They may have botched it for the customer, but it's sweet as all get out for them and Cingular.
And who do you think they care more about? heh
I just don't get it, if cingular is not subsidizing the phones then why any contract at all? It makes no sense since they would have greater market penetration with a more open phone. Unless of course Cingular is paying them a kick back on each service package sold. This would be a back door way of subsidizing without actually saying they were subsidizing.
First, you build in NPC and system controlled constraints. As one faction takes over more space the defenses around the remaining towns fortify. Taking all the cities of a factoun being set to "DNI" (Darn Near Impossible).
Second, the expansion just hit, and all the servers are being flooded with nooblet kiddies making blood elves, so see, you'll have as much population as you want soon enough. Enjoy what we have been dealing with on the other side of the fence for 2 years;)
Imagine an MMOG where once you get to the end game level you start to command troops and units. Engage in real time, world scale warfare. Build up so that a guild is a "nation" where each playing in the guild is commander of a squad/battalion/battlegroup. Set up towns and fortifications with Player directed NPC AI for defenses when the players weren't around.
The worlds would have to be far FAR larger to accommodate the same number of players per server if each were commanding a squad.
ALL schools should be producing thinkers. If you're in college part of why you're there should be to hone your mental abilities to cope with and master change around you. You go to college, supposedly, because you're smart and want to be smarter.
An engineering school needs to add practical abilities in engineering to that mix. So someone comes out with the skills to be an engineer, and hopefully the smarts to cope with change well.
Then again I am also a firm believer that any technical task or work can be accomplished by any sufficiently intelligent person with the right books/training.
If people read articles before posting headlines and summaries which could be considered volatile and flame inducing where would we be as a proper MS hating, Apple and Llinux loving society?
Please.. take your petty reason and logic and peddle them somewhere else, we have no need for those services here.
iPhone : You had me up until the "locked into Cingular" bit. Sorry.. deal breaker. Other phone companies will have comparable technology faster than MS can photocopy OSX features.
iTV : You're late to the party, and showing up in last years dress (720p)
So if they have the options of : A) Support the format with the restrictions the owners of the format require. B) Don't support the formats they know will be wanted by the users
They should choose B?
They aren't "following orders" in this case. They are doing what apparently is legally required for them to be allowed to support the format. If you want to vilify MS for things they choose to do which are malevolent (like in my opinion having 6 different versions of an OS which are simply licensing flags on the same codebase would constitute) they go right ahead and take them to task. But this doesn't seem to be one of those instances.
Could someone please elaborate for me a Lunix/Unix/OSX system which we can get currently which would play an HD-DVD disc with the HDCP flag up without requiring HDCP compliant DRM in place within the OS?
It seems MS is being bashed for following the requirements being set forth by the media producers. Whereas a number of MS practices may be less than honorable, in this case from what I see they are simply holding to the requirements of the format standard.
All in all I think the media companies like Sony have been given enough DRM rope and are within a year or two of effectively fashioning themselves a noose from it, but that's just MHO on the topic.
I had not really bought into the idea of "needing" a next gen console. I predominantly game on the PC. The day after x-mas I'm at a friends house for Poker and the wife goes into the other room and plays on the Wii they picked up. I am immediately informed that this device is on the "must acquire NOW, why didn't you get me one of those for xmas?!?!?" list.
So after xmas I start a ritual on my remaining vacation of checking stores around the DFW area for a Wii. Took a week and a day before I scored one (at a WalMart) and ever place I checked I got a familiar refrain...
"We have no Wiis in, we aren't sure when we'll get more. But we have these PS3's , wouldn't you like one of those?"
I also don't hear buzz amongst friends who have xbox 360's or PS3's about one game or the other, but everybody I know with a Wii raves about how much fun they are. I would say the leader out of the gates for this holiday is the Wii, with Xbox 360 out in front due to getting an early (by MONTHS) start.
Add in that Sony loss leads with the cost of production of the console being above retail. but Nintendo makes a profit on every console and you have a strange formula which actually says Nintendo is doing better. But I'm sure Sony will save the day for themselves with some well though out proprietary product that uses a standard or media format which they are the only really proponents of. That's how it works, right?
