Two very interesting articles from Wired Magazine:
Microsoft has allocated over one billion dollars to extend all XBOX 360's warranties by 3 years, because so many of the machines are going bad.
In typical fashion, Microsoft plans on taking over the world - now they're going to attack the "Casual Market" and focus on "peripheral based" gaming. Of course, in doing so they are validating Nintendo on every level possible:
I bought Resident Evil 4 and immediately noticed the issue.
That's what's happening, although that guy has it worse.
At first I thought something was wrong with my Sharp 32" 32SC26B, but then, once I knew what to look for, I saw the issue in every Wii game I have, just to a lesser degree (since, surprise surprise, WiiSports doesn't exactly tax the system).
So sad. I bought my kids' Wii in December. And here I was SOOO ready for RE4 - I made my kids leave the room, even my 10yo who doesn't scare easy, and my brother and I sat down and we were ready for some action. During the car ride sequence we started to wonder what was up.
All I had to do was plug the Adapter to the secondary port of my Master X1900 XT, not the main one, and turn off Crossfire, and then Pharra can "see" the TV and start outputting to it.
MAME LOOKS GREAT!
The darn ATI DVI -> Component Out adapter [see post] I bought does nothing.
I set my resolution to 800x600, then went to Advanced, Adapter Tab, "See All Modes," set 640x480, 32bit color, 60MHz (didn't see 30MHz for interlaced TV), and shut Pharra, my PureXS [blogs|shrine], down. I turned on the Sharp 32" TV, rebooted, and nothing. The TV never got a signal.
Perhaps X1900 XT's can't do this. Perhaps I should turn off Crossfire... but not, it should have gotten a signal at least.
Bleh. $25 for the adapter and $20 for the (far too short) component cable). And here all I wanted to do was run MAME.
They're on their way!
| Brand | SAPPHIRE |
| Model | 100907 |
| Features | DVI to HDTV Adapter |
| Brand | CABLES TO GO |
| Model | 29112 |
| Features: | |
| Velocity component video interconnects by Impact Acoustics will improve the performance of your progressive scan video sources by providing a much better interconnect solution than the “throw away” cables that are included with most consumer electronics products. The oxygen free copper center conductor and foamed PE dielectric work to maintain 75 ohm characteristic impedance. The dual braided oxygen free copper shields and aluminum foil sheath offer protection from environmental noise and interference. Robustly constructed using color coded molded connectors that attach to an ultra flexible jacket, Velocity cables are the epitome of easy installation and identification. 24K gold plated heavy duty connectors ensure long lasting, highly conductive signal connections. Connectors: RCA Plug x3 to RCA Plug x3 Oxygen free copper conductors for efficient signal transmission 100% Aluminum foil and braided OFC shield protect against noise and interference Bonded cable construction provides for neat and easy component video connections Molded connectors feature precision made 24K gold plated contacts to ensure long lasting quality Ultra flexible jacket for easy installation UL listed | |
| Specifications: | |
| Type | Component Cables |
| Length | 3 FT |
| Color | Blue |
| A high quality component video interconnect, a perfect upgrade to the cables that come with consumer electronic components. Ideal for connecting progressive scan video components to monitors and other devices. Weight: 0.38 lbs | |
Some hyper-rich college student named Brianna was selling it because, she said, she's moving to Iowa to enroll in Law School. I found it on Craigslist, which is classifieds specific to the city you are in - if you don't use it try it out.
I say "hyper-rich" because she lived in a gated, passworded, ritzy condo complex. She was thin, blond and prissy, and had two or three girlfriends who were much the same, and one tall, skinny white guy with them.
I brought with me my daughter, Maria de Guadalupe, and my brother, Esteban.
First Test: WiiSports (Wii)
To test the TV we attached the Wii and its component cables and tried WiiSports. The women didn't want to touch it but the guy wanted to try bowling. Maria joined and the white guy was surprised he and I were not only being beaten, but trounced upon by a little girl. Esteban whispered to her in Spanish and they'd chuckle. "Who's winning? Lu-pi-ta!" emphasis on the "little girl beats grown men." She and Esteban giggled until she beat us 287 to 237 and 239, mine being the lowest score.
