Costs
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The cost of Apple TV
Over at the Denver Channel, I found this Business Week write up about the true cost of Apple TV. It offers, they write, no more than a 20% markup in price--far out of line with Apple's other, more profitable products. Is it that Apple is, as I hope, selling the razor (Apple TV) before announcing the blades (either iTunes HD content or video rentals)? Or is Apple just crazy out of their minds with a product that will soon be killed? What do you think, TUAW readers?
Rumors: 17-inch iMac meets its end?
According to MacDailyNews who relays information gleaned from ThinkSecret, the 17-inch iMac will soon be no more. Let's have a quick moment of silence to say goodbye. Right then. Enough of the moment. Industry insiders, those anonymous sources of all the most fabulous and occasionally reliable Apple news, suggest that starting at the end of June a refreshed iMac line will consist of 20- and 24-inch models. As display prices continue to drop, the cost difference between a 17-inch and 20-inch iMac has apparently shrunk as well, making this jump in screen size possible. More screen, same $$s. Excellent.
Weak dollars. Strong pounds. Expensive iPods.
The weak US dollar and the strong British pound have made iPods more expensive in Britain than ever according to the Guardian newspaper. An 5.5G iPod video that costs £190 in the UK can be purchased in the US for the UK equivalent of £128. This is yet another reason that travelers might want to take advantage of the iPod vending machines now springing up at many US airports and convention centers.
Revisiting respec costs
We've covered the idea of changing respec costs (and even having more than one talent build) before, but the issue continues to get play-- Good has posted a very in-depth analysis of respec costs and why they need to be lowered or done away with completely.Good claims that the problem with respec costs has to do with the tanking and healing classes. The DPS classes-- Mages, Hunters, Rogues, Warlocks-- can fill their role in any spec, but tanks and healers, Good claims, have to be raid specced to do well in a raiding environment, and putting respec costs in the game just creates a barrier to keep them from playing other parts of the game.To the normal arguments, Good has answers. Lots of people say losing respec costs will just create cookie-cutter builds, but he says it will actually allow for diversity within groups-- instead of having two holy priests, one can switch to shadow. And for those who say 50g to change respecs isn't much (especially considering how much money is in Outland), he says then it shouldn't be in the game in the first place-- you're just burdening those classes who need to change to enjoy the game.Still other respec cost suggestions include allowing them to be paid for with BG tokens-- to let PvPers have the chance to switch back. Unfortunately for Good, I don't see it happening. Blizzard wants you to choose a spec and stick with it-- I'm known throughout my guild as a resto Shaman, and that's the way they want it (even if I have to switch to my Rogue to do PvP). The 50g respec cost isn't much, but it'll keep most players from switching, while still allowing those who really feel they need to switch to do so without too much trouble. People who want it all won't like hearing it, but I think respec costs are "working as intended," and will stay so for a while.[ via Paladin Sucks ]
Europe's PS3 to have limited PS2 backwards compatibility?
We'll admit, we're feeling starting to feel for you folks in Europe, as not only do you now have to actually pay attention to where you're driving, but the PlayStation 3 you were planning on snagging exactly one month from today might be hamstringed right out of the box. According to comments made by David Reeves, president of SCEE, support for PS2 titles will indeed be limited, as he stated that "rather than concentrating on PS2 backwards compatibility, company resources will be increasingly focused on developing new games and entertainment features exclusively for PS3." It seems that original PlayStation titles won't be hindered all that much, but the situation looks fairly dire for your current PlayStation 2 discs. The actual list of compatible titles won't be published until launch day, and while it was noted that future titles could be added through PlayStation Network downloads, a Sony spokesperson purportedly stated that "backwards compatibility is not going to be as good as in the US and Japanese models." The reason, while still not pinpointed, could potentially be linked to the Euro-spec'd PS3 rocking a "new chassis" designed to bring manufacturing costs of the console down, which might have demanded some hardware cutbacks somewhere along the line. Regardless of the "why," it looks like UK users could get snubbed by Sony once again, so we seriously hope your PS2 won't mind sharing cabinet space with its newfangled sibling come March 23rd.[Thanks, Stoo and Ryan]
Rogue Amoeba begins "Should I Exhibit At Macworld?" blogging series
Paul Kafasis of Rogue Amoeba has kicked off a new series at their company blog titled Should I Exhibit At Macworld?, breaking down the finer yet lesser-known details of how much it really costs software developers to exhibit at Macworld. This first post examines the various significant and hidden costs of appearing at the Apple event to end all Apple events, including: travel, cab fair, internet access, pressing trial CDs and, of course, the big whopper: the actual booth or kiosk itself. Some of these costs might sound like pocket change to some, but Paul tallies everything up and - considering what the Moscone Center charges for some of these things ($1095 for 4 days of internet access on the floor makes even the $12/day I paid in the hotel look appetizing) - offers a good checklist that can act as a guiding light to some, or a ton-o'-bricks reality check for others. Stay tuned for the other three parts of this series, as Paul foreshadows where he'll take it with this first post.
The Pros and Cons of Costless Respecs
Vengal from Cho'gall had an interesting idea from the forums today: Do away with repec costs.Personally, I've never had a problem with respec costs. Not counting the class respecs I've gotten free as a warrior, mage, priest, hunter, and shaman, the only time I've ever respecced was to bring my Frost mage back to a Fire build (not that it helped-- generally I'm a player that plays in plate, not cloth). So at first glance, this idea doesn't sound very good. Especially with the changes made lately (respecs are now decaying over time, 5g/month to a minimum of 10g), respecs aren't that big a deal. They're there if you need them, but they're expensive enough that you want to do your research before choosing where to put those precious talent points.But Vengal has an interesting point as well: if respec costs were done away with, you could respec nightly. Be PVE one day for soloing, be PVP the next for a tour in the BGs, and then go raid spec for a night with your guild. He says respec costs aren't a punishment for people who spend their talent points unwisely-- they're a punishment for people who want a change. (Personally, I haven't played Guild Wars, but I believe that's how that game works-- you can change talents at will and customize your class whenever you want.) On the one hand, that would lead to new levels of competition in the different play types-- if everyone in the BG was specced for PVP, you have to think battles would be extra-spectacular to play in. Then again, letting anyone respec at any time would inevitably turn us all into cookie-cutter play types. There would be no real room for personal customization or playstyle-- your guild would expect you to be raid-specced if you were going on a raid (ahem-- much the way gear works right now, but that's another discussion).There's a few more interesting ideas in the thread, too: Maybe only the last twenty talent points could be respec free (or the last ten, since the expansion will take us to 70). Blue hasn't made an appearance in the thread as of this posting, but it's something they might consider carefully: are respec costs punishing players who want to be more versatile?
Red Steel development costs might surprise you
A French news site is reporting that the biggest third-party title for the Wii, Red Steel, will incur costs of around 10 million Euros in development. Now, for you American folks, that's roughly 12.65 million buckaroos. It may seem like a lot, but in the grand scheme of things, it isn't that big of a deal.Think about development costs for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Imagine if this game was being developed on either of those systems, we could easily see that doubled (maybe even tripled in the case of the PS3), due to excessive costs associated with creating those photo-realistic HD graphics. Also, this game has been in development for under a year and will launch with the console during the fourth quarter of this year, which again would make costs rise significantly would it be made for the other two systems, as even more man power would have to be dedicated to pushing the game out on time.Now, if the development cycle were a little longer, say 2-3 years, we'd see a significant drop in the development cost, but as it stands now, should this figure be correct, $12.65 million US is not that much money to produce a AAA title.[Via Zogdog Forums; Thanks Danger-P!]
