A step in the right direction , Well Bush did somthing good this time.
The idea of a Lunar base like off austin powers is kind of funny, It would actually be a better enviroment then the space station due to low gravity. I hope they revisit the armstrong shin dig and give those old rusty lunar scooters a try (if they still work).
also why not form a north american space agency ! The U.S would have canadian financial bonus and technology, We gave that big arm on the space shuttle and a few astronauts.
Quote:Nintendo might well appear to be going mad, especially if you’ve been following the news of late. On the back of the Donkey Konga drum and Iwata’s assertions that a new ‘thing’ is in development that somehow sits in the void between hardware and software comes this: an explanation of exactly how to refer to the Game Boy Advance.
Read and enjoy.
Game Boy® Trademark Initiative, January 6, 2004
Did you know that there are ways to actually misuse a Game Boy? We just did it in the last sentence. Our famous Game Boy® trademark is sometimes misused. When a trademark is repeatedly misused it risks becoming a generic word that does not indicate the source or quality of the product.
You are probably one of more than 160 million people who love their Game Boy video game systems. But no matter how you use it (Gameboy, GameBoy, game boy, gameboy), real portable fun is actually spelled:
Game Boy® system
Game Boy® Advance hardware
Game Boy® Advance SP hardware
(Game Boy® can be used as an adjective to modify many generic nouns like system, video game system, hardware, game, software, accessory and so on.)
Now for some plural fun:
When there's more than one Game Boy®, Game Boy® Advance or Game Boy® Advance SP system, trademarks should never be used in plural format.
Here are some examples.
Incorrect usage:
Game Boys
Game Boy Advance SPs
Correct usage:
Game Boy systems
Game Boy Advance SP hardware
Of course, our trademark Game Boy® should never be used to refer to a non-Nintendo video game system. Our competitors have to earn their own reputations. Please don't give them a free ride on ours.
So there you have it. You never need to misrepresent any Gameboy Advances ever again.
Apex, Via, and Digital Interactive Systems' new device promises to bring a console's simplicity to PC games. The question is: Can it?
PC gamers pride themselves on their technical prowess. But every once in a while, when grappling with uncooperative drivers or inexplicable crashes, some may catch themselves giving their PS2 or Xbox an envious glance. Then there's the console jockeys--a proud, callous-thumbed bunch to be sure, but not above a bit of jealousy when it comes to their PC cousins' massive and varied game library.
Anyone who could translate a console's ease-of-use to PC games might make a fortune. Now, it looks like someone may have done just that. Tomorrow at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, DVD manufacturer Apex, chipmaker VIA, and software company Digital Interactive Systems will unveil the ApeXtreme Personal Game Console, a device that can play CDs, DVDs. MP3s and PC games.
Nominated for this year's CES Innovation Award, the ApeXtreme feels like a scaled-back version of the Sony PSX, minus the personal video recording. The system will run at 1.4GHz and use a variety of VIA hardware, including the CN400 processor, the DirectX 9.0c-compatible S3 DeltaChrome graphics chipset, and a Vinyl Audio Dolby 5.1 sound card. It will feature a standard 40GB hard drive, six USB ports, Ethernet, and 56.6kps modem. The console will also support a variety of media inputs and formats, including DVI, SPDIF, RCA, S-video, and HDTV-compatible component video. It will also support DVD+/-R/RW and progressive scan DVD playback.
However, what is unique about the ApeXtreme is its purported ability to let users play PC games like they were console titles. Over an embedded version of Windows XP, the machine will run Digital Interactive Systems' DISCover "Drop and Play" engine, a software system that will allow gamers to slip in a PC game and play it almost immediately. More importantly, the DISCover makers' claim their engine will automatically install patches and "major mods" for the 2,000 games that the ApeXtreme is pre-programmed to recognize. "It will happen automatically, similar to TiVo or Replay TV," said Digital Interactive Systems vice president of operations Loren Kaiser in an interview with GameSpot. "We're trying to take some of the pains out of playing PC games." (For more on the DISCover engine, read GameSpot's interview with Kaiser.)
