Posts by Van 200 publicly visible posts • joined 5 Jan 2012
If a phone becomes better than a console at pushing polygons, then the phone ability inside the device will be stripped out of the device and you have a cheap small console that will probably insert directly into an HDMI port. Then we will also need console controllers, steering wheel pedals etc, as touch screen gaming is shit.
Humans evolved to use tools, which is why some gamers will actually prefer using at least a stylus than poking and prodding with a finger.
Excuse me silent_count, but consoles came with custom graphics and sound chips before the PC. You say never? PC build costs will rise as PC gaming declines and becomes the expensive niche like in the 90s when PS1 and Dreamcast were the better gaming machines for 1/5 of the cost .
Custom hardware will always be better, the target price point will hold them back though. Walk into Nintendo R&D with a memo targetting a 1500 USD price point then see how good the PC looks as a gaming machine.
and some say Bill Gates was a crook to boot....
Unfortunately the console buyer is a finicky so and so. They wouldn't pay the price for the Dreamcast and it's extra features, and listened to Sony's over hyping of the PS2. Now Sony have no choice but to subsidise and rely purely on brand loyalty. Nintendo and Sega could trounce this lot if they were as open as the big 2.
That's a rather shallow view.
A watch is basically a sundial that conveniently evolved to be wearable, a concept for the German Navy, then became fashionable. The wrist is also the preferred choice to mount instruments for sky and sea divers.
Not sure why there even has to be an argument as to why a computer/comms device shouldn't evolve to be wearable.
As for teenagers, they would be quite capable of making an Altimeter fashionable. If an Altimeter became the 'must have' accessory for kids, it wouldn't be because of appeal.
"It is amazing when you do a aesthetic comparison of Mac VS everything else how far ahead they are - of course many here favour function and cost over form but they are stunning these days"
Ahead? you mean far back!
Apple's latest designs succeeded because people like you are too young to remember and too sheep-like to research the fact that Apple's looks were all done to death in the 1960s and early 70s.
The silver Aluminium design made a brief come back in the 80s albeit mostly in plastic with HiFi equipment.
How long before Apple make wood-grain computers and their fanbois think they are original?
Apple's design is starting to look dated. Not surprising when it was copied straight from the 1967 Braun catalogue.
For those who want to add/ remove memory, hard disks and CPUs at will. Look no further than SLIM-ITX solutions built into the back of monitors.
Hopefully smaller companies will offer a lot wider design choice than what is designed for today's sheep.
Once more for the moaners who will miss it, SLIM-ITX
Gotta love so may people missing the point. This is about tech hitting the wrist for convenience just like the original sundial>clock eventually got smaller to be wearable. Imagine having to still carry a clock around with you and remembering where you left it.
I don't wear a watch, but as someone who hates carrying, misplacing, dropping and searching for a mobile phone. Having a communication device scaled down and wearable on my wrist does appeal.
We wear keys on our wrists when we go swimming or visit wellness centers. Sky divers and sea divers use their wrists to hold the equipment they need.
I can't grasp how anyone writes this off as bad idea.
"Education in the USA has long been a stronghold of Apple, the venerable Apple II being cheap and tough enough to survive in that hostile environment, skool.
But Apple’s gouging of UK consumers meant the prices were so high back in the day "
Are you sure it was down to "gouging" and not the weak pound?
Also IIRC, the build quality of American computers tended to be strong and tough to meet more stringent US standards.
The Atari 800 was also found in schools. It was a metal tank covered in hard Plastic, removable hard plastic covered RAM and ROM . I'm sure I read this build quality was partly why it was priced highly in the UK, compared to the flimsy un-shielded Uk offerings.
Funny that build quality and metal casings are actually deemed worthy of the extra dosh today. Often described in reg's own reviews as "classy" Another reason the Atari 8-bits were ahead of their time ;)
They're just desperate to have that now trendy minimalistic way of showing off products. The look and feel that Apple stole from European designer clothing boutiques and tried to call their own.
This trend is actually quite an effective way of advertising, despite rents still being unaffordable for regular traders.
Before accusing consoles of becoming too much like PCs. AFAIR PCs actually moved towards being like consoles when they were able to slot in a custom graphics and sound cards and have Steering Wheel pedals etc. Custom chips that were being designed for games consoles, Arcade gaming machines and the 'home computers'.
These cards were only affordable in the late 1990s. Even so, it was a long time before PCs were able to do the super slick Arcade beat' em ups, exhilarating Arcades racers and the platformers that the lower powered consoles were doing.
Nintendo's old fashioned consoles sold staggering well during black friday several weeks back. The total was around 1.5 million, with Microsoft selling approx 800,000 (admittedly impressive with just the one ageing console)
Is the market really ready for the ultimate console? Looking at the comments and complaints here and on other forums. A 'gamers' console, to satisfy the majority needs would probably cost at least $800 to build.
Only Apple can get away with that price point. Sometimes people expect Nintendo to be a charity.
The poster claiming it was operators playing frisbee is a closer guess. I would expect the data center to be manned by a large team of operators 24 x7. And with a 25% shift allowance + extra holidays, they most certainly would want to be there. Eating Pizza, watching TV, in between housekeeping tasks.
Less of the selfish thinking.
The Wii U will be perfect for the young lads and lasses who are coming up to video-game owning age.
Why would they care what has gone before or what graphically superior versions of COD or Need for Speed are available on the next gen? Millions of parents will be making some of the big decisions and importantly handing over the credit card.
The Wii is still selling well and is still an ideal first console if you can weed out the gems. Gems which tend to be unavailable on other platforms.
To existing console owners, the Wii U should probably be considered more of an upgrade (something PC owners have never had a problem with) to a unique platform rather than next gen technology designed with bragging rights and I wouldn't be surprised if MS and Sony abandon big, noisy powerful boxes next time.
Tablets are all the rage at the moment and get people excited, including the people piling up the money. Nintendo turn a cheap one into a controller, genius.
As for the price, it's the same as the 80s and 90s consoles with inflation, offers much more than the did and still cheaper than most of the top gadgets kids have been desiring of late.
Of course the platform is at the mercy of Nintendo's tightness, quirkiness and often stubbornness. Support for 2TB USB drives is a reasonably good sign though.
Accept Nintendo arn't going to do it perfectly and have some fun.
Not the Tasmanian aborigines who survived the last melt 10,000 years ago, were cut off from the mainland but were wiped out by your ilk less than 200 years ago. The Aussie aborigines don't have it better either. Even if we're not harming the planet, at least half of us will end up with mental illness, the more cramped, nosier, restless environment we make for ourselves.
Having a better life isn't just replacing Oak trees with steel
it seems ipads were only successful, because they became more toy-like compared to the unsuccessful windows tablets that were available years before.
MS need to rebrand, in the gap between PCs and Xbox. All they've done is make desktops look like Smart phones with Xbox live branding shoved in. I'm a fan of windows phone, but Surface and Windows 8 RT aren't toy-like enough to compete with the ipad IMO.
It will give businesses the chance to force ads and special offers as a customer logs in on their phones. It would be great for larger businesses, department stores. Argos, DIY shops, Garden centers?
These days, people tend to take more notice of their phones, than placards around them.
Hardly surprising the "if I had my own business" types, don't get it. That's why you're not in business.
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