"Its a good idea until you find out that the drive 224 dollars and 99 cents [newegg.com] when the desktop competition runs about 70 bucks [newegg.com]. The drives in laptop are the slowest component; I wish laptops could reverse rolls and use dektop drives instead. Maybe one day the power levels will drop to an acceptable level to do this."
Many laptop manufacturers now give options for 7200 spin HDD's in laptops. I have one from Dell, it somehow runs as cool and quiet as a slower 5400
"Despite the innovations that IE7 may posses, the fact is that open source software will continue to mold itself to the whims of the web at the time, and it will be very difficult for Microsoft to keep up."
What does it matter if Microsoft keeps up? Most of their target audience are computer users who will never want a Firefox extension or an RSS feed.
Most people login to read the news, get the weather, and send an email or 2. What Microsoft offers fulfills that.
Slashdot crowd doesn't realize they are the extreme minority, and a big business doesn't make big money targeting small minorities.
Pure 1080i or 1080p content on a TV with the full 1080i/p resolution (Sony SXRD TVs and some of the new DLPs) is absolutely amazing.
Despite many claims on here, the jump from a normal DVD on a 1080p television to a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc is more significant than VHS to DVD. A full 1080p picture has around 10 times more pixels per square inch than a normal DVD (which is 480p).
M$ only invested about $20 in advertising the system in Japan. Many gamers over there aren't even aware the system exists. Gamers are going to the store to buy an Xbox1 not even knowing there is a 360 out.
In the United States it is still doing well, both in consoles sold and games sold/console. Here is the wrap up of last weeks games sold in the US.
6 Xbox 360 games.
2 Gamecube games.
1 DS game (New Super Mario Brothers, which was #1 on the list).
1 PS2 game, which was dead last at #10 (Kingdom Hearts).
Pointing out how poorly the 360 is doing in Japan is similar to saying MySpace isn't popular with the over 90 years old demographic. The games aren't meant for that demographic, and the marketing isn't targeting it either.
Sony is using the "Developers control Internet Gaming" solution used in PS2.
Problems?
-Every developer has a ton more work to do. There isn't an Xbox Live framework to work from.
-Each developer could decide to charge for basic gaming privelidges. Someone needs to pay for the Servers and the bandwidth.
-Games will have unique online systems, destroying continuity across the platform.
A couple bucks per month is worth these advantages. Why buy a hot-rod $600 PS3 and pay nothing for a junky online system?.
Many people enjoy immersing themselves in a game that focuses on emotion. While it might be light in strategy and gameplay, the graphics and "feeling" of the game are unmatched. It is more of a self-driven movie than a game. The 360 and PS3 will dominate these gamers. Sports games, Doom, Quake, etc.
Nintendo will focus on gamers who enjoy story and gameplay. This DS is the prime example of this. Unique and fun "gimmick" creating new and exciting gameplay, and the developers have spent more time on the story rather than graphics.
Which is better? Depends on your opinion. All 3 of these consoles will hit a market. The only real question mark is can the PS3 survive, not if the Wii will.
"I called up the local Target and the guy that picked up said he had a few. I got there at 3:15PM (they opened at 9AM), and I was surprised to see at least ten DS Lite's on the shelves! Target has become my new launch day source."
Most Target stores have been selling the new DS Lites for over a week. Check Slashdot archives for the story.
Addition by subtraction. A dual-layer DVD drive can hold near 10 gigs - more than enough for 1080i/1080p games. PC games have been at this resolution for years - most still fit on 3 CD's or less.
Do the right thing Sony. If you want the PS3 to thrive, cut the price in half and let the lower-end model use Dual-Layer discs.
Gamers don't care about blu-ray, home theater enthusiasts will buy a professional player. Ditch it. No way I'm buying a PS3 for the price of a 360, a Wii, and games.
"The 360 has sold a miserable 1.7 million consoles in its first six months on the market. That is the worst selling console since perhaps the 3DO a decade or so ago."
The 1.7 million is a reflection of supply, not demand. In the first 6 months there was never a 360 that sat on the shelves for more than a few hours.
The console war is simple. All the multi-platform games will look exactly the same. Microsoft has the best individual single-platform game (Halo). But the big factor....
A $300 360 will be marked down to $250 when the $600 PS3 is released. The only people who will buy a PS3 will be fanboys that would spend 2 grand on a calculator wrapped in a box with PS3 written on the side.
"Because I can't play actual football very well. If the game is sophisticated enough to judge where I'm aiming my no-button-pressing-controller-throw, then I (and a great many others) will largely suck at this game.
