In my search of Austin, I only turned up 6 total people who wanted to trade their PS3 for a Wii, so I moved on to New York City, which boasted a pretty substantial 18 desired trades. Here's where it gets crazy: in San Francisco, there are 48 different PS3 for Wii trades going on at this moment.
So in a city of 600,000 there are 6 PS3's and in a city of 8.2 million there are 18 PS3's, which is pretty substantial. I bet that Austin and NYC both got the exact same amount of PS3's shipped to their city as well. You can argue the 48 in SF (population 800,000 might be a lot, but I think we can definitely discount the NYC factoid in this as being pretty insignificant. Especially because I seriously doubt that anyone in the country was shipped as many PS3's as these two cities, and considerably less are being traded in NY per person.
Not to mention you can't measure how many of these trades are going through and also how many of those people are dumping their PS3's because they bought them to sell on eBay and none of them sold for the price they wanted. This whole article is a sham and smoke and mirrors. Let's get some real news.
But an XBox360 isn't that much more, and can do much the same stuff as PS3.
In the games department, the 360 definitely is very similar to the PS3 and I could definitely start a flamewar by saying that one has better graphics quality than the other because they're so similar it's hard to choose.
However, down the road I think that the other features of the PS3 will win over hardcore fans, especially those who like to show the latest and greatest off to their friends. Multimedia playback, internet capability via the web browser/keyboard/mouse, linux, and blu-ray built in have the PS3 off to a good start. The 360 doesn't have HD-DVD yet and the only way it's going to be available in the near future is via external add-on so I really think that will come into play as well. Finally, the PSP/PS3 combination is pretty neat. The fact that you can sync them up, and hopefully stream remotely to the PSP from the PS3 over the internet is an awesome feature for those who like to show off to their friends. Combine it with movie downloads to the PSP that will possibly be stored on the PS3 and you really have yourself a multimedia machine and not just a game console.
360 also has Xbox live, which you can't leave out of the equation. But are people really going to be willing to pay $15 a month in the longterm? Also, the Xbox will be hampered by competing factions in Microsoft to push Windows Media Center as a valid platform and I think that will limit how much multimedia will make it onto the 360 in the end. If Sony can pull it together in this environment, I really don't see how the 360 has a chance.
It has some strange phrasings as though it's trying to be "hip" and "cool":
Sony Corp. had already delayed its much-hyped uberconsole twice this year, then botched the launch with only a few hundred thousand units available.
Much-hyped uberconsole?
Seriously, button tapping can't compete with this system's intuitive, tactile remote controls that must be swung around.
Seriously, I can't believe this is in this article. Seriously, it just doesn't sound right. Seriously, they really need an editor.
Apparently we have to be written to as though we are about 12 and live in the valley. Just another sign that the integrity of the AP is going down the toilet.
I know that in many public companies listed on American exchanges you are required to retain email in some cases forever. Yes, literally forever. SOX also requires you to document processes and a lot of that comes from email approval and such things. Most companies still block access to personal email accounts like GMail.
They'll even go a step further by providing you with a Blackberry so you have literally no excuse for you to use an external account as you have your email with you at all times on your portable device. Even better, to get around the small mailbox limit they'll create a.PST file on a network drive that you can archive to so you really have unlimited space as long as the hardware is kept up and the PST file doesn't corrupt.
I really think convincing people to move to GMail is some MIS student's thesis or something because it's a rather ridiculous idea in a real large corporate office environment.
Yeah, it's pretty funny to watch everyone defend Nintendo here. If this were any other company except Apple, people would be laughing out loud at Nintendo. It's crazy that you already have 7 responses defending Nintendo as it being the user's fault. If it's a widespread issue and the federal government is getting involved, then there obviously is a problem.
The comments on wiihaveaproblem.com are also getting quite cute as well.
Where do you see that Sony owns ACCESS, which makes Netfront? I see that Access is listed on the Tokyo Exchange and Sony is listed as a customer on their investors site, but I don't see anything that lists their ownership of Netfront.
Actually I think it's very important as to the price that these consoles are going on ebay since supply of both is extremely limited at the store. Both companies have already made their money, but the consumers are the ones who have to suffer the higher prices. So ultimately, even though the companies are both done with the sale, the consumer is paying even more and eventually will have to fork over the $5 for the browser, with no word on upgrade and add-on pricing further down the road. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are to blame for not helping to stem the price increases and selling on Ebay but instead serve to increase the cost even further with stunts like this.
