If they want a drop-in alternative then they have to have documentation on the specifics of the files and protocols they want to interface with. MS provides no such thing and the states aren't making it clear that this is what MS should do, as EU is doing.
If you REALLY want to be safe, just don't have bombs. Sure, some other country can have some and threaten us with them, but they'll be the tyrants, not us, and I'm sure when their citizens see how their government acts, they will be scared of them and not trust them or be happy themselves. We just have to take that risk if we really believe in freedom, which includes believing in the freedom of others and not being a possible looming threat to others. People look at North Korea and react by thinking "OMG, that nut could nuke us at any time!", is that how we (as people, in any country) should want to be seen? When people go to war, it's not actually the citizens, most often it's an extremist (whether they be politician or vigilante or whatever), because war is an extreme "solution". It's not really a solution, it's just an end. An end to whatever argument to get it over with and to start the aftermath already. Having bombs on standby does not really help anyone, it just increases the chance of everyone killing each other.
"After all, without copyright, what would become of the Copyright Alliance?"
There, fixed that for ya. What is that, like the new RIAA & MPAA? All I know is if I were an artist that distributed copyrighted works, and I am, I wouldn't really see it necessary to make money off my works after I'm dead. I wouldn't really want to profit off my work more than it's worth either, that's for consumers to decide. I'm a productive member of society and I don't need to leech off of everyone to stay alive, I'm perfectly capable.
Oh, ok, I see thatThe Copyright Alliance is a lobbying organization formed on May 17, 2007 by 29 companies and organizations including groups that represent songwriters, recording artists, film makers, authors, photographers and sports leagues (see members below). The group is led by Patrick Ross, who recently left the Progress and Freedom Foundation [The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a U.S. market-oriented think tank based in Washington, D.C. that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy.]
With such members such as RIAA, MPAA, NBC, Major League Baseball, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, NFL, so basically everyone who is a conduit for someone else's talent.
I don't understand why cell phone gaming has to get better. Look at a mobile phone, it's in no way comfortable to hold one of those to play games properly. Then look at a DS. What, are we going to bring back side talking? Nobody wants to play the next Mario with a number pad, and nobody wants to have to carry around a cell phone that's larger than necessary.
Maybe if they don't just make a Nintendo Phone, but rather make a cartridge that you can slap in the DS to communicate with the cellular phone network and add bluetooth compatibility then THAT could be viable. At least if you get the DS Next, you can probably use the same cartridge and never have to worry about switching phones.
But if you're asking people to adopt a gaming platform that they have to subscribe to a monthly service to use, I don't think they'll go for it. As for plugging a game controller into your cell phone, that's something else you have to carry around. Part of what makes video game systems attractive is that the media is removable, you can share games, sell used ones, or rent them. It's also important to collectors and hobbyists that it's something tangable in your hands, the game. Part of what makes a phone attractive is its simplicity, unless you're just throwing money away anyway, and then you're not the target market for this. Or are you? It seems like a waste of money anyway.
Outside of Tetris, gaming + mobile phones probably shouldn't mix.
I guess kids can't handle the idea that something is imaginary or unrealistic, even though we encourage them to use and develop their imagination. Good idea, let's confuse them and let's not make any sense ourselves! Let's taboo things and hope they won't be drawn to them, that's worked in the past! I can see we're really evolving here as a society... and to think I was worried!
Yup, and my point is that I'd rather play remakes on Wii as well as the other innovative games that come up on Wii. It's better than just playing remakes on PS3 and 360 where developers are putting so much time into graphics that games are shipping with bugs and have hollow gameplay and level design due to rushing it to the market so players could have something to play:P
When I bought Ratchet & Clank, I had fun with it for a few hours and got to the third planet, but then I did put it down. I got Mario Galaxy, and it's not like Lode Runner or Q-Bert really, and the innovative thing about the game is the use of gravity, the level design, the camera, and the controls. What has R&C:F done over the other games besides a few sections where you are flying with motion controls or falling with motion controls? Even then, the other games had similar sections but w/o motion controls. Even the level makeups had you doing similar things. Mario is definitely an evolution and R&C:F is just a rehash.
