Delicious LiveJournal Links for 11-19-2010

[andrewducker]

• 100 Naked Citizens: 100 Leaked Body Scans. Oh, the utter fucking incompetence.
  (tags: usa privacy technology)
• University fees reforms will not save money - assumptions about graduate earnings and fee levels are all wrong.
  (tags: earnings university fees government uk)
• Nine Eyes - a collection of interesting, funny and pretty Google Street View pictures.
  (tags: google photography)
• Game/Gamestation to stop carrying games that use Steam. Talk about shooting themselves in the face.
  (tags: games gaming computer_games EpicFail)
• The rules of plastering
  (tags: funny)
• Porpoises rescue Dick Van Dyke. No. Really.
  (tags: porpoises DickVanDyke weird unlikely)
• Christian adoption adviser sacked for refusing to recommend same-sex couples has lost her religious discrimination case.
  (tags: religion homophobia adoption children)
• Ian Paisley backs Irish unity. Well, if it's all part of the UK. Aaah, the comedy House of Lords...
  (tags: uk funny ireland)
• Government has completely fucked itself over immigration. They either damage the economy or renege on a (Tory) promise.
  (tags: immigration funny uk government)
• 1st picturess from George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones miniseries
  (tags: GeorgeRRMartin GameOfThrones tv photos)
• Android apps conceal hidden charges - VAT not advertised, hidden card fees, estimates way off
  (tags: android google payment)
• Some useful health advice that goes against popular wisdom
  (tags: health advice)

Comments

[andrewducker]

Not right now, but it depends when the next generation is. I downloaded Dragon Age: Origins two weeks back, and that's 24Gig. Give it a couple of years (and all of the players are saying that the next gen is at least two years away), and the bandwidth might be available enough for most people to go for.

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

The bandwidth might be there, but it'll require the mass market to not only have access to fast broadband but have accounts with download limits that will all them to download everything.

Example: I've got access to any amount of HD video content on xbox live. At the moment it's way more feasible for me to buy BluRays. This isn't going to change in the next couple of years.

Criswell style, I predict the PC Market being almost entirely digital download in the next couple if years. Consoles will take closer to ten.

[andrewducker]

PC games are potentially just as large as console ones - I'm not sure why the switchover would be different. Unless you think that PC owners are more likely to have high-speed broadband.

I'm curious as to why you aren't with someone like BE, who have unlimited broadband. They cover Stirling:
https://www.bethere.co.uk
Everyone I know who uses them loves them to bits.

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

You recommended me looking into Be last year. When I looked into it, their deals weren't very good away from high speed networks. Stirling is still an 8 meg max zone. Trust me, I've got the best deal I can get.

As for PC games being potentially as big as console games... thats true if you're making Peggle or Farmville but beyond that you're comparing apples and oranges. The mass market doesn't take their consoles online yet.

[andrewducker]

Aaah, so you have faster, but more limited internet? That's a tricky trade-off to make, I don't envy you!

Not sure why you're bringing up Peggle/Farmville though. You mentioned 30Gig downloads, I mentioned downloading 24Gig last week. I can't really see how tiny games come into this?

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

Yes, sorry: it appears that at some point I got turned about and thought we were talking about big as in popular. I blame Jim Beam.

For the next five years or so, BluRay is going to be the most effective way of games to the console mass market. I understand that you downloaded Dragon Age origins and it was 20 odd gig, but that isn't a feasible download for most people, both in terms of time and usage allowance. For most people it will be more convenient to go to the shops.

In 2009 360 sales stood at about 30 million units with 20 million Xbox Live members. A full third of users have never even bothered hooking their console up to the outside world.

And no I don't have fast broadband I have average broadband. I have what most people not living in major cities have. I have a decent download limit tho.

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

Stats

http://www.1up.com/news/percent-buying-xbox-live-arcade-games

[andrewducker]

So 30% are downloading the minigame style things from XBLA. Doesn't really tell you how many would download the kind of games that top the charts, though.

[johnbobshaun.livejournal.com]

They *really* aren't minigames.