That would have been Battle Arena Toshindin, and MY GOD was that an awesome sight! Not only was it the first 3D fighting game that wasn't just glorified wire-frame, (Virtua Fighter), but I remember that it had different outfits for different characters, depending upon the color you chose, which was pretty nifty. I've never been much of a fighting game fan, but that game just made my jaw drop. I was in Middle School at the time; I went over and played it at my lesbian friend's house, and both of us were smirking at how hot the chicks were. That was the first time I ever thought a video game character could be sexy.
Last-gen, my ass. I was at a GameStop and they had Excite Truck on the Wii, and some Excite Truck rippoff on the PS3... I swear the graphics were virtually identical.
Now I own Excite Truck, I've never had so much fun playing a racing game! I can't wait until they release a Mario Kart for the Wii. I was so worried that the Wiimote was going to be a novelty, but after playing Twilight Princess for 75 hours and Excite Truck for another 20 or so, I'm completely sold on it.
Oh, and seriously... I haven't seen ANY games, on any systems, yet, that felt "net gen", even Gears Of War, while being an amazing game—compare 007 (N64) to Halo (XBox), THAT'S a generation leap—Halo to Gears of War is NOT. And I think that's a fair comparison to make. Generations traditionally alternate between "innovation" (NES and Playstation/N64/Saturn) and "perfection" (SNES/Genesis and GameCube/PS2/XBox), we just had a generation of perfectionism, it's time for innovation, and from everything I'm seeing, it would be silly to put any money on anyone BUT Nintendo for that, right now.
Wii/GameCube yes... PS2, no way... I bought the Sonic Collection for PS2 (because it included a bunch of GameGear games), and boy was I dissapointed, all the emulations were screwed up, sound was slow and out of sync, and I remember the GameCube version being completely flawless. I don't know about the Midway collection, but I've heard about other PS2 classic collections having problems, before.
Eh, Japan has Link to the Past and Mario Kart 64, and maybe one or two other games. Now, both of those I would download in a HEARTBEAT, and I'm kinda upset that they still haven't released them here (there were many rumors of MK64 being released today, but obviously, that didn't happen). But aside from those, we've got pretty much the same lineup.
I'm wondering that it has something to do with the fact that the GameCube was much bigger over there, so more people have the controllers to play SNES and N64 games. Releasing SNES and N64 games will sell a LOT of VCCs over here in the US, since adoption of the Wii by people who didn't have GameCubes is a lot bigger. VCCs are in incredibly short supply right now, so selling huge N64 and SNES titles would not sell ANY VCCs, and many fewer people would be able to play them. I was lucky in that I got a VCC at launch, and I also had a GameCube, so I have 4 Wavebirds sitting around... so I'm hungry for SNES and N64 games... but I guess I'll have to wait for another month or two, until VCCs start sitting on shelves.
Probably all three... why not? Many Mario afficianados would gladly buy all versions of SMB3. No reason to only release one. However... I don't see any plans to bring GBA games to the VC (although I'm sure it and GB/GBC are probably already built into the emulator), so it'll probably be some time (if ever) before we see Super Mario Bros. Advanced 4 (SMB3 for GBA) on the VC. I do wonder whether they'll asshole us and split up Super Mario Allstars into 4 different games. SMB3 is virtually an SNES game in style and gameplay, and the SMA version makes the game almost identical (from the standpoint of era) to Super Mario World, which they will probably eventually sell for $8. So, why not simply sell them individually? Maybe it's not worth it, for the bad press they'll get (VC isn't a billion dollar industry, afterall).
Currently, they're keeping it all REALLY simple. You're not seeing any additional features, any game changes/updates in the slightest. I bet that down the line, we'll see online multiplayer... multitap emulation (Secret of Mana... wooohooo!), not to mention, they've not said, either way, whether or not they'll be releasing Japanese-only games over here, which would be VERY nice.
I agree with what you're saying, especially about RPGs. I'm dieing for them to finally release some epic games. Although, there's a good business reason for them NOT to release them, which is that RPGs are usually a full-time deal, once you start playing them, you're more often then not, not going to touch other games for a good 30 hours (in the case of many SNES RPGs, that is)... and that possibly means Wii games. So, currently they're more inclined to release short, arcade-style games that won't interfere with sales of new Wii games. If they were to release, say Chrono Trigger or FF6 (the latter of which you won't see for a VERY long time, due to it's comming release on the GBA), they would likely see a fairly steep decline in sales of Wii games. I hope I'm wrong about this, as I'm a huge RPG gamer.
