You know they'll end up with a tiered model just like the 360 did. That way they can advertise a lower price for the one model (appearing less expensive) yet still offer the premium bundle for those who want the hard drive.
As for competing with Xbox Live, it had better be a damn good service. Ever since buying my Xbox I have been quite impressed with the workings of Live; even more so with the 360. There's not much I can really see being added in terms of features though. Personally, I'm quite happy with the Live features ad I'm not really sure there's anything I feel I need that I don't have. Price point may be a good way to beat Live (as Live is rather pricey), but with the projected price of the PS3, I somehow doubt that. Either way, it's great that they've made the move to an Xbox Live type system as opposed to the old system, and I look forward to trying it out. Guess E3 will be our first real look at it.
On a random rant...the 360 hard drive though is somewhat of a rip-off anyway. I mean it comes pretty much half full out of the box. I saw somewhere that Microsoft may soon be offering the ability to buy full Xbox games off of the Live Marketplace. If this is true, you'll almost certainly need a bigger hard drive. You'll be bale to fit what...like 4 or 5 games on there before it's full? Sure a lot of people already have the games in original hard copy anyway, but if you're going to think like that why even launch such a service. Of course...it may be nothing but a rumour.
Funnily enough though, I'm sure some would argue that gaming does in fact count as a sport in accordance with the definition you posted. Their argument (and yes I have heard this argument) is that while gaming they are physically exerting themselves. They argue that moving fingers to press buttons and arms to move the mouse (in a PC game) is just as acceptable physical exertion as say running to catch a football or a pitcher throwing a fastball in baseball. Even if you don't agree with this definition of physical exertion, what about games like DDR? It's competitive, it's recreational, it involves physical exertion, so could we classify that as a sport? What about if I start playing it with the controller instead of the dance pad, is it no longer a sport anymore?
The problem I see with these ratings systems is that they simply do not work unless properly enforced. Here in Canada, I can recall going into stores on multiple occasions and buying M rated games without being IDed or anything. EBGames around here always seems pretty good about the policy. I was never able to buy an M rated game from EB without first being asked for ID. The first time I did it I honestly had no clue why they were doing it.
What I'm trying to say is that you can make up all of the ratings systems that you want, but if stores don't adhere to these regulations it is somewhat of a moot point. What I am curious about is what the punishment is for stores selling the new Z rated games to minors is. If stores can sell these games to minors and then receive only a slap on the wrist, why bothering following the rules if you will just lose the sales to the guy down the street who doesn't follow the rules. I think that for this plan to be effective, the punishments have to be harsh. It is comparable to selling cigarettes to minors in a way. Under the Tobacco Sales Act here in Canada, stores that sell cigarettes to minors are really only looking at fines of %500 or so. Even though they could be hit with fines up to $2500 and jail time for a first offense, this is quite a rare occurrence. The punishment does increase for subsequent times being caught, but until that first time there really is very little to deter them from selling these cigarettes. The profits they'd be making far outweigh the losses they would incur from the fine.
Unless the fines or punishments are set quite high, I can't see this making much of a difference. Sure, there will be stores that enforce it since there are still some good people left in the world. The problem is there are also a lot of people who want to make money any way they can, be it breaking the law or not.
I remember when Ocarina of Time first launched, I had it preordered. I only really preordered as I wanted to be "cool" and have the special gold cartridge. The day it came out, I was at school, but my dad offered to go pick it up for me at the local Toys R' Us. According to him it was just pure chaos. There were people everywhere, huge lines outside, with people pushing and shoving to get to the front of the non-preorder line. This was a big Toys R' Us, but apparently they weren't getting many copies of the game in. On his way out, my dad was being offered cash left, right, and center. Someone actually offered him $250 to sell the game to him then and there. Short of the Xbox 360, you don't really see this much anymore. Perhaps there was a shortage with the Ocarina of Time cartridges as well, but ether way, people definitely wanted that game...and rightfully so after playing it.
