"1. Reduce time for advertising. 2. Charge more for said reduced time. 3. ??? 4. Profit!"
There wouldn't need to be a step 3. That has the potential to work. The main reason it isn't likely to happen, though, is that you'd be turning away dudes carrying bags of money.
"If you're using a resource -- ie. the phone line -- then why shouldn't you pay the owner according to how much you use it?"
That depends on how it's advertised. 'Unlimited' is not the same as 'within reason'. If AT&T advertises a per-minute charge and THEN people sign up, then I agree, no reason why not.
"Half of the Gamecube games released are first-party? They have a few best-selling handhelds?"
Sony sold over 96 million PS2's. This rationale's not strong enough.
Re:Nintendo's Wii akin to Chevrolet's Nova?
on
Both Sides of Wii
·
· Score: 1
"Yeah, like 'Dreamcast' with the Cinnabun logo."
This is not flamebait. When the Dreamcast and logo were announced, everybody reacted the same way they're reacting to the Wii now. Before Dreamcast, the system was called 'Katana'. Everybody thought that was cool. Then, one day, Sega announced the name Dreamcast and gave us a swirly logo. The jokes were flying. I even remember over at Next-Generation.com, shortly after the launch of the DC, the Editor published a letter from a reader that simply said: "Who's making fun of the Dreamcast name now?"
Nobody remembers this because the DC turned out to be a great machine. Nevertheless, it is true. I'm not picking on the DC here, that really happened.
Gee, Acts of Gord again. Here's a few problems with his post:
1.) He doesn't show us this fabled stock report.
2.) Stock reports are written to impress shareholders. They could have been using any number of rationalizations to cook up the $175 mil figure. Considering the '2 billion' spent on the PS2, we can already tell there's numerical gymnastics going on with that report. I have a dollar that says they spent a lot of money in the previouse quarter to produce the machines, and the 'profit' arrived in the next quarter.
3.) MANY reputatble gaming mags have reported that PS2s were sold at a loss. Next Generation even had an article talking about the problems Sony had with selling the machine at a loss to people who were buying it as a cheap DVD player. Sony has NEVER refuted this.
4.) Sony builds these machines with the intention of them being on the market for 10 years. Why wouldn't they sell them at a loss to get higher specced equipment in there?
5.) If Sony made so much money on each system, why is Nintendo killing them profit-wise?
I still can't believe that this story has gained so much steam considering that there are no verifiable sources for the info it claims to have. Gord is full of shit.
Re:Nintendo's Wii akin to Chevrolet's Nova?
on
Both Sides of Wii
·
· Score: 1
"There is such a thing as bad publicity. Remember New Coke?"
You're kidding, right? Coke's success after the delivery and withdrawl of the New Coke had people thinking they intentionally released New Coke as a marketting gimmick.
"Why oh why do people care? Hardcore/. nerds won't give a damn what it's called, they'll just want the specs and the reviews. Casual consumers won't remember what it's called, they'll just want to look at the pretty colours."
I've skimmed through here and I cannot believe that nobody remembers their gaming history. We all love the Dreamcast, right? When Sega was developing that system, it was called Katana. Cool. Genesis, cool. Saturn, cool. Then, one day, Sega announces "We're going to call this.... DreamCast". Oh man... NOBODY thought this was a cool name. Everybody ripped on them about it. Even the logo wasn't safe from snide remarks. Within a month or two of launch, all those comments died.
Moral of the story: Any name can sound stupid when the product isn't attached to it.
Re:Nintendo's Wii akin to Chevrolet's Nova?
on
Both Sides of Wii
·
· Score: 0, Flamebait
"I wonder why people keep bringing the "nova" example when there are much better ones."
"I mean, despite the crap name, what fucktard thought that custom optical discs would be a good idea?"
Yeah, damn Nintendo, Sega, and Sony!!
"individual discs are going to cost a shitload more to make than commodity CDs/DVDs, and as a consumer you'll need to pay extra to play CDs and DVDs which other consoles can do as standard"."
