1) The password has probably been around for awhile with no one guessing it. What exactly was wrong with it? Uppercase/lowercase/numbers, combination of multiple words, it is at least moderately strong.
2) Why the hell are you blaming Fox? You think the entire company sat in a conference room and decided on a security scheme and a password?
3) Why did this deserve front page news? Exploits like this are found on a daily basis, and ones much more humorous/interesting/newsworthy.
Why? 3 major releases coming in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year.
1)Madden. Non exclusive, but will move a few more customers to the "next-gen".
2)GTA4. Microsoft has exclusive content, and they will make sure customers know it prior to release. It will sell many 360s.
3)Halo3. Probably the most popular next-gen exclusive behind Twilight Princess. This will move a ton of xboxs.
The extended warranty is an investment (IMO) to pull in people moving to next-gen this Christmas who may be on the fence. With $300 and $400 versions available, along with good value bundles of Halo, they don't need a price cut.
Starcraft sold a ton of copies, but it is now a moneysink. It is free to play on Battle.Net and not many new copies are being sold. They are continuously losing money from a game created many many years ago.
The $15/month from a MMO cannot be understated. The decision to make a non-MMO game after the success of WoW is very puzzling.
This Canadian legislation gave new powers to the government that did not prior exist.
The PATRIOT ACT (please use it in caps, as it is an acronym) simply applied certain powers the US Government already had to potential terrorists. It did not make sense for us to have more power against drug cartels than terrorist cells, which is the reason why PATRIOT ACT will not be completely voided anytime soon.
Vouchers were given inside Playstation 3 boxes for free Blu-Ray discs. Everyone who bought a PS3 simply for gaming went out and used these vouchers up.
The more interesting comparison would be the number of HDDVD's sold against the number of Blu-Ray discs sold - vouchers used.
You have the option to play any game of your singe-player "franchise" schedule against a real player. He will simply assume the exact team/roster you are playing that week.
Not many people did it, but it worked fairly well since online Madden is almost always 1 on 1. I don't see a decent number of people volunteering to take the place of NPC's.
Console developers could come together and make a hardware/api "standard." Same type of disc, same hardware capability, etc.
Each console would then have its own flavor around it. Microsoft could continue the Xbox LIVE service for game delivery, purchasing/renting movies and music, home theater integration, peer to peer communication, PVR capability, etc. The next gen of consoles will be much broader than just games.
Game developers then could make just 1 game for all consoles that meet the "standard" and would be assured compatibility. More time is spent making the game better rather than making it work on different pieces of hardware. Development costs would plummet.
Console developers could then focus on making the best hardware that meets a standard and gives the customer more functionality. Game developers could focus on the game itself, rather than morphing the game to fit different hardware. Customers can buy 1 disc and play it in a PC, Mac, xbox, playstation, nintendo, etc.
Will it happen? Most likely not, but probably a better chance than companies simply leaving the console market. Games make too much money.
I was defending PATRIOT, not the power itself. I absolutely see your point.
Even though it is not a popular piece of legislation (especially here), I have read through the PATRIOT act and agree with a great majority of it. From a legal perspective it is applying powers that the Government already has to a new type of criminal. In the days following 9/11 it was the right thing to do.
Many of the more abusive powers written into the legislation have been numbed down or even removed.
The power of investigating certain financial records (such as credit reports) without a warrent was around before PATRIOT, most notably for suspected drug dealers.
It would be silly for the government not to exercise that same power against potential terrorists as long as the power was legal.
So don't thank PATRIOT, thank precedent set by the older drug-fighting legislation.
"Dave Marsh, the lead program manager for video at Microsoft, said that if the PC used a digital connection to link with the monitor or television, then it would require the highest level of content protection, known as HDCP, to play the discs. If it did not have such protection, Vista would shut down the signal, he said. "
The next-gen DVD's will work with Vista, but you need to have HDCP compatible hardware if the HD DVD has the HDCP flag.
Plus, AFAIK, there are 0 HD DVD's that have this flag enabled. Rumored it will not be activated on any disc before 2010, if at all.
I'll put $10 down on Microsoft releasing a "media center" edition of the 360, similar to their operating system version of Windows.
It will include a larger hard drive, universal remote, and possibly the HD-DVD player. The 65nm chips could be included also, but it should not have performance implications.
Whatever Microsoft does, they will be very careful not to alienate the 10+ million current 360 owners.
1) How is HDMI raising the bar? The 360 can already do 1080p now without it.
2) Blu-Ray support is equivilent to HD-DVD support. The 360 wins here since you have the option of buying it or not.
3) HD by default is also advantage-360. Many people buy consoles without the need of downloading large amounts of movies/music/demos.
4) PS3 games over Wifi are horrible. There is a noticable lag difference vs ethernet.
5) Dual layer DVD's can hold near 10 gigs. PC games have been outputting at "1080p" like resolutions for years without requiring 10 gigs. If Gears of War can fit on a 10 gig disc, then any game in this generation of consoles can.
