Xbox outselling Gamecube everywhere? Everywhere except Japan, where the Xbox has just surpassed the PLAYSTATION ONE in overall sales this year. That's right. The Xbox is on par with a system released in 1994. EIGHT YEARS OLD. And the Xbox is just barely beating it.
Nintendo is listed at nearly 800,000 this year alone, which does not include nearly 500,000 sold after its launch in Japan, September 12th, 2001. Needless to say, not many people were interested in buying video games that day.
Hey, here's a good question! Do you know where the best video games come from? It ain't America! It's Japan! Wow, ain't that cool? And do you know where the best developers are? Japan again! And do you know what happens to systems that fail in Japan? Oh, you don't know any? How about the Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar, 3D0, Atari 2600, and TurboGrafix 16? That's right! They go extinct!
Ok, I'm about sick of this article. I've seen it on every gaming forum that I go to, and in every one I've seen this quote from a fanboy:
He is not helping things," says Seamus Blackley, the former head of Microsoft's Xbox team who now runs the Capital Entertainment Group...[Blackley] speaks for many game designers...who admire the master's work but are desperate for something new.
"At this point," Blackley continues, "Miyamoto is making games for his fans. Granted, there are millions of them, and it's smart business, but most are kids. He's not opening up adult audiences. He's reinforcing stereotypes about games, not pushing them to a place where they can become something different and truly awesome."
Who the FSCK does Blackley think he is? He's a shoddy co-designer of the Xbox who stepped down to head a non-existent software company who has yet to demonstrate they do anything but blow smoke up each others' asses all day about how great the Xbox is. And he's criticizing Shigeru Miyamoto?
Miyamoto created this industry. After the gaming crash of the late 80's (Atari generation) it was the Famicom from Nintendo that reinvigorated the industry, bringing it back from the brink of extinction. And why was the Famicom (NES outside Japan) so successful? It was successful because of Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda, both coming from Shiggy. There was no side-scroller before Super Mario Brothers. There was no top-down adventure/RPG before Zelda. He invented the fscking genre and Seamus FSCKING Blackley is doubting him?
Oh, and my favorite part: "He's reinforcing stereotypes." If that stereotype is "A whole helluva lot of fun" then he's right. But what Blackley is referring to is the "video games are for kids" stereotype. This coming from a guy who openly endorced BMX XXX, the most immature piece of donkey shit ever to be published on a video game console, chock full of hot dog vendors talking about "huge weiners" and dogs humping on the sidewalk. Apparently, Blackley thinks video games are for immature 6th graders who can't get a hold of a porno magazine.
Shigeru Miyamoto is a genius. He continues to develop innovative games, even 22 years after Donkey Kong was first programmed. Anybody who doubts me should look at Pikmin and the latest Zelda. To see a third-rate hack insult him infuriates me.
In computing terms, this is like the man responsible for programming Clippy telling Linus Torvalds that he's washed up and is holding back the computer industry with his old software. Complete bullshit, and I'm not afraid to say it (and subsequently get modded down).
I was one of the fortunate ones who got to the company's website before it got Slashdotted, and was able to view the "demonstration" of their software. The demo consists of a mouth saying "Thank You" in various languages. I looked at English and Spanish, the two I know best.
I sure as hell couldn't tell you what they were saying, even when I knew what words were coming out of their mouth. And this is not to mention cell phone static, distractions, contractions, mumbling, and lots of "ummm" and "uhhhh" that occurs during normal speech. I really don't see how this is a viable communication method.
Maybe it's because I'm not experienced with lip reading. Maybe people who are deaf are better at it than I am, but I can usually tell what Football coaches are saying on the sidelines of games (of course, that's limited to "Bull****" and "You've gotta be ****ing kidding me!", but still...)
I was considering moving to a completely mobile platform for my computing. I needed an upgrade of my desktop badly, and briefly considered simply buying a hella-powerful notebook that could do the same thing as my desktop and be portable for LAN parties or business trips.
Then I thought about upgrades.
With a laptop, you're practically stuck with your video card and processor, not to mention CD/DVD drives or sound. Yes, I know it's possible to upgrade these parts, but the cost of them far outweigh the convenience of their desktop counterparts.
A laptop would be great for gaming if, for example, Doom III were never made and the technology required to play games plateaued. I don't see that happening, which is why I'm still using a mini-tower for my gaming needs.
Do you pay for your utilities? How can you stand the monthly bill for those? And, on top of that, those bills fluctuate in price! One month, my electricity bill will be $30, the next it's over $40! What a rip-off! They're my electronics, I bought them, so I don't want to have to pay an additional monthly fee to use them!
