Whether Nintendo is thinking ahead or not, I'm not certain, but that would make one hell of a Christmas present to myself.;)
I agree with you, though. Carts I think are far better for the portable gamer. There are several arguments that I think are excellent reasons.
1.) Load times. No Portable Gamer wants load time. As it is, I find it frustrating that it takes me 15 seconds to get into Pokemon.
2.) Battery Consumption.
3.) Durability. Not only accidental disc ejections, but we're talking how the games are handled. My GBA sits in my pocket with a handful of games and possibly other artifacts. Even the UMD disc guard would let scratchs go right through.
4.) Size. Even as small as GC and PSP discs are, they're still many times the (surface area) size of a DS cart--close to twice as big as a GBA cart.
That's enough reasons for me to prefer a cartridge based system.
I'd like to point out, though, that the NDS is an amazing piece of hardware, and you may wish to check it out if you get the chance. Yeah, you lose classic GB support, but how much do you play those these days? One thing I don't like about the NDS is that the games are (sometimes) using the 3D processing prowess of the portable system. Sure, Mario 64 looked great, but 3D games just don't look as fly on a 2 inch screen.
I don't care what anyone says, the NGage failed because the games made ya nauscious... more so than the VirtuaBoy *shivers*. The PSP is a step in the right direction in this aspect, but most people just can't focus on the pretty graphics on a screen that small. For that reason, Cartoon-esque (I'm thinking sprite based, but the Windwakers of the world may qualify, too) style art works wonderfully on a small portable screen.
I seem to remember that some studios want to bundle UMDs with DVDs. While this hasn't spread across the market like the plague, it will start to impede on my selection of purchases. Sure, you only pay an extra couple of bucks to get the UMD with the DVD, but I don't want the UMD.
As I've said, I've not been afflicted yet, but how long will it be before I am? Maybe I'm just paranoid, but Sony's trying to cram it down our throats... just like the Memory Stick, the MD, and the BetaMax formats. And before I face any heat for this comment, I am the proud owner of a MZ-R50 MiniDisc recorder.
I absolutely disapprove of the UMD move format, and I think Sony is stupid to force it upon the world.
However, I would like to point out that "Better" does not necessarily "Higher Quality". While UMDs are lower res videos, they do have at least one quality that makes them "Better" than DVD: They are smaller and therefore more portable.
As I said, I don't like the format either, but I think that there does need to be a distinguishment between Better and Higher Quality.
Re:Accessories argument is not valid...
on
J Allard Interviewed
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· Score: 3, Funny
Wrong. People who are stupid enough to play Madden again and again are just stupid enough to run out and buy an xbox 360 so they can play it in hi-def on their 13 inch sylvania crt from 1996.
You over estimate the intelligence of Madden fans. (For the record, I liked Madden once upon a time... It used to be an innovative, enjoyable game)
Re:Not a sales pitch for them, but...
on
J Allard Interviewed
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· Score: 2, Insightful
You're wrong.
I know we'd all mostly be buying the full version
You assume that I've seen enough compelling reasons to buy this system. Unfortunately, Halo 3 isn't worth $460 to me.
Seriously, though. The RIAA has no business monitoring who downloads what to the who now, but they get away with it because of all the political lobbying that transpires here in the United States.
No, they filed for the patent too late for those designs, and Microsoft swooped in to clean up. They scrapped them when they were required to pay $10 per mile...
Gmail has context sensative ads. Most messages have advertisements for related topics. For example, I became aware of dice.com through a gmail ad. They made a dime on that one, I'm sure.
Google News is a repository of information. Of course they make money on it. If nothing else, they learn their user's habits.
Picasa, in case you didn't know, has several venues for Google to make a profit. First, google gets a better understanding of how images are cataloged by their users. This makes services like images.google.com more efficient, and possibly even "smart". Second, Picasa is paired with a "Order Prints" function which shells out to several different photo printing services including Wal-Mart, Shutterfly, and Life Pics. This, I'm sure makes a small profit. Third, it integrates with Blogger and Tivo, which I'm sure there is an indirect revenue stream from these services as well.