How can you call Wii a passing fad when the PS3 and XBox 360 both are just rehashing genres and quickly porting games that were available or in development on PS2 and XBox? How can you call Wii a passing fad, when even on other consoles, a game that requires a gimmicky controller and that doesn't have the greatest graphics is catching on like wildfire (Guitar Hero III, soon Rock Band)?
I used to be the kind of person to upgrade my PC every other month just because I wanted the latest in graphics and processing, but after a while (it took me 2 or 3 years:P) I realized it wasn't worth it just to be playing the same exact games with slightly better graphics. I wanted more than FPS, RTS, and MMORPG. At the time, consoles were providing much better games, and plus, the FPS/RTS/MMORPGs were starting to get good on consoles so if ever I got a craving, there were options.
Now it's kind of the same thing but with Wii vs other consoles... I could keep upgrading (and I did buy a PS3 and 360 as well, so I wouldn't miss out on anything) but I just have more fun playing different and more innovative games on the Wii.
I've got over 22 games on the Wii now and a scant 3 on PS3 (VF5, R&C:F, Darkness) and 3 on 360 (Katamari, Halo 3, Bioshock). On the Wii I still go back and play Excite Truck, Super Paper Mario, Trauma Center, Super Monkey Ball, I still even play SSB:M, and still play Wii Sports and of couse now am very into Mario Galaxy.
See, there ARE gamers that just want to play the same games over and over with slightly better graphics, but they're obsessed with a few genres that they simply want to play in a perfect form because that's what really appeals to them. However, most other gamers want a wide variety of experiences and don't really care to play the same couple of games re-made and perfected over time while paying a ton of cash for new console versions or new game versions.
This is in fact what would even draw your average person into games, a wide variety of easily accessible yet deep experiences. With games like Excite Truck or Mario Galaxy or Trauma Center, or Monkey Ball, gamers can have casual fun with it yet they can also choose to get as deep as they want into the game perfecting their ability to play it and discovering the nuances and strategies, but they don't have to, and they can just have casual fun with them as well.
I think that games that keep getting re-made and obsess on a few tiny details and aren't genre-bending or genre-evolving are the fads, and you can tell by the amount of clones that keep popping up to cash in until the genres ram into the ground.
Halo 3 is fun but Halo 2 was just as fun. R&C:F is fun, but so were the first 3 games. On the Wii I'm seeing a lot more new stuff that keeps me hooked. Other systems just don't hold my interest.
Hmm well the people that turned away gamers were Gamestop... maybe they just don`t care about launch game sales (enough to order copies for everyone) and just care about getting the reserve fee from gamers to collect interest over time.
So far I'm up to the junk yard galaxy and I'm loving every second! I'm glad this is one of those Mario games where you just want to play the first level over and over because it's so much fun. I also can't believe the different things you can do to access different areas and secrets. I've been reading reviews that say that Mario Galaxy is not really innovative in the gameplay area, and are they ever wrong... I'm very happy about the graphics too!
I did get the coin. But you know what? I was pissed that they had to turn away gamers that did not reserve their copy while I had to collect such a coin, a coin in a box the size of a DVD case. You know, they could have easily shipped a ton of more copies of the game instead of shipping these trinkets. No, I didn't mind getting one, but I did mind seeing a lot of people disappointed for no reason. I know if I didn't pre-order the game I would have been with them. That's pretty crap.
Should we blame the democrats or should we blame the republicans?
I think the answer is that we should blame the people who went through with whatever US citizens don't agree with. If the government made rules that these people adhered to and still they were "allowed" to torture prisoners, then the answer is easy and that our government is not working in a way that we like, and both the republicans and democrats have allowed this to happen, because it is *US* who are the republicans and democrats and we can choose to hold our politicians accountable. Too bad we're too busy bickering amongst each other or saying "Well, we can't use this as ammo to fuel the fire so let's just throw this opportunity to tell the government what we don't like about them out the window."
