That's 10% fewer customers for a game, which is certainly significant to a game developer.
This analysis is flawed, for several reasons. The first is that the Cube-to-Xbox ratio is not equal across all world regions. A simple comparison of total machines sold (as you did) cannot hope to account for this.
Second, your "10% fewer customers" claim ignores the PS2. When compared to Sony's 115 million (again, shipped), the difference between the Xbox and Cube becomes pretty insignificant. Compared to this number, the Xbox sold about 21% as many units, and the Cube sold about 19% as many.
I assume you're saying the Cube "got third place" because it sold less than the PS2 and Xbox. This is ridiculous. First, the numbers (copied from Wikipedia):
PS2 - 115M (shipped)
Xbox - 24M
GC - 21.5M
Ooh look, the Xbox sold 2.5 mil more than the Cube. How is this significant? Oh right, it's not.
thousands [of old games] can only be played through computer programs called emulators, which, while readily available on the Internet, technically violate copyright laws.
This is not true: emulators only violate "copyright" law when (A) there exists DMCA-like anti-circumvention language in said law, and (B) the machine in question actually uses anti-copying mechanisms. So unless both of these apply, you're pretty much in the clear to write emulators for whatever you want.
However, in corporate environments a BitLocker recovery key can be used to allow examination of target devices.
This sounds to me more like a key that IT keeps hidden away until an investigation (government or otherwise) needs to be done.
Even setting this aside, I think you're on the right track: the only people who really know how secure it is are the people who wrote it. And let's not count out exploits...
Um, Windows's crypto features don't hurt forensics work mostly because nobody uses them. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but security systems tend not to work when you don't turn them on.
However if every Windows user used these features maximally, these forensics people would probably be singing a different tune...
There were more powerful systems competing with [the PS1]
Wait, hold on. You can't be talking about the Dreamcast, which was released much later than the PS. And you can't be talking about the Saturn, with its horrible 3D, or the N64, which had comparable 3D but horrible storage capacity. Which systems are you talking about?
I think you're going about it the wrong way with Guild Wars. Sure, you can sit around HA and try to cobble together a pickup group. But they all seem to want rank-whatever (or higher!), and I have a suspicion most of them just grind in the random arenas til they hit R3. I suggest finding a guild/alliance that enjoys having a good time, and doing GvG/HA with them. I've never been in a "good" PvP guild in that game, but I'm pretty sure I've had more fun.
There was this unsavoury comparing a good video game plot to multiple female orgasms, with plateaus and peaks all over the place, linked to on Slashdot some time ago. Not exactly the most academic illustration, but it has a point.
I read an article on a similar idea, where the writer tried to develop a system of gameplay notation. I think the idea is worthwhile: when designers find out that the first third of their game is boring as hell, we'll see a lot less grind.
Cuba and Venezuela are just two more dominoes in a long line. Many governments are switching to Free Software, including ones in Germany, Spain, Brazil, India, and many other places. Two more joining the ranks is not a huge deal.
And only the most rabid wingnuts truly hate either of these countries, (and this is mostly from listening to Limbaugh, et al). Maybe if North Korea switched...but then they don't really have many computers, do they?
We have proof the universe exists. We can see it, smell it, measure it, predict its behavior, etc... We can do none of these things for God.
Bullshit. You do not define "God", "proof", "existence", nor any of the actions which supposedly "prove" your point. Come back when you have something that can withstand the scrutiny of even the simplest of armchair philosophers.
sell your console at under their cost of manufacture
This strategy has never yielded a financially-successful console. Microsoft has lost billions since 2001. Sega went out of business partly because they were selling hardware at a loss. Enlighten yourself.
The Unreal Engine is designed for hardware with shaders. The Wii hardware doesn't have full-fledged shaders like the PS3 and 360 have.
What the fuck? All modern GPUs have shaders, Wii included. Hell, even the GameCube GPU had shaders. I honestly have no idea why you would make the ridiculous claim that the Wii "doesn't have shaders".
