"If there were an open media format with a multitude of player in that size, I think you'd find a LOT more takers."
Fair enough. Sadly, Sony doesn't play that game. For me, the UMD would have been a home run if Sony had either put a TV-out on the PSP or made a DVD player that also had a UMD slot. In addition to that, they had enough space to put the PSP formatted version of the movie in addition to a broadcast sized version of it. If they had done those two things, I would have considered purchasing UMDs instead of DVDs. Bear in mind, though, I always saw them for $15, not $30. (That was at Walmart, if anybody's curious.) The lack of bonus features would have sucked, but in some cases I would have traded them for a portable version.
I like portable movies, but not enough to go buying them every month unless they can do the job DVDs do.
"Besides, how many of you can pull yourselves from your computers long enough to play on a console?"
Me. I'm in the minority, though, I'm sick of gaming on the PC. I'm sick of getting new video cards every few months. I'm sick of installing games. I'm even sick of sitting at my desk to play. I like to play on the couch. I also like the variety afforded to me on a console.
"As trait of my nacionality, I am Brazilian, I don't like to be rude and to offend people, more so with someone I don't know personaly. In fact, many of us here are unconfortable with being rude even with people that we actually dislike or consider them as a enemy."
Hehe. Believe it or not, I know that from personal experience. I've been to Brazil. I have a lot of nice things to say about the people there, made me envious in many ways. (I think the USA has lost some of its hospitality over the years...)
In any event, we're cool man. THanks for replying, and have a great weekend.:)
I'm not rushing to Vonage's defense or anything, just figured I'd share my experience with them. I live in West L.A. and I have Comcast as an ISP. I pay $25 a month for Vonage. I've had it for two months, and it's great. They mailed me a router, I plugged it in, plugged in the phone, and moments later I had a phone signal. I was actually VERY surprised by this, I didn't have to set up ANYTHING. I've had no dropped calls. The voicemail works really well. (Being able to download your voicemail through the net is damn cool.) Caller ID works. I used a referral and got the first two months free, plus the referred person got a month of service free. Went very well.
I've only had one problem. I was talking to my mom on the phone when I absent-mindedly decided to upload a file. I could hear her, but she couldn't hear me. When I aborted the xfer, the call went back to normal. File this under D for Duh. If anybody has any tips on how to deal with this (i.e. a Windows FTP client that limits upload bandwidth...) I'm all ears.
So, yes, you need a good internet service. Yes, the same bandwidth rules still apply. Yes, your mileage may vary. It is a good service, especially for somebody like me who doesn't want to have a landline.
"The entire game is advertising... for itself! The pile of money made from the sales of Pokémon cards, carrying cases, movies, books, toys is enough to suffocate anyone."
Erm... that's merchandising, not 'in-game advertising'. Unless those games are actually telling you to run out and buy trading cards, the difference is pretty big.
"Why is Nintendo the only sane console company this year? Seems like Microsoft and Sony are fighting to get the top spot for shooting themselves in the foot..."
Nintendo is a game company, Sony and Microsoft are gadget companies. You know how people complain that Microsoft bought their way into the game market? Sony did the same thing in 95. Now all eyes are on Nintendo to put things right again.
"A robotic NASA spacecraft designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite instead crashed into its target."
NASA was able to extract the satellite that was deeply embedded into the ship's hull using the M.A.N.O.S. manipulator system. The extraction appeared successful until the M.A.N.O.S. manipulators let the satellite go free. In a Bugs Bunny'esque fashion, the satellite hovered for a moment before it suddenly plummeted into the Earth's atmosphere. NASA wouldn't reveal any details about which satellite had burned up in the atmosphere, but insiders have hinted that it was a powerful telescope.
"Yeah, it's just motors and weights, but you also need to know how to translate the feeling of moving over a rough/sticky/whatever surface into movment of the motor so that it feels realistic."
This is an important point. Assuming the patent in question specifically talks about using these motors within gaming, it's specific enough to be a valid patent. I think what the other poster is suffering from hindsight.
"If it debuted for $200 when and why did the price take such a drastic nose dive?"
I can offer a suggestion. The $200 NES came with two controllers, two games, a light zapper, and ROB the video robot. The $100 version came with only one controller and no games. Possible?