If, however, the throwing motion is just a signal in general to throw the ball to a pre-designated receiver, then isn't it just a glorified button press?"
Most likely you will pre-select a receiver with a button, then have the throwing motion to actually toss it. A slower throwing motion would create a "lob" pass to lead the receiver, and a fast motion would be a bullet pass.
You are replacing "holding down the button to throw harder" with "move your arm faster to throw harder."
Interesting, but something that may get old pretty fast.
"There's just isn't enough difference, other than bragging rights, for most people to shell out for an HD-DVD player."
Take a quality $200 upconverting DVD player on a 1080p HDTV.
Take any random show from DiscoveryHD Theater (filmied in 1080i/p) on the same TV.
You are absolutely nuts to think there isn't enough difference. The quality of a full 1080p video on a full 1080p television is amazing. Wait until Best Buys start hooking up the Sony SXRD to the new HD-DVD players and watch how many crowd around to see.
"- Retail $2799, Education/government $2599 with 2.16 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB 5400RPM Serial ATA drive, 256MB ATI Radeon x1600, and 8x dual layer SuperDrive"
Using some cheap Dell coupon codes that anyone can buy from Ebay ($750 off >$2000 and $35 off >$300 that stack) you can get a Windows laptop with better specs for under half the price.
The Apple tax is growing ever since iPod's took off.
"I'm especially curious about non-US markets here. Has the 360 been selling ANY units in Japan? Last I heard, the answer was no; what happens if we have the 360 as the runaway winner of this console generation here in the States, but the PS3 or Revolution annihilates it in Japan? It would be kind of a weird dichotomy..."
Microsoft didn't even run one commercial or print ad for the 360 in Japan prior to launch. That is a good indicator of what MS thinks of the Japanese market.
MS would be perfectly happy of dominating the States (which it might the way the PS3 is going) and losing in Japan.
Friend of mine had to stand in a line of over 40 people for 8 hours a month after launch to get a console and they are still very rare to find on shelves. The demand for this product is unreal.
"I'd hate to see all this hardware potential go to waste"
When you say "all this potential hardware" you really mean "blu-ray drive." The power difference between a PS3 and a 360 (with 3 3.2ghz processors and a better GPU) is negligable.
"But it's quality, not quantity. The XBox 360 had about 26 titles or something, but most of them were ports and crappy generic EA sports games. That won't cut it on the Revolution, especially because I don't think Nintendo has that much of the sports games fan market. We will have to wait to see how many of these 20 titles are "for real" and how many are, shovelware."
I'll name the 20.
Zelda, Mario, Mario Party, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Golf, Mario Baseball, Mario RPG, Mario Kart, all old marios in one, Wario's World 4, Metriod Prime, Donkey Kong Returns, Yoshi Lives Again, Mario Tennis, Mario Football, Mario Basketball, Mario RPG, and 2 original titles using the new controller.
MS originally wanted to just blow off Japan. They scrapped every possible resource into hyping the U.S Launch - Japan didn't even get a single commercial or print ad.
Now with Sony's timelines pushed even further back then expected, MS is hoping to catch them with their pants down. This is the real Japanese launch.
" Case in point: the Xbox 360. In the United States, the Xbox 360 retails for $399"
The Xbox360 console retails for $299.99. The 360 bundle which includes optional addons (better controller, high definition cables, hard drive) retails for $300.
This will put the PS3 easily over TWICE the amount of a $250.00 Xbox360 when Microsoft does their price cut.
"Such a fuss...all because he wants to play without the disk. Just get a crack for it like the rest of us!"
I don't think you fully understand what StarForce is. Only a couple StarForce games have ever been cracked - and it isn't just swapping out a couple.EXE files.
You need to physically unhook *all* of your optical drives and run an emulator that seriously hits system performance. UBI has released this with their Splinter Cell series - and for the most part it worked. Troubleshooting costs are way higher than normal but I know a ton of people who don't ever buy games that bought these.
Slashdot Mirror
"Its a good idea until you find out that the drive 224 dollars and 99 cents [newegg.com] when the desktop competition runs about 70 bucks [newegg.com]. The drives in laptop are the slowest component; I wish laptops could reverse rolls and use dektop drives instead. Maybe one day the power levels will drop to an acceptable level to do this."
Many laptop manufacturers now give options for 7200 spin HDD's in laptops. I have one from Dell, it somehow runs as cool and quiet as a slower 5400
Depends on your site. I know of a couple major online banks that sit at 95+% IE, only down from 98 a few years ago.
