Slashdot Mirror

*ahem*

Games outsourced to Russia are known for their quality

Your wish is coming true. Liesure Suit Larry: Magna Cum Laude will be availabe for the the PC, XBOX, and PS2. It appears to be a 3D version of previous LSL games though one major difference is the main character, Larry Loveage, nephew to the previous games main character Larry Laffer.

Interesting thoughts on the genesis of the Avatar.

From the article:
In the mid-'90s, many gamers thought Bungie had reached its creative zenith with Marathon. They were wrong. By the time the classic Mac and PC shooter had wasted millions of man-hours worldwide in 1999, the Bungie wizards were repackaging Marathon's rich story and innovative visuals into a next-generation first-person shooter. That game was Halo: Combat Evolved.

Link

Seems like they mentioned it to me...

A San Francisco Federal Court judge, The Honorable Charles Legge, today dismissed copyright and trademark infringement claims initiated by Sony Computer Entertainment against Connectix Corp and its Connectix Video Game Station.

Bleem has filed suit against Sony in U.S. District Court, Northern District, California charging the company with using its market power to discourage retailers from carrying the Bleemcast.

In its opinion, the high court deemed the development and release of an emulator to be non-infringing provided that no patents were violated and that the final product itself did not contain any infringing code; furthermore, it also ruled emulation itself to be protected fair use of computer software.

Demo and review

This game is so cute that even girls mock it!

You mean this game.

Apparently EBGames has been allowing preorders for DNF for years now...

EBGames/GameSpot Link

places where it doesn't fit
What like this game?
Given the game's increased use of product placement--you're given the ability to put logos for several nonskateboarding company sponsors on your clothes, and a few goals take place directly in front of prominently placed logos for a fast-food chain
What the Hell does Nokia and McDs have to do with skating???

Yes. That would be mentioned onpage 3 of the article.

Actually, I agree with you wholeheartedly. My subject line was knee-jerk, so apparently I am as guilty (at first reflex) as any of the people whose actions I decry in my latest livejournal entry which was initiated by this story, and which I will mirror here for your enjoyment. What I mean rather than banned (and what I should have SAID, I will grant you) is they should have been banned from mass retail outlets, because they should not be supplied to children. (If they are pornographic in nature, existing laws prohibit their sales to minors.)

Babble above, content below:

GameSpot has posted an article entitled When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy which on page 11 has the following delicious tidbit:

As the battle ensued, in January 2004 the Miami Herald reported that the city of Miami would enact an ordinance that would make it illegal for retailers to sell or rent "violent" video games to anyone under 18 without a note from his or her parent. Three of the city councilmen who voted for the ordinance were Haitian-Americans. The two who voted against the ordinance were not of Haitian decent. Retailers and rental outlets would incur warnings or fines of $250 per day or up to $500 for repeated offenses. GameSpot reported that Mayor Joe Celestin, a Haitian-American who introduced the ordinance and who is also one of Vice City's most vocal critics, said, "We don't believe the First Amendment was written to protect those who want to incite violence."

The interesting thing is that the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America does not discriminate. There are cases where violence is justified, such as preventing taxation without representation. Well, Senor Celestin, please move to Haiti where more than 80% of the people are living in poverty, where two-thirds of the population is involved in agriculture, which is to say, weedin' and pickin'. Stop pissing on this great nation of ours, which is based on the notion that a person has the right to speak their mind without fear of recrimination. Not to mention that to this date there is still no proven link between violent video games, and violent behavior, you ignorant fuck. I wish I'd heard about this in a more timely manner, but suffice to say, the head of Miami's local government does not believe in the First Amendment. Free thinkers beware.

Damn, the more I read this, the worse it gets. I find new people to be offended by all the time.

the second film, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, met a greater challenge when in August 2003 ABC Radio News Australia and other sources reported that mainland China had banned the movie entirely, calling it "anti-Chinese."