Like police and other officials in authority, shouldn't the government not accept funds that go to individuals, but use any money given to them for example to pay off the debt or to reduce taxes or to give grants? Shouldn't the president live on minimum wage, if that's only what's necessary to live? Shouldn't the president be monitored by the people 24/7 to make sure they're doing a good job, to keep our interests at the forefront? The president is a public servant, so shouldn't their lives be dedicated to the public they are serving for the period of time that they are in office? After they are out of office, why do they still receive salaries? If all of this stuff didn't happen, then maybe the person who would take the job would do it because they really want the job badly, and not because of any other incentives, as there should be no other incentives. For the person that's supposed to run the country, shouldn't they do it out of purely wanting to improve things and wanting to be in that position?
When a company tries to attract employees, they try to foster an environment that would be best for who they want. Look at Google, for example. They give their employees time to tinker with hardware and software that geeks would wet their pants for, so they attract bright minds that would work there even if there wasn't a high salary (but you gotta live).
There's a lot of stuff I really don't get about the government. To attract a good president for that position, shouldn't they have to live by the rules they set (i.e. minimum wage is supposed to be enough for the cost of living, and why should the president live in a medium that isn't equivilant to that of the average american?), and shouldn't they have to want to do well in that position (i.e. their incentive to get into that position is to change things for the better, not to get paid and have it made in the shade)?
The environment we have created for president and I guess for a lot of the federal government is not condusive to what they are supposed to accomplish. It's more like dropping some people off at playland... I believe that they're severely out of touch with reality because they don't live like real people and aren't subject to real conditions with real consequences, and they don't have enough of a stake in normal every day lives that they would want to protect normal every day lives, or think about how people live and how to improve the situation for citizens.
Am I making sense? Cause honestly I can't even believe the government exists as-is today... considering what they are supposed to stand for and considering what would be ideal for the people and also considering many of the people we consider heroes in political history and the history of creating the american dream and what it's supposed to stand for.
One thing that killed Sega was that right after they released their premiere 32-bit platform, the 32-x, they released their OTHER primiere 32-bit platform, the Saturn. So after you bought all that Genesis kit you had to buy the Saturn. MS may not be bringing out a Saturn, but you could very well consider their next system as that, and if they keep gouging their customers for extras (extras on GAMES as well as hardware!!!) then gamers will do what I did with the Genesis and not buy their next system. I really loved the Genesis, even the Sega CD and 32x, but did not want to be gouged further.
The Xbox 360 should at least be able to stay alive one year... I'm on my 3rd (bought an Elite, hopefully this one will stand the test of time, I don't want to fool around with MS's refurbished ones anymore)... A piece of equipment that expensive, and designed to be used for at least 5 years, should not have these kinds of problems!
Why not have every game on a LiveCD of some sort, which can connect to the net and download updated drivers as needed onto a USB stick? The USB stick data can also be downloaded and copied in case the LiveCD can't even get you on the net.
What are they going to do, not distribute the GPL parts of SuSE? MS can profit from talent working at several OSS-building companies by hiring their employees, but how will they be the sole profiteers (which is their only intention regarding their own products) of software that is currently FOSS?
They could care about both if they released documentation for all API calls so that developers would know what type of behaviour to expect from certain calls. They don't, so developers program according to the behaviour they see, and they have no way of knowing if it doesn't work properly. If MS would release documentation, then they could fix it and the only stupid apps would be ones where developers did not look at the documentation at all.
What we need is a small portable efficient ODF viewer that can be used as a stand-alone app, as well as a browser plugin, just to render and view + print ODF files. That way people won't have to have large applications just to print these files.
Also, it seems to me though that (when sharing) OpenOffice users might not save in.odf or.doc format as much as they would PDF format, actually.