The birds in the distance, just a few pixels big, look blurry on my wife's 32" Sylvania (RCA inputs), and looked clearer, but shimmered on the Wal-Mart special, the 32" ILO (IWT3206) that I had to return. But the 32SC26B supports 480p, not just 480i. The birds no longer shimmered, and the picture was much clearer. MAN! What a difference between 480i "SDTV" and 480p "EDTV".
White People Are Funny
So it came time to pay $200 (for a $369 new) TV and take it home. The white guy offered to help carry it, and I said "Sure, I'll let Esteban take my place, he's stronger."
Well the white guy tries to heft this thing and mind you, he's only about as big as me, only taller, and with GAP clothes... so it's not long before he starts to lose it. His face turns red and he starts to slip, so Esteban, perplexed, just leans into it a bit and ends up hefting most of the TV across the street to Rafael, my wife's minivan.
By the time they get there, the white guy's face was about as red as Esteban's (brilliant red) shirt, and my brother and my daughter start laughing. I go back inside with the guy to pick up the TV stand and come back, and they're still laughing about something.
"What?" I asked. They made shushing noises.
"What? What's so funny?" They shook their heads and made motions to be quiet, while they kept chuckling.
"Okay, sirs, well I'm gunna go." the white guy said and left with one of the prissy girls. Then Esteban and Maria burst out laughing.
Esteban said "He looked like he was about to pop. He came up acting so strong and I'm thinking 'What's the matter? Pffft this isn't so heavy.' so I just carry more of it myself."
Maria pointed out "His ego was stronger than him." Esteban and I got a kick out of that observation.
Internet / Gmail on the Wii
Gmail is not only easy to read, the TV cuts off less at the top and bottom of the screen, which was a bad problem on the junky IWT3206. Maria is quite happy.
Shadow of the Colossus (PS2)
The component cables I got for the Wii also has adapters for the XBOX 360 and PS2/PS3 (which appear to be the same).
Not only does the game look crystal clear (so clear, some textures shimmer, but overall I'd say the detail is more pleasing to the eye than a blurry picture with less apparent shimmer), but the TV allows you to arbitrarily set it to 16:9 format! The craptastic IWT3206 didn't - it supposedly recognized wide-aspect cable feeds and adjusted itself accordingly, but it had no idea if a videogame was using that resolution. The 32SC26B allows you to just set 16:9 anytime you want - so I can play Shadow of the Colossus in widescreen and see more area left to right if I want. I can probably do this with widescreen Wii games if there is a setting I can get to to make the game use that mode regardless of what it thinks the TV is.
Summary
I am very happy with the TV and first and foremost grateful to God. It is so frequent that he blesses us on a special day (Father's Day, a Birthday, etcetera) by giving us something that seems bad (that TV I had to return) and ends up even better (a TV better than the one I bought if it had worked for less money).
I went without a 32" TV for two nights - returned it Tuesday, got the "new" one on Thursday evening and had time to play WiiSports at home, and show Esteban Shadow of the Colossus after Maria went to bed.
I had a fantastic Father's Day, complete with:
Dove cued me into an excellent revelation:
The real failure of the XBOX 360 and the PS3 are the same: Sony and Microsoft both made the console that their fanbase said they wanted. They assumed that people would answer "within reason" or "within how much they would be willing to pay for what they say they want."
Of course, people don't do that. The first rule of usability is "don't listen to users." (Instead, watch what they do.)
Nintendo came along and said "Well, our research says they'll spend $250. What can we cram into that?"
The PSP is what everyone said they wanted - a GameBoy Advance that plays 3d games. Then the NDS comes out with less power and trumps it - because it lets you do something new, to interact in a new way. The Wii is essentially the same. It's called "Blue Ocean" strategy in business leet speak.
GP2X versus PSP
This is something I see come up a lot, for some reason. GP2X versus PSP? Not truly comparable, because the GP2X is such a niche device. If you want a handheld that does non-3d emulation, you get a GP2X. You are already "not normal" for even wanting emulation, let alone open source.
