Slashdot Log In
'Q' Plays US GameCube Games
Posted by
michael
on Mon Dec 17, 2001 07:06 AM
from the things-to-do-with-a-soldering-iron dept.
from the things-to-do-with-a-soldering-iron dept.
Bodero writes: "Lik-Sang is reporting that Panasonic's 'Q', the Japan-only GameCube/DVD Hybrid, can be modded to play US GameCube games much in the same way that the Japanese GameCube can be. This does not, however, allow it to play region one DVDs as of yet, but keep your eyes out. It's a shame Panasonic chose not to release it to North American store shelves, but the import will soon work just as well."
This discussion has been archived.
No new comments can be posted.
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
Why is it? (Score:3, Insightful)
Surely.. (Score:3, Insightful)
Marketing. (Score:5, Insightful)
The reason is simple, marketing. Advertising and promoting a product costs alot. If products were released in NA and Japan at the same time, that would mean twice the marketing budget for a product that hasn't proven itself yet. By doing a release in Japan first, they can do to things: 1) They make sure the product is cost feasable enough to market in the US, and 2) They can use the revenues coming in off of the Japanese sales to drive the US marketing effort, which is guarenteed to be much more expensive.
Another reason alot of stuff isn't released in the US is because marketing studies (and common logic) dictate alot of stuff thats succesfull in the techno-gadget culture of Japan isn't as successfull this side of the Pacific. Don't forget, the /. , gadget buying crowd is in a vast majority over here, but not so over there. Everyone and their dog has a cell-phone-PDA-GPS-wearable-pc-doohicky!
Import games (Score:1, Redundant)
Re:Import games (Score:4, Insightful)
Easy - to test markets. Internationalizing a product, even if it is only translation of manuals and text is surprisingly expensive. That doesn't even begin to consider research into cultural differences - know what "nova" in Spanish means? It didn't do Chevrolet any good using that name in South America. Or there's the Coca Cola name in China.
The rest of the world (and you probably mean the USA) is a huge market but what works in Europe or Japan isn't necessarily going to work here, just look at the huge market for video-capable cell phones in Japan and compare the screens we live with. If it is a huge success then you can be sure we'll get the product, when it looks like US sales will show a profit.
Re:Import games (Score:5, Interesting)
Well if panasonic is like sony... (Score:3, Interesting)
If Q Plays game cube games..... (Score:3, Funny)
Which means 007 himself must be left with the x-box. Ouch.
He does? (Score:3, Funny)
You'd think he'd have better things to do, like bug Jean-Luc.
What about european games? (Score:2, Interesting)
This would be interesting, because Europe and Japan share the same DVD-Regioncode (RC2). So, while this won't help american players much, it might be very interesting fo european ones.
I'd like to get one (Score:1)
Perhaps I can get her one of these, and take my gamecube back here, into my lair, with my computer! Where it belongs! Grahaha
Away from the vile, fuzzy television.
For The Lazy: The Q's Guts (Score:2)
http://www.lik-sang.com/catalog/master.php?navbar
What's Up With This? (Score:2, Interesting)
PowerPC or what? (Score:1)
Nintendo didn't want it in the U.S. (Score:1)
Please try and get your facts straight. I was previously reported on all the gaming websites that Nintendo didn't want the Panasonic DVD-Cube coming to the U.S.. Nintendo intended that the Gamecube be solely a video game console, not a Console/DVD player here in the States.
Will be here soon enough... (Score:1, Interesting)
DVD not a selling feature of consoles. (Score:3, Insightful)
selling feature of a console for most people.
Sure, the DVD playback feature on my Playstation 2
is nice. I suppose that on a system the size of the Game Cube, DVD player capability coupled with a portable screen like Interact would make a good system for a road trip.
However, my consoles are in the living room. In my place there are 5 different machines capable of playing DVDs. After a while, the DVD feature isn't a big deal.
why the Q won't be released in the states (Score:2, Insightful)
Long answer: Most of the copy protection surrounding the Gamecube revolves around its 3 inch DVDs. The reason Nintendo picked an odd (but still standard) is the complete lack of blanks at that size. This will, for a little while at least, keep the Gamecube from having games copied, as DVD-R blanks won't fit in the machine.
Now we have the Q, which is a Gamecube modified to play DVD movies. DVD movies come on 5 inch discs. There are blank DVDs that are 5 inches. What will inevitably happen if the Q is released here is that warez kiddies will copy 3 inch Gamecube discs onto 5 inch DVD blanks, and run them on a modchipped Q. The whole bet Nintendo is hedging is that 3 inch blank DVDs will not be available for a while, and when they are, they will be prohibitively expensive to keep piracy at a minimum for a few more years, which is the expected lifespan of the GC.
-Lx?
Proof that this will hit american shores soon. (Score:1)
The other day my buddy took me out to the San Jose Berryessa flea market to show me some of these [gamersgraveyard.com]. I don't know what kind of breakdown we've had in customs, but it looks like more and more knockoff's are going to start pouring into the states. Although this piece of hardware isn't a knockoff, it shouldn't take too long for these to be snuck through customs.
Why was the 'Q' made in the first place? (Score:1)
I'm pretty certain that Panasonic is not gaining any funds from liscensing GameCube games because Nintendo would probably have something to say about that. Then this is either a product that will 1. fail horribly or 2. costs quite a bit more than average (see #1).
actually... (Score:2)
Q -- What it is and what it is not (Score:2, Insightful)
more info on Q's (Score:1)