An IM client could be huge for Google; I'm sure they could find ways to make a profit. Context sensative ads (similar to Trillian's Wikipedia lookup feature), regular advertisements (like AIM and MSN's advertising), and the ability to shell right out to their other revenue sources like google.com, gmail, and picasa.
It's been (almost) half a century since we've really explored space. Lately NASA has just been sending up probes. While probes are very useful, they don't provide us with first-hand knowledge of the heavens.
While I cannot justify the use of weapons of any type, it is one of the founding fundamentals of all of civilization; and I am not referring to the United States--I mean all of human kind. Man would never have emerged from the beasts without the ability to develop spears, arrows, and fire. By the same token, we will never venture into space further than we have to without a great motivation; the fear of death from above I believe to be a great motivator.
Some people criticize the scientific minds of the first half of the 20th century for developing the nuclear bomb, but why? Einstein was mortified when he discovered what his research had done, but in the wake of nuclear awakening man has developed one of the most fruitful power generating facilities to date.
While this thought disturbs me... I think it will be a long time before man is ready to leave his guns behind, but until then we'll go nowhere.
Personally, I don't care if Nintendo announces "real specs". As I've always viewed any video game system, it is not the quality of the graphics that makes it great, instead it is the quality of the gameplay. Let's not forget that.
That being said, it is unfair to compare the Revolution to the Virtual Boy in this way. The Virtual Boy actually had a handful of fun games. All three people I know who have one, love it--and they love it for the games they have, not because of failure of the system as a whole. Sure, the Virtual Boy failed commercially, but it's success should be more appropriately be valued in the fun factor.
You're right. The 360 does not need full X-Box compatibility. While it would be nice for MS to claim this as a feature, by no means is it imparative./. has generally forgotten this, but you can thank that to Sony and Microsoft's PR hype.
I'm afraid that I am confused by what you mean by "improvement over current games". As I've previously identified, vintage games with lousy graphics can be insanely addicting. I would like to identify the success of many flash based games, solitaire, and (with the worst graphics of all) kingdom of loathing. Sure, many of these games don't offer the rich 3d graphics of a brand new xbox 360 or a PS3, but they offer something that all games should... gameplay.
Finally, you seem to imply that the Revolution may be "a step backward". I assume you are referring to graphics and raw processing power, which I doubt to be true. If it were, though, I'm sure Nintendo will deliver the important things: games that are wonderful, marvelous adventures into fiction. Of course, we may have been blinded by the hype behind the MS and Sony systems that we've forgotten to look at the games. Great fun indeed. Another generic FPS and another controversial Criminal Lifestyle game. Yulp.
I'd like to point out that the X-Box Controller-S is just a cheap rip off of the Sega Saturn Analog Joystick... And to a lesser extent the Dreamcast controller.
Did we forget about Sega altogether already?
Speaking of which... I wonder what the 'S' in Controller-S stands for...
Pop culture references aside, Metrod Prime (and its sequels) is an amazing game. It is not your daddy's FPS. It is more a Metroid game than anyone who hasn't played it will ever know.
Just because Halo is a standard mindless FPS, it doesn't mean Nintendo's golden First Person Shooter is. I'd identify it more as a First Person Revolution. But then again, maybe that is what Nintendo's going for...
I'd like to point out that there are no less than 90 million MagicGate devices out there, and I imagine a larger number of MagicGate media. Last I looked the logo was stamped on the PS2 Memory Cards.
Sure, I don't necessarily like MagicGate, but I wouldn't call it unsuccessful.
Slashdot Mirror
Diablo II.
:D
Come on. I long await the day when I can visit Ormus away from my PC.
"You now speak to Ormus. He was once a great mage... but now he sells potions!"
Whether Nintendo is thinking ahead or not, I'm not certain, but that would make one hell of a Christmas present to myself. ;)
/shrug.
I agree with you, though. Carts I think are far better for the portable gamer. There are several arguments that I think are excellent reasons.
1.) Load times. No Portable Gamer wants load time. As it is, I find it frustrating that it takes me 15 seconds to get into Pokemon.
2.) Battery Consumption.
