As a current Kindle 2 owner, the thing that matters the most (at least to me) is book selection. An e-reader is only as useful as the books you can put on it. B&Ns claims of "over a million titles available" (thereby claiming they have more titles then the what's available for the Kindle) is spurious at best, as I believe (IIRC) it includes a lot of free public domain books, books that are freely available on the Kindle, just not necessarily from the Kindle store. Sure, it's nice that they include more of those books in their own store, but that doesn't mean their EXCLUSIVE selection is any better.
For anybody looking to compare Nook from Kindle, look at which books are available in the respective stores first.
Maybe downloadable content will be the winner much further down the track, but for the moment I think the problem is that Blu-ray hasn't done enough to dethrone DVDs as the standard format.
Think about what DVDs had to offer over VHS - much smaller form factor (you can get about three TV seasons worth of content in a case the size of a VHS tape), significantly increased quality (both picture and sound), the ability to choose subtitles in dozens of languages with a click of a button, no rewinding, multiple soundtracks on the one disc, selectable camera angles, chapter selection, usable menus, special features, audio commentaries, no degradation of the signal from repeated use, etc...
Blu-ray offers... a slightly better picture. If you fork out ridiculous amounts of cash for the new discs, players and a HD Television to go with it.
Sure, I can tell the difference, and so can most people, but DVDs are actually reasonably good quality to begin with, and good enough for most people out there, myself included.
In Northern VA, Cox just upped my speed from 5 Mbps down/2 Mbps up to 10/2, and increased cost by about $2/month. This of course is to stave off the FIOS menace which also upped their speeds and rates by a similar amount. Nevermind that I don't have access to FIOS, they still did it for everybody else that does.
Might the higher speeds on the East Coast be because our cities are closer together allowing for more lines, thereby allowing for more competition? From Richmond to Boston are several large and major cities (Richmond, DC, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philly, Newark, NYC and Boston) in comparatively close proximity.
I know Intel is all the rage these days with the Core Quad and whatnot, but I still prefer AMD chips (even though I may be in the minority) and would like to SLI my cards. When are we going to see a decent board for the AM2+ chipset? That was supposed to be a March release too!
HD-DVD was cheaper for both players and movies, but I'm glad the format war is officially over. Especially with wal-mart throwing their (considerable) weight behind BD. I just can't stand the fact that Sony won. Oh well. I'm still not buying a BD player until they get sub-$200.
I have a Pioneer DVD player, maybe second generation. The thing is huge, and probably something like 8 years old. Casino Royale works just fine in it. Granted, that sucker will play just about anything you throw in there, from DivX to DVD +/- RW. Best DVD player I ever bought, and one of the reasons why I still only buy Pioneer DVD players.
Makes you wonder about what's in some of the other newer DVD players if my old one can play Casino Royale with no problems...?
And as far as all those ads are concerned, you can check out Fact-Check. They go through and analyze almost every single political ad out there and determine the veracity of the claims made. They're also non-partisan.
Got there at 9:15 with 8 in front. By the time it opened, all 34 slots were gone and he was still turning people away. Other stores I called only had 8-15, whereas others were allotted up to 40.
Spiderman? Ridge Racer? The Urbz? Tiger Woods PGA Golf? Asphalt (arguably)? The reason I say more gimmicky is the different control scheme of the DS, and the urge to do just unique, if not necessarily FUNCTIONAL controls. There were some good games, but most of them didn't come until a little bit after launch.
I thought the N64 had the Rumble pack first? Once again I could be wrong. DVD based console is probably right, which was a big misstep by Nintendo with the Gamecube, and basically having it act as a DVD player. They were first in those areas. I was honestly speaking more in terms of PS2 and on because I basically see it as the XBox 360 as the current generation with the Xbox, GC and PS2 as the last generation.