Did you factor in inflation to your analysis? Yes, the PS2 was selling for 3+ times the retail price, but the PS2 was about 3 times less then the PS3, correct? Plus, it had much less functionality built in, including internet service, web browsing, and multimedia features. Factor in inflation and maybe it was 2-2.5 times less than the PS3. Also, it's possible that the PS3 sells at the price ceiling for a video game console, as seen by the fact that the Wii is also selling at about $500 in today's money. So quite possibly there isn't as much of a demand for the PS3 because it's already at the ceiling when the Wii has much more room to maneuver and you get a lot less bang for your buck.
Also, your minimally is a bit hard to define there. You say that the price stabilized to minimally above the retail price, however it was still selling for $200-$300 above retail, sometimes as high as $800 and $900. I know as I bought one for that range. If the Wii is selling for $500 from it's $250 price, then that would also put it at a markup of $200-$300. That would be similar to the markup on the PS3, so your percentages are a little weak there.
As for the free browser, sure that's nice that you get it for 6 months but what about upgrades and future modifications? You'll have to pay for those too.
Nintendo has, frankly, done everything you could expect of a company in their position. People are using their devices improperly and then blaming Nintendo for damage. It's the same as if you have one of those shake-to-recharge flashlights and you let it go and it broke your T.V., could you blame the company who made those for anything? No, because it's your fault
First, I agree that Nintendo has acted properly here in offering to replace the Wiimote straps.
However, I think you're wrong. Your example is similar, but not the same. You do have to shake the flashlight to charge it, but it does not require a huge shake to get it to work. Only a child would shake it more than necessary because they enjoy the shaking action.
Let's contrast that with the Wii and the Wiimote. Here, you have an entertainment system which is supposed to immerse you in the game which you are playing. It's billed as the next step in interactivity, and many here would love to argue that it's groundbreaking. However, people are getting into the game and are playing with excitement and fervor that these activities sometimes call for in real life. In baseball, do you give a weak throw to get a 100mph pitch? In golf, do you swing haphazardly to hit the ball 400 yards? In boxing do you weakly throw a punch to knock out your opponent? In all these cases, the harder you perform the action the better a result you will get.
It's no one's fault necessarily that this is happening. People are enjoying themselves and that's the entire purpose of the system. To say that they are using the Wiimote improperly is ridiculous. Are they not playing the game? Are they intentionally trying to break the Wiimote or their TV? No, they're getting caught up in the game. Did the woman with the coffee attempt to burn herself and intentionally spill it? No, she went to drink the coffee and McDonald's obviously made it way too hot and it's their responsibility to clean up. Nintendo has responded properly and didn't anticipate it but if people are getting excited and having fun and playing the game as they would in real life because that's how the system is marketed by Nintendo and fanboys alike, so how could that be using the device improperly?
Even for people who don't get their hands on a Wii until later next year, $5 is a bargain for Opera
And how much did the browsers on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 cost? Nothing. To bill yourself as a cheap console and nickel and dime your users is a bit hypocritical I think.
converting downloaded video files to a format that works on the PSP (and would also play on a PS3 if I had one) is a hell of a lot easier than the WMV-or-nothing setup on the 360.
Yeah, the conversion process for each is a pain in the neck. However, I did find a nice project on Sourceforge that will convert anything to anything else provided that you install the libraries separately - including converting MP3 to WMA and back again for free. I'm positive it does movies as well. It's a pretty nice app - MediaCoder.
the PSP and PS3 are surprisingly nice, actually.
Yeah, I think the GP is a bit trollish on this actually. To say that Sony's online support is half-assed is actually pretty innaccurate. They have the store up and running with a few games for the PSP and are preparing the movie offerings now. Just about every game launched for the PS3 save one was online-enabled and the ability to stream movies between the two platforms is coming in March I think. You already can transfer between them with ease.
I think that the Sony movie thing for PSP would be better if you could rent the movies, not buy them. How are you supposed to store them once you've downloaded them? If you can rent the rights for a few days for a few dollars I'd do it as it'd be great to take on the road. A totally fantastic idea would be to allow the PS3 to download the movies you buy and allow you to stream them to your PSP. If you can turn your PS3 into a media server/video game console with a replaceable 60GB hard drive, the $600 pricetag is actually pretty cheap.