You're thinking that ALlofMP3 is going to actually go to court and do anything about this? They are operating within the laws of their country. If the RIAA wants to try to go to Russia and sue them more power to em. They won't get a user list out of AllOfMP3 from this.
They would reduce the increase in the size, and deliciousness, of the brain..
Oops.. did I say deliciousness? Ignore that, there's no way that this study could have been funded by hungry zombies hoping to fatten the calves before the slaught.. er.... never mind that too.
Aren't the anti-child pornography laws in place to protect children from abuse? Which children are being abused in making a cartoon again?
Then again , anti drug laws are there to protect us from the crime involved in drug trade, right? That's why once a pharmacy manages to legitimize the use of a drug it's suddenly decriminalized.. oh.. wait.. nm
Why? The reason I loved FireFly was that it had an actual cohesive story that was constantly moving forward through it with minimal sidetracks into other plot arcs.
One thing you can NEVER have in an MMORPG with today's technology and level of developer commitment is a world which actually changes. Every MMORPG to try this has failed (Horizons anybody?) because to have the world changing means constantly redeveloping the content that newer users come through, and that isn't feasible.
I can imagine it being a great and fun game for trader types, A little action. Can't seeing it doing well.
"and all hell should break loose at least once a month"
You know. A lot of players are already "married" to WoW, no need to say it needs to be a woman.
Seriously though. The problem here is that to have real actual events shaping the world means that old content has to go away as it's changed by events. This really doesn't work in the current framework of MMOG's because a new player needs to have the same amount of content as previous players had.
A perfect example in WoW, the Gnomish captial of Gnomeregan was overtaken and irradiated. (i.e. it's an instance characters go to and fight evil machines and irradiated bad guys) You would think after 2 years we would have cleaned that place out and gotten the gnomes back their capital city. The problem is if they now change up the game and say 'OK, it's clean.. you can all safely go home now!' then you have a gaping hole where a pretty important instance for that level was.
The reality is that MMOG's have to stay pretty much static except for new additions. That poor villager who needed you to kill 15 orcs 2 years ago will still be in need of help killing orcs from new people today. Because if you don't then your content developers will constantly be re-inventing the wheel and recreating old content which means no new content, which means losing customers.
Want to see what happens when a game determines that the users will control in world development? Go check out Horizons.
They did it all for the cookie yeah The cookie yeah The cookie
OKOKOK.. I'll stop.
Seriously, Organizations need to realize that pulling the US government into anything to get something regulated is almost always analogous to using nuclear weapons and lawyers. You only use them when you know both sides will lose, but you want to make sure your enemy is screwed just as badly.
In my book a hero is someone who risks themselves to save others. Many great political figures qualify because of taking stands which put themselves, and sometimes many others, at risk in order to accomplish the greater good.
Has Linus done this? Not that I don't think he's done great things, and any list of the major players in the history of computing would be remiss without him. But who exactly has he saved? And from what?
To me it seems a lot more like the magazine in question is just running out of people who could really be heroes stepping up and being heroes. So they're kinda grasping with this one.
"Wait.. you mean that by opening this up we won't have iron clad control over everything the user does with the product? And who is this in bed with me?!?!?!"
a) Apple - For pioneering the DRM model of "buying something doesn't really mean you OWN it" b) MS - for partnering up with this music company and cutting them in for considerations. c) The music industry - for general asshattery and the RIAA d) All of the above? e) CmdrTaco
Slashdot Mirror
They may have botched it for the customer, but it's sweet as all get out for them and Cingular.
And who do you think they care more about? heh
I just don't get it, if cingular is not subsidizing the phones then why any contract at all? It makes no sense since they would have greater market penetration with a more open phone. Unless of course Cingular is paying them a kick back on each service package sold. This would be a back door way of subsidizing without actually saying they were subsidizing.
In the case of the Wario/Warioware franchise...
Not broke.. no need of repairs.
I will withhold judgment on the Mario Franchise until I see the Mario title for Wii.