Heh yeah. Because GameCube, Playstation, and Dreamcast games were soOOOoOOOoo expensive.
"So that's a *really* good marketing move, right...?"
Reduces piracy. Check. Nintendo makes money on every game sale. Check. Audience won't know the difference. Check.
"Whilst it's kind of fun to watch companies imploding following a succession of *really* stupid decisions, it's still a bit of a shame."
Actually I agree, it is fun. Nintendo's busy imploding itself whilst turning more profit than Microsoft and Sony. Those incompetent bastards.
"I know that if I had stock in Nintendo, I'd be busy selling it as fast as possible."
Speaking of self-destructive behaviour...
"The Nintendo car crash has been coming for ages now, and it doesn't look like there's anyone at the wheel to do anything about it."
I remember similar hooplah over the Dreamcast. Everybody thought that both the name AND the swirl logo were awful. 'Katana' was so much cooler. That sentiment died shortly after launch. I'll be amazed if that happens again.
"What is it with Hollywood's fascination with prequels anyway?"
The sad thing is, I've yet to see a prequel done well. The reasons you've mentioned are limitations, but they're also windows of opportunity.
The future is known, right? So why make a prequel that supports it? What if what you thought you knew about it wasn't correct? What if the Sith were really the good guys? What if the Federation was built on slavery? What a difference a generation or three makes.
Risk of Established Canon? Typically a fair point. I'd refer back to my previous comment. First Contact was a semi-interesting example of it. Cochrane was recorded in history as a big hero to humanity, turns out he was just a regular guy with fairly selfish motives in mind.
On an unrelated note: I don't think your Borg example was very strong. They were the Borg from First Contact. If anything, they helped explain some of the other oddities in the series, such as the lack of the NX-01 in the 1701-D's conference room. I think a better example would have been the Feringi. The Federation had supposedly never met them, but obviously they ventured in to Star Fleet's space from time to time. That was not a smart move. Thanks B&B.
Anachronistic Special Effects: Okay, Star Trek was unusual here. The show started in the 60's. Deep Space Nine did a Forrest Gumpian venture into the past. They had no real choice but to follow that pattern. Modern shows like BSG wouldn't really suffer from this. Set construction these days has pretty much reached a point where just about any artistic vision can be made. Actually, this is one of the reasons the prequels come about anyway. When a movie alludes to a massive un-realizable event, a prequel made a few years later can offer the opportunity to make it happen.
Believe it or not, this is not a rebuttal to your post. Lots of opportunities are presented by prequels, but Hollywood just doesn't seem to be able to zero in on them. If they can't take these simple steps and make something compelling, then I agree, they shouldn't go this route. Gimmick gimmick gimmick.
"The multiple laser approach would be useful for reading game data, though."
Boy I hear that. I think the devs would enjoy being able to get at least two streams of data. One for game data and one for music, or something like that.
Actually, I've always wondered about this for hard drives, too.
"That was true... They changed to the blue laser during early talks to try and merge the formats, and Blu-Ray added a red laser for DVD backwards compatability. So now both formats use a blue and a red laser."
OT Question: Traditionally, speeding up the read rate from an optical drive was done by speeding up the rotation of the disc. Why didn't they try adding more than one laser?
Slashdot Mirror
Okay, I can buy that.
I still don't buy Gord's story, tho.
"He who does not listen, does not hear."
He who does not smell, does not smell.
Check me out! I'm was Master Yoda 'n shit! Snoochie boochies!
I'm filling out the on-line app, but for the life of me, I cannot recall what it said on Ron Jeremy's business card. Little help?
"1. Reduce time for advertising.
2. Charge more for said reduced time.
3. ???
4. Profit!"
There wouldn't need to be a step 3. That has the potential to work. The main reason it isn't likely to happen, though, is that you'd be turning away dudes carrying bags of money.
"If you're using a resource -- ie. the phone line -- then why shouldn't you pay the owner according to how much you use it?"
