All those who raised a question about graphics/visuals downgrade in Watch Dogs must check out this comparison screen, the details are next-to real.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Watch Dogs vs Google Maps
Ubisoft's upcoming hacking open world title, Watch Dogs is set in
Chicago City. The development team did a great job of replicating
real-life Chicago City in Watch Dogs and proof of this is a comparison
screen posted below showcasing Chicago City in Watch Dogs vs Chicago
City Snapshot via Google Map.
All those who raised a question about graphics/visuals downgrade in Watch Dogs must check out this comparison screen, the details are next-to real.
All those who raised a question about graphics/visuals downgrade in Watch Dogs must check out this comparison screen, the details are next-to real.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Microsoft Q3 Financial Results
DualShockers yesterday reported the quarterly financial results for Microsoft, including a press release detailing the revenue for the quarter ended on March 31st.
Just to put things into perspective.
For the quarter MS reported a $20billion in revenue overall... $1.97 billion included all hardware devices sold.
Of that $1.97billion approximately $600million came direct from console sales of X1(1.2mil * 500). another $200 million came from the 360(.8mil * 250).
The surface tablets alone accounted for $494 million which roughly equates to 1.2 million sales(494mil / ~$400).
The rest probably came from other peripherals and mobile devices that ms sells.
The total revenue for all Devices & Consumer Other category was 1.95 billion which included office 365, ad revenues generated from sources like bing as well as xbl transactional revenues among other things. I would guess at least half of that comes from bing and potentially alot more as it now has an 18% market share in the US. I'd guess that 500-600 million might be reasonable for xbl transactions. Might be generous though too. I'm shooting in the dark here.
Revenue is meaningless though. The actual net income overall for MS was $5.6 billion. This is what they gained after subtracting all costs. For all of devices and hardware the gross margin was $256million. Please stop and let that sink in for a moment. The actual net income would be less than that as the gross margin does not factor in all costs... (they neglected to report any net incomes at this level in the article as MS probably didnt report them either).
Last year the gross margin for the same quarter was 393 million. Its nearly half as profitable as it was at this time last year. That is what georgeenoob means by being at its most successful state.
The gross margin (which again doesn't include all costs) for Devices and Consumer other(bing, office 365, xbl) was only 540 million. Once again the net income is less than that. and the xbl generated income is less than that still probably by at least half. That is for the massive install base of the 360 along with the x1.
To say it is doomed isn't true, but these aren't exactly good numbers or something to be exactly proud of. The margins and volumes even on the software side do not look too stellar. I understand why they are hiding things.
The company announced a revenue of $20.40 billion for the quarter ended on march 31st. Gross margin, operating income, net income, and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were respectively $14.46 billion, $6.97 billion, $5.66 billion, and $0.68 per share.
Just to put things into perspective.
For the quarter MS reported a $20billion in revenue overall... $1.97 billion included all hardware devices sold.
Of that $1.97billion approximately $600million came direct from console sales of X1(1.2mil * 500). another $200 million came from the 360(.8mil * 250).
The surface tablets alone accounted for $494 million which roughly equates to 1.2 million sales(494mil / ~$400).
The rest probably came from other peripherals and mobile devices that ms sells.
The total revenue for all Devices & Consumer Other category was 1.95 billion which included office 365, ad revenues generated from sources like bing as well as xbl transactional revenues among other things. I would guess at least half of that comes from bing and potentially alot more as it now has an 18% market share in the US. I'd guess that 500-600 million might be reasonable for xbl transactions. Might be generous though too. I'm shooting in the dark here.
Revenue is meaningless though. The actual net income overall for MS was $5.6 billion. This is what they gained after subtracting all costs. For all of devices and hardware the gross margin was $256million. Please stop and let that sink in for a moment. The actual net income would be less than that as the gross margin does not factor in all costs... (they neglected to report any net incomes at this level in the article as MS probably didnt report them either).
Last year the gross margin for the same quarter was 393 million. Its nearly half as profitable as it was at this time last year. That is what georgeenoob means by being at its most successful state.
