Thursday, September 10, 2009
In the minds of gamers, the Dreamcast was an unqualified success. The system had much better 2D capabilities than the PlayStation 2, making fighting games and shooters on the system a joy to play. It included a modem, and later an optional—if hard-to-find—broadband accessory; the system came with a Web browser and a telephone cable in the box so users could go online the second they opened the system. The system included four, count 'em, four controller ports. You could buy a VGA adaptor to play games on screens that supported 480p long before high definition televisions were common.
The Dreamcast launched on September 9, 1999, exactly ten years ago. Today's Sega bears almost no resemblance to the company it was back then. Sonic Adventure brought the hedgehog into the 3D world gracefully, and even introduced some friends without becoming cloyingly cutesy (although some may argue that point). The Dreamcast took risks, with the virtual life title Seaman captivating, if confounding, audiences in both the US and Japan. You spoke to the unattractive titular character through an included microphone, and he spoke back. Was it fun? Maybe not, and that seemed almost the point.
On the Dreamcast, developers and publishers were brave and forward-thinking.
You can find echoes of the Dreamcast's games in what we play today. Rez was never formally released in the United States on the Dreamcast, although the trippy mixture of music and shooting would inform and inspire games like Everyday Shooter, Amplitude and Frequency. And of course developer Q? Entertainment would go on to create one of the PSP's earliest killers apps, Lumines.
While EA never supported the system, it barely mattered. Sega and Visual Concepts released the impossibly high-quality NFL2KX series, as well as NHL2KX titles. For many of us, these titles were more impressive than the EA competition, and continued to be fan favorites until EA's Football monopoly forced the NFL2K series out of the running. If you didn't care about football or hockey, the Virtua Tennis series brought a deep but accessible tennis experience to consoles, and the four controller ports allowed you to invite friends over for a nice set of doubles.
Power Stone was another game that used the four controller ports to great effect, giving us a four-way brawler that still impresses with frantic action and strong character design. Other titles have tried to recreate Capcom's fan favorite, but few have come close. It's worth pointing out that Marvel vs. Capcom 2 on both the PS3 and Xbox 360 is based on the Dreamcast code of the game. There are multiple games, across multiple genres that are still considered definitive on Sega's white console.
Sega never picked up enough steam to put Sony down, but it did have enough power to kick the giant in the teeth. The Dreamcast launched at a lower price point than the PlayStation 2, and delivered more features. The launch lineup of games included enough classics to choke a horse: if you weren't blown away by the graphics and features of Soul Calibur on 9-9-99 when you took home your system then there was a hole in your soul. Hydro Thunder looked great on the system. NFL2K made us forget about EA's snub. Sonic Adventure was the rare 3D Sonic title that wasn't terrible. House of the Dead 2 looked arcade-perfect.
Think of how many Dreamcast games that launched on that day that are still considered classics, and then take a look at the PlayStation 2 launch library. Sony launched with mediocre games, two controller ports, no online features, and games that didn't look as good as what we were used to from the less-expensive Dreamcast.
Sony had done a wonderful job taking out the Dreamcast's knees with a high level of hype and promises that were impossible to keep, but at the end of the day the PlayStation 2 had Madden, it worked with your existing PlayStation One library, and it had a DVD player built-in, a rarity in the year 2000. At this point gamers also realized how simple it was to pirate Dreamcast games, meaning that with a little bit of know-how you didn't need to buy another game.
The writing was on the wall, and in 2001 Sega ceased production of the system. Soon afterward, the company began developing games for competing consoles. The Dreamcast barely made it through half a generation, but the system remains one of the most beloved and collected pieces of hardware ever released. The games, especially those 2D shooters and fighting titles, are now collector's items, fetching a high price on the secondary market. The faithful have held onto their visual memory units, their fishing controllers, and their lightguns and keyboards.
In many ways, the PlayStation 2 brought gaming to the mainstream, and Sony's system was home to its own share of wonderful games. For those of us who waited in line ten years ago, however, the Dreamcast was one of the last great systems for the hardcore gamer. Dreamcast developers and publishers gave us offbeat titles, began working in genres that are only now maturing, and fed our love for the quirky, the quality, and the unexpected. It brought the arcade into our homes. It made online gaming work on consoles. It was non-threatening and approachable way before the Wii made this the generation of casual and family gaming.
Gaming owes worlds to the Sega's system, and today is the day for us to pay our respects. Get your Dreamcast out of the closet, plug in some controllers, and enjoy. And always remember: it's thinking.
Another Palm smartphone announcement, another spotlight stolen by a much-more-ballyhooed (if much less substantive) Apple event. Palm, you just can't win, can you, even with a hot new smartphone called Pixi?
In case you missed it -- and given the hype around Steve Jobs' return to the Apple stage and myriad iPod price cuts and technology updates, you may have -- Palm Wednesday unveiled a new smartphone, the Pixi, that comes with a range of enticing features and is designed as a complement to Palm's already released Pre.