"Despite the innovations that IE7 may posses, the fact is that open source software will continue to mold itself to the whims of the web at the time, and it will be very difficult for Microsoft to keep up."
What does it matter if Microsoft keeps up? Most of their target audience are computer users who will never want a Firefox extension or an RSS feed.
Most people login to read the news, get the weather, and send an email or 2. What Microsoft offers fulfills that.
Slashdot crowd doesn't realize they are the extreme minority, and a big business doesn't make big money targeting small minorities.
I just want someone to win fast.
Pure 1080i or 1080p content on a TV with the full 1080i/p resolution (Sony SXRD TVs and some of the new DLPs) is absolutely amazing.
Despite many claims on here, the jump from a normal DVD on a 1080p television to a HD-DVD or Blu-Ray disc is more significant than VHS to DVD. A full 1080p picture has around 10 times more pixels per square inch than a normal DVD (which is 480p).
How did this turn intto a 360 discussion?
M$ only invested about $20 in advertising the system in Japan. Many gamers over there aren't even aware the system exists. Gamers are going to the store to buy an Xbox1 not even knowing there is a 360 out.
In the United States it is still doing well, both in consoles sold and games sold/console. Here is the wrap up of last weeks games sold in the US.
6 Xbox 360 games.
2 Gamecube games.
1 DS game (New Super Mario Brothers, which was #1 on the list).
1 PS2 game, which was dead last at #10 (Kingdom Hearts).
Pointing out how poorly the 360 is doing in Japan is similar to saying MySpace isn't popular with the over 90 years old demographic. The games aren't meant for that demographic, and the marketing isn't targeting it either.
"The ESRB is completely useless."
Government involvement probably isn't the answer, and this hopefully is just one step towards another independant system.
Pirate music just in spite?
Sony is using the "Developers control Internet Gaming" solution used in PS2.
Problems?
-Every developer has a ton more work to do. There isn't an Xbox Live framework to work from.
-Each developer could decide to charge for basic gaming privelidges. Someone needs to pay for the Servers and the bandwidth.
-Games will have unique online systems, destroying continuity across the platform.
A couple bucks per month is worth these advantages. Why buy a hot-rod $600 PS3 and pay nothing for a junky online system?.
Many people enjoy immersing themselves in a game that focuses on emotion. While it might be light in strategy and gameplay, the graphics and "feeling" of the game are unmatched. It is more of a self-driven movie than a game. The 360 and PS3 will dominate these gamers. Sports games, Doom, Quake, etc.
Nintendo will focus on gamers who enjoy story and gameplay. This DS is the prime example of this. Unique and fun "gimmick" creating new and exciting gameplay, and the developers have spent more time on the story rather than graphics.
Which is better? Depends on your opinion. All 3 of these consoles will hit a market. The only real question mark is can the PS3 survive, not if the Wii will.
"I called up the local Target and the guy that picked up said he had a few. I got there at 3:15PM (they opened at 9AM), and I was surprised to see at least ten DS Lite's on the shelves! Target has become my new launch day source."
Most Target stores have been selling the new DS Lites for over a week. Check Slashdot archives for the story.
Discs hold compressed textures. These compressed textures are uncompressed into memory.
So no, this is not a misconception.
Addition by subtraction. A dual-layer DVD drive can hold near 10 gigs - more than enough for 1080i/1080p games. PC games have been at this resolution for years - most still fit on 3 CD's or less.
Do the right thing Sony. If you want the PS3 to thrive, cut the price in half and let the lower-end model use Dual-Layer discs.
Gamers don't care about blu-ray, home theater enthusiasts will buy a professional player. Ditch it. No way I'm buying a PS3 for the price of a 360, a Wii, and games.
"successful X360 launch may be stretching it a bit neh?"
The 360 still has the best games sold/console ratio in the history of games.
Their production output has finally hit a point where they can start keeping up demand well before the rival PS3 will hit shelves.
Xbox LIVE has been a monumental hit with more downloads/day than iTunes already.
Hard to say it wasn't a success.
"The 360 has sold a miserable 1.7 million consoles in its first six months on the market. That is the worst selling console since perhaps the 3DO a decade or so ago."
The 1.7 million is a reflection of supply, not demand. In the first 6 months there was never a 360 that sat on the shelves for more than a few hours.
The console war is simple. All the multi-platform games will look exactly the same. Microsoft has the best individual single-platform game (Halo). But the big factor....