The gross margin (which again doesn't include all costs) for Devices and Consumer other(bing, office 365, xbl) was only 540 million. Once again the net income is less than that. and the xbl generated income is less than that still probably by at least half. That is for the massive install base of the 360 along with the x1.
To say it is doomed isn't true, but these aren't exactly good numbers or something to be exactly proud of. The margins and volumes even on the software side do not look too stellar. I understand why they are hiding things.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Minecraft coming to PS4 and Vita Soon
Since they were first announced, Mojang has been
hesitant to provide a release date for the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation
Vita versions of Minecraft.
And while it still hasn't given us anything exact, the developer now
says the sandbox building game will be out on the two systems during the
second or third quarter of this year, placing its release somewhere
between now and the end of September.
Mojang shared this release window in the comments of a recent PlayStation Blog post (via CVG) about the retail PS3 version of Minecraft coming on May 16.
In
another comment, Mojang's Owen Hill described the Vita version as being
"closer to the console versions," as opposed to the more limited Pocket
Edition available on mobile systems. In response to a question about
the ability to transfer Minecraft saves from the PS3 version, Hill said,
"You should be able to bring your PS3 save to PS4."
As
for whether owners of the PS3 version will have to pay again for access
on the PS4 or Vita, he said, "We’re in the process of finalising
cross-buy/upgrade/DLC things. More news soon."
Minecraft was announced for the PS4, PS3, and Vita last August. It was released on the PS3 in December, with the other two versions--along with the Xbox One version--expected to be released sometime this year.
Monday, April 21, 2014
PlayStation Now Beta
Looks like Sony is applying some very fast iteration to the games offered as part of the PlayStation Now
beta test, dualshockers delivered
a few snapshots showcasing the new catalog, which shows an arguable
improvement in the quality of the titles included since the last update.
Here’s the full list of the games currently available:
At the moment, of course, there are no price tags attached, and it’ll be interesting to see how this will translate into the final version this summer. Of course we have to remember that this is indeed a beta, and it doesn’t represent the final list of games that will be offered by the service.
See images and original article HERE
Here’s the full list of the games currently available:
- Heavy Fire: Shattered Spear
- LUMINES: Supernova
- NIGHTS Into Dreams…
- Retro/Grade
- Sacred Citadel
- Saints Row: The Third
- Skullgirls Encore
- Sniper Elite V2
- Puppeteer
- Eat Them!
- PixelJump Racers 2nd Lap
- PixelJunk Shooter 2
- BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
- Ben 10 Omniverse 2
- Contrast
- Disgaea D2: A Brighter Darkness
- Catherine
- El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron
- FUEL
- GRID
At the moment, of course, there are no price tags attached, and it’ll be interesting to see how this will translate into the final version this summer. Of course we have to remember that this is indeed a beta, and it doesn’t represent the final list of games that will be offered by the service.
See images and original article HERE
Saturday, April 19, 2014
Building A Gaming PC On A Next Gen Console Budget
Gamespot has a great new feature out about whether or not you can build a gaming PC at the same cost of a PS4 or a Xbox One, and get relatively equal performance or better. They conducted a study by having two their people each build a system, one being AMD and the other being Intel/Nvidia. Here are their results:
With these systems, they were able to get adequate results on the new popular titles Assassin's Creed IV, Battlefield 4, Thief, and Titanfall. They all had above an average FPS of 30, and some averaged over 60 on high/ultra settings.
Many in the comments were quick to react with arguments to the study. They didn't include the cost of a monitor, or a controller. What about the HDMI cable? The Wifi, BluRay drive, Blutooth and Kinect were also not included. Does any of that matter though? Should they be factoring in the cost of a TV when talking about the cost of consoles? What about the $60 yearly subscription fee that is required to play anything on multiplayer on either a PS4 or Xbox One? A keyboard and mouse may not be the same experience as a game controller but many would argue it's a better experience. This wasn't a test to emulate a console experience, but to find if a PC could deliver an equally good if not better one. HDMI cables are only around $5. PCs don't need BluRay drives, as PC games are still primarily sold on DVDs. And Kinect? Microsoft has yet to prove its worth to the consumer, as no game needs it, and the couple that do are garbage.
