The output screen can be changed and while it might be difficult with the current design they could easily have made the DS able to remap the keys if they were designing the GBA mode with that in mind. Personally I'd like to use Y and B instead of B and A, easier to reach.
I would call the Nintendo DS rushed as well. The firmware is far from perfect (switching off the system after changing conigurations?!? not able to remap the buttons in GBA emulation?) and outside Japan the launch lineup was awful with an N64 port as the flagship title (not a problem for me since I had no N64 but a problem for the rest). Some Sega consoles were rushed, too, I think.
We have similar laws here. I haven't heard of a single case where a retailer was punished for non-compliance. They aren't stupid, they just need to enforce the ratings. What changes is that kids can no longer buy a game not rated for them without an adult present which usually means getting his parents into the store and having them buy the game for him. Since the same laws apply to tobacco, alcohol and firearms and retailers seem to cope just fine I don't think the retailers will be hit much.
If the children listen to the parents, the ESRB isn't needed because the parents could just say "don't buy violent games". Disobedient children will seek out the places that don't check, anyway.
It's common policy that the game must run without a memory device. Noone says it has to be really usable (Final Fantasy without saving?) but it has to start without the memory device. Probably to allow for changing the memcard during the game.
Personally I think it'd be nice if that would trigger a "demo mode" that unlocks quite some stuff but doesn't save to make the in-store demos more interesting.
You say that like artists at EA had any artistic freedom. It's an assembly line over there, everyone does one step and usually there are very tight restrictions on what they make (e.g. "You make a head that looks like Sean Connery in the 60s!" "You make a matching body!" "You animate that to look like James Bond!").
The people affected are "entry level", i.e. newbies. The kind that you can replace easily. Of course, the pros are pissed off, too. Would be funny if they lost some of their high-profile people to this.
So all those long time employees that were screwed over will not be compensated, will not get any improvement in their work conditions and apparently there's no pay out, either.
Overall this settlement is worse than the Microsoft antitrust "Seattlement".
You don't live in Europe or Australia, it seems. In these markets many games can only be bought as imports. I'm considering modding my PS2 just so I can import Katamari Damacy. Importing may not be a big deal if you live in the US and have little interest in the Japan-only games but it sure is if you get all games 6 months too late or not at all.
I know people who stopped buying CDs because they can download them for free. Therefore, "Nobody would have bought them instead" is false. Of course, it could be a strawman but it sure as hell is the condition necessary to say there is no money lost to P2P copyright infringement.
Re:This sort of thing...
on
RIAA Sues a Child
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Modern piracy laws allow for planes as well (both as the attacker and the victim). So parking your missile cruiser in international waters and shooting down 767s is piracy though it'll most likely be considered an act of war.
That argument is used in some jurisdictions, you're privately using the media and that's allowed. However, P2P uploading is public broadcasting. You don't have a license for public performance or broadcasting of the material, i.e. you couldn't use a beamer to project the movie against your house and have the whole neighbourhood watch it. The reason this is treated differently is because of scale. Showing a movie while your friends are over has very little impact on the market because strangers still can't watch the movie (well, unless you let everyone into your house but that could be construed as public performance). Broadcasting the movie by any means would allow people you don't know to snatch a copy and can compete with the copyright holder. Since copyright costs a lot to produce but not to reproduce you have an advantage and could easily drive the copyright holder out of the market even if you didn't offer it for free.
Slashdot Mirror
This is RealMedia we're talking about, anyone who helped develop that shouldn't be paid, he should be put on trial!
Not when they're convicted of monopoly practices in the very same market.
The output screen can be changed and while it might be difficult with the current design they could easily have made the DS able to remap the keys if they were designing the GBA mode with that in mind. Personally I'd like to use Y and B instead of B and A, easier to reach.
Marketing should always be read in Advocatus Diaboli mode. Perhaps he's saying ithe 60 will exhibit an unusually large failure rate.
I would call the Nintendo DS rushed as well. The firmware is far from perfect (switching off the system after changing conigurations?!? not able to remap the buttons in GBA emulation?) and outside Japan the launch lineup was awful with an N64 port as the flagship title (not a problem for me since I had no N64 but a problem for the rest). Some Sega consoles were rushed, too, I think.
Except he's a marketing guy and would call Halo 2 the best game ever even if he hated every minute of it.
They aren't losing money (except for MS) but the profit margins on the consoles are tiny.
Yeah, just legalize frying the people collecting that info and everyone is happy!
RFID Intelligent Destruction for RFID
Inspired by the Department of Redundancy Department?
We have similar laws here. I haven't heard of a single case where a retailer was punished for non-compliance. They aren't stupid, they just need to enforce the ratings. What changes is that kids can no longer buy a game not rated for them without an adult present which usually means getting his parents into the store and having them buy the game for him. Since the same laws apply to tobacco, alcohol and firearms and retailers seem to cope just fine I don't think the retailers will be hit much.
If the children listen to the parents, the ESRB isn't needed because the parents could just say "don't buy violent games". Disobedient children will seek out the places that don't check, anyway.
What better way is there to make the parent pay attention than to have them sign off every potentially objectionable purchase?
You can, but only on some promotional events.
It's common policy that the game must run without a memory device. Noone says it has to be really usable (Final Fantasy without saving?) but it has to start without the memory device. Probably to allow for changing the memcard during the game.
Personally I think it'd be nice if that would trigger a "demo mode" that unlocks quite some stuff but doesn't save to make the in-store demos more interesting.
You sound like you could prove that black equals white.
You say that like artists at EA had any artistic freedom. It's an assembly line over there, everyone does one step and usually there are very tight restrictions on what they make (e.g. "You make a head that looks like Sean Connery in the 60s!" "You make a matching body!" "You animate that to look like James Bond!").
The people affected are "entry level", i.e. newbies. The kind that you can replace easily. Of course, the pros are pissed off, too. Would be funny if they lost some of their high-profile people to this.
Windows! Well, okay, it might not be intended...
http://boards.polycount.net/showthreaded.php?Cat=0 &Number=73470
So all those long time employees that were screwed over will not be compensated, will not get any improvement in their work conditions and apparently there's no pay out, either.
Overall this settlement is worse than the Microsoft antitrust "Seattlement".
You don't live in Europe or Australia, it seems. In these markets many games can only be bought as imports. I'm considering modding my PS2 just so I can import Katamari Damacy. Importing may not be a big deal if you live in the US and have little interest in the Japan-only games but it sure is if you get all games 6 months too late or not at all.
I know people who stopped buying CDs because they can download them for free. Therefore, "Nobody would have bought them instead" is false. Of course, it could be a strawman but it sure as hell is the condition necessary to say there is no money lost to P2P copyright infringement.
Modern piracy laws allow for planes as well (both as the attacker and the victim). So parking your missile cruiser in international waters and shooting down 767s is piracy though it'll most likely be considered an act of war.
That argument is used in some jurisdictions, you're privately using the media and that's allowed. However, P2P uploading is public broadcasting. You don't have a license for public performance or broadcasting of the material, i.e. you couldn't use a beamer to project the movie against your house and have the whole neighbourhood watch it. The reason this is treated differently is because of scale. Showing a movie while your friends are over has very little impact on the market because strangers still can't watch the movie (well, unless you let everyone into your house but that could be construed as public performance). Broadcasting the movie by any means would allow people you don't know to snatch a copy and can compete with the copyright holder. Since copyright costs a lot to produce but not to reproduce you have an advantage and could easily drive the copyright holder out of the market even if you didn't offer it for free.
I think there are laws against it, at least in Europe.
Why not? When comparing a PC and a Mac, do you only look at the hardware performance or do you care about the software?