"I think that it's entirely possible that the name issue could actually be a significant market differentiator for the two products. The "HD-DVD" products may come off as seeming like being just a minor upgrade to the old DVD standard, whereas Blu-Ray could seem to be a much fancier, different product."
I find that unlikely. Imagine a dude who upgraded to HD. He watches HD. He loves HD. Then he puts a standard DVD in his player and.. well. it's not HD. So what does he do? He goes to the store and browses around. Suddenly, he happens across the word HD-DVD. That's exactly what he was looking for.
I can sort of see your point, though, but in a different context. If the dude goes to buy the player and the sales person says "Well, HD-DVD is okay, but this Blu-Ray thing is better...", then yeah, I could see the "minor upgrade" aspect of your post coming true.
My rebuttal is focused on a small context of your post, not the big picture. In my mind, there's not enough info to say one will really outdo the other.
" I think people prefer things they can say, blue-ray vs h-d-d-v-d."
Maybe. But we're talking about a next-generation DVD that works with HD. HD-DVD. What Average Joe that has recently purchased an HDTV would instantly thing Blu-Ray has anything to do with his home theater?
"Honestly, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but the entire tone of this article is "I'm calling you an idiot; what're ya gonna do about it?"
I had a slightly different take. I thought he was trying to gather together an army of people who don't want to be idiots so they support his view and fight the battle.
Dunno if that's the case here, but I've seen it on web forums. "I don't like BSG!" "Me too! I look more sophisticated and intelligent by having a different view!" "STFU!"
Bingo. She had a great motivation to be the hero of this story. I think it also helped that the movie didn't take itself too seriously. My girlfriend isn't too keen on super-violent movies, but she got a kick out of that one. I was surprised when we watched the first one and she wanted me to go get the second. I think it's exactly for the reason you mentioned.
"I can understand email, since it needs to be accessed everywhere, but word processing? With hard drives reaching the 750GB level, what purpose do online only application serve besides easy access?"
Easy access is exactly the appeal of it. Right now, my gmail account has a bunch of 'drafts' that actually store some ideas I've had at home and at work. I've written psuedo-code for some Lightwave scripts I plan on writing down the road. (You never know when inspiration hits you.) I've heard of people working on their novels through email. I wouldn't mind having my resume on-hand and ready to go. Etc.
Maybe I don't strictly need an on-line version of Office, but I certainly wouldn't mind giving it a go. I've wanted something like this since I started using GMail. It has nothing to do with lack of storage, never did.
"How does a startup become large enough that Sony, Nintendo, or Nintendo will consider entering into a licensing deal? Should a team of relatively inexperienced developers try to start their own company, or do they instead have to abandon family and move to Greater Seattle?"
Venture capital. If they have a good idea, they'll be invested in. How do you think game companies get started in the first place? Also, how'd we wind up at the bottom of the developer's pool? Hehehe.
"Now you blame device drivers and anti-virus software, go on."
Actually, I was just going to say I don't believe you. A stable Win2K/XP box isn't that hard to come by. You're either telling a tall tale or you've put the same piece of shit hardware in every single one of those machines. I'm going to laugh if you say they were all from Compaq.
"So if the DS is closed, and the PSP is closed, and North American smartphones are often closed (many carriers let their customers run only signed midlets), which handheld system should a startup game development company target?"
If a company wants to make games, sign the license deal with the PSP, DS, or GBA.
"The latter. Was there a specific reason why gaming on Palm OS never really took off?"
There were a few reasons. Here's a short list: - These were not game machines. No standard screen, controls, sound, or even processor. - Market was all wrong. The cheap palms were no good for gaming and $400 was too much for something relatively decent. - No graphics related hardware. No sprites, etc. The 64mhz DS graphically out-performs a 200mhz iPaq.
It's also worth mentioning that a touch screen does not a DS make. It's the sum of its compenents that make the DS souch a great machine. Even with 802.11, a Palm Pilot/PocketPC would not be a perfect alternative to the DS.
"Yes, I am serious. Take out the exclusive Nintendo characters, and touch based games such as WarioWare: Touched! or Kirby: Canvas Curse could have been done just as well on a Palm or Pocket PC device. "Rub it!"
Erm. Okay. So is your point that the Palm Pilot had a touch screen, or that developers could have made games for it instead of Nintendo?
"The only reason XP/2003 stopped BSODing, is Microsoft made them automatically reboot instead."
Mm hmm. Meanwhile, I have personal experience across a wide variety of machines that XP and 2K does NOT BSOD. (I'm talking 20+ machines, not exaggerating.) Lots of people would back me up on this.