If anything, Gamespot's inclusion of a Windows license more of a formality than a necessity. Most consumers don't buy windows for home use. Unless the rig is being used for professional work or the computer came with it preinstalled, people just pirate Windows. It's understandable why Gamespot didn't do this. They're a business. They're owned by a major corporation. They survive on advertisement revenue. They can't be perceived as encouraging piracy.
Who in these modern times doesn't have a computer? Everyone, at least people who have an interest in playing video games, owns a PC or a laptop. Nobody is replacing their real computer with a next gen video game console. So people are paying for computers whether or not it's being used as a gaming system. Forgoing consoles just means putting more money towards a computer that you were going to buy anyways.
AMD Gaming PC
| Component | Type | Price | Store |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD FX-6300 Vishera 3.5GHz | $109.00 | Amazon |
| Motherboard | ASUS M5A78L-M/USB3 AM3+ AMD 760G | $48.49 | Newegg |
| Case | Fractal Core 1000 | $39.99 | Newegg |
| PSU | EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W | $44.99 | Newegg |
| GPU | PowerColor AX7850 2GBD5-DH Radeon HD 7850 (open box item) | $107.00 | Newegg |
| RAM | HyperX XMP Blu Series 4GB DDR3 1600 | $40.00 | Newegg |
| Storage | Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB | $50.95 | Amazon |
| OS | Windows 8 | $70.00 | eBay |
| Key/Mouse | V7 Standard PS/2 Keyboard and Mouse Combo | $10.19 | Amazon |
| Subtotal | $520.61 | ||
| Sales Tax | $45.55 | ||
| Total | $566.16 |
Intel/Nvidia Gaming PC
| Component | Type | Price | Store |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Pentium G2130 3.2 GHz | $74.99 | Newegg |
| Motherboard | Biostar H61MGV3 | $36.99 | Newegg |
| Case | Topower TP-1687BB-300 | $34.99 | Newegg |
| PSU | 300W SFX Power Supply (included w/case) | n/a | Newegg |
| GPU | EVGA GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2 GB | $154.99 | Newegg |
| RAM | Team Elite 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 | $39.99 | Newegg |
| Storage | Western Digital Blue 500 GB 7200 RPM 16MB | $54.99 | Newegg |
| OS | Windows 8.1 64-Bit | $99.99 | Newegg |
| Key/Mouse | Rosewill PS/2 Wired | $12.98 | Newegg |
| Subtotal | $509.91 | ||
| Sales Tax | $38.24 | ||
| Total | $548.15 |
With these systems, they were able to get adequate results on the new popular titles Assassin's Creed IV, Battlefield 4, Thief, and Titanfall. They all had above an average FPS of 30, and some averaged over 60 on high/ultra settings.
Many in the comments were quick to react with arguments to the study. They didn't include the cost of a monitor, or a controller. What about the HDMI cable? The Wifi, BluRay drive, Blutooth and Kinect were also not included. Does any of that matter though? Should they be factoring in the cost of a TV when talking about the cost of consoles? What about the $60 yearly subscription fee that is required to play anything on multiplayer on either a PS4 or Xbox One? A keyboard and mouse may not be the same experience as a game controller but many would argue it's a better experience. This wasn't a test to emulate a console experience, but to find if a PC could deliver an equally good if not better one. HDMI cables are only around $5. PCs don't need BluRay drives, as PC games are still primarily sold on DVDs. And Kinect? Microsoft has yet to prove its worth to the consumer, as no game needs it, and the couple that do are garbage.
If anything, Gamespot's inclusion of a Windows license more of a formality than a necessity. Most consumers don't buy windows for home use. Unless the rig is being used for professional work or the computer came with it preinstalled, people just pirate Windows. It's understandable why Gamespot didn't do this. They're a business. They're owned by a major corporation. They survive on advertisement revenue. They can't be perceived as encouraging piracy.
Who in these modern times doesn't have a computer? Everyone, at least people who have an interest in playing video games, owns a PC or a laptop. Nobody is replacing their real computer with a next gen video game console. So people are paying for computers whether or not it's being used as a gaming system. Forgoing consoles just means putting more money towards a computer that you were going to buy anyways.
