There's one coming out for the PSP (a "remake" of the original, although pretty redone from the videos (search youtube)), and I would honestly be surprised if there isn't one for the DS at some point. FFT:A did brisk sales and Crystal Chronicles DS is coming out this year.
Unfortunately, that doesn't change what's out *now*, which is just the 2 games.
So, is this going to be like a "lots of games in Ivalice" kind of thing that they're doing with FF12 and the newer FFTactics games, or a bunch of spinoffs a la FF7 (of dubious quality)?
I've always been a fan of the game worlds that SquareEnix has been able to craft, even if there are some standards and similarities between all of them. Being able to explore more of the "extra stuff" would hopefully lead to a more developed backstory, making it even more entertaining to play through games multiple times (as long as they actually stay consistent, of course). I just really don't have any interest, though, in playing 10 years worth of melodramatic end-of-world tales... in the same world. Get kind of monotonous, ya know?
Not saying that Adobe is saintly, but they are bringing back Premiere for OS X this year, actually.
Adobe's problem in the past few years, in my opinion, is that they have changed their model of a company that creates a few graphics and publishing apps to a company that creates the Adobe Suite. While that means there's more interoperability between those applications, it also means that updates are drastically delayed and features are pushed off until the next big release. Even bugfixes are pushed off. It also means that they essentially code "one application," and that application is what they sell. So they target Windows and OS X but have no desire to release one app for Linux -- they would have to sell the entire suite for their model to work, and that's most likely a coding nightmare for Adobe (who likely do not use relatively open code for each operating system).
But even with their problems, I don't think real competition is going to come from Microsoft, who arguably has all of Adobe's problems with a few more tacked on.
While I agree that some Photoshop competition will be good, Microsoft will have to do more than what they usually do with software. As in, they'll have to release it for Mac OS X as well.
Which is what really makes me wonder about Microsoft's track record, considering they've been quite happy with discontinuing past products of theirs such as Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer, two apps that are the basis for most of Microsoft's format lock-in on the web. I don't think Adobe has much to worry about if they still receive a boatload of money from Apple users while fending off Microsoft on the Windows market (where they're extremely entrenched, and Microsoft loses its advantage of "coming with windows," which is the only reason most of their software reaches popularity anyway.
who cares about mp3, what about the people using built-in soundcards played through tinny computer speakers? "Oh, but there's a subwoofer, so it's not tinny!"
Many of them are a feat of engineering, too. Most places have them placed and timed to go off so that even if you're going 10 miles over the limit, you won't make the yellow if you see the lights start to blink just as you pass them. As in, if you see them *at all*, you're not going to make the light.
Here in Baltimore they're on "cash grab" corners because those are the corners where everyone breaks the law and therefore makes the intersection unsafe. It's sort of an "idiot tax" revenue, in that the only people who pay are those who are willing to break the law. Kind of like people who never pay parking meters, and figure paying 1 ticket a year is cheaper than filling the meter 5 times a month.
Of course, if you were to ticket them every time they go out, they'd quickly just pay the damn meter.
I don't really see how it's even an issue, really. Like, it says "no turn on red" or the light is obviously red. Don't run it. You'd think anyone who deals with programming regularly would understand that pretty simply -- if you don't want something to happen, don't set it up to happen.
"# Are there use fees for MPEG-4 Audio?
No. License fees are due on the sale of encoders and/or decoders only. There are no patent license fees due on the distribution of bit-stream encoded in an MPEG-4 Audio format, whether such bit-streams are broadcast, streamed over a network, or provided on physical media.
There are also instances of competition and self defense where humans feel justified in killing one another. Issues of "He was going to kill me first" and "she deserved it" remove a large portion of guilt.
Plus, primates and elephants can express feelings of grief and compassion. Usually the only reason they kill one another is out of competition (males killing other males, although in elephants they don't kill each other, and usually form homoerotic relationships).
Yeah, exactly. The iPod is successful because of the ability to put CDs on it, not in spite of it. The fact that their software rips in both AAC and MP3 (mp3 for compatibility, AAC for a higher quality format) is testament to the fact that they really care more about making a music device + software interface, and that the store is just gravy, or icing, or gravy icing.
What really bugs me about the WMA thing is that the format is shit. Not only is it completely locked in to Microsoft, who has no plans to release any semi-open versions of it for linux, mac, etc., is that the format itself is shit even compared to mp3, which predates it. Lower quality encoding at the same bitrate? What were they thinking? (Well, I know what they were thinking, they were thinking "ooh, money and lock-in, no point in making a quality codec")
It's essentially "a la carte" pricing. For those who really only want to watch, say, The Daily Show(s) & South Park. The thing that, to me, is going to be really interesting, is how this affects the "nothing" channels that seem to exist simply because of cable royalties or being close to another popular network.
