Boxed version
 

Hey, I was wandering around Staples today and look what I found. Sorry the 3rd photo was blurry, the sales people was starting to head toward my direction, me with the camera and all. edit -- ok, I went back to Staples and took another shot of the back of the box and the cutoff bottom of the front of the box.

Yep, that's the box.

May I make some observations:

It does not say "beta".

It does say "Deluxe Screensaver".

It says you can adjust "lights, bubbles, and sound effects" - bubbles on/off, bubble sound on/off would seem to make that statement correct, however, "adjust lights"? How?

Says you can change from night to day? Again, how?

Or, am I missing those features in the beta?

Jim is going to have to put in some overtime to bring the SS up to the specs stated on the box.:D

Remember - this is Nova's box, not mine. It is about as different from the box art I submitted as it could possibly be. They call it a screensaver, I don't. One of my problems with the box is that they ignored my request to have a list and screenshots of some of the high-profile movies and TV shows in which the Aquarium has made an appearance. The fact that producers always use SereneScreen and never any other competing product should tell a potential buyer something. For some reason Nova saw no value in, for instance, a screenshot of Justin Timberlake and Jessica Alba in front of a giant image of Marine Aquarium at the Teen Choice Awards. Prolific put a lot of effort into securing the rights for all those images. It was even a lot of trouble getting Nova to put in the tiny "Over 1 Million Sold" blurb. They were simply unfamiliar with the product, and the fact that the previous publisher had stopped counting at 1 million about 5 years ago. (Not to mention Web sales and the 8 million copies in the MS Plus Packs.)

Surferminn is correct - you adjust the lights with the F1 through F4 keys (just like it says in the About box).

And "Day/Night"?

Also, it would seem then that a change to "auto adjust lights" would make it a true screensaver since all pixels (as long as it is panning) would be changing.

Otherwise, great presentation on the box.

I really do understand those frustrations and arguments, and you're quite entitled to disclaim any responsibility for the box.

Yeah, I look at that box, and it's clear that they took no input from Jim whatsoever.

Which just confirms my longstanding observation that marketing people are morons.

Well, IMHO the box presentation is excellent, very colorful, and except for the "day/night" phrase, arguably accurate, and it certainly will get MA3 out to a larger audience.

As far as I know, we all really like MA3, so we are just talking among ourselves here. Overall, I'd say this Nova packaging is a good thing, although Jim's comments certainly are valid as well.

Special thanks to Surferminn for the images.

:TU:

The marketing folks would certainly not label the boxed product as Beta.

And, regardless of what it is, they will sell many more copies by calling it a Screensaver, than by just calling it a simulation of an aquarium.

Selling more copies is good, and presumably provides more peanut butter for Jim.

I wonder what the box (or included documentation) says about updates? [That is, where/how to get them, etc.]

And about Creature Packs?

And whether there is a pointer to this forum?

[By the way, nice customer reviews on Amazon]

There's no listing on Amazon.ca, so I guess there's no distributor for Canada? I was introduced to the world of virtual fish by Aquazone Desktop Garden as a gift from my Mum from Walmart. It might be too small of a market to consider though. Also, with shipping, duty, exchange rates, taxes, it's often usually a better deal to buy digital download from the US.

Only to be picky... :D As noted before the "day / night" emphasized on the box is a bit premature. Up to 3 displays confuses me.. what does that mean? One of the features which would be a selling point is not mentioned.. the fact that you can customize the crystal with your own logo or picture. The other "feature" that is not well (at all) mentioned is the panning aspect to give a 3D effect.
Then, when the product does not perform the way the box states... who are you going to call?

Re-reading it - image number 2 - it appears that the "day/night" implication is the F1-F4 lighter/darker function.

Not what some of us consider the "fade to black (night) then lighten to full color (day)" effect, however.

I do have a question, though:

when this boxed edition is loaded, does it show as Marine Aquarium version 3.0 or does it show as "3.0 beta"?

Top 10 list of things Jim Sachs regrets in life:

10. Labeling MA3 a Beta.
9...

Thanks for them great store pics.

Noticed on their picture of it in the box, green lower background. What
if customer can't get the green bottom? (without knowing the reg hack)

And 10 bucks is a great deal, too.

Well, it is a "mail in" rebate, however, I've done a number of these with Staples and always gotten the rebate so I wouldn't let that be a problem.

Correction - the Rebate is with NOVA Development.

I've done a few with them too and while they seem to take about 2 months, I've gotten all of the rebates.

Yes, I missed that rebate under the price. Personally, I do not like
rebates at all. Guess this box product is geared for ppl that never buy
online stuff. It's only 50 times easier to go to serenescreen.

Interesting! What did you base this fact on?
When I think about the word "Screensaver" I still think of quality like "Flying Toasters". When I think about the word "Simulation" I think more like the quality of a flight simulator. Maybe that's just me...

"...quality like "Flying Toasters".

:lol:

Yeah, them were the good ol' days, huh?

One of my favs from the 20th Century:

Johnny Castaway

:loco:

Re: my comment that: ",,,regardless of what it is, they will sell many more copies by calling it a Screensaver, than by just calling it a simulation of an aquarium."

Just my opinion that if they just call it a simulation, they will sell some number, and if they also refer to it as a Screensaver they will sell more.