Here in NYC you can't find a PS3 or a Wii anywhere that I know of. Every store has a sign stating so in the front window and asking about it will only give you looks as though you're from Mars. Most of the stores are reporting online that things such as the SIXAXIS controller are out of stock. www.jr.com says they're out of stock but I just went to the store today and they have about 10 or so left (I bought three myself), so I think they're putting a priority on in-store demand. Also, the DS selection is horrible - I couldn't find BrainAge or MarioKart in the store at all. Surprisingly most people were buying PS2 games - it was kind of funny actually. I saw a lot of DDR and Guitar Hero packs in people's hands as I think they were having a sale on them.
I bet in the more rural areas it's easier to find the PS3 as people probably don't have as much money to throw around. The PS3 is still going for well above retail on Ebay so I doubt very much that there's a much lower demand than reported.
Go watch this video [youtube.com], then tell me it's normal behavior. (Make sure you have the sound on so you can hear the heart-sinking WHAM!) Excited or not, I don't think anyone reasonably expected players to be trying to throw 100 MPH pitches!
Isn't this baseball? Do real pitchers in baseball throw 100MPH? Wouldn't you expect that someone playing a virtual simulation which is supposed to let them play the game like the pros to want to pitch like the pros? Regardless of whether the game is realistic or not, Major league licensed or not, to put a game in front of someone and say, "We didn't expect them to want to throw that fast!" is kind of ignorant in my opinion. I'm pretty sure that's why the fast pitch game at the carnival is so successful.
No, Nintendo doesn't share any responsibility, especially when you admit that customers are not using the Wiimote in a manner that is appropriate. You can't have it both ways. If the people playing the games are using it responsibly and the Wiimote still flies out of their hands, then, yes, I would agree that Nintendo bears responsibility. But it's ridiculous to say that Nintendo is responsble for the inappropriate behavior of its customers
I find this response funny because it's the exact opposite that I'm arguing. I know it's not popular to bash Nintendo here, but I'm going to point out something that I said in my post in line with yours. No one is really to blame here for these incidents, but I do think it's ridiculous to say (which is also Nintendo's stance, I might add) that these users are "inappropriately" using the Wiimote. You can't make a game involving physical activity and assume the user is passive and going to not get into the game.
You can't assume the user isn't going to want to jump up and down and cheer and shout and all that. In fact, you should assume it as it means the user is enjoying your system. To argue that they're being to aggresive is just plain stupid. If you watch a couch potato surfing the television, do they look engaged? Do they look like they're having fun? No. When they laugh or cry or shout at a television, then you know they're engaged and being entertained. You should assume that every gaming session should be like watching a sporting event or laughing at a comedy show because those are really the height of emotion involved in watching television, and interactive video games should really shoot to top that. To assume anything else is really ignorant in my opinion. How can you tout a new system as being the height of interactivity and then call it inappropriate when they reach new heights of said interactivity?
agree with the OP, C would be a terrible choice for first-time programmers IMHO. You need to keep them motivated, and that works best when the reward-to-effort ratio is high. Python would be a great choice: learn them the basics (forced indenting! \o/), and introduce them to stuff like pygame which allow nice results with very little code. At the end of the semester they would be able to make small stand-alone games. Kids like flashy things.
Yes, forced indenting is a basic! Okay, let's get real here. Python is a great little language but it's not going to cure cancer. C is a great language on which to build a base because a majority of the languages in use today are based upon it. I learned C before any other language (I just got out of school last year) and I'm so glad I did because it made behavior in languages like Perl, PHP, C++, and Java so much easier to understand. My organization still uses C for much of its production code because it's fast, small, and will never go away. Everyone learns it at some point and most of the legacy code is already written in it. Sure, we're moving the new stuff to more robust languages but the fact is that the majority of the code I write is C.
To the article poster, I would say that focusing on problem solving, algorithm building, and discrete math might be better. It's important to teach them that really Computer Science isn't about creating pretty widgets but more about the math and engineering that go into the process. Show them interesting problems and let them write applications to solve them. Lisp/Scheme is a great language to learn as well because you can pick it up pretty quickly and do some fun things with it as well. Plus it's a great language to use for algorithm building versus memory allocation and the like.
This may be a great development tool set, but you're going to be stuck with only supporting the PC and the XBOX 360
I'd rather have official support for one console than unofficial homebrew support for every one.
Maybe, but Sony at least will have to blame themselves just as much. By not supporting the PS3 graphics chip under Linux (actually some reports say it has been hidden from Linux), they made sure that the PS3 is not very attractive to indie game developers.