Can't all 3 consoles be successful? I know we are in a competitive culture, but you do not need a monopoly to survive. Media is going nuts searching for a victor.
The gaming market is absolutely huge, with over 10 billion+ in sales per year. There is plenty of money to go around, and for the first time 3 legitimate consoles who will all take a good portion.
The compeition of this generation of 360/Wii/PS3 will spark a ton of innovation for the next set of consoles.
This movie has been in the works for easily 10 years. There have been dozens of scripts by multiple writers that have been repetitively rejected.
In order to preserve the original trilogy as one of the best in American film history, only a damn good script would make it past Ford/Lucas/Spielberg.
Personally? I can hardly wait another year and a half for it. A fourth movie is long overdue.
The launch PS3 titles are comparable with the Xbox 360 launch titles, but cannot touch recent releases such as Gears of War/NFSC. How does this game stack up?
Xbox 360 core ($300) + Wii ($250) = the average of the two PS3 options.
You would be a fool to pick the PS3 over the first 2.
360 has the same graphics, a much better game library, and ton better online capability than the PS3. The Wii is that console that changes the way you play games.
Gears of War and Twilight Princess are 2 of the top 5 games I've played since the NES came out. You won't regret the purchase of either console.
Um how about Two and a Half Men, the #1 comedy sitcom on television after Raymond ended? Wish this was around before, had to pirate all the old episodes. Would rather own a legal copy.
WoW doesn't have near the effect on gamers that Evercrack had. WoW is just more mainstream.
WoW is an extremely easy game marketed to the average player. Everquest was much more difficult, and required much more time. You couldn't do anything in that game without devoting 4 straight hours, usually double that if you were in a high-end guild. It puts WoW to shame.
Slashdot Mirror
1) The password has probably been around for awhile with no one guessing it. What exactly was wrong with it? Uppercase/lowercase/numbers, combination of multiple words, it is at least moderately strong.
2) Why the hell are you blaming Fox? You think the entire company sat in a conference room and decided on a security scheme and a password?
3) Why did this deserve front page news? Exploits like this are found on a daily basis, and ones much more humorous/interesting/newsworthy.
Why? 3 major releases coming in the 3rd and 4th quarters this year.
1)Madden. Non exclusive, but will move a few more customers to the "next-gen".
2)GTA4. Microsoft has exclusive content, and they will make sure customers know it prior to release. It will sell many 360s.
3)Halo3. Probably the most popular next-gen exclusive behind Twilight Princess. This will move a ton of xboxs.
The extended warranty is an investment (IMO) to pull in people moving to next-gen this Christmas who may be on the fence. With $300 and $400 versions available, along with good value bundles of Halo, they don't need a price cut.
.. can Blizzard top Wow?
Starcraft sold a ton of copies, but it is now a moneysink. It is free to play on Battle.Net and not many new copies are being sold. They are continuously losing money from a game created many many years ago.
The $15/month from a MMO cannot be understated. The decision to make a non-MMO game after the success of WoW is very puzzling.
... than a Sims Online combined with "Mii" ripoff? I can buy the Sims for probably $20 now, PS3's still cost a small fortune.
This Canadian legislation gave new powers to the government that did not prior exist.
The PATRIOT ACT (please use it in caps, as it is an acronym) simply applied certain powers the US Government already had to potential terrorists. It did not make sense for us to have more power against drug cartels than terrorist cells, which is the reason why PATRIOT ACT will not be completely voided anytime soon.
Release the game with state-of-the-art graphics, a few unique gameplay elements, and quality online/multiplayer elements and you will be a success.
99% of the people purchasing this game will not pay attention to (or care about) the politics.
I would hope, since the game is coming out a full year later, that some improvements would be made.
The real comparison would involve both development cost and quality of the game if they were developing for both platforms simultaneously.
.. that PS3's come with vouchers for discounts on Blu-Ray movies. A surge in sales is no suprise.
What is left to be seen is if Blu-Ray can hold onto the market of gamers just "giving HD movies a try."
Vouchers were given inside Playstation 3 boxes for free Blu-Ray discs. Everyone who bought a PS3 simply for gaming went out and used these vouchers up.
The more interesting comparison would be the number of HDDVD's sold against the number of Blu-Ray discs sold - vouchers used.
You have the option to play any game of your singe-player "franchise" schedule against a real player. He will simply assume the exact team/roster you are playing that week.
Not many people did it, but it worked fairly well since online Madden is almost always 1 on 1. I don't see a decent number of people volunteering to take the place of NPC's.
Flop.
Console developers could come together and make a hardware/api "standard." Same type of disc, same hardware capability, etc.
Each console would then have its own flavor around it. Microsoft could continue the Xbox LIVE service for game delivery, purchasing/renting movies and music, home theater integration, peer to peer communication, PVR capability, etc. The next gen of consoles will be much broader than just games.
