Damn kids and their "standard" measurements. In my day, we measured the speed of the connection by how many beers we could drink before the nipples were visible!
If EA is worried about the cost of game development, then maybe they should start focusing on producing quality games. They are repeatedly getting slammed in reviews with drivel like NBA Live 2007. If they didn't push out another iteration of every franchise each year, development could focus on building a truly blockbuster title, rather than a few updates with each release.
Ubisoft has thrown their weight behind the Wii, and embraced the much cheaper development costs there. They aren't ignoring the PS3 and 360, but those Wii titles will help cushion their bottom line a bit. EA doesn't seem to have paid as much attention to the Wii when it comes to unique IP.
Yes, this was debunked. While Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo would all love to crush the used game market, they can't afford to lose the money that trade-ins inject back into the market. It's something like $1 billion worth of money being reinvested into more games, systems, and accessories that otherwise almost certainly would not be spent. Even for Sony, that is too much money to ignore. Not to mention the difficulties associated with warranty coverage on systems (ie. your $600 PS3 breaks, you send away for a warranty replacement that arrives two months later, and now none of your games work).
The next generation of systems will almost certainly have downloadable content as a major distribution method. PC gaming is rapidly shifting towards this (eg. Steam, GameStop.com), and when broadband has finally become available in enough households, the interest in this will take off. However, I still believe that disc-based games will remain the primary distribution method for at least another decade.
If there is an actual benefit to the company/group/process as a result of the change, they need to understand it. If you cannot explain this benefit to them, they will not bother with it. But if you cannot explain the benefit to them, you need to go back and re-evaluate why that change is happening in the first place. Sometimes you may find that someone understands the reasoning behind a new practice but just doesn't care. If their failure to implement it hurts the entire team, they should be aware of this. If they still don't care, and this new practice is worth implementing anyway, ask them to try it your way for a bit and see how they react to it. If they refuse, tell them that they are a valuable asset to the team, but only if they are cooperating, and if they won't adapt to this change then they might not be able to continue working there. After all, if this new practice is truly beneficial to the group, then the old one is no longer acceptable behavior.
Most of the time, once someone understands why a change is needed (and this isn't just you telling them the reason and having them nod their head -- they need to repeat it back to you in their own words), they will gladly go along with it. Those who still refuse are probably not worth having on your team.
The people waiting in line have already calculated the money they would make from working those days and the money they will make from eBay, and figured out that eBay is going to be more profitable.
Demand for PS3 in the US is artificially high because of the eBay phenomenon. It is also higher here than in Japan because there are so many ultra-loyalists to Sony who grew up with the PS1 and PS2, and whose parents have more money than common sense. I suspect that after all is said and done, we're going to see availability increase much faster than with the 360 due to a crash in demand.
Which bombs? North Korean bombs or the Russian Ivan bombs? The Ivan test was about 10,000 times more powerful than the North Korean bomb.
I find blanket statements like "More powerful than x nuclear bombs," to be infuriatingly alarmist. Give me a raw tonnage number any day. THAT interests me much more.
(Of course, I suppose the extra five zero's one might potentially add here aren't that significant, as it is probably still enough power either way to blow up the Earth.)
If the DPRK goes into Seoul, the war will be over before you could draft and train a thousand soldiers, let alone the hundreds of thousands that you would need for a conventional ground war. It will also be over before we could pull our forces from Iraq and get them all the way to North Korea.
If it happens, there will be massive naval and aerial bombardment. The ground forces likely would come from other nations, equally angry at the North.
A simple statement to the DPRK would be quite useful right now, reminding them that we've had sixty years to perfect our nuclear systems, and that we will use these weapons in retaliation for any attack against Japan or South Korea. If the DPRK chooses to view that as provocation, so be it. When even China tells them that a nuclear test is totally unacceptable and yet they proceed, it tells me that the only solution now is to destroy Kim il Jong and his leadership. He's not as insidiously evil as Hitler, but he's clearly more mentally unbalanced.