That depends on how it's advertised. 'Unlimited' is not the same as 'within reason'. If AT&T advertises a per-minute charge and THEN people sign up, then I agree, no reason why not.
"As did the product! Coincidence?"
You'd have an easier time judging that if you visited Google.
"Half of the Gamecube games released are first-party? They have a few best-selling handhelds?"
Sony sold over 96 million PS2's. This rationale's not strong enough.
"Yeah, like 'Dreamcast' with the Cinnabun logo."
This is not flamebait. When the Dreamcast and logo were announced, everybody reacted the same way they're reacting to the Wii now. Before Dreamcast, the system was called 'Katana'. Everybody thought that was cool. Then, one day, Sega announced the name Dreamcast and gave us a swirly logo. The jokes were flying. I even remember over at Next-Generation.com, shortly after the launch of the DC, the Editor published a letter from a reader that simply said: "Who's making fun of the Dreamcast name now?"
Nobody remembers this because the DC turned out to be a great machine. Nevertheless, it is true. I'm not picking on the DC here, that really happened.
Gee, Acts of Gord again. Here's a few problems with his post:
1.) He doesn't show us this fabled stock report.
2.) Stock reports are written to impress shareholders. They could have been using any number of rationalizations to cook up the $175 mil figure. Considering the '2 billion' spent on the PS2, we can already tell there's numerical gymnastics going on with that report. I have a dollar that says they spent a lot of money in the previouse quarter to produce the machines, and the 'profit' arrived in the next quarter.
3.) MANY reputatble gaming mags have reported that PS2s were sold at a loss. Next Generation even had an article talking about the problems Sony had with selling the machine at a loss to people who were buying it as a cheap DVD player. Sony has NEVER refuted this.
4.) Sony builds these machines with the intention of them being on the market for 10 years. Why wouldn't they sell them at a loss to get higher specced equipment in there?
5.) If Sony made so much money on each system, why is Nintendo killing them profit-wise?
I still can't believe that this story has gained so much steam considering that there are no verifiable sources for the info it claims to have. Gord is full of shit.
"There is such a thing as bad publicity. Remember New Coke?"
You're kidding, right? Coke's success after the delivery and withdrawl of the New Coke had people thinking they intentionally released New Coke as a marketting gimmick.
"Why oh why do people care? Hardcore /. nerds won't give a damn what it's called, they'll just want the specs and the reviews. Casual consumers won't remember what it's called, they'll just want to look at the pretty colours."
I've skimmed through here and I cannot believe that nobody remembers their gaming history. We all love the Dreamcast, right? When Sega was developing that system, it was called Katana. Cool. Genesis, cool. Saturn, cool. Then, one day, Sega announces "We're going to call this.... DreamCast". Oh man... NOBODY thought this was a cool name. Everybody ripped on them about it. Even the logo wasn't safe from snide remarks. Within a month or two of launch, all those comments died.
Moral of the story: Any name can sound stupid when the product isn't attached to it.
"I wonder why people keep bringing the "nova" example when there are much better ones."
Yeah, like 'Dreamcast' with the Cinnabun logo.
"... and look how well that worked out for Sega!"
Yeah. They made a kick ass console that lots of people miss.
"I mean, despite the crap name, what fucktard thought that custom optical discs would be a good idea?"
Yeah, damn Nintendo, Sega, and Sony!!
"individual discs are going to cost a shitload more to make than commodity CDs/DVDs, and as a consumer you'll need to pay extra to play CDs and DVDs which other consoles can do as standard"."
Heh yeah. Because GameCube, Playstation, and Dreamcast games were soOOOoOOOoo expensive.
"So that's a *really* good marketing move, right...?"
Reduces piracy. Check. Nintendo makes money on every game sale. Check. Audience won't know the difference. Check.
"Whilst it's kind of fun to watch companies imploding following a succession of *really* stupid decisions, it's still a bit of a shame."