At the risk of sounding like a Nintendo apologist, I think the WhatEntertainment editorial is a little drastic. As long as Nintendo continues to churn a profit on just about every machine they make, they're going to continue doing the things they do the way they want to do them. In the more recent history, Nintendo has generally been the one to do something different first (with the exception of Microsoft with XBox Live). Looking at the DS as an example, the first games that came out were crap and gimmicky and I'm honestly expecting the exact same thing with the Wii launch. It depends entirely on the publishers though, and that's where the risk for Nintendo comes in. You'll generally see innovation in most industries where there is competition. So, even if in the doomsday scenarios Nintendo no longer creates consoles but moves to a software only shop for the non-portable consoles, MS and Sony will still be around to provide innovation. Even if you take Nintendo out of the equation this round, Microsoft is already doing something different with the Xbox Live Arcade on the 360 then has been done before, including on the Xbox. It just looks as if Sony is the only one without any originality the past couple of cycles (I could be mistaken here, feel free to correct). Putting Nintendo back into the equation, they are already spurring innovation by prompting Sony to put some sort of motion sensing capabilities into their controllers (evidenced by the last minute inclusion into some of the E3 demos). What I love is everyone is pointing out what will happen if Nintendo fails, and according to Billy, fails again. Failure depends on who's doing the judging and from a profitability standpoint, Nintendo succeeded where the other two did not. What nobody seems to be asking is what could happen if Nintendo "succeeds." And in a way you could look at it that they already have succeeded in that they've prompted Sony to mimic an aspect of their design, or if Sony had thought of it before, then prompting them to at least include it in this generation as opposed to the next or never having included it all.
So I've got Cox HSI. Last year they upgraded me for free from 3Mbps/512kbps to 5/2 (in response to FIOS). There was definitely a difference, even during peak. Using Speakeasy's speed test I regularly tested out above 5 mbps down, and usually between 1-1.6 mbps up. On the phone recently with Cox, they said I could upgrade to 15/2 for $10/mo less for a year. So, doing a quick speed test after the upgrade, I now only test between 7-9 mpbs, and still only 1-1.6 mbps up. I DEFINITELY don't see anything even approaching 15. Fortunately I'm paying less for it =D
It's definitely not a +0.5 gen console. It's going to have at least twice the processing ability as the cube first of all. Second, it's a well known fact that buying specific peripherals for only a limited number of games doesn't really work out all that well. How many people went out and bought the Hard Drive for the PS2? More importantly, how many other games took advantage of the Hard Drive on the PS2? When the controller comes DEFAULT with a system, it's a huge difference then making it an add-on, optional peripheral.
...Sony and Microsoft will copy it immediately. And that will leave the Revolution where, exactly?
Maybe one generation ahead? Being as how the current console lifecycle is anywhere from 3-5 years, it will be about 3-5 years for Nintendo to pave the way ahead for their new controller design. IF the games are good enough, and IF the technology works well enough, that could mean Nintendo becomes everybody's second console by default, which could put them at #1 in overall sales. Cost, features, and (if it holds up) games like this would make this easily everybody's first or second choice in console.
Speculation though (even mine), is pointless right now. Wait AT LEAST until E3 to make anything approaching half-assed guesses.
Being an owner of the first VerticalMouse, I'm going to have to disagree that it's a step backward. Suffering from tendonitis in the wrist I decided to give this a try and the design is great. I've mapped all the buttons to do what I want them to do and it's quite comfortable. I've been using it at work for a solid 2.5 years without any difficulty. The way I overcome your supposed design flaws is to just have most of my arm on the desk. BTW, I'm about 6'4" so my hands are quite large and it fits amazingly well.
Don't knock it until you actually have tried it.
Isn't that sort of the whole point of the Nintendo Revolution? To attract newer, different gamers. People that aren't necessarily hardcore gamers, or of the established market?
It's nice that Nextel leases out their lines to other carriers. Verizon is the only carrier to have built towers for the underground portions of the Washington D.C. Metro system, and they don't share at all with anyone.
On the contrary, I live in the area where Verizon FIOS has started to deploy in the Northern VA area. Cox retaliated a month or so later to match speeds and prices (mostly). So, I now have 5/2 access through Cox (at the same price I was receiving 4/512k for), and whenever I have tested or download anything from my computer it actually hasn't been too far off (for example I used the FTP on my home computer and grabbed something while at work just yesterday).
I have no doubts at all, however, that Cox did this of their own free and good will. I was outright told that this was being done to retain customers, because people (like my parents) have started switching in droves to FIOS, where there is availability. When Verizon TV comes out, I only expect things to get better, because that means Cox will no longer raise my cable rates (like the 50 bucks they did just a few months ago).
Slashdot Mirror
Engadget is reporting that it's not limited to Comcast. I'm on FIOS and I can confirm that it's unreachable as well.
