Slashdot Mirror

Oops, linkage didnt work. Here's the link My html is getting rusty.

btw, just read this in the latest deadtree issue of egm:

starting april 1st $10 or more downpayment pre-orders for the new zelda will get a limited edition wind waker bonus disc that is redone with the same 'mature' graphics look & feel of the new zelda game. it also includes a few extra levels that were cut from the released game because miyamoto said "it had gotten too big for all ages to play".

i'm curious to see how the game looks and plays with the non cell shaded look. the screenshot comparison in the magazine was interesting. here's a link to a pic.

for all of you zelda 'kiddie graphics' haters, keep an eye out for this as you are missing out on a really great game!

I can't believe Slashdot isn't posting about the much bigger news: The trailer for the new Zelda game that was released at the conference. Who didn't think the Revolution would have Wifi after the DS comes with it built-in?

This could possibly mean that the PS3's (according to early reports) has the potential to have more processing power then the XBox 2.

XBox 2 PowerPC:
- 3 cores
- 3Ghz
- L1 cache with 32 KB for data and 32 KB for instructions. The three cores share 1 MB of L2 cache.

PS2 Cell Processor (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/02/07/news_6118 072.html):
- 8 cores (This can be scaled from 1-8 depending on the device, so Sony has the potential to use more cores then the XBox 2, but there will be trade-offs for using more)
- The first version of the chip will run at speeds faster than 4GHz. Engineers were vague about how much faster, but reports from design partners say 4.6GHz is likely.
- 2.5MB of on-chip memory

Its still too early to tell since Sony has yet to release the final specs of what will be used and how many calculations\instructions per second each can do. I just think it is funny how the PS2 is the current system lacking in power, but come time for next generation systems it has the most potential to be the most powerful.

It seems that it would be pretty unlikely that this product is pure vaporware seeing as how there's some pretty substantial developer support. (link) It's pretty difficult for these guys to get developers on board - ATI and NVIDIA both have issues, and they're industry standards. I highly doubt Epic, Ubisoft, Sega and the others that have come on board this early signed deals based on pure speculation. Add to that the reports that the product is to be available this year (link) They must have some sort of prototype already functioning.

GS: Do you see any limitations in what the PPU can accomplish due to overhead issues associated with offloading work and transferring it across the system bus?

TS: The computations driving physics simulation and collision detection make use of a large amount of static data that needs to be uploaded to the hardware once, and a smaller amount of dynamic data that needs to be transferred per frame. This is the same usage pattern as a modern GPU, where huge textures and vertex buffers change infrequently, while the smaller rendering commands need to be sent each frame. The PPU or GPU then expends an enormous amount of parallel computing power in computing the result, but the result itself is fairly compact. A GPU's frame buffer is a few megabytes, and a PPU's result matrices will be similarly compact. So, the PCI Express or even PCI bus will be plenty fast to accommodate the required traffic.

They have been making crappy games with rappers for a while now. Cash rules everything around me.

And I don't know what they mean about fantasies of gun violence. I bet 2-Pac wishes they only had fantasies of gun violence. And as near as I can tell, 50 Cent didn't shoot himself. Suge Knight isn't really a nice guy when you get to know him. Snoop really did get put on trial for murder. Man rap music is fun.

GameSpot has a news story on the Ageia PhysX PPU and a Q&A with Epic Games lead programmer Tim Sweeney on the PPU.

GameSpot has a news story on the Ageia PhysX PPU and a Q&A with Epic Games lead programmer Tim Sweeney on the PPU.

Very interesting technology, comes with its own SDK and should be able to handle many times the amount of physics based objects in a game than the CPU can handle now.

Tim Sweeney of Epic did an interview about this with GameSpot here.

Who the hell modded this flamebait?

Let's head over to our friend SirBruce's MMOGChart and take a peak at the subscriber chart. Hmm - comparing, I'd say Blizzard kicked Square's scrawny ass!

But let's compare reviews, too.

Final Fantasy XI - 8.2
World of Warcraft - 9.5

Hmm... I'd say World of Warcraft gave them a thorough trouncing, wouldn't you?

Hell, I'm even being kind to it. It got 8.0 for the PS2 version and it's latest expansion got 6.8 (both platforms).

I'd say, objectively, that Square got its ass handed to it.

Who the hell modded this flamebait?

Let's head over to our friend SirBruce's MMOGChart and take a peak at the subscriber chart. Hmm - comparing, I'd say Blizzard kicked Square's scrawny ass!