As for a 6th console, I'd put my money on the Saturn, since it's only about half the power of an N64, and Sega seems more than happy to have their name on the VC. C64 is a bit too obscure, me thinks. My question is, is the Wii powerful enough to emulate a DreamCast? I'd LOVE to finally be able to replay a version of Grandia II that doesn't SUCK (ie: PS2 and PC versions). Also, why not original GameBoy/GBC? The GBAs life is almost over, and original GB games aren't compatable with the DS or GBA Micro, so it's not as if they're going to cut into sales at all. MAYBE they're planning on releasing a GameBoy player for the Wii, but even if that were the case, I'd highly doubt they would see any sales due to GB/GBC games.
A few other things: all those consoles may have over 1000 games, but how many of them are good enough to sell? MOST video games are shelf warmers; think about how many GOD AWEFUL classic NES games there were. If you take only the games that are at least somewhat marketable, you're going to get a lot less. However, I think their ratio of top games is still annoyingly low. Do they really expect that the VC will still be a big thing in 3 years? Maybe... but if they don't release more games than they are now, people aren't going to be able to pay attention for 3 years. I don't think they should be trying to make money off of VC games, it's mostly just an incentive to buy Wiis. If, a year down the line, they have a library of, virtually, every known game on those 5 consoles, people are going to be buying Wiis simply for that... right now, VC isn't going to generate a lot of sales, because people don't really know what the future holds for it... not that Nintendo needs ANY more sales, right now. Maybe that's the thing, they're going to hold back VC games until they actually have Wiis to be sold.
Well, it still will cut into GBA cart sales. Many people are getting the classic games on the GBA/DS because they can't get them on any other (legal) platform.
Remember, the DS isn't just a portable platform, anymore, it fills a bit of the roll for a full-sized console as well (especially since it can do things that other full sized consoles can't). Quite a few people are getting DSs as their MAIN platform, which means that it WILL compete with the Wii in some cases... this is one of them.
It is ironic that the only N64 game they've released is Mairo64, of which was also released on the DS. I would have thought something like MarioKart64 or Ocarina, something that hasn't been released on a handheld recently, would be the best choice. Although, MarioKart DS is virtually a port of MarioKart64 with new tracks, and there is already a working Wii compatable version of Ocarina (GameCube version), so neither of those are probably the best choices either. Still, Mario 64 was a very strange choice.
Fred Meyer??? Where you at, man? I'm in Fairbanks. I thought Freddy's was limited to Alaska; or is it all of the Pacific Northwest?
Anyway, I picked mine up here at launch: there were 100 hundred at the store I was at, and 90 at the other one. It was 25 below that day and they reopenned at midnight. I got there about 10:40, and thankfully, they openned the doors and let us in the entry at a little after 11pm. I grabbed a VCC and Twilight Princess, and then a second Wiimote about 5 days later... but no Wii stuff seems to last more than 12 hours on the shelves. I hear they got a shipment of 30 Wiis the other day and they sold out in a matter of a few hours. I've never even seen a nunchuck, VCC, or Wiimote since. It's like launch, but every single day!
I'd heard about how PS3s are being found on shelves in many stores, and I thought that this phenominon was isolated to the lower 48, but I was wrong. The same Freddy's where 30 Wiis are being snatched up in a matter of hours has had about 3 PS3s sitting on the shelf for over 4 days (according to the sales reps).
I'm not going to switch, but Premiere Pro is not bad at all. I'm a professional video editor, and we're outfitted with Premiere Pro at work, since a group engineers (ie: Mac haters) buy all the equipment for the station I work at, but I run Final Cut at home, and have a lot of experience on both. Bottom line is, there's little question that Final Cut is the better video editor, but Premiere still has some large advantages, namely:
It marries Photoshop and After Effects PERFECTLY, which is a big deal if you're doing a lot of graphics intensive stuff, like commercial spot editing (which is what I do). FCP has some annoyences when it comes to Photoshop rendering, specifically with blending properties.
There are some definite advantages to the Premiere interface: the timeline zoom bars are MUCH MUCH better in Premiere (strangely, the ones on After Effects are identical to the ones in FCP, which is obnoxious), and they appear in all editting windows, including the canvas and effects window. When working with 20min+ video in the canvas, trying to pick out a few frames here and there in FCP is just excrushiating. Maybe it's personal preference, but the idea that adjusting the zoom bar simply centers the window around the play head just seems natural to me.
That said, FCPs filters are noticibly superior, and there are quite a few interface advantages to FCP (the fact that I can edit with FCP on my laptop about as fast as I can edit with Premiere on a standard 2-screen setup is really saying something). That said and done, I think its fair to say that both are very decent video editors, are at least in the ballpark as far as quality is concerned. If I were to buy a new one from scratch, I'd likely take FCP over Premiere, but the difference is a lot less than most people make it out to be.