As others have pointed out, the PS3 has been out a similar length of time but is doing much worse, while the Wii has surpassed the XBox 360 in sales in half as much time on the market.
Since the Wii allows new ways to play, games of genres that users have never considered before now seem appealing. I never bought a golf game before, but I have my first for the Wii. I would never have considered it if it were on any other system. If the Wii is gathering dust on anyone's shelf, it is because games simply can't come out fast enough to satisfy those who bought one.
In my opinion, Wii seems to have many more games worth owning and playing compared to the other two. Personally I have all three consoles, with 22 games for the Wii, 4 for the XBox 360, and 2 for the PS3. I just have seen more high profile titles of multiple genres on the shelves that are worth buying for the Wii.
Wii: Trauma Center, Excite Truck, Super Monkey Ball, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Prime 3, Resident Evil 4, Need For Speed: Carbon, Godfather: Black Hand Edition, Sonic & Secret Rings, Wii Play, Wii Sports, Wario Ware Smooth Moves, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Call of Duty 3, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Tiger Woods, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi, Elebits, Spongebob Squarepants, SSX Blur, TMNT
Xbox 360: Bioshock, Burnout, Halo 3, Ridge Racer 6
PS3: Virtua Fighter 5, Ridge Racer 7
I still have to get other games for the Wii... Cooking Mama, Scarface, Mario Strikers, Mario Party, Zack & Wiki, there's probably more... Honestly, how are people bored? I admit there could be some longer games for the Wii, but considering it's on its first year, and considering the games actually worth playing on other consoles, what could there be to be upset about?
They then state they cannot be any good if they are free and they go buy either Norton or McAfee.
That makes sense, obviously since they knew all about the antivirus situation on their PCs they must know better than you about what antivirus to use. *rolls eyes* Maybe that ASUS motherboard with SplashTop will be the only desktop these people really need... they could've stumbled onto something here. Of course, livecds do the same and are more functional... attach USB storage for downloads and you're good to go.
Well, the Windows API hasn't really been a "moving target" for quite a while. Since Windows NT. Yeah, things have been added, but if you followed the rules, a 32-bit app written in 1995 should work just fine on Vista. Games being the exception.
If you follow the API like you say, then you're hamstrung into whatever the API allows you to do... there've been many times when developers needed to use undocumented features and build custom low level code because the functionality wasn't in the API. So in effect, you could only implement whatever MS has implemented already. I'm sure things today are a lot better than they used to be, but there will always be features developers have to implement themselves. If you're always behind MS, then you'll be behind whatever solution they offer, and you might be behind in patents as well. And if you patent it, would MS implement it in their OS and give you royalties on every copy they sell?
Why should a product that's designed to be used in a production environment receive an end-of-life? Shouldn't they have various platforms with ongoing support for different end-use? For example, companies have built software on Windows XP that refuse to work on later versions, or later versions have different properties (i.e. certain APIs no longer supported, 3rd party companion software that won't run on the new OS, different security model imposes different behaviour in the new OS, different licensing schemes not compatible with the software)... if MS cares about its developers that have invested in the platform they put out, wouldn't they keep supporting them? How could developers choose to program for a platform that's essentially a moving target that they can never lock down, and that they have to keep paying MS to use their own software, and even make changes to their software to accomodate MS's changes in their OS? Plus, every time you want to sell your solution to a customer, you have to charge them for MS's products as well. If you have software that requires Windows and Office, and you sell it to someone, you have to sell them Office and Windows and whatever other applications along with it, promoting MS's product, or at least putting your customers in the same position that MS is putting you in as a developer. Except that MS's support and guarantees are limited by their EULA. Isn't programming on Windows like an endless chase? Does it pay off in any way?
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If they want a drop-in alternative then they have to have documentation on the specifics of the files and protocols they want to interface with. MS provides no such thing and the states aren't making it clear that this is what MS should do, as EU is doing.
If they're remote controlled, there's always the possibility that someone will usurp control and you might end up with this?
