I wouldn't imagine they'd dare say it publicly but I suspect there may have been some pressure from the other domestic manufacturers (or possibly even from government) to create a price point that is more compatible with the rest of the market.
I'm especially suspicious as this sounds particularly like marketing 'fluff' to justify a price point as opposed to a real reason (I used to work in the marketing team for a large US software company so do have a little experience of similar 'fluffy' statements).
It's been known for a long time that Nintendo were being very innovative with this generation of console and consequently were going to win or lose in a really big way, the success with the DS must have been a big comfort to what at that time was probably a very worried leadership team.
I think also that most people around here expected Xbox 2.0 (the 360) to be a major upgrade in terms of the Microsoft machine's performance so once it emerged that they'd be launching first (by some distance), we expected them to do reasonably well. They've done even better than that, making full use of their head start and of their online service.
History has often shown us that M$ start off weak in a sector, taking a few years participation to reach a stage of healthy competition before moving up a gear and establishing a dominant position, the console industry with its extended release cycles and incremental improvements throughout the cycle allows this pattern to be accelerated over 2-3 generations instead of over 5-8 in the traditional software world. - if Nintendo drop the ball with establishing 3rd party support for the WII or if M$ release peripherals with the same sort of capability as the WII (creating an HD Xbox 360 with WII capability) then the lead might perhaps change hands still in this generation, if not then I'd lay money on them winning the next one (with or without Japan).
If things stay pretty much as they are (which is by no means guaranteed) then I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with 3rd party support for the WII once it hits 20 million units as I figure at that point developers will have a big enough target market to start to get really brave with their concepts.
I would guess that it'll reach this milestone within 18 months, with the Xbox then being around 5 million units behind and the PS3 languishing behind with no more than 5-6 million units.
At this point the PS3 is effectively dead unless Sony rip out the core and start embedding it in their next generation high end TV units.
I have to say that I'm a bit annoyed at reading some of the comments on this thread, written by people who seem to think that people can do what they want and if its unsuitable for kids then its the parents obligation to screen everything to make sure it doesn't reach them.
This type of selfish mentality probably goes some way to explain why we have so many dis-illusioned kids out there today with no career prospects, doing drugs, drinking, mugging passers by and just generally wasting space (I live and work in Central London and I see this every day).
We need to reach a point where the younger generations are collectively seen by society as something that needed protecting, as a parent I'm very glad that other parents were considerate enough to have an ad pulled that my children may have watched (without my knowledge) and copied, I'm curious as to why parents were the only once who cared enough to do this.
Television advertisers are in control of the worlds most influential medium, they must therefore be responsible in their programming, especially when it is likely to be viewed by the younger generations.
But ultimately, its not just up to them, we all (read - the entire human race) have a duty of care to the next generation and if theres something that might cause kids harm then its up to any and all of us to think about it and try to protect them from it.
I have a problem with local youths setting fires and breaking into the flats where I live, they hang around on street corners smoking joints and generally being intimidating to all who want to pass peacefully by, the shoplift from the local convenience stores and are abusive to the storekeepers.
Meanwhile the local high street and restaurants/petrol stations are plagued by organised crime backed oriential guys with rucksacks full of cheap/bootleg DVDs.
I would like to live a normal, law abiding life with my wife & kids and would like to do it peacefully and without these abusive influences.
Law enforcement have openly admitted that they are inept without primary evidence, this isn't available as there is critically no CCTV coverage of the areas involved.
The area we're talking about isn't run down or deprived, its the relatively affluent Central Hammersmith, London W6, a stones throw away from Notting Hill and Holland Park and where a 3 bedroom semi will cost you upwards of £600k.
Personally, I don't care if there are a thousand cameras covering the street where I walk if it means a safer environment for myself and my family, as at the moment the only other solution is to find a new place to live.
finding a reliable subcontractor would be a low risk way of getting out of this spot, its tricky finding the 'reliable' but if you can make the right sort of partnership then it will allow you to scale up your operation whilst mitigating the risk associated with direct employment
Hey there, this is lightfingered Lenny, your freidnly neighbourhood housebreaker, I used to have to case my joints pretty thoroughly but soon all I'll have to do is walk down the street with an aggressive RF scanner and I'll be able to see which houses have expensive consumer electronics gear in them.
Because my reader is so adaptable, I'm also going to branch out into ID theft with my mate Frankie the Forger.
Its a good job that people don't think too hard about security before implementing things like RF devices, otherwise I'd have to go back to working hard for my crooked living.
It would be great if you could share with any 360 user who has downloaded the framework, would still be great as a value add even if it was just limited to all users with an active Xbox live subscription
Unfortunately the way they are placing this makes it sound like a nice way for M$ to develop content on the cheap for a new subscription service - an extra $99 per year to get access to content that is developed for them for free by enthusiasts does not sound like an initiative that that is giving to the community (sounds more like exploitation).
Slashdot Mirror
I didhn't think fallacio was allowed on this site ?
a lot of parents aren't technology literate enough to understand/implement controls if they are optional.
More companies should be like Nintendo and take a responsible line towards online participation.
as I guess thats where most of the US 'victims' bought them from.
Bring back Jet-Pac !
your post almost redefines the term informative, thankyou.
I wouldn't imagine they'd dare say it publicly but I suspect there may have been some pressure from the other domestic manufacturers (or possibly even from government) to create a price point that is more compatible with the rest of the market.
I'm especially suspicious as this sounds particularly like marketing 'fluff' to justify a price point as opposed to a real reason (I used to work in the marketing team for a large US software company so do have a little experience of similar 'fluffy' statements).
It's been known for a long time that Nintendo were being very innovative with this generation of console and consequently were going to win or lose in a really big way, the success with the DS must have been a big comfort to what at that time was probably a very worried leadership team.