I consider Apple and Adobe to be the two best interface design companies for software (add Nintendo if you're counting non-professional software). In this case, i'd say Adobe has an every so slight edge on intuitive interface design, while Apple has a slight lead on filter quality... both are very important in video editing, so take your pick.
Bollucks. I realized, by the time you got to "free Linux PC", that there was little basis in reality for the prediction you've made. That is even less a defining feature than the Zune's "Squirt", and we all know how that product is panning out. I commend you for your support of Linux, but we're talking about a very small proportion, OF THE TECH COMMUNITY let alone the mainstream, that has any interest in turning their game console into a PC. For one thing, most console gamers buy consoles to GET AWAY FROM PCs, for one reason or another.
Secondly: consoles, a format war outcome, make, they do not. The gaming demographic is growing, indeed, but it pales in comparison to the movie-watching demographic, which is a large majority of people in this country, and many countries around the world. Even among most gamers, there is a belief that consoles serve as a "backup" or second rate media player. College students, yes, everyone else, no.
We're seeing a trend in hardware sales, the mainstream is looking for simple products that do one thing well. This is because MOST people approach a product under circumstances where they are in need (or in desire) of one service, their first priority is, thusly, going to be looking to do one thing well. Humans are very bad at thinking ahead and grouping their needs together in such a way that they will choose products that serve a variety of functions. Computers are a little different, as their purpose centers around doing many different functions, and though and XBox360 might, technically, be a computer, very very few people think of it as anything else but a device that plays games.
All in all, this is right on the mark of how I would expect it to be. Interestingly, at first I thought the artical said, "the Wii was pegged by the PS3, which sold over twice as many units," and immediately though that it was crazy, then I read some more and realized that all it was was a really badly written sentance. I have a feeling that most of the generation is going to pan out like this, with the 360 and Wii exchanging leads from time to time, and the PS3 pulling in numbers roughly half that of the other two.
The only thing I'm wondering is, if the PS3 continues pulling such terrible figures, people are going to get scared. When the XBox began, and was only inchworming along, people had nothing to be worried about: they had just begun, so noone was expecting them to do anything BUT slowly pull itself into the market. Now with the PS2s success, many people are going to be so shocked that the PS3 is doing so poorly, that some may start calling the death of the Playstation line. Prematurely called, or not, if enough people start looking at it that way, then it WILL happen; after all, noone wants to throw $600 on a system that may simply be riding the downfall of one company's industry dominance.p>
Some wild McLaughlin Group-style predictions:
Sony pulls the plug on the PS2 in second quarter '07 in attempts to boost PS3 sales.
Square jumps ship sometime fourth quarter '07 or first quarter '08.
NO, $3000 is VERY low. Sony GL2s cost about $2000, and they're basically crap. One thing that is basically a neccessity if you're going to look semi professional, is WEIGHT, because ligheter cameras are just going to jiggle like crazy every time you do a simple pan on a tripod, or even just standuing still. I work as a videographer and producer in a very small local network station (50 odd so employees, one of the smallest NBC affiliates in the country). We use JVCs that cost in the neighborhood of $7000-$9000, and they START to look semi-professional, but even then, they leave much to be desired. Add to that a $500+ harddrive unit, and $100+ batteries, a $300 tripod, and you're getting somewhere. $3000 is good for home movies, but I wouldn't want to broadcast that the public.
Audio, on the other hand (my degree is in audio design, actually), is pretty cheap to get good. For one thing, even most stations either don't have the time or the knowhow to do really high-quality audio, and most of it has to be done on the fly. If you do pre-recorded sound, with a little effort in EQing and proper compression, you can make an SM58 ($100) sound not too far off from a professional live radio broadcast. We're a lot more accustomed to low-quality audio than video (unless you watch a lot of pr0n). And "professional" mics don't start a $3000, like someone said... many mics used in studio recordings start at just over $250. The Shure SM7 is one of the most widely used broadcast mics, and we're talking $350. B&H has a package deal that coems with a gooseneck mic boom, pop filter, and XLR cable for $500, and you're SET.
Actually, you have a point there. BTW: that post was not meant as to be a global warming appologist, but the fact is that things aren't just going to get warmer (for some parts), they're really gonna change. I live up in Alaska, and yes, things are getting warmer (noticably), but they're also getting more extreme at both ends, as well. The only problem about calling it "Climate Change" is that it sounds like something that's simply a natural course... which it clearly isn't.