I'd say that at least Sony has given developers something to play with, even if it's not much. And no one is to say whether Sony will open it up to developers later on. It's kind of hard to run Linux on 256MB of RAM and play a game, especially under E17. I can barely get games to run on my 1gig, P4 at home in E17.
You both forgot Nintendo as well. They haven't released any sort of development platform for indie game developers at all. I think they'd rank at the bottom of the barrel on indie game support. Microsoft has done the most, then Sony, and finally Nintendo.
I'll agree with you too. Nintendo might not have anticipated gamers getting really excited, but blaming players for having way too much fun playing games? Hello, it's a game. You want people to engage in physical activity, but not too much? The whole product has been billed as a way to break out of the static gaming environment of the past and into a more active setting, and yet they are surprised that people are excited and sweating and such?
I think that they have reacted properly but let's not place the blame on anyone here. Nintendo underestimated the response, gamers were excited and engaged, an unforseen problem happened, and Nintendo resolved it. End of story.
The IGN article was written in March 2000. That would make the notice addition a little after the effect wore off, similar to what Sony just did to its page.
Yes, it's possible to find anything you want in the old testament. I bet I could defend kitten killing somewhere in Job or Exodus or what-have-you. The thing is, being a Christian is a definition that varies as much as interpretation of the Bible. I really don't want to get into a religious interpretation discussion that I'll lose mostly because I don't care, but the New Testament and the Old Testament are opposed on many issues, and in my opinion the beliefs of the New should trump those professed in the Old. Being a Christian is about treating your fellow humans kindly and following the Golden Rule and all that. It's not about shouting over them until they believe what you do, or converting them to your faith or even opposing political goals.
The funniest part about Evangelicals is that they supposedly left the Church because they thought it was too political and beauraucratic, and yet look at what they've become. Superchurches with huge numbers of members, corrupt on money and power, and gasbags on television who spout crazy and incorrect statements. Just look at this and thisto see how dumb and intolerant they've become. It's the Catholic church of the Middle Ages all over again.
Keep in mind, I don't want to group all Evangelicals into this mess. There are a lot out there who really don't care as much about politics and such. But the ones in power and who appear on TV and the vocal minority really smear their name and the name of Christians everywhere and it's disgusting.
They were not lying to their customers. They did not omit an official Nintendo/Rare logo from the advertisements
I do not see one mention in those articles of Nintendo/Rare logos on the site at the time. Not to mention, the PSP logos are all over alliwantforxmasisapsp.com or whatever it is. In both cases, neither company comes out and says "We're company X" anywhere. Here's the link to the web archive. Show me where the website takes on the Nintendo Logo before March 2, 2000 (the date of the articles).
I agree with everyone that the attempt by Sony is lame. I don't agree with those that say that this is a criminal stunt by Sony and deserves punishment in some way.
"I feel violated," he says. "I mean I had a connection between the two people and then to find out that they're salesmen."
Give me a break. You didn't feel some deep down emotional connection. You had a conversation, took a picture, and walked away. Taking advantage of people's kindess? You must be the same guy who felt violated. Oh no, actors out in public in Times Square, the most commercial block in the entire world, selling products. Let's get a grip, shall we?
With an astroturfing campaign like this, you don't know whether or not it's a genuine fan site or if it's Sony-sponsored. This site even goes so far as to display an image that says "this is not an ad."
Yup, these guys were so good that no one realized that their fake weblog was a paid advertisement.
Outside of that though, historically speaking, Apple and Nintendo haven't really had to do this, or even when you could say they had to do, it isn't the kind of thing they normally would do.
You assume too much. Apparently you forget the DataDyne marketing campaign by Nintendo for Perfect Dark which was dubbed the gayest campaign of all time by Nintendo's fans. Oh right, I forgot that Nintendo can do no wrong. And apparently you're implying that Sony relies on astroturfing for 100% of their marketing, which I don't think is correct.
I mean, remember, the Mac has minuscule marketshare, all things being equal. Nintendo's GameCube came in third place. But Apple and Nintendo haven't used that as an excuse to create some goofy fake site to try and add hipness or something to their product lines.
And you also would excuse Apple for dumping toxic waste and killing kitties because their marketshare makes them less important? I don't think so. Based on sales figures alone at the moment Sony has limited market share with the PSP, no? And the PS3 is in third place, right? So you're attacking them and excusing Apple and Nintendo even though their in the same situation.
