Hurlshort

http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/marketplace...stv/default.htm I posted this on the Microsoft forum, but it was generally ignored by rabid fanbois. I figured I'd post it hear and see what y'all think of the Video marketplace. "I was extremely excited to hear about the video marketplace. It makes the Xbox so much more than a game machine, and has the potential to really engage a new audience. But the current pricing model gives me a headache. I'm not saying all the content should be free, but I'm saying there has to be a better way to make this work. Right now I'm better off paying the cable company and Tivo a monthly fee. The Xbox marketplace needs to be a BETTER alternative if it wants to appeal to a large audience. 1. TV episodes - I should be able to get a decent price on an entire season. $25.00 for a season is not competitive with Blockbuster of Netflix. Many stores sell the boxset of a season for this price, and that doesn't take up a chunk of my precious hard drive space. A 20 minute show costs the same as a 45 minute show. Recommendation - Throw in some commercials to create revenue. I know it's hard to get people to advertise in a relatively unknown medium, but if they lower the costs, they'll have more folks downloading, and that creates better numbers to show advertisers. Recommendation 2 - Raise the Xbox Live Gold membership by $5 and make TV shows free for download. Or create another monthly membership category where you pay extra for TV shows. People pay $30 a month for unlimited cable TV. The video marketplace doesn't have nearly as much content, but it does have a customization factor. Most people will not cancel their cable for the Marketplace, but they will probably pay a bit extra per month to access shows when they want. I pay $11.99 a month for my Tivo. That is Microsoft's direct competition. They don't have HD, but the Marketplace does not have everything on TV. 2. Movies - The rental policy is decent. It's much better than Pay Per View and faster than Netflix. I'm not sure why the 24-hour limit after play is in place. Is this a liability issue? Also, exactly why are HD movies more expensive? Does it really cost $2 more in bandwidth? Is it really that much of a business cost for the Marketplace? I think HD is still in the early stages. If you really want to attract HD-TV owners, I think the pricing should be the same across the board. It's about $4.00 for a regular definition movie, and that's a great price range for a rental. It's cheaper than Blockbuster and more convenient. I also would really like to know exactly why Microsoft went with the current business model. I'm sure they have a good reason, but it seems like it's overcomplicating things for the users. Paying for each individual episode of Beavis and Butthead is not something that a lot of people are willing to do."

I wish Sand would go back to using Judge Hades. I always knew what to expect when I saw that little portrait. Sand doesn't stand out as much and occassionally I forget it's actually Hades.

It's a dysfunctional family, for sure. I don't have friendly fire on.

I don't know much about Europe's University system, but can anyone attend college? Isn't each country different? UCLA is actually a state university, but it's not necessarily a public university. They have limited enrollment, but anyone can attend certain classes. It's complicated. Also, I don't know where julianw got the impression that the US university system is failing. The k-12 education system is failing, but the university system in the US is still incredibly strong. People come from all over the world to attend US universities, public and private.

How are they not covering the Ducks-Sharks game? That's a heck of a match up.

I think it's hard to rate any console until you get the 2nd generation of games. Right now is a good time to review the Xbox360. They've developed a lineup of games, and even have a few platform unique titles that weren't thrown together for launch. The UI has been patched a few times and upgraded as well. The PS3 needs about a year to get its bearings. Heck, the PS2 didn't really hit its stride until about 2 years in.

I was in love with the doctor lady in the original Jagged Alliance. We had quite a romance going on. I went nuts when she got kidnapped.

No, Chris Rock is observing racism. He's pointing out where racism is. He also spends more time making fun of black people than he does white. It's just like Borat, or Sascha Baron Cohen, always attacking jews. He's jewish himself, even though the character he portrays is clearly racist. But he's using the character to make statements about racism, just as Chris Rock does in his stand up. It really boils down to anger. It sounds like Kramer was off on an angry tirade, as was Mel Gibson. There is nothing poignant or even funny about hatred. It shows a severe lack of character. Borat and Chris Rock are pointing out that this lack of character exists, while the others are showing they personally lack that character. It's the difference between being a realist and a bigot.