But let's compare reviews, too.

Final Fantasy XI - 8.2
World of Warcraft - 9.5

Hmm... I'd say World of Warcraft gave them a thorough trouncing, wouldn't you?

Hell, I'm even being kind to it. It got 8.0 for the PS2 version and it's latest expansion got 6.8 (both platforms).

I'd say, objectively, that Square got its ass handed to it.

Who the hell modded this flamebait?

Let's head over to our friend SirBruce's MMOGChart and take a peak at the subscriber chart. Hmm - comparing, I'd say Blizzard kicked Square's scrawny ass!

But let's compare reviews, too.

Final Fantasy XI - 8.2
World of Warcraft - 9.5

Hmm... I'd say World of Warcraft gave them a thorough trouncing, wouldn't you?

Hell, I'm even being kind to it. It got 8.0 for the PS2 version and it's latest expansion got 6.8 (both platforms).

I'd say, objectively, that Square got its ass handed to it.

Who the hell modded this flamebait?

Let's head over to our friend SirBruce's MMOGChart and take a peak at the subscriber chart. Hmm - comparing, I'd say Blizzard kicked Square's scrawny ass!

But let's compare reviews, too.

Final Fantasy XI - 8.2
World of Warcraft - 9.5

Hmm... I'd say World of Warcraft gave them a thorough trouncing, wouldn't you?

Hell, I'm even being kind to it. It got 8.0 for the PS2 version and it's latest expansion got 6.8 (both platforms).

I'd say, objectively, that Square got its ass handed to it.

Who the hell modded this flamebait?

Let's head over to our friend SirBruce's MMOGChart and take a peak at the subscriber chart. Hmm - comparing, I'd say Blizzard kicked Square's scrawny ass!

But let's compare reviews, too.

Final Fantasy XI - 8.2
World of Warcraft - 9.5

Hmm... I'd say World of Warcraft gave them a thorough trouncing, wouldn't you?

Hell, I'm even being kind to it. It got 8.0 for the PS2 version and it's latest expansion got 6.8 (both platforms).

I'd say, objectively, that Square got its ass handed to it.

Well from what I remember they tried to market it, they just did a lousy job. Like whoever came up with this should have been fired. Out of a cannon. Into the sun.

And don't forget Hit and Run... though nothing can compare to the old favourites like Virtual Bart.

Of course, on the flipside there was...

A version of Starcraft is avaible for a console,
Starcraft 64.
Of course, I have never played that version, and from that review it sounds like it isn't exactly the same.

I can build a Doom console using off-the-shelf parts.

You will need:
(1) Game Boy Advance ($70 for the regular kind, $80 for the SP)
(1) Copy of Doom ($30)

And once you're done, you still have some $400 that you can spend on a photo-centric handheld!

Sony appears to have admitted that the square button even when not sticky is still less responsive than the other buttons.

It says so here.

The buttons that completely broke needed to be fixed. I had thought that Sony was fixing the buttons that jammed for free as that was a defect whether the misaligned sensor was or not.

those PSones can still play Rage Racer I'll be happy. Mmmm, Reiko...(makes Homer Simpson gargling noise)

These lawsuits have been going on for years: They blamed Doom for Columbine too and a judge simply threw it out. The more judges that see these absurd lawsuits the more they'll be ignored them in the future, classic example of "The boy who cried wolf", so I say bring them on, just get them all out of the way now so in the future developers don't have to worry about these ridiculous lawsuits anymore.

Inevitably, parents will buy this for their children, then complain about gaming companies when they notice little 10 year old jimmy is beating up hookers, forming gangs with other 10 year olds, and killing cops online.

I'm waiting for One-Line Puzzle.

Microsoft just reported their first quarterly profit from their Home and Entertainment unit. They lost money on the XBox in the beginning, but they knew all along that the long term would be profitable. The 'monopoly subsidizes the XBox' argument is now void.

But at the same time it means you'll never see Tekken, R-Type Final, Metal Gear Solid, Dead or Alive, TimeSplitters Future Perfect... I could go on forever.

Never see Metal Gear Solid? I think you need to check your facts.

Not to mention that I played Metal Gear Solid (and Tekken, so that makes two of your "console exclusives") on my PC well before it was even ported. Emulation generally catches up with consoles at around the time the next generation is developed. So with my PC, I get to play the latest PC games right now, and the latest console games soon. As opposed to getting the latest console games right now and the latest PC games never.