China's government complained that the film falsely portrayed China as "a country with no government and overrun by secret societies," according to ABC News. The BBC reported that same month that a Chinese official said, "After watching the movie, I feel that the westerners have made their presentation of China with malicious intention. ... The movie does not understand Chinese culture. It does not understand China's security situation. In China there cannot be secret societies."

HAHaHAHAHAHaHaAHA! In China, *snort* there cannot *snicker* be secret societies? Need I say more?

On February 15, 2004, Eidos attempted its first move into the spotlight from the other side of the stage by announcing that it would release a game called Whiplash, developed by Crystal Dynamics and aimed at kids 7 years of age and older. The game's objective would be to free laboratory animals from torture in the name of science,, the U.K. Telegraph reported. As noble as the game's premise may be to some, British police and MPs are not happy about it and have called the ga

Actually, I agree with you wholeheartedly. My subject line was knee-jerk, so apparently I am as guilty (at first reflex) as any of the people whose actions I decry in my latest livejournal entry which was initiated by this story, and which I will mirror here for your enjoyment. What I mean rather than banned (and what I should have SAID, I will grant you) is they should have been banned from mass retail outlets, because they should not be supplied to children. (If they are pornographic in nature, existing laws prohibit their sales to minors.)

Babble above, content below:

GameSpot has posted an article entitled When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy which on page 11 has the following delicious tidbit:

As the battle ensued, in January 2004 the Miami Herald reported that the city of Miami would enact an ordinance that would make it illegal for retailers to sell or rent "violent" video games to anyone under 18 without a note from his or her parent. Three of the city councilmen who voted for the ordinance were Haitian-Americans. The two who voted against the ordinance were not of Haitian decent. Retailers and rental outlets would incur warnings or fines of $250 per day or up to $500 for repeated offenses. GameSpot reported that Mayor Joe Celestin, a Haitian-American who introduced the ordinance and who is also one of Vice City's most vocal critics, said, "We don't believe the First Amendment was written to protect those who want to incite violence."

The interesting thing is that the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America does not discriminate. There are cases where violence is justified, such as preventing taxation without representation. Well, Senor Celestin, please move to Haiti where more than 80% of the people are living in poverty, where two-thirds of the population is involved in agriculture, which is to say, weedin' and pickin'. Stop pissing on this great nation of ours, which is based on the notion that a person has the right to speak their mind without fear of recrimination. Not to mention that to this date there is still no proven link between violent video games, and violent behavior, you ignorant fuck. I wish I'd heard about this in a more timely manner, but suffice to say, the head of Miami's local government does not believe in the First Amendment. Free thinkers beware.

Damn, the more I read this, the worse it gets. I find new people to be offended by all the time.

the second film, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, met a greater challenge when in August 2003 ABC Radio News Australia and other sources reported that mainland China had banned the movie entirely, calling it "anti-Chinese."

China's government complained that the film falsely portrayed China as "a country with no government and overrun by secret societies," according to ABC News. The BBC reported that same month that a Chinese official said, "After watching the movie, I feel that the westerners have made their presentation of China with malicious intention. ... The movie does not understand Chinese culture. It does not understand China's security situation. In China there cannot be secret societies."

HAHaHAHAHAHaHaAHA! In China, *snort* there cannot *snicker* be secret societies? Need I say more?

On February 15, 2004, Eidos attempted its first move into the spotlight from the other side of the stage by announcing that it would release a game called Whiplash, developed by Crystal Dynamics and aimed at kids 7 years of age and older. The game's objective would be to free laboratory animals from torture in the name of science,, the U.K. Telegraph reported. As noble as the game's premise may be to some, British police and MPs are not happy about it and have called the ga

Actually, I agree with you wholeheartedly. My subject line was knee-jerk, so apparently I am as guilty (at first reflex) as any of the people whose actions I decry in my latest livejournal entry which was initiated by this story, and which I will mirror here for your enjoyment. What I mean rather than banned (and what I should have SAID, I will grant you) is they should have been banned from mass retail outlets, because they should not be supplied to children. (If they are pornographic in nature, existing laws prohibit their sales to minors.)