I think also that most people around here expected Xbox 2.0 (the 360) to be a major upgrade in terms of the Microsoft machine's performance so once it emerged that they'd be launching first (by some distance), we expected them to do reasonably well. They've done even better than that, making full use of their head start and of their online service.
History has often shown us that M$ start off weak in a sector, taking a few years participation to reach a stage of healthy competition before moving up a gear and establishing a dominant position, the console industry with its extended release cycles and incremental improvements throughout the cycle allows this pattern to be accelerated over 2-3 generations instead of over 5-8 in the traditional software world. - if Nintendo drop the ball with establishing 3rd party support for the WII or if M$ release peripherals with the same sort of capability as the WII (creating an HD Xbox 360 with WII capability) then the lead might perhaps change hands still in this generation, if not then I'd lay money on them winning the next one (with or without Japan).
If things stay pretty much as they are (which is by no means guaranteed) then I'm really looking forward to seeing what happens with 3rd party support for the WII once it hits 20 million units as I figure at that point developers will have a big enough target market to start to get really brave with their concepts.
I would guess that it'll reach this milestone within 18 months, with the Xbox then being around 5 million units behind and the PS3 languishing behind with no more than 5-6 million units.
At this point the PS3 is effectively dead unless Sony rip out the core and start embedding it in their next generation high end TV units.
According to the Catalyst Games Website they are looking to acquire the Battletech rights from Wizkids http://www.catalystgamelabs.com/
The only way they'll make 100 million sales of the PS3 is if they give it away....
I have to say that I'm a bit annoyed at reading some of the comments on this thread, written by people who seem to think that people can do what they want and if its unsuitable for kids then its the parents obligation to screen everything to make sure it doesn't reach them.
This type of selfish mentality probably goes some way to explain why we have so many dis-illusioned kids out there today with no career prospects, doing drugs, drinking, mugging
passers by and just generally wasting space (I live and work in Central London and I see this every day).
We need to reach a point where the younger generations are collectively seen by society as something that needed protecting, as a parent I'm very glad that other parents were considerate enough to have an ad pulled that my children may have watched (without my knowledge) and copied, I'm curious as to why parents were the only once who cared enough to do this.
Television advertisers are in control of the worlds most influential medium, they must therefore be responsible in their programming, especially when it is likely to be viewed by the younger generations.
But ultimately, its not just up to them, we all (read - the entire human race) have a duty of care to the next generation and if theres something that might cause kids harm then its up to any and all of us to think about it and try to protect them from it.
s'ok, I'll just IDMYPOS before choosing an appropriate ground to IDCHOPPERS my way out of there
I'd love to know their basis for such a statement,
I'm personally expecting the Wii to outsell the PS3 by 5:1 over the next three years, most people on here would probably think the same.
I had a bad feeling about this one when I saw that Amazon had discounted the RRP by 48%
given that the nature of the boot sequence hasn't changed in the last 20 years of PC usage ?
also, I distinctly remember this being discussed in 1998 so its a dupe
full screen, touchscreen ipod + wireless + mobile application environment + GSM/GPRS/3G card slot + Microphone = ipod/PDA/phone = 7G ipod ?
ooh, thats Bad !
I thought upgrading office was more about continuing to receive support.
No enterprise can allow itself to be running an out of support Microsoft product on its desktops or its servers.
I have a problem with local youths setting fires and breaking into the flats where I live, they hang around on street corners smoking joints and generally being intimidating to all who want to pass peacefully by, the shoplift from the local convenience stores and are abusive to the storekeepers.
Meanwhile the local high street and restaurants/petrol stations are plagued by organised crime backed oriential guys with rucksacks full of cheap/bootleg DVDs.
I would like to live a normal, law abiding life with my wife & kids and would like to do it peacefully and without these abusive influences.
Law enforcement have openly admitted that they are inept without primary evidence, this isn't available as there is critically no CCTV coverage of the areas involved.
The area we're talking about isn't run down or deprived, its the relatively affluent Central Hammersmith, London W6, a stones throw away from Notting Hill and Holland Park and where a 3 bedroom semi will cost you upwards of £600k.
Personally, I don't care if there are a thousand cameras covering the street where I walk if it means a safer environment for myself and my family, as at the moment the only other solution is to find a new place to live.
finding a reliable subcontractor would be a low risk way of getting out of this spot, its tricky finding the 'reliable' but if you can make the right sort of partnership then it will allow you to scale up your operation whilst mitigating the risk associated with direct employment
I don't really want four pens, why can't I just carry one ?
Hey there, this is lightfingered Lenny, your freidnly neighbourhood housebreaker, I used to have to case my joints pretty thoroughly but soon all I'll have to do is walk down the street with an aggressive RF scanner and I'll be able to see which houses have expensive consumer electronics gear in them.
Because my reader is so adaptable, I'm also going to branch out into ID theft with my mate Frankie the Forger.
Its a good job that people don't think too hard about security before implementing things like RF devices, otherwise I'd have to go back to working hard for my crooked living.
It would be great if you could share with any 360 user who has downloaded the framework, would still be great as a value add even if it was just limited to all users with an active Xbox live subscription
Unfortunately the way they are placing this makes it sound like a nice way for M$ to develop content on the cheap for a new subscription service - an extra $99 per year to get access to content that is developed for them for free by enthusiasts does not sound like an initiative that that is giving to the community (sounds more like exploitation).
More chicanery from Redmond...
Is it just me or are Nintendo the only one of the big three to be generating any excitement with their launch messaging ?
(oops, nearly wrote excrement, then realised I wasn't writing about M$ or $ony)
the British also had fighter jet prototypes flying in 1943 (the meteor prototype airframe still survives at the RAF Museum in Cosford).