As a current Kindle 2 owner, the thing that matters the most (at least to me) is book selection. An e-reader is only as useful as the books you can put on it. B&Ns claims of "over a million titles available" (thereby claiming they have more titles then the what's available for the Kindle) is spurious at best, as I believe (IIRC) it includes a lot of free public domain books, books that are freely available on the Kindle, just not necessarily from the Kindle store. Sure, it's nice that they include more of those books in their own store, but that doesn't mean their EXCLUSIVE selection is any better. For anybody looking to compare Nook from Kindle, look at which books are available in the respective stores first.
Maybe downloadable content will be the winner much further down the track, but for the moment I think the problem is that Blu-ray hasn't done enough to dethrone DVDs as the standard format.
Think about what DVDs had to offer over VHS - much smaller form factor (you can get about three TV seasons worth of content in a case the size of a VHS tape), significantly increased quality (both picture and sound), the ability to choose subtitles in dozens of languages with a click of a button, no rewinding, multiple soundtracks on the one disc, selectable camera angles, chapter selection, usable menus, special features, audio commentaries, no degradation of the signal from repeated use, etc...
Blu-ray offers... a slightly better picture. If you fork out ridiculous amounts of cash for the new discs, players and a HD Television to go with it.
Sure, I can tell the difference, and so can most people, but DVDs are actually reasonably good quality to begin with, and good enough for most people out there, myself included.
Clearly you have not heard of BD-Live?!
/sarcasm
I don't think RA2 is a download. I believe you get it with the game when it comes.
In Northern VA, Cox just upped my speed from 5 Mbps down/2 Mbps up to 10/2, and increased cost by about $2/month. This of course is to stave off the FIOS menace which also upped their speeds and rates by a similar amount. Nevermind that I don't have access to FIOS, they still did it for everybody else that does.
Might the higher speeds on the East Coast be because our cities are closer together allowing for more lines, thereby allowing for more competition? From Richmond to Boston are several large and major cities (Richmond, DC, Baltimore, Wilmington, Philly, Newark, NYC and Boston) in comparatively close proximity.
Engadget also responded to this here. I still have difficulty believing iTunes to be #1. #2? Makes sense.
I know Intel is all the rage these days with the Core Quad and whatnot, but I still prefer AMD chips (even though I may be in the minority) and would like to SLI my cards. When are we going to see a decent board for the AM2+ chipset? That was supposed to be a March release too!
HD-DVD was cheaper for both players and movies, but I'm glad the format war is officially over. Especially with wal-mart throwing their (considerable) weight behind BD. I just can't stand the fact that Sony won. Oh well. I'm still not buying a BD player until they get sub-$200.
I have a Pioneer DVD player, maybe second generation. The thing is huge, and probably something like 8 years old. Casino Royale works just fine in it. Granted, that sucker will play just about anything you throw in there, from DivX to DVD +/- RW. Best DVD player I ever bought, and one of the reasons why I still only buy Pioneer DVD players. Makes you wonder about what's in some of the other newer DVD players if my old one can play Casino Royale with no problems...?
And as far as all those ads are concerned, you can check out Fact-Check. They go through and analyze almost every single political ad out there and determine the veracity of the claims made. They're also non-partisan.
Got there at 9:15 with 8 in front. By the time it opened, all 34 slots were gone and he was still turning people away. Other stores I called only had 8-15, whereas others were allotted up to 40.
Maybe THAT'S where all the E. Coli are coming from?
Spiderman? Ridge Racer? The Urbz? Tiger Woods PGA Golf? Asphalt (arguably)? The reason I say more gimmicky is the different control scheme of the DS, and the urge to do just unique, if not necessarily FUNCTIONAL controls. There were some good games, but most of them didn't come until a little bit after launch.
I thought the N64 had the Rumble pack first? Once again I could be wrong. DVD based console is probably right, which was a big misstep by Nintendo with the Gamecube, and basically having it act as a DVD player. They were first in those areas. I was honestly speaking more in terms of PS2 and on because I basically see it as the XBox 360 as the current generation with the Xbox, GC and PS2 as the last generation.