Babble above, content below:

GameSpot has posted an article entitled When Two Tribes Go to War: A History of Video Game Controversy which on page 11 has the following delicious tidbit:

As the battle ensued, in January 2004 the Miami Herald reported that the city of Miami would enact an ordinance that would make it illegal for retailers to sell or rent "violent" video games to anyone under 18 without a note from his or her parent. Three of the city councilmen who voted for the ordinance were Haitian-Americans. The two who voted against the ordinance were not of Haitian decent. Retailers and rental outlets would incur warnings or fines of $250 per day or up to $500 for repeated offenses. GameSpot reported that Mayor Joe Celestin, a Haitian-American who introduced the ordinance and who is also one of Vice City's most vocal critics, said, "We don't believe the First Amendment was written to protect those who want to incite violence."

The interesting thing is that the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America does not discriminate. There are cases where violence is justified, such as preventing taxation without representation. Well, Senor Celestin, please move to Haiti where more than 80% of the people are living in poverty, where two-thirds of the population is involved in agriculture, which is to say, weedin' and pickin'. Stop pissing on this great nation of ours, which is based on the notion that a person has the right to speak their mind without fear of recrimination. Not to mention that to this date there is still no proven link between violent video games, and violent behavior, you ignorant fuck. I wish I'd heard about this in a more timely manner, but suffice to say, the head of Miami's local government does not believe in the First Amendment. Free thinkers beware.

Damn, the more I read this, the worse it gets. I find new people to be offended by all the time.

the second film, Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life, met a greater challenge when in August 2003 ABC Radio News Australia and other sources reported that mainland China had banned the movie entirely, calling it "anti-Chinese."

China's government complained that the film falsely portrayed China as "a country with no government and overrun by secret societies," according to ABC News. The BBC reported that same month that a Chinese official said, "After watching the movie, I feel that the westerners have made their presentation of China with malicious intention. ... The movie does not understand Chinese culture. It does not understand China's security situation. In China there cannot be secret societies."

HAHaHAHAHAHaHaAHA! In China, *snort* there cannot *snicker* be secret societies? Need I say more?

On February 15, 2004, Eidos attempted its first move into the spotlight from the other side of the stage by announcing that it would release a game called Whiplash, developed by Crystal Dynamics and aimed at kids 7 years of age and older. The game's objective would be to free laboratory animals from torture in the name of science,, the U.K. Telegraph reported. As noble as the game's premise may be to some, British police and MPs are not happy about it and have called the ga

If the quasi immortality thing is an irritant, then might I suggest you try this one out? I have been playing it for a while now. It can be pretty though at times, with occasional treadmilling, but so far I havn't died once.

I don't know, try the demo: lifeline pc voice recognition demo, I got it to work 80% of the time, seems kinda sloppy though, thing crashed on me after a while too.

"Back that up."
Ok. Take a look here, here, here, here, here, here, here, and here. And for more plenty more links to back it up, Google has you covered. Hope that helps.

LucasArts also recently cancelled Full Throttle 2 . (Although good luck confirming it through official channels thanks to an incompetant web site at LucasArts.)

LucasArts has consistently shipped some of the best adventure games ever. The worst adventure games from LucasArts are still fun. They sell at least tolerably well. The most recent Monkey Island game did, I understand, quite well when ported to the PS2, even though it had been available on PC for a year or two at that point. Full Throttle and Sam & Max Hit the Road are two of the most creative adventure games ever; I know I wasn't the only person eagerly anticipating the sequels. (Sequels suck in general, yes, but LucasArts has proven that it's possible to buck the trend by releasing 4 great Monkey Island games.) Adventure gamers have gone from being able to look forward to two great games to zero. Feh. At least we can look forward to Dreamfall and Syberia 2 .

