godslabrat

Precisely the reason I avoid paying attention to such things. (BTW, in Halloween, which supposedly takes place in the Midwest in autumn, you can clearly see palm trees at the end of several streets.)

I have to wonder if Circuit City is next...

You know, except all the interviews where he said that it was an intentional and conscious business decision on the part of Nintendo not to increase production. Basically, he snapped his fingers and produced a chronic shortage. Perhaps Nintendo should create a "shortage" of first-party games and accessories, since that's where the real money is made. Odd that Nintendo would be manipulating the market in order to drive sales of the product that probably has the lowest overall margin for them.

Damn, that's having WAY too much free time. I can't even run in to Wal-Mart to get milk without getting pissed off... how the hell can you follow the truck around all day? I dunno... despite everything, I really feel that these things have a way of working themselves out. If the suppliers see too much scalping, eventually they'll charge more for the toys, or produce them in larger quantities in order to help keep the money going in their pockets.

NES first and foremost... Then probably Wii... after that, believe it or not, Virtual Boy, and a tie between N64 and SNES. Though, to be honest, I love all things Nintendo, so you're asking me to pick which one of my children I love most.

That's very true, although part of it is due to the fact that (compared to the standalone players) the PS3 is actually offering better features for the same amount of money. That's not saying that the PS3 is fantastic, it's saying that Samsung, Pioneer, LG, and Sharp have been dropping the ball. There's no reason a cost-subsidized game console should outperform a standalone deck that costs twice as much... but that's a different rant for a different forum. At least we now have $300 Blu-Ray decks to make it a simpler comparison. Personally, although I know it's crazy to think it, I'd been hoping that a future revision of the PS3 would include a dual-format drive. If the cost of dual drives would drop to within pennies of single-format drives, it might be practical... and that would make the PS3 an awesome bedroom/kitchen box. I'm not holding my breath, though. Blu-Ray would have to be dead and buried before Sony would touch HD-DVD.

The article phrases this is such a way that it seems like they're promising to have Wiis for everyone by January 29th. Unless they have some way of limiting the number of rainchecks, that could lead to a VERY bad situation for GameStop. There's a reason every other retailer has made it clear that no rainchecks are offered on Wiis. If sixteen skillion people pay full price and get a raincheck, and GameStop doesn't have enough to meet demand, there will be some very pissed-off people in that store. Then again, this is GameStop we're talking about, so it wouldn't surprise me. OTOH, it'll help curtail profiteering, at least a little bit. People who are bothered by eBay scalpers can rest a bit easier.

I skimmed the article. One thing stuck out at me... "Also being discussed is the development of an open standard docking port similar to the 17 pin iPod port. This would allow all manufacturers to use the same port for docking. " If they want to use the "same port", what the hell is wrong with USB? Why does every manufacturer have to keep making their own "universal connector", instead of using the one that's been in use for 10 years?

Well, first of all, who is Bay to comment on anything? Spielberg and Lucas barely have enough clout to try and comment on home video issues... why does Mr. Popcorn think anyone cares what he thinks? That said, it certainly does sound plausible, though I have yet to see any real evidence indicating the truth of this. Honestly, I think it's clear that MS wins out if both formats die, so it's in their best interests to draw it out and ultimately doom both formats. All I know is, if it weren't for the Paramount coup, HD-DVD would probably not have been a viable option next Christmas.

The real tell of the lie is that the PS3 is the ONLY system that increases sharply, and not by a gradual parabolic curve. That indicates that this bullshit artist, erm, I mean, "analyst", sees a crucial advantage the PS3 has that the other two systems lack. What advantage would that be? Price drops? Hit games? Exclusives? Promotions? Nintendo and Microsoft will have all that in spades. And, let's not forget that the PS3 has the LEAST amount of buzz going for it compared to the other two systems. That's not to say it's a bad system, but if you pick any ten people eager to get a new console, I'll bet less than two of them are most anxious for a PS3. As my algebra teacher used to say, "Show your work."

Rumors about WB going exclusive (on either side) have floated around since the initial launch of HD DVD. This is nothing new, and there's no new evidence today that wasn't there yesterday. It's true, what they decide may well push the format war in one direction or another, but don't hold your breath. And they sure as heck would not let such a bombshell slip before Christmas.

I personally don't think Nintendo is "creating" the shortage in any sense, except in having decided that the benefits of setting up whole new assembly lines would be very short-lived. Better to ride out the current shortage than to create a glut of systems overnight, at least from their point of view. I am curious, however, as to how many people are complaining about the "manufactured" shortage will change their tune once supply finally meets demand. As soon as one or two Wiis can be seen on a shelf, people will be saying "Ha! Looks like no one wanted those things after all!"

I remember a commercial for a product from the very early 90s... it was an "edutainment" system that predated V.Smile and even CD-i by a good margin. It sold itself by asking parents something like "What kind of games are YOUR kids playing?", then a quick cut to a scene of a seven-year old mashing an NES controller in a bloodthirsty fury. After that, it went on to show the company's system, and how playing that system kept the kid quiet and well-behaved, since he had so much fun with his system that MADE LEARNING FUN! (Of course the kid was peaceful, the thing probably bored him into a mild coma) The part that was funny is that when the kid was shown playing with the NES controller, he held it vertically, like a remote control, and used his pointer finger to mash the buttons one at a time! Now, I can buy that probably no one on that studio set played Nintendo... but can you seriously look at an NES pad and think it was supposed to be held with one hand, vertically? And after all that, are you tell ing me a seven-year-old kid actor wouldn't look at the director and ask "Why do you want me to hold the controller the wrong way?" Damnedest thing.