Sorry, meant South Korea I guess. Never wrote anything on the subject of war before, didn't know people would react this way!? Anyway whatever...
If you REALLY want to be safe, just don't have bombs. Sure, some other country can have some and threaten us with them, but they'll be the tyrants, not us, and I'm sure when their citizens see how their government acts, they will be scared of them and not trust them or be happy themselves. We just have to take that risk if we really believe in freedom, which includes believing in the freedom of others and not being a possible looming threat to others. People look at North Korea and react by thinking "OMG, that nut could nuke us at any time!", is that how we (as people, in any country) should want to be seen? When people go to war, it's not actually the citizens, most often it's an extremist (whether they be politician or vigilante or whatever), because war is an extreme "solution". It's not really a solution, it's just an end. An end to whatever argument to get it over with and to start the aftermath already. Having bombs on standby does not really help anyone, it just increases the chance of everyone killing each other.
"After all, without copyright, what would become of the Copyright Alliance?"
There, fixed that for ya. What is that, like the new RIAA & MPAA? All I know is if I were an artist that distributed copyrighted works, and I am, I wouldn't really see it necessary to make money off my works after I'm dead. I wouldn't really want to profit off my work more than it's worth either, that's for consumers to decide. I'm a productive member of society and I don't need to leech off of everyone to stay alive, I'm perfectly capable.
Oh, ok, I see that The Copyright Alliance is a lobbying organization formed on May 17, 2007 by 29 companies and organizations including groups that represent songwriters, recording artists, film makers, authors, photographers and sports leagues (see members below). The group is led by Patrick Ross, who recently left the Progress and Freedom Foundation [The Progress & Freedom Foundation is a U.S. market-oriented think tank based in Washington, D.C. that studies the digital revolution and its implications for public policy.]
With such members such as RIAA, MPAA, NBC, Major League Baseball, Disney, Viacom, Time Warner, NFL, so basically everyone who is a conduit for someone else's talent.
I don't understand why cell phone gaming has to get better. Look at a mobile phone, it's in no way comfortable to hold one of those to play games properly. Then look at a DS. What, are we going to bring back side talking? Nobody wants to play the next Mario with a number pad, and nobody wants to have to carry around a cell phone that's larger than necessary.
Maybe if they don't just make a Nintendo Phone, but rather make a cartridge that you can slap in the DS to communicate with the cellular phone network and add bluetooth compatibility then THAT could be viable. At least if you get the DS Next, you can probably use the same cartridge and never have to worry about switching phones.
But if you're asking people to adopt a gaming platform that they have to subscribe to a monthly service to use, I don't think they'll go for it. As for plugging a game controller into your cell phone, that's something else you have to carry around. Part of what makes video game systems attractive is that the media is removable, you can share games, sell used ones, or rent them. It's also important to collectors and hobbyists that it's something tangable in your hands, the game. Part of what makes a phone attractive is its simplicity, unless you're just throwing money away anyway, and then you're not the target market for this. Or are you? It seems like a waste of money anyway.
Outside of Tetris, gaming + mobile phones probably shouldn't mix.
I guess kids can't handle the idea that something is imaginary or unrealistic, even though we encourage them to use and develop their imagination. Good idea, let's confuse them and let's not make any sense ourselves! Let's taboo things and hope they won't be drawn to them, that's worked in the past! I can see we're really evolving here as a society... and to think I was worried!
Yup, and my point is that I'd rather play remakes on Wii as well as the other innovative games that come up on Wii. It's better than just playing remakes on PS3 and 360 where developers are putting so much time into graphics that games are shipping with bugs and have hollow gameplay and level design due to rushing it to the market so players could have something to play :P
When I bought Ratchet & Clank, I had fun with it for a few hours and got to the third planet, but then I did put it down. I got Mario Galaxy, and it's not like Lode Runner or Q-Bert really, and the innovative thing about the game is the use of gravity, the level design, the camera, and the controls. What has R&C:F done over the other games besides a few sections where you are flying with motion controls or falling with motion controls? Even then, the other games had similar sections but w/o motion controls. Even the level makeups had you doing similar things. Mario is definitely an evolution and R&C:F is just a rehash.