"I am a homosexual. I bought an Apple computer because of its well earned reputation for being "the" gay computer. Since I have become an Apple owner, I have been exposed to a whole new world of gay friends. It is really a pleasure to meet and compute with other homos such as myself. I plan on using my new Apple computer as a way to entice and recruit young schoolboys into the homosexual lifestyle; it would be so helpful if you could produce more software which would appeal to young boys. Thanks in advance."
Don't have the balls to log in, eh? I guess it was likely that you'd use an OS supported by Eunuchs.
"Obviously you have no great love for Nintendo, but c'mon....If you spent all that time working on it, you could at least get the acronym for the Game Boy Advance right."
Do a little Googling. You'll find that AGB was the acronymn for the Game Boy Advance. Clicky.
"You mention the DS, but the real example of where Nintendo has gone right with 3rd parties is the GBA. Development kits are dirt cheap for the GBA, you can even find open-source/free SDKs. The result is that any store I've been to that has a GBA section is almost always overflowing with games (even though probably >95% are total garbage)."
To be fair, Nintendo has had a monopoly over portable gaming since before even the launch of the GBA. At least until the PSP came out, if you wanted to make a portable game, Nintendo was your only choice. It's probably fair of me to point out that the GBA came out before the GameCube, but the GC's third party support suffered badly. The reason I chose the DS is that it actually has a competent competitor. (and before anybody argues, the PSP has done FAR better than any other non-Nintendo portable.)
"I hope nintendo will be able to bring 3rd party developers back into the fold. that 'quality not quantity' is a lame excuse. i want both."
I dunno if I agree with that last bit. I actually got rid of my Playstation when they started flooding the shelves with crappy titles. I was scared for a while that Sony was going to do to the industry what Atari did. Fortunately, that hasn't happened, but man... I was a video game salesman when the PSOne landed. Oh boy. My job was to play the games so I could advise people n whether a game would be interesting to them or not. In the PSOne's case, most times it was "skip it" or "Meh, it's okay, not sure you'd want to spend $50 on it." As I understand it, the PS2 did far better in that department.
I'm really happy with the GC, but I did end up buying a PS2 for a couple of the titles I really wanted. In that respect, yes, I'd like to see more third party support. I just don't want another flood of crap. For me personally, the N64 was a far better investment than the PSOne. I'm basing that on the amount of money I spent vs. the amount of fun I had. I think Nintendo was right that time around. In this case, though, the Rev is distinctive enough that they'd likely do far better if they could get a huge library for it.
"I can see if the guy was researching something online but he was goofing off."
In this case, you're probably right. However, I've gotten busted for this. My boss came in, saw me playing Solitaire, and geared up to yell at me. I minimized the window to reveal my computer was rendering. "IE eats too much RAM." I was off the hook. Heh.
Down the road, we were encouraged to browse the web from time to time. Almost everybody at that office had something to gain by reading up on tech news sites and so forth. Even Slashdot was expressly allowed. (Although I doubt my boss would have OK'd that if she had ever wandered into the comments section.)
I'm really teeter-tottering on this. Nintendo has stated with EVERY console they've made in the last 10 years that it'll have extensive 3rd party support. I'm a raving Nintendo fanboy who believes everything Nintendo tells me, but I'm shaking my head reading this. "Prove it."
That said, there are some encouraging things in their favor: 1.) Development systems are very cheap.
2.) By most accounts, this hardware isn't all that different from the GC hardware, transitioning to it should be easy.
3.) We still do not have all of the details about the wi-fi service. Maybe they'll allow developers to release games exclusively for it?
4.) MS and Sony have standards in place about things such as HD support for their games. This means more asset creation which means more money to develop the game. The Rev, being somewhat inferior in terms of technology, has a much lower barrier to entry.
5.) The Nintendo DS is very popular, largely in part due to the attention paid to the interface and wifi connection. Perhaps more developers will see the Rev as less of a gamble.
So.. I'm undecided. Nintendo has promised this many before and hasn't delivered. Nintendo has also, however, changed their habits before. At least they recognize mistakes were made. So.. well I just don't know.
Slashdot Mirror
Welp, I figured you'd appreciate a good laugh. My computer froze tonight. A couple of hours after rebooting, it BSOD'd.
No real point to make here, but considering the time frame, I figured you'd enjoy a good laugh at my expense. I certainly deserve it.
G'nite, man.
"Am I supposed to imagine he would even notice that the DVD signal was not HD?"
Can you honestly tell me that somebody who's watching 1080p on his 40+" screen isn't going to notice that his DVDs are significantly softer?
I've heard this complaint a few times. That's why HD-DVR + HBO == goodness for HD owners.
