Mac OS X, Watson Can Enhance the Xbox Experience

**selowitch** · 03-31-2003

I am quite excited about the possibilities I see in the recent movement toward so-called “web services” which are available through such applications as Watson under Mac OS X. In a nutshell, what this neat little application does is search specific areas of the Internet and grabs only the data that you specify instead of the entire page. It’s really incredibly cool. No, I don’t work for the company and this is not an advertisement.

You can find Watson at http://www.karelia.com.

What I would really love to see happen is for this technology to be used to help folks stay abreast of Xbox game release schedules. There could be a dedicated website that would be updated frequently and would provide the necessary data output (probably via XML) so that desktop users could quickly find the latest info on their favorite Xbox titles. If I were not so busy, I would learn how to do this myself! Is anybody else out there a possible Watson developer?

**Kraft** · 03-31-2003

Originally posted by selowitch
I am quite excited about the possibilities I see in the recent movement toward so-called “web services” which are available through such applications as Watson under Mac OS X. In a nutshell, what this neat little application does is search specific areas of the Internet and grabs only the data that you specify instead of the entire page. It’s really incredibly cool. No, I don’t work for the company and this is not an advertisement.

You can find Watson at http://www.karelia.com.

What I would really love to see happen is for this technology to be used to help folks stay abreast of Xbox game release schedules. There could be a dedicated website that would be updated frequently and would provide the necessary data output (probably via XML) so that desktop users could quickly find the latest info on their favorite Xbox titles. If I were not so busy, I would learn how to do this myself! Is anybody else out there a possible Watson developer?

Most of the webpages out there have all the release date consolidated on one page as it is... are you really in that much of a hurry as to not want to load the extra 40 bytes in graphics?

**selowitch** · 03-31-2003

Most of the webpages out there have all the release date consolidated on one page as it is... are you really in that much of a hurry as to not want to load the extra 40 bytes in graphics?

Guilty as charged. I’m a Mac geek, what can I tell you? It may reveal something of my motivation in that I don’t yet have “true” broadband here yet (I live in rural Maine, against my better judgment), so it does take me awhile to load ebgames.com or gamestop.com for those lists.

Also, consider this: much more could be done via Watson, such as gathering multiple review scores à la metacritic.com—that would be really cool, IMHO!

**FuNkY mOnK** · 03-31-2003

So if i just type tits i wont get the ass or other private parts? count me out.

**selowitch** · 03-31-2003

So if i just type tits i wont get the ass or other private parts? count me out.

Not to worry. I already have.

**FuNkY mOnK** · 03-31-2003

but all seriousness i could understand how 56k people would benefit tremendously from this and thats it. oh the humanity

**selowitch** · 03-31-2003

I just get a little tired of having to look at like a dozen sites every day just to make sure that the release date of, say, Star Wars: KOTOR has or hasn’t been moved up. It would be something like the president’s Intelligence Summary he gets each morning, only ... um ... er ... not exactly.

**LynxFX** · 03-31-2003

The only problem is that release dates on most sites are ficticious or space holders. They have no backing from the actual developer and can change daily. So your source for the website would pretty much have to be straight from the publishers themselves and getting that would be a feet in of itself.

**selowitch** · 03-31-2003

he only problem is that release dates on most sites are ficticious or space holders. They have no backing from the actual developer and can change daily. So your source for the website would pretty much have to be straight from the publishers themselves and getting that would be a feat in and of itself.

Well said. I agree with that analysis. It seems the game developers like a certain amount of mystery around release dates. Perhaps they think it generates “street buzz.”

I still think it would make for a fun project, at least for those who find Cocoa programming fun.