If you could only get one, as always, the question boils down to "What kind of games do you want to play, and how much are you willing to pay for them?"
My GP2X thumbstick / joystick broke a while ago (October of 2006 I think), and a friendly person in the GP2X community who repairs cellular phones has offered to fix it for the low, benevolent cost of - of - OF... shipping!
So Grahf gets the Mensch of the Month Award.
I've even torrented a 2GB image of a GP2X SD card setup and everything. I'm stoked.
Thinking hard about how the world really is can HURT, so I went back to some old game news and found something nicely written:
Two important things to notice:
Sony and Microsoft have effectively barred the gates from people buying their consoles, because they have tauted the HDTV capabilities so much, the average consumer thinks he needs an HDTV (a whole new expense factor) in order to enjoy an XBOX 360 or PS3.
The Folding@Home numbers (which show the PS3 as accounting for 2/3rd of all calculation power when it numbers 27,000 to almost 200,000 computers) imply a fallacy.
According to Folding@Home, GPUs account for the greatest amount of calculations (while CPUs are necessary for others). But the only GPUs supported are flagship tier ATI 1900XT & 1900XTX (presumably 1950XT as well), not Nvidia nor 1800XT's.
This makes the PlayStation 3 greatly weighted against the PC, because not only do they have seven Cell processors (GPUs, in Folding@Home's eyes), but most PC's don't have the required videocard to even try to take on the PS3.
This makes the PS3 seem to dominate computers, when the reality is that it's not an even playing field.
My words are in green. I am attempting to end the "The Wii is analogous to the Dreamcast" debate between myself and my very smart best male friend. Because this research represented an investment of my time, because my mind cannot keep track of factual details while his can, I didn't want to simply e-mail the work to him and have it be lost, so I present it here.
From Wikipedia:
This era began with the launch of the Sega Dreamcast in November 1998 in Japan and September 1999 in the U.S.. However, the impending and much-hyped PlayStation 2 competed with the Dreamcast before it was even released;
This is something the Wii did not face, because the XBOX 360 had already come out and failed to wow gamers because it was more of the same - graphics. The old industry illusion that graphics, not content, sells games, which is why games get released before they are ready - they are released as soon as the graphics engine is done (Neverwinter Nights 1 & 2, countless other games).
Also, the Wii's controllers created enough buzz that, along with Sony's Ross Perot messages concerning the PS3 (faltering, changing, unclear), the Wii surmounted this issue that the Dreamcast faced.
this, combined with Sega's tarnished reputation among Saturn owners and third party developers limited its adoption.
Again, the Dreamcast released with hardly any games, and it was 9 months into its life before it even had as many games as the Wii.
For more, see the Dreamcast launch.
The release of the anticipated Playstation 2 in March 2000 in Japan and October 2000 in the U.S. meant that the Dreamcast no longer enjoyed its status as the sole next-generation console. The brand Sony had established with the original PlayStation was a major factor in their victory, both in terms of securing a consumer base and attracting third party developers;
Here the tables are reversed: Sony is becoming the Sega Saturn - the system that is too difficult to program for (cell processors on the PS3 and badly meshed dual cores on the Saturn), too expensive ($400 Saturn versus $300 PlayStation), while the Microsoft XBOX 360 is enjoying developer support, entrenched console sales over 16 months (which effect game sales) and great games (such as Gears of War).
the gradual increase in one tending to reinforce the other. The PlayStation 2 was able to play DVDs and was backwards-compatible with PlayStation games, which many say helped the former's sales. Any user considering buying a DVD player or PlayStation could view the PlayStation 2 as a cost-effective alternative, and the system effectively had a back catalogue available before it even went on sale. The Dreamcast competed with the PS2 for several months however eventually Sega's financial troubles left over from the Saturn's failure began to really show themselves and the Dreamcast was discontinued by the time the console war proper began.
Nintendo does not have this massive debt problem.
The Xbox, despite the formidable financial backing of Microsoft and despite being more powerful than the PlayStation 2, has failed to significantly threaten the Playstation 2's place as market leader.