Game developers then could make just 1 game for all consoles that meet the "standard" and would be assured compatibility. More time is spent making the game better rather than making it work on different pieces of hardware. Development costs would plummet.
Console developers could then focus on making the best hardware that meets a standard and gives the customer more functionality. Game developers could focus on the game itself, rather than morphing the game to fit different hardware. Customers can buy 1 disc and play it in a PC, Mac, xbox, playstation, nintendo, etc.
Will it happen? Most likely not, but probably a better chance than companies simply leaving the console market. Games make too much money.
I was defending PATRIOT, not the power itself. I absolutely see your point.
Even though it is not a popular piece of legislation (especially here), I have read through the PATRIOT act and agree with a great majority of it. From a legal perspective it is applying powers that the Government already has to a new type of criminal. In the days following 9/11 it was the right thing to do.
Many of the more abusive powers written into the legislation have been numbed down or even removed.
The power of investigating certain financial records (such as credit reports) without a warrent was around before PATRIOT, most notably for suspected drug dealers.
It would be silly for the government not to exercise that same power against potential terrorists as long as the power was legal.
So don't thank PATRIOT, thank precedent set by the older drug-fighting legislation.
I went to purchase the newest Warioware game for Wii last night and saw a half dozen PS3's sitting on the shelves of my local Best Buy.
Who really cares how many consoles have been "shipped" ?
Sounds like Microsoft Home Server = Xbox360+XP Media Center, but without Gears of War.
Someone in their marketing department needs to find a better produce name. "Home Server" isn't going to catch on.
"Dave Marsh, the lead program manager for video at Microsoft, said that if the PC used a digital connection to link with the monitor or television, then it would require the highest level of content protection, known as HDCP, to play the discs. If it did not have such protection, Vista would shut down the signal, he said. "
The next-gen DVD's will work with Vista, but you need to have HDCP compatible hardware if the HD DVD has the HDCP flag.
Plus, AFAIK, there are 0 HD DVD's that have this flag enabled. Rumored it will not be activated on any disc before 2010, if at all.
With the 360 you can get HD DVD's for
How the hell is PS3 giving anything the winning edge?
I'll put $10 down on Microsoft releasing a "media center" edition of the 360, similar to their operating system version of Windows.
It will include a larger hard drive, universal remote, and possibly the HD-DVD player. The 65nm chips could be included also, but it should not have performance implications.
Whatever Microsoft does, they will be very careful not to alienate the 10+ million current 360 owners.
1) How is HDMI raising the bar? The 360 can already do 1080p now without it.
2) Blu-Ray support is equivilent to HD-DVD support. The 360 wins here since you have the option of buying it or not.
3) HD by default is also advantage-360. Many people buy consoles without the need of downloading large amounts of movies/music/demos.
4) PS3 games over Wifi are horrible. There is a noticable lag difference vs ethernet.
5) Dual layer DVD's can hold near 10 gigs. PC games have been outputting at "1080p" like resolutions for years without requiring 10 gigs. If Gears of War can fit on a 10 gig disc, then any game in this generation of consoles can.
Can't all 3 consoles be successful? I know we are in a competitive culture, but you do not need a monopoly to survive. Media is going nuts searching for a victor.
The gaming market is absolutely huge, with over 10 billion+ in sales per year. There is plenty of money to go around, and for the first time 3 legitimate consoles who will all take a good portion.
The compeition of this generation of 360/Wii/PS3 will spark a ton of innovation for the next set of consoles.
This movie has been in the works for easily 10 years. There have been dozens of scripts by multiple writers that have been repetitively rejected.
In order to preserve the original trilogy as one of the best in American film history, only a damn good script would make it past Ford/Lucas/Spielberg.
Personally? I can hardly wait another year and a half for it. A fourth movie is long overdue.
The launch PS3 titles are comparable with the Xbox 360 launch titles, but cannot touch recent releases such as Gears of War/NFSC. How does this game stack up?
Xbox 360 core ($300) + Wii ($250) = the average of the two PS3 options.
You would be a fool to pick the PS3 over the first 2.
360 has the same graphics, a much better game library, and ton better online capability than the PS3. The Wii is that console that changes the way you play games.
Gears of War and Twilight Princess are 2 of the top 5 games I've played since the NES came out. You won't regret the purchase of either console.
"The only thing that CBS has is maybe NCIS"
Um how about Two and a Half Men, the #1 comedy sitcom on television after Raymond ended? Wish this was around before, had to pirate all the old episodes. Would rather own a legal copy.
WoW doesn't have near the effect on gamers that Evercrack had. WoW is just more mainstream.
WoW is an extremely easy game marketed to the average player. Everquest was much more difficult, and required much more time. You couldn't do anything in that game without devoting 4 straight hours, usually double that if you were in a high-end guild. It puts WoW to shame.