Although the ApeXtreme won't support any non-game or media programs, its functionality--combined with its $399 price point ($299 for a lower-end model)--sound almost too good to be true. Indeed, many analysts are waiting to see if the console can deliver on its large promises. "Considering the difficulties that are often associated with PC gaming, I'm a bit skeptical that it is as easy to use as it is being described," IDC game analyst Schelley Olhava told GameSpot. Then there's the question of whether PC gamers would even want to move into the living room. "We've found that the console gamer is not the same as the PC gamer," said Olhava. "The behavioral patterns of how you play a PC game versus a console game are quite striking."
However, Olhava admits the appeal of the ApeXtreme is undeniable--if it works. “[It] may find an audience among PC gamers looking for a unique and new type of game experience," she said. "Historically serious gamers have shown a willingness to try new technologies, and if happy with the experience, [they] will gladly spread the word among the mainstream gamer audience." Soon, gamers can find out for themselves--the first ApeXtremes are scheduled to hit stores at the end of March.
Interview of people behind some of the technology behind the system.
Digital Interactive Systems' vice president explains how the ApeXtreme PC game console's auto-updating, "Drop and Play" software works.
When it is unveiled tomorrow at CES, the ApeXtreme PC game console will have Apex's name on its case. It will be powered by Via hardware inside that case. But what will set it apart is the DISCover "Drop and Play" engine.
Designed by Digital Interactive Systems, the DISCover engine is a software system that aims to let users play PC titles on televisions as though they were console games. According to Loren Kaiser, Digital Interactive Systems' vice president of operations, the engine will also automatically update and install all patches and some mods for the 2,000 PC games which it is programmed to recognize out of the box.
How will it do it? Kaiser took some time out of his schedule to explain to GameSpot how the DISCover engine works and what machines will feature it in the future.
GameSpot: When are the first DISCover-based consoles going to hit stores?
Loren Kaiser: The end of Q1 2004. We're going to launch at CES with the ApexExtreme, which has been chosen as a finalist for the CES Innovation Award. DISCover itself is not making any consoles. DISCover's business model is to help electronics manufacturers tap into the gaming industry. Using our technology they will be able to tap into a library of thousands of existing PC games using the DISCover standard. It's kind of similar to the Dolby or DVD standard. How it works is the games are scripted and the scripts are loaded onto the machine. We're going to script 2,000 games at launch.
GS: Can anyone license the technology?
LK: Not anyone, just select partners. We don't like to use the term "licensing" because we provide a BIOS chip that contains portions of the software. They're also getting our database of scripts, and several programs that work together that we call the DISCover engine. It's really more of a partnership. We don't just hand them a little gold CD. We also script all the games and optimize them to their system.
GS: Is anyone else besides Apex adopting the DISCover engine?
LK: Alienware is going to launch with a media center that incorporates DISCover. The media center will let you do PVR functions and TiVo-type things, like Microsoft's media center--movies, music. Now when you incorporate this, you just drop in the games and they'll play. … They're [also] evaluating a $995 console with a P4 and a gig of RAM. There's going to be some shocks out of the Alienware one--you should see what they're designing.
GS: I was reading on your Web site that the DISCover engine will auto-update and install all the past and new patches for every game played on the console. How will it do that?
LK: OK, what's a game you like to play?
GS: Battlefield 1942.
LK: When you put in the CD, the first thing our engine does is it recognizes the game. We kind of go in front of auto-play, the lower-level calls to the Microsoft kernels. We're going to recognize the disc and determine whether it's a game or a music CD or a DVD. Once we determine it's a game, then we determine what the game is with our a fingerprinting system. Once we determine that it's Battlefield 1942, we're going to look into your system to see if it is installed or not. If it is installed, it's going to come right up and start the game. Now all that happens instantly--you put in Battlefield, the game starts right up. That's what a true console does, a PlayStation 2 or an Xbox.
