The Spam Thread!

[RAMChYLD]

Well, it doesn't make any differences to me- I had to buy a charger with my 3DS. We get NTSC/UC 3DSes over here, which comes with a flathead 120v 60Hz charger. Plugging that in would be like purposely setting my house on fire.

No. I HAD to import a charger from the UK. Because Malaysia is an ex-British colony and a commonwealth member, and our power is not only 230v 50Hz, but we use the same British BS1363 socket used in the UK. And Nintendo instead sells Europlug chargers (230v 50Hz but uses a two-pin rounded plug instead) in Malaysia, which further either requires an adapter or for one to force the charger into the socket.

For it to be cheaper and not come with a charger would be a service to me.

My bone to pick with Nintendo is, instead, lack of eShop in Malaysia and the region coding. Especially on a 3DS.

[RAMChYLD]

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.rockstarwarehouse.com/store/tk2rstar/en_IE/custom/pbPage.GTAVPCDownload">http://www.rockstarwarehouse.com/store/ ... PCDownload</a><!-- m -->

Also, got an e-mail from R* saying that the launch date is officially March 24th.

[huckleberrypie]

http://www.rockstarwarehouse.com/store/t...PCDownload

Also, got an e-mail from R* saying that the launch date is officially March 24th.

'Tis a drag, though it's also assuring they made the requirements more or less accomodating. Hate being forced to use a DX11 card just to play one game when not everyone has it.

[cpd2009]

Well, it doesn't make any differences to me- I had to buy a charger with my 3DS. We get NTSC/UC 3DSes over here, which comes with a flathead 120v 60Hz charger. Plugging that in would be like purposely setting my house on fire.

If Nintendo would have allowed the US adapter to accept 240v 50hz input, all you would need is a simple plug converter. Hell, Hazel's included USB charger can accept anywhere from 100 to 240v input without issues, and I bought her at the local ShopKo! If Samsung can do that, so can Nintendo. But, I guess it all fits into their region coding scheme.

http://www.rockstarwarehouse.com/store/t...PCDownload

Also, got an e-mail from R* saying that the launch date is officially March 24th.

'Tis a drag, though it's also assuring they made the requirements more or less accomodating. Hate being forced to use a DX11 card just to play one game when not everyone has it.

I'm also surprised they aren't supporting Windows XP, but maybe I shouldn't be. Yes, WinXP is no longer supported by Microsoft and is very vulnerable to hackers and viruses, but not everyone in the world can upgrade to a newer version yet. An online terminal at my local bank still runs XP! And DX10 works with XP as well as many of those minimum required video cards. Unless R* was concerned about possible security issues with people playing online via an XP computer, I don't see any reason to exclude XP from the new version.

[huckleberrypie]

As far as I know, DX10 can't and won't be ported to XP (due to architectural reasons and perhaps to MS insisting people to upgrade), hence why later games dropped support for it. Not to mention that most of those who would run GTA V would be on Windows 7 or 8 anyway.

And yes, GTA V is more online-centric with it's GTA: Online component, so it would make more sense to support a more secure operating system.

On the subject of Nintendo, 'tis another facepalm-worthy moment. It's a handheld console for pete's sakes! They should've made it auto-voltage knowing that a gamer may bring the device overseas, plus it's awkward to bring or procure a transformer as well. SMH!

[cpd2009]

As far as I know, DX10 can't and won't be ported to XP (due to architectural reasons and perhaps to MS insisting people to upgrade), hence why later games dropped support for it. Not to mention that most of those who would run GTA V would be on Windows 7 or 8 anyway.

And yes, GTA V is more online-centric with it's GTA: Online component, so it would make more sense to support a more secure operating system.

On the subject of Nintendo, 'tis another facepalm-worthy moment. It's a handheld console for pete's sakes! They should've made it auto-voltage knowing that a gamer may bring the device overseas, plus it's awkward to bring or procure a transformer as well. SMH!

It now makes sense about why R* didn't support XP. I believe Vista is up next to drop support as that date is in 2017.'

And Nintendo seemingly hasn't embraced their handheld history either. The Game Boy was made as a region free system all the way to the GBA. The DS started out that way too until they started region locking with certain DSi games. When 3DS came along, it was all region locked, with absolutely no reason to do so. I'm not that affected by region locking (yet) since I'm in the USA, but for David and people living in smaller countries, region locking can be a pain. The eShop isn't in every country either.