Don't mean to sound like a troll, but I think the PC games market, as a whole, is looking pretty grim, as consoles are (once again, the way they were in the 80s), taking the gaming community back by storm. Obviously, Computer games will never completely dissappear, but with development costs and support for consoles falling, the rise of the handheld market, and the skyrocketting adoption rates of consoles, not to mention console hardware matching (if not surrpassing) PC hardware, for the first time in it's existance, you're going to see more and more companies at least making consoles their first priority. I don't know if this will immediately effect the Mac game lineup, though.
I've always wondered this, though, it makes sense, in my mind, that one of the reasons that the Mac doesn't have a lot of games (besides the obvious), is possibly because of a larger percentage of Mac users being in the console camp. I have no data to back this up, and I wonder if anyone else did. There are a lot of similarities between the design philosophies of Nintendo and Apple, for instance, and in a way, the Mac is sort of like the console of the computer world (plug'n play, all-in-one units, an emphasis on more efficient interfaces). Does anyone have any statistics, or an analysis of the types of people who use Macs, and whether they're more likely to be console gamers? I know I am, and I know quite a few people that I know are, but what about the world at large?
Lol, Homebrew game are a SYMPTOM (or sign, as you said), of failour, not a cause, as Sony seems to think. Do they really think that chopping off the homebrew market is going to save them? People aren't buying PSPs because there's many homebrew games on them, they're not buying them because they don't have very many good games (well... now they're getting a few, but it's a little late). Their whole emphasis on the hardware is totally misguided. I thought the PS3s hardware emphasis was misguided, but at least with a TV console, there's always the fascination of sitting around tinkering with it (I find myself tinkering with the online side of my Wii). Portables, on the other hand, have always been about playing for a few minutes while waiting in line at the DVM, or with Tokyo and New York, playing on the subway. Sony should throw all their weight behind making it a quick and friendly portable to pick up, it's the only way they'll have a chance against the varitable monolyth of a system that is the DS.
FF6 will not have a new translation. Four and Five did, because their original translations were shoddy. FF6, on the other hand, has one of the best translations in the series. From what I've heard, they're changing very little. I would have been MUCH happier had they used FF6 to make the 3D cross over, instead of FF3, as FF6 felt like the creators were actually THINKING in 3D, but having to use 2D hardware. FF6 is the first modern jRPG, IMO, but one of the few (along with Chrono Trigger and the Lunar games) that are completely 2D, and deserve another chance to shine.
Folks, this might sound knitpicky, but these are telltale symptoms of a much more serious disease: IDL - "Interface Design Laziness." This is a devistating disease in which interface designers begin to feel drowsy, show signs of boredom and depression, and eventually stop doing their jobs altogether. These symptoms are sometimes also accompanied by the occational desire to throw pieces of office furnature at fellow employees... chairs in particular. It is extremely contageous, and is often found in colder climates with high percipratation, particularly in the northern pactic coastal region. IDL is extremely difficult to cure; individuals suffering from this disease will often resort to hiding it from the public by means of adding needless features, as a way of drawing attention away from themselves.
If you or someone you love is suffering from IDL, please seek help immediately, and consult your nearest Apple design psychologist.
Woa... no FCC? Never gave it much thought, but that's a DAMN GOOD IDEA!!! I'm serious. The FCC has caused pretty much nothing but trouble. The only thing they've ever done, that I can think of, that I agreed with was insuring closed captioning for the hearing impared, everything else is just censorship and incredibly biased airwave regulation.
Just last week, when it was announced that ClearChannel communications had finalized its privatization, my station was legally required by the FCC to run a FOUR MINUTE bulletin, that stated all the names of individual new buyers (there were about 200 of them), directly after the local evening news, for 5 nights in a row. It was a black screen with a white text scroll, 4 minutes of air time at that time costs my station something like $2000 (so $10,000 total), and I'm in one of the smallest markets in the country! I asked whether this was a ClearChannel regulation, and our traffic guy told me that it was FCC regulation, and that if we missed ONE spot, we would lose our license. Not a single fucking person actually listened to this immensely long list of names. They went as far as requiring what font and size text we were to use, and white text on black video. Maybe the FCC has done a few good things over the years, but this tells me that they've gone WAY too far.
I consider myself a pretty left-wing liberal, but I'm definitely willing to negotiate over the needless ineffiency in certain government programs, and the FCC is a damn good place to start (well, first let's start with the military, but the FCC is a close second).
As for the FDA, I dunno if I agree... after all, they're pretty intertwined with the NIH, wouldn't you say? I could see an arguement for downsizing it, but doing away with it completely would probably be disasterous.