Toonstruck is another good graphic adventure game. http://www.gamespot.com/pc/adventure/toonstruck/

The Full Throttle sequel was cancelled months ago:

LucasArts cancels Full Throttle

Granted, star control 2 had some of the best mod's to ever grace my ears. more recently, however, the baldur's gate series, planescape torment, system shock 2, the fallouts, and the "newer" lucasarts adventures like grim fandango or curse of monkey island all have tunes permanently lodged in my brain. if you think all video game music has to be dull, lifeless, or uninspired, please do yourself a favour and buy these games or leech their soundtracks.

inertplay had, up until a short while ago, an online mp3 collection of the soundtracks to a good chunk of the games they put out. not sure why the page was taken down.. used to be here .. anyone know what happened to it?

That's because the screenshot is from Hasbro's 3D Breakout remake that came out on PS1 and PC back in 2000. The sheep may not be on Gamespot page, but I've seen them on a press site.

The red paddle makes me think this is a screen shot of a pong game. Maybe not this one: Pong but something similar.

Splinter Cell is NOT a 'shoot-em-up'. Hell, you will run out of bullets way too quick for that.

At least you admitted to not really playing it, up until a few hours ago...you know, a lot of video game reviewers base their opinions on even LESS than an hour or so on a demo, so I can't really fault you there...if the professionals can get paid to write an article based on their cursory glance at a game (ooowww...sweet box art!), then I guess everyone else can become an expert just as quickly.

The first Deus Ex was cool, and one reason was that you only HAD to kill one person. Well...taa dum...you can do the same exact thing in Splinter Cell. Here is a link to the video of a 'one-kill run'.

If you are running around shooting everyone, then you are a much, much better player than I am- because I am spending a lot of time avoiding cameras...waiting until the enemy is alone, so I can take them out one by one, etc. etc.

Well, maybe you are looking for something else in the game than I am. If you really like conversing with the NPCs, then you are different from me, and that is okay. I personally thought it was painful to sit through the 'Greys' long speeches down in Antarctica. I also thought that *most* of the information gleaned from computers/e-mails, etc. in both Splinter Cell and Deus Ex was fairly boring.

I can handle the idea that we differ on which type of games we prefer- but when someone comes out and says that Splinter Cell is 'just another generic FPS' I do like to respond- because it is just another case of someone spouting out things that are absolutely untrue- and doing so in a way that attempts to disparage my original comments. Of course the irony of being 'corrected' by someone who had obviously never even SEEN the game was quite amusing. But then again, this is Slashdot...

due to Rockstar's pre-existing agreement with Sony it's unlikely that it will happen until quite some time after the game's initial release

Well, you may not have to wait too long. The exclusivity deal with Sony ends this year. So you could see an xbox version as early as Jan 1, 2005, just a few months after the ps2 release.

It's easy to criticize the core mechanics of Panzer Dragoon Orta, as the game is essentially a rail shooter, a dated action subgenre that forces you onto a set track, like on a roller coaster, and expects you to merely point and shoot at everything that gets in your way.

The homing lasers are generally much stronger than the gun attack, but you'll learn to use both in conjunction, because only Orta's pistol can shoot down the numerous enemy projectiles you'll constantly be trying to avoid. It may not sound like a big deal, but the fact that Panzer Dragoon Orta alternately requires you to tap the fire button and hold it down during nonstop action sequences lends the gameplay a completely different feel from that of any shooter other than its predecessors.

Well it's...not particularly innovative (switching between tapping the button and holding it down? See: Charge Beam (from Super Metroid. Come to think of it, IIRC most of the other above stuff can be found in Pokemon Snap. And...didn't Star Fox 64 have charging? Never played it, but I'm guessing it has boosting and slowing down since the SNES one did). On the other hand, while the "innovations" may not be anything new, I think they're new to the rail-shooter (like charging) so it might have a really fresh feel.