GS: And if it's not installed?
LK: If it recognizes it's not installed, [the engine] goes into our automatic script to install the game. It knows your system, because we script each machine, so you're not doing anything. For Battlefield, since it's a 2-disc game, the tray will automatically pop open and you'll put in a second disc, and it will continue installing. From that point on, the game's installed and you just put the play disc in and the game starts.
GS: Yeah, but there's been dozens of patches for that game, not to mention all the mods…
LK: We'll handle the patches. As far as the mods, we'll just work with the mods that hit critical mass, the major ones.
GS: How will the DISCover engine know when there's a new patch to upload?
LK: We're working hand-in-hand with GameSpy. They'll be handling the patches with us. We're working with them to build a special DISCover arcade into our system. It will happen automatically, similar to TiVo or Replay TV. Every night at 1am, assuming the system is idle, it will dial in to our servers. When it dials in at night, it's going to get scripts for all the new games we've input into our server. It works the same way with patches. It will recognize that you have Battlefield 1942 on your system and, since the user is not given a choice, it will just patch it for you. We're trying to take some of the pains out of playing PC games.
GS: Will you be able to use a keyboard?
LK: You'll be able to use a keyboard, we're just not going to support productivity software. It's still a computer, if you don't have the DISCover engine going. But in the Apex one it's embedded, you can't even get into any aspects of Windows--all you can do is insert media.
GS: What other functionality will it have?
LK: You can drop in DVDs, music, MP3s. It's an all around media player with games.
GS: So it's fair to say the goal of the DISCover-enabled consoles is to bring console ease-of-use to PC games.
LK: We don't really see it purely as competing with consoles. We're saying there's a lot of great games on the PC, and most people are stuck playing them in their offices or side bedrooms. We're bringing those games into the living room.
Now... this seems really, really stupid. It's just a PC in a box! It plays PC games! Oh joy, it has a built-in autorun system that will launch games like console games when you put the disc in... I can see it now "Now you can play your PC games just like console games! Amazing new system! Thousands of games! Buy today!"... it seems so pointless... for people who can't handle the sometimes hassles of PC games, I guess.
Great! But I notice that some stuff was lost... after some point all the posts we made are gone. It's not a lot of stuff, but enough that it's definitely noticable...
Simcity 4. It's an awesome game...but you probably already knew that.
Anyway, after having played it for a while now I've found that it is much better than the third game and at least as good as SC2000. One of the major changes I noticed is that now all the building you build such as police stations and school cost money each month, which makes balancing the budget a little more difficult and requires you to think before building.
Also, if you buy the deluxe edition, which comes with the Rush Hour expansion pack, you can take control of various vehicles and perform missions throughout your city.
Another change is that you are not restricted to one city you know have control of an entire region, which has tons of space. The region is split into about 20 sections which vary in size. Each section acts as an independent city, but through connections you can bu and sell resources between them. This allows you to have many different cities from urban metropolises to seaside resorts to high-tech industrial zones. That's where the games gets addicting.
Building the city itself is much the same as it has been in previous installments. One change is that when you place zones roads are built within the zone automatically instead of forcing the player to place roads. Of course you can still build roads how you want, but this addition makes things a little easier. Also, as in past installments, you recieve bonus buildings based on certain factors, except now these buildings are no longer free, so you'll have to be careful about placing them.
Very fun and addicting so I have to give it 10/10.
Your smelly and Fat and your really big and hairy like my freind
larry. When you look in the mirror your damn scary. Some say your resemble wierd Al but I think were past weird. Your first name is Shean and damn I farting because of all those beans.
Your got Married but we will always need your long obscene post to make are stomachs turn and are mouths vomit. You live in Florida the fountain of youth but wouldnt you mind giving a sip of tea with all that juice. You will always be remeberd as lazy but I will remeber you most as they guy who cursed me to toast.
