How to finance the new space program

[Ross Oliver]

Morgans > wrote:
>Of coarse the technology is not ready. That is exactly the point. Tec is
>born in the space program. Look at your MU-2. Start counting the Apollo
>born tec. Look around you at home, and work. Look at all the space program
>tec.


Space program tech? HA! The single largest driving force behind
technology today is not aerospace, defense spending, e-commerce, or
job outsourcing. It is computer games. Don't you know why Intel and AMD
are in a perpetual race for more microprocessor speed? It is not to make
your Excel spreadsheet go faster. It so 9 to 14-year-old males can
play Grand Theft Auto III. The revenue from computer games exceeds that
of movies, television, and music COMBINED. Everyone else, i.e. the DoD,
NASA, Oracle, Pixar, Tivo, iTunes, ILM, Cisco, Dell, are all just riding
the coattails of the gamers.

If NASA would get off it's high horse and start allowing some commercialism,
there would be no worries about budgets or technology. Figure out a
way for a 12-year-old to drive a lunar rover with his X-Box, and NASA
would need the Vertical Assembly Building to hold all the money it would
make.


Ross Oliver
still waiting for Halo II

[Earl Grieda]

"Ross Oliver" > wrote in message
...
> Morgans > wrote:
> >Of coarse the technology is not ready. That is exactly the point. Tec
is
> >born in the space program. Look at your MU-2. Start counting the Apollo
> >born tec. Look around you at home, and work. Look at all the space
program
> >tec.
>
>
> Space program tech? HA! The single largest driving force behind
> technology today is not aerospace, defense spending, e-commerce, or
> job outsourcing. It is computer games. Don't you know why Intel and AMD
> are in a perpetual race for more microprocessor speed? It is not to make
> your Excel spreadsheet go faster. It so 9 to 14-year-old males can
> play Grand Theft Auto III. The revenue from computer games exceeds that
> of movies, television, and music COMBINED. Everyone else, i.e. the DoD,
> NASA, Oracle, Pixar, Tivo, iTunes, ILM, Cisco, Dell, are all just riding
> the coattails of the gamers.
>
> If NASA would get off it's high horse and start allowing some
commercialism,
> there would be no worries about budgets or technology. Figure out a
> way for a 12-year-old to drive a lunar rover with his X-Box, and NASA
> would need the Vertical Assembly Building to hold all the money it would
> make.
>
>
> Ross Oliver
> still waiting for Halo II
>

Actually, the single biggest driving force behind technology is for faster,
quicker, and unlimited access to pornography. :)

There was an interesting science fiction novel called "Ender's Game" that
touched on defense and computer games.

Earl G
waiting for Halo II, Doom III, and Metroid Prime II

[Jay Honeck]

> The revenue from computer games exceeds that
> of movies, television, and music COMBINED.

Do you have a source for that claim?

Not that I'm doubting you -- I just want to be able to quote that statement
with confidence.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

[R.Hubbell]

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 14:43:22 GMT "Jay Honeck" > wrote:

> > The revenue from computer games exceeds that
> > of movies, television, and music COMBINED.
>
> Do you have a source for that claim?


That's been the case for a long time. If you ever have the chance attend a
annual game convention try to, lots of money put into that show.

I can't remember the name of it, it's not SIGGRAPH. One foot onto the show
floor and you can only think $$$$ lots of money.

http://www.wired.com/news/games/0,2101,61162,00.html

And http://www.yankeegroup.com you can search as a guest.


R. Hubbell

>
> Not that I'm doubting you -- I just want to be able to quote that statement
> with confidence.
> --
> Jay Honeck
> Iowa City, IA
> Pathfinder N56993
> www.AlexisParkInn.com
> "Your Aviation Destination"
>
>

[R.Hubbell]

On Thu, 15 Jan 2004 09:10:04 GMT (Ross Oliver) wrote:

> Morgans > wrote:
> >Of coarse the technology is not ready. That is exactly the point. Tec is
> >born in the space program. Look at your MU-2. Start counting the Apollo
> >born tec. Look around you at home, and work. Look at all the space program
> >tec.
>
>
> Space program tech? HA! The single largest driving force behind
> technology today is not aerospace, defense spending, e-commerce, or
> job outsourcing. It is computer games. Don't you know why Intel and AMD
> are in a perpetual race for more microprocessor speed? It is not to make
> your Excel spreadsheet go faster. It so 9 to 14-year-old males can
> play Grand Theft Auto III. The revenue from computer games exceeds that
> of movies, television, and music COMBINED. Everyone else, i.e. the DoD,
> NASA, Oracle, Pixar, Tivo, iTunes, ILM, Cisco, Dell, are all just riding
> the coattails of the gamers.

This is the big game convention each year:

http://www.e3expo.com


Big $$$$

R. Hubbell
>
> If NASA would get off it's high horse and start allowing some commercialism,
> there would be no worries about budgets or technology. Figure out a
> way for a 12-year-old to drive a lunar rover with his X-Box, and NASA
> would need the Vertical Assembly Building to hold all the money it would
> make.
>
>
> Ross Oliver
> still waiting for Halo II
>

[G.R. Patterson III]

Jim Fisher wrote:
>
> One of my all-time faves. If you haven't read all the books in the series,
> you are missing out.