Slashdot Mirror
In my search of Austin, I only turned up 6 total people who wanted to trade their PS3 for a Wii, so I moved on to New York City, which boasted a pretty substantial 18 desired trades. Here's where it gets crazy: in San Francisco, there are 48 different PS3 for Wii trades going on at this moment.
So in a city of 600,000 there are 6 PS3's and in a city of 8.2 million there are 18 PS3's, which is pretty substantial. I bet that Austin and NYC both got the exact same amount of PS3's shipped to their city as well. You can argue the 48 in SF (population 800,000 might be a lot, but I think we can definitely discount the NYC factoid in this as being pretty insignificant. Especially because I seriously doubt that anyone in the country was shipped as many PS3's as these two cities, and considerably less are being traded in NY per person.
Not to mention you can't measure how many of these trades are going through and also how many of those people are dumping their PS3's because they bought them to sell on eBay and none of them sold for the price they wanted. This whole article is a sham and smoke and mirrors. Let's get some real news.
But an XBox360 isn't that much more, and can do much the same stuff as PS3.
In the games department, the 360 definitely is very similar to the PS3 and I could definitely start a flamewar by saying that one has better graphics quality than the other because they're so similar it's hard to choose.
However, down the road I think that the other features of the PS3 will win over hardcore fans, especially those who like to show the latest and greatest off to their friends. Multimedia playback, internet capability via the web browser/keyboard/mouse, linux, and blu-ray built in have the PS3 off to a good start. The 360 doesn't have HD-DVD yet and the only way it's going to be available in the near future is via external add-on so I really think that will come into play as well. Finally, the PSP/PS3 combination is pretty neat. The fact that you can sync them up, and hopefully stream remotely to the PSP from the PS3 over the internet is an awesome feature for those who like to show off to their friends. Combine it with movie downloads to the PSP that will possibly be stored on the PS3 and you really have yourself a multimedia machine and not just a game console.
360 also has Xbox live, which you can't leave out of the equation. But are people really going to be willing to pay $15 a month in the longterm? Also, the Xbox will be hampered by competing factions in Microsoft to push Windows Media Center as a valid platform and I think that will limit how much multimedia will make it onto the 360 in the end. If Sony can pull it together in this environment, I really don't see how the 360 has a chance.
It has some strange phrasings as though it's trying to be "hip" and "cool":
Sony Corp. had already delayed its much-hyped uberconsole twice this year, then botched the launch with only a few hundred thousand units available.
Much-hyped uberconsole?
Seriously, button tapping can't compete with this system's intuitive, tactile remote controls that must be swung around.
Seriously, I can't believe this is in this article. Seriously, it just doesn't sound right. Seriously, they really need an editor.
Apparently we have to be written to as though we are about 12 and live in the valley. Just another sign that the integrity of the AP is going down the toilet.
I know that in many public companies listed on American exchanges you are required to retain email in some cases forever. Yes, literally forever. SOX also requires you to document processes and a lot of that comes from email approval and such things. Most companies still block access to personal email accounts like GMail.
.PST file on a network drive that you can archive to so you really have unlimited space as long as the hardware is kept up and the PST file doesn't corrupt.
They'll even go a step further by providing you with a Blackberry so you have literally no excuse for you to use an external account as you have your email with you at all times on your portable device. Even better, to get around the small mailbox limit they'll create a
I really think convincing people to move to GMail is some MIS student's thesis or something because it's a rather ridiculous idea in a real large corporate office environment.
Yeah, it's pretty funny to watch everyone defend Nintendo here. If this were any other company except Apple, people would be laughing out loud at Nintendo. It's crazy that you already have 7 responses defending Nintendo as it being the user's fault. If it's a widespread issue and the federal government is getting involved, then there obviously is a problem.
The comments on wiihaveaproblem.com are also getting quite cute as well.
Where do you see that Sony owns ACCESS, which makes Netfront? I see that Access is listed on the Tokyo Exchange and Sony is listed as a customer on their investors site, but I don't see anything that lists their ownership of Netfront.
Unlike what ChronoCloud says, however, it is not owned by Sony.
Actually I think it's very important as to the price that these consoles are going on ebay since supply of both is extremely limited at the store. Both companies have already made their money, but the consumers are the ones who have to suffer the higher prices. So ultimately, even though the companies are both done with the sale, the consumer is paying even more and eventually will have to fork over the $5 for the browser, with no word on upgrade and add-on pricing further down the road. Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are to blame for not helping to stem the price increases and selling on Ebay but instead serve to increase the cost even further with stunts like this.
