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As an Apple user I have a mistrust of Bill Gates in my genes. His ongoing attempts at world domination with average software has been enough to turn him into the spawn of Beelzebub in many people's eyes.
So, when he took the stage at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) last week I really wanted him to fail in his attempts to win over the partisan Japanese crowd.
One thing that had been conspicuous in its absence so far had been support for the X-box from the major Japanese software houses. The likes of Namco, Capcom et al are considered vital to the success of a console in Japan and worldwide.
The financial muscle of Microsoft is well documented so it was likely that they had something special up their sleeves.
So despite Bill Gates' nerdy image and ever-so-slightly whiny voice I was interested in what surprises may be in store...
As I had feared I ended up kicking myself as he announced revelation after revelation that dispelled nearly all my doubts about the X-box in one fell swoop. Sega, newly self-appointed hardware agnostics are officially on-board with at least 11 games including the long awaited next instalment of the Panzer Dragoon saga and a new Jet Set Radio game. (the thought of a Daytona game or Sonic on this undoubtedly powerful hardware has me salivating). Gates then surprised everyone at the TGS by announcing that Dead or Alive 3 would not be coming to the PS2 as originally thought, but to the X-box in an exclusive deal. To prove this a stunning real-time demo of DOA3 was shown with jaw-dropping environments including a breathtaking beach flypast. These announcments were backed up with news that Microsoft's Japanese arm had poached someone from Sony Computer Entertainment to head up their Japanese software division.
Microsoft seemed anxious to prove that they were serious about courting Japanese support with big names, easy-to-develop-for hardware and a dedicated team - something which you may remember Sony doing with the original Playstation back in 1994.
I , for one, had all my preconceptions about X-box blown out of the water and as a Dead or Alive fan my opinions have changed overnight. If I'm honest I couldn't have given a toss about X-box prior to the TGS. Now, though, I want one - it's as simple as that. The PS2 and Gamecube had better watch out
So, when he took the stage at the Tokyo Game Show (TGS) last week I really wanted him to fail in his attempts to win over the partisan Japanese crowd.
One thing that had been conspicuous in its absence so far had been support for the X-box from the major Japanese software houses. The likes of Namco, Capcom et al are considered vital to the success of a console in Japan and worldwide.
The financial muscle of Microsoft is well documented so it was likely that they had something special up their sleeves.
So despite Bill Gates' nerdy image and ever-so-slightly whiny voice I was interested in what surprises may be in store...
As I had feared I ended up kicking myself as he announced revelation after revelation that dispelled nearly all my doubts about the X-box in one fell swoop. Sega, newly self-appointed hardware agnostics are officially on-board with at least 11 games including the long awaited next instalment of the Panzer Dragoon saga and a new Jet Set Radio game. (the thought of a Daytona game or Sonic on this undoubtedly powerful hardware has me salivating). Gates then surprised everyone at the TGS by announcing that Dead or Alive 3 would not be coming to the PS2 as originally thought, but to the X-box in an exclusive deal. To prove this a stunning real-time demo of DOA3 was shown with jaw-dropping environments including a breathtaking beach flypast. These announcments were backed up with news that Microsoft's Japanese arm had poached someone from Sony Computer Entertainment to head up their Japanese software division.
Microsoft seemed anxious to prove that they were serious about courting Japanese support with big names, easy-to-develop-for hardware and a dedicated team - something which you may remember Sony doing with the original Playstation back in 1994.
I , for one, had all my preconceptions about X-box blown out of the water and as a Dead or Alive fan my opinions have changed overnight. If I'm honest I couldn't have given a toss about X-box prior to the TGS. Now, though, I want one - it's as simple as that. The PS2 and Gamecube had better watch out
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LOL!!!!!!
(The quest for humour continues...)
Mrs Gates:
''NO WONDER HE CALLED HIS COMPANY microsoft, it aint ever exactly hard''
''NO WONDER HE CALLED HIS COMPANY microsoft, it aint ever exactly hard''
Wow, I thought the guy was still single...
Ah well, I'll cancel that operation then....
Ah well, I'll cancel that operation then....
He's already married.
God knows what she sees in him... ;0)
God knows what she sees in him... ;0)
Grix Thraves wrote:
> Ok FM, here's a clue.
The announcement has nothing to do with
> X-Box or PS2.
He's getting married?
> Ok FM, here's a clue.
The announcement has nothing to do with
> X-Box or PS2.
He's getting married?
This is Bill Gates' bio. It's interesting reading, and because it's an authoritative source, it should enable both detractors and supporters of the man himself to form their opinions about him more easily.
-----
Gates, William H.
born Oct. 28, 1955, Seattle, Wash., U.S.