In short, well this is possibly a good answer, but colour me skeptical. If I'm going to get interested in a rail-shooter type game (which hasn't really happened on previous attempts) is PDO really the best starting point? Glancing around I find a few people who liked PD1 or PD2 better, and Panzer Dragoon isn't the only rail-shooter series. And...when it comes down to it, I need to try more Sega games in general; so...why not try Super Monkey Ball 2 first? That's a genre which I've never tried, and a game with similar reviews. Still, you've gotten me interested, so *hands AC a cookie*

"First Colonists" has a single player mode, except when playing with expansions (Knights & Cities or Seafarers). It's a very polished rendition of the game. The AI is actually quite poor though. Be sure and download the nice music tracks that go with it.

Settlers 3D doesn't have single-player (last time I checked), but is still worth checking out. The PS2 version is playable on the Net but only available in Japan. Capcom was supposed to bring it to the US, but it looks like that fell apart. From the previews I've seen, the PS2 version had great AI. Bargaining when you make trades is a big part of the fun, and it looks like the PS2 version captured that aspect by giving the AI distinct personalities.

In 1990 I was finally able to fulfill that longing in the rec room of the Tiger's Claw, where there was, you guessed it, a standup video arcade simulation. Before I ever flew a mission I got scores in the millions fighting wave after wave of Dralthi. From then until the fireworks at the end, I was totally absorbed in the world that was Wing Commander. For the next several years, every time an expansion came out I was there. Malcom McDowell, Mark Hammell, John Rheys-Daves and even Ginger Lynn Allen!

In 1996 Chris Roberts, the man behind the Eing Commander Universe left for two projects. One is Digital Anvil the other was an extension of the movie sequences.

When Wing Commander hit the big screen in 1999 Chris finally made it to the big screen himself as the pilot of the salvage ship that rescues 1st Lt Blair.

Chris went on to Freelancer and other games, and we've moved on as well. But Chris and the whole team at Origin will always be remembered as the ones who first brought true 3D space combat to a computer near us!

In 1990 I was finally able to fulfill that longing in the rec room of the Tiger's Claw, where there was, you guessed it, a standup video arcade simulation. Before I ever flew a mission I got scores in the millions fighting wave after wave of Dralthi. From then until the fireworks at the end, I was totally absorbed in the world that was Wing Commander. For the next several years, every time an expansion came out I was there. Malcom McDowell, Mark Hammell, John Rheys-Daves and even Ginger Lynn Allen!

In 1996 Chris Roberts, the man behind the Eing Commander Universe left for two projects. One is Digital Anvil the other was an extension of the movie sequences.

When Wing Commander hit the big screen in 1999 Chris finally made it to the big screen himself as the pilot of the salvage ship that rescues 1st Lt Blair.

Chris went on to Freelancer and other games, and we've moved on as well. But Chris and the whole team at Origin will always be remembered as the ones who first brought true 3D space combat to a computer near us!

Source 1

Source 2

Here ya'll go! Free Ultima Online to mourn the loss of OSI with.

Yup

GameSpot recently received a preview version of Half-Life: Day One, an OEM version of Half-Life that contains the first few hours of the game. It will be available this month in bundles with the Diamond Monster Sound MX300, Guillemot Maxi Gamer Voodoo Banshee video card, and Thrustmaster Frag Master joystick. Now that GameSpot has finished playing Day One, we give you our impressions of Half-Life and update our preview with what we've learned....

I'm not sure that this is the best strategy for certain games.

Some companies might not be too keen on letting someone play the game before they get the cash, for obvious reasons.

I'm not sure that this is the best strategy for certain games.

Some companies might not be too keen on letting someone play the game before they get the cash, for obvious reasons.

I'm not sure that this is the best strategy for certain games.

Some companies might not be too keen on letting someone play the game before they get the cash, for obvious reasons.

I like your comment on GTA 3. You don't happen to know that when BMX XXX was released, it was censored on the PS2 but not on the Gamecube or Xbox version, ironically enough.

Sierra released a Myst-like adventure game based on the Rama series in 1997. I think I might still have my copy in a box somewhere...it was pretty good and pleasingly mindbending, IIRC. Included an interview with Clarke and Gentry Lee to boot. Having only read _Garden of Rama_ and _Rama Revealed_ I can't say how well it adapted _Rendezvous_ or _Rama II_, but Sierra's version was certainly recognizable to me.

