I agree that installing Gentoo on the PS3 is probably more of a geek experiment, but we miss the potential of getting Linux to the masses. The YDL install is supposedly quite easy, and doesn't wipe out the usefulness of the PS3 either. You can still switch over to the PS3 OS whenever you want. Compare this to installing any Linux distro on a normal store-bought PC. You have to wipe out Windows/OSX/whatever and then install Linux, and it's not that easy to go back. Not to mention that the install process won't install side-by-side for you; you have to do that yourself. So I really think that the YDL install on a PS3 actually is a great opportunity for a more widestream acceptance.
Fortune's Peter Lewis goes inside one of the year's biggest tech launches
It's January 10th. Obviously this is going to be the year's biggest tech launch to date. Talk about hyperbole. Talk to me in November and then we can talk year's biggest tech launches.
The whole article is pretty dumb IMO. I'm a gentoo user, I like gentoo, but I don't need a reason to install it on my PS3. Instead, I need instructions on how to install it for my PS3 with Cell support. The article isn't really about Gentoo on the PS3, it's about why Gentoo is better than YDL or Red Hat on the PS3. This is just a huge flamebait article.
I agree with you that Verizon is out to nickel and dime people to death, but I just bought a KRZR this fall from them and I'm doing exactly that - ripping CD's to MP3 and putting them on my phone via USB. I had to use BitPim to get it working because I have a slightly pirated version of Windows that doesn't like Media Player 10, but I know that with Media Player 10 and a standard mini-USB cable you can transfer the files directly to the phone using Motorola's drivers. Supposedly if you pay $30 for the media kit from Verizon you should be able to do it easier than my method, so even my Dad who is electronically an idiot can do this. So I don't see Verizon as being totally opposed to the idea in the future. And if Apple is selling enough of these devices you know that Verizon and Sprint will fall over themselves and pay big bucks to get this on their network, and Apple won't be opposed to that either.
Sure, they have new specs for the next 360. However, every current owner isn't going to run out and buy a brand new 360 once they see the next rev is out to consumers. In fact, it probably will piss them off. Obviously those who have been waiting for a digital out will be happy but I think those who really wanted the digital out will be buying the PS3 at this point since it's already readily available (as every PS3 opponent loves to point out) whereas we don't have a solid release date for Zephyr. Plus, there's no indication that an HD-DVD drive will be in that next iteration so you'll still have to drop $200 for an add-on besides the increased price of the next revision.
I would also point out that HD-DVD's are currently CONSIDERABLY cheaper than their Blu-ray counterparts. The average HD-DVD title will run you $20-$25... The average Blu-ray title will run you $25-$30.
So $5 to $10 is CONSIDERABLY cheaper? A little exaggeration. Just like the guy above you who said "There are so many HD-DVD movies I want and none on Bluray!!!" I mean, who is really paying attention to the titles anyways? I managed to find a pretty good library of both at Best Buy and basically any movie I don't find in Bluray I can get on DVD or vice versa. At this point, sales figures of HD-DVD and Bluray aren't going to matter because, just as the article points out, everyone is waiting to see who will win the format war.
I've watched a few Blu-ray and DVD movies on my PS3 with no problems. It's really a great player. I don't have an HDTV though, so I can't speak to image quality. The only thing I noticed is that the PS3 does get a bit hot so make sure it's well ventillated and you should be fine. At my parents over Christmas it was out in the open and I never heard the fan but now that I'm home it's in my entertainment center and the fan will go on after an hour or so. I've started leaving the glass door open so the heat will ventillate which has helped quite a bit.
I agree. All of the demos are fun at least for the small part that you can play them. I downloaded the GripShift demo last night and am looking forward to playing it when I get home from work today. And even F1 is great, but I really want to get better at racing without the aids.
You're getting North America and the rest of the world confused. Sony announced it shipped 1 million units to North America. To my knowledge it hasn't said how many were shipped worldwide. Your 4 million Wiis is worldwide, and the website says 1.86 million to North America. So 1.2 wouldn't be too far off if it was an estimate. Plus, where are these places getting their numbers? VGCharts.org has no links to the sales figures they're reporting whatsoever. And nextgenwars has a huge disclaimer that says the number is an estimate.
Of course demand isn't going to be that high - it's $600. Compare that to $250 for a console that Nintendo can't make enough of - which is hysterical when you consider that it's parts are almost two generations old compared to Sony's which aren't mainstream by any stretch of the imagination.