"I think that it's entirely possible that the name issue could actually be a significant market differentiator for the two products. The "HD-DVD" products may come off as seeming like being just a minor upgrade to the old DVD standard, whereas Blu-Ray could seem to be a much fancier, different product."
.. well. it's not HD. So what does he do? He goes to the store and browses around. Suddenly, he happens across the word HD-DVD. That's exactly what he was looking for.
I find that unlikely. Imagine a dude who upgraded to HD. He watches HD. He loves HD. Then he puts a standard DVD in his player and
I can sort of see your point, though, but in a different context. If the dude goes to buy the player and the sales person says "Well, HD-DVD is okay, but this Blu-Ray thing is better...", then yeah, I could see the "minor upgrade" aspect of your post coming true.
My rebuttal is focused on a small context of your post, not the big picture. In my mind, there's not enough info to say one will really outdo the other.
" I think people prefer things they can say, blue-ray vs h-d-d-v-d."
Maybe. But we're talking about a next-generation DVD that works with HD. HD-DVD. What Average Joe that has recently purchased an HDTV would instantly thing Blu-Ray has anything to do with his home theater?
"Honestly, everyone is entitled to their own opinions but the entire tone of this article is "I'm calling you an idiot; what're ya gonna do about it?"
I had a slightly different take. I thought he was trying to gather together an army of people who don't want to be idiots so they support his view and fight the battle.
Dunno if that's the case here, but I've seen it on web forums. "I don't like BSG!" "Me too! I look more sophisticated and intelligent by having a different view!" "STFU!"
"Mario Revolution (Mario 128) Expect Nintendo to showcase their new controller's abilities with this much-anticipated title."
For some reason, I'm imagining Mario 128 to be a Lemmings'esque game where you use the wand to controll them.
"I really want this chick to kick ass!"
Bingo. She had a great motivation to be the hero of this story. I think it also helped that the movie didn't take itself too seriously. My girlfriend isn't too keen on super-violent movies, but she got a kick out of that one. I was surprised when we watched the first one and she wanted me to go get the second. I think it's exactly for the reason you mentioned.
Works for me.
Have a good night.
"I can understand email, since it needs to be accessed everywhere, but word processing? With hard drives reaching the 750GB level, what purpose do online only application serve besides easy access?"
Easy access is exactly the appeal of it. Right now, my gmail account has a bunch of 'drafts' that actually store some ideas I've had at home and at work. I've written psuedo-code for some Lightwave scripts I plan on writing down the road. (You never know when inspiration hits you.) I've heard of people working on their novels through email. I wouldn't mind having my resume on-hand and ready to go. Etc.
Maybe I don't strictly need an on-line version of Office, but I certainly wouldn't mind giving it a go. I've wanted something like this since I started using GMail. It has nothing to do with lack of storage, never did.
"How does a startup become large enough that Sony, Nintendo, or Nintendo will consider entering into a licensing deal? Should a team of relatively inexperienced developers try to start their own company, or do they instead have to abandon family and move to Greater Seattle?"
Venture capital. If they have a good idea, they'll be invested in. How do you think game companies get started in the first place? Also, how'd we wind up at the bottom of the developer's pool? Hehehe.
"Now you blame device drivers and anti-virus software, go on."
Actually, I was just going to say I don't believe you. A stable Win2K/XP box isn't that hard to come by. You're either telling a tall tale or you've put the same piece of shit hardware in every single one of those machines. I'm going to laugh if you say they were all from Compaq.
"So if the DS is closed, and the PSP is closed, and North American smartphones are often closed (many carriers let their customers run only signed midlets), which handheld system should a startup game development company target?"
If a company wants to make games, sign the license deal with the PSP, DS, or GBA.
"The latter. Was there a specific reason why gaming on Palm OS never really took off?"
There were a few reasons. Here's a short list:
- These were not game machines. No standard screen, controls, sound, or even processor.
- Market was all wrong. The cheap palms were no good for gaming and $400 was too much for something relatively decent.
- No graphics related hardware. No sprites, etc. The 64mhz DS graphically out-performs a 200mhz iPaq.
It's also worth mentioning that a touch screen does not a DS make. It's the sum of its compenents that make the DS souch a great machine. Even with 802.11, a Palm Pilot/PocketPC would not be a perfect alternative to the DS.
"Yes, I am serious. Take out the exclusive Nintendo characters, and touch based games such as WarioWare: Touched! or Kirby: Canvas Curse could have been done just as well on a Palm or Pocket PC device. "Rub it!"
Erm. Okay. So is your point that the Palm Pilot had a touch screen, or that developers could have made games for it instead of Nintendo?
"Not even Palm, which had "touch" gaming years before the DS?"
Are you serious?
"The only reason XP/2003 stopped BSODing, is Microsoft made them automatically reboot instead."