Perhaps you're correct that they will sell fewer copies by calling it a Screensaver.

If so, Prolific should be more careful with their press releases for both versions (PC and Mac). http://www.serenescreen.com/news/

FWIW -

the "boxed version" reports that it is

Version T603.3.0.1933.

Latest "beta" I have shows

Version T928.3.0.1953

Those numbers don't really mean much. They depend on whose computer the program happened to be compiled on, and get updated even if there are no changes.

The only difference between the Nova (U.S.) version and the SereneScreen version is the web link button. Theirs takes you to their site, ours takes you to ours.

There will be various Nova international versions with different languages and fonts, but functionally they are all the same as the current version at SereneScreen.

That's interesting. The version that I have installed, which I thought was the most current, reports that it is T603.3.0.1933

Where did T928.3.0.1953 come from?

Sorry.

The "beta" I have is an unregistered version showing T928.3.0.1953.

The NOVA copy is registered.

Maybe that causes the difference along with what Jim said?

OK, now I'm even more confused.

The boxed (Nova) version would be T603.3.0.1933, and Jim said:

However, the version I have says it's T603.3.0.1933, and I'm quite sure I got it by following a link from this forum (and it's registered if that makes a difference" - and when I click on the Website button, it goes to http://www.serenescreen.com/

John, you have "an unregistered version showing T928.3.0.1953". Where does the Website button take you?

Also, when you press the "S" key, what version does it say?

Booting other system now.

"S" key shows "Beta 10d"

"Website" button takes me to www.serenescreen.com.

For the record, I believe I've tracked down some details.

The "latest Beta 10d" downloaded in June in accordance with instructions in this forum identifies as: T603.3.0.1933.

The "latest Beta 10d" downloaded two days ago from SereneScreen identifies as: T928.3.0.1953

And, in summary of other reports:

JohnWho reports that the boxed version identifies as: T603.3.0.1933, but Jim states that it acts slightly differently (Web site) - but I don't quite understand that.

The international versions go to the distributor's website instead of SereneScreen.com when you click "Homepage".

Yes, assuming you meant "Website", that's what Jim said:

That's quite reasonable, as is I18N (Internationalization - i.e. "localization")
But he also said:
Which is why I don't understand how the "boxed version" and the June download version, can both be version T603.3.0.1933, but have different code (Website URL), clearly compiled at different times, perhaps on some other computer, etc.

OK, now I need to update my update:

On my dual-boot system, on the Vista 64 side, I just uninstalled the MA3 beta and then installed the "boxed version".

On that system, the version shows as:

Version: T928.3.0.1953 through both the "exe" and running "SS".

On the Win 7 64 side, when I installed the "boxed version", I did not uninstal the beta that was there.

When I then checked the version I got T603.3.0.1933 as described.

However, today, I just checked the Win 7 64 MA 3 version and it is showing as:

T928.3.0.1953 when I run the program, but as T603.3.0.1933 when I use "spacebar" from the screen saver (or "settings" from SS settings).

On my second dual-boot system, running just the beta (W7 64) I get the 1953 number either through exe or SS.

I hope this is making sense.

Can't be sure, then, whether this is a Vista/W7 quirk, a "beta" overwrite quirk, or something else.

Actually, I believe that you've found another bug. When you said:

"T928.3.0.1953 when I run the program, but as T603.3.0.1933 when I use "spacebar" from the screen saver (or "settings" from SS settings)."

I thought: "Oh, no - Registry". It turns out that the string (VersionStr it's called) is stored in multiple places in the Registry. Apparently, something (perhaps the installer) got some of those different from others -- and then the software apparently gets the VersionStr from different places, depending on whether it's running in SS or Simulation "mode". [That's a great leap in assumption space, of course]

So, either this should be copied to a new thread - or this thread should be labeled "Bug".

==============

By the way, I'm still interested in whether any of your installations actually takes you to the Nova website when you click that button. And if so, what version that is.

==============

For reference, I have two W7-32 systems that I'm looking at, one with each of the two download "versions".

Yes, I'm taken to:

http://www.novadevelopment.com/

on the W7 64 "boxed" install.

That's the installation that shows:

"T928.3.0.1953 when I run the program, but as T603.3.0.1933 when I use "spacebar" from the screen saver (or "settings" from SS settings)."

Looking at the Registry some more, it turns out that the Website URL is changed to do that linkage. Presumably an installer customization. Which explains why the same version number can take people to different Websites.

That's a good technique.

I'm with you on this general discussion and "bug" problem, Dale.

Any anomaly should be brought to the programmer's attention, especially as long as it is considered a "beta" since a large part of the concept of beta testing is to find these things.

Your "Can't tell what code version is being tested" thread fits the concept of "beta testing" quite nicely. Nowhere on the box of the "MA 3 boxed version" does it mention that enclosed is the "beta10d" version.

"beta10d" it appears, has effectively been released as MA version 3.0. Personally, I'm OK with this, but agree with Dale that it would be helpful if it showed as a "build number" or similar upon which future changes would be built.

Or just stop calling it a Beta since it gets under people's skin so much.

On the boxed version, what does it now say when you press the "S" key?

Dale -

It shows "beta10d".

Incidentally, if anyone wants to see Nova's web page, it is here:

http://www.novadevelopment.com/softw...ware-utilities

If the link works, that is.

:)