Monday, March 28, 2011
The Horrors Perpetrated By Christian Fake Clinics
SOURCE
Now that South Dakota has actually passed legislation requiring every woman seeking an abortion to be ‘counseled’ by a Fake Clinic, it’s obvious that, in all fairness, every pregnant woman who is considering having a baby has to be counseled at an abortion clinic. Of course that wouldn't make any sense because, unlike the Fake Clinics, abortion clinics don't have an agenda for the patient except that she make the best decision for herself!
What would happen if a woman who wanted a baby were counseled at an abortion clinic? The counselor or advocate would ask a few questions and then probably say something like “It sounds as though you know what you want. Congratulations. Can I help you find any community resources to help?”
What will happen when a woman who wants an abortion is counseled at a Fake Clinic? The monstrous deception that occurs in the Fake Clinics has been exposed in films such as the HBO Special 12th and Delaware. Because the Fakes have a well-hidden agenda, everything they do is designed to frighten and shame a woman who knows it is not the right time for her to have a baby. This fraudulence is clearly set out in the instructions given by the diabolical Robert Pearson, who came up with this brilliant and evil plan way back in 1967 when abortion was first legal in Hawaii. Pearson himself acknowledged and defended the deception in a 1994 speech: “obviously, we’re fighting Satan... A killer, who in this case is the girl who wants to kill her baby, has no right to information that will help her kill her baby. Therefore, when she calls and says, ‘Do you do abortions?’ we do not tell her, No, we don’t do abortions.” The volunteers in his centers and others like them don’t mind tricking women because they think they are following some ‘higher law’. They don’t mind lying and misrepresenting things like the specious breast cancer-abortion link, the dangers of abortion, and most cruel of all, the help available to a woman who realizes that she honestly cannot support a child financially. The original Pearson manual includes: "[o]ur name of the game is to get the woman to come in as do the abortion chambers. Be put off by nothing... Let nothing stop you. The stakes are life or death." In 12th and Delaware we witnessed a young woman who came to a Fake and was so terrified by what they told her about abortion that she went home and months later knew with great anguish that she was still in no position to have and support a child. But by then she had little choice.
I remember in my own clinic years that when a woman came to our front desk crying and shaking I always knew she had been waylaid by the Fake Clinic directly across the hall from us--the Fake Clinic that advertised Free Pregnancy Testing and Financial Assistance. There was no financial assistance for abortion in Dallas, Texas. We did everything we knew to alert women to its existence including telling everyone who called us that the Fake Clinic was next door. But women who were poor, didn’t speak English, and had the very fewest resources went to the Fake Clinic because they believed they would be able to get a free abortion. During one of the most stressful days of their lives, some of our patients still got confused and went in the wrong door. Sometimes the Fake Clinic would actually send their white-coated volunteers out into the parking lot to take our unwitting patients into their facility--like spiders luring flies to their doom.
We always spent extra time with patients who had been to the Fake Clinic because we knew they hadn’t been told the truth. But I was shocked to really GET how powerful the lies were. I counseled with a patient who had been to the Fake. She said she didn’t feel like she could get up and leave even though she knew it wasn’t the right place, because the woman reminded her of her grandmother and she didn’t want to be rude. In counseling she seemed resolved about her choice, so we did all the usual paperwork and lab work. She was early in pregnancy so an abortion was many times safer than continuing a pregnancy. I went through her abortion with her. After the five-minute procedure she burst into tears and said, “I can’t believe I lived”.
As a result of that experience, we sent a spy over to the Fake Clinic to steal one of their tapes so that we could see what our patients were seeing. We were more than appalled. After that our counseling with victims of the Fakes included extensive debriefing about what they had been told, what they had seen, and how it had affected them. I don’t care how extensive your counseling is, or how skilled, it is damned hard for any woman to feel safe when she been told she will probably die from an abortion.
There are millions of stories of women who have gone to Fakes Clinics. Here’s just one more.