Mm hmm. Meanwhile, I have personal experience across a wide variety of machines that XP and 2K does NOT BSOD. (I'm talking 20+ machines, not exaggerating.) Lots of people would back me up on this.
NT != 95.
"So basically they patented a GUI with static text saying "Buffering..."? :-)"
That's more of a trademark than a patent.
"I am a homosexual. I bought an Apple computer because of its well earned reputation for being "the" gay computer. Since I have become an Apple owner, I have been exposed to a whole new world of gay friends. It is really a pleasure to meet and compute with other homos such as myself. I plan on using my new Apple computer as a way to entice and recruit young schoolboys into the homosexual lifestyle; it would be so helpful if you could produce more software which would appeal to young boys. Thanks in advance."
Don't have the balls to log in, eh? I guess it was likely that you'd use an OS supported by Eunuchs.
"Now we get to see Mario done by multipe studios! Go Nintendo!"
It'd be a nice break from FPS shooters, racing sims, and fighting games.
"Obviously you have no great love for Nintendo, but c'mon....If you spent all that time working on it, you could at least get the acronym for the Game Boy Advance right."
Do a little Googling. You'll find that AGB was the acronymn for the Game Boy Advance. Clicky.
"You mention the DS, but the real example of where Nintendo has gone right with 3rd parties is the GBA. Development kits are dirt cheap for the GBA, you can even find open-source/free SDKs. The result is that any store I've been to that has a GBA section is almost always overflowing with games (even though probably >95% are total garbage)."
To be fair, Nintendo has had a monopoly over portable gaming since before even the launch of the GBA. At least until the PSP came out, if you wanted to make a portable game, Nintendo was your only choice. It's probably fair of me to point out that the GBA came out before the GameCube, but the GC's third party support suffered badly. The reason I chose the DS is that it actually has a competent competitor. (and before anybody argues, the PSP has done FAR better than any other non-Nintendo portable.)
"I hope nintendo will be able to bring 3rd party developers back into the fold. that 'quality not quantity' is a lame excuse. i want both."
I dunno if I agree with that last bit. I actually got rid of my Playstation when they started flooding the shelves with crappy titles. I was scared for a while that Sony was going to do to the industry what Atari did. Fortunately, that hasn't happened, but man... I was a video game salesman when the PSOne landed. Oh boy. My job was to play the games so I could advise people n whether a game would be interesting to them or not. In the PSOne's case, most times it was "skip it" or "Meh, it's okay, not sure you'd want to spend $50 on it." As I understand it, the PS2 did far better in that department.
I'm really happy with the GC, but I did end up buying a PS2 for a couple of the titles I really wanted. In that respect, yes, I'd like to see more third party support. I just don't want another flood of crap. For me personally, the N64 was a far better investment than the PSOne. I'm basing that on the amount of money I spent vs. the amount of fun I had. I think Nintendo was right that time around. In this case, though, the Rev is distinctive enough that they'd likely do far better if they could get a huge library for it.
"I can see if the guy was researching something online but he was goofing off."
In this case, you're probably right. However, I've gotten busted for this. My boss came in, saw me playing Solitaire, and geared up to yell at me. I minimized the window to reveal my computer was rendering. "IE eats too much RAM."
I was off the hook. Heh.
Down the road, we were encouraged to browse the web from time to time. Almost everybody at that office had something to gain by reading up on tech news sites and so forth. Even Slashdot was expressly allowed. (Although I doubt my boss would have OK'd that if she had ever wandered into the comments section.)
I'm really teeter-tottering on this. Nintendo has stated with EVERY console they've made in the last 10 years that it'll have extensive 3rd party support. I'm a raving Nintendo fanboy who believes everything Nintendo tells me, but I'm shaking my head reading this. "Prove it."
That said, there are some encouraging things in their favor:
1.) Development systems are very cheap.
2.) By most accounts, this hardware isn't all that different from the GC hardware, transitioning to it should be easy.
3.) We still do not have all of the details about the wi-fi service. Maybe they'll allow developers to release games exclusively for it?
4.) MS and Sony have standards in place about things such as HD support for their games. This means more asset creation which means more money to develop the game. The Rev, being somewhat inferior in terms of technology, has a much lower barrier to entry.
5.) The Nintendo DS is very popular, largely in part due to the attention paid to the interface and wifi connection. Perhaps more developers will see the Rev as less of a gamble.
So.. I'm undecided. Nintendo has promised this many before and hasn't delivered. Nintendo has also, however, changed their habits before. At least they recognize mistakes were made. So.. well I just don't know.
"Aren't we done with pokemon yet??"
I think I read somewhere that you don't actually have to buy Pokemon games.