Judging from the number of times my friends have had to replace their PS2 (usually from a failed DVD drive), I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the PS2 sales are to replace consoles. The PS2 is by far the most prone to breaking in its current generation, and it is probably only now that people may hold off on replacing their broken PS2 in anticipation for picking up a PS3 in November. Heck, at the $130 price point, I imagine that a number of PS2 owners will still bite the bullet and by a new PS2, even with the PS3 on the horizon.
One issue that makes me even more leary of the PS3 is their history of console quality. Sony has a reputation of taking a bunch of powerful components and putting them in a way that can break very easily. I know a lot of people with PS2s, and most are on their second or even third machine. It might not seem so bad when you can pick a new one up for $150, but having to replace a $600 machine after a year or two will hurt. Even if it drops to $500 for the non-gimped version, spending $1100 without even factoring in games is not something I want to have to do.
Meanwhile, I still have my original NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, and grey block gameboy (which survived being outside through a Michigan winter). Spending $200-$250 once for the next 10 years doesn't sound so bad.
Maybe it is time for a new definition of next-generation that isn't simply based on graphics and processing power. A Prius is less powerful than a ferrari, but I would still say it is a next-generation car due to the hybrid engine. At the time of the Model T, new cars with better engines and more features were important, but the auto industry has hit a point where they needed to innovate rather than just build machines that could race 0 to 60 at a faster speed, because only a small segment of the market really wanted that. Gaming consoles seem to be headed down the same path. What could be more next-gen than a whole new way of approaching games?
Grand Haven, Michigan, has had it's wireless network up for almost 2 years now (July 2004). Granted, it's only about 12,000 people, but I would say it still qualifies as a city.
I played a bit of Rifts back in high school with my friends. Sure, the game mechanics were terrible, but next to A D&D 2nd Ed it didn't seem quite so bad. Once 3rd Ed and the d20 system came out though, my rifts playing days were numbered. While Rifts has perhaps the richest setting I've ever used, it's no good if you have to spend an hour rolling dice and cross referencing charts to kill a single guard. The fact that play balance was out of control (one player could be playing a cyber medic and another a dragon using the base rules) didn't help. A real shame, because they actually did a good job integrating magic and technology. Frankly, I'm amazed that they never put out a new edition to fix the mechanics, as nearly every Rifts forum or review was filled with comments about how the horrible rules dragged down a wonderful setting.
I actually have the N-gage game (at least the demo), and it is definitely one of the best N-gage games out. Like the N-gage itself though, it was too little, too late. The setting is perfect for a video game, and I have no idea why they chose the N-gage as a platform. Two sinking ships going down together I guess. A PC release, especially with a good multiplayer, could have easily pulled them into the black. The dev team was obviously talented, but it was doomed from the start by its platform. Perhaps they'll be able to port it to the GBA or DS and at least make up a little lost profit. They have so much promise, but some bad management decisions are killing them.
As a user interface designer, I've always been interested in the interface needs of different languages. Arabic has always intrigued me because it reads right to left rather than left-to-right as we are used to with languages using the Roman alphabet. I am curious how much software and how many web pages actually make interface changes to the structure of a form or page, such as moving the traditional left side toolbar to the right, rather than just changing text, and what the prevailing attitude in countries using Arabic script is on the issue.
The N-Gage really isn't as bad as people like to believe. I will admit that I was less than impressed when the original came out with its issues of side talking, remove the battery to play games, and generally unappealing games. But Nokia has since fixed many of these problems, though the N-Gage image has never gotten over them.
I bought an N-Gage QD because it was actually better than free ($50 rebate from T-mobile) and had bluetooth. Thanks to Symbian, I have an mp3 player, IM client (which works with T-mobile's $5 internet), and gameboy/NES/SuperNES/Sega emulators. While I don't own any of the first generation games save the crappy Tony Hawk that came with it, I've enjoyed a number of more recent ones. Catan is a great adaptation of the board game, Tiger Woods golf is a fun golf game, and the new Rifts RPG is one of the best RPGs I've played on a mobile platform. If it stays on track, the new Civilization game should be fun as well. Plus I can use a bluetooth headset and browse the web with my laptop, all on a phone that cost me less than nothing. And it works well as a phone too.