No, you are the one claiming that the Cell chip and the optical drive totally, obviously, without a doubt make the PS3 cost way more than they're selling it for. My claim is this:
I hate seeing the posts in every PS3 thread that claim "but everybody knows Sony is losing $284.33 on each unit!!". Newsflash: nobody knows except Sony, and they aren't talking.
Why do I think such high estimates are wrong?
I say this based on the fact that Sony manufactures a lot of the PS3 themselves, thus highly skewing whatever "teardown" people usually base their price on.
I keep repeating this, yet you continually fail to account for this in your analysis. And let's see some numbers, please.
Wow, this is a wonderfully horrible analogy. If you apply this thinking to Microsoft and licenses, you're implying Microsoft owns the land, buildings and equipment that make up whatever business they're "investigating". I'm pretty sure this isn't the case.
I've lost two competing brands to a mis-aligned laser.
PS2 disc read error, anyone?
PS/2 is an amazing platform; it's 4 years old now,
The PS/2 was a computer released by IBM in the 80s. Also, the PS2 is nearly seven years old (released March 4, 2000 in Japan).
it's 4 years old now, and there's still new titles being released for it.
Ooooh, a market-leading console gets software for more than four years? That's never happened before! (except with the 2600, NES, SNES, PS/N64, etc)
And of course:
I'm a Sony guy. So what?
All in all, it's a good troll: it's pretty non-obvious at first glance. But it's still a troll: it states things in confrontational terms, says nothing of significance, and gets things wrong.
OK, and your source for this is...? And just for reference, I've seen the various 'teardowns' of the PS3. I don't buy any of them.
Why? Because I haven't seen one that even mentions the fact that Sony is manufacturing much of the machine themselves. So unless you have info that I don't, I'm pretty sure there's no way around this point.
Um, right. Never mind the fact that the Cell replaces most of the chips in a standalone player, or the fact (which I previously stated) that Sony manufactures most of the components themselves.
Hear, hear! I hate seeing the posts in every PS3 thread that claim "but everybody knows Sony is losing $284.33 on each unit!!". Newsflash: nobody knows except Sony, and they aren't talking. I agree with the parent here, that Sony roughly breaks even. I say this based on the fact that Sony manufactures a lot of the PS3 themselves, thus highly skewing whatever "teardown" people usually base their price on.
Slashdot Mirror
That's 10% fewer customers for a game, which is certainly significant to a game developer.
This analysis is flawed, for several reasons. The first is that the Cube-to-Xbox ratio is not equal across all world regions. A simple comparison of total machines sold (as you did) cannot hope to account for this.
Second, your "10% fewer customers" claim ignores the PS2. When compared to Sony's 115 million (again, shipped), the difference between the Xbox and Cube becomes pretty insignificant. Compared to this number, the Xbox sold about 21% as many units, and the Cube sold about 19% as many.
I think there's also some Groundhog Day similarities with Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter.
I assume you're saying the Cube "got third place" because it sold less than the PS2 and Xbox. This is ridiculous. First, the numbers (copied from Wikipedia):
Ooh look, the Xbox sold 2.5 mil more than the Cube. How is this significant? Oh right, it's not.
This is not true: emulators only violate "copyright" law when (A) there exists DMCA-like anti-circumvention language in said law, and (B) the machine in question actually uses anti-copying mechanisms. So unless both of these apply, you're pretty much in the clear to write emulators for whatever you want.
Oh wow, for a sec I thought you were talking about a different Xfire...
This sounds to me more like a key that IT keeps hidden away until an investigation (government or otherwise) needs to be done.
Even setting this aside, I think you're on the right track: the only people who really know how secure it is are the people who wrote it. And let's not count out exploits...
Um, Windows's crypto features don't hurt forensics work mostly because nobody uses them. I'm not sure if you're aware of this, but security systems tend not to work when you don't turn them on.
However if every Windows user used these features maximally, these forensics people would probably be singing a different tune...
see also:
ex - tor - tion
noun
(source)
There were more powerful systems competing with [the PS1]
Wait, hold on. You can't be talking about the Dreamcast, which was released much later than the PS. And you can't be talking about the Saturn, with its horrible 3D, or the N64, which had comparable 3D but horrible storage capacity. Which systems are you talking about?