If I find out about a fun game that is released only in Japan or Europe, I would have to hack Clifford just to play it.

It's things like this that get me nostalgic for older technology and consoles.

[huckleberrypie]

It now makes sense about why R* didn't support XP. I believe Vista is up next to drop support as that date is in 2017.

And Nintendo seemingly hasn't embraced their handheld history either. The Game Boy was made as a region free system all the way to the GBA. The DS started out that way too until they started region locking with certain DSi games. When 3DS came along, it was all region locked, with absolutely no reason to do so. I'm not that affected by region locking (yet) since I'm in the USA, but for David and people living in smaller countries, region locking can be a pain. The eShop isn't in every country either.

If I find out about a fun game that is released only in Japan or Europe, I would have to hack Clifford just to play it.

It's things like this that get me nostalgic for older technology and consoles.

Considering how unpopular Vista was back when it was first released.

Sure, there are currency and economic differences, but region locking definitely isn't a win-win solution for people. Nintendo should learn how to go with the flow rather than insist in this stick-in-the-mud, half-baked marketing strategy of theirs. They're incurring losses as of 2014, and if this continues, we'd either see them asking for bankruptcy protection or end up relegating themselves as a third-party software house/toymaker.

And yes, not only are people forced to modify their consoles for foreign games to run, it also encourages piracy to which the big N isn't pleased with, as we know.

[RAMChYLD]

Well, I see that R* optimized GTA V to be 64-bit native. That's probably the main driving force behind dropping XP. The majority of XP boxes out there are 32-bit. And XP Pro X64 has zero support from MS. It wasn't even sold at retail, only offered with Alienware and HP machines, or to MSDN devs. And yes, the need for DX10 also complicates matters. DX10, as Blake pointed out, is a full revamp of DirectX- it drops DirectSound, and DirectDraw was revamped into Direct2D.

As for Nintendo, I agree with everything said so far. But there's nothing we can do, not as long as they can churn out exclusives like Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Animal Crossing and Pokemon. Especially Pokemon. The only way to convince them to change is to ensure their next big console and games doesn't sell more than a few dozen copies.

[huckleberrypie]

Yeah, practically no one cared about XP for x64, let alone Itanium. Though it was an oddity that Epic Games released a 64-bit build of UT2004 before x86-64 games are starting to become mainstream these days.

[cpd2009]

Well, I see that R* optimized GTA V to be 64-bit native. That's probably the main driving force behind dropping XP. The majority of XP boxes out there are 32-bit. And XP Pro X64 has zero support from MS. It wasn't even sold at retail, only offered with Alienware and HP machines, or to MSDN devs. And yes, the need for DX10 also complicates matters. DX10, as Blake pointed out, is a full revamp of DirectX- it drops DirectSound, and DirectDraw was revamped into Direct2D.

Yeah, practically no one cared about XP for x64, let alone Itanium. Though it was an oddity that Epic Games released a 64-bit build of UT2004 before x86-64 games are starting to become mainstream these days.

I remember back in college, I needed a copy of WinXP, and being a student at the time I was able to get one through the college for around $20. The set came with two discs, one disc with XP Pro 32bit, and the second disc with XP Pro 64bit. My copy of XP was meant for Jasper, so I never used the 64bit XP disc. And seeing as how many games and programs never supported XP 64bit, perhaps it was for the best.

As for Nintendo, I agree with everything said so far. But there's nothing we can do, not as long as they can churn out exclusives like Zelda, Mario, Metroid, Animal Crossing and Pokemon. Especially Pokemon. The only way to convince them to change is to ensure their next big console and games doesn't sell more than a few dozen copies.

Very true that we can't really do anything about Nintendo's decisions. If they end up becoming a third party developer, then I won't really complain if they have to publish the next Mario game for the PS4 or Xbone. They just have to make them excellent, as they always do with their current systems. Sega has made several good games as a third party developer, but they also have had their bombs such as Sonic 2006 and the horrid "Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis" for the GBA.

I am wondering if they are ripe for a buyout by another company, as I'm sure many companies in Japan and the USA would be interested in buying Nintendo. I just hope whoever buys it (if it ever happens) keeps the hardware coming out and isn't just after the IP's.