Filed in the US District Court, Northern District of Illinois, on January 25, the lawsuit names Mike Greiling and Will Glynn as "creating, hosting and contributing content to a forum created to foster and facilitate the knowing infringement of Tecmo's proprietary software for its video game titles." The lawsuit claims the pair trafficked in technology designed for the purpose of circumventing copyright protection systems built into the games, which violates the US Copyright Act, among other laws.

The complaint also addresses violations that include "various modifications to the source code for Tecmo games" including the creation of "several skins...designed to make Tecmo Characters appear naked." Games the alleged hackers are accused of applying their energy toward include Ninja Gaiden, Dead or Alive 3, Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, and Dead or Alive Ultimate.

Click for specs.

GameCube

PlayStation 2

GC = 485 MHz processor
PS2 = 300 MHz processor

When comparing other consoles to the Gamecube, you should be aware that Nintendo has not released official theoretical specs. For instance the PS2 official polygon fill rate which is a theoretical spec (75 Mtriangles/s) will be directly compared to the GameCube's official numbers which are a real world estimate that have been surpassed in game (6-12 Mtriangles/s). The upper limit for the PS2 is really around 7 million polygons, and Rebel Strike for the GC pushes 18-20 million polygons. So you have to take that into account. Nintendo doesn't publish pissing contest numbers. I wish they would for their own sake.

Click for specs.

GameCube

PlayStation 2

GC = 485 MHz processor
PS2 = 300 MHz processor

When comparing other consoles to the Gamecube, you should be aware that Nintendo has not released official theoretical specs. For instance the PS2 official polygon fill rate which is a theoretical spec (75 Mtriangles/s) will be directly compared to the GameCube's official numbers which are a real world estimate that have been surpassed in game (6-12 Mtriangles/s). The upper limit for the PS2 is really around 7 million polygons, and Rebel Strike for the GC pushes 18-20 million polygons. So you have to take that into account. Nintendo doesn't publish pissing contest numbers. I wish they would for their own sake.

Slight nuance: Involving an instant messenging service to invite players. See Figure 2.

"Battery life has been measured at 5.5 hours when playing Ridge Racers (one of the more disc intensive games)."

Q: How long does the PSP's battery last?
A: The short answer is that it depends on what you're doing. The longer answer is that Sony has stated that the battery should last around six hours. With simpler-looking games, like Lumines or Mahjong Fight Club, that definitely seems to be the case. But with more graphically intensive games, like Ridge Racers, the battery doesn't last quite as long. Based on our estimates and a few battery-draining tests, Ridge Racers seems to last somewhere between 90 minutes and three hours. Playing with the wireless networking switch flipped on will also further reduce your battery life. The system has an auto-sleep function that stops the wireless drain, but that switch is there for a reason. Turn it off when you're not using it.

"The flying disc thing is something you can _make_ it do if you try really hard. It's not something which happens in normal use."

"The square button is something which some people complain about, but most don't even notice."

"Personally, given the US launch price of $250, I'm even more glad I imported mine from Japan for $350 and got it early."

I find it interesting that Sony is already talking about Gran Turismo 5, which might include damage models.

It's almost as if they have everything planned ahead of time, but they're holding out so they can sell each innovation piece-by-piece, in an overall quest to make more money.

If I were to be very cynical, I'd say they'll release Gran Turismo 5 with online play, but hold out on damage models until Gran Turismo 6. However, I'm not "very cynical", so I say that this scenario is (hopefully) unlikely. Besides, Sony needs a killer app to sell PS3s, right?

December 1994
Apple Computer sues San Francisco Canyon Company for using Apple Computer's QuickTime code to speed up Microsoft's Video for Windows product.

where do you think Sims (SimCity) and Tetris came from?

SimCity? First released in 1987 on Commodore 64 (first demo in 1985!). Re-released in 1989 simultaneously on PC and Mac. Also released in 1989 for Amiga, Spectrum/Timex-Sinclair, Amstrad, and Atari ST.

Tetris? First implemented on Electronica 60 (PDP-11 clone!) in 1985. Ported to IBM PC during 1986 and circulated. Ported to Apple II and Commodore 64 in 1986. Spectrum Holobyte commercial re-release on IBM PC in 1986.

Ubisoft paid good money to get this earth-shattering bit of information posted on the front page of Slashdot. Please click the links and wander through the site a bit so your favorite news source stays in business.

