Review: Panasonic Gamecube Q (SL-GC10-S)

Dear Santa,
  I want a Gamecube that plays DVDs.
... actually, make that multi-region DVDs.
... oh, and if it plays both US & Japanese GC games, that'll be great.
... I don't suppose you could house it in a sexy reflective metal case as well?
It looks like Panasonic hacked into Santa's computer and answered every Nintendo fan's wish list...

Upon viewing the Gamecube Q for the first time, it is hard not to feel like a child on Christmas day. The sleek design looks as though it had been conceived by Sony's design department and yet, behind the style and panache is a Panasonic badge and a system which plays Gamecube games. In the GCQ, Panasonic have managed to design a console that will draw glances from passer-bys, a rare feat in a world where console manufacturers bring us designs like Microsoft's X-Box and Atari's Jaguar.

Background

Another feature that will make many people look twice is the logo emblazoned at the front of the machine. The GCQ is a rare example of a video-game console that is neither produced nor designed by the console manufacturer. This is an unusual event in the history of consoles and indeed the only previous instance in which Nintendo licensed its hardware to a third party manufacturer was back in 1988 with the production of the Sharp Famicom Twin.

The relative lack of commercial success of the Sharp Famicom however, was a possible contributing factor to Nintendo's decision to break from its agreement with Sony to produce a CD-based Snes system. This left Sony to go it alone to produce the Playstation and the rest is console history. The GCQ will also replicate the low sales of the Sharp Famicom, though this will be out of choice as Matsushita are choosing to limit productions of the console to make the Q one of the more exclusive consoles available. As was the case with the Sharp system, sales of the Gamecube Q will be consigned to the SE Asia territories.

Nintendo's uncharacteristic decision to license the gaming technology to Panasonic is a result of the deal brokered between Matsushita and Nintendo. When Nintendo signed Matsushita as the producer of the optical disc drives that powers the Gamecube, an agreement was struck allowing Matsushita (more commonly known in the west via the Panasonic brand) to produce a DVD system with the capability to play GC games. With Nintendo having no intentions of marketing their system as being anything more than a gaming console, and with Matsushita developing the system as a DVD player with game-playing functionality, the risk of competition or damage to their respective sales was minimal.

The system

Matsushita's aim in producing a decent DVD system with gaming ability, (again, in contrary to other consoles) is exemplified in the performance and functioning of the system. The system is literally dazzling as the entire front of the machine is a reflective mirror face-plate protected by polished glass. Behind that lies a stainless steel chassis and as expected, excellent build quality. The four controller ports lie sitting on front and are trimmed with a blue neon light which along with the backlit LCD display on the top, help finish off the futuristic design. Upon turning on the Q, the (excellent) backlit display greets you with a 'HELLO' message and which later bids you farewell with a 'GOODBYE' when you leave... which may be a while if you have Smash Brothers Melee and a group of friends round:)

The gaming component of the GCQ is a perfect replication of the regular Nintendo system, right down to the alternative 'Easter egg' boot-up screen found when you hold down the Z button. You do get a special Panasonic controller which is (fortunately) identical to the official GC controller except for the colour and Panasonic branding. Panasonic should be commended for using an official GC controller build, as generally, third party controllers tend to suck like leeches... A minor annoyance to the hybrid GC/DVD function however, is that you have to power off to switch between GC games mode and DVD playback mode.

Where the GCQ differs is in the addition of some extra audio effect options. In between the power and reset button on the left sits a 'Dialogue Enhancer' button and a 'Cinema' button and this is matched on the right with a 'Surround' and 'Bass Plus' button. The Dialog Enhancer buttons activates a DSP feature which attempts to augment the speech. It seems to modify the midrange frequencies though the effect of the DSP is fairly variable.

As with the Dialog Enhancer feature, the 'Surround' boost mode is fairly subtle, which IMHO, is a plus point in its favour. The effect seems to stretch the stereo signal whilst adding a slight phase to the high frequency to give the impression of a richer surround sound experience. In spite of my natural disposition to turn away from Digital Sound Processing modes, I have used this mode quite often, something which can probly be attributed to the subtlety and non-destructive nature of the effect. Whilst it doesn't suddenly transform the sound from your stereo output into true surround sound, it does make an admirable attempt which adds to, rather than detract from the experience as is found with many DSP effects in other systems. There is an optical out for true Surround sound output that supports both Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS, further stating the system's intent to be a DVD system with gaming ability. There is also a 'Bass Plus' feature, which I have been unable to test as it requires a subwoofer connected, and hence I am unable to comment on how it well it functions in practice.