And that is precisely the thing that makes software wars in the console industry so much more interesting. While Sony's PS3 may doom them by the end of this generation, it will take years for the repercussions to be fully felt. Whereas when EA released Madden 2005, many people went over to NFL 2K5. Had EA not locked out the license, they'd likely have lost a ton of Madden sales to NFL 2K6. A similar scenario is happening across the board with the sports games on 360. EA released half-baked sports games for the 360 launch, but the 2K lineup was generally ready to rock (albeit with less than next-gen graphics). So this year, I have the feeling that 2K is going to make massive inroads against EA.
It's a shame there are only two competitors left though.
Actually a lot of surveys have said that people are very upset by the lack of rumble. While the lack of rumble alone may not be a deal breaker for a lot of people, it is for many the straw that broke the camel's back.
To be honest, I severely dislike the PS3 controller -- it's so lightweight without the rumble motors now that it feels awkward. The only positive is that the lower two L and R buttons are now triggers, just like the 360 controller.
Ahm... Wal-Mart isn't getting Wii interactives anytime soon. GameStop and EB Games will be getting them exclusively until after fourth quarter. This is due in part to the totally free-standing nature of the controller. No tether. No cord. The only thing stopping you from walking out of the store with the controller (aside from, you know, the law) is that the stores will likely require you to submit a photo ID, credit card, or your shoes as ransom while you are trying out the system. A huge pain in the ass for sure, but with the high demand for these systems and controllers it's the only logical alternative--aside from Nintendo wising up and just using a tether on the controller like with the DS stylus's, although that leaves open the problem of tripping, using the cable to strangle someone, etc etc.
As for PS3 interactives, Sony doesn't likely have enough production systems to spare for that right now. Between the 3000 Wal-Mart stores, 4500 GameStop/EB Games stores, 750 Best Buy stores, 1300 Target stores, and other retailers, that's about 10,000 systems or 2% of their entire launch production. No doubt by the end of the year there will be a PS3 interactive at each of the aforementioned locations, but I am not anticipating seeing them until at least November or possibly the last days of October.
Nobody knows, because Sony doesn't know how many they can really promise to each retailer yet. Sure they claimed 400,000 units at launch for the US. Other companies have claimed higher numbers much closer to launch dates only to change their figures at the last minute.
GameStop is taking the sensible approach of waiting to do pre-orders until Sony (and Nintendo) give them guaranteed allocations. Nintendo is likely to be able to restock all retailers pretty quickly (relatively speaking). However, I expect if you don't get a PS3 on launch day, you will not see another one until January. Unless of course for some reason they can't move 100,000 systems at the midnight launch in Japan. If THAT happens, the US will get the next batch rather than Japan, I expect. Either way, the 360 launch was smooth sailing in comparison to what Sony is facing. I just hope we aren't reading about murders or deadly stampedes on the morning of 11/17.
A lot of people who would otherwise buy a PS3 are turned off by the sticker shock, especially since the general expectation for so long had been that it would be close to the 360 in pricing. No doubt the first 2-3 million units will fly off shelves without problem. It's May/June of 2007 that we start seeing real indicators of public reaction to the system. If sales aren't surpassing the 360 by that point (presuming production volume is high enough), then it's time to start really questioning the ability of Sony to retain that #1 spot.
I absolutely love this advertising. It's different and gets people's attention. When's the last time an advertising campaign lasted for two years and maintained this much interest?
Personally, I find the King to be less creepy than Ronald McDonald.
There is a very substantial difference to offering small items like that in micro-transactions and making the overwhelming bulk of game material available only by paying extra.
The worst part of all this is that GT HD is not even a new Gran Turismo game. It is apparently just a high-res revision of GT4.
