Did IBM release any PS1 titles? (They didn't, of course.) Because, while their manuals would never win the "heaviest" competition, they'd easily walk away with the title of "densest".
For decades, the standard-form IBM product manual — hardware or software, be it for a mainframe system, a ThinkPad, or the copy of PC/DOS installed on an XT desktop — was a paperbound booklet containing pages of literal tissue paper, just the thinnest sheets you'll ever find used for actual reading material, onto which are printed detailed instructions for the product, repeating again and again in every language for all the countries/regions where the product would ever be sold.
I remember I bought an Asus LCD monitor around 2009 that came with an IBM-style printed manual. The instructions ran only 8 pages, including safety warnings. (Because, monitor... and not even one with speakers or multiple ports.) But the book was still as thick as a short novel, because those 8 pages repeated in THIRTY-SEVEN different languages!
I was amused by "PAL-hours" as well, nicely done @KingMike.
However, if I had to hazard a guess, one possibility is that the 50 minutes represents actual playtime (meaning, time actively engaged with a game), which would be expected to take about an hour of real-world time — the other 10 minutes being spent roaming among the cabinets seeking your next challenge.
That's assuming they have some sort of system for tracking playtime, and don't just give you 50 minutes on a wall clock. Which is admittedly a big assumption.
The Occam's Razor version of things is that they just chintz you with 50 minutes of real-world time for your money instead of a full hour. The same way gasoline (petrol) — at least in the US — is priced per 9/10 of a gallon. It's a racket the entire industry is in on, and we don't even question it because it's "always" been that way.
@cdog555 It did attempt to deny it, if you speak supply-chain. "New old stock" is SUPPOSED to mean that the components sourced are brand new, but had been manufactured in the past and were sitting in a warehouse unsold.
That being said, looking at the photos of opened carts I think he's lying.
@dmcc0 Applying the "Assume Good Faith" principle, I don't think the implication here is that it's ok to attack big corporations. Rather, it's not unreasonable to expect that corporate suppliers should have the resources to meet high demand without delays or scarcity games. If they DON'T, it's still wrong to attack them, but not to at least call them out for apparently not knowing how to do their entire jobs.
When something is created by a small/independent designer working with limited resources, it's not even fair to EXPECT that of them, never mind attacking them for falling to meet our unreasonable expectations.
Comments 5
Re: Random: Remember When Games Came With Instructions? This Guy Does, And He Wants To Find The Heaviest PS1 Manual
Did IBM release any PS1 titles? (They didn't, of course.) Because, while their manuals would never win the "heaviest" competition, they'd easily walk away with the title of "densest".
For decades, the standard-form IBM product manual — hardware or software, be it for a mainframe system, a ThinkPad, or the copy of PC/DOS installed on an XT desktop — was a paperbound booklet containing pages of literal tissue paper, just the thinnest sheets you'll ever find used for actual reading material, onto which are printed detailed instructions for the product, repeating again and again in every language for all the countries/regions where the product would ever be sold.
I remember I bought an Asus LCD monitor around 2009 that came with an IBM-style printed manual. The instructions ran only 8 pages, including safety warnings. (Because, monitor... and not even one with speakers or multiple ports.) But the book was still as thick as a short novel, because those 8 pages repeated in THIRTY-SEVEN different languages!
Re: "We've Gone Retro" - New Arcade Bucks The Trend In An Otherwise Gloomy Sector
I was amused by "PAL-hours" as well, nicely done @KingMike.
However, if I had to hazard a guess, one possibility is that the 50 minutes represents actual playtime (meaning, time actively engaged with a game), which would be expected to take about an hour of real-world time — the other 10 minutes being spent roaming among the cabinets seeking your next challenge.
That's assuming they have some sort of system for tracking playtime, and don't just give you 50 minutes on a wall clock. Which is admittedly a big assumption.
The Occam's Razor version of things is that they just chintz you with 50 minutes of real-world time for your money instead of a full hour. The same way gasoline (petrol) — at least in the US — is priced per 9/10 of a gallon. It's a racket the entire industry is in on, and we don't even question it because it's "always" been that way.
Re: Limited Run And Retro-Bit Under Fire For Using Recycled Chips In Shantae Advance
@cdog555 It did attempt to deny it, if you speak supply-chain. "New old stock" is SUPPOSED to mean that the components sourced are brand new, but had been manufactured in the past and were sitting in a warehouse unsold.
That being said, looking at the photos of opened carts I think he's lying.
Re: Attacking Retro Modders Is Not Cool, And It Needs To Stop
@dmcc0 Applying the "Assume Good Faith" principle, I don't think the implication here is that it's ok to attack big corporations. Rather, it's not unreasonable to expect that corporate suppliers should have the resources to meet high demand without delays or scarcity games. If they DON'T, it's still wrong to attack them, but not to at least call them out for apparently not knowing how to do their entire jobs.
When something is created by a small/independent designer working with limited resources, it's not even fair to EXPECT that of them, never mind attacking them for falling to meet our unreasonable expectations.
Re: "Poorly Analyzed US-Centric Garbage" - Why Do Americans Keep Ignoring European Gaming History?
@RootsGenoa OMG, thank you for knocking loose the ancient memory that the European turtles weren't even Ninjas.