Not to nitpick, but for accuracy's sake, 10six was the first MMOFPS. I'm sure it wasn't nearly as popular as Planetside is, but it predates it by about 3 years. Though both definitely didn't live up to the hype.

This is a phase that everyone goes through. Either because of something in your life (often something subtle) or just a batch of mediocre games that temporarily sour your opinion of the entire medium, you stop playing games for awhile. I did the same thing when I was around 17. I stopped playing games for about a year or two straight and missed out on most of the interesting games that were released for the original PlayStation. But it wasn't a part of "growing up", "putting away childish things", or some other moronic platitude that non-gamers would give you. It's just a temporary change in the way you choose to entertain yourself.

This is something that we all do on a regular basis, but we don't really notice it until it strikes a medium that we actually care about. Personally, there was a time when I watched at least a couple of movies on DVD every week, burning through them at about the same rate as most regulars buyers/renters do. But now I haven't watched a movie on DVD in a good three months or so, but I haven't even noticed it. Why? Because I don't visit six or seven movie sites a day, but I do visit Insert Credit, GameSpot, Video Fenky, GAF, The Magic Box, Penny Arcade, and Slashdot Games just about every day. If you're actually posting on this site, then I'm guessing that you have a pretty similar set of sites that you visit.

I'm guessing that you'll pick up something really good in about a year or two and then you'll be addicted again just like the rest of us. But then again, if you really are of the mentality that "games are kids stuff", then maybe you'll deprive yourself of them forever. I really don't see how Metal Gear Solid or Knights of the Old Republic are any more childish than any of the TV shows or movies that I watch, but that's just me. Maybe that's why I really don't see myself abstaining from video games as I grow up any more than I see myself suddenly abstaining from television, movies, or music.

If the Playstation only has 2MB RAM, where does it place graphics? Are there a seperate area for graphics?
Also, how on earth can it have so long loading times if there only is 2mb to fill up. :)

John Romero was going to make you his bitch

Which Nintendo products are you most looking forward to this year?

I'm looking forward to the crystal aqua Gamecube. Oh come on, it's gotta be coming ;-)

...and we've heard nothing from Argonaut Games in the last year or so.

I am not so sure about that...

(The new screenshots show off the game looking much better than it has otherwise recently looked. I make no claims whether the game will actually not suck, though. :D)

...and we've heard nothing from Argonaut Games in the last year or so.

I am not so sure about that...

(The new screenshots show off the game looking much better than it has otherwise recently looked. I make no claims whether the game will actually not suck, though. :D)

...and we've heard nothing from Argonaut Games in the last year or so.

I am not so sure about that...

(The new screenshots show off the game looking much better than it has otherwise recently looked. I make no claims whether the game will actually not suck, though. :D)

Don't forget about the ill-fated Fallout 3...
http://www.petitiononline.com/fallout3/petition.ht ml
http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/fallout3/news_60856 20.html

and XCom, I don't know how many times this project has been canned and then resurected again 2 years later...
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~xcom/x6x1.shtml
http://dynamic.gamespy.com/~xcom/x8x1.shtml

These are the two biggies for me...

I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned WarCraft Adventures: Lord of the Clans. It was to be Blizzard's first adventure game, but was cancelled as a nearly complete game. Oh well, at least the story is now available as a novel. And it is part of WarCraft official cannon, as it plays into the setup of WarCraft III.

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Honestly, I think the RIAA has a reason to complain--how many of you use P2P programs for things other than music, movies, games and apps?

It's a good technology, but it's being seriously misused, I know this because I'm one of the people seriously misusing it every day. It's just easier to download a game before buying it to make sure you don't waste $50 on a lemon. There are enough of those [gamespot.com] floating around.

Except music, which I get from iTunes. I don't mind supporting Apple and music artists at the same time

Dominion was one of the first Ion Storm titles released, and was almost universally panned.