"Then they asked us what we wanted to do and my daughter and I said we decided the best thing for her to do was have an abortion and how much would that cost? The two ladies said 'please wait a minute' and left us ... They came back with a doll and ... scissors ... and said: 'this is what your baby looks like now and we want you to start cutting her up because that's what will happen if you get an abortion - so start cutting!' I grabbed her and threw the doll at those ladies and got out of there fast! I later found out it wasn't a real clinic..." (excerpt from Legal but Out of Reach published by the National Network of Abortion Funds)
With all this evidence, and the founder of this movement himself acknowledging that the purpose of these facilities is to deceive women, what are we to think about legislators who would intentionally subject even one woman to this travesty?
Can it be that they actually hate us because someone told them that Eve was to blame for all the problems in the world? If anyone had any doubts that the recent insane barrage of anti abortion legislation in state after state is based in total disrespect for women, this should make it clear. It truly is a War Against Women.
Now that South Dakota has actually passed legislation requiring every woman seeking an abortion to be ‘counseled’ by a Fake Clinic, it’s obvious that, in all fairness, every pregnant woman who is considering having a baby has to be counseled at an abortion clinic. Of course that wouldn't make any sense because, unlike the Fake Clinics, abortion clinics don't have an agenda for the patient except that she make the best decision for herself!
What would happen if a woman who wanted a baby were counseled at an abortion clinic? The counselor or advocate would ask a few questions and then probably say something like “It sounds as though you know what you want. Congratulations. Can I help you find any community resources to help?”
What will happen when a woman who wants an abortion is counseled at a Fake Clinic? The monstrous deception that occurs in the Fake Clinics has been exposed in films such as the HBO Special 12th and Delaware. Because the Fakes have a well-hidden agenda, everything they do is designed to frighten and shame a woman who knows it is not the right time for her to have a baby. This fraudulence is clearly set out in the instructions given by the diabolical Robert Pearson, who came up with this brilliant and evil plan way back in 1967 when abortion was first legal in Hawaii. Pearson himself acknowledged and defended the deception in a 1994 speech: “obviously, we’re fighting Satan... A killer, who in this case is the girl who wants to kill her baby, has no right to information that will help her kill her baby. Therefore, when she calls and says, ‘Do you do abortions?’ we do not tell her, No, we don’t do abortions.” The volunteers in his centers and others like them don’t mind tricking women because they think they are following some ‘higher law’. They don’t mind lying and misrepresenting things like the specious breast cancer-abortion link, the dangers of abortion, and most cruel of all, the help available to a woman who realizes that she honestly cannot support a child financially. The original Pearson manual includes: "[o]ur name of the game is to get the woman to come in as do the abortion chambers. Be put off by nothing... Let nothing stop you. The stakes are life or death." In 12th and Delaware we witnessed a young woman who came to a Fake and was so terrified by what they told her about abortion that she went home and months later knew with great anguish that she was still in no position to have and support a child. But by then she had little choice.
I remember in my own clinic years that when a woman came to our front desk crying and shaking I always knew she had been waylaid by the Fake Clinic directly across the hall from us--the Fake Clinic that advertised Free Pregnancy Testing and Financial Assistance. There was no financial assistance for abortion in Dallas, Texas. We did everything we knew to alert women to its existence including telling everyone who called us that the Fake Clinic was next door. But women who were poor, didn’t speak English, and had the very fewest resources went to the Fake Clinic because they believed they would be able to get a free abortion. During one of the most stressful days of their lives, some of our patients still got confused and went in the wrong door. Sometimes the Fake Clinic would actually send their white-coated volunteers out into the parking lot to take our unwitting patients into their facility--like spiders luring flies to their doom.
We always spent extra time with patients who had been to the Fake Clinic because we knew they hadn’t been told the truth. But I was shocked to really GET how powerful the lies were. I counseled with a patient who had been to the Fake. She said she didn’t feel like she could get up and leave even though she knew it wasn’t the right place, because the woman reminded her of her grandmother and she didn’t want to be rude. In counseling she seemed resolved about her choice, so we did all the usual paperwork and lab work. She was early in pregnancy so an abortion was many times safer than continuing a pregnancy. I went through her abortion with her. After the five-minute procedure she burst into tears and said, “I can’t believe I lived”.