According to Palm, the Pixi sports a full keyboard, a 2.63-inch multitouch screen, an integrated GPS and 2-megapixel camera. Like the Palm Pre, the Pixi incorporates Facebook, Google and Exchange ActiveSync, but also includes LinkedIn and Yahoo contacts, calendar and IM capabilities, plus Palm Synergy, which aggregates those social networking tools into one feed.
As Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein emphasized Wednesday, Palm Pixi moves the needle on Palm's webOS (whose version 1.2 was said to have leaked late last week).
"Palm Pixi brings this unique experience to a broader range of people who want enhanced messaging and social networking in a design that lets them express their personal style," Rubinstein said in a statement.
The only thing Palm didn't disclose about Pixi was pricing, although various reports previously suggested it would come in at $350 before rebates. Palm also Wednesday lowered the price of the Palm Pre to $150.
Neither announcement, however, did much for Palm's stock, whose shares skidded by $1.23 (an 8 percent decline) to $13.75 in Wednesday afternoon trading after a lukewarm reaction from analysts.
Among the more vocal critics was Credit Suisse's Deepak Sitaraman, who lowered his rating of Palm to "neutral" from "outperform," blaming Palm's choice to make Sprint the exclusive carrier for Pixi.
Others thought Palm was hurting its own interests by coming out with two new smartphones that are so much alike. Morgan Joseph's James Moore said in a research note that Pixi "is a nice device but threatens to cannibalize Pre sales given a large number of overlapping features and the expected lower price point."
Palm needs a winner if it expects to stay in the always-intensifying race for smartphone dominance -- a race in which Apple, with iPhone, and Research In Motion, with BlackBerry, are well ahead.
In case you missed it -- and given the hype around Steve Jobs' return to the Apple stage and myriad iPod price cuts and technology updates, you may have -- Palm Wednesday unveiled a new smartphone, the Pixi, that comes with a range of enticing features and is designed as a complement to Palm's already released Pre.
According to Palm, the Pixi sports a full keyboard, a 2.63-inch multitouch screen, an integrated GPS and 2-megapixel camera. Like the Palm Pre, the Pixi incorporates Facebook, Google and Exchange ActiveSync, but also includes LinkedIn and Yahoo contacts, calendar and IM capabilities, plus Palm Synergy, which aggregates those social networking tools into one feed.
As Palm Chairman and CEO Jon Rubinstein emphasized Wednesday, Palm Pixi moves the needle on Palm's webOS (whose version 1.2 was said to have leaked late last week).
"Palm Pixi brings this unique experience to a broader range of people who want enhanced messaging and social networking in a design that lets them express their personal style," Rubinstein said in a statement.
The only thing Palm didn't disclose about Pixi was pricing, although various reports previously suggested it would come in at $350 before rebates. Palm also Wednesday lowered the price of the Palm Pre to $150.
Neither announcement, however, did much for Palm's stock, whose shares skidded by $1.23 (an 8 percent decline) to $13.75 in Wednesday afternoon trading after a lukewarm reaction from analysts.
Among the more vocal critics was Credit Suisse's Deepak Sitaraman, who lowered his rating of Palm to "neutral" from "outperform," blaming Palm's choice to make Sprint the exclusive carrier for Pixi.
Others thought Palm was hurting its own interests by coming out with two new smartphones that are so much alike. Morgan Joseph's James Moore said in a research note that Pixi "is a nice device but threatens to cannibalize Pre sales given a large number of overlapping features and the expected lower price point."
Palm needs a winner if it expects to stay in the always-intensifying race for smartphone dominance -- a race in which Apple, with iPhone, and Research In Motion, with BlackBerry, are well ahead.
Apple unveils cutting-edge upgrades rather than new technology
0 comments Posted by Hori at 10:27 AMAn upgraded iPod Nano -- with video camera, FM radio and other niceties -- in a slimmer, flashier package is the highlight of Apple's new product lineup.But the fact that it's an upgrade is telling -- Apple Inc. revealed no brand-new products at Wednesday's long-awaited unveiling. The rumored tablet-style computer that's supposedly in the works was not mentioned.
"We didn't see anything bleeding edge or real 'out of the blue,' " said Gartner Inc. analyst Mike McGuire. "We saw logical extensions."
Still, the product "extensions" showed off Apple's trademark innovation, which has in many instances captured the public's imagination, even at premium prices.
And speaking of prices, they're going down on some products as the Cupertino, Calif., company strives to head off competition in the portable music field.
Here's a look at the changes in the Apple lineup:
* iPod Nano -- The diminutive Nano that debuted in 2005 as a flash-memory, discount version of the iPod has become a monster in the marketplace to the point of being the world's best-selling portable player. At the event, Chief Executive Steve Jobs said that more than 100 million Nanos have been sold.
The most dramatic addition to the new Nano, which went on sale online right after the Wednesday morning announcement, is the built-in video camera that can record action in portrait or landscape orientation. A built-in microphone captures the sound.