In full William Henry Gates III, byname Bill Gates.
American computer programmer and entrepreneur who cofounded Microsoft Corporation, the world's largest personal-computer software company.
Gates wrote his first software program at the age of 13. In high school he helped form a group of programmers who computerized their school's payroll system and founded Traf-O-Data, a company that sold traffic-counting systems to local governments. In 1975 Gates, then a sophomore at Harvard University, joined his hometown friend Paul G. Allen to develop software for the first microcomputers. They began by adapting BASIC, a popular programming language used on large computers, for use on microcomputers. With the success of this project, Gates left Harvard during his junior year and, with Allen, formed Microsoft. Gates's sway over the infant microcomputer industry greatly increased when Microsoft licensed an operating system called MS-DOS to International Business Machines Corporation—then the world's biggest computer supplier and industry pacesetter—for use on its first microcomputer, the IBM PC (personal computer). After the machine's release in 1981, IBM quickly set the technical standard for the PC industry, and MS-DOS likewise pushed out competing operating systems. While Microsoft's independence strained relations with IBM, Gates deftly manipulated the larger company so that it became permanently dependent on him for crucial software. Makers of IBM-compatible PCs, or clones, also turned to Microsoft for their basic software. By the start of the 1990s he had become the PC industry's ultimate kingmaker.
Largely on the strength of Microsoft's success, Gates amassed a huge paper fortune as the company's largest individual shareholder. He became a paper billionaire in 1986, and within a decade his net worth had reached into the tens of billions of dollars—making him by some estimates the world's richest private individual. Acquisition of immense wealth before the age of 40 seemed to have little outward effect on Gates, whose greatest personal expenditures may have been a collection of expensive sports cars and the construction of a $50 million computer-controlled private complex on a bluff overlooking Lake Washington, a short daily commute from Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. With few interests beyond software and the potential of information technology, Gates at first preferred to stay out of the public eye, handling civic and philanthropic affairs indirectly through one of his foundations. Nevertheless, as Microsoft's power and reputation grew, and especially as it attracted the attention of the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division, Gates, with some reluctance, became a more public figure. Rivals (particularly in competing companies in Silicon Valley) portrayed him as driven, duplicitous, and determined to profit from virtually every electronic transaction in the world. His supporters, on the other hand, celebrated his uncanny business acumen, his flexibility, and his boundless appetite for finding new ways to make computers and electronics more useful through software.
All of these qualities were evident in Gates's nimble response to the sudden public interest in the Internet. Beginning in 1995 and 1996, Gates feverishly refocused Microsoft on the development of consumer and enterprise software solutions for the Internet, developed the Windows CE operating system platform for networking noncomputer devices such as home televisions and personal digital assistants, created the Microsoft Network to compete with America Online and other Internet providers, and, through Gates's company Corbis, acquired the huge Bettmann photo archives and other collections for use in electronic distribution.
It remains to be seen whether Gates's extraordinary success will guarantee him a lasting place in the pantheon of great Americans. At the very least, historians seem likely to view him as a business figure as important to computers as John D. Rockefeller was to oil. Gates himself displayed an acute awareness of the perils of his prosperity in his 1995 best-seller, The Road Ahead, where he observed, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.”
Source: http://www.britannica.com
Search string: gates, bill
-----
Gates, William H.
born Oct. 28, 1955, Seattle, Wash., U.S.
In full William Henry Gates III, byname Bill Gates.
American computer programmer and entrepreneur who cofounded Microsoft Corporation, the world's largest personal-computer software company.
Gates wrote his first software program at the age of 13. In high school he helped form a group of programmers who computerized their school's payroll system and founded Traf-O-Data, a company that sold traffic-counting systems to local governments. In 1975 Gates, then a sophomore at Harvard University, joined his hometown friend Paul G. Allen to develop software for the first microcomputers. They began by adapting BASIC, a popular programming language used on large computers, for use on microcomputers. With the success of this project, Gates left Harvard during his junior year and, with Allen, formed Microsoft. Gates's sway over the infant microcomputer industry greatly increased when Microsoft licensed an operating system called MS-DOS to International Business Machines Corporation—then the world's biggest computer supplier and industry pacesetter—for use on its first microcomputer, the IBM PC (personal computer). After the machine's release in 1981, IBM quickly set the technical standard for the PC industry, and MS-DOS likewise pushed out competing operating systems. While Microsoft's independence strained relations with IBM, Gates deftly manipulated the larger company so that it became permanently dependent on him for crucial software. Makers of IBM-compatible PCs, or clones, also turned to Microsoft for their basic software. By the start of the 1990s he had become the PC industry's ultimate kingmaker.
