From Cans Two PlayStation 3 Titles?

Just a note that you can already change the colour of the "blue screen of death".

I don't like Microsoft. And originally, I didn't want them in console gaming, because once they get to the top of the pile you can't seem to topple them. Gradually, the competition dies and the only products you can buy are Microsoft products. Commerical development of products in the same market becomes imporssible.

Now, I think that Microsoft have done a lot of good in operating systems. Technically, Windows is very good. Yes, people may moan about it, but as a feat of software engineering it is very impressive - any standard, popular product will have exploits found it in and viruses written for it. That's just the way things are. Linux is probably as buggy as Windows (probably more so), but Linux doesn't have thousands of angry open-source crackers working on exploits. Also impressive is the fact that it has established such a solid standard (as another poster mentioned, you can buy software and know it will work). At the moment, in my humble opinion, Windows is the best desktop operating system in existance (servers are a different matter). It's got to the top by being the best.

However, the problem now is that there is no innovation in the sector, because Microsoft is the only person in the market. From Windows 2000, changes in XP were fairly minor and Vista looks suspiciously like bloatware to me. This is where competition is important; Microsoft have reached the "best product" and have no reason to push the product any further in a way that benefits consumers - only for profit. And, again as another poster mentioned, they can force upgrades on people because they are in a dominant position - my nice new laptop with Windows XP will be useless by the end of next year because it won't have (and won't run) Vista.

At the moment we have a healthy console market. The competitors are pushing each other to innovate, and all the companies have sufficient market share and resources to innovate. Sony and Microsoft are fighting for the traditional market and the new media set-top box market, and Nintendo are trying to do something innovative to differentiate. Which may well fail in the long-term (although after watching Tony Hawk's my opinion on the Wii has gone up quite a bit - most of Nintendo's E3 games looked uncontrollable to me, noted by the fact the guy demoing Zelda on-stage was having problems controlling Link).

At the moment, because of the above, I'm not as concerned about Microsoft as I was originally. If Microsoft becomes number one in the consoles, we will have problems. Say Microsoft "beats" Sony this generation and next generation, and buys Nintendo in-between. There will be no competition. There will be no drive for creativity anymore, and we will be left being fed the minimum Microsoft needs to feed us to make money - and we know from the operating system and office suite market that this will happen.

(Incidently, I find the office suite market really interesting. I still use Office 97, because I found the products went downhill from there - there didn't seem to be any useful extra features at all. The new features that there were made the products more unusable to me - for example disappearing menu items, multi-level clipboards etc).

Perhaps I didn't word my comment clearly. Let me try again.

I try to point out the balanced view. This is so uncommon on games forums that it can appear as fanboyism in the opposite direction.

If someone says "Sony hardware is a sack of s**t and the PSP doesn't sell" then I point out that I have had no issues with Sony hardware and that the PSP sells quite well in the UK, which is using the facts to balance (or counter, if you prefer) the statement I am replying to. I don't say "Sony Roxxors and the PSP is the s**t!", which is just being stupid.

I also point out my opinions, like the Microsoft thing, but I try to make sure people know they are opinion.

Please point out a comment of mine that is wildly biased that I presented as fact and not opinion.


This is a valid question and one I have not seen addressed.

I assume, in relation to Sony, we are talking abut the Sony BMG rootkit fiasco here? If not, please point out where I have gone wrong.

With Sony BMG, we have a separate company, part owned by Sony, with separate leadership in place. Sort of like Ford owning Jaguar, for example, except that Ford totally owns Jaguar.

In Microsoft's home entertainment division, we have just that, a division of the same company, with the same leadership, that has entered another market in the same way that Apple entered the portable music player market with the iPod.

I hope you can see that the two situations are different?

I'm trying to think of an analogy to make things more clear, but they mostly turn out to be based on the difference between countries in Europe and states in the USA, which I don't think gets the point across particularly well.

I almost want to cry. You are all arguing over stuff that you really have no control over. Microsoft doesn't care if you don't use Windows. You are insignificant, get over it. Support who and what you will, but Microsoft is here to stay.

I don't like Windows, but I don't hate it. Yeah, viruses are a problem, but if we were to suddenly have a huge Linux boom and MS crash, 10 bucks says we would see many-a-virus for Linus.

I have a few PC's, one of which has been kept very clean for the past 4 years. Hasn't need to be reformatted yet. Runs like a dream, and it runs WinXP. If you look at porn, expect some spyware.

Go back to your PC and stop complaining. MS did something right to get where they are, I can't create a better OS so I'll use whats available.

I just think you have "balanced" and "balancing" confused. Kinda like Fox News, I'm sure in your view you think you're being "Fair and Balanced". Fair is Fair, but your "Balanced" means "Biased". A simple fulcrum analogy will serve. You don't balance the weight on a fulcrum by adding an equal amount of weight on both sides.

Also, mark me down as agreeing with pretty much everything Adam said. Except I don't think Japan would allow MS to buy Nintendo. The words National "Treasure" or even "Security" would probably be used. No MS domination means they behave, they behave means no worries. I'm just grateful someone outside of Japan is involved in the game. As much as I appreciate and admire Japaneese culture, in the absence of serious Western comptetion (It don't get much more serious than MS) the Japaneese market would tend to exert a more opressive influence. I cannot help but think that this has only served to diversify the sector. I mean wither goest thou, WWII FPS, if not Xbox?

aside:Incidentally, I will never forgive EA for not porting Allied Assault to Xbox...Frontline a day(year) late and a dollar short(it looked like a PS2 game) didn't cut it. Speaking of anti-consumer practices...EA and Sony, yes I'm looking at you.(No, that wasn't what I was thinking of either)

And no, I wasn't thinking of the rootkit or the PS2 DVD(MS has had its own DVD issues), thanks for reminding me, since you prematurely invalidated anything Sony's done "years ago" I guess its not important. Nice dodge, btw...even if that wasn't what I was shootin' at.


what he said.

You are, of course, entitled to your opinion of my posts, just as I would hope you would respect my opinion of yours. However, I am trying to point out how I approach things, so I'll have one more try to get my point across, after this I'm not gonna waste everybody else's time by posting here. If you want to continue this offline, you can find my email address on the SPOnG team page under about SPOnG below.

I try to take a fair and balanced view of things and use that fair and balanced approach to counter wild speculation and uninformed rants.

Your fulcrum analogy seems slightly mis-worded, I assume you were saying that you don't make thing balanced by adding an equal amount of weight to both ends of an already unbalanced fulcrum? Because by causing the weight on both sides to be equal, you will achieve balance. Of course equal large amounts of weight will break the see-saw, so to speak, that's a flame war!

To stretch the analogy a bit, I'm saying my weight is closer to the fulcrum than the weight that is already there - inevitably my arguments will have less impact than the weight at either end.

It's up to you if you believe that or not, please read back through my other posts and decide for yourself if I'm more fact-based than the average forum poster. I have even admitted when I was wrong - I didn't see much potential for the DS, boy did I screw up that guess!


Then what are you accusing Sony of doing that is anti-consumer?

Nice dodge by the way, negating my explanation without providing the reasons you are accusing Sony, so I can't even try to counter them. :-)