And what about cable? If I'm out of town for 3 weeks out of the month, I still have to pay full price, even if nobody was watching the TV! It's a rip-off, I tell you!
This is the exact same thing as with buying games online. For about a year, I bought all my games online and had them shipped to me. I thought, "Hey, I don't have to pick up my games at the store, they're right on my doorstep!" But eventually, I got tired of waiting for terrible shipping delays, having my shipments sent back because nobody was available to pick up at 10:00 in the morning (does UPS realize that people work during the day and can't pick up packages at home?)
It's ten times simpler to buy it at a local store. They worry about shipping charges, they worry about pickups of games, and they always get the games at the earliest possible date - sometimes before. You also have the convenience of walking home with the game, and also interaction with other gamers. I originally had no clue what Serious Sam was until I went into an EB and heard people talking about it. It's one of the best FPS games I've ever played, and it's only $20.
There are only two reasons to buy something online:
It's so unbelievably rare that you'd likely never find it in a store
It's significantly cheaper to buy it online (after shipping) and you don't mind when you get it.
This rental service is just proving that all over again.
The New York Times wasn't writing for us Physicists - they were writing for the average Joe Schmoe who barely knows what an electron is, let alone the fundamentals of superconductivity or Maxwell's theory. The NYT list is a list of old experiments (I don't think any of them were after 1900 or so) because they're easily understood by the masses and easily explained by a journalist who doesn't fully comprehend it, either.
How do you think the article would be received if the NYT said "M-M thought that there was ether all around us, and they could prove it. They would analyze the doppler shift in light between perpendicular readings of the same aparatus, and the motion of the Earth, travelling through that medium, would lead to a finding. But they were wrong, so I told you all that for nothing".
Normal people can understand that heavier things do not fall faster than light things. Normal people can't understand a lot of wonderful physics experiments.
When I replied to this message, I swear to you that it did not include the time and channel. I read it twice because I couldn't believe they didn't mention it. As it is now, I look like a complete jackass, yet for some reason am still being modded up for my comment.
You're pretty impressive. You've known about the eReader for all of about 20 minutes and you're already making broad generalizations about the future of the product!
I'd like to ask you about the stock market sometime. I read somewhere about this thing that would let you buy something online. Do you think I should buy that stock?
Doesn't matter, thief. If you did not download the ROMs yourself, you are not entitled to a "backup" copy of that game. Read US Code Title 17 Chapter 1 sometime. Unless you make the backup copy, you're not allowed to have it.
Oh, and you're also bound by the EULA, and all Nintendo first-party EULAs have an explicit "Do not copy" clause.
As a self-proclaimed Nintendo fanboy, I think it's also necessary to point out Animal Crossing, dubbed a "communication game" by Nintendo. It's for the Nintendo Gamecube (the cheapest of the consoles at $150) and the game retails at $50, which includes a special memory card (retail $15).
Imagine a cross between Harvest Moon and The Sims. The player controls a small, cartoonish character and basically lives their life. You begin by getting a mortgage on a house, which you then have to pay off by performing tasks for the other villagers in town. There are also Pokemon-like collection aspects to Animal Crossing in that it features over 40 species of insects, dozens of fossils to discover (which you can sell for profit or donate to the museum), and also tons of fruit to collect and sell (or consume). You are also given a rating on your house, depending on how good your Feng Shui is. Actions affect how other villagers react to you. If you dig up their gardens, they'll stop being curteous to you, and eventually run the other way when you come around.
But the game is about communication. You can visit other people's villages by inserting both your and your friend's memory card in the Gamecube. Items can then be traded with each other and collections can be completed. Don't have friends? You can also trade over the Internet by providing passwords that are keyed to the player name and the village name. There is already at least one good community for trading.
Finally, the game runs in real time, based off of the Gamecube's internal clock. If you can only play after work, then the villagers will begin to make fun of you for being a night owl. Holidays occur on their specific days, and special things happen (presents exchanged on Christmas, girlfriends on Valentine's Day, etc). Also, you will receive presents on your own birthday (set at the start of the game). Seasons change, and snow or leaves fall according to the season. Sales happen during specific hours, and if you miss it, you miss the sale. And don't try to reset the clock - if you do, a character named Resetti will be coming after you and bother you with text for a full 5 minutes.
How does this relate to the story at Slashdot? One of the things to collect are first party NES games. Donkey Kong, Pinball, Ice Climbers, Balloon Brothers, and dozens more are available. All of them can either be played in-game or downloaded to the Gameboy Advance for play on the road (until the power is switched off, it's stored in RAM).