First, you build in NPC and system controlled constraints. As one faction takes over more space the defenses around the remaining towns fortify. Taking all the cities of a factoun being set to "DNI" (Darn Near Impossible).
;)
Second, the expansion just hit, and all the servers are being flooded with nooblet kiddies making blood elves, so see, you'll have as much population as you want soon enough. Enjoy what we have been dealing with on the other side of the fence for 2 years
Imagine an MMOG where once you get to the end game level you start to command troops and units. Engage in real time, world scale warfare. Build up so that a guild is a "nation" where each playing in the guild is commander of a squad/battalion/battlegroup. Set up towns and fortifications with Player directed NPC AI for defenses when the players weren't around.
The worlds would have to be far FAR larger to accommodate the same number of players per server if each were commanding a squad.
Pretty much Wow/Starcraft + shadowbane + CnC
ALL schools should be producing thinkers. If you're in college part of why you're there should be to hone your mental abilities to cope with and master change around you. You go to college, supposedly, because you're smart and want to be smarter.
An engineering school needs to add practical abilities in engineering to that mix. So someone comes out with the skills to be an engineer, and hopefully the smarts to cope with change well.
Then again I am also a firm believer that any technical task or work can be accomplished by any sufficiently intelligent person with the right books/training.
Well, anything I can get served to me in the Hot Chicks Room
Look here sir...
If people read articles before posting headlines and summaries which could be considered volatile and flame inducing where would we be as a proper MS hating, Apple and Llinux loving society?
Please.. take your petty reason and logic and peddle them somewhere else, we have no need for those services here.
You're just not picking this up?
Ahem...
mini-disc
Check out The VGCharts guys number
Those seem to mirror what I read on other sites. Wii coming up on 3 to 1 over PS3 in units sold.
Maybe MS is also thinking "Gee, those guys who put the fun in the box are doing pretty good.. aren't these supposed to be fun?!?"
iPhone : You had me up until the "locked into Cingular" bit. Sorry.. deal breaker. Other phone companies will have comparable technology faster than MS can photocopy OSX features.
iTV : You're late to the party, and showing up in last years dress (720p)
So if they have the options of :
A) Support the format with the restrictions the owners of the format require.
B) Don't support the formats they know will be wanted by the users
They should choose B?
They aren't "following orders" in this case. They are doing what apparently is legally required for them to be allowed to support the format. If you want to vilify MS for things they choose to do which are malevolent (like in my opinion having 6 different versions of an OS which are simply licensing flags on the same codebase would constitute) they go right ahead and take them to task. But this doesn't seem to be one of those instances.
Could someone please elaborate for me a Lunix/Unix/OSX system which we can get currently which would play an HD-DVD disc with the HDCP flag up without requiring HDCP compliant DRM in place within the OS?
It seems MS is being bashed for following the requirements being set forth by the media producers. Whereas a number of MS practices may be less than honorable, in this case from what I see they are simply holding to the requirements of the format standard.
All in all I think the media companies like Sony have been given enough DRM rope and are within a year or two of effectively fashioning themselves a noose from it, but that's just MHO on the topic.
As for the lack of a MS digital out on the xbox 360, have you read the specs for the next rev 360 which is in the pipes? You should.
d eo-xbox-360-zephyr-gets-hdmi
Check some details here:
http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/vi
I had not really bought into the idea of "needing" a next gen console. I predominantly game on the PC. The day after x-mas I'm at a friends house for Poker and the wife goes into the other room and plays on the Wii they picked up. I am immediately informed that this device is on the "must acquire NOW, why didn't you get me one of those for xmas?!?!?" list.
So after xmas I start a ritual on my remaining vacation of checking stores around the DFW area for a Wii. Took a week and a day before I scored one (at a WalMart) and ever place I checked I got a familiar refrain...
"We have no Wiis in, we aren't sure when we'll get more. But we have these PS3's , wouldn't you like one of those?"
I also don't hear buzz amongst friends who have xbox 360's or PS3's about one game or the other, but everybody I know with a Wii raves about how much fun they are. I would say the leader out of the gates for this holiday is the Wii, with Xbox 360 out in front due to getting an early (by MONTHS) start.