Has this changed? Possibly? Of course the PS3 is dying and the XBOX 360 is growing strong. The Wii, basically, needs only to see more games mature.
However, it has attracted a sizeable fanbase in the United States and Europe and has become a recognisable brand amongst the mainstream. In Japan its sales are far poorer, possibly due to the physical size of the console, and Microsoft's inability to acquire many major Japanese developers for their franchises as exclusives for the platform (contrast with Microsoft's multi-million dollar acquisition of UK developer Rare). However, there is a niche fanbase, particularly as the online services for the console, " Xbox Live", offers more to users than Playstation 2's non-centralized online system and Nintendo GameCube's near total lack of online games.
Nintendo struggled with their own brand images, particularly the family-friendly one cultivated during the 1990s.
While this is still the case (in fact, submit that you still have an anti-Nintendo bias as much as I do concerning their childish games), Nintendo is spinning this old, unshakable image to say "We're for casual gamers, not these elite hardcore bastards who give you all a hard time." The latter is never said, but every time you see a Nintendo ad showing people playing together in the same room, they are proselytizing the exact opposite of traditional, anonymous, abusive online play.
The bottom line is their old image is keeping away many of the same kinds of gamers the Wii wasn't specifically designed for anyway, and at this point, Nintendo's only major error is placing too much weight on casual gamers, and not enough on the grazing herd.
Nintendo's franchises and long history in the industry are failing to give them an advantage against the Xbox and PlayStation 2 . However the GameCube's low price point and the release of The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition has kept it competitive. Nintendo GameCube is in second place in total console sales in Japan, and in a close third place in the United States and Europe.
| Console | Sales |
|---|---|
| Xbox 360 | 10,400,000 |
| Wii | 6,030,000 |
| PS3 | 2,150,000 |
I found this post interesting; it concerns how we gamers are hypercritical of the Wii, deservedly so, but also there's a larger picture. Here's my response:
I have four children (3 girls, 1 baby boy) and a wife who's an anthropologist, not a gamer, and all of them play the Wii.
While the Wii is taking it's time getting the games I'm interested in, my family plays it daily (though I enforce a time limit).
The truth is we gamers ARE hypercritical. It's the first time we've seen a console focused on something that's NOT US, and we're unsure how to react to it. The Sony Playstation introduced ads that were targeted at people who WEREN'T US, and we've learned to live with that change.
Now, we're going to have to get used to living with casual gamers too, and that our wants and desires aren't the only thing in the world, however valid they are for ourselves.
Case in point? I don't play the Wii much, except with my children. I use my computer instead.
I purchased a pink Nintendo DS handheld gaming console for my daughters. Dad gets to play too.
Jaded Gamer Gets New Life
The problem with being 31 and having played games on most consoles and most of the computer greats is that everything becomes a derivative of something else - it's like writing music. With the advent of the Nintendo Wii's motion sensative (and pointer) controls, I've found that "everything old is new again."
The Truth about Game Conoles
Many people argue over the Wii's merits, the XBOX 360's entrenchment (which the Wii has met in installed base in 3 months, not 13), or Sony's PS3 debacle, but the core of the issue is spoken here: "That's the parable, I guess. A controller is as good as the game. A system is as good as its library. Far all these interstitial lamentations, all the saber rattling and console war propaganda, there is a simple remedy: a breathtaking exclusive experience." [source]
The NDS has given me games I've never played before, ever, as well as many I have, which I largely avoid. Like the Wii, it gives me exclusive experiences - though nothing breathtaking yet.
Does your XBOX 360 give you a breathtaking exclusive experience? If so, then that's your console; but remember, most exclusive games aren't really exclusive - they could be done elsewhere.
Exclusive (near Breathtaking) Experiences
I will go over the aspects of the NDS games we have that make them unique and fun to this jaded gamer. The latter ones listed are the best.
All American Computers is gone, and with it, my warranty, but hopefully not Kyle's house, the owner of AAC.
My hat is off to the man who had a great company, a great product, great customer service, and knowledge so deep you couldn't shove a spear all the way through it.
I hope he does better in the future, and that his wife supports him.
Update:
The Fate of AAC Direct / All American Computers