I advise anybody who's into addictive, play-for-30-minutes-a-day-everyday games to buy it. You won't be disappointed. Now if you'll excuse me, Tanooki is having a sale on coconuts in an hour and I don't wanna miss it.
There's two major NES related things happening. The first is this eCard Reader, which acts just like the article says. You receive 5 or so cards (regular playing deck size) with a string of dots on each side. These are swiped through the eCard Reader (which hooks up to the Game Boy Advance) and they contain the ROM information for that game.
Secondly, there's Animal Crossing, which is a Gamecube game similar to The Sims. In the game, you can acquire NES games that you play on your Gamecube *OR* by downloading it to your GBA. Eventually there will be Animal Crossing eCards that will unlock things in the game.
Yeah, but the Nintendo-spawned copies are actually LEGAL.
Fucking pirates. You are the reason why computer companies are cracking down on Fair Use laws and ruining life for the rest of us. Buy some fucking games once in a while and support the hobby you obviously enjoy.
I seriously doubt you're worth my time in a debate, but I'll give it a try. "Sampling" songs is done on the radio or (God forbid) MTV. It is not done by keeping a permanent copy of that song to listen to whenever you want when you have no intention of buying it. And it should be illegal because it's breaking copyright laws. When you start creating things for a living, maybe you'll understand. Now, as for your objections...
Recording a song from the radio would not have had as high a quality transmission, and so it is not the same object. Strike one.
Recording it from the TV has the same drawback. Strike two.
Copying his friend's CD? Did you miss the point where I said "LEGALLY ACQUIRED"? Read some copyright laws, mmkay? Strike Three.
Why must stealing involve an object? Why can it not be "something with value"? I feel sorry for you if you honestly cannot see that music, software, or ideas have value.
Just wait until you graduate from high school and move out of your parent's basement. You'll learn the value of ideas and thoughts soon enough.
I'm assuming from your tone that you have stolen software/music in the past. I say "stolen" because that's exactly what you did. And I will then prove it. Your responses will be in italics.
Did you acquire something that you did not have access to before your theft? Yes, I got a CD/MP3
Could you have acquired that object in a legal way? Yes, by buying it at a store..
Is there any other legal way for you to have acquired that object? No, every other method of acquisition is illegal.
So we are left with this: You have acquired an object. You acquired that object without the owner's permission (owner = copyright owner). That object has value to the owner. You have not given any compensation to the owner for your acquisition of that object.
So it really is more that just a lip-service update... interesting...
(Now that I have an XP user in my grasp...) How difficult is it to turn those programs off? Is it hidden in an obscure Control Panel setting, three pages deep in the "Uber-Advanced Options", with a dozen warnings saying "This will break your computer and ruin your marriage, not to mention bring war to peaceful nations and kill a dozen kittens"?
And, for anybody who is using XP, they say that the software (like IE, Media Player, etc) is hidden. But if I double-click on an HTML file, does it come up in IE anyways? Or does it say "File type not recognized"?
I never said that Fallout 2 wasn't a good title, I said that it was an obscure title that, for most people, fell well beyond their gaming ability or interest level.
I love both Fallout and Fallout 2, but I just thought that it was odd they specifically enumerated LinksLS 1998 as a golfing sim, while not bothering to explain that Fallout 2 was a well-received but poorly-selling RPG.
Why is it that they give only titles for obscure games like Dungeon Keeper 2, Populous the Beginning, and Fallout 2 (none of which received very good sales and are among the more obscure gaming titles) but they explicitly state that LinksLS 1998 is a golfing simulation? Links is the most popular golfing game out there, with Links 2003 due out in a month or so?
Slashdot Mirror
Nintendo is listed at nearly 800,000 this year alone, which does not include nearly 500,000 sold after its launch in Japan, September 12th, 2001. Needless to say, not many people were interested in buying video games that day.
Hey, here's a good question! Do you know where the best video games come from? It ain't America! It's Japan! Wow, ain't that cool? And do you know where the best developers are? Japan again! And do you know what happens to systems that fail in Japan? Oh, you don't know any? How about the Atari Lynx, Atari Jaguar, 3D0, Atari 2600, and TurboGrafix 16? That's right! They go extinct!
Enjoy your 9 lb doorstop that can play Halo.
He is not helping things," says Seamus Blackley, the former head of Microsoft's Xbox team who now runs the Capital Entertainment Group...[Blackley] speaks for many game designers...who admire the master's work but are desperate for something new.