Regardless, a la carte cable shows combined with iTunes functionality is what I think will do it for most people. Technies have already crafted something together that suits their needs, so I think a lot of the criticism on the internet is rather hilarious. People who truly don't get that this has nothing to do with something being broadcast, and only uses the TV as a huge display often surrounded by couches:D
Simple user doesn't care about video codes, XviD, or DRM either. They care about their iTunes stuff showing up on the telly. They don't have TB of video encoded in open source formats on their computer.
But for the "power user" who owns a mac at home and would enjoy more functionality out of something that syncs to iTunes, taking a hard drive out is nothing.
The big thing, to me, about Apple TV is the coordination with iTunes. If you don't use iTunes, then this thing is useless. Me, I use iTunes as essentially an IV into my music collection, and make it do all the work of randomly selecting and sorting things. Piping that into my stereo downstairs is huge, but not worth the $120 that Airport Express costs. But piping audio and video? That's a much bigger deal. Combine that with this apparent hackability, and the fact that you aren't limited by "simple" is great.
there's no DRM on the AppleTV, other than the fact that it can decode stuff purchased through the iTMS. It can also play anything that you could otherwise play in iTunes.
iTunes is more than a store, you know. In fact, the store is secondary.
It's been about 8 months since I gave up on inkjet as a technology. We'd been through about 6 printers over the past 6 years, some lasting longer than others, and would usually get one that was cheap-ish, but inevitably they would clog. Why? Because we didn't print every day. The last one was actually 2 printers as Canon replaced it for free. But if you went more than 2 weeks without printing anything, you were headed to clogsville.
Given that it would eat up a rather large portion of an ink cartridge to attempt to clean a clogged head, and inevitably we would pick up another set of ink cartridges in an attempt to fix it, that was $60 down the drain WAY too frequently.
We've since picked up a color laser printer, which plugs into our network with no fuss, and has printed about 5 times the number of pages at a fraction of the toner/ink use. Toner costs more, but if it lasts for years and years with no clogs and no loss in quality, we'll happily accept that charge. They're not as nice for photos, but that's what Shutterfly is for.
Yeah exactly. "Correlation != causation" doesn't mean "no relation at all! stop looking for one!" Inherently the fact that there's a correlation means that there's a relationship. It just means that one doesn't necessarily cause the other. It should be used to explore more deeply.
Really, it's a skeptics mantra that "things aren't always as they seem." Of course, any skeptic will also tell you that sometimes things just are as they seem:D
I'm also pleased to hear that Bioware will remain independent, even if they do end up just releasing on one console. I wonder if they're going Xbox only due to its (supposedly) similarity to programming for Windows, with fewer "targets" to hit regarding compatibility & support.
I also wonder if games like Jade Empire ended up making far more money than they estimated it would if it was released just for Windows (as a single player RPG wouldn't go anywhere on PC), and they figured to go where the money is.
I like their products, but I'm not at all surprised that they're showing more interest in consoles since their product doesn't live or die by online play.
But, don't all those "free," preinstalled apps subsidize the cost of new computers? Without the gigs upon gigs of crapware that comes will dells, the computers would cost more or Dell wouldn't make as much money. Sure, it would mean that Windows computers would be artificially cheaper than Linux computers, but the vast majority of people care only about that final charge on their credit card.
But will your kids be able to do that in their 20's and 30's, with all of their favorite games, without resorting to (illegal) hacks or platform emulators?
I agree with your post overall, but isn't there legal standing in place for "abandonware," or circumventing copy protection if the content that's protected is from a company that no longer exists or no longer supports the platform? I seem to recall hearing a handful of stories about it.
Still, I'd much rather have the support right out of the gate, or a semi-open source, or at least the company promising to open the server source if it cannot otherwise provide servers. Having that knowledge that it's going to still work in the future is a huge bonus.
Slashdot Mirror
There's one coming out for the PSP (a "remake" of the original, although pretty redone from the videos (search youtube)), and I would honestly be surprised if there isn't one for the DS at some point. FFT:A did brisk sales and Crystal Chronicles DS is coming out this year.
Unfortunately, that doesn't change what's out *now*, which is just the 2 games.
So, is this going to be like a "lots of games in Ivalice" kind of thing that they're doing with FF12 and the newer FFTactics games, or a bunch of spinoffs a la FF7 (of dubious quality)?