Slashdot Mirror
That would have been Battle Arena Toshindin, and MY GOD was that an awesome sight! Not only was it the first 3D fighting game that wasn't just glorified wire-frame, (Virtua Fighter), but I remember that it had different outfits for different characters, depending upon the color you chose, which was pretty nifty. I've never been much of a fighting game fan, but that game just made my jaw drop. I was in Middle School at the time; I went over and played it at my lesbian friend's house, and both of us were smirking at how hot the chicks were. That was the first time I ever thought a video game character could be sexy.
Last-gen, my ass. I was at a GameStop and they had Excite Truck on the Wii, and some Excite Truck rippoff on the PS3... I swear the graphics were virtually identical.
Now I own Excite Truck, I've never had so much fun playing a racing game! I can't wait until they release a Mario Kart for the Wii. I was so worried that the Wiimote was going to be a novelty, but after playing Twilight Princess for 75 hours and Excite Truck for another 20 or so, I'm completely sold on it.
Oh, and seriously... I haven't seen ANY games, on any systems, yet, that felt "net gen", even Gears Of War, while being an amazing game—compare 007 (N64) to Halo (XBox), THAT'S a generation leap—Halo to Gears of War is NOT. And I think that's a fair comparison to make. Generations traditionally alternate between "innovation" (NES and Playstation/N64/Saturn) and "perfection" (SNES/Genesis and GameCube/PS2/XBox), we just had a generation of perfectionism, it's time for innovation, and from everything I'm seeing, it would be silly to put any money on anyone BUT Nintendo for that, right now.
Yeah... since Nintendo seems so distracted by the VC that they can't do anything good anymore.
Oh wait, they just released Zelda: Twilight Princess... scratch that.
Wii/GameCube yes... PS2, no way... I bought the Sonic Collection for PS2 (because it included a bunch of GameGear games), and boy was I dissapointed, all the emulations were screwed up, sound was slow and out of sync, and I remember the GameCube version being completely flawless. I don't know about the Midway collection, but I've heard about other PS2 classic collections having problems, before.
Eh, Japan has Link to the Past and Mario Kart 64, and maybe one or two other games. Now, both of those I would download in a HEARTBEAT, and I'm kinda upset that they still haven't released them here (there were many rumors of MK64 being released today, but obviously, that didn't happen). But aside from those, we've got pretty much the same lineup.
I'm wondering that it has something to do with the fact that the GameCube was much bigger over there, so more people have the controllers to play SNES and N64 games. Releasing SNES and N64 games will sell a LOT of VCCs over here in the US, since adoption of the Wii by people who didn't have GameCubes is a lot bigger. VCCs are in incredibly short supply right now, so selling huge N64 and SNES titles would not sell ANY VCCs, and many fewer people would be able to play them. I was lucky in that I got a VCC at launch, and I also had a GameCube, so I have 4 Wavebirds sitting around... so I'm hungry for SNES and N64 games... but I guess I'll have to wait for another month or two, until VCCs start sitting on shelves.
Not to mention ESRB ratings... which costs time and money.
Probably all three... why not? Many Mario afficianados would gladly buy all versions of SMB3. No reason to only release one. However... I don't see any plans to bring GBA games to the VC (although I'm sure it and GB/GBC are probably already built into the emulator), so it'll probably be some time (if ever) before we see Super Mario Bros. Advanced 4 (SMB3 for GBA) on the VC. I do wonder whether they'll asshole us and split up Super Mario Allstars into 4 different games. SMB3 is virtually an SNES game in style and gameplay, and the SMA version makes the game almost identical (from the standpoint of era) to Super Mario World, which they will probably eventually sell for $8. So, why not simply sell them individually? Maybe it's not worth it, for the bad press they'll get (VC isn't a billion dollar industry, afterall).
Currently, they're keeping it all REALLY simple. You're not seeing any additional features, any game changes/updates in the slightest. I bet that down the line, we'll see online multiplayer... multitap emulation (Secret of Mana... wooohooo!), not to mention, they've not said, either way, whether or not they'll be releasing Japanese-only games over here, which would be VERY nice.
I agree with what you're saying, especially about RPGs. I'm dieing for them to finally release some epic games. Although, there's a good business reason for them NOT to release them, which is that RPGs are usually a full-time deal, once you start playing them, you're more often then not, not going to touch other games for a good 30 hours (in the case of many SNES RPGs, that is)... and that possibly means Wii games. So, currently they're more inclined to release short, arcade-style games that won't interfere with sales of new Wii games. If they were to release, say Chrono Trigger or FF6 (the latter of which you won't see for a VERY long time, due to it's comming release on the GBA), they would likely see a fairly steep decline in sales of Wii games. I hope I'm wrong about this, as I'm a huge RPG gamer.