Sovereign states may have whatever weapons they wish, but when their leadership pronounces that their goal is to wipe out a neighbor state (Israel), it no longer becomes acceptable to the international community to allow such weapons programs to go forth. If Iran does develop a nuclear bomb and uses it against Israel, the retaliatory strike from Israel would result in casualties that are simply beyond anything any previous war has shown us. Yet Iran's leadership may well be foolish enough to do it anyway, if only to ensure that the rest of the middle east would destroy Israel. Never underestimate the blind arrogance of religious zealotry.
The US cannot learn to live with another nation developing nuclear weapons who wants to destroy another nation. Say what you will about current US foreign policy, but we go out of our way to minimize civilian casualties and avoid use of excessive force. Terrorists do the opposite, as seen on countless occasions. After 9/11, two options were available to the Bush administration - nuclear strikes on al Qeida bases in Afghanistan, and special forces teams. There was no possibility of ground invasion for some time. Would the leadership of Iran, placed in the same situation, be so reluctant to use nuclear force?
There is no economic gain to an attack on or invasion of Iran. None that would be realized within 15-20 years at least, and by that time the need for oil would have reduced as alternative energy options come online. Any time the slightest conflict erupts in the middle east, oil jumps another $10/bbl. That said, our economy has continued to grow despite a doubling of the price of gasoline in the past five years.
In regards to your comment about Israel/Lebanon, I am a bit taken aback. Israel acted with extreme restraint in the face of continuing Hezbollah attacks launched from Lebanon. They had pulled out of Lebanon in 2000 after the UN adopted a resolution stating that a UN force would disarm Hezbollah and enforce a peace. The UN and Lebanon both failed to do so over the course of six years. When terrorist attacks increased, Israel did what any sovereign nation has a right to do - retaliate and disarm. Were civilians killed? Yes. Were Israeli civilians killed by Hezbollah attacks? Yes. The difference is that Israel wasn't targeting those civilians. Terrorists like to hide in civilian areas in order to cause casualties like CNN was so happy to show.
The situation in the middle east is perhaps unrepairable. The rest of the world can't tolerate dictatorships bent on the destruction of each other and the acquisition of nuclear arms. The people of the middle east can't tolerate the rest of the world interfering and apparently can't tolerate each other's differences enough to get along under a democratic system of government.
I see no real solution short of allowing them to obliterate each other, which means we need to stop using their oil.
You do understand that the only difference between SCSI and SATA drives is the interface and controller, right (excluding capacities)? SCSI drives are typically certified for a longer MTBF, but plenty of SATA drives are being certified for equal durations.
The only reason to stick with SCSI is if you already have a huge investment in the infrastructure and cannot afford to transition to SATA. The increased capacity available and reduced cost makes a pretty compelling argument.
Rarely has a CPU gone from tape-out to production in three months. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's never happened. GPUs do it from time to time, but the thing about any new piece of highly complex silicon (especially a quad-core CPU) is that it will take time to get the process correct, even if there are no bugs or glitches in the design. GPUs, while big, are relatively simple by comparison. On average it takes 9-12 months from tapeout to retail availability, though it has been known to happen in as little as six months.
If this passes, Final Fantasy XII won't see the light of day this year. This act will significantly delay the release of games. id will have to change their tagline to "When the ESRB finishes playing it," rather than "When it's done."
This legislation is further proof that both major parties need to be evicted.
I'm pretty sure the NSA facility has hardened facilities for all of its major sensative equipment. At this point, an EMP would do more damage to the electrical grid outside the NSA and thus result in power interuption or outage at the site.
Slashdot Mirror
No, the truly rich make the Sun revolve around their skyscraper.
But how many hogs heads can I get out of that?
Damn kids and their "standard" measurements. In my day, we measured the speed of the connection by how many beers we could drink before the nipples were visible!
If EA is worried about the cost of game development, then maybe they should start focusing on producing quality games. They are repeatedly getting slammed in reviews with drivel like NBA Live 2007. If they didn't push out another iteration of every franchise each year, development could focus on building a truly blockbuster title, rather than a few updates with each release.