The 'Cinema' button seems to normalise the video output to produce a more balanced scene. Another subtle effect, and as with all digital processing effects, has better impact on some scenes than others. Nonetheless, it is a nice addition to the feature set.

The Q's DVD playback (fortunately) easily exceeds the poor DVD capabilities offered by the PS2 (an issue which is slightly alleviated with the enhanced Scart cables available for PS2s). The system has clearly been designed with DVD playback in mind, rather than the bolted on 'bonus' functionality mind-set found in its rivals and easily surpasses both the PS2 and X-Box as a DVD player. The colours are rich and the detail & clarity of the images is generally excellent. Whilst obviously not as capable as, for example, an upper tier progressive scan system and not as feature laden, it is better than many similarly ranked systems, and the Q could easily form the centre of an entertainment centre for most households.

A point to make is that, out of the box, the Q will only play Region 2 NTSC discs (as well as only playing Japanese GC discs). However, this issue is virtually irrelevant as the obvious appeal of the machine to importers have led to modified units which are capable of playing regions 1-6. Unfortunately, for UK buyers, it only plays NTSC discs. It also has Macrovision disabled as well as being able to play VCDs (not surprising considering it hails from SE Asia:) Modified multi-region units also come with a nice bonus. The modification process allows the Q to play both US and Japanese Gamecube discs and the region switch is handled by a holding down the power button for a few seconds.

Conclusion

Due to the nature of this device, anybody who is interested in buying the device will have made up their minds and committed themselves already. The relative exclusivity and cool factor of the Q will probably override any negatives to the system. However, it would be unprofessional of me to not mention the negatives.

One drawback is that the remote control and instructions are, unsurprisingly, in Japanese. That said, this is a relatively trivial issue, as the controls are easy to decipher and labelled diagrams are easily available on the net. There is no setup required besides the date/time which is handled on the boot-up screen and is self-explanatory.

A more pressing concern will be the price. It is more expensive than the regular Gamecube, though the price is unlikely to dissuade any serious buyers. The extra price of the system of the system is justified by virtue of the fact that you are getting a multi-region DVD player as well as a games console that will draw wows from anyone passing by. Serious console collectors will have already made this system an essential buy, regardless of the price.

The final drawback is that for anyone living in a country that uses the PAL television standard, is that the Q currently only plays NTSC discs. Whilst this is of zero concern to NTSC users such as readers in the US, it is a point to consider if, like me, you live in a PAL region such as England. However, what you do get is a system that plays Japanese and US titles which means (due to the bias everyone seems to have against England) that you are able to play titles ahead of most people. Also, many Japanese titles such as Smash Brothers Melee are already in English so you can take advantage of the better cases and case designs that the Japanese titles arrive in, rather than the generic DVD boxes the UK and US discs come in.

As previously mentioned, any decision to buy the system will largely be made independently of any reviews which may be published. Whether or not you should purchase the Q will ultimately depend on how significant the interwining issues of price, product exclusivity, features and style are to you. If you are having to justify the price, possess no inherent console collecting tendances or disagree with the styling, then the Q probably isn't for you.

For many console connoisseurs though, the stylish design, exclusiveness of the console and the overall cool-factor will probably prove to be too tempting an enticement.

Repealing the 35 hour week

France appears to be making tentative steps towards repealing the 35 hour week. Largely pushed on via the powerful french unions, it was based on the lump of labor fallacy fallacy in which it was believed that the amount of work is fixed and thus any increase in the amount each worker can produce reduces the number of available jobs.

This was the same argument pushed forward in the 50's in which automation would lead to mass unemployment and again later, where computers would destroy entire communities. The fallacy is that work is a finite resource, a lump which is shared out so that if one person works, it means someone else isn't. It fails to realise that labour markets change and adapt according to supply and demand, and through migration of labour and capital (human and financial).

It's easy to see this in the real world. Britain and the US have had large proportions of their population working in agriculture, fishing and mining, industries which today are barely noticible on the national balance sheet. Typists and typewriters were ubiquitous in the offices of the 50's and are barely recognisable to the current generation. Far from wreaking havoc on the country via large scale unemployment however, the economy has in fact grown. New types of jobs have been created and existing industries strengthened by the increases in productivity. Demand absorbs and recreates demand. The act of employment is not a zero sum game.