Sony has shipped 1 million, Nintendo has sold about 4 million and launched after the PS3!
Okay, first off, the Wii hasn't sold 4 million in North America, it's sold 1.2 million. And that's an estimate. So now, Sony shipped maybe 200,000 (I'm pretty sure the 700,000 in the article is worldwide) in November and 1 million six weeks after, which puts them neck and neck. Where are you coming up with Nintendo selling 4 million?
When will companies start saying how many units were sold, instead of shipped?
You misunderstand how the whole manufacturing chain works. In auto sales it's easy to determine how many cars a company is selling because they control the important end of the chain to determine sales to consumers - car dealerships. Companies like Sony and Microsoft do have their own online stores but the majority of their sales are through retailers that are 3rd parties. Those 3rd parties aren't likely to report sales of a specific product, especially in the timely manner that manufacturers need. So as a result, they're forced to say how many units they've shipped in order to report how strong a product is. The theory is that it's hand in hand with sales since most big-box retailers use Just-In-Time inventory and other methods to keep consoles from piling up. Retailers aren't stupid - if the product isn't selling they won't order it. However, there may be contractural obligations built into sales contracts that says they have to stock so many units or buy in blocks.
This timely manner for sales reporting, by the way, can be blamed on everything from the console war to the fact that Wall Street demands quarterly reporting from public companies.
Saw a pile of about 15 at best buy last night, being largely ignored.
Haha that's funny. I just submitted this IGN article which will obviously get rejected as Zonk scooped me. Choice quote:
"The news will no doubt be met by whoops of joy from Sony fans worried about recent rumours that consoles were lining the shelves of stores while disinterested consumers walked past them tutting and sighing."
The reality isn't that it's getting ignored, it's that supply has finally met customer's demand, something that the 360 hadn't done at this point last year and the Wii hasn't done yet either. If anything, I think Sony should get points for getting the console out the fastest of any of the current-gen/formely new-gen launches. Anything else anyone says is just fanboys complaining they can't get their hands on their favorite new toy.
I mean, I'm against net neutrality, but I'm pretty liberal so that viewpoint meshes with my beliefs. But why are you all against it?
I'm a little confused. You're against net neutrality and that coincides with you being a liberal? I'm a liberal and I support net neutrality - Verizon, AT&T, or Time Warner Cable have no right to limit the access of anyone to any type of content because they won't pony up fees to their respective carriers. Not to mention that net neutrality boils down to government regulation of business, which seems to be a core liberal value IIRC. So explain to me how your being against net neutrality meshes with your liberal beliefs.
I've read in a ton of different places that the PS3 is making its way to the shelves (some units being returns from unsuccessful eBay sellers).
I wouldn't believe all the internet rumors you hear. I was here in NYC and home in Syracuse over Christmas and most stores said they had no stock of PS3's whatsoever. Not to mention, you don't know exactly what Sony is doing with shipments and such. They said they were going to shoot for 1 million shipments by the end of 2006. This obviously didn't happen, but I think they have another shipment coming very soon, as in this month. I noticed yesterday that EBGames has shipment dates of January 17th on their online orders for the 20GB PS3 and the 60GB PS3. Now, for a company who wasn't taking pre-orders online through Christmas it seems awfully fishy to me that they'd put that date there if they didn't think they could make it. I think another shipment is coming.
Most importantly, the graphics chip isn't available at all and at this point it looks as though you might not be able to access it ever, as a responding commenter to my comment points out here. It also hides the memory attached to that card so you only have about 256MB of RAM available to Linux.
Also, I wouldn't get super eager about that hard drive size. According to the IGN article I was sourcing you can only allocate the drive as either 50/10 or 10/50 under linux. So I'm not sure how it works under sizes of less than 60GBs. If anyone else knows, they should let me know as I'm interested in knowing as well.
Bill Gates is a household name. Notice that he didn't target Microsoft as much as he targeted Gates in the title of the letter. I doubt there are many who know Phil Harrison nearly as well.
$650 for a Next Gen console? Please, my P4 gaming comp I built 4 years ago looks better than this thing. PC gaming FTW IMO.