"At this point," Blackley continues, "Miyamoto is making games for his fans. Granted, there are millions of them, and it's smart business, but most are kids. He's not opening up adult audiences. He's reinforcing stereotypes about games, not pushing them to a place where they can become something different and truly awesome."
Who the FSCK does Blackley think he is? He's a shoddy co-designer of the Xbox who stepped down to head a non-existent software company who has yet to demonstrate they do anything but blow smoke up each others' asses all day about how great the Xbox is. And he's criticizing Shigeru Miyamoto?
Miyamoto created this industry. After the gaming crash of the late 80's (Atari generation) it was the Famicom from Nintendo that reinvigorated the industry, bringing it back from the brink of extinction. And why was the Famicom (NES outside Japan) so successful? It was successful because of Super Mario Brothers and The Legend of Zelda, both coming from Shiggy. There was no side-scroller before Super Mario Brothers. There was no top-down adventure/RPG before Zelda. He invented the fscking genre and Seamus FSCKING Blackley is doubting him?
Oh, and my favorite part: "He's reinforcing stereotypes." If that stereotype is "A whole helluva lot of fun" then he's right. But what Blackley is referring to is the "video games are for kids" stereotype. This coming from a guy who openly endorced BMX XXX, the most immature piece of donkey shit ever to be published on a video game console, chock full of hot dog vendors talking about "huge weiners" and dogs humping on the sidewalk. Apparently, Blackley thinks video games are for immature 6th graders who can't get a hold of a porno magazine.
Shigeru Miyamoto is a genius. He continues to develop innovative games, even 22 years after Donkey Kong was first programmed. Anybody who doubts me should look at Pikmin and the latest Zelda. To see a third-rate hack insult him infuriates me.
In computing terms, this is like the man responsible for programming Clippy telling Linus Torvalds that he's washed up and is holding back the computer industry with his old software. Complete bullshit, and I'm not afraid to say it (and subsequently get modded down).
I sure as hell couldn't tell you what they were saying, even when I knew what words were coming out of their mouth. And this is not to mention cell phone static, distractions, contractions, mumbling, and lots of "ummm" and "uhhhh" that occurs during normal speech. I really don't see how this is a viable communication method.
Maybe it's because I'm not experienced with lip reading. Maybe people who are deaf are better at it than I am, but I can usually tell what Football coaches are saying on the sidelines of games (of course, that's limited to "Bull****" and "You've gotta be ****ing kidding me!", but still...)
Then I thought about upgrades.
With a laptop, you're practically stuck with your video card and processor, not to mention CD/DVD drives or sound. Yes, I know it's possible to upgrade these parts, but the cost of them far outweigh the convenience of their desktop counterparts.
A laptop would be great for gaming if, for example, Doom III were never made and the technology required to play games plateaued. I don't see that happening, which is why I'm still using a mini-tower for my gaming needs.
"Buggy Bugging By British Bobbies Backfires"
And what about cable? If I'm out of town for 3 weeks out of the month, I still have to pay full price, even if nobody was watching the TV! It's a rip-off, I tell you!
Giving a slideshow with the mouse, and "talking with your hands" yields a deletion of your presentation...
Geeks begin to have buff right arms from holding their mouse hand up all day...
Grandmothers can no longer accurately point-and-click because of their shaking hands...
Rhythmic up and down hand motions becoming the next gesture-command to surf to persiankitty.com...
It's ten times simpler to buy it at a local store. They worry about shipping charges, they worry about pickups of games, and they always get the games at the earliest possible date - sometimes before. You also have the convenience of walking home with the game, and also interaction with other gamers. I originally had no clue what Serious Sam was until I went into an EB and heard people talking about it. It's one of the best FPS games I've ever played, and it's only $20.
There are only two reasons to buy something online:
- It's so unbelievably rare that you'd likely never find it in a store
- It's significantly cheaper to buy it online (after shipping) and you don't mind when you get it.
This rental service is just proving that all over again.It's called "installed user base".
How do you think the article would be received if the NYT said "M-M thought that there was ether all around us, and they could prove it. They would analyze the doppler shift in light between perpendicular readings of the same aparatus, and the motion of the Earth, travelling through that medium, would lead to a finding. But they were wrong, so I told you all that for nothing".
Normal people can understand that heavier things do not fall faster than light things. Normal people can't understand a lot of wonderful physics experiments.
Such is life on Slashdot.
Ahem.
It's on FOX at 8:00 PM EST, 7:00 Central. Or check your local listings.
I'd like to ask you about the stock market sometime. I read somewhere about this thing that would let you buy something online. Do you think I should buy that stock?