In France, the results of the 35 hour week have been fairly miserable. Economic growth has been depressed and the unemployment is at around 10%. Government subsidies were also initiated to bail out companies affected by the higher labour costs. The higher cost of labour has also lead to companies reducing/freezing pay rises as well as increase the amount of outsourcing and use of labour saving machinery. Undoing the damage is going to require bold decisions.

That said, the 35 hour week has not been all doom and gloom. Leisure pursuits have soared as a result of the increase in free time. Blacksmithing as an industry is even reviving as more people are taking up horse-riding. Parents now have more times to spend with their family. Hence, whilst from an economic perspective, it may have been a poor decision, it's a much more debatable issue from a sociological viewpoint.

It does remain to be seen if financial sense will prevail against the powerful unions and sway the french public. Inertia and attachment may yet prove hard to dislodge.

SQL hints

There was a question on the JoS forum about the use and viability of SQL Hints. SQL hints are pretty much what the name implies. They are guides inserted by the developer that provide additional direction to the database on how to execute a particular SQL query. One of the big fallacies of SQL that is pushed across to students is that SQL code is portable between DB, so that what you write for one system can be easily ported to another. Whilst theoretically true in the white glove teachings of academia, in practice the reality is far different.

In the real world, each DBMS has its own quirks, limitations, features and best practices. The situation is analogous to what occurs with browser support of web technologies, only on a scale a million times removed but I'll talk about this another time.

The other fallacy closely connected to this is that SQL allows us to concentrate on the high level logic and not worry about how a particular DBMS is operating under the hood. A quick chat to any experienced DB practitioner will quickly divest the innocent inquisitor of their naivety.

This brings us on to SQL hints. The general consensus amongst the respondents to the JoS question is that, though hints should not be used at all in a production environment, the DB does at times seem to make some whacky decisions.

Let's think about what is going on and why. Firstly, SQL hints are similar to training whips. They say to the DBMS "You better do exactly as I say!". And so the DB does, and for the early lifetime of the application, all is well. However, later on, the situation has changed. The amount of data to search has changed and the DB is thinking, with a bit of independence, "Hmmm, maybe this isn't the best way as it's going to take more time". However, it realises that it's been given an order and like a slave to an inflexible master, it does as it was told.

The problem with SQL hints is that they operate independently of local knowledge. As long as everything is as it was when the hint was added, things are rosy but as soon as any thing changes, they can force the DB into working along an inefficient execution plan.

Most DB in production operate using some sort of analysis based on the data set and tools available to dictate the course of action. Unfortunately, they can't analyse the whole data set at execution time (as if it has done that, then it might as well just return the results) and so they analyse "statistics" data that provide a reflection of the full dataset.

This is usually the cause of the problems which lead developers to use hints in the first place. If the statistics are stale, and no longer reflect what is actually in the system, then any analysis based on these statistics will be flawed.

However, with that said, there are often situations in which the developer can be fairly confident that they can beat the DB because they have knowledge of the requirements behind the query.

For example, in Oracle, if you want to get rows N to M of a particular result set, you would generally do something like

Select * from (
	select a.*, ROWNUM rnum
	From ([result set]) a
	Where rownum <= :M
)
And rnum >= :N

In this scenario, the following query would perhaps be better:

Select * from (
	select /*+ FIRST_ROWS */ a.*, ROWNUM rnum
	From ([result set]) a
	Where rownum <= :M
) And rnum >= :N

The reason we can be assured that this is better is that the situation in which something like this would likely be deployed is for paginated reports. We are want the information for the pages as early as possible so that we can pass them to the user as soon as possible.

However, my thoughts are that it is better to use hints sparingly. Often, it'll be better to re-examine what and why you are doing a particular piece of logic before trying to get the DB to run that logic as you think is suitable.

A look at Wordpress 1.5

As mentioned on previous posts, I'm using Wordpress as the backend to this site. The perennial lack of posts on this site may mean that this site may not be instantly identifiable as a weblog but I can't fault WP in any ways for that. This weekend, I decided to make the decision to try out the latest Wordpress release, version 1.5. codenamed Strayhorn

What are my favourite improvements?

Themes

Probably the single most significant improvement. Before WP 1.5, I'd used my own approach for segregating the components of a page into header, body and footer elements via include_once directives. However, the new system provides a unified and standardised approach to what I had been doing adhoc. Finally, we have a mechanism for developing, bundling and deploying the presentational view of sites. I've liked this feature so much that I spent 30 minutes rewriting my site design as a theme.

Pages

This is another major change and one that has been eagerly awaited. Whilst WP is pitched as a blogging app (a role that it fulfills very well), there are often instances in which we need to publish content that does not fit neatly in the month/day/topic hierachy. For example, colophons, archives, code libraries, faqs are all types of content that would now be accommodated by WP Pages.