Just watched "White Noise" I'm now suitably creeped out, at home alone.

Do you suggest tasering them?

PS3 - Where the action starts in the store parking lot. I'm sure someone can think of a better tagline than that

I played the demo and I was actually pretty impressed. I liked the art style, and the controls are way more intuitive than Gothic 2. I might ask for it for Christmas, but I'll have to check and make sure it's thoroughly patched before then. Then demo was bug free, from what I could see. Also, the cut scenes were pretty phenomenal.

I like the last little blurb: "In Sullivan, Ind., a man was stabbed and critically wounded after he and a friend tried to rob two men of game consoles they had waited 36 hours to buy." That means the buyers actually brought knives to protect their PS3's. Awesome planning.

I have no doubt Rosy will net 20, and I'm thinking him and Curtis Brown will give the Sharks about 15 shorties this year. Grier is also getting some time with Big Joe, so he might threaten for 30. I just watched Michalek and Thornton work magic on the ice. It was like they were out there alone on the ice. Philly's D looked shocked.

Yeah, I actually hear about FEAR quite often... "

Hey, I've already said the officers handled the situation badly. Heck, they deserve suspension and should have to take extra courses on crowd control. But I don't think the kid deserves some reward. He was being a douche, he got tasered. He doesn't deserve some lawsuit money, and the officers only deserve to lose their jobs if this sort of incident is commonplace for them. Police officers are human, they'll make mistakes, but this was not a very bad one.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/c...s-pe-california So he "declined" to show his ID because he thought he was being singled out due to race? I'm sorry, but that shows that he's the one bringing race to the table, not the cops. This all comes down to basic respect. Even if he was disrespected, answering back in the same way is just looking for trouble.

Eh, the officers didn't handle it well, but it's not like the student was innocent. He was yelling before they tasered him, and still decided to spout off afterwards. It may not be illegal to be disrespectful, but you shouldn't be surprised when you get the crap kicked out of you because of it. Also, I'm not sure if that was actually a police issue taser gun. I don't know much about them, but the kid was recovering rather quickly. I would guess that it's one of those cattle prod types you can get at the store.

Hehe, I was going to crap myself, but the specs aren't quite the same. I needed AGP, which seems to up the price a bit, and I got the 512mb version. I also got one manufactured by ATi, rather than some other company. In my experience, a lot of secondary companies release shoddy versions. Still, this is probably a comparable card for much cheaper. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16814142072

I picked up the ATi x1600 pro and, wow, what a difference for NWN2. It's running incredibly smooth and looks a great deal better. I'm pretty happy with the choice, installation was a breeze. edit: oh yeah, $205 at BestBuy. I'm sure there are better prices out there for the card, but I got to put it on my BestBuy credit card.

I always enjoy PA, but that UserFriendly comic is pretty bad. Maybe I'm not the right type of geek for that comic.

Although I personally enjoyed the game engine that ToEE used, there are a few reasons that this won't work. First, it's a graphically inferior engine You can't go backwards graphically in this industry. Second, ToEE didn't do well. Sadly, turn based games in general are struggling. The pausing system is the closest we will get from a major developer. I'd like to see this change, but I doubt they would use an engine from a title that already bombed to lead a revival.

Geez, they really make video card specs confusing. Thanks for all the information, I'm going to try and hunt for either the ATi x1950 Pro or the x1600 Pro.

Krookie only watches shows with dinosaurs in them. Although there is a LOST dino theory...

Hmm, I'm looking at video cards as well. I currently have: P4 2.8 ghz 1 gig RAM ATI 9600 series 256 mb. card (it was about $180 3 years ago, can't think of the model number) I need an AGP card and I'd prefer ATI, although I'll go with Nvidia if I need it. I'm looking for something in the $200 range. I don't plan on upgrading my mobo or chipset for a couple years. edit: Got a question on http://www.gpureview.com/Radeon-X1950-Pro-AGP-card-471.html, What's the big difference between a 256 mb and 512 mb model?