"Analysts may be really unreliable people, but it's pretty hard to jack this up. If we look at the link from the PS3 article (clicky), we notice that every Nintendo console ever has launched at $200."
Yeah... but that's going back like 20 years. $200 today isn't the purchasing power of $200 back when the NES was launched. Personally, I hope Nintendo launches for $300, but beefs up the hardware more. I'd have no problem plunking down that extra $100 if they'd just double the RAM. The current rumor is that it has 104 megs... I don't care about the processing, but a bump to 256 meg would be noticable right away...
I'm operating under different logic, I think, than Nintendo is. I think they're going to sell out at $200. There'll be a drought for a while, then they'll finally fill demand. In my mind, that's just wasted money. Launch it for $300 for the first year then drop it to $200. Probably won't happen, but I can dream.
"If Sony wants to market to an exclusive lot, that's fine and entirely their perogative. But they won't sell many copies that way, and they're not going to make a lot of money that way. Where's SNK right now? I think last I heard they went bankrupt. Sony could learn from that example."
The Neo Geo's games cost $200 each. THAT is what kept the Neo Geo in niche status, not the original price tag.
Oh, and SNK is still around. They just announced, of all things, a port of one of their popular Neo Geo franchises to the Wii.
"Sony cannot claim that for the PS3, because no matter how many processors its core system is equivalent to, the end user is not going to see a dramatic difference between it and, say, the XBox 360."
I agree with this point. This is what will sink the PS3. Not the launch price.
Slashdot Mirror
"If there were an open media format with a multitude of player in that size, I think you'd find a LOT more takers."
Fair enough. Sadly, Sony doesn't play that game. For me, the UMD would have been a home run if Sony had either put a TV-out on the PSP or made a DVD player that also had a UMD slot. In addition to that, they had enough space to put the PSP formatted version of the movie in addition to a broadcast sized version of it. If they had done those two things, I would have considered purchasing UMDs instead of DVDs. Bear in mind, though, I always saw them for $15, not $30. (That was at Walmart, if anybody's curious.) The lack of bonus features would have sucked, but in some cases I would have traded them for a portable version.
I like portable movies, but not enough to go buying them every month unless they can do the job DVDs do.
Some even have a 640 by 480 screen. No more trans-coding!
"I've been reading /. for years and have noticed a general downward trend in the quality of stories posted, but this represents an all-time low."
I've been around for at least 5 years, when were Slashdot's stories high quality?
"Besides, how many of you can pull yourselves from your computers long enough to play on a console?"
:)
Me. I'm in the minority, though, I'm sick of gaming on the PC. I'm sick of getting new video cards every few months. I'm sick of installing games. I'm even sick of sitting at my desk to play. I like to play on the couch. I also like the variety afforded to me on a console.
To each is own, of course.
"And how successful were those consoles?"
The 3DO sold 6 million units. Imagine what would have happened if they had Sony's library.
"As trait of my nacionality, I am Brazilian, I don't like to be rude and to offend people, more so with someone I don't know personaly. In fact, many of us here are unconfortable with being rude even with people that we actually dislike or consider them as a enemy."
:)
Hehe. Believe it or not, I know that from personal experience. I've been to Brazil. I have a lot of nice things to say about the people there, made me envious in many ways. (I think the USA has lost some of its hospitality over the years...)
In any event, we're cool man. THanks for replying, and have a great weekend.
"I don't think even $100k of hooker time would generate any interest in their platform."
That depends on if it has Blackjack or not...
Spam's lame, too.
Thank you! :)
Hehe cheers.
I can picture Hobbes saying "I got my wish."
I'm not rushing to Vonage's defense or anything, just figured I'd share my experience with them. I live in West L.A. and I have Comcast as an ISP. I pay $25 a month for Vonage. I've had it for two months, and it's great. They mailed me a router, I plugged it in, plugged in the phone, and moments later I had a phone signal. I was actually VERY surprised by this, I didn't have to set up ANYTHING. I've had no dropped calls. The voicemail works really well. (Being able to download your voicemail through the net is damn cool.) Caller ID works. I used a referral and got the first two months free, plus the referred person got a month of service free. Went very well.
I've only had one problem. I was talking to my mom on the phone when I absent-mindedly decided to upload a file. I could hear her, but she couldn't hear me. When I aborted the xfer, the call went back to normal. File this under D for Duh. If anybody has any tips on how to deal with this (i.e. a Windows FTP client that limits upload bandwidth...) I'm all ears.