Actually I agree, it is fun. Nintendo's busy imploding itself whilst turning more profit than Microsoft and Sony. Those incompetent bastards.
"I know that if I had stock in Nintendo, I'd be busy selling it as fast as possible."
Speaking of self-destructive behaviour...
"The Nintendo car crash has been coming for ages now, and it doesn't look like there's anyone at the wheel to do anything about it."
Bet you regret selling that stock, huh.
"Yay! Of course the "culture of overwork" is ingrained in the American culture (work ethic), and is hard to overturn. "
Heh. I love it when stereo-types collide. We're lazy over-working Americans.
"Did the FPS genre materialize as soon as the mouse was invented? "
Laughably, no. Computers couldn't have done FPS games when the mouse was invented. Bad example, plain and simple.
Yes, it could take a bit for game devs to come up to speed, but the optimist might point in the DS's direction with regards to that.
I remember similar hooplah over the Dreamcast. Everybody thought that both the name AND the swirl logo were awful. 'Katana' was so much cooler. That sentiment died shortly after launch. I'll be amazed if that happens again.
I have a brain the size of a planet, you insensitive clod!
"Never seen The Godfather, Part II, then?"
Honestly, no. Didn't even know that was a prequel. I appreciate you bringing it up, though. Finally got around to watching the first recently.
"What is it with Hollywood's fascination with prequels anyway?"
The sad thing is, I've yet to see a prequel done well. The reasons you've mentioned are limitations, but they're also windows of opportunity.
The future is known, right? So why make a prequel that supports it? What if what you thought you knew about it wasn't correct? What if the Sith were really the good guys? What if the Federation was built on slavery? What a difference a generation or three makes.
Risk of Established Canon? Typically a fair point. I'd refer back to my previous comment. First Contact was a semi-interesting example of it. Cochrane was recorded in history as a big hero to humanity, turns out he was just a regular guy with fairly selfish motives in mind.
On an unrelated note: I don't think your Borg example was very strong. They were the Borg from First Contact. If anything, they helped explain some of the other oddities in the series, such as the lack of the NX-01 in the 1701-D's conference room. I think a better example would have been the Feringi. The Federation had supposedly never met them, but obviously they ventured in to Star Fleet's space from time to time. That was not a smart move. Thanks B&B.
Anachronistic Special Effects: Okay, Star Trek was unusual here. The show started in the 60's. Deep Space Nine did a Forrest Gumpian venture into the past. They had no real choice but to follow that pattern. Modern shows like BSG wouldn't really suffer from this. Set construction these days has pretty much reached a point where just about any artistic vision can be made. Actually, this is one of the reasons the prequels come about anyway. When a movie alludes to a massive un-realizable event, a prequel made a few years later can offer the opportunity to make it happen.
Believe it or not, this is not a rebuttal to your post. Lots of opportunities are presented by prequels, but Hollywood just doesn't seem to be able to zero in on them. If they can't take these simple steps and make something compelling, then I agree, they shouldn't go this route. Gimmick gimmick gimmick.
"The multiple laser approach would be useful for reading game data, though."
Boy I hear that. I think the devs would enjoy being able to get at least two streams of data. One for game data and one for music, or something like that.
Actually, I've always wondered about this for hard drives, too.
"That was true... They changed to the blue laser during early talks to try and merge the formats, and Blu-Ray added a red laser for DVD backwards compatability. So now both formats use a blue and a red laser."
OT Question: Traditionally, speeding up the read rate from an optical drive was done by speeding up the rotation of the disc. Why didn't they try adding more than one laser?
"That's a different level. Configuring a firewall is comparable to making sure the timing of your valves is OK before you start using your car."
Yeah but those valves are timed before you buy it.
Can we please stop likening software to cars. It doesn't work.
"Because so many homosexuals engage in pre-marital sex."
In other words: Guilty until proven innocent.
"Whats the odds it's google with all that dark fiber?"
I wouldn't rule out Romulan Involvement...