As for a 6th console, I'd put my money on the Saturn, since it's only about half the power of an N64, and Sega seems more than happy to have their name on the VC. C64 is a bit too obscure, me thinks. My question is, is the Wii powerful enough to emulate a DreamCast? I'd LOVE to finally be able to replay a version of Grandia II that doesn't SUCK (ie: PS2 and PC versions). Also, why not original GameBoy/GBC? The GBAs life is almost over, and original GB games aren't compatable with the DS or GBA Micro, so it's not as if they're going to cut into sales at all. MAYBE they're planning on releasing a GameBoy player for the Wii, but even if that were the case, I'd highly doubt they would see any sales due to GB/GBC games.
A few other things: all those consoles may have over 1000 games, but how many of them are good enough to sell? MOST video games are shelf warmers; think about how many GOD AWEFUL classic NES games there were. If you take only the games that are at least somewhat marketable, you're going to get a lot less. However, I think their ratio of top games is still annoyingly low. Do they really expect that the VC will still be a big thing in 3 years? Maybe... but if they don't release more games than they are now, people aren't going to be able to pay attention for 3 years. I don't think they should be trying to make money off of VC games, it's mostly just an incentive to buy Wiis. If, a year down the line, they have a library of, virtually, every known game on those 5 consoles, people are going to be buying Wiis simply for that... right now, VC isn't going to generate a lot of sales, because people don't really know what the future holds for it... not that Nintendo needs ANY more sales, right now. Maybe that's the thing, they're going to hold back VC games until they actually have Wiis to be sold.
Well, it still will cut into GBA cart sales. Many people are getting the classic games on the GBA/DS because they can't get them on any other (legal) platform.
Remember, the DS isn't just a portable platform, anymore, it fills a bit of the roll for a full-sized console as well (especially since it can do things that other full sized consoles can't). Quite a few people are getting DSs as their MAIN platform, which means that it WILL compete with the Wii in some cases... this is one of them.
It is ironic that the only N64 game they've released is Mairo64, of which was also released on the DS. I would have thought something like MarioKart64 or Ocarina, something that hasn't been released on a handheld recently, would be the best choice. Although, MarioKart DS is virtually a port of MarioKart64 with new tracks, and there is already a working Wii compatable version of Ocarina (GameCube version), so neither of those are probably the best choices either. Still, Mario 64 was a very strange choice.
Fred Meyer??? Where you at, man? I'm in Fairbanks. I thought Freddy's was limited to Alaska; or is it all of the Pacific Northwest?
Anyway, I picked mine up here at launch: there were 100 hundred at the store I was at, and 90 at the other one. It was 25 below that day and they reopenned at midnight. I got there about 10:40, and thankfully, they openned the doors and let us in the entry at a little after 11pm. I grabbed a VCC and Twilight Princess, and then a second Wiimote about 5 days later... but no Wii stuff seems to last more than 12 hours on the shelves. I hear they got a shipment of 30 Wiis the other day and they sold out in a matter of a few hours. I've never even seen a nunchuck, VCC, or Wiimote since. It's like launch, but every single day!
I'd heard about how PS3s are being found on shelves in many stores, and I thought that this phenominon was isolated to the lower 48, but I was wrong. The same Freddy's where 30 Wiis are being snatched up in a matter of hours has had about 3 PS3s sitting on the shelf for over 4 days (according to the sales reps).
EVERYONE knows how a pulsar get's spun...
Fox News!
I'm not going to switch, but Premiere Pro is not bad at all. I'm a professional video editor, and we're outfitted with Premiere Pro at work, since a group engineers (ie: Mac haters) buy all the equipment for the station I work at, but I run Final Cut at home, and have a lot of experience on both. Bottom line is, there's little question that Final Cut is the better video editor, but Premiere still has some large advantages, namely:
It marries Photoshop and After Effects PERFECTLY, which is a big deal if you're doing a lot of graphics intensive stuff, like commercial spot editing (which is what I do). FCP has some annoyences when it comes to Photoshop rendering, specifically with blending properties.
There are some definite advantages to the Premiere interface: the timeline zoom bars are MUCH MUCH better in Premiere (strangely, the ones on After Effects are identical to the ones in FCP, which is obnoxious), and they appear in all editting windows, including the canvas and effects window. When working with 20min+ video in the canvas, trying to pick out a few frames here and there in FCP is just excrushiating. Maybe it's personal preference, but the idea that adjusting the zoom bar simply centers the window around the play head just seems natural to me.
That said, FCPs filters are noticibly superior, and there are quite a few interface advantages to FCP (the fact that I can edit with FCP on my laptop about as fast as I can edit with Premiere on a standard 2-screen setup is really saying something). That said and done, I think its fair to say that both are very decent video editors, are at least in the ballpark as far as quality is concerned. If I were to buy a new one from scratch, I'd likely take FCP over Premiere, but the difference is a lot less than most people make it out to be.