I've always been a fan of the game worlds that SquareEnix has been able to craft, even if there are some standards and similarities between all of them. Being able to explore more of the "extra stuff" would hopefully lead to a more developed backstory, making it even more entertaining to play through games multiple times (as long as they actually stay consistent, of course). I just really don't have any interest, though, in playing 10 years worth of melodramatic end-of-world tales... in the same world. Get kind of monotonous, ya know?
Not saying that Adobe is saintly, but they are bringing back Premiere for OS X this year, actually.
Adobe's problem in the past few years, in my opinion, is that they have changed their model of a company that creates a few graphics and publishing apps to a company that creates the Adobe Suite. While that means there's more interoperability between those applications, it also means that updates are drastically delayed and features are pushed off until the next big release. Even bugfixes are pushed off. It also means that they essentially code "one application," and that application is what they sell. So they target Windows and OS X but have no desire to release one app for Linux -- they would have to sell the entire suite for their model to work, and that's most likely a coding nightmare for Adobe (who likely do not use relatively open code for each operating system).
But even with their problems, I don't think real competition is going to come from Microsoft, who arguably has all of Adobe's problems with a few more tacked on.
While I agree that some Photoshop competition will be good, Microsoft will have to do more than what they usually do with software. As in, they'll have to release it for Mac OS X as well.
Which is what really makes me wonder about Microsoft's track record, considering they've been quite happy with discontinuing past products of theirs such as Windows Media Player and Internet Explorer, two apps that are the basis for most of Microsoft's format lock-in on the web. I don't think Adobe has much to worry about if they still receive a boatload of money from Apple users while fending off Microsoft on the Windows market (where they're extremely entrenched, and Microsoft loses its advantage of "coming with windows," which is the only reason most of their software reaches popularity anyway.
the problem is that WifeOS always comes bundled with the hardware, and the hardware doesn't always allow the software to work as the user wishes.
who cares about mp3, what about the people using built-in soundcards played through tinny computer speakers? "Oh, but there's a subwoofer, so it's not tinny!"
Many of them are a feat of engineering, too. Most places have them placed and timed to go off so that even if you're going 10 miles over the limit, you won't make the yellow if you see the lights start to blink just as you pass them. As in, if you see them *at all*, you're not going to make the light.
Here in Baltimore they're on "cash grab" corners because those are the corners where everyone breaks the law and therefore makes the intersection unsafe. It's sort of an "idiot tax" revenue, in that the only people who pay are those who are willing to break the law. Kind of like people who never pay parking meters, and figure paying 1 ticket a year is cheaper than filling the meter 5 times a month.
Of course, if you were to ticket them every time they go out, they'd quickly just pay the damn meter.
I don't really see how it's even an issue, really. Like, it says "no turn on red" or the light is obviously red. Don't run it. You'd think anyone who deals with programming regularly would understand that pretty simply -- if you don't want something to happen, don't set it up to happen.
Of course! Remember, you have to sell something WITH DRM first, and then you can claim it's DRM-free. Otherwise, it's just a file.
From your link:
"# Are there use fees for MPEG-4 Audio?
No. License fees are due on the sale of encoders and/or decoders only. There are no patent license fees due on the distribution of bit-stream encoded in an MPEG-4 Audio format, whether such bit-streams are broadcast, streamed over a network, or provided on physical media.
Bleep/Warp is great, but there's nothing stopping them from swapping out mp3 for aac at some point.
You make it sound like Microsoft coded Word to actually utilize the resources of the machine.
There are also instances of competition and self defense where humans feel justified in killing one another. Issues of "He was going to kill me first" and "she deserved it" remove a large portion of guilt.
Plus, primates and elephants can express feelings of grief and compassion. Usually the only reason they kill one another is out of competition (males killing other males, although in elephants they don't kill each other, and usually form homoerotic relationships).
So have they added a touchscreen or games that aren't just ports?
Metal Gear Ac!ds and LocoRoco are cool, but aren't system sellers. I am amazed how much of a life WipeOut has in the UK, though...
Yeah, exactly. The iPod is successful because of the ability to put CDs on it, not in spite of it. The fact that their software rips in both AAC and MP3 (mp3 for compatibility, AAC for a higher quality format) is testament to the fact that they really care more about making a music device + software interface, and that the store is just gravy, or icing, or gravy icing.