How can you call Wii a passing fad when the PS3 and XBox 360 both are just rehashing genres and quickly porting games that were available or in development on PS2 and XBox? How can you call Wii a passing fad, when even on other consoles, a game that requires a gimmicky controller and that doesn't have the greatest graphics is catching on like wildfire (Guitar Hero III, soon Rock Band)?
:P) I realized it wasn't worth it just to be playing the same exact games with slightly better graphics. I wanted more than FPS, RTS, and MMORPG. At the time, consoles were providing much better games, and plus, the FPS/RTS/MMORPGs were starting to get good on consoles so if ever I got a craving, there were options.
I used to be the kind of person to upgrade my PC every other month just because I wanted the latest in graphics and processing, but after a while (it took me 2 or 3 years
Now it's kind of the same thing but with Wii vs other consoles... I could keep upgrading (and I did buy a PS3 and 360 as well, so I wouldn't miss out on anything) but I just have more fun playing different and more innovative games on the Wii.
I've got over 22 games on the Wii now and a scant 3 on PS3 (VF5, R&C:F, Darkness) and 3 on 360 (Katamari, Halo 3, Bioshock). On the Wii I still go back and play Excite Truck, Super Paper Mario, Trauma Center, Super Monkey Ball, I still even play SSB:M, and still play Wii Sports and of couse now am very into Mario Galaxy.
See, there ARE gamers that just want to play the same games over and over with slightly better graphics, but they're obsessed with a few genres that they simply want to play in a perfect form because that's what really appeals to them. However, most other gamers want a wide variety of experiences and don't really care to play the same couple of games re-made and perfected over time while paying a ton of cash for new console versions or new game versions.
This is in fact what would even draw your average person into games, a wide variety of easily accessible yet deep experiences. With games like Excite Truck or Mario Galaxy or Trauma Center, or Monkey Ball, gamers can have casual fun with it yet they can also choose to get as deep as they want into the game perfecting their ability to play it and discovering the nuances and strategies, but they don't have to, and they can just have casual fun with them as well.
I think that games that keep getting re-made and obsess on a few tiny details and aren't genre-bending or genre-evolving are the fads, and you can tell by the amount of clones that keep popping up to cash in until the genres ram into the ground.
Halo 3 is fun but Halo 2 was just as fun. R&C:F is fun, but so were the first 3 games. On the Wii I'm seeing a lot more new stuff that keeps me hooked. Other systems just don't hold my interest.
Hmm well the people that turned away gamers were Gamestop... maybe they just don`t care about launch game sales (enough to order copies for everyone) and just care about getting the reserve fee from gamers to collect interest over time.
So far I'm up to the junk yard galaxy and I'm loving every second! I'm glad this is one of those Mario games where you just want to play the first level over and over because it's so much fun. I also can't believe the different things you can do to access different areas and secrets. I've been reading reviews that say that Mario Galaxy is not really innovative in the gameplay area, and are they ever wrong... I'm very happy about the graphics too!
I did get the coin. But you know what? I was pissed that they had to turn away gamers that did not reserve their copy while I had to collect such a coin, a coin in a box the size of a DVD case. You know, they could have easily shipped a ton of more copies of the game instead of shipping these trinkets. No, I didn't mind getting one, but I did mind seeing a lot of people disappointed for no reason. I know if I didn't pre-order the game I would have been with them. That's pretty crap.
P.S. Holy crap is Mario Galaxy a good game.
Gee you're looking at it pretty black or white.
Should we blame the democrats or should we blame the republicans?
I think the answer is that we should blame the people who went through with whatever US citizens don't agree with. If the government made rules that these people adhered to and still they were "allowed" to torture prisoners, then the answer is easy and that our government is not working in a way that we like, and both the republicans and democrats have allowed this to happen, because it is *US* who are the republicans and democrats and we can choose to hold our politicians accountable. Too bad we're too busy bickering amongst each other or saying "Well, we can't use this as ammo to fuel the fire so let's just throw this opportunity to tell the government what we don't like about them out the window."