I've had a lot of people laugh when I show them my phone, but once they watch me playing some Zelda or Rifts, the tone usually shifts to "Where can I get one?" Unfortunately, Nokia seems to have finally decided to abandon the platform. With the way their PR is going, I can't blame them, but it's sad to watch a phone that has finally matured die due to earlier blunders.
Aparently there aren't enough existing bugs in Win 2k to justify an upgrade to XP. Compared to the NT/Win 95 days, when the next edition was as much a giant patch as an upgrade. Perhaps Microsoft will insert a few more errors in Longhorn to keep the process moving along.
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Judging from the number of times my friends have had to replace their PS2 (usually from a failed DVD drive), I wouldn't be surprised if the majority of the PS2 sales are to replace consoles. The PS2 is by far the most prone to breaking in its current generation, and it is probably only now that people may hold off on replacing their broken PS2 in anticipation for picking up a PS3 in November. Heck, at the $130 price point, I imagine that a number of PS2 owners will still bite the bullet and by a new PS2, even with the PS3 on the horizon.
Meanwhile, I still have my original NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, and grey block gameboy (which survived being outside through a Michigan winter). Spending $200-$250 once for the next 10 years doesn't sound so bad.
Maybe it is time for a new definition of next-generation that isn't simply based on graphics and processing power. A Prius is less powerful than a ferrari, but I would still say it is a next-generation car due to the hybrid engine. At the time of the Model T, new cars with better engines and more features were important, but the auto industry has hit a point where they needed to innovate rather than just build machines that could race 0 to 60 at a faster speed, because only a small segment of the market really wanted that. Gaming consoles seem to be headed down the same path. What could be more next-gen than a whole new way of approaching games?
Grand Haven, Michigan, has had it's wireless network up for almost 2 years now (July 2004). Granted, it's only about 12,000 people, but I would say it still qualifies as a city.
I actually have the N-gage game (at least the demo), and it is definitely one of the best N-gage games out. Like the N-gage itself though, it was too little, too late. The setting is perfect for a video game, and I have no idea why they chose the N-gage as a platform. Two sinking ships going down together I guess. A PC release, especially with a good multiplayer, could have easily pulled them into the black. The dev team was obviously talented, but it was doomed from the start by its platform. Perhaps they'll be able to port it to the GBA or DS and at least make up a little lost profit. They have so much promise, but some bad management decisions are killing them.
As a user interface designer, I've always been interested in the interface needs of different languages. Arabic has always intrigued me because it reads right to left rather than left-to-right as we are used to with languages using the Roman alphabet. I am curious how much software and how many web pages actually make interface changes to the structure of a form or page, such as moving the traditional left side toolbar to the right, rather than just changing text, and what the prevailing attitude in countries using Arabic script is on the issue.
The N-Gage really isn't as bad as people like to believe. I will admit that I was less than impressed when the original came out with its issues of side talking, remove the battery to play games, and generally unappealing games. But Nokia has since fixed many of these problems, though the N-Gage image has never gotten over them. I bought an N-Gage QD because it was actually better than free ($50 rebate from T-mobile) and had bluetooth. Thanks to Symbian, I have an mp3 player, IM client (which works with T-mobile's $5 internet), and gameboy/NES/SuperNES/Sega emulators. While I don't own any of the first generation games save the crappy Tony Hawk that came with it, I've enjoyed a number of more recent ones. Catan is a great adaptation of the board game, Tiger Woods golf is a fun golf game, and the new Rifts RPG is one of the best RPGs I've played on a mobile platform. If it stays on track, the new Civilization game should be fun as well. Plus I can use a bluetooth headset and browse the web with my laptop, all on a phone that cost me less than nothing. And it works well as a phone too. I've had a lot of people laugh when I show them my phone, but once they watch me playing some Zelda or Rifts, the tone usually shifts to "Where can I get one?" Unfortunately, Nokia seems to have finally decided to abandon the platform. With the way their PR is going, I can't blame them, but it's sad to watch a phone that has finally matured die due to earlier blunders.
Aparently there aren't enough existing bugs in Win 2k to justify an upgrade to XP. Compared to the NT/Win 95 days, when the next edition was as much a giant patch as an upgrade. Perhaps Microsoft will insert a few more errors in Longhorn to keep the process moving along.