Ubisoft has thrown their weight behind the Wii, and embraced the much cheaper development costs there. They aren't ignoring the PS3 and 360, but those Wii titles will help cushion their bottom line a bit. EA doesn't seem to have paid as much attention to the Wii when it comes to unique IP.
Yes, this was debunked. While Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo would all love to crush the used game market, they can't afford to lose the money that trade-ins inject back into the market. It's something like $1 billion worth of money being reinvested into more games, systems, and accessories that otherwise almost certainly would not be spent. Even for Sony, that is too much money to ignore. Not to mention the difficulties associated with warranty coverage on systems (ie. your $600 PS3 breaks, you send away for a warranty replacement that arrives two months later, and now none of your games work).
The next generation of systems will almost certainly have downloadable content as a major distribution method. PC gaming is rapidly shifting towards this (eg. Steam, GameStop.com), and when broadband has finally become available in enough households, the interest in this will take off. However, I still believe that disc-based games will remain the primary distribution method for at least another decade.
Uh, AMD is in a console. They now own ATI, who produced the chip for the 360 (and originally for the GameCube as well).
If there is an actual benefit to the company/group/process as a result of the change, they need to understand it. If you cannot explain this benefit to them, they will not bother with it. But if you cannot explain the benefit to them, you need to go back and re-evaluate why that change is happening in the first place. Sometimes you may find that someone understands the reasoning behind a new practice but just doesn't care. If their failure to implement it hurts the entire team, they should be aware of this. If they still don't care, and this new practice is worth implementing anyway, ask them to try it your way for a bit and see how they react to it. If they refuse, tell them that they are a valuable asset to the team, but only if they are cooperating, and if they won't adapt to this change then they might not be able to continue working there. After all, if this new practice is truly beneficial to the group, then the old one is no longer acceptable behavior.
Most of the time, once someone understands why a change is needed (and this isn't just you telling them the reason and having them nod their head -- they need to repeat it back to you in their own words), they will gladly go along with it. Those who still refuse are probably not worth having on your team.
The people waiting in line have already calculated the money they would make from working those days and the money they will make from eBay, and figured out that eBay is going to be more profitable.
Demand for PS3 in the US is artificially high because of the eBay phenomenon. It is also higher here than in Japan because there are so many ultra-loyalists to Sony who grew up with the PS1 and PS2, and whose parents have more money than common sense. I suspect that after all is said and done, we're going to see availability increase much faster than with the 360 due to a crash in demand.
Which bombs? North Korean bombs or the Russian Ivan bombs? The Ivan test was about 10,000 times more powerful than the North Korean bomb.
I find blanket statements like "More powerful than x nuclear bombs," to be infuriatingly alarmist. Give me a raw tonnage number any day. THAT interests me much more.
(Of course, I suppose the extra five zero's one might potentially add here aren't that significant, as it is probably still enough power either way to blow up the Earth.)
*phew*
Good thing you didn't read the article, or you might have missed the first post opportunity!
Really? That's odd, because I very definitely held a Zune in my hand as it played a video.
If the DPRK goes into Seoul, the war will be over before you could draft and train a thousand soldiers, let alone the hundreds of thousands that you would need for a conventional ground war. It will also be over before we could pull our forces from Iraq and get them all the way to North Korea.
If it happens, there will be massive naval and aerial bombardment. The ground forces likely would come from other nations, equally angry at the North.
A simple statement to the DPRK would be quite useful right now, reminding them that we've had sixty years to perfect our nuclear systems, and that we will use these weapons in retaliation for any attack against Japan or South Korea. If the DPRK chooses to view that as provocation, so be it. When even China tells them that a nuclear test is totally unacceptable and yet they proceed, it tells me that the only solution now is to destroy Kim il Jong and his leadership. He's not as insidiously evil as Hitler, but he's clearly more mentally unbalanced.