I consider Apple and Adobe to be the two best interface design companies for software (add Nintendo if you're counting non-professional software). In this case, i'd say Adobe has an every so slight edge on intuitive interface design, while Apple has a slight lead on filter quality... both are very important in video editing, so take your pick.
Hey, us elitist may be a pain in the ass... but at least we're better than you! ;)
Bollucks. I realized, by the time you got to "free Linux PC", that there was little basis in reality for the prediction you've made. That is even less a defining feature than the Zune's "Squirt", and we all know how that product is panning out. I commend you for your support of Linux, but we're talking about a very small proportion, OF THE TECH COMMUNITY let alone the mainstream, that has any interest in turning their game console into a PC. For one thing, most console gamers buy consoles to GET AWAY FROM PCs, for one reason or another.
Secondly: consoles, a format war outcome, make, they do not. The gaming demographic is growing, indeed, but it pales in comparison to the movie-watching demographic, which is a large majority of people in this country, and many countries around the world. Even among most gamers, there is a belief that consoles serve as a "backup" or second rate media player. College students, yes, everyone else, no.
We're seeing a trend in hardware sales, the mainstream is looking for simple products that do one thing well. This is because MOST people approach a product under circumstances where they are in need (or in desire) of one service, their first priority is, thusly, going to be looking to do one thing well. Humans are very bad at thinking ahead and grouping their needs together in such a way that they will choose products that serve a variety of functions. Computers are a little different, as their purpose centers around doing many different functions, and though and XBox360 might, technically, be a computer, very very few people think of it as anything else but a device that plays games.
All in all, this is right on the mark of how I would expect it to be. Interestingly, at first I thought the artical said, "the Wii was pegged by the PS3, which sold over twice as many units," and immediately though that it was crazy, then I read some more and realized that all it was was a really badly written sentance. I have a feeling that most of the generation is going to pan out like this, with the 360 and Wii exchanging leads from time to time, and the PS3 pulling in numbers roughly half that of the other two.
The only thing I'm wondering is, if the PS3 continues pulling such terrible figures, people are going to get scared. When the XBox began, and was only inchworming along, people had nothing to be worried about: they had just begun, so noone was expecting them to do anything BUT slowly pull itself into the market. Now with the PS2s success, many people are going to be so shocked that the PS3 is doing so poorly, that some may start calling the death of the Playstation line. Prematurely called, or not, if enough people start looking at it that way, then it WILL happen; after all, noone wants to throw $600 on a system that may simply be riding the downfall of one company's industry dominance.p>
Some wild McLaughlin Group-style predictions:
NO, $3000 is VERY low. Sony GL2s cost about $2000, and they're basically crap. One thing that is basically a neccessity if you're going to look semi professional, is WEIGHT, because ligheter cameras are just going to jiggle like crazy every time you do a simple pan on a tripod, or even just standuing still. I work as a videographer and producer in a very small local network station (50 odd so employees, one of the smallest NBC affiliates in the country). We use JVCs that cost in the neighborhood of $7000-$9000, and they START to look semi-professional, but even then, they leave much to be desired. Add to that a $500+ harddrive unit, and $100+ batteries, a $300 tripod, and you're getting somewhere. $3000 is good for home movies, but I wouldn't want to broadcast that the public.
Audio, on the other hand (my degree is in audio design, actually), is pretty cheap to get good. For one thing, even most stations either don't have the time or the knowhow to do really high-quality audio, and most of it has to be done on the fly. If you do pre-recorded sound, with a little effort in EQing and proper compression, you can make an SM58 ($100) sound not too far off from a professional live radio broadcast. We're a lot more accustomed to low-quality audio than video (unless you watch a lot of pr0n). And "professional" mics don't start a $3000, like someone said... many mics used in studio recordings start at just over $250. The Shure SM7 is one of the most widely used broadcast mics, and we're talking $350. B&H has a package deal that coems with a gooseneck mic boom, pop filter, and XLR cable for $500, and you're SET.
Actually, you have a point there. BTW: that post was not meant as to be a global warming appologist, but the fact is that things aren't just going to get warmer (for some parts), they're really gonna change. I live up in Alaska, and yes, things are getting warmer (noticably), but they're also getting more extreme at both ends, as well. The only problem about calling it "Climate Change" is that it sounds like something that's simply a natural course... which it clearly isn't.