Largely on the strength of Microsoft's success, Gates amassed a huge paper fortune as the company's largest individual shareholder. He became a paper billionaire in 1986, and within a decade his net worth had reached into the tens of billions of dollars—making him by some estimates the world's richest private individual. Acquisition of immense wealth before the age of 40 seemed to have little outward effect on Gates, whose greatest personal expenditures may have been a collection of expensive sports cars and the construction of a $50 million computer-controlled private complex on a bluff overlooking Lake Washington, a short daily commute from Microsoft headquarters in Redmond, Washington. With few interests beyond software and the potential of information technology, Gates at first preferred to stay out of the public eye, handling civic and philanthropic affairs indirectly through one of his foundations. Nevertheless, as Microsoft's power and reputation grew, and especially as it attracted the attention of the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division, Gates, with some reluctance, became a more public figure. Rivals (particularly in competing companies in Silicon Valley) portrayed him as driven, duplicitous, and determined to profit from virtually every electronic transaction in the world. His supporters, on the other hand, celebrated his uncanny business acumen, his flexibility, and his boundless appetite for finding new ways to make computers and electronics more useful through software.
All of these qualities were evident in Gates's nimble response to the sudden public interest in the Internet. Beginning in 1995 and 1996, Gates feverishly refocused Microsoft on the development of consumer and enterprise software solutions for the Internet, developed the Windows CE operating system platform for networking noncomputer devices such as home televisions and personal digital assistants, created the Microsoft Network to compete with America Online and other Internet providers, and, through Gates's company Corbis, acquired the huge Bettmann photo archives and other collections for use in electronic distribution.
It remains to be seen whether Gates's extraordinary success will guarantee him a lasting place in the pantheon of great Americans. At the very least, historians seem likely to view him as a business figure as important to computers as John D. Rockefeller was to oil. Gates himself displayed an acute awareness of the perils of his prosperity in his 1995 best-seller, The Road Ahead, where he observed, “Success is a lousy teacher. It seduces smart people into thinking they can't lose.”
Source: http://www.britannica.com
Search string: gates, bill
Ok FM, here's a clue.
The announcement has nothing to do with X-Box or PS2.
The announcement has nothing to do with X-Box or PS2.
Mac has announced that Nvidia's GeForce3 graphics processor will be available for the Mac before it's released with Microsofts Xbox games console.
What exactly does this information tell everyone here and why is er-no posting it as a new topic? Well the reason being that it gives us lots of information about Microsofts console that Microsoft don't want us to know! The GeForce3 graphics chip is being made readily available for Macs in three months time, then two months after that PC's will be able to use the graphics chip, quite suprising considering Microsoft said that the chip would be unique to the Xbox! What else does this beautiful piece of information tell us apart from the fact that the Xbox won't boost anything graphically compared to when you run the chip on a Mac and that it will by the time the Xbox launches all have been seen before.
The news tells you a hint on the Xbox's price, Microsoft making no announcement as yet on price but the news gives you a hints, the chip will sell at £240 for the Mac and then PC, although you can't go make up an Xbox price from this figure it bounces clues at the £400+ easily.
When looking for news on consoles and gaming, don't always look for the companies news or ign's news, look at other news which may not have anything to do with gaming but reading inbetween the lines can give you hints at what is going to happen before companies announce it.
I HATE THEM. BILL DIE. HE STOLE IDEAS TO BECOME WHAT HE IS!
What exactly does this information tell everyone here and why is er-no posting it as a new topic? Well the reason being that it gives us lots of information about Microsofts console that Microsoft don't want us to know! The GeForce3 graphics chip is being made readily available for Macs in three months time, then two months after that PC's will be able to use the graphics chip, quite suprising considering Microsoft said that the chip would be unique to the Xbox! What else does this beautiful piece of information tell us apart from the fact that the Xbox won't boost anything graphically compared to when you run the chip on a Mac and that it will by the time the Xbox launches all have been seen before.
The news tells you a hint on the Xbox's price, Microsoft making no announcement as yet on price but the news gives you a hints, the chip will sell at £240 for the Mac and then PC, although you can't go make up an Xbox price from this figure it bounces clues at the £400+ easily.
When looking for news on consoles and gaming, don't always look for the companies news or ign's news, look at other news which may not have anything to do with gaming but reading inbetween the lines can give you hints at what is going to happen before companies announce it.
I HATE THEM. BILL DIE. HE STOLE IDEAS TO BECOME WHAT HE IS!
bottom line microsoft wil fail!
why because they are crap. Japanese people dont like microsoft.... its true... I prefer SONY!
why because they are crap. Japanese people dont like microsoft.... its true... I prefer SONY!
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