And that is precisely the thing that makes software wars in the console industry so much more interesting. While Sony's PS3 may doom them by the end of this generation, it will take years for the repercussions to be fully felt. Whereas when EA released Madden 2005, many people went over to NFL 2K5. Had EA not locked out the license, they'd likely have lost a ton of Madden sales to NFL 2K6. A similar scenario is happening across the board with the sports games on 360. EA released half-baked sports games for the 360 launch, but the 2K lineup was generally ready to rock (albeit with less than next-gen graphics). So this year, I have the feeling that 2K is going to make massive inroads against EA.
It's a shame there are only two competitors left though.
Actually a lot of surveys have said that people are very upset by the lack of rumble. While the lack of rumble alone may not be a deal breaker for a lot of people, it is for many the straw that broke the camel's back.
To be honest, I severely dislike the PS3 controller -- it's so lightweight without the rumble motors now that it feels awkward. The only positive is that the lower two L and R buttons are now triggers, just like the 360 controller.
Ahm... Wal-Mart isn't getting Wii interactives anytime soon. GameStop and EB Games will be getting them exclusively until after fourth quarter. This is due in part to the totally free-standing nature of the controller. No tether. No cord. The only thing stopping you from walking out of the store with the controller (aside from, you know, the law) is that the stores will likely require you to submit a photo ID, credit card, or your shoes as ransom while you are trying out the system. A huge pain in the ass for sure, but with the high demand for these systems and controllers it's the only logical alternative--aside from Nintendo wising up and just using a tether on the controller like with the DS stylus's, although that leaves open the problem of tripping, using the cable to strangle someone, etc etc.
As for PS3 interactives, Sony doesn't likely have enough production systems to spare for that right now. Between the 3000 Wal-Mart stores, 4500 GameStop/EB Games stores, 750 Best Buy stores, 1300 Target stores, and other retailers, that's about 10,000 systems or 2% of their entire launch production. No doubt by the end of the year there will be a PS3 interactive at each of the aforementioned locations, but I am not anticipating seeing them until at least November or possibly the last days of October.
Nobody knows, because Sony doesn't know how many they can really promise to each retailer yet. Sure they claimed 400,000 units at launch for the US. Other companies have claimed higher numbers much closer to launch dates only to change their figures at the last minute.
GameStop is taking the sensible approach of waiting to do pre-orders until Sony (and Nintendo) give them guaranteed allocations. Nintendo is likely to be able to restock all retailers pretty quickly (relatively speaking). However, I expect if you don't get a PS3 on launch day, you will not see another one until January. Unless of course for some reason they can't move 100,000 systems at the midnight launch in Japan. If THAT happens, the US will get the next batch rather than Japan, I expect. Either way, the 360 launch was smooth sailing in comparison to what Sony is facing. I just hope we aren't reading about murders or deadly stampedes on the morning of 11/17.
A lot of people who would otherwise buy a PS3 are turned off by the sticker shock, especially since the general expectation for so long had been that it would be close to the 360 in pricing. No doubt the first 2-3 million units will fly off shelves without problem. It's May/June of 2007 that we start seeing real indicators of public reaction to the system. If sales aren't surpassing the 360 by that point (presuming production volume is high enough), then it's time to start really questioning the ability of Sony to retain that #1 spot.
I absolutely love this advertising. It's different and gets people's attention. When's the last time an advertising campaign lasted for two years and maintained this much interest?
Personally, I find the King to be less creepy than Ronald McDonald.
Interesting - ex. slashdot comments. Definitely not.
There is a very substantial difference to offering small items like that in micro-transactions and making the overwhelming bulk of game material available only by paying extra.
The worst part of all this is that GT HD is not even a new Gran Turismo game. It is apparently just a high-res revision of GT4.
$180 plus the initial purchase cost. This is if the lowest cost per car and track is figured. At the highest point, it's $383.