Did you factor in inflation to your analysis? Yes, the PS2 was selling for 3+ times the retail price, but the PS2 was about 3 times less then the PS3, correct? Plus, it had much less functionality built in, including internet service, web browsing, and multimedia features. Factor in inflation and maybe it was 2-2.5 times less than the PS3. Also, it's possible that the PS3 sells at the price ceiling for a video game console, as seen by the fact that the Wii is also selling at about $500 in today's money. So quite possibly there isn't as much of a demand for the PS3 because it's already at the ceiling when the Wii has much more room to maneuver and you get a lot less bang for your buck.
Also, your minimally is a bit hard to define there. You say that the price stabilized to minimally above the retail price, however it was still selling for $200-$300 above retail, sometimes as high as $800 and $900. I know as I bought one for that range. If the Wii is selling for $500 from it's $250 price, then that would also put it at a markup of $200-$300. That would be similar to the markup on the PS3, so your percentages are a little weak there.
As for the free browser, sure that's nice that you get it for 6 months but what about upgrades and future modifications? You'll have to pay for those too.
Nintendo has, frankly, done everything you could expect of a company in their position. People are using their devices improperly and then blaming Nintendo for damage. It's the same as if you have one of those shake-to-recharge flashlights and you let it go and it broke your T.V., could you blame the company who made those for anything? No, because it's your fault
First, I agree that Nintendo has acted properly here in offering to replace the Wiimote straps.
However, I think you're wrong. Your example is similar, but not the same. You do have to shake the flashlight to charge it, but it does not require a huge shake to get it to work. Only a child would shake it more than necessary because they enjoy the shaking action.
Let's contrast that with the Wii and the Wiimote. Here, you have an entertainment system which is supposed to immerse you in the game which you are playing. It's billed as the next step in interactivity, and many here would love to argue that it's groundbreaking. However, people are getting into the game and are playing with excitement and fervor that these activities sometimes call for in real life. In baseball, do you give a weak throw to get a 100mph pitch? In golf, do you swing haphazardly to hit the ball 400 yards? In boxing do you weakly throw a punch to knock out your opponent? In all these cases, the harder you perform the action the better a result you will get.
It's no one's fault necessarily that this is happening. People are enjoying themselves and that's the entire purpose of the system. To say that they are using the Wiimote improperly is ridiculous. Are they not playing the game? Are they intentionally trying to break the Wiimote or their TV? No, they're getting caught up in the game. Did the woman with the coffee attempt to burn herself and intentionally spill it? No, she went to drink the coffee and McDonald's obviously made it way too hot and it's their responsibility to clean up. Nintendo has responded properly and didn't anticipate it but if people are getting excited and having fun and playing the game as they would in real life because that's how the system is marketed by Nintendo and fanboys alike, so how could that be using the device improperly?
Oh. Apparently I am wrong about the 360, but the PS3's is still free.
Even for people who don't get their hands on a Wii until later next year, $5 is a bargain for Opera
And how much did the browsers on the Xbox 360 and the PS3 cost? Nothing. To bill yourself as a cheap console and nickel and dime your users is a bit hypocritical I think.
converting downloaded video files to a format that works on the PSP (and would also play on a PS3 if I had one) is a hell of a lot easier than the WMV-or-nothing setup on the 360.
Yeah, the conversion process for each is a pain in the neck. However, I did find a nice project on Sourceforge that will convert anything to anything else provided that you install the libraries separately - including converting MP3 to WMA and back again for free. I'm positive it does movies as well. It's a pretty nice app - MediaCoder.
the PSP and PS3 are surprisingly nice, actually.
Yeah, I think the GP is a bit trollish on this actually. To say that Sony's online support is half-assed is actually pretty innaccurate. They have the store up and running with a few games for the PSP and are preparing the movie offerings now. Just about every game launched for the PS3 save one was online-enabled and the ability to stream movies between the two platforms is coming in March I think. You already can transfer between them with ease.
I think that the Sony movie thing for PSP would be better if you could rent the movies, not buy them. How are you supposed to store them once you've downloaded them? If you can rent the rights for a few days for a few dollars I'd do it as it'd be great to take on the road. A totally fantastic idea would be to allow the PS3 to download the movies you buy and allow you to stream them to your PSP. If you can turn your PS3 into a media server/video game console with a replaceable 60GB hard drive, the $600 pricetag is actually pretty cheap.