3.) Durability. Not only accidental disc ejections, but we're talking how the games are handled. My GBA sits in my pocket with a handful of games and possibly other artifacts. Even the UMD disc guard would let scratchs go right through.
4.) Size. Even as small as GC and PSP discs are, they're still many times the (surface area) size of a DS cart--close to twice as big as a GBA cart.
That's enough reasons for me to prefer a cartridge based system.
I'd like to point out, though, that the NDS is an amazing piece of hardware, and you may wish to check it out if you get the chance. Yeah, you lose classic GB support, but how much do you play those these days? One thing I don't like about the NDS is that the games are (sometimes) using the 3D processing prowess of the portable system. Sure, Mario 64 looked great, but 3D games just don't look as fly on a 2 inch screen.
I don't care what anyone says, the NGage failed because the games made ya nauscious... more so than the VirtuaBoy *shivers*. The PSP is a step in the right direction in this aspect, but most people just can't focus on the pretty graphics on a screen that small. For that reason, Cartoon-esque (I'm thinking sprite based, but the Windwakers of the world may qualify, too) style art works wonderfully on a small portable screen.
Come to think of it... Gamecube discs are about that size...
I seem to remember that some studios want to bundle UMDs with DVDs. While this hasn't spread across the market like the plague, it will start to impede on my selection of purchases. Sure, you only pay an extra couple of bucks to get the UMD with the DVD, but I don't want the UMD.
As I've said, I've not been afflicted yet, but how long will it be before I am? Maybe I'm just paranoid, but Sony's trying to cram it down our throats... just like the Memory Stick, the MD, and the BetaMax formats. And before I face any heat for this comment, I am the proud owner of a MZ-R50 MiniDisc recorder.
Already there! Large amounts of flash memory are great...
You raise a valid point. I might embrace (probably not, but who knows) a UMD-R (?) drive for my PC.
/shrug.
Then I could rip my own DVDs and copy 'em off at my leisure.
I absolutely disapprove of the UMD move format, and I think Sony is stupid to force it upon the world.
However, I would like to point out that "Better" does not necessarily "Higher Quality". While UMDs are lower res videos, they do have at least one quality that makes them "Better" than DVD: They are smaller and therefore more portable.
As I said, I don't like the format either, but I think that there does need to be a distinguishment between Better and Higher Quality.
Wrong. People who are stupid enough to play Madden again and again are just stupid enough to run out and buy an xbox 360 so they can play it in hi-def on their 13 inch sylvania crt from 1996.
You over estimate the intelligence of Madden fans. (For the record, I liked Madden once upon a time... It used to be an innovative, enjoyable game)
You're wrong.
I know we'd all mostly be buying the full version
You assume that I've seen enough compelling reasons to buy this system. Unfortunately, Halo 3 isn't worth $460 to me.
AND THAT'S THE WAY IT SHOULD BE!
Seriously, though. The RIAA has no business monitoring who downloads what to the who now, but they get away with it because of all the political lobbying that transpires here in the United States.
Time to move to Canada.
Actually, Microsoft patented the technology behind "life" before you...
30% overrated? Come on! It was the perfect setup for my comment!
Maybe they'll open a full fledged GooglePlex in the Atlanta area... Hrm...
No, they filed for the patent too late for those designs, and Microsoft swooped in to clean up. They scrapped them when they were required to pay $10 per mile...
Here here! It's funny because it's true. Mod Grandparent up!
My Gmail account is labeled as "beta". I wonder if they all read this way...
Yes.
Gmail has context sensative ads. Most messages have advertisements for related topics. For example, I became aware of dice.com through a gmail ad. They made a dime on that one, I'm sure.
Google News is a repository of information. Of course they make money on it. If nothing else, they learn their user's habits.
Picasa, in case you didn't know, has several venues for Google to make a profit. First, google gets a better understanding of how images are cataloged by their users. This makes services like images.google.com more efficient, and possibly even "smart". Second, Picasa is paired with a "Order Prints" function which shells out to several different photo printing services including Wal-Mart, Shutterfly, and Life Pics. This, I'm sure makes a small profit. Third, it integrates with Blogger and Tivo, which I'm sure there is an indirect revenue stream from these services as well.