The video clips it takes can be downloaded to a Mac or PC computer, from where it can be e-mailed to family and friends or uploaded to popular social networking and video sharing websites such as Facebook and YouTube. (If the new Nano is a hit, expect a flood of new vacation, pet tricks and dorm antics videos to hit these Web services).
The new Nano also marks the first time that Apple has embedded an FM radio in its iPod. And in TiVo-like fashion, the radio will have a live pause mode to allow listeners to halt listening and then resume at the same spot later.
The player will also have a bigger screen, a thinner profile and a pedometer to count steps.
The new iPod Nano is priced at $149 for the 8 gigabyte storage size and $179 for the 16GB (that's $20 less than the previous 16GB Nano).
* iPod Touch -- The big news about the Web-browsing, game-playing Touch, which essentially has all the features of an iPhone except the phone, is a reduction in price.
The 8GB model now goes for $199, the 32GB version is $299 and the 64GB model is $399.
This puts the iPod Touch in a better position to head off Microsoft Corp.'s new Zune HD player, which is set to debut Tuesday. The Zune HD 16GB will be $219; its 32GB model will be $289.
Hardware-wise, the main enhancement to the iPod Touch is faster processing for the 32GB and 64GB models.
Also, video game makers announced that several new titles would be coming to the platform, including Madden NFL 10.
* iTunes -- The online store and audio/video organizer is getting several new features for music lovers.
In a retro move hearkening back to the album era, the new iTunes offers more information, photos and graphics. And it provides video features on some artists.
The new iTunes also allows for the sharing of music among as many as five computers on a home network. And it allows organization of iPhone apps in the same handy format as music.
Not part of the announcements -- the Beatles. The Fab Four is still not available on the iTunes store. It seems the long and winding road to getting that deal done has a ways to go.
There also was no mention of a music subscription service for iTunes to let customers access a near-unlimited selection of songs for a monthly fee. These type of services have sprung up elsewhere, but Jobs has said that he's not in favor of them -- and it seems that he hasn't changed his mind.
"We didn't see anything bleeding edge or real 'out of the blue,' " said Gartner Inc. analyst Mike McGuire. "We saw logical extensions."
Still, the product "extensions" showed off Apple's trademark innovation, which has in many instances captured the public's imagination, even at premium prices.
And speaking of prices, they're going down on some products as the Cupertino, Calif., company strives to head off competition in the portable music field.
Here's a look at the changes in the Apple lineup:
* iPod Nano -- The diminutive Nano that debuted in 2005 as a flash-memory, discount version of the iPod has become a monster in the marketplace to the point of being the world's best-selling portable player. At the event, Chief Executive Steve Jobs said that more than 100 million Nanos have been sold.
The most dramatic addition to the new Nano, which went on sale online right after the Wednesday morning announcement, is the built-in video camera that can record action in portrait or landscape orientation. A built-in microphone captures the sound.
The video clips it takes can be downloaded to a Mac or PC computer, from where it can be e-mailed to family and friends or uploaded to popular social networking and video sharing websites such as Facebook and YouTube. (If the new Nano is a hit, expect a flood of new vacation, pet tricks and dorm antics videos to hit these Web services).
The new Nano also marks the first time that Apple has embedded an FM radio in its iPod. And in TiVo-like fashion, the radio will have a live pause mode to allow listeners to halt listening and then resume at the same spot later.
The player will also have a bigger screen, a thinner profile and a pedometer to count steps.
The new iPod Nano is priced at $149 for the 8 gigabyte storage size and $179 for the 16GB (that's $20 less than the previous 16GB Nano).
* iPod Touch -- The big news about the Web-browsing, game-playing Touch, which essentially has all the features of an iPhone except the phone, is a reduction in price.
The 8GB model now goes for $199, the 32GB version is $299 and the 64GB model is $399.
This puts the iPod Touch in a better position to head off Microsoft Corp.'s new Zune HD player, which is set to debut Tuesday. The Zune HD 16GB will be $219; its 32GB model will be $289.
Hardware-wise, the main enhancement to the iPod Touch is faster processing for the 32GB and 64GB models.
Also, video game makers announced that several new titles would be coming to the platform, including Madden NFL 10.
* iTunes -- The online store and audio/video organizer is getting several new features for music lovers.
In a retro move hearkening back to the album era, the new iTunes offers more information, photos and graphics. And it provides video features on some artists.
The new iTunes also allows for the sharing of music among as many as five computers on a home network. And it allows organization of iPhone apps in the same handy format as music.
Not part of the announcements -- the Beatles. The Fab Four is still not available on the iTunes store. It seems the long and winding road to getting that deal done has a ways to go.
There also was no mention of a music subscription service for iTunes to let customers access a near-unlimited selection of songs for a monthly fee. These type of services have sprung up elsewhere, but Jobs has said that he's not in favor of them -- and it seems that he hasn't changed his mind.
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