Here in NYC you can't find a PS3 or a Wii anywhere that I know of. Every store has a sign stating so in the front window and asking about it will only give you looks as though you're from Mars. Most of the stores are reporting online that things such as the SIXAXIS controller are out of stock. www.jr.com says they're out of stock but I just went to the store today and they have about 10 or so left (I bought three myself), so I think they're putting a priority on in-store demand. Also, the DS selection is horrible - I couldn't find BrainAge or MarioKart in the store at all. Surprisingly most people were buying PS2 games - it was kind of funny actually. I saw a lot of DDR and Guitar Hero packs in people's hands as I think they were having a sale on them.
I bet in the more rural areas it's easier to find the PS3 as people probably don't have as much money to throw around. The PS3 is still going for well above retail on Ebay so I doubt very much that there's a much lower demand than reported.
Okay you're officially an idiot.
Go watch this video [youtube.com], then tell me it's normal behavior. (Make sure you have the sound on so you can hear the heart-sinking WHAM!) Excited or not, I don't think anyone reasonably expected players to be trying to throw 100 MPH pitches!
Isn't this baseball? Do real pitchers in baseball throw 100MPH? Wouldn't you expect that someone playing a virtual simulation which is supposed to let them play the game like the pros to want to pitch like the pros? Regardless of whether the game is realistic or not, Major league licensed or not, to put a game in front of someone and say, "We didn't expect them to want to throw that fast!" is kind of ignorant in my opinion. I'm pretty sure that's why the fast pitch game at the carnival is so successful.
No, Nintendo doesn't share any responsibility, especially when you admit that customers are not using the Wiimote in a manner that is appropriate. You can't have it both ways. If the people playing the games are using it responsibly and the Wiimote still flies out of their hands, then, yes, I would agree that Nintendo bears responsibility. But it's ridiculous to say that Nintendo is responsble for the inappropriate behavior of its customers
I find this response funny because it's the exact opposite that I'm arguing. I know it's not popular to bash Nintendo here, but I'm going to point out something that I said in my post in line with yours. No one is really to blame here for these incidents, but I do think it's ridiculous to say (which is also Nintendo's stance, I might add) that these users are "inappropriately" using the Wiimote. You can't make a game involving physical activity and assume the user is passive and going to not get into the game.
You can't assume the user isn't going to want to jump up and down and cheer and shout and all that. In fact, you should assume it as it means the user is enjoying your system. To argue that they're being to aggresive is just plain stupid. If you watch a couch potato surfing the television, do they look engaged? Do they look like they're having fun? No. When they laugh or cry or shout at a television, then you know they're engaged and being entertained. You should assume that every gaming session should be like watching a sporting event or laughing at a comedy show because those are really the height of emotion involved in watching television, and interactive video games should really shoot to top that. To assume anything else is really ignorant in my opinion. How can you tout a new system as being the height of interactivity and then call it inappropriate when they reach new heights of said interactivity?
agree with the OP, C would be a terrible choice for first-time programmers IMHO. You need to keep them motivated, and that works best when the reward-to-effort ratio is high. Python would be a great choice: learn them the basics (forced indenting! \o/), and introduce them to stuff like pygame which allow nice results with very little code. At the end of the semester they would be able to make small stand-alone games. Kids like flashy things.
Yes, forced indenting is a basic! Okay, let's get real here. Python is a great little language but it's not going to cure cancer. C is a great language on which to build a base because a majority of the languages in use today are based upon it. I learned C before any other language (I just got out of school last year) and I'm so glad I did because it made behavior in languages like Perl, PHP, C++, and Java so much easier to understand. My organization still uses C for much of its production code because it's fast, small, and will never go away. Everyone learns it at some point and most of the legacy code is already written in it. Sure, we're moving the new stuff to more robust languages but the fact is that the majority of the code I write is C.
To the article poster, I would say that focusing on problem solving, algorithm building, and discrete math might be better. It's important to teach them that really Computer Science isn't about creating pretty widgets but more about the math and engineering that go into the process. Show them interesting problems and let them write applications to solve them. Lisp/Scheme is a great language to learn as well because you can pick it up pretty quickly and do some fun things with it as well. Plus it's a great language to use for algorithm building versus memory allocation and the like.
This may be a great development tool set, but you're going to be stuck with only supporting the PC and the XBOX 360
I'd rather have official support for one console than unofficial homebrew support for every one.
Maybe, but Sony at least will have to blame themselves just as much. By not supporting the PS3 graphics chip under Linux (actually some reports say it has been hidden from Linux), they made sure that the PS3 is not very attractive to indie game developers.