Like police and other officials in authority, shouldn't the government not accept funds that go to individuals, but use any money given to them for example to pay off the debt or to reduce taxes or to give grants? Shouldn't the president live on minimum wage, if that's only what's necessary to live? Shouldn't the president be monitored by the people 24/7 to make sure they're doing a good job, to keep our interests at the forefront? The president is a public servant, so shouldn't their lives be dedicated to the public they are serving for the period of time that they are in office? After they are out of office, why do they still receive salaries? If all of this stuff didn't happen, then maybe the person who would take the job would do it because they really want the job badly, and not because of any other incentives, as there should be no other incentives. For the person that's supposed to run the country, shouldn't they do it out of purely wanting to improve things and wanting to be in that position?
When a company tries to attract employees, they try to foster an environment that would be best for who they want. Look at Google, for example. They give their employees time to tinker with hardware and software that geeks would wet their pants for, so they attract bright minds that would work there even if there wasn't a high salary (but you gotta live). There's a lot of stuff I really don't get about the government. To attract a good president for that position, shouldn't they have to live by the rules they set (i.e. minimum wage is supposed to be enough for the cost of living, and why should the president live in a medium that isn't equivilant to that of the average american?), and shouldn't they have to want to do well in that position (i.e. their incentive to get into that position is to change things for the better, not to get paid and have it made in the shade)?
The environment we have created for president and I guess for a lot of the federal government is not condusive to what they are supposed to accomplish. It's more like dropping some people off at playland... I believe that they're severely out of touch with reality because they don't live like real people and aren't subject to real conditions with real consequences, and they don't have enough of a stake in normal every day lives that they would want to protect normal every day lives, or think about how people live and how to improve the situation for citizens.
Am I making sense? Cause honestly I can't even believe the government exists as-is today... considering what they are supposed to stand for and considering what would be ideal for the people and also considering many of the people we consider heroes in political history and the history of creating the american dream and what it's supposed to stand for.
One thing that killed Sega was that right after they released their premiere 32-bit platform, the 32-x, they released their OTHER primiere 32-bit platform, the Saturn. So after you bought all that Genesis kit you had to buy the Saturn. MS may not be bringing out a Saturn, but you could very well consider their next system as that, and if they keep gouging their customers for extras (extras on GAMES as well as hardware!!!) then gamers will do what I did with the Genesis and not buy their next system. I really loved the Genesis, even the Sega CD and 32x, but did not want to be gouged further.
The Xbox 360 should at least be able to stay alive one year... I'm on my 3rd (bought an Elite, hopefully this one will stand the test of time, I don't want to fool around with MS's refurbished ones anymore)... A piece of equipment that expensive, and designed to be used for at least 5 years, should not have these kinds of problems!
Why not have every game on a LiveCD of some sort, which can connect to the net and download updated drivers as needed onto a USB stick? The USB stick data can also be downloaded and copied in case the LiveCD can't even get you on the net.
What are they going to do, not distribute the GPL parts of SuSE? MS can profit from talent working at several OSS-building companies by hiring their employees, but how will they be the sole profiteers (which is their only intention regarding their own products) of software that is currently FOSS?
The PS3 can play high def videos and has wireless built in but the 360 will require $200 + $100 = $300 extra for that functionality. Just saying.
They could care about both if they released documentation for all API calls so that developers would know what type of behaviour to expect from certain calls. They don't, so developers program according to the behaviour they see, and they have no way of knowing if it doesn't work properly. If MS would release documentation, then they could fix it and the only stupid apps would be ones where developers did not look at the documentation at all.
What we need is a small portable efficient ODF viewer that can be used as a stand-alone app, as well as a browser plugin, just to render and view + print ODF files. That way people won't have to have large applications just to print these files.