What really bugs me about the WMA thing is that the format is shit. Not only is it completely locked in to Microsoft, who has no plans to release any semi-open versions of it for linux, mac, etc., is that the format itself is shit even compared to mp3, which predates it. Lower quality encoding at the same bitrate? What were they thinking? (Well, I know what they were thinking, they were thinking "ooh, money and lock-in, no point in making a quality codec")
It's essentially "a la carte" pricing. For those who really only want to watch, say, The Daily Show(s) & South Park. The thing that, to me, is going to be really interesting, is how this affects the "nothing" channels that seem to exist simply because of cable royalties or being close to another popular network.
:D
Regardless, a la carte cable shows combined with iTunes functionality is what I think will do it for most people. Technies have already crafted something together that suits their needs, so I think a lot of the criticism on the internet is rather hilarious. People who truly don't get that this has nothing to do with something being broadcast, and only uses the TV as a huge display often surrounded by couches
It's a lost cause. People who think "iTunes" means "iTunes Store" will never change their opinion.
Simple user doesn't care about video codes, XviD, or DRM either. They care about their iTunes stuff showing up on the telly. They don't have TB of video encoded in open source formats on their computer.
But for the "power user" who owns a mac at home and would enjoy more functionality out of something that syncs to iTunes, taking a hard drive out is nothing.
The big thing, to me, about Apple TV is the coordination with iTunes. If you don't use iTunes, then this thing is useless. Me, I use iTunes as essentially an IV into my music collection, and make it do all the work of randomly selecting and sorting things. Piping that into my stereo downstairs is huge, but not worth the $120 that Airport Express costs. But piping audio and video? That's a much bigger deal. Combine that with this apparent hackability, and the fact that you aren't limited by "simple" is great.
Simple isn't a limitation.
And the audience seems perfectly happy to do so. Witness the success of such future classics as Norbit.
there's no DRM on the AppleTV, other than the fact that it can decode stuff purchased through the iTMS. It can also play anything that you could otherwise play in iTunes.
iTunes is more than a store, you know. In fact, the store is secondary.
It's been about 8 months since I gave up on inkjet as a technology. We'd been through about 6 printers over the past 6 years, some lasting longer than others, and would usually get one that was cheap-ish, but inevitably they would clog. Why? Because we didn't print every day. The last one was actually 2 printers as Canon replaced it for free. But if you went more than 2 weeks without printing anything, you were headed to clogsville.
Given that it would eat up a rather large portion of an ink cartridge to attempt to clean a clogged head, and inevitably we would pick up another set of ink cartridges in an attempt to fix it, that was $60 down the drain WAY too frequently.
We've since picked up a color laser printer, which plugs into our network with no fuss, and has printed about 5 times the number of pages at a fraction of the toner/ink use. Toner costs more, but if it lasts for years and years with no clogs and no loss in quality, we'll happily accept that charge. They're not as nice for photos, but that's what Shutterfly is for.
Yeah exactly. "Correlation != causation" doesn't mean "no relation at all! stop looking for one!" Inherently the fact that there's a correlation means that there's a relationship. It just means that one doesn't necessarily cause the other. It should be used to explore more deeply.
:D
Really, it's a skeptics mantra that "things aren't always as they seem." Of course, any skeptic will also tell you that sometimes things just are as they seem
I'm also pleased to hear that Bioware will remain independent, even if they do end up just releasing on one console. I wonder if they're going Xbox only due to its (supposedly) similarity to programming for Windows, with fewer "targets" to hit regarding compatibility & support.
I also wonder if games like Jade Empire ended up making far more money than they estimated it would if it was released just for Windows (as a single player RPG wouldn't go anywhere on PC), and they figured to go where the money is.
I like their products, but I'm not at all surprised that they're showing more interest in consoles since their product doesn't live or die by online play.
But, don't all those "free," preinstalled apps subsidize the cost of new computers? Without the gigs upon gigs of crapware that comes will dells, the computers would cost more or Dell wouldn't make as much money. Sure, it would mean that Windows computers would be artificially cheaper than Linux computers, but the vast majority of people care only about that final charge on their credit card.
But will your kids be able to do that in their 20's and 30's, with all of their favorite games, without resorting to (illegal) hacks or platform emulators?
I agree with your post overall, but isn't there legal standing in place for "abandonware," or circumventing copy protection if the content that's protected is from a company that no longer exists or no longer supports the platform? I seem to recall hearing a handful of stories about it.
Still, I'd much rather have the support right out of the gate, or a semi-open source, or at least the company promising to open the server source if it cannot otherwise provide servers. Having that knowledge that it's going to still work in the future is a huge bonus.