies I have heard of although I haven't encountered the results here. The stores are still annoying and cramped (and overpriced) so I avoid them when possible.
Do you think they'd be insane enough to do that? They know it's stupid to forfeit your userbase and start anew like that. Why would they release a Wii HD before the 360 or PS3 are about to be EOLed? It's not like the Wii will stop selling over a triviality like HD.
The next Nintendo console will certainly be interesting though, they will certainly have to pull something out of the hat to gain traction against already entrenched 360s and PS3.
You make it sound like resolution is the crucial step in entertainment. As PC users we all know the difference between 640x480 and 1280x960 and IMO it's not big enough to propel one console above another. More resolution is important for small things like text and icons, especially on a computer but console games are played from a greater distance, when you use text that requires HD to be readable the average user isn't able to read it even with HD simply because it's too far away. The Wii could use HD for things like the browser or the news channel but in the end those are just silly gimmicks, not main features of the console.
As for eye hurting graphics, I'd rather see a refresh rate of 72Hz instead of more resolution at the same old flickery 50-60Hz.
I don't think Sony did it right. They decided to use cutting edge tech that cost way too much, costing them the lead. They decided this tech is better for the future but forgot it's not ready for the NOW leading to huge manufacturing costs, a retail price much higher than what the market will bear and not leaving them in a position to take advantage of all that tech they added in.
Growing for consoles rarely comes from untapped system resources and more increased efficiency in their use. Generally, if you have untapped system resources in a console something has gone wrong. The resources are there, they shouldn't cost extra to use so there's no reason you can't use all of them NOW. Using them properly is something different of course.
The arguments I've seen about the PS3's growth basically suggest the design of the PS3 is so unwieldy noone really knows how to use it. That's a flaw, not a feature!
The story says only one descended from the knights of Hyrule can defeat Ganon. Hey, I wish I could get one of these "only X can defeat me" deals, I'd pick a mentally retarded wheelchair-bound Indonesian suffering from pneumonia and being a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte as my only enemy.
I think it gets flak because it's just a bad game. The level design is often repetitive, the fights annoying and the way you have to start from Zelda's temple every time you run out of lives is really annoying. There have been better implementations of similar gameplay. Playing AoL is like playing the original Metroid, just no fun.
They had loads of hobbyists in the first grand challenge. AFAIK not one vehicle completed that. DARPA isn't interested in cheap solutions, they want good ones that work. There's no point in limiting the cost of the robotics to 50000$ when DARPA is planning to use it on a tank that costs a few million dollars a piece.
I'm sure it's possible to build something that can move and carry passengers for 2k$ but I doubt it'd go very fast or have many survivors after an accident.
Have you seen the challenge? "partially worn or obscured road markings"? They had dirt tracks marked only by two piles of dirt on the sides and only two out of 11 cars had trouble with them (namely Carolo and MIT's car, while Carolo hit those dirt piles MIT just slowed to a crawl), the rest drove like it was a regular road. I bet in the following years DARPA will include simulations of desaster conditions and I bet some cars will still make it.
Then where does anarchy stop and freedom begin? When it comes to people moving tons of metal at dangerous speeds while only caring about how fast they can get somewhere?
There's a second business model that consists of selling items to users to get that money. Quite popular with the Koreans and probably a good idea for less known MMOs since it lowers the barrier of entry a LOT (no 50$ up front, no monthly commitment so you can just hop in and leave if it's not your thing).
Then don't be surprised if the product is so bad that it doesn't meet your requirements. There's good cheap products and bad cheap products, some cheap stuff is almost as good as the expensive kind and really worth the money while other stuff is crap that's not even worth the lower price so you're better off paying a bit more. Don't just buy on price alone.
It's rarely more than 20% and since 1€ ~ 1.4$ there's really no good reason for the number on the pricetag being 10 higher here than in the US (this holds pretty much across all systems except the PC: last gen console: 60&euro, handheld 40€ Wii 50€ for games that cost 40$ in the US, PS3 and 360 70€). The effective price increase is between 50% and 100%, depending on the game.
Slashdot Mirror
Yeah, that too but there's the occassional game I buy at full price.
Give them Felidae, bad enough. Traumatized my sister. It has cartoon cats slicing each other's guts open and ripping the entrails out. What a joy for 5 year olds...
I think that's fraud. I've seen fastfood sellers correct customers when they called a meat by a wrong name (e.g. calling calf lamb) with the remark that if they don't correct the customer before the purchase happens it's fraud. If an employee advertises features of a product that don't exist and sells it to you he's liable for fraud.
How do you propose retrieving a transaction when the only information you have is the product purchased? They don't ask your name or address at the register so there's no way they can generate a key they can reconstruct just from you and the product because their transaction database does not include any unique identifiers for either. Any key for your transaction is printed on the receipt.
I usually have the opposite experience, Gamestop only stocks very few copies and often ends up with a game not on shelves (well, they have almost no shelfspace if you subtract the used games so that's no surprise) while larger retailers (I'm thinking department store or electronics retailer here, not hypermarket) have much more shelf space and consequently more games.