Don't mean to sound like a troll, but I think the PC games market, as a whole, is looking pretty grim, as consoles are (once again, the way they were in the 80s), taking the gaming community back by storm. Obviously, Computer games will never completely dissappear, but with development costs and support for consoles falling, the rise of the handheld market, and the skyrocketting adoption rates of consoles, not to mention console hardware matching (if not surrpassing) PC hardware, for the first time in it's existance, you're going to see more and more companies at least making consoles their first priority. I don't know if this will immediately effect the Mac game lineup, though.
I've always wondered this, though, it makes sense, in my mind, that one of the reasons that the Mac doesn't have a lot of games (besides the obvious), is possibly because of a larger percentage of Mac users being in the console camp. I have no data to back this up, and I wonder if anyone else did. There are a lot of similarities between the design philosophies of Nintendo and Apple, for instance, and in a way, the Mac is sort of like the console of the computer world (plug'n play, all-in-one units, an emphasis on more efficient interfaces). Does anyone have any statistics, or an analysis of the types of people who use Macs, and whether they're more likely to be console gamers? I know I am, and I know quite a few people that I know are, but what about the world at large?
Lol, Homebrew game are a SYMPTOM (or sign, as you said), of failour, not a cause, as Sony seems to think. Do they really think that chopping off the homebrew market is going to save them? People aren't buying PSPs because there's many homebrew games on them, they're not buying them because they don't have very many good games (well... now they're getting a few, but it's a little late). Their whole emphasis on the hardware is totally misguided. I thought the PS3s hardware emphasis was misguided, but at least with a TV console, there's always the fascination of sitting around tinkering with it (I find myself tinkering with the online side of my Wii). Portables, on the other hand, have always been about playing for a few minutes while waiting in line at the DVM, or with Tokyo and New York, playing on the subway. Sony should throw all their weight behind making it a quick and friendly portable to pick up, it's the only way they'll have a chance against the varitable monolyth of a system that is the DS.
FF6 will not have a new translation. Four and Five did, because their original translations were shoddy. FF6, on the other hand, has one of the best translations in the series. From what I've heard, they're changing very little. I would have been MUCH happier had they used FF6 to make the 3D cross over, instead of FF3, as FF6 felt like the creators were actually THINKING in 3D, but having to use 2D hardware. FF6 is the first modern jRPG, IMO, but one of the few (along with Chrono Trigger and the Lunar games) that are completely 2D, and deserve another chance to shine.
No way man, there must be another reason.
very interesting little read there, thank you. I'll have to look up more on him later.
ie:
"In the land where stupidity is God, the wise man will be beat to death by large club-wielding meatheads."
Folks, this might sound knitpicky, but these are telltale symptoms of a much more serious disease: IDL - "Interface Design Laziness." This is a devistating disease in which interface designers begin to feel drowsy, show signs of boredom and depression, and eventually stop doing their jobs altogether. These symptoms are sometimes also accompanied by the occational desire to throw pieces of office furnature at fellow employees... chairs in particular. It is extremely contageous, and is often found in colder climates with high percipratation, particularly in the northern pactic coastal region. IDL is extremely difficult to cure; individuals suffering from this disease will often resort to hiding it from the public by means of adding needless features, as a way of drawing attention away from themselves.
If you or someone you love is suffering from IDL, please seek help immediately, and consult your nearest Apple design psychologist.
Woa... no FCC? Never gave it much thought, but that's a DAMN GOOD IDEA!!! I'm serious. The FCC has caused pretty much nothing but trouble. The only thing they've ever done, that I can think of, that I agreed with was insuring closed captioning for the hearing impared, everything else is just censorship and incredibly biased airwave regulation.
Just last week, when it was announced that ClearChannel communications had finalized its privatization, my station was legally required by the FCC to run a FOUR MINUTE bulletin, that stated all the names of individual new buyers (there were about 200 of them), directly after the local evening news, for 5 nights in a row. It was a black screen with a white text scroll, 4 minutes of air time at that time costs my station something like $2000 (so $10,000 total), and I'm in one of the smallest markets in the country! I asked whether this was a ClearChannel regulation, and our traffic guy told me that it was FCC regulation, and that if we missed ONE spot, we would lose our license. Not a single fucking person actually listened to this immensely long list of names. They went as far as requiring what font and size text we were to use, and white text on black video. Maybe the FCC has done a few good things over the years, but this tells me that they've gone WAY too far.
I consider myself a pretty left-wing liberal, but I'm definitely willing to negotiate over the needless ineffiency in certain government programs, and the FCC is a damn good place to start (well, first let's start with the military, but the FCC is a close second).
As for the FDA, I dunno if I agree... after all, they're pretty intertwined with the NIH, wouldn't you say? I could see an arguement for downsizing it, but doing away with it completely would probably be disasterous.