Been done

...can be found at a site that Slashdot has linked to before:
http://www.gamespot.com/features/6112889/index.htm l
It's the "Final Hours" of Half-Life 2. It's a long article, but an interesting look into the mind of the head of Valve.

GameSpot has already taken the time to disprove this.

I remember reading there was similar debate in the industry about DVD pricing, some studios (Disney? Fox?) thought DVDs should be cost far more than the current $20 because movies budgets were increasing. Instead the low price for DVDs turned out to be a real boon for the industry.

"But by the time the Nintendo Revolution comes out, we'll probably have a half-height GameCube SP to match Sony's new thin PS2."

Doubtful if you ask me, though they did quietly release a small SNES. I want one.

we could force them to play Big Rigs for 8 hours at a time, that's punishment.

put a DDR machine in every cell with it's volume turned wayyyy up and no way to shut it off...

no playing pimpwars...

Well, the deal only says "third-party" exclusivity. As said in this article: "However, the Take-Two/MLBPA deal is not totally exclusive, as the EA/NFL agreement was. "At the same time, manufacturers of video game systems will have the opportunity to develop and publish baseball simulation games for their own platforms," read the statement. That caveat is significant since one of the most popular baseball series, MLB, is published by Sony and internally developed at its 989 Sports studio." So, it's more of a "screw you, EA" move than anything else.

Here is EA locking up Arena League Football. EA also does an NCAA game. I would venture to guess that EA is going to or has given the NCAA proposals on an exclusive deal for college football games.

Yeah but I really don't want to be playing with the Newark Mets's Michael Pizza behind the plate.

That is not the only other option, dork. Fantasy sports games (like Mutant League Football) have value as well. I doubt the upcoming Mario Baseball will have much to worry about by way of lawsuit.

There are also nonspecific games with character creators and user input options to allow the user to recreate the "official" environment without breaking the law, e.g. City of Heroes or Fire Pro Wrestling.

Yeah but I really don't want to be playing with the Newark Mets's Michael Pizza behind the plate.

That is not the only other option, dork. Fantasy sports games (like Mutant League Football) have value as well. I doubt the upcoming Mario Baseball will have much to worry about by way of lawsuit.

There are also nonspecific games with character creators and user input options to allow the user to recreate the "official" environment without breaking the law, e.g. City of Heroes or Fire Pro Wrestling.

So Japanese users complain to Sony Computer Enteetainment.

But I really *liked* Mutant League Football!

There's a guy here in the office who loves his Blood Bowl, too, though that one's a tabletop, not video, game.

I mean, they could just start with the Yamada family and see what makes *them* so tasty!

For those that don't get the reference

because devs and Nokia were finally starting to realise the platforms potential.

When they were treating it like a mini Playstation 1 at the start, trying to make it run thru 3D hoops it clearly didn't want to, the games were slow and ungainly, and just downright bad. Not to mention the launch lineup was terrible and betrayed their complete lack of understanding of where the game industry is at at the moment.

Tomb Raider? gimme a break. the comic is more impressive than the latest few Tomb Raider games, and Lara Croft has becoming less a gaming icon and more a warning sign that the people you are dealing with are about 2-3 years behind the times gaming wise.

It's only lately, a good year plus after the platform was released that they are finally starting to realise it's potential and starting to tailor the games to the phone, instead of trying to tailor the games to what they think people want while paying no heed to the what the hardware itself is capable of.

One of the latest games, Pathway to Glory is the first game in what appears to be a developing trend of Nokia, or whoever is responsible for selecting games to be ported/developed, of realising that the games have to suit the platform, not the ideal. And with other games of late (Pocket Kingdoms, X-Men Legends, Worms World Party) showing the same logical thinking behind developing for the platform, things are not necessarily looking up, but at least looking better.

And besides, those bastards managed to buy the Rifts licence before anyone thought to pick it up, so I have to stick with the console.

And last but not least, it's actually a very good phone in it's own right. I almost guarantee that the all the people that constantly dump shit on it have either been crying about that initial admittedly pathic oversight of having the game cart behind the battery, or have never actually touched the phone at all. All told, ignoring the terrible games library that's only now slowly improving, the phone itself isn't that bad, and was very cheap for such a featured filled phone.

If it's canned I won't miss it (it's not like I really own it for games anyway although a purchase of Pathway to Glory is looking very likely), but if it's canned now, just as it was starting to show some promise, I'll be honestly disappointed.