Ironically, I too have a P4 3ghz that I built about 3 years ago with a Radeon 9800 that I had to buy from Asia because the 256MB cards were so new they weren't being sold here yet. Now, I haven't upgraded a single piece of that machine since I built it. Perhaps I can get a game that would look as nice as this (FarCry wasn't too bad) but it runs slow as spit and definitely not at 1920x1080. More like 1280x1024 barely. Maybe you upgraded your PC a little bit to make it run faster, but the PS3 definitely has nicer graphics than mine, that's for sure.
I originally had written that I downloaded it overnight but realized that it actually was the F1 demo that downloaded overnight and the GT demo that downloaded while I went to church. I really was actually trying to give some context for how long the demo took to download, but decided that explaining the whole situation wasn't really necessary. Instead, it gives people the idea that it took about an hour to two to download over a standard cable connection using the wireless card in the PS3 and an 802.11g router. Happy?
Are you just stuck on moron or something? I'm not fanboy at all, but what you said is just idiotic to the max. Gamespot did a sidebyside graphical comparison of crossover games on the PS3 and 360 and at this stage of the game the PS3's looks are a good deal below the graphics of the 360. Apparently the only people denying that are fanboys like you.
They did a side-by-side comparison of crossover games, which means that the engines for those were built generically and were adapted for porting. Which means the best games for graphical capabilities, including the Gran Turismo HD demo released to the US PS3 on Dec. 24th, were not compared at all.
Now the next favorite argument of those who fight console wars and attack the PS3 is gameplay. I've been playing Resistance 40 player online Team Deathmatch and it's more fun than Quake or Doom. And there's no lag. Plus it's free. So sure, you can argue that the fog in NFS is crappier on the PS3 than on the 360 but personally, I think that there's no way you can compare the online qualities of the 360 to the PS3. You complain about HDR and I'll just play the good games. And no, I didn't buy any of the crossover titles because none of them appealed to me.
Slashdot Mirror
I agree that installing Gentoo on the PS3 is probably more of a geek experiment, but we miss the potential of getting Linux to the masses. The YDL install is supposedly quite easy, and doesn't wipe out the usefulness of the PS3 either. You can still switch over to the PS3 OS whenever you want. Compare this to installing any Linux distro on a normal store-bought PC. You have to wipe out Windows/OSX/whatever and then install Linux, and it's not that easy to go back. Not to mention that the install process won't install side-by-side for you; you have to do that yourself. So I really think that the YDL install on a PS3 actually is a great opportunity for a more widestream acceptance.
Fortune's Peter Lewis goes inside one of the year's biggest tech launches
It's January 10th. Obviously this is going to be the year's biggest tech launch to date. Talk about hyperbole. Talk to me in November and then we can talk year's biggest tech launches.
The whole article is pretty dumb IMO. I'm a gentoo user, I like gentoo, but I don't need a reason to install it on my PS3. Instead, I need instructions on how to install it for my PS3 with Cell support. The article isn't really about Gentoo on the PS3, it's about why Gentoo is better than YDL or Red Hat on the PS3. This is just a huge flamebait article.
I agree with you that Verizon is out to nickel and dime people to death, but I just bought a KRZR this fall from them and I'm doing exactly that - ripping CD's to MP3 and putting them on my phone via USB. I had to use BitPim to get it working because I have a slightly pirated version of Windows that doesn't like Media Player 10, but I know that with Media Player 10 and a standard mini-USB cable you can transfer the files directly to the phone using Motorola's drivers. Supposedly if you pay $30 for the media kit from Verizon you should be able to do it easier than my method, so even my Dad who is electronically an idiot can do this. So I don't see Verizon as being totally opposed to the idea in the future. And if Apple is selling enough of these devices you know that Verizon and Sprint will fall over themselves and pay big bucks to get this on their network, and Apple won't be opposed to that either.
Sure, they have new specs for the next 360. However, every current owner isn't going to run out and buy a brand new 360 once they see the next rev is out to consumers. In fact, it probably will piss them off. Obviously those who have been waiting for a digital out will be happy but I think those who really wanted the digital out will be buying the PS3 at this point since it's already readily available (as every PS3 opponent loves to point out) whereas we don't have a solid release date for Zephyr. Plus, there's no indication that an HD-DVD drive will be in that next iteration so you'll still have to drop $200 for an add-on besides the increased price of the next revision.
I would also point out that HD-DVD's are currently CONSIDERABLY cheaper than their Blu-ray counterparts. The average HD-DVD title will run you $20-$25 ... The average Blu-ray title will run you $25-$30.