An IM client could be huge for Google; I'm sure they could find ways to make a profit. Context sensative ads (similar to Trillian's Wikipedia lookup feature), regular advertisements (like AIM and MSN's advertising), and the ability to shell right out to their other revenue sources like google.com, gmail, and picasa.
Information is valuable these days...
Because Trillian 3.0+ is too bloated for Google's tastes. Remember. Google like simple, efficient... For the most part.
No, it won't run x86, but at least this article was
I believe you're onto something.
It's been (almost) half a century since we've really explored space. Lately NASA has just been sending up probes. While probes are very useful, they don't provide us with first-hand knowledge of the heavens.
While I cannot justify the use of weapons of any type, it is one of the founding fundamentals of all of civilization; and I am not referring to the United States--I mean all of human kind. Man would never have emerged from the beasts without the ability to develop spears, arrows, and fire. By the same token, we will never venture into space further than we have to without a great motivation; the fear of death from above I believe to be a great motivator.
Some people criticize the scientific minds of the first half of the 20th century for developing the nuclear bomb, but why? Einstein was mortified when he discovered what his research had done, but in the wake of nuclear awakening man has developed one of the most fruitful power generating facilities to date.
While this thought disturbs me... I think it will be a long time before man is ready to leave his guns behind, but until then we'll go nowhere.
While I am not certain what the S stands for (it very well could be "small", I was making a pretentious parallelism. ;)
I would be very interested to see this "controller evolution" chart. Would you have a link?
Personally, I don't care if Nintendo announces "real specs". As I've always viewed any video game system, it is not the quality of the graphics that makes it great, instead it is the quality of the gameplay. Let's not forget that.
/. has generally forgotten this, but you can thank that to Sony and Microsoft's PR hype.
That being said, it is unfair to compare the Revolution to the Virtual Boy in this way. The Virtual Boy actually had a handful of fun games. All three people I know who have one, love it--and they love it for the games they have, not because of failure of the system as a whole. Sure, the Virtual Boy failed commercially, but it's success should be more appropriately be valued in the fun factor.
You're right. The 360 does not need full X-Box compatibility. While it would be nice for MS to claim this as a feature, by no means is it imparative.
I'm afraid that I am confused by what you mean by "improvement over current games". As I've previously identified, vintage games with lousy graphics can be insanely addicting. I would like to identify the success of many flash based games, solitaire, and (with the worst graphics of all) kingdom of loathing. Sure, many of these games don't offer the rich 3d graphics of a brand new xbox 360 or a PS3, but they offer something that all games should... gameplay.
Finally, you seem to imply that the Revolution may be "a step backward". I assume you are referring to graphics and raw processing power, which I doubt to be true. If it were, though, I'm sure Nintendo will deliver the important things: games that are wonderful, marvelous adventures into fiction. Of course, we may have been blinded by the hype behind the MS and Sony systems that we've forgotten to look at the games. Great fun indeed. Another generic FPS and another controversial Criminal Lifestyle game. Yulp.
I'd like to point out that the X-Box Controller-S is just a cheap rip off of the Sega Saturn Analog Joystick... And to a lesser extent the Dreamcast controller.
Did we forget about Sega altogether already?
Speaking of which... I wonder what the 'S' in Controller-S stands for...
exmploration
>
Heheh.
<simpsonsreference>saxamaphone</simpsonsreference
Pop culture references aside, Metrod Prime (and its sequels) is an amazing game. It is not your daddy's FPS. It is more a Metroid game than anyone who hasn't played it will ever know.
Just because Halo is a standard mindless FPS, it doesn't mean Nintendo's golden First Person Shooter is. I'd identify it more as a First Person Revolution. But then again, maybe that is what Nintendo's going for...
I'd like to point out that there are no less than 90 million MagicGate devices out there, and I imagine a larger number of MagicGate media. Last I looked the logo was stamped on the PS2 Memory Cards.
Sure, I don't necessarily like MagicGate, but I wouldn't call it unsuccessful.