....
Forza Motorsport 2 is going to be $49.99.
Why does Sony persist in speaking to anyone in the public or press? They just keep making things worse for themselves.
Sovereign states may have whatever weapons they wish, but when their leadership pronounces that their goal is to wipe out a neighbor state (Israel), it no longer becomes acceptable to the international community to allow such weapons programs to go forth. If Iran does develop a nuclear bomb and uses it against Israel, the retaliatory strike from Israel would result in casualties that are simply beyond anything any previous war has shown us. Yet Iran's leadership may well be foolish enough to do it anyway, if only to ensure that the rest of the middle east would destroy Israel. Never underestimate the blind arrogance of religious zealotry.
The US cannot learn to live with another nation developing nuclear weapons who wants to destroy another nation. Say what you will about current US foreign policy, but we go out of our way to minimize civilian casualties and avoid use of excessive force. Terrorists do the opposite, as seen on countless occasions. After 9/11, two options were available to the Bush administration - nuclear strikes on al Qeida bases in Afghanistan, and special forces teams. There was no possibility of ground invasion for some time. Would the leadership of Iran, placed in the same situation, be so reluctant to use nuclear force?
There is no economic gain to an attack on or invasion of Iran. None that would be realized within 15-20 years at least, and by that time the need for oil would have reduced as alternative energy options come online. Any time the slightest conflict erupts in the middle east, oil jumps another $10/bbl. That said, our economy has continued to grow despite a doubling of the price of gasoline in the past five years.
In regards to your comment about Israel/Lebanon, I am a bit taken aback. Israel acted with extreme restraint in the face of continuing Hezbollah attacks launched from Lebanon. They had pulled out of Lebanon in 2000 after the UN adopted a resolution stating that a UN force would disarm Hezbollah and enforce a peace. The UN and Lebanon both failed to do so over the course of six years. When terrorist attacks increased, Israel did what any sovereign nation has a right to do - retaliate and disarm. Were civilians killed? Yes. Were Israeli civilians killed by Hezbollah attacks? Yes. The difference is that Israel wasn't targeting those civilians. Terrorists like to hide in civilian areas in order to cause casualties like CNN was so happy to show.
The situation in the middle east is perhaps unrepairable. The rest of the world can't tolerate dictatorships bent on the destruction of each other and the acquisition of nuclear arms. The people of the middle east can't tolerate the rest of the world interfering and apparently can't tolerate each other's differences enough to get along under a democratic system of government.
I see no real solution short of allowing them to obliterate each other, which means we need to stop using their oil.
You do understand that the only difference between SCSI and SATA drives is the interface and controller, right (excluding capacities)? SCSI drives are typically certified for a longer MTBF, but plenty of SATA drives are being certified for equal durations.
The only reason to stick with SCSI is if you already have a huge investment in the infrastructure and cannot afford to transition to SATA. The increased capacity available and reduced cost makes a pretty compelling argument.
Rarely has a CPU gone from tape-out to production in three months. In fact, I'm pretty sure it's never happened. GPUs do it from time to time, but the thing about any new piece of highly complex silicon (especially a quad-core CPU) is that it will take time to get the process correct, even if there are no bugs or glitches in the design. GPUs, while big, are relatively simple by comparison. On average it takes 9-12 months from tapeout to retail availability, though it has been known to happen in as little as six months.
If this passes, Final Fantasy XII won't see the light of day this year. This act will significantly delay the release of games. id will have to change their tagline to "When the ESRB finishes playing it," rather than "When it's done."
This legislation is further proof that both major parties need to be evicted.
I'm pretty sure the NSA facility has hardened facilities for all of its major sensative equipment. At this point, an EMP would do more damage to the electrical grid outside the NSA and thus result in power interuption or outage at the site.
Hardening against EMP really isn't very hard.
So if this case goes to court, the universe will explode?!
OH NOES!