A $300 360 will be marked down to $250 when the $600 PS3 is released. The only people who will buy a PS3 will be fanboys that would spend 2 grand on a calculator wrapped in a box with PS3 written on the side.
"Because I can't play actual football very well. If the game is sophisticated enough to judge where I'm aiming my no-button-pressing-controller-throw, then I (and a great many others) will largely suck at this game. If, however, the throwing motion is just a signal in general to throw the ball to a pre-designated receiver, then isn't it just a glorified button press?"
Most likely you will pre-select a receiver with a button, then have the throwing motion to actually toss it. A slower throwing motion would create a "lob" pass to lead the receiver, and a fast motion would be a bullet pass.
You are replacing "holding down the button to throw harder" with "move your arm faster to throw harder."
Interesting, but something that may get old pretty fast.
"There's just isn't enough difference, other than bragging rights, for most people to shell out for an HD-DVD player."
Take a quality $200 upconverting DVD player on a 1080p HDTV.
Take any random show from DiscoveryHD Theater (filmied in 1080i/p) on the same TV.
You are absolutely nuts to think there isn't enough difference. The quality of a full 1080p video on a full 1080p television is amazing. Wait until Best Buys start hooking up the Sony SXRD to the new HD-DVD players and watch how many crowd around to see.
"- Retail $2799, Education/government $2599 with 2.16 GHz Core Duo, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB 5400RPM Serial ATA drive, 256MB ATI Radeon x1600, and 8x dual layer SuperDrive"
Using some cheap Dell coupon codes that anyone can buy from Ebay ($750 off >$2000 and $35 off >$300 that stack) you can get a Windows laptop with better specs for under half the price.
The Apple tax is growing ever since iPod's took off.
"I'm especially curious about non-US markets here. Has the 360 been selling ANY units in Japan? Last I heard, the answer was no; what happens if we have the 360 as the runaway winner of this console generation here in the States, but the PS3 or Revolution annihilates it in Japan? It would be kind of a weird dichotomy..."
Microsoft didn't even run one commercial or print ad for the 360 in Japan prior to launch. That is a good indicator of what MS thinks of the Japanese market.
MS would be perfectly happy of dominating the States (which it might the way the PS3 is going) and losing in Japan.
Friend of mine had to stand in a line of over 40 people for 8 hours a month after launch to get a console and they are still very rare to find on shelves. The demand for this product is unreal.
"I'd hate to see all this hardware potential go to waste"
When you say "all this potential hardware" you really mean "blu-ray drive." The power difference between a PS3 and a 360 (with 3 3.2ghz processors and a better GPU) is negligable.
Probably cut the Asian population in the game by half...
"But it's quality, not quantity. The XBox 360 had about 26 titles or something, but most of them were ports and crappy generic EA sports games. That won't cut it on the Revolution, especially because I don't think Nintendo has that much of the sports games fan market. We will have to wait to see how many of these 20 titles are "for real" and how many are, shovelware."
I'll name the 20.
Zelda, Mario, Mario Party, Luigi's Mansion, Mario Golf, Mario Baseball, Mario RPG, Mario Kart, all old marios in one, Wario's World 4, Metriod Prime, Donkey Kong Returns, Yoshi Lives Again, Mario Tennis, Mario Football, Mario Basketball, Mario RPG, and 2 original titles using the new controller.
MS originally wanted to just blow off Japan. They scrapped every possible resource into hyping the U.S Launch - Japan didn't even get a single commercial or print ad.
Now with Sony's timelines pushed even further back then expected, MS is hoping to catch them with their pants down. This is the real Japanese launch.
" Case in point: the Xbox 360. In the United States, the Xbox 360 retails for $399"
The Xbox360 console retails for $299.99. The 360 bundle which includes optional addons (better controller, high definition cables, hard drive) retails for $300.
This will put the PS3 easily over TWICE the amount of a $250.00 Xbox360 when Microsoft does their price cut.
"The party is totally for real, totally serious, and has seen approval ratings of 57% in some polls"
-"What is right isn't always popular, and what is popular isn't always right."
"Such a fuss...all because he wants to play without the disk. Just get a crack for it like the rest of us!"
.EXE files.
I don't think you fully understand what StarForce is. Only a couple StarForce games have ever been cracked - and it isn't just swapping out a couple
You need to physically unhook *all* of your optical drives and run an emulator that seriously hits system performance. UBI has released this with their Splinter Cell series - and for the most part it worked. Troubleshooting costs are way higher than normal but I know a ton of people who don't ever buy games that bought these.