Oh, and you're also bound by the EULA, and all Nintendo first-party EULAs have an explicit "Do not copy" clause.
Fucking pirates.
Imagine a cross between Harvest Moon and The Sims. The player controls a small, cartoonish character and basically lives their life. You begin by getting a mortgage on a house, which you then have to pay off by performing tasks for the other villagers in town. There are also Pokemon-like collection aspects to Animal Crossing in that it features over 40 species of insects, dozens of fossils to discover (which you can sell for profit or donate to the museum), and also tons of fruit to collect and sell (or consume). You are also given a rating on your house, depending on how good your Feng Shui is. Actions affect how other villagers react to you. If you dig up their gardens, they'll stop being curteous to you, and eventually run the other way when you come around.
But the game is about communication. You can visit other people's villages by inserting both your and your friend's memory card in the Gamecube. Items can then be traded with each other and collections can be completed. Don't have friends? You can also trade over the Internet by providing passwords that are keyed to the player name and the village name. There is already at least one good community for trading.
Finally, the game runs in real time, based off of the Gamecube's internal clock. If you can only play after work, then the villagers will begin to make fun of you for being a night owl. Holidays occur on their specific days, and special things happen (presents exchanged on Christmas, girlfriends on Valentine's Day, etc). Also, you will receive presents on your own birthday (set at the start of the game). Seasons change, and snow or leaves fall according to the season. Sales happen during specific hours, and if you miss it, you miss the sale. And don't try to reset the clock - if you do, a character named Resetti will be coming after you and bother you with text for a full 5 minutes.
How does this relate to the story at Slashdot? One of the things to collect are first party NES games. Donkey Kong, Pinball, Ice Climbers, Balloon Brothers, and dozens more are available. All of them can either be played in-game or downloaded to the Gameboy Advance for play on the road (until the power is switched off, it's stored in RAM).
I advise anybody who's into addictive, play-for-30-minutes-a-day-everyday games to buy it. You won't be disappointed. Now if you'll excuse me, Tanooki is having a sale on coconuts in an hour and I don't wanna miss it.
Secondly, there's Animal Crossing, which is a Gamecube game similar to The Sims. In the game, you can acquire NES games that you play on your Gamecube *OR* by downloading it to your GBA. Eventually there will be Animal Crossing eCards that will unlock things in the game.
Hope this helps.
Fucking pirates. You are the reason why computer companies are cracking down on Fair Use laws and ruining life for the rest of us. Buy some fucking games once in a while and support the hobby you obviously enjoy.
Recording a song from the radio would not have had as high a quality transmission, and so it is not the same object. Strike one.
Recording it from the TV has the same drawback. Strike two.
Copying his friend's CD? Did you miss the point where I said "LEGALLY ACQUIRED"? Read some copyright laws, mmkay? Strike Three.
You're out.
Just wait until you graduate from high school and move out of your parent's basement. You'll learn the value of ideas and thoughts soon enough.
Did you acquire something that you did not have access to before your theft? Yes, I got a CD/MP3
Could you have acquired that object in a legal way? Yes, by buying it at a store..
Is there any other legal way for you to have acquired that object? No, every other method of acquisition is illegal.
So we are left with this: You have acquired an object. You acquired that object without the owner's permission (owner = copyright owner). That object has value to the owner. You have not given any compensation to the owner for your acquisition of that object.
How is that not stealing?
(Now that I have an XP user in my grasp...) How difficult is it to turn those programs off? Is it hidden in an obscure Control Panel setting, three pages deep in the "Uber-Advanced Options", with a dozen warnings saying "This will break your computer and ruin your marriage, not to mention bring war to peaceful nations and kill a dozen kittens"?
And, for anybody who is using XP, they say that the software (like IE, Media Player, etc) is hidden. But if I double-click on an HTML file, does it come up in IE anyways? Or does it say "File type not recognized"?
</Karma Whoring>
Naked Woman: Actually, I can see a shimmery shape, because you're slightly off-center to me.
PWTHI: Wait, wait, you're not in the right place. Move to the left.
NW: Ok. Now you're even MORE shimmery
PWTHI: No, no, MY left, not your left
NW: Oh, sorry. There, the shimmering went away.
PWTHI: Ha ha ha ha!!!! I can see you naked!!
NW: Sir, this is a strip club. It's not exactly difficult.
I love both Fallout and Fallout 2, but I just thought that it was odd they specifically enumerated LinksLS 1998 as a golfing sim, while not bothering to explain that Fallout 2 was a well-received but poorly-selling RPG.
It just struck me as odd, that's all...