What Pages (plural) provide is the functionality to publish single entry content. What makes this feature particularly useful is that you can tie it in with the themes support and provide a maintainable, uniform look and feel. Even better, you are not constrained by this and should you wish, you can override this implicit linking to the themes and provide a custom per-page look. An example of this is my about page, in which I've chosen to retain the header and footer but remove the google ads/comments area that is usually found on the blog posts. A small note about this feature: The front-end for the custom pages isn't entirely finished (which is understandable considering that this is still in testing). To use a custom template for a page, you need to add a custom tag called _wp_page_template and provide the name of the template that you wish to use.

User-Interface

The UI to Wordpress is generally a lot more polished than before. The main entry point is now the dashboard, which provides amongst other things, recent posts and comments. The categories are generally clearer with Manage and Presentation providing the entry points to the areas to manage posts & comments and the look & feel areas respectively. It's not perfect and work still needs to be done but it's getting there.

The upgrade process

As always, couldn't be easier. <5 minute including the upload time. There is one thing that you should do when you make the decision to upgrade. Upload WP to a new directory, configure and then rename the old & new WP directories.

Generally, I'm hugely impressed with Wordpress. Matt and the rest of the WP team should be congratulated for their work in bringing what is a premier publishing application to the public.

The true benefits of XHTML for the client

Eric's recent post regarding the savings in moving to a standards driven design contains a great paragraph:

What they will see, though, is a faster site. Suppose I said I could sell you a product that would make your Web site twice as fast as it is today. How much would that be worth? [?] even for a small business trying to sell its products online and distinguish itself from competitors, a 2x speed booster would probably be worth buying.

It's worth stating this again. Whilst we can point to improved flexibility, maintainability and development costs, these are really developer benefits. When presented with a solution, the client generally doesn't care what was used or how the solution was achieved as long as the product met their needs. When we go out to buy a fridge, we generally aren't interested in the mechanics of the system, regardless of how architecturally clean or well designed it is. However, we do care about the fridge having lower running costs, operating frost-free and fitting in our kitchen.

Similarly, the client can instantly grasp the significance of some of the other benefits of semantic HTML/XHTML:

• The site will be X% faster in loading
  Eric said it perfectly. Once the client hears the words "we can make your page load twice as fast", you'll be hearing a whoosh as they reach for their cheque book. Abstracting out presentational information into CSS such as font and colour information means that the page size will be reduced as you remove the duplication of information. What's more, the css file will cached by the client and reused for each page load.
• The redesign will save us $X a year
  When Doug presented a redesign of Microsoft, he found out that it would save 329 terabytes of bandwidth a year. Whilst obviously that was a special case, it does show how cleaner markup can provide actual noticible bandwidth savings which translate into monetry savings.
• More people will be able to access the site
  Semantic HTML/XHTML pages are generally more accessible. More accessible to vision impaired readers, more accessible to people with non Wintel hardware which includes not only platforms such as Macs and Linux Systems, but also smartphones and PDAs. What's make's this even important is that many of the people using such platforms are also likely to be "early adopters" and "trend-setters". They have disposable income, are willing to try out new products and are vocal members of the community. Even if that is taken out of the equation, the basic rule is that the more people that are able to visit a usable version of your site, the more prospective customers with positive impressions.
• The site will be easier to maintain and turn around
  OK, so I guess what I said earlier wasn't true; maintainability is important but not in the way it is usually presented. The client generally doesn't care about the ease of development. However, they do care when you say that we can turn around new changes and add features/redesign sections faster. For the customer, those are the gains that are meaningful.

Whenever someone pays for a service, whether it is a fridge or a website, they are looking for a product which satisfies some need or deficit; that is they are seeking to gain an increase in utility. The important thing to realise is that the needs of the customer is different from that of the developer. It is only by correctly identifying what the client wants that you can begin to provide a solution.

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night

It is, perhaps, a sad thought that commercial success isn't tied to the quality of a game. Other factors, such as current public sentiment, comformance to media trends and keyword marketability can often result in titles falling through the cracks. It is particularly disheartening when that title is one such as Symphony of the Night (SotN). Though successful critically, and lavished with praise by fans, SotN became one of the foremost examples of the unfortunate overlooked classic.

The game starts with a brilliant pre-title scene as the player relives the last chapter in the eternal battle between Belmont and the lord of darkness. Playing as Richter, the player rushes through a playable flashback scene from Dracula X. Richter succeeds and humanity relaxes as the transylvanian keep is sealed up for another century...