So $5 to $10 is CONSIDERABLY cheaper? A little exaggeration. Just like the guy above you who said "There are so many HD-DVD movies I want and none on Bluray!!!" I mean, who is really paying attention to the titles anyways? I managed to find a pretty good library of both at Best Buy and basically any movie I don't find in Bluray I can get on DVD or vice versa. At this point, sales figures of HD-DVD and Bluray aren't going to matter because, just as the article points out, everyone is waiting to see who will win the format war.
I've watched a few Blu-ray and DVD movies on my PS3 with no problems. It's really a great player. I don't have an HDTV though, so I can't speak to image quality. The only thing I noticed is that the PS3 does get a bit hot so make sure it's well ventillated and you should be fine. At my parents over Christmas it was out in the open and I never heard the fan but now that I'm home it's in my entertainment center and the fan will go on after an hour or so. I've started leaving the glass door open so the heat will ventillate which has helped quite a bit.
And no, I am not counting those who are wrongfully convicted or getting unfairly prosicuted.
But everyone in prison is either innocent or railroaded!
I'm pretty sure he's like the rest of us and is sick and tired of the Sony haters on this site. They've completely ruined Slashdot for me anyway.
I agree. All of the demos are fun at least for the small part that you can play them. I downloaded the GripShift demo last night and am looking forward to playing it when I get home from work today. And even F1 is great, but I really want to get better at racing without the aids.
You're getting North America and the rest of the world confused. Sony announced it shipped 1 million units to North America. To my knowledge it hasn't said how many were shipped worldwide. Your 4 million Wiis is worldwide, and the website says 1.86 million to North America. So 1.2 wouldn't be too far off if it was an estimate. Plus, where are these places getting their numbers? VGCharts.org has no links to the sales figures they're reporting whatsoever. And nextgenwars has a huge disclaimer that says the number is an estimate.
Of course demand isn't going to be that high - it's $600. Compare that to $250 for a console that Nintendo can't make enough of - which is hysterical when you consider that it's parts are almost two generations old compared to Sony's which aren't mainstream by any stretch of the imagination.
Sony has shipped 1 million, Nintendo has sold about 4 million and launched after the PS3!
Okay, first off, the Wii hasn't sold 4 million in North America, it's sold 1.2 million. And that's an estimate. So now, Sony shipped maybe 200,000 (I'm pretty sure the 700,000 in the article is worldwide) in November and 1 million six weeks after, which puts them neck and neck. Where are you coming up with Nintendo selling 4 million?
although, good games (read: original) seem to only be found on the Wii right now.
Yes that's right! In the coming months we can look forward to original titles from Wario, Mortal Kombat, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, SSX, Prince of Persia, and Medal of Honor. Nope, never seen those before. And let's not forget all of those original rehashes for virtual console!
When will companies start saying how many units were sold, instead of shipped?
You misunderstand how the whole manufacturing chain works. In auto sales it's easy to determine how many cars a company is selling because they control the important end of the chain to determine sales to consumers - car dealerships. Companies like Sony and Microsoft do have their own online stores but the majority of their sales are through retailers that are 3rd parties. Those 3rd parties aren't likely to report sales of a specific product, especially in the timely manner that manufacturers need. So as a result, they're forced to say how many units they've shipped in order to report how strong a product is. The theory is that it's hand in hand with sales since most big-box retailers use Just-In-Time inventory and other methods to keep consoles from piling up. Retailers aren't stupid - if the product isn't selling they won't order it. However, there may be contractural obligations built into sales contracts that says they have to stock so many units or buy in blocks.
This timely manner for sales reporting, by the way, can be blamed on everything from the console war to the fact that Wall Street demands quarterly reporting from public companies.
Saw a pile of about 15 at best buy last night, being largely ignored.
Haha that's funny. I just submitted this IGN article which will obviously get rejected as Zonk scooped me. Choice quote:
"The news will no doubt be met by whoops of joy from Sony fans worried about recent rumours that consoles were lining the shelves of stores while disinterested consumers walked past them tutting and sighing."
The reality isn't that it's getting ignored, it's that supply has finally met customer's demand, something that the 360 hadn't done at this point last year and the Wii hasn't done yet either. If anything, I think Sony should get points for getting the console out the fastest of any of the current-gen/formely new-gen launches. Anything else anyone says is just fanboys complaining they can't get their hands on their favorite new toy.