I'd say that at least Sony has given developers something to play with, even if it's not much. And no one is to say whether Sony will open it up to developers later on. It's kind of hard to run Linux on 256MB of RAM and play a game, especially under E17. I can barely get games to run on my 1gig, P4 at home in E17.
You both forgot Nintendo as well. They haven't released any sort of development platform for indie game developers at all. I think they'd rank at the bottom of the barrel on indie game support. Microsoft has done the most, then Sony, and finally Nintendo.
I'll agree with you too. Nintendo might not have anticipated gamers getting really excited, but blaming players for having way too much fun playing games? Hello, it's a game. You want people to engage in physical activity, but not too much? The whole product has been billed as a way to break out of the static gaming environment of the past and into a more active setting, and yet they are surprised that people are excited and sweating and such?
I think that they have reacted properly but let's not place the blame on anyone here. Nintendo underestimated the response, gamers were excited and engaged, an unforseen problem happened, and Nintendo resolved it. End of story.
The IGN article was written in March 2000. That would make the notice addition a little after the effect wore off, similar to what Sony just did to its page.
Yes, it's possible to find anything you want in the old testament. I bet I could defend kitten killing somewhere in Job or Exodus or what-have-you. The thing is, being a Christian is a definition that varies as much as interpretation of the Bible. I really don't want to get into a religious interpretation discussion that I'll lose mostly because I don't care, but the New Testament and the Old Testament are opposed on many issues, and in my opinion the beliefs of the New should trump those professed in the Old. Being a Christian is about treating your fellow humans kindly and following the Golden Rule and all that. It's not about shouting over them until they believe what you do, or converting them to your faith or even opposing political goals.
The funniest part about Evangelicals is that they supposedly left the Church because they thought it was too political and beauraucratic, and yet look at what they've become. Superchurches with huge numbers of members, corrupt on money and power, and gasbags on television who spout crazy and incorrect statements. Just look at this and thisto see how dumb and intolerant they've become. It's the Catholic church of the Middle Ages all over again.
Keep in mind, I don't want to group all Evangelicals into this mess. There are a lot out there who really don't care as much about politics and such. But the ones in power and who appear on TV and the vocal minority really smear their name and the name of Christians everywhere and it's disgusting.
They were not lying to their customers. They did not omit an official Nintendo/Rare logo from the advertisements
I do not see one mention in those articles of Nintendo/Rare logos on the site at the time. Not to mention, the PSP logos are all over alliwantforxmasisapsp.com or whatever it is. In both cases, neither company comes out and says "We're company X" anywhere. Here's the link to the web archive. Show me where the website takes on the Nintendo Logo before March 2, 2000 (the date of the articles).
I agree with everyone that the attempt by Sony is lame. I don't agree with those that say that this is a criminal stunt by Sony and deserves punishment in some way.
From that article:
"I feel violated," he says. "I mean I had a connection between the two people and then to find out that they're salesmen."
Give me a break. You didn't feel some deep down emotional connection. You had a conversation, took a picture, and walked away. Taking advantage of people's kindess? You must be the same guy who felt violated. Oh no, actors out in public in Times Square, the most commercial block in the entire world, selling products. Let's get a grip, shall we?
With an astroturfing campaign like this, you don't know whether or not it's a genuine fan site or if it's Sony-sponsored. This site even goes so far as to display an image that says "this is not an ad."
Yup, these guys were so good that no one realized that their fake weblog was a paid advertisement.
Outside of that though, historically speaking, Apple and Nintendo haven't really had to do this, or even when you could say they had to do, it isn't the kind of thing they normally would do.
You assume too much. Apparently you forget the DataDyne marketing campaign by Nintendo for Perfect Dark which was dubbed the gayest campaign of all time by Nintendo's fans. Oh right, I forgot that Nintendo can do no wrong. And apparently you're implying that Sony relies on astroturfing for 100% of their marketing, which I don't think is correct.
I mean, remember, the Mac has minuscule marketshare, all things being equal. Nintendo's GameCube came in third place. But Apple and Nintendo haven't used that as an excuse to create some goofy fake site to try and add hipness or something to their product lines.
And you also would excuse Apple for dumping toxic waste and killing kitties because their marketshare makes them less important? I don't think so. Based on sales figures alone at the moment Sony has limited market share with the PSP, no? And the PS3 is in third place, right? So you're attacking them and excusing Apple and Nintendo even though their in the same situation.