As a result of that experience, we sent a spy over to the Fake Clinic to steal one of their tapes so that we could see what our patients were seeing. We were more than appalled. After that our counseling with victims of the Fakes included extensive debriefing about what they had been told, what they had seen, and how it had affected them. I don’t care how extensive your counseling is, or how skilled, it is damned hard for any woman to feel safe when she been told she will probably die from an abortion.
There are millions of stories of women who have gone to Fakes Clinics. Here’s just one more.
"Then they asked us what we wanted to do and my daughter and I said we decided the best thing for her to do was have an abortion and how much would that cost? The two ladies said 'please wait a minute' and left us ... They came back with a doll and ... scissors ... and said: 'this is what your baby looks like now and we want you to start cutting her up because that's what will happen if you get an abortion - so start cutting!' I grabbed her and threw the doll at those ladies and got out of there fast! I later found out it wasn't a real clinic..." (excerpt from Legal but Out of Reach published by the National Network of Abortion Funds)
With all this evidence, and the founder of this movement himself acknowledging that the purpose of these facilities is to deceive women, what are we to think about legislators who would intentionally subject even one woman to this travesty?
Can it be that they actually hate us because someone told them that Eve was to blame for all the problems in the world? If anyone had any doubts that the recent insane barrage of anti abortion legislation in state after state is based in total disrespect for women, this should make it clear. It truly is a War Against Women.
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
High School Prayer Banner Part 2
Hey guys, sorry I've been away for a while.
I want to bring you all up to speed on what's happened over in Cranston, RI.
Last time I spoke about this, I told you that the school subcommittee voted 4-1 to keep the banner.
Well now the official school board has made their final decision. 4-3 to keep the banner...
The banner's creator, David Bradley said it was meant to be non-denominational (ha!).
"I don't believe that prayer has hurt or injured or warped a single one of them. They are probably better citizens for having recited, read or even seen my prayer," David Bradley said.
"... the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that in this country it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government."
- Justice Hugo Black
Hmm...
Has David Bradley ever been a judge of the US Supreme Court?
Now the city is going to have to find the money to fight an expensive legal battle with the ACLU. They're going to seek a lawyer who will do it pro-bono, but even if they do, they stll have to pay other court costs that will directly drained from school funding.
Once again, I'll point out that this isn't about forbidding religion or prayer in school. Students have every right to do so alone or with a group as long as it's not disruptive. School officials are the ones who are forbidden from endorsing religion. Keep in mind that the the violation of the establishment clause is not based on someone’s being offended or being able to avoid the prayers, but instead on the government’s involvement in and active promotion of a religious activity.
The school board committee said they were representing the majority opinion. Well the constitution wasn't written to protect the majority. It was made to protect the minority. This isn't American Idol.
I want to bring you all up to speed on what's happened over in Cranston, RI.
Last time I spoke about this, I told you that the school subcommittee voted 4-1 to keep the banner.
Well now the official school board has made their final decision. 4-3 to keep the banner...
The banner's creator, David Bradley said it was meant to be non-denominational (ha!).
"I don't believe that prayer has hurt or injured or warped a single one of them. They are probably better citizens for having recited, read or even seen my prayer," David Bradley said.
"... the constitutional prohibition against laws respecting an establishment of religion must at least mean that in this country it is no part of the business of government to compose official prayers for any group of the American people to recite as a part of a religious program carried on by government."
- Justice Hugo Black
Hmm...
Has David Bradley ever been a judge of the US Supreme Court?
Now the city is going to have to find the money to fight an expensive legal battle with the ACLU. They're going to seek a lawyer who will do it pro-bono, but even if they do, they stll have to pay other court costs that will directly drained from school funding.
Once again, I'll point out that this isn't about forbidding religion or prayer in school. Students have every right to do so alone or with a group as long as it's not disruptive. School officials are the ones who are forbidden from endorsing religion. Keep in mind that the the violation of the establishment clause is not based on someone’s being offended or being able to avoid the prayers, but instead on the government’s involvement in and active promotion of a religious activity.
The school board committee said they were representing the majority opinion. Well the constitution wasn't written to protect the majority. It was made to protect the minority. This isn't American Idol.
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