Dracula: It was not by my hand that I am once again given flesh. I was brought here by humans who wished to pay me tribute.
Richter: Tribute? You steal men's souls and make them your slaves!
Dracula: Perhaps the same could be said of all religions.

We move forward 5 years. Foreboding dreams awakens Alucard, the bastard son of Dracula, from his sleep after his last battle against his father. Once again, he takes up the fight against the evil of Castlevania, unaware that the 100 year curse has been broken 95 years too early.

The playable prologue that recaps the story for those who missed the last game, help set the scene as well as immediately making this stand out from previous games. This iteration of Konami's long running saga is much more story driven than previous Belmont outings. It is fortunate that the story and characters, are well scripted and for once, provide a human side to the doomed count of Castle Dracula.

As the tragic son of the Lord of Castlevania, Alucard lives up to his heritage. Eternally young and noble in appearence, as well as character and blood, he is also heir to some of Dracula's unholy powers. Alucard is able to utilise magic via streetfighter'esque button combinations and indeed, this is not the only time that SotN borrows elements from other games. It is the skill with which SotN deftly blends in elements from the legendary Super Metroid with its Castlevania lineage as well as mixing in RPG elements that helps to produce the brilliant game it is, a game that is far greater than the sum of its constituent parts.

Alucard: "It's over... Belmont."
Richter: "So the war between humans and vampires finally ends here..."
Alucard: "........"
Richter: "What need for the shepherd when the wolves have all gone..."

Instead of the holy whips employed by the Belmonts, Alucard wields instead other weapons. Swords, daggers, axes, shields and magical rods are a few of the weapon that Alucard employs in his battle for good. Once again, the love and care that Konami takes in the game shines here with veritable feast of excellently designed weapons. From the bloodthirsty Muramasa which drinks from its victims to become stronger to the shield rod, which draws out the hidden power of the various equippable shields, the weapons stand out as strongly as the rest of the games. It isn't only weapons, but Castlevania has enough items to put many RPGs' to shame. From the Fury Plate armour which provides defensive boost when Alucard is hurt to the Blood cloak that converts damage to hearts to items like the Sun/Moon stones which provide protection at differing times of day.

However, it is the equipment and abilities which help Alucard explore that stand out particularly. In a touch reminiscent of Metroid, more and more of the map opens up as he fights his way through Castlevania. For example, Alucard may encounter an impassable sealed grate. As he works his way through the game, his vampiric heritage allows him to learn the ability to turn into mist and he can return to that impasse and find a new area... or he can encounter a spiked corridor preventing progression until he finds the spikebreaker armour.

As in Super Metroid, the levels are brilliantly designed and encourages exploration with secret passages and items to discover... and there is a lot to explore. In a moment of deceptive ingenuity, the game twists halfway through the game and the 100% exploration stat on the save screen is in reality, is showing only half the game. Despite the size of the game, each area is refreshingly distinctive with opponents and major encounters which drive you to progress to see what brilliance lies ahead.

All the time, each area as well as the enemies that Alucard battles are wonderfully designed and drawn. In opposition to the vox populi of the time, the game is 2D and the game is lovingly hand drawn. This brave decision by Konami at a time where the apparent public sentiment was in favour of 3d renders helped produce a game with more warmth, character and beauty than was possible with 3d polygons at that time.

Alucard: "You have been doomed ever since you lost the ability to love."
Dracula: "Ah... Sarcasm. 'For what profit is it to a man if he gains the world, and loses his own soul'? Matthew 16:26 I believe."

This is compounded with all the myriad details found in the game. The skeletons throwing flaming barrels which you can guide into burning through a secret area; the librarian who serves Dracula but isn't adverse to dealing with Alucard once money enters the equation; encountering a doppelganger who turns Alucards abilities on himself; the coffins acting as save-points and the connecting tunnels which act as a loading transition between major areas; Alucard being attacked in a dream, whilst resting in a save point, by a Succabus and forced to relive his mothers death. The game also came packaged with an instruction book which contains a manga comic as well as some beautifully drawn illustrations by one of my favourite artists, Ayami Kojima. All these are some of the touches which help raise the experience above and beyond what it is.

Ultimately, as it is the combination of all the ingredients that form SotN which make it the delight it is. Flowing with finesse and style, produced with polish and love, a tragic hero and story to delight, and fine-tuned gameplay help make what is an amazing example of gaming excellence and an absolute classic.