How many are there? I have several.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

[Morgans]

"Ross Oliver" > wrote in message
...
> Morgans > wrote:
> >Of coarse the technology is not ready. That is exactly the point. Tec
is
> >born in the space program. Look at your MU-2. Start counting the Apollo
> >born tec. Look around you at home, and work. Look at all the space
program
> >tec.
>
>
> Space program tech? HA! The single largest driving force behind
> technology today is not aerospace, defense spending, e-commerce, or
> job outsourcing. It is computer games. Don't you know why Intel and AMD
> are in a perpetual race for more microprocessor speed?

> Ross Oliver

Processor speed is but a VERY small part of technology. Broaden your
thinking.
--
Jim in NC

[Jim Fisher]

"G.R. Patterson III" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Jim Fisher wrote:
> >
> > One of my all-time faves. If you haven't read all the books in the
series,
> > you are missing out.
>
> How many are there? I have several.

I've only read four but there appear to be seven books in the series all
based on the original short story. They are Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow,
Shadow of the Hegemon, Xenocide,
Speaker for the Dead, Children of the Mind, and Shadow of the Hegemon.
Thanks for making me look that up. Looks like I have some catching up to
do.

I am amazed at the number of website dedicated to this series. There also
appears to be a movie in the works for Ender's Game. Cool!

--
Jim Fisher

[G.R. Patterson III]

Jim Fisher wrote:
>
> I've only read four but there appear to be seven books in the series all
> based on the original short story. They are Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow,
> Shadow of the Hegemon, Xenocide,
> Speaker for the Dead, Children of the Mind, and Shadow of the Hegemon.
> Thanks for making me look that up. Looks like I have some catching up to
> do.

Thanks for looking it up. I've got two of them, so it's off to the library.

George Patterson
Great discoveries are not announced with "Eureka!". What's usually said is
"Hummmmm... That's interesting...."

[Ross Oliver]

Jay Honeck > wrote:
>> The revenue from computer games exceeds that
>> of movies, television, and music COMBINED.
>
>Do you have a source for that claim?
>
>Not that I'm doubting you -- I just want to be able to quote that statement
>with confidence.


Well, time for my serving of crow. I do remember reading this stat
in a magazine article (Business 2.0 or Wired or somesuch), but I can't
locate it now. So I did a little research and turns out this statement
is not true.

According to the Entertainment Software Association (www.theesa.org),
total entertainment software sales in 2002 was $6.9 billion. The
Motion Picture Association (www.mpaa.org) reports that total 2002 movie
box office receipts were $9.5 billion. So the computer game industry
has a a little ways to go before even topping Hollywood alone, but may
do so soon. BTW, the RIAA reports 2002 total music sales of $11.5 billion,
the third consecutive year of decline from the 1999 high of $13 billion.


Ross Oliver

[Earl Grieda]

"Ross Oliver" > wrote in message
...
> Jay Honeck > wrote:
> >> The revenue from computer games exceeds that
> >> of movies, television, and music COMBINED.
> >
> >Do you have a source for that claim?
> >
> >Not that I'm doubting you -- I just want to be able to quote that
statement
> >with confidence.
>
>
> Well, time for my serving of crow. I do remember reading this stat
> in a magazine article (Business 2.0 or Wired or somesuch), but I can't
> locate it now. So I did a little research and turns out this statement
> is not true.
>
> According to the Entertainment Software Association (www.theesa.org),
> total entertainment software sales in 2002 was $6.9 billion. The
> Motion Picture Association (www.mpaa.org) reports that total 2002 movie
> box office receipts were $9.5 billion. So the computer game industry
> has a a little ways to go before even topping Hollywood alone, but may
> do so soon. BTW, the RIAA reports 2002 total music sales of $11.5
billion,
> the third consecutive year of decline from the 1999 high of $13 billion.
>

Somebody's stats are incorrect. I had read that video game revenue
surpassed movie revenue.

This site seems to confirm that.

"As video games have grown into a $30 billion-a-year global entertainment
giant, they have become a new hotbed for — of all things — orchestral
scores. Game music no longer is relegated to insidious jingles played out on
chintzy-sounding synthesizers. Much more often today, it consists of
well-heeled epic score music written by top composers and played by the same
orchestras that perform music for many of Hollywood's best films.

The video game music revolution is both a product of and a reason for the
larger gaming boom. According to the NPD Group, the leading market-research
firm tracking gaming, the industry took in $11.7 billion (all figures U.S.)
in domestic revenue in 2002 — more than the $9.5 billion in annual U.S. box
office receipts reported by the Motion Picture Association. According to the
Electronic Software Association, more than 221 million computer and video
games were sold in '02 — enough to put two in each U.S. household. "

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1074166570844&call_pageid=968867495754&col=969483191630

Earl G.

[StellaStar]

You could both be right...
(Earl Grieda's addition: > the leading market-research
>firm tracking gaming, the industry took in $11.7 billion (all figures U.S.)
>in domestic revenue in 2002 — more than the $9.5 billion in annual U.S. box
>office receipts reported by the Motion Picture Association.)

Resale places like FunCoLand do a brisk business as kids grow out of Tetris and
Mario Bros and trade them in for more complex games. I'm sure the industry's
happy to count the resale of popular games among its total figures.

[Ross Oliver]

Earl Grieda > wrote:
>
>The video game music revolution is both a product of and a reason for the
>larger gaming boom. According to the NPD Group, the leading market-research
>firm tracking gaming, the industry took in $11.7 billion (all figures U.S.)


The $6.9 figure I cited was only for gaming software. If revenue
from hardware (game consoles and accessories like fancy joystics) and online
gaming is included, $11.7 billion may be a more fully representative figure
for the overall industry.