That's interesting, here the Gamestops start selling games on fridays or so (often have the preorder boxes up until then) while every other store starts selling on wednesday or thursday (and often a few Euros cheaper). If I were to preorder that'd mean I'd get the game a day or two late and at a worse price than I'd get at a larger retailer.
I like how many of the problems Gamestop has are considered inevitable by that guy yet other stores don't exhibit them. Lack of preorders not getting any copies shipped to your Gamestop? BFD, go to a bigger retailer that actually stocks games. You'll even get it in the original wrap and without employees tampering with it or trying to sell you any extra shit. Forcing employees to meet quotas of reserves and subscriptions is probably one of the worst policies I have heard of although I haven't encountered the results here. The stores are still annoying and cramped (and overpriced) so I avoid them when possible.
Do you think they'd be insane enough to do that? They know it's stupid to forfeit your userbase and start anew like that. Why would they release a Wii HD before the 360 or PS3 are about to be EOLed? It's not like the Wii will stop selling over a triviality like HD.
Don't forget the 120mm smoothbore for "honking".
The next Nintendo console will certainly be interesting though, they will certainly have to pull something out of the hat to gain traction against already entrenched 360s and PS3.
PS3 and 360 entrenched? In what way?
You make it sound like resolution is the crucial step in entertainment. As PC users we all know the difference between 640x480 and 1280x960 and IMO it's not big enough to propel one console above another. More resolution is important for small things like text and icons, especially on a computer but console games are played from a greater distance, when you use text that requires HD to be readable the average user isn't able to read it even with HD simply because it's too far away. The Wii could use HD for things like the browser or the news channel but in the end those are just silly gimmicks, not main features of the console.
As for eye hurting graphics, I'd rather see a refresh rate of 72Hz instead of more resolution at the same old flickery 50-60Hz.
I don't think Sony did it right. They decided to use cutting edge tech that cost way too much, costing them the lead. They decided this tech is better for the future but forgot it's not ready for the NOW leading to huge manufacturing costs, a retail price much higher than what the market will bear and not leaving them in a position to take advantage of all that tech they added in.
Growing for consoles rarely comes from untapped system resources and more increased efficiency in their use. Generally, if you have untapped system resources in a console something has gone wrong. The resources are there, they shouldn't cost extra to use so there's no reason you can't use all of them NOW. Using them properly is something different of course.
The arguments I've seen about the PS3's growth basically suggest the design of the PS3 is so unwieldy noone really knows how to use it. That's a flaw, not a feature!
From what I read it doesn't even support software BC.
It might hurt but it doesn't hurt as badly as, say, Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland which uses dpad movement and stylus actions, that's a real pain.
The story says only one descended from the knights of Hyrule can defeat Ganon. Hey, I wish I could get one of these "only X can defeat me" deals, I'd pick a mentally retarded wheelchair-bound Indonesian suffering from pneumonia and being a descendant of Napoleon Bonaparte as my only enemy.
I think it gets flak because it's just a bad game. The level design is often repetitive, the fights annoying and the way you have to start from Zelda's temple every time you run out of lives is really annoying. There have been better implementations of similar gameplay. Playing AoL is like playing the original Metroid, just no fun.
Minish Cap wasn't bad in terms of gameplay, the story just reads like bad fanfiction.
They had loads of hobbyists in the first grand challenge. AFAIK not one vehicle completed that. DARPA isn't interested in cheap solutions, they want good ones that work. There's no point in limiting the cost of the robotics to 50000$ when DARPA is planning to use it on a tank that costs a few million dollars a piece.
I'm sure it's possible to build something that can move and carry passengers for 2k$ but I doubt it'd go very fast or have many survivors after an accident.
Have you seen the challenge? "partially worn or obscured road markings"? They had dirt tracks marked only by two piles of dirt on the sides and only two out of 11 cars had trouble with them (namely Carolo and MIT's car, while Carolo hit those dirt piles MIT just slowed to a crawl), the rest drove like it was a regular road. I bet in the following years DARPA will include simulations of desaster conditions and I bet some cars will still make it.
Then where does anarchy stop and freedom begin? When it comes to people moving tons of metal at dangerous speeds while only caring about how fast they can get somewhere?
I think the money is in selling what you made.
There's a second business model that consists of selling items to users to get that money. Quite popular with the Koreans and probably a good idea for less known MMOs since it lowers the barrier of entry a LOT (no 50$ up front, no monthly commitment so you can just hop in and leave if it's not your thing).
Then don't be surprised if the product is so bad that it doesn't meet your requirements. There's good cheap products and bad cheap products, some cheap stuff is almost as good as the expensive kind and really worth the money while other stuff is crap that's not even worth the lower price so you're better off paying a bit more. Don't just buy on price alone.
It's rarely more than 20% and since 1€ ~ 1.4$ there's really no good reason for the number on the pricetag being 10 higher here than in the US (this holds pretty much across all systems except the PC: last gen console: 60&euro, handheld 40€ Wii 50€ for games that cost 40$ in the US, PS3 and 360 70€). The effective price increase is between 50% and 100%, depending on the game.