I mean, I'm against net neutrality, but I'm pretty liberal so that viewpoint meshes with my beliefs. But why are you all against it? I'm a little confused. You're against net neutrality and that coincides with you being a liberal? I'm a liberal and I support net neutrality - Verizon, AT&T, or Time Warner Cable have no right to limit the access of anyone to any type of content because they won't pony up fees to their respective carriers. Not to mention that net neutrality boils down to government regulation of business, which seems to be a core liberal value IIRC. So explain to me how your being against net neutrality meshes with your liberal beliefs.
Whoops, I meant 1 million units shipped, not 1 million shipments.
I've read in a ton of different places that the PS3 is making its way to the shelves (some units being returns from unsuccessful eBay sellers).
I wouldn't believe all the internet rumors you hear. I was here in NYC and home in Syracuse over Christmas and most stores said they had no stock of PS3's whatsoever. Not to mention, you don't know exactly what Sony is doing with shipments and such. They said they were going to shoot for 1 million shipments by the end of 2006. This obviously didn't happen, but I think they have another shipment coming very soon, as in this month. I noticed yesterday that EBGames has shipment dates of January 17th on their online orders for the 20GB PS3 and the 60GB PS3. Now, for a company who wasn't taking pre-orders online through Christmas it seems awfully fishy to me that they'd put that date there if they didn't think they could make it. I think another shipment is coming.
I'm going to point you to a comment I made on an article on Slashdot Games about Linux on the PS3.
Most importantly, the graphics chip isn't available at all and at this point it looks as though you might not be able to access it ever, as a responding commenter to my comment points out here. It also hides the memory attached to that card so you only have about 256MB of RAM available to Linux.
Also, I wouldn't get super eager about that hard drive size. According to the IGN article I was sourcing you can only allocate the drive as either 50/10 or 10/50 under linux. So I'm not sure how it works under sizes of less than 60GBs. If anyone else knows, they should let me know as I'm interested in knowing as well.
Tang
Bill Gates is a household name. Notice that he didn't target Microsoft as much as he targeted Gates in the title of the letter. I doubt there are many who know Phil Harrison nearly as well.
$650 for a Next Gen console? Please, my P4 gaming comp I built 4 years ago looks better than this thing. PC gaming FTW IMO.
Ironically, I too have a P4 3ghz that I built about 3 years ago with a Radeon 9800 that I had to buy from Asia because the 256MB cards were so new they weren't being sold here yet. Now, I haven't upgraded a single piece of that machine since I built it. Perhaps I can get a game that would look as nice as this (FarCry wasn't too bad) but it runs slow as spit and definitely not at 1920x1080. More like 1280x1024 barely. Maybe you upgraded your PC a little bit to make it run faster, but the PS3 definitely has nicer graphics than mine, that's for sure.
Oh, and 1997 called. It wants its PC-fanboy back.
I originally had written that I downloaded it overnight but realized that it actually was the F1 demo that downloaded overnight and the GT demo that downloaded while I went to church. I really was actually trying to give some context for how long the demo took to download, but decided that explaining the whole situation wasn't really necessary. Instead, it gives people the idea that it took about an hour to two to download over a standard cable connection using the wireless card in the PS3 and an 802.11g router. Happy?
Are you just stuck on moron or something? I'm not fanboy at all, but what you said is just idiotic to the max. Gamespot did a sidebyside graphical comparison of crossover games on the PS3 and 360 and at this stage of the game the PS3's looks are a good deal below the graphics of the 360. Apparently the only people denying that are fanboys like you.
They did a side-by-side comparison of crossover games, which means that the engines for those were built generically and were adapted for porting. Which means the best games for graphical capabilities, including the Gran Turismo HD demo released to the US PS3 on Dec. 24th, were not compared at all.
Now the next favorite argument of those who fight console wars and attack the PS3 is gameplay. I've been playing Resistance 40 player online Team Deathmatch and it's more fun than Quake or Doom. And there's no lag. Plus it's free. So sure, you can argue that the fog in NFS is crappier on the PS3 than on the 360 but personally, I think that there's no way you can compare the online qualities of the 360 to the PS3. You complain about HDR and I'll just play the good games. And no, I didn't buy any of the crossover titles because none of them appealed to me.