Slashdot Mirror
You know they'll end up with a tiered model just like the 360 did. That way they can advertise a lower price for the one model (appearing less expensive) yet still offer the premium bundle for those who want the hard drive. As for competing with Xbox Live, it had better be a damn good service. Ever since buying my Xbox I have been quite impressed with the workings of Live; even more so with the 360. There's not much I can really see being added in terms of features though. Personally, I'm quite happy with the Live features ad I'm not really sure there's anything I feel I need that I don't have. Price point may be a good way to beat Live (as Live is rather pricey), but with the projected price of the PS3, I somehow doubt that. Either way, it's great that they've made the move to an Xbox Live type system as opposed to the old system, and I look forward to trying it out. Guess E3 will be our first real look at it. On a random rant...the 360 hard drive though is somewhat of a rip-off anyway. I mean it comes pretty much half full out of the box. I saw somewhere that Microsoft may soon be offering the ability to buy full Xbox games off of the Live Marketplace. If this is true, you'll almost certainly need a bigger hard drive. You'll be bale to fit what...like 4 or 5 games on there before it's full? Sure a lot of people already have the games in original hard copy anyway, but if you're going to think like that why even launch such a service. Of course...it may be nothing but a rumour.
Funnily enough though, I'm sure some would argue that gaming does in fact count as a sport in accordance with the definition you posted. Their argument (and yes I have heard this argument) is that while gaming they are physically exerting themselves. They argue that moving fingers to press buttons and arms to move the mouse (in a PC game) is just as acceptable physical exertion as say running to catch a football or a pitcher throwing a fastball in baseball. Even if you don't agree with this definition of physical exertion, what about games like DDR? It's competitive, it's recreational, it involves physical exertion, so could we classify that as a sport? What about if I start playing it with the controller instead of the dance pad, is it no longer a sport anymore?
The problem I see with these ratings systems is that they simply do not work unless properly enforced. Here in Canada, I can recall going into stores on multiple occasions and buying M rated games without being IDed or anything. EBGames around here always seems pretty good about the policy. I was never able to buy an M rated game from EB without first being asked for ID. The first time I did it I honestly had no clue why they were doing it. What I'm trying to say is that you can make up all of the ratings systems that you want, but if stores don't adhere to these regulations it is somewhat of a moot point. What I am curious about is what the punishment is for stores selling the new Z rated games to minors is. If stores can sell these games to minors and then receive only a slap on the wrist, why bothering following the rules if you will just lose the sales to the guy down the street who doesn't follow the rules. I think that for this plan to be effective, the punishments have to be harsh. It is comparable to selling cigarettes to minors in a way. Under the Tobacco Sales Act here in Canada, stores that sell cigarettes to minors are really only looking at fines of %500 or so. Even though they could be hit with fines up to $2500 and jail time for a first offense, this is quite a rare occurrence. The punishment does increase for subsequent times being caught, but until that first time there really is very little to deter them from selling these cigarettes. The profits they'd be making far outweigh the losses they would incur from the fine. Unless the fines or punishments are set quite high, I can't see this making much of a difference. Sure, there will be stores that enforce it since there are still some good people left in the world. The problem is there are also a lot of people who want to make money any way they can, be it breaking the law or not.
I remember when Ocarina of Time first launched, I had it preordered. I only really preordered as I wanted to be "cool" and have the special gold cartridge. The day it came out, I was at school, but my dad offered to go pick it up for me at the local Toys R' Us. According to him it was just pure chaos. There were people everywhere, huge lines outside, with people pushing and shoving to get to the front of the non-preorder line. This was a big Toys R' Us, but apparently they weren't getting many copies of the game in. On his way out, my dad was being offered cash left, right, and center. Someone actually offered him $250 to sell the game to him then and there. Short of the Xbox 360, you don't really see this much anymore. Perhaps there was a shortage with the Ocarina of Time cartridges as well, but ether way, people definitely wanted that game...and rightfully so after playing it.