So, yes, you need a good internet service. Yes, the same bandwidth rules still apply. Yes, your mileage may vary. It is a good service, especially for somebody like me who doesn't want to have a landline.
"41 light years = 12.5703778 Parsecs. I love google calculator."
Wow! That's about as fast as the Falcon!
"Please, by no means I was impliing or telling that your are an idiot or any other "bad name" for that matter."
:)
I agree with your other points, but I wanted to touch on this one: I wasn't trying to say I thought you thought I was an idiot. Sorry about that.
I'm kinda depressed by that.
"The entire game is advertising... for itself! The pile of money made from the sales of Pokémon cards, carrying cases, movies, books, toys is enough to suffocate anyone."
Erm... that's merchandising, not 'in-game advertising'. Unless those games are actually telling you to run out and buy trading cards, the difference is pretty big.
"Why is Nintendo the only sane console company this year? Seems like Microsoft and Sony are fighting to get the top spot for shooting themselves in the foot..."
Nintendo is a game company, Sony and Microsoft are gadget companies. You know how people complain that Microsoft bought their way into the game market? Sony did the same thing in 95. Now all eyes are on Nintendo to put things right again.
"A robotic NASA spacecraft designed to rendezvous with an orbiting satellite instead crashed into its target."
NASA was able to extract the satellite that was deeply embedded into the ship's hull using the M.A.N.O.S. manipulator system. The extraction appeared successful until the M.A.N.O.S. manipulators let the satellite go free. In a Bugs Bunny'esque fashion, the satellite hovered for a moment before it suddenly plummeted into the Earth's atmosphere. NASA wouldn't reveal any details about which satellite had burned up in the atmosphere, but insiders have hinted that it was a powerful telescope.
"Reply to: "That's no moon..." "...that's a (boink!)"
Scientific progress goes boink??
"Yeah, it's just motors and weights, but you also need to know how to translate the feeling of moving over a rough/sticky/whatever surface into movment of the motor so that it feels realistic."
This is an important point. Assuming the patent in question specifically talks about using these motors within gaming, it's specific enough to be a valid patent. I think what the other poster is suffering from hindsight.
"If only it were a cheap piece of crap."
Wait... are we talking about cheap as in beer, or cheap as in American Freedom?
"If it debuted for $200 when and why did the price take such a drastic nose dive?"
I can offer a suggestion. The $200 NES came with two controllers, two games, a light zapper, and ROB the video robot. The $100 version came with only one controller and no games. Possible?
"Ram is always really low; the PS3 has what, 128mb?"
:)
512, just like the XBOX 360.
"Analysts may be really unreliable people, but it's pretty hard to jack this up. If we look at the link from the PS3 article (clicky), we notice that every Nintendo console ever has launched at $200."
Yeah... but that's going back like 20 years. $200 today isn't the purchasing power of $200 back when the NES was launched. Personally, I hope Nintendo launches for $300, but beefs up the hardware more. I'd have no problem plunking down that extra $100 if they'd just double the RAM. The current rumor is that it has 104 megs... I don't care about the processing, but a bump to 256 meg would be noticable right away...
I'm operating under different logic, I think, than Nintendo is. I think they're going to sell out at $200. There'll be a drought for a while, then they'll finally fill demand. In my mind, that's just wasted money. Launch it for $300 for the first year then drop it to $200. Probably won't happen, but I can dream.
"That's the same hardware as a Genesis, which cost $150."
ARRRRRRRRRRRGh I hope you're not implying that the Genesis's graphics were in any way similar to the Neo Geo's.
"If Sony wants to market to an exclusive lot, that's fine and entirely their perogative. But they won't sell many copies that way, and they're not going to make a lot of money that way. Where's SNK right now? I think last I heard they went bankrupt. Sony could learn from that example."
The Neo Geo's games cost $200 each. THAT is what kept the Neo Geo in niche status, not the original price tag.
Oh, and SNK is still around. They just announced, of all things, a port of one of their popular Neo Geo franchises to the Wii.
"Sony cannot claim that for the PS3, because no matter how many processors its core system is equivalent to, the end user is not going to see a dramatic difference between it and, say, the XBox 360."
I agree with this point. This is what will sink the PS3. Not the launch price.