You might be a hardcore gamer if... ... you've ever been kicked out of GameStop for being a "douchebag" ... your gaming PC cost more than $2000, yet you pirate games because paying for games is "for suckers" ... you don't own any shirts that weren't given away with a pre-order. ... you see a fatal car wreck, and cannot resist the urge to yell "pwn3d!"

A Sprite's extremely funny list actually had a lot of truth to it, but I think this is the key distinction that everyone is trying to make. Gaming is starting to trickle into everyday culture... almost everyone games, even if it's something as basic as Windows Solitaire. So yeah, even my mom and grandma game if you factor in stuff like that. I can understand needing to make a distinction between people like that and people who spend hundreds of hours each year playing games. That said, when people call themselves "hardcore", it always sounds pretentious.

So buy those games that you like and shut the fuck up already. If you really can't stand Nintendo's latest offerings, just ignore them. You don't see me starting threads about Halo or Madden, do you? If you have that much free time that you can actually post on topics that DON'T interest you, I suggest you might need a new hobby. Read a book. Take a class. Pet a dog. Do *something* productive with your time.

The good news: Big-assed ice storm shut down the whole city, I get a free day off work. The bad news: Power outages make gaming highly impractical on anything but my DS. And I was really itching for some NES and PS2 action...

Mod: Please delete if selling PC components on AtariAge is not cool. Single stick, 200-pin. Recently harvested from a C2D Mac Mini. Asking $15 shipped.

I found the link to the NES "Speedboard" even more interesting... and here I thought I already knew every goofy NES Accessory! Huh?

I guess the Genesis is low on the price scale, but honestly, I'm kinda glad. Since they have those cool plastic boxes, it's the one system I really like having complete games for. And, for some reason, it's also the HARDEST system to find complete games for. (how can you lose the box when the box HOLDS THE GAME?!!?! *grumble grumble*) So the fact that it's cheap bodes well for me.

Sorry about the above post. Was supposed to be an edit, not a repost. Oops.

Of course, you certainly wouldn't want to use anything BUT Component, VGA, or HDMI. Forget about S-video or composite. I know that's what Hyper_Eye meant, but I thought it was worth clarifying, just in case. I've heard fairly good things about using the Xbox HD-DVD add-on. The only real complaints were that it sometimes has a muted black level, but for an entry-level player that's a reasonable compromise. Someone had mentioned that you couldn't get a standalone HD-DVD deck for anywhere near that price. That is false. The Toshiba A2 regularly sells for $199, and I believe that's the intended price point for its replacement, the A3. As for the whole Blu Ray Vs. HD DVD thing... don't lose sleep over it. ANY investment in HD media is a gamble right now. Yes, HD-DVD players got good ratings on Amazon, but in terms of software sales (which is what more industry leaders watch) Blu-Ray has been doing much better. Since neither format has all the major studios on board, neither is a slam-dunk. Personally, I did buy into Blu-Ray. I felt it had a better chance of becoming the dominant format over the long haul. However, that's nothing more than an educated guess, and I could be wrong. HD-DVD could pull a rabbit out of its hat and start spanking Blu-Ray. both formats could tank (I doubt this, but...), and both formats could wallow in mediocrity for the next 10 years. It's anybody's guess. Now, since like I said, it's a gamble no matter what you do, why not get in at $179 or $199, which is only a little more than a good DVD player, and take some free movies while you're at it? You'll have to live with the risk that HD-DVD will go belly-up, but us Blu-Ray fans are living with that same risk (don't let anyone kid you!). And honestly, in an Atari forum, I think we're a little more inclined to appreciate orphaned formats anyway. :-)

I can see where you'd make that suggestion, but when you consider the price of the X-Box drive, or the Toshiba A2/A3, does it really make sense to get an upconverting player instead of those? I mean, they'll still upconvert (how well is a matter for debate) and then the OP would at least have the option of using a true HD disc should he consider it worth the expense. I agree with you that BluRay is (currently) holding an edge over HD-DVD, but at this point in the game, it just seems a waste not to get a player with SOME kind of HD capability. If nothing else, he can rent HD-DVDs until the format war is settled. That, to me, would be worth the ~$30 difference.

Of course, you certainly wouldn't want to use anything BUT Component, VGA, or HDMI. Forget about S-video or composite. I know that's what Hyper_Eye meant, but I thought it was worth clarifying, just in case. I've heard fairly good things about using the Xbox HD-DVD add-on. The only real complaints were that it sometimes has a muted black level, but for an entry-level player that's a reasonable compromise. Someone had mentioned that you couldn't get a standalone HD-DVD deck for anywhere near that price. That is false. The Toshiba A2 regularly sells for $199, and I believe that's the intended price point for its replacement, the A3. As for the whole Blu Ray Vs. HD DVD thing... don't lose sleep over it. ANY investment in HD media is a gamble right now. Yes, HD-DVD players got good ratings on Amazon, but in terms of software sales (which is what more industry leaders watch) Blu-Ray has been doing much better. Since neither format has all the major studios on board, neither is a slam-dunk. Personally, I did buy into Blu-Ray. I felt it had a better chance of becoming the dominant format over the long haul. However, that's nothing more than an educated guess, and I could be wrong. HD-DVD could pull a rabbit out of its hat and start spanking Blu-Ray. both formats could tank (I doubt this, but...), and both formats could wallow in mediocrity for the next 10 years. It's anybody's guess. Now, since like I said, it's a gamble no matter what you do, why not get in at $179 or $199, which is only a little more than a good DVD player, and take some free movies while you're at it? You'll have to live with the risk that HD-DVD will go belly-up, but us Blu-Ray fans are living with that same risk (don't let anyone kid you!). And honestly, in an Atari forum, I think we're a little more inclined to appreciate orphaned formats anyway. :-)

A cheerleader with big, luscious hooters.