Add in that Sony loss leads with the cost of production of the console being above retail. but Nintendo makes a profit on every console and you have a strange formula which actually says Nintendo is doing better. But I'm sure Sony will save the day for themselves with some well though out proprietary product that uses a standard or media format which they are the only really proponents of. That's how it works, right?
You're thinking that ALlofMP3 is going to actually go to court and do anything about this? They are operating within the laws of their country. If the RIAA wants to try to go to Russia and sue them more power to em. They won't get a user list out of AllOfMP3 from this.
Not enough good acronyms with Z in them. This adds an aire of leetness to the whole thing.
They would reduce the increase in the size, and deliciousness, of the brain..
Oops.. did I say deliciousness? Ignore that, there's no way that this study could have been funded by hungry zombies hoping to fatten the calves before the slaught.. er.... never mind that too.
Aren't the anti-child pornography laws in place to protect children from abuse? Which children are being abused in making a cartoon again?
Then again , anti drug laws are there to protect us from the crime involved in drug trade, right? That's why once a pharmacy manages to legitimize the use of a drug it's suddenly decriminalized.. oh.. wait.. nm
Why? The reason I loved FireFly was that it had an actual cohesive story that was constantly moving forward through it with minimal sidetracks into other plot arcs.
One thing you can NEVER have in an MMORPG with today's technology and level of developer commitment is a world which actually changes. Every MMORPG to try this has failed (Horizons anybody?) because to have the world changing means constantly redeveloping the content that newer users come through, and that isn't feasible.
I can imagine it being a great and fun game for trader types, A little action. Can't seeing it doing well.
"and all hell should break loose at least once a month"
You know. A lot of players are already "married" to WoW, no need to say it needs to be a woman.
Seriously though. The problem here is that to have real actual events shaping the world means that old content has to go away as it's changed by events. This really doesn't work in the current framework of MMOG's because a new player needs to have the same amount of content as previous players had.
A perfect example in WoW, the Gnomish captial of Gnomeregan was overtaken and irradiated. (i.e. it's an instance characters go to and fight evil machines and irradiated bad guys) You would think after 2 years we would have cleaned that place out and gotten the gnomes back their capital city. The problem is if they now change up the game and say 'OK, it's clean.. you can all safely go home now!' then you have a gaping hole where a pretty important instance for that level was.
The reality is that MMOG's have to stay pretty much static except for new additions. That poor villager who needed you to kill 15 orcs 2 years ago will still be in need of help killing orcs from new people today. Because if you don't then your content developers will constantly be re-inventing the wheel and recreating old content which means no new content, which means losing customers.
Want to see what happens when a game determines that the users will control in world development? Go check out Horizons.
They did it all for the cookie
yeah
The cookie
yeah
The cookie
OKOKOK.. I'll stop.
Seriously, Organizations need to realize that pulling the US government into anything to get something regulated is almost always analogous to using nuclear weapons and lawyers. You only use them when you know both sides will lose, but you want to make sure your enemy is screwed just as badly.
In my book a hero is someone who risks themselves to save others. Many great political figures qualify because of taking stands which put themselves, and sometimes many others, at risk in order to accomplish the greater good.
Has Linus done this? Not that I don't think he's done great things, and any list of the major players in the history of computing would be remiss without him. But who exactly has he saved? And from what?
To me it seems a lot more like the magazine in question is just running out of people who could really be heroes stepping up and being heroes. So they're kinda grasping with this one.
Google wants to give phones as long as you agree to watch ads.
People want to take phones and then ignore or bypass the ads.
At some point these two things will become in conflict. Just like ads on web sites. How many people have ad blockers again?
Someone at Apple woke up one morning and said..
"Wait.. you mean that by opening this up we won't have iron clad control over everything the user does with the product? And who is this in bed with me?!?!?!"
Which are the evildoers now?
a) Apple - For pioneering the DRM model of "buying something doesn't really mean you OWN it"
b) MS - for partnering up with this music company and cutting them in for considerations.
c) The music industry - for general asshattery and the RIAA
d) All of the above?
e) CmdrTaco