I think you're going about it the wrong way with Guild Wars. Sure, you can sit around HA and try to cobble together a pickup group. But they all seem to want rank-whatever (or higher!), and I have a suspicion most of them just grind in the random arenas til they hit R3. I suggest finding a guild/alliance that enjoys having a good time, and doing GvG/HA with them. I've never been in a "good" PvP guild in that game, but I'm pretty sure I've had more fun.
There was this unsavoury comparing a good video game plot to multiple female orgasms, with plateaus and peaks all over the place, linked to on Slashdot some time ago. Not exactly the most academic illustration, but it has a point.
I read an article on a similar idea, where the writer tried to develop a system of gameplay notation. I think the idea is worthwhile: when designers find out that the first third of their game is boring as hell, we'll see a lot less grind.
Cuba and Venezuela are just two more dominoes in a long line. Many governments are switching to Free Software, including ones in Germany, Spain, Brazil, India, and many other places. Two more joining the ranks is not a huge deal.
And only the most rabid wingnuts truly hate either of these countries, (and this is mostly from listening to Limbaugh, et al). Maybe if North Korea switched...but then they don't really have many computers, do they?
We have proof the universe exists. We can see it, smell it, measure it, predict its behavior, etc... We can do none of these things for God.
Bullshit. You do not define "God", "proof", "existence", nor any of the actions which supposedly "prove" your point. Come back when you have something that can withstand the scrutiny of even the simplest of armchair philosophers.
the people behind the game are drowning it in bad business decisions.
Yeah sales of Oblivion totally tanked after the horse armor incident.
wait no they didn't
sell your console at under their cost of manufacture
This strategy has never yielded a financially-successful console. Microsoft has lost billions since 2001. Sega went out of business partly because they were selling hardware at a loss. Enlighten yourself.
The Unreal Engine is designed for hardware with shaders. The Wii hardware doesn't have full-fledged shaders like the PS3 and 360 have.
What the fuck? All modern GPUs have shaders, Wii included. Hell, even the GameCube GPU had shaders. I honestly have no idea why you would make the ridiculous claim that the Wii "doesn't have shaders".
Line Rider is a pretty good example.
I want one.
:(
Why can't they put these up in my city
But we're talking about the Cell here.
No, you are the one claiming that the Cell chip and the optical drive totally, obviously, without a doubt make the PS3 cost way more than they're selling it for. My claim is this:
I hate seeing the posts in every PS3 thread that claim "but everybody knows Sony is losing $284.33 on each unit!!". Newsflash: nobody knows except Sony, and they aren't talking.
Why do I think such high estimates are wrong?
I say this based on the fact that Sony manufactures a lot of the PS3 themselves, thus highly skewing whatever "teardown" people usually base their price on.
I keep repeating this, yet you continually fail to account for this in your analysis. And let's see some numbers, please.
Wow, this is a wonderfully horrible analogy. If you apply this thinking to Microsoft and licenses, you're implying Microsoft owns the land, buildings and equipment that make up whatever business they're "investigating". I'm pretty sure this isn't the case.
And of course: All in all, it's a good troll: it's pretty non-obvious at first glance. But it's still a troll: it states things in confrontational terms, says nothing of significance, and gets things wrong.
It still costs a lot more.
OK, and your source for this is...? And just for reference, I've seen the various 'teardowns' of the PS3. I don't buy any of them.
Why? Because I haven't seen one that even mentions the fact that Sony is manufacturing much of the machine themselves. So unless you have info that I don't, I'm pretty sure there's no way around this point.
Um, right. Never mind the fact that the Cell replaces most of the chips in a standalone player, or the fact (which I previously stated) that Sony manufactures most of the components themselves.
Hear, hear! I hate seeing the posts in every PS3 thread that claim "but everybody knows Sony is losing $284.33 on each unit!!". Newsflash: nobody knows except Sony, and they aren't talking. I agree with the parent here, that Sony roughly breaks even. I say this based on the fact that Sony manufactures a lot of the PS3 themselves, thus highly skewing whatever "teardown" people usually base their price on.