.odf or .doc format as much as they would PDF format, actually.
Also, it seems to me though that (when sharing) OpenOffice users might not save in
As others have pointed out, the PS3 has been out a similar length of time but is doing much worse, while the Wii has surpassed the XBox 360 in sales in half as much time on the market.
Since the Wii allows new ways to play, games of genres that users have never considered before now seem appealing. I never bought a golf game before, but I have my first for the Wii. I would never have considered it if it were on any other system. If the Wii is gathering dust on anyone's shelf, it is because games simply can't come out fast enough to satisfy those who bought one.
In my opinion, Wii seems to have many more games worth owning and playing compared to the other two. Personally I have all three consoles, with 22 games for the Wii, 4 for the XBox 360, and 2 for the PS3. I just have seen more high profile titles of multiple genres on the shelves that are worth buying for the Wii.
Wii: Trauma Center, Excite Truck, Super Monkey Ball, Super Paper Mario, Metroid Prime 3, Resident Evil 4, Need For Speed: Carbon, Godfather: Black Hand Edition, Sonic & Secret Rings, Wii Play, Wii Sports, Wario Ware Smooth Moves, Rayman Raving Rabbids, Call of Duty 3, Zelda: Twilight Princess, Tiger Woods, Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi, Elebits, Spongebob Squarepants, SSX Blur, TMNT
Xbox 360: Bioshock, Burnout, Halo 3, Ridge Racer 6
PS3: Virtua Fighter 5, Ridge Racer 7
I still have to get other games for the Wii... Cooking Mama, Scarface, Mario Strikers, Mario Party, Zack & Wiki, there's probably more... Honestly, how are people bored? I admit there could be some longer games for the Wii, but considering it's on its first year, and considering the games actually worth playing on other consoles, what could there be to be upset about?
They then state they cannot be any good if they are free and they go buy either Norton or McAfee.
That makes sense, obviously since they knew all about the antivirus situation on their PCs they must know better than you about what antivirus to use. *rolls eyes* Maybe that ASUS motherboard with SplashTop will be the only desktop these people really need... they could've stumbled onto something here. Of course, livecds do the same and are more functional... attach USB storage for downloads and you're good to go.
Well, the Windows API hasn't really been a "moving target" for quite a while. Since Windows NT. Yeah, things have been added, but if you followed the rules, a 32-bit app written in 1995 should work just fine on Vista. Games being the exception.
If you follow the API like you say, then you're hamstrung into whatever the API allows you to do... there've been many times when developers needed to use undocumented features and build custom low level code because the functionality wasn't in the API. So in effect, you could only implement whatever MS has implemented already. I'm sure things today are a lot better than they used to be, but there will always be features developers have to implement themselves. If you're always behind MS, then you'll be behind whatever solution they offer, and you might be behind in patents as well. And if you patent it, would MS implement it in their OS and give you royalties on every copy they sell?
Why should a product that's designed to be used in a production environment receive an end-of-life? Shouldn't they have various platforms with ongoing support for different end-use? For example, companies have built software on Windows XP that refuse to work on later versions, or later versions have different properties (i.e. certain APIs no longer supported, 3rd party companion software that won't run on the new OS, different security model imposes different behaviour in the new OS, different licensing schemes not compatible with the software)... if MS cares about its developers that have invested in the platform they put out, wouldn't they keep supporting them? How could developers choose to program for a platform that's essentially a moving target that they can never lock down, and that they have to keep paying MS to use their own software, and even make changes to their software to accomodate MS's changes in their OS? Plus, every time you want to sell your solution to a customer, you have to charge them for MS's products as well. If you have software that requires Windows and Office, and you sell it to someone, you have to sell them Office and Windows and whatever other applications along with it, promoting MS's product, or at least putting your customers in the same position that MS is putting you in as a developer. Except that MS's support and guarantees are limited by their EULA. Isn't programming on Windows like an endless chase? Does it pay off in any way?