At the risk of sounding like a Nintendo apologist, I think the WhatEntertainment editorial is a little drastic. As long as Nintendo continues to churn a profit on just about every machine they make, they're going to continue doing the things they do the way they want to do them. In the more recent history, Nintendo has generally been the one to do something different first (with the exception of Microsoft with XBox Live). Looking at the DS as an example, the first games that came out were crap and gimmicky and I'm honestly expecting the exact same thing with the Wii launch. It depends entirely on the publishers though, and that's where the risk for Nintendo comes in. You'll generally see innovation in most industries where there is competition. So, even if in the doomsday scenarios Nintendo no longer creates consoles but moves to a software only shop for the non-portable consoles, MS and Sony will still be around to provide innovation. Even if you take Nintendo out of the equation this round, Microsoft is already doing something different with the Xbox Live Arcade on the 360 then has been done before, including on the Xbox. It just looks as if Sony is the only one without any originality the past couple of cycles (I could be mistaken here, feel free to correct). Putting Nintendo back into the equation, they are already spurring innovation by prompting Sony to put some sort of motion sensing capabilities into their controllers (evidenced by the last minute inclusion into some of the E3 demos). What I love is everyone is pointing out what will happen if Nintendo fails, and according to Billy, fails again. Failure depends on who's doing the judging and from a profitability standpoint, Nintendo succeeded where the other two did not. What nobody seems to be asking is what could happen if Nintendo "succeeds." And in a way you could look at it that they already have succeeded in that they've prompted Sony to mimic an aspect of their design, or if Sony had thought of it before, then prompting them to at least include it in this generation as opposed to the next or never having included it all.
You were hoping to play it without electricity...? :D
So I've got Cox HSI. Last year they upgraded me for free from 3Mbps/512kbps to 5/2 (in response to FIOS). There was definitely a difference, even during peak. Using Speakeasy's speed test I regularly tested out above 5 mbps down, and usually between 1-1.6 mbps up. On the phone recently with Cox, they said I could upgrade to 15/2 for $10/mo less for a year. So, doing a quick speed test after the upgrade, I now only test between 7-9 mpbs, and still only 1-1.6 mbps up. I DEFINITELY don't see anything even approaching 15. Fortunately I'm paying less for it =D
FTA:
During your interview, Thompson also gives antidotes from his new book, "Out of Harm's Way" (Tyndale House Publishers).
I wish someone would give me an antidote to Jack Thompson...
It's definitely not a +0.5 gen console. It's going to have at least twice the processing ability as the cube first of all. Second, it's a well known fact that buying specific peripherals for only a limited number of games doesn't really work out all that well. How many people went out and bought the Hard Drive for the PS2? More importantly, how many other games took advantage of the Hard Drive on the PS2? When the controller comes DEFAULT with a system, it's a huge difference then making it an add-on, optional peripheral.
...Sony and Microsoft will copy it immediately. And that will leave the Revolution where, exactly? Maybe one generation ahead? Being as how the current console lifecycle is anywhere from 3-5 years, it will be about 3-5 years for Nintendo to pave the way ahead for their new controller design. IF the games are good enough, and IF the technology works well enough, that could mean Nintendo becomes everybody's second console by default, which could put them at #1 in overall sales. Cost, features, and (if it holds up) games like this would make this easily everybody's first or second choice in console. Speculation though (even mine), is pointless right now. Wait AT LEAST until E3 to make anything approaching half-assed guesses.
Maybe if the PSP also played mini discs...
Being an owner of the first VerticalMouse, I'm going to have to disagree that it's a step backward. Suffering from tendonitis in the wrist I decided to give this a try and the design is great. I've mapped all the buttons to do what I want them to do and it's quite comfortable. I've been using it at work for a solid 2.5 years without any difficulty. The way I overcome your supposed design flaws is to just have most of my arm on the desk. BTW, I'm about 6'4" so my hands are quite large and it fits amazingly well. Don't knock it until you actually have tried it.
Isn't that sort of the whole point of the Nintendo Revolution? To attract newer, different gamers. People that aren't necessarily hardcore gamers, or of the established market?
It's nice that Nextel leases out their lines to other carriers. Verizon is the only carrier to have built towers for the underground portions of the Washington D.C. Metro system, and they don't share at all with anyone.
On the contrary, I live in the area where Verizon FIOS has started to deploy in the Northern VA area. Cox retaliated a month or so later to match speeds and prices (mostly). So, I now have 5/2 access through Cox (at the same price I was receiving 4/512k for), and whenever I have tested or download anything from my computer it actually hasn't been too far off (for example I used the FTP on my home computer and grabbed something while at work just yesterday). I have no doubts at all, however, that Cox did this of their own free and good will. I was outright told that this was being done to retain customers, because people (like my parents) have started switching in droves to FIOS, where there is availability. When Verizon TV comes out, I only expect things to get better, because that means